Seeking a definition of social leadership
What is social leadership? A good question and one that isn’t as easy to answer as you might imagine. For some, social leadership is tied to morality, ethics and the leader’s sense of duty towards society whilst others consider it to be how deftly a person can employ their social and emotional skills to lead […]
It’s National Storytelling Week! But has corporate storytelling lost the plot?
This week is National Storytelling Week but with so much emphasis on ‘corporate narrative and the ’customer story’, HR professionals could be forgiven for thinking these terms define the natural limits for storytelling in the corporate world. In corporate life, the business story and storytelling capabilities are often lumped together as one idea and the […]
“My favourite thing is when the people you’re working with suddenly have an epiphany, a spark”
We're always curious to hear how our members and contributors tackle the challenges that the ever-changing world of HR throws at them. We've got a wealth of experience and knowledge across the site, and what better way to showcase the diversity of our community than to get them to walk us through an average day? Want […]
What are the benefits of project-based learning?
Project-based learning is the way forward in this digitally-connected age, both for businesses and the people who work within them. Let’s start by looking briefly at why it’s good for business: new ways of doing things can happen through small projects that tap into the existing, connected knowledge of everyone in the business. This reveals often hidden […]
The key to the HR Revolution: Capacity
It is time for an HR revolution. For far too long we have been dismantled and outsourced, denied the respect we so rightly deserve, and suffered an incredible backlash when we try to solve the issues of our constituents. In my view it’s no longer sufficient to review our organisational models or the sophistication of […]
Are conflicting local challenges preventing global HR integration?
As global growth opportunities arise, it comes as no surprise that many businesses are pursuing expansion in order to further their reach and enter new markets. This can often lead to problems in providing consistent and standardised policies companywide, however, due to difficulties in integrating global models that take into account regional processes and values. […]
How to deal with people you just want to strangle
One of the most common challenges I’m presented with as a behaviourist, is how to handle individuals who exhibit especially challenging behaviours. The fact is that the larger the group of people, the more likelihood there is for conflict and the more likely we are to work with or alongside people that we don’t especially […]
Breakfast Insight: A new collaborative mindset
Breakfast Insight is your short dose of new ideas and food for thought, perfect to watch with your morning coffee. Today we're chatting to Karin Volo, Chief Joy Bringer and Director at Evoloshen. You can find out more about Karin on her website or contact her on Twitter at @karinvolo. Karin tells us about: A new mindset […]
It’s one thing to create a culture of innovation, but how do you sustain it?
And they all lived happily ever after. The trouble is, successfully building a culture of innovation isn’t like a fairy story. Sure there have been triumphs and disasters along the way; moments when the plot seemed to be leading you inexorably towards failure, or twists of fate which led you along unexpected pathways, but innovation […]
Have you mobilised your innovation agents?
Who are the true innovation leaders within an organisation? Well yes, some of them may sit at the top table. In fact, if you’ve read the first article in this series, leading innovation, you may remember that I commented that if it’s not on the top team’s agenda it’s not going to be in the […]
Are you ready to build and lead a culture of innovation?
Are you fully prepared to do what it takes to lead a culture of innovation within your organisation? I admit you’ve served your time, worked your way up through the ranks, built up some leadership CPD points and your job title now contains the word leader, executive or equivalent. What else do you need – […]
How to present a stronger business case to the board
Some HR teams struggle to justify HR and training investments and initiatives in a way that wins the board’s approval. Often this happens because they find themselves in the dark about the long and short-term ambitions of the company they work for or because there’s a lack of clarity about the business strategy itself. Asking […]
“Some of the best examples of what can be achieved in partnerships aren’t about money”
As more companies seek to clarify their brand values for both employees and customers alike, doing more for charities and the environment has slowly risen up the agenda for many businesses. But how do you go about selecting a charity to support, and what are the benefits of going beyond ad-hoc fundraising and actually forming […]
Seven Emails: from childlike interactions to gender equality and the alienation of labour
Seven Emails is our conversation-driven dose of insight. We start with a topic and see how the topic is moulded and changed in seven emails. Fancy getting involved? Drop us a line at editor@hrzone.com and we'll get something set up. You pick the topic, we'll respond. Then we'll have five emails to take us to […]
How can we solve problems so everyone wins?
The first stage is about identifying needs. If the listening phase does not lead to a resolution, it will be necessary to negotiate and problem solve. The listening is likely to identify a variety of unmet needs. List these and decide on one to work with, as it is unwise to work with several issues […]
“In essence, comms should be short, sharp and succinct.”
This is an interview between Jamie Lawrence, Editor of HRZone, and Chris Hopkins, MD of employee communications agency Caburn Hope. We talk about the evolution of communications, what employees expect, and whether new generations in the workplace are changing the way innovative companies ‘do’ communication. Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: The best way to do comms […]
Knowledge spreading key to employee engagement
Interested in employee engagement? We’re gathering the views of HR professionals across the UK who are passionate about improving engagement – we’ve got responses from HR professionals on what’s working with engagement and at the end we’ll compile a report to help UK organisations improve engagement. Be part of the movement and give us your […]
Book review: Connecting People by Kate Davies
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, […]
Would you say you’re too polite – or too pushy?
Our view of politeness is associated with not acting in a selfish or over-domineering style. People who are pushy are often perceived as being rude and arrogant, while people who are over polite can be seen as a push-over. Straying too far in either direction can disrupt productivity and negatively impact on the business. How […]
Are you collaborating or really just cooperating?
At Achieve we hear a lot about the need for teams and businesses to collaborate. Externally, partnerships, joint ventures, crowdsourcing and open platforms are all buzzwords for today’s age. The same collaborative imperative applies within organisations too. But while HR directors recognise the need to work better with other parts of the business and the […]
