I asked for a covering letter with your application… You failed at the first hurdle! When I asked all applicants to include a covering letter with their CV, what conclusions do I draw when you don’t include a covering letter? I have a few options… You can’t read You can’t write a letter You have […]

When I step out the door in the morning, I don’t always recognise or like what I see around me. What’s happened to the bold and brave, value driven Britain I grew up in? There are a few glimmers of it, but some would say that when life becomes too soft, people stop trying. Why […]

I thought I’d start this blog with a few strong words. I feel these past two weeks I have encountered fool after fool. As a business person, it just breaks my heart to see how useless some organisations become as a result of putting idiots in charge. Sometimes though, it’s my impression that the fools […]

I find it so exciting when I meet businesses with a healthy shot of oomph. The day always seems so much brighter. In contrast, my mood dips and I find it so dispiriting when I come across the opposite. I see the dictionary suggests various words for the opposite of oomph: apathy, lethargy, indifference, inactivity, […]

It’s A Gender Pay Gap Horror Story! Could Unconscious Bias training kick start a change? So with the gender pay gap horror story unfolding, there are no guesses allowed in respect of where good (competent) women will be heading this year! Invariably in the opposite direction of those companies that have fallen far short of […]

Today I read about Talk Talk being fined £400,000 for security failings that led to the data of over 150,000 customers being stolen in a cyber attack. The Information Commissioner’s response has been pretty swift given that this occurred less than 12 months ago. I think this is the largest fine I have ever seen […]

The British have for months been subjected to project fear, project threat, project utter ridiculous and project downright nonsense. I have been embarrassed time after time by influential political, business and civil leaders, with all types of affiliation, thinking that their airtime and public profile and self-important posturing are more important than calm, steady, honest […]

If you’re feeling jaded then you’re not alone, if you’re feeling like you’re on a train that just keeps passing the same places you’re not alone, and if you’re feeling like ‘been there, done that ad infinitum’ then you are not alone. The problem though is that the jaded, cynical, or bored delegates I see […]

So often I am asked what companies can do to overcome diversity challenges. It’s a never ending tale of… not enough women, how can we recruit or retain more… not enough ethnic minorities, how can we encourage more to apply to us… massive cultural gaps between offices impacting communication… too many women leaving after maternity […]

Sometimes I find there is so much going on in the world, I simply can’t decide what to write about. But applying a bit of mental self-discipline, there is one topic that both fascinates and horrifies me… Group Think. I’ll talk a bit in a minute about the workplace, but firstly, it’s not surprising that […]

In recent months, I have delivered numerous seminars on the topics of diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias. What strikes me is how often I hear people talk of other people’s – or other organisations’ – biases, whilst singularly failing to recognise their own. I was contacted around 6 months ago by an events manager who […]

In this blog, I wanted to post someone else’s blog! A bit unusual I know but it’s written by a young man from South Africa who has just left home to travel through India. For those of us who are older than Yuval, who is 18, our journey of learning started many years ago and […]

In my business Jaluch, we often get asked to conduct an HR (Human Resources) or L&D (Learning and Development) Audit within organisations. But in this blog I wanted to take a slightly different approach to audit. I wanted to look at how HR or Senior Team might conduct a Morality Audit of the organisation. Not […]

Last week, I watched a documentary about loneliness. In producing the documentary they interviewed numerous people of all ages and from all walks of life. I was struck by the number of those in employment or working for themselves who said they were lonely. How can you spend all day busy and in many cases, […]

It’s the time of year most popular for emotionally charged resignations. Built up into a frenzy of indignation, outrage or hostility about work during an overly indulgent and alcohol fuelled ‘festive’ period, come early January there is often a frenzy of resignations with staff vowing this is the time they take back control of their […]

Do you believe the TV ads you see? Do you believe the newspapers and what you read on social media? Do you believe what your professional advisors assure you is the truth? Do you accept what your suppliers tell you when they say they are providing the best possible solution for you? Do you nod […]

We rail against the fanatics and terrorists who so terribly impact our daily lives. We put our heads in our hands and talk of bombs and war. Of terrorism and fear. We scan the news for more talk and stories of atrocities and inhumane behaviour. It would appear that we largely live in a world […]

In over 25 years of being in HR, I’ve learnt at every decision making step you need to consider the facts, logic, rules and the process that have been laid out to find what is appropriate, fair and professional for each of us.  At the same time, I have been continually reminded how the use […]

I always learn a lot sitting on trains. I like watching people, what they do and how they interact with each other. Last week I sat on a train and watched a con in progress. After stopping at one station the seat opposite me was taken by a woman in her seventies, glasses perched on […]

Gender neutrality is all the rage at the moment. Pushing traditional titles such as Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms aside, Mx is the new fashion. Originally pushed for, and used, by those who are transgender or who don’t identify with a particular gender, Mx is now beginning to go more centre stage. Numerous UK universities, […]

Since Northern Rock hit the wall in 2007, how many times have we read in the press about a lack of integrity in business practices? Not a day goes by without someone being vilified for the way they have behaved, or for lies revealed and not a day goes by without an organisation being exposed […]

I could talk about engagement, but I don’t really want to! What I want to think about is the impact of employee commitment on engagement. In the 2014 Gallup survey, it was found that just 31.5% of US employees were ‘engaged’, 51% were ‘not engaged’ and worryingly 17.5% were ‘actively disengaged’. Young workers were found to be the least engaged. Studies in the UK show engagement levels amongst […]

A client recently said that they were fed up with training up staff members only to have them leave a short while later for a higher paid role with a competitor. The result, of course, being that the business is not benefiting from any financial return on its significant training spend. There was a sense […]