It strikes me that far too many decisions are made in the workplace in response to fear. Fear of: Which of these is your greatest or most frequent fear? Is it on my list? But more importantly, what is the greatest fear of those you manage or work alongside? Do their fears impact how successfully […]
D&I and the danger of a narcissist in the team…
Is the most popular person in your business singlehandedly destroying it? For some years my path has regularly crossed an individual who on the face of it is the driving force behind the team’s success. She brings in energy, vibrancy, and draws people together. She appears caring and empathetic. But what I have increasingly become […]
Are the foundations of #MeToo behaviours being built in your workforce?
In the last eighteen months, since the birth of the #MeToo movement there has been much talk of unwanted sexual advances in the workplace (typically, but not always, senior men taking advantage of women who are junior to them). Some of those men either overtly or covertly even demand sex in return for opportunity, pay […]
From ‘I’ to ‘We’ – A positive culture can’t survive if there is no sense of team
How do you create a culture of engagement, high employee morale, great retention of good staff when for decades all the workplace legislation that has been published in the UK relates to Individual Rights, rather than the Rights of the team or group? How does it work in your family or friendship group? Do you […]
Panic Decision making
As the candidate market squeezes employers looking for the next great find, is there a danger we sometimes panic and just appoint the best person we can find, whilst our backs are up against the wall? I have certainly experienced this across two decades in business and with hindsight have always come to rue my […]
Fake news from the HR department…or is it a case of blame HR for everything?
It’s been my experience across the past few years that Google page 1, in trying to be helpful, is actually causing untold problems in our society. Have you found that everyone is becoming ever more lazy at checking the facts or digging into the detail? Books have already gone ‘audible’ so we don’t even have […]
NDA – no longer the protective shield it used to be?
With the announcement in parliament that Sir Philip Green is the latest businessman who has hidden behind NDA’s to protect himself and his reputation in respect of discrimination and/or harassment, let’s take a couple of minutes to talk about NDA’s. Nearly 30 years ago, I signed an NDA after suing a company that, in my […]
Am I a monster because I’m prejudiced?
“I’ve got biases. Serious bias. If ever I tell anyone about them they say I’m prejudiced. I thought I was just a normal feeling, sensing human being so how come I now feel as though I no longer fit into our society, into the workplace? Am I really the dinosaur, the pariah the media suggest […]
Do NOT commit to a 3 or 5 year HR services contract
Over the last few weeks I have read in numerous places about the likelihood of a recession hitting us in the next year or so. The last time recession struck there were tens of thousands of companies stuck with inflexible, expensive long term HR services contracts they were unable to get out of or renegotiate. […]
I asked for a covering letter with your application…
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 […]