Whether you’re a seasoned HR veteran, or just a busy office manager trying to stay on top of your growing employee database, people will always think that you’re a living, breathing HR dictionary. It’s why, a while back, I wrote a piece called “Five HR terms you might not know”. Well, I’m back – and this time with part two. Because no matter how good you are at your job, there are bound to be plenty of HR terms you still don’t know. Let’s see if any are on this list! 1.   Gag clause Not to be confused with a gagging order, which is typically a legal order imposed by a court or gover ..read more

When Lars Schmidt took to the stage at the CIPD’s Festival of Work 2021, it was hardly surprising that he kicked things off by suggesting that we were approaching the end of the “command and control” way of doing things. After all, his views are hardly a secret – Lars is a well-known and well-respected writer, podcaster, and advocate for modern HR and people. But what does “the end of command and control” mean? What will replace the traditional organisational hierarchy going forward? And what does HR have to do with all this? The end of command and control Wikipedia defines command and contro ..read more

Maybe you’ve already nailed your organisation’s training strategy. But according to some thinkers, most of the jobs we will be doing in a couple of decades, don’t currently exist. How prepared is your organisation for the future jobs that don’t exist yet? Predicting the future is tough Predictions for the future rarely pan out how we imagine. This is because we find it hard to imagine possibilities that go beyond the things we are already familiar with. For example, could you imagine trying to explain the concept of a telephone to somebody from the 18th Century? An episode of Tomorrow’s ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of people to pine for the social comforts of their office. But one thing most people haven’t missed, is the corporate office dress code – and the time spent in the morning getting all dressed up and ready to go. Getting a little too comfortable If lockdown has taught us anything, it’s that it is fully possible to do an entire day’s work wearing nothing more than a smart shirt and some underpants. For those of us who are used to working from home, this was nothing new. But for many, the ability to suddenly wear (almost) anything to work was a true novelty. An ..read more

When your business was still in start-up mode, you may or may not have had a small business HR checklist. In my experience? Most start-ups don’t. After all, it’s far easier to build a successful business if you don’t have bureaucratic HR processes to think about – especially if you’ve not even hired your first employee yet. You can get by for a while without any formal processes. Most early members of a start-up are in it for the thrill, not for stability of employment. But that doesn’t last forever… Fast forward to now – you’re a small business, with maybe a handful, or even a couple of hund ..read more

Political discussion can be divisive. Whether it’s the US Election, or the latest on Brexit, there’s bound to be a topic which splits your colleagues down the middle – and I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to stop employees talking politics at work.   But is it wise to actually ban political discussion in the workplace? Basecamp certainly thought so… but not everybody seemed to agree.  Basecamp bans political discussion  On April 26th 2021, Basecamp announced a long list of company cha ..read more

It’s hardly surprising to learn that UK employees are feeling lonely at work. After all, most of us have been working from our kitchens or living rooms for the best part of a year. But new research shows that the time factor has really made an impact on people’s feelings of isolation – with 1 in 4 remote workers feeling more lonely at work today, than they were a year ago. It’s been a long and lonely road In early 2020, millions of people suddenly found themselves working from home. And if you’re one of them, then you probably remember that moment well. For some, the novelty was exciting – co ..read more

As we move deeper into the year 2021, I thought it would be nice to look at 8 of the most interesting HR facts and figures I’ve come across recently. These figures and statistics have helped me to build a better picture of HR in 2021, and each one has its own story to tell. 1.  Sickness absence is at its lowest since 1995 On the 3rd March 2021, the UK’s Office for National Statistics released data showing that sickness absence was resting at just 1.8%. This is the lowest it has been since 1995. Could this be a symptom of more people working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic? 2.&n ..read more

A couple of years back, I posted a video of myself talking about the top 10 video interview questions and why you should ask them. Over the last few months, this post has seen a steady increase in views – and understandably so. After all, the pandemic thrust us deep into a world of remote working – and, with recruitment now back on the menu, remote hiring. So I thought I’d take another look at video interviews, and how you can make the most of them. I still stand by the top 10 questions I posted back in 2018 – but here are 10 more great video interview questions you could consider, as explain ..read more

A lot of numbers fly around the world of recruitment. To the point where you may believe your recruitment strategy is a simple game of numbers – tip enough traffic into the top of your funnel, and the people you need will plop out of the bottom. But while there may be some truth to this, your recruitment strategy should never be left entirely to chance. More than a game of numbers I’d forgive you for thinking that your recruitment strategy was a pure game of numbers. After all, we are often bombarded with stats such as “75% of applicants are not qualified to do the job”. If this were consiste ..read more