Disconnecting belonging from exclusion to create workplace harmony
Is there an untethered link between belonging and exclusion? And, if so, how can we break apart these polarities to create truly inclusive workplaces? I have a problem with the idea of belonging. Why? Because belonging is almost always defined by its polar opposite: excluding. Most of the time, our sense of belonging is defined […]
Disappointing gender pay gap results: it’s time for a fundamental cultural shift
With no significant improvement in the gender pay gap between 2017 and 2018, it’s time for employers to radically change their approach to building a diverse workplace in order to make progress in the coming year. “Imagine a workplace where women don’t have to spend extra, or any, energy fighting for fair pay or defending […]
Leadership: why HR has a responsibility to build a sense of belonging among employees
It’s been proven that individuals and teams perform best in environments where they feel a sense of belonging. Leadership teams should be doing everything they can to help encourage this. A mountain of research spanning almost 200 years and looking across multiple cultures and contexts demonstrates beyond doubt that the single biggest predictor of our […]
Three ways to develop a sense of belonging in the workplace
Within any organisation, the need to feel like part of a team and to develop a sense of belonging is a vital to ensuring a comfortable working environment, and to a certain extent, increasing productivity. Whether you’re a new starter though, or simply joining a new team within a company that you’ve worked in […]
Why companies need to open up the dialogue around diversity
Creating a workplace culture that is truly diverse is not about ticking the ‘right’ boxes, it requires a shift in the way organisations communicate with their staff, HR teams and new recruits. Workplace diversity isn’t about recruiting a bunch of people from different backgrounds. That’s just a diversity of faces, and only leads to employees having to […]
How to take care of people, the planet and profits
Twenty-first century businesses need to prioritise more than the traditional bottom line – the new world order is about the social, environmental and the financial. Traditional businesses are set up with one aim and one aim only: to make as much profit for the shareholders as possible. In fact, in many states it has been illegal to have […]
Management hierarchies: are they still necessary in the workplace?
Digital technology has transformed the workplace and companies at the cutting edge are embracing flatter hierarchical management structures. It’s time for businesses to unpick bureaucratic processes and focus on developing an innovative and agile workforce. Most employees value clear direction from leaders, but they also value autonomy. In our modern, fast-moving world, the most successful organisations are those who are […]
Connecting candidate, employee and customer experience through a strong culture
Ahead of the 5th Annual Spring UNLEASH Conference & Expo, we spoke to Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer at Metro Bank, about joining up the experiences of candidates, employees and customers through company culture. Danielle will be leading a roundtable discussion on this topic on Day 2 of the conference (20th March) at 11:15am on […]
Rise to the top: how to nurture successful teams
Performance management strategies would benefit from embracing Carol Dweck’s theory: developing a growth mindset that actively encourages talent to learn and improve. Imagine a world in which ‘know-it-alls’ are replaced with ‘learn-it-alls’. Not a bad vision, is it? As a topic of conversation in the HR world, it’s encouraging to see that ongoing learning is increasingly being […]
What is workplace incivility, why should we care, and what should we do?
What is Incivility? You find yourself walking into work with your supervisor, and you hold the door open for her. She breezes through without saying thank you. When you get to the break room to have your morning cup of coffee, you find that the pot is empty—the last person did not refill the coffeemaker. […]
Taking a measured approach to Christmas spirit
With a potentially explosive mix of office politics and alcohol to contend with, holding the office Christmas party can seem like a risky business. Christiana Tollast examines how employers can ensure staff behaviour does not descend into something resembling closing time at the Queen Vic. So what is the biggest […]
Messy desk? Have £7 million. By Sarah Fletcher
Writing this article was a real challenge, mostly because it took me all morning to find my keyboard under the horrors littering my desk: piles of paper, mould-filled mugs and a random collection of objects with no apparent use in the workplace – a potato peeler, tapes for a dictaphone lost years before I was […]
Heads or veils? Tread carefully. By Matt Henkes
This year saw the issue of religious dress at work thrust unceremoniously into the limelight for all to discuss. The subject constitutes a potato of truly thermonuclear proportions, with the easily offended seemingly poised on all sides, their outrage cannons carefully loaded. With only a few souls brave enough to venture into the fray, some […]
Feeling lazy? Blame it on the office. By Sarah Fletcher
Is your office killing your ability to work? If you have a tendency to gaze vacantly out of the window for hours, forget to reply to emails and be distracted by your colleagues discussing last night's tv, don't feel guilty; it turns out it's not your fault after all. Apparently we're suffering from a condition […]
Sexism at work on the increase
Workplace sexism is rising, with almost three quarters (72 per cent) of women claiming they have been bullied because of their gender. Women in 2006 feel more bullied at work than they did in 2002, legal services company Peninsula reports. The survey of 2,067 female staff found the amount of women feeling bullied at work […]
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Feeling the heat
HR consultant, Sue Kingston shares her latest HR antics including dress-code battles during the heatwave, ways to navigate the Investors in People assessment and coaching for the over-50s; read on to catch-up with all her news plus more of those vital boyfriend and diet revelations. Month: July 2006 Wow, what a heatwave we’ve […]
Dress codes – all tied up?
A male civil servant who wore Hawaiian shirts with clashing ties – one patterned with condoms – has lost his claim for sexual harassment and unfair dismissal. Raymond Akers, who worked for JobCentre Plus in Weymouth, said that a requirement for men to wear a collar and tie in the office was discriminatory and unnecessary, […]
Companies increasingly make employees face the music
Large corporations increasingly use hip pop music to develop loyal, hard-working employees, and encourage workers, literally, to sing from the same hymn sheet, according to new research. Company songs, from IBM's rehash of a US fighting song to NCR's rendition of the Beatle's 'Back in the USSR', are being used to reinforce corporate culture and […]
Unequal pay spreads discontent
Women regard lack of parity in pay scales as a major form of sexual discrimination. In a recent survey by Alexander Lloyd of women in accountancy, insurance and general business occupations, almost half the women interviewed working in the general business sector cited lower pay or pay scales for women as a major issue for […]
Friday is jeans for genes day!
Friday is Jeans for Genes day. Go to work in jeans or casual clothes, and donate £1 to research into genetic disorders. The event is organised by four national charities, to raise funds for research into serious and often life-threatening genetic disorders affecting thousands of children. Funds also help to fund valuable advice and support […]
