Blood cancer: what you should know if an employee is diagnosed
Managers and HR professionals can play a key role in supporting someone who is living with, or recovering from, blood cancer – so it’s important to know where your responsibilities lie. This article was co-written by Rose Sunter, Partner specialising in employment law at Sharpe Pritchard LLP and Emily Peters, Patient Information Officer at blood cancer research […]
Why Theory Y organisations are best prepared for future success
In the modern workplace the established attitudes towards permanent, fixed employment are under fire as the idea of a one job career becomes less appealing. The arrival and growing popularity of the gig economy, a source of much controversy, is a signal to the social, cultural and business revolution being experienced both in the UK […]
Creating a work-life balance: Why flexibility needs to be a two-way street
This is particularly true of graduates, who want to stay on top of their work in order to impress their peers. But as we get older and ‘real life’ gets in the way, our responsibilities change. Naturally, your attention is expected elsewhere, beyond the confines of the office walls. Balancing work with home life can […]
Why you might need a Chief Happiness Officer
Fostering employee happiness is fast moving up the HR agenda and is becoming a key focus for many organisations of all sizes and industries. Companies are increasingly coming to realise that happy employees make engaged, empowered and high performing employees. Ultimately, businesses in which staff wellbeing is not only taken seriously but is made a […]
Compassion – great at work, but for whom?
This article was written by Gail Kinman, Professor of Occupational Health Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire and is based on research conducted by Professor Kinman and Dr. Louise Grant, also of the University of Bedfordshire. Around three million people in the UK are employed in health and social care – one in ten of the […]
Tackling Taylor: “Good Work” deserves defence
I’m dismayed at the early critique of the Taylor review. The headlines and analysis do our professions no credit. This is a report promoting “good work” and good work to me deserves defence. Read here what and why. At the end please note you’ll also find your speed-read of the substantive points. What’s the story? […]
Working from home? Research finds employee self-regulation is the key to success
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
Book review: The Sleep Revolution: Transforming your Life, One Night at a Time
HRZone has a range of books available for review. If you would like to receive one of our business books, free of charge, please contact the editor on editor at hrzone dot com and we can send you a list of what’s available. In return, we ask for a 400-700 word review of the book, […]
Let’s get the ball rolling on mental health in the workplace
According to figures from XpertHR, the median number of employees per HR practitioner was 62.5 in 2016. Meanwhile, approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year according to mental health charity, Mind. This means that HR professionals will, on average, oversee 15 staff with mental health conditions […]
Getting back on the right track – the hidden benefits of training for a charity walk
Returning to work after time out from a serious illness is a huge challenge, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. While it can be a relief to finally have a diagnosis, it is daunting to have to come to terms with this and look ahead to living your life with a long-term. In my case, the condition […]
Stamping out sexism: why kicking high heels off office dress codes is still important
Recently, the high heels dress code row that started in the summer of 2016 came to an end. After months of ongoing debate and widespread public outcries from the female professional community, MPs shut down calls to end the presence of high heels on formal office dress codes for women. They ruled that businesses have the […]
5 things about presenteeism you don’t know
Presenteeism is a big problem: some commentators suggest it costs twice as much as absenteeism in the workplace. At its broadest level, presenteeism refers to situations where employees continue to attend work while they are sick. 1. Whether presenteeism is positive or negative depends on context Employees, and the organisations they work for, can continue to benefit […]
The insidious problem of men not taking parental leave, resilience and the mental stress of Brexit
Professor Sir Cary Cooper is Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Manchester Business School. We caught up with Sir Cary at this year’s Good Day At Work Conversation. He was previously Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University and Chair of the Academy of Social Sciences. In June 2005 he was appointed head of the Sunningdale Institute, which, managed by the […]
The dark side of marginal gains, interrogating your inner voice & the nature of persistence
John Amaechi OBE is a psychologist and high-performance coach. We caught up with John at this year’s Good Day At Work Conversation, organised by Robertson Cooper. He is an English retired basketball player who currently works as an educator and broadcaster in Europe and the United States. John is a member of the American Psychological Association, the British Psychological Society (BPS), the […]
Mental health at Crossrail, the ROI of wellbeing and wellbeing optimism
Christina Butterworth is Occupational Health and Wellbeing Strategy Lead at Crossrail. We caught up with Christina at this year’s Good Day At Work Conversation, organised by Robertson Cooper. She was previously Head of Health and BG Group and is on the board of the National School of Occupational Health. Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: What have you learnt […]
How can you become a billionaire? The Sunday Times’ Rich List says to ditch emails
The Sunday Times has recently launched its latest Rich List: aside from the mega fortunes and increasing rise of the nation’s billionaires, interestingly it also claims that many of the UK’s top entrepreneurs are ditching their inbox in favour of chatting to move their business forward. Can you imagine going on Dragon’s Den and telling […]
How a bad night’s sleep can disrupt the workplace
Do you feel grumpy, short-tempered, or prone to irrational behaviour after a bad night’s sleep or are you one of those who can quell your emotions and be ‘as nice as pie’ when you’re tired out? Sleep is a challenge for most of us, and to get a good night’s rest can have a significant […]
British resilience demands… resilient Britons
How resilient are you? A friend of mine was asked this question in an interview recently. It is a difficult one to answer and – put on the spot – we would all answer that resilience is, of course, one of our biggest assets. But is it? For all of us? Right now, it needs […]
Why we need simplicity to cope with complexity – mindfulness in business life
This article was written by Parham Vasaiely, Feature Strategy and Engineering Manager of Autonomous Vehicles at Jaguar Land Rover. He is the chair of the JLR Mindfulness Programme. Before joining JLR, he worked at Airbus, as well as a management consultant in Switzerland. Parham is part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Mindfulness Initiative. Parham will […]
Me Inc: the rise of the freelancer
Since 2009, the number of freelancers working in the UK has risen by 25%. Together they turnover an estimated £109 billion a year. And more than 2 million people now classify themselves as contingent workers or independent contractors. People who’ve made their living working from one project to the next have always been around. However, […]