Reimagine business value: the world’s changing expectations of companies
For decades, society was content for business to drive economic growth and wealth creation. People looked to governments to keep their worlds secure, while ‘doing good’ was the job of charities. Companies were free to operate in a bubble of employees, products, customers and profits, as long as they made money for shareholders. Trade brought […]
Ten reasons to love doing HR for a small business
Alright, alright. You don’t have access to a ‘Leadership University’ or state of the art breakout rooms. You don’t have an army of HRBPs, and if you want a promotion you’ll have to give it to yourself. That said, doing HR in a small or medium sized enterprise has its perks. Let’s examine them. 1. […]
The ethical employee: a look at moral behaviour
In parts 4.1 and 4.2 of this discussion we looked at how our actions cascade outward through the organisations we work in, and how even our smallest actions can generate dramatic effects. We saw the importance of ‘the whole of us’ to the workplace, and that each of us is far more than just a […]
The ethical employee: what we bring to our business
Let’s begin this part of our analysis with a brief thought experiment… Imagine, just for a moment, that there is a part of you that is nothing more than a ‘work delivery unit’ (WDU). This is the part of you that fulfils your contract of employment to the letter. It’s the part of you that […]
The ethical employee: we have the power
In previous articles in this series I’ve talked about the nature of ethics, outlining three basic moral aims that we can use in assessing the morality of our businesses and our own management practice. These are: To nurture others To nurture our species as a whole To nurture all life I’ve discussed at a high […]
Ethical business: attracting and retaining top talent needs actions, not just words
Right now companies face one of the biggest challenges ever faced in attracting and retaining new talent and every business, large or small, will be affected at some point in the future. The corporate world may be changing, few can argue with that, but talent is changing too and with a multitude of layers, […]
Digital wellbeing: caring for employees in an ‘always on’ culture
In today’s world, digital technology is everywhere and within a relatively short time it has become embedded in our social fabric. Such is the speed of technological change that its absorption into our day-to-day lives has occurred very rapidly, but without the research into its impact that precedes the introduction of medical interventions. As a […]
Business after Brexit: the changing needs of UK employees
Ahead of the uncharted waters of Brexit, the UK labour market appears to be continuing to shrug off the wider signs of economic doom and gloom. According to Office of National Statistics data, the UK labour market has charted its strongest earnings growth in 11 years, with annual growth in average weekly earnings for employees […]
Science fiction and HR: imagining alternative futures
It is more than 200-years since 19-year-old Mary Shelley published her widely acclaimed novel, ‘Frankenstein’– known to some as ‘the first work of science fiction.’ Although it was popular at the time, even Shelley, with her remarkable foresight could not predict how popular her novel, or the genre she was forming, would become. Today, science […]
Why a ‘no-blame’ company culture brings out the best in teams
A striker is through on goal in a football match and takes a shot. The goalkeeper seems to catch the ball at first, but they drop it and it goes past them into the net. It’s a winning goal for the other side in the dying seconds of the match. Whose fault is it that […]
Company culture: the single issue at the heart of organisational failure
Almost every organisational failing – from Oxfam to Barings Bank, from Arcadia to Boeing – can be linked to a single issue: toxic company culture. Despite this, most businesses don’t understand how to accurately measure culture, let alone change it. It is now possible to measure the genuine behaviours within a business and establish the leading […]
Why ‘investors’ (not ‘savers’) are the secret to a high-performing company culture
There are organisational cultures that deliver great performance, and then there are organisational cultures that not only deliver great performance, but crucially, ensure that performance is sustained: next week, next month, when things get tough, when leaders change. Whatever is thrown at the culture, it copes and is exceptionally resilient yet, at the same time, […]
HR hygge: three culture lessons from Scandinavian business
According to the global 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey, younger generations are feeling disillusioned with traditional businesses motives. The survey uncovered a rise in feelings of pessimism and unease when it comes to social and economic progress and the role of millennials in the world. In this climate of increased anxiety in the workplace, companies are […]
How company values can help managers get the best from their team
In the second instalment of a two-part feature, Stephanie Evans looks at how managers can use company values as a tool to improve team performance, whilst engaging and motivating individuals at the same time. In the first instalment, I outlined why values are the foundation of company culture and how to go about growing these values […]
Values: the foundation of company culture
In the first of a two-part feature, Stephanie Evans explores how a strong company culture can make all the difference when it comes to getting the best from your team, but developing this is about more than just coming up with a catchy slogan. It’s about living those values every day. Company culture is a passion […]
Ethics in the workplace: the ethical manager
In the third article of this nine-part series on ethics in the workplace, Luke Andreski investigates what it means to be an ethical manager, asking ‘can managers be both successful and ethical in a competitive workplace environment?’ So far in our discussion I’ve focussed on ethics at an organisational level. Ethical organisations are increasingly seen […]
How can HR create a company culture ‘to go’ in an age of remote working?
Remote working is perhaps one of the defining characteristics of the modern workplace. It has evolved from a perk to table stakes for many employers. In fact, there’s a good chance you will be reading this while working remotely – indeed, 70% of the world does so at least once a week, according to Gallup. […]
Why senior leaders don’t listen to activist employees
Over the lifetime of most current senior leaders of big organisations, a series of assumptions will have taken root about how the world works, assumptions that will have been reinforced by years of experience and will have turned into a well tried and tested worldview. When faced with a new generation of employees, who see […]
From ‘fika’ to offline time: three lessons from European countries about stress management
Stress is rife in the UK – and it’s affecting our health, engagement and performance at work. Are there lessons to be learned from other countries on better managing this epidemic? Every year in the UK, 70 million work days are lost due to mental ill health such as anxiety and depression, making it the […]
Ethics in the workplace: what does an ethical business look like?
In the second article of a nine-part series on ethics in the workplace, Luke Andreski considers the key characteristics of ethical organisations and asks, ‘Is ethics a success factor in modern business?’ It’s worth beginning our discussion with a preliminary question: ‘Are organisations ethical by default?’ The answer to this question is that organisations have […]
