The Human in Human Resources

HR Magazine - Longer careers likely to cause generational tensions: KPMG study

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In my opinion the benefits far outweigh the negetatives. Especially if one is going to live in an ageing society it becomes absolutely essential that the young population is provided with the opportunity to work with, learn from and as an outcome of the two, have a healthy respect for the older generation.

As we know no amount of education can replace the knowledge gained from actual experience, what an opportunity the youth of the country have!!

HR Magazine - Longer careers likely to cause generational tensions: KPMG study

HR Magazine - Trust is the key to well-being and performance

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:53:00 +0000

A matter of trust: couldn't agree more!

HR Magazine - Trust is the key to well-being and performance

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:18:00 +0000

A revised model of labour

Motivation = Payment + Meaning + Creation + Challenge + Ownership + Identity + Pride etc...

A lesson in motivation: important lesson backed by hard evidence (Click to watch!)

What motivates us to work? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn't just money. But it's not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely Bio presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work.

“We have very strong intuitions about all kinds of things — our own ability, how the economy works, how we should pay school teachers. But unless we start testing those intuitions, we’re not going to do better.”

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:10:00 +0000

What I learnt from the Marathon Man!

1. Age does matter if you are looking at entering the Guinness world records, if not it is just a number.

2. You will find it within you to cope with the tragedies of mortal life, all you need is the will to pick your self up and walk...at first. Rest will follow.

3. That people care, that it is not a heartless place it is made out to be.

4. That happiness can be around the corner if you are willing to look for it.

5. That all stars are not young, handsome and rich, some are poor villagers from Punjab.

6. Do not do things for the wrong reason and do not wait for the right moment either. Do it when your heart demands it!

What have I learnt as an HR professional from the Marathon Man!

1. Be willing to see beyond age, race and colours...anyone can achieve greatness but they will have to help themselves along the way.

2. Do things for the right reasons (yes it does apply here).

3. Setbacks and traumas can bring out both good or evil in us...which one will you party with? And which one will you part with?

4. Happiness is not a state, it is an active contribution we make in our lives and our environment, so make a positive contribution to your life and bring happiness to those around you.

5. Wallowing in self pity and focussing on failures doesn't make you a star.

6. Get up and run (or walk) if you heart is aching, it will help you bring perspective in your life and your job. It is not the be all and end all of your life...the world is a big place and there are other races to be run and won.

Most importantly, remember what hurts the most when you lose it, your family and loved ones. Give them the time and love they deserve!!

Read here about the amazing Fauja Singh:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21564489

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:24:00 +0000

Four reasons why Yahoo's policy is an Epic failure, says Peter Cohan.

Mediocre employees...stress and morale...capital investment increase and then the all important adding to global pollution, as the cars start pulling out of the driveways.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/02/26/4-reasons-marissa-mayers-no-at-home-work-policy-is-an-epic-fail/

Sometimes tough situations require tough measures...and who knows what the books are looking like at Yahoo right now. Is this one way to lay-off employees?? If so then an underhand technique like this will not sustain itself as it bad intentions have bad outcomes...be warned...what goes around, comes around.

I think it is harder to believe as it has been introduced by someone who has just returned from 'maternity leave'. Also, is Marissa Mayer in touch with global changes and fight for women to retain and progress in their roles? Is she in touch???

I intend to follow this story to see how it actually pans out. Hope so will the rest of the HR (etchr) community.

A question that has bothered me for some time now:....shouldn't Marissa Mayer have pulled up the line managers as opposed to introducing a punitive measure like removing the right to flexible working or working from home?

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:33:00 +0000

(NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE CASE ANYMORE...)

Yahoo has abolished its work from home policy. What impact will this have on HR?

I am assuming HR will have to focus on employee retention (of employees they do wish to retain as a result of this exercise), they will have to invest in infrastructure to accommodate spill over staff on 'work-from-home' arrangement, they will have to manage employee morale and recruitment will be yet another challenge in the years to come.

While UK is moving towards encouraging women in the fields of Science, Engineering and Technology, this latest announcement will definitely not make it a front-runner for jobs within the IT with sector in the UK. How will it then manage and implement its equality policy? How about work-life balance, especially for women?

What will the gender ratio look like in the months to come?

Jackie Reses, director of human resources at Yahoo sent out this memo and I must say this, she is either very brave or very stupid. While the company wishes to encourage human interaction and brain-storming and generation of new ideas as people interact in their cafeteria, to say these wouldn't happen in the confines of your home as you chat online with your colleagues needs further investigation.

Read more here:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/job-trends/Yahoo-abolishes-work-at-home-policy/articleshow/18687651.cms?intenttarget=no

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:26:00 +0000

For those in the Higher Education Sector and interested in biomedical research jobs...

Athena SWAN announcement was made by Dame Sally Davies in 2011 and the heat is on. So brush up and keep up to speed.

Check out this link for more information: http://www.athenaswan.org.uk/

(For sample action plans you can google any of the top uni's in the UK that are into bio-medical research.)

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:11:00 +0000

HR and Data

Increase in the number of HR jobs set to be off-shored from the UK. A fad? Fashion? Or, Future?

And the public sector is hiring again...!

More when you follow the link below:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-reports/labour-market-outlook-winter-2012-13.aspx

To party or not to party?

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:16:00 +0000

To party or not to party? There's more than drinking and dining to management!

There is quite a debate going on in the US about whether President Obama is outgoing enough to be a good leader.The debate is about how his apparent introvert tendencies impact his leadership abilities. This has extended to whether the best leaders are introverts, typically described as reserved, people who tend to do their thinking inside their head. Or extroverts, typically more outgoing and who talk out their thinking. This has been a debate for some years.

From my point of view it is rather a futile one. No one is just introvert or just extrovert; all the research suggests we all have both tendencies and what’s more we can all adapt and adopt the appropriate style when circumstances demand.Maybe the debate should shift to the effectiveness of the leader. Reading the press and talking to leaders themselves many seem to be struggling. Too many are stressed and have difficulties with their team. In short many leaders seem to struggle to adopt a style that is conducive to getting the best from themselves and their teams. They seem to be brain fried; stressed, grumpy, dictatorial and detached.

We have been researching the findings of neuroscience, the science of how the brain works, to understand the implications for leaders.

Our belief is if the leader operates in a way which is consistent with how the brain works, if they are brain-savvy, they will get much better results. For themselves, in how they work and manage the demands made upon them and for their team members, how they engage, develop and lead change.

So what are the characteristics of a brain-savvy leader? How do they act?Some of the characteristics the brain science is telling us are:

They’re the ones who ask questions a lot. Not just about what people are doing, but how they’re feeling, because the brain notices threat much more than the good stuff, the rewards. When the brain is threatened, even at an unconscious level it pretty much shuts down the executive functioning. That’s the part that plans, reasons, is innovative and sets goals. Basically the part you need leaders and employees to be using to solve business issues. So brain-savvy leaders want to know when their people feel threatened so they can flex their leadership to replace feelings of threat with feelings of reward.Brain-savvy leaders are the ones who make important and creative decisions early in the day rather than spending the most productive time for the brain doing email and routine tasks . They don’t leave important things till the end of the day. That’s because they understand how and when their brain functions best for different tasks. How they can make their day as ‘brain efficient’ as possible.

They’re also the ones who keep calm when others lose it. By understanding how the brain works they can recognise their emotional reaction, and can step back from them. They understand why they are reacting strongly, stop the reaction and choose to act differently.
This means brain-savvy leaders can decide how to react best to any situation, even if that’s not the way they would naturally.But maybe most important of all is the way these leaders deal with change.

They’re the ones whose teams are best at embracing change. That’s because brain-savvy leaders know that change creates feelings of threat more than anything else. So unlike leaders who tell their team to change, brain-savvy leaders show their team why change is good for them personally. Then help them set personal goals to achieve change. And reward them for doing so.In short, brain-savvy leaders are the ones who lead better. Because, by understanding how the brain reacts, they get the best reaction from themselves and their team.

You can view our fun video on brain-savvy leaders below. Brain-savvy leaders would also be the ones who understand their own tendencies towards extraversion or introversion and when to adjust their styles (or when to party). It doesn’t matter which they are more often as they know how to manage their impact on their teams.So how do your leaders stack up? If the answer is not that well, don’t worry.

The good news is you can train your leaders to be brain-savvy. That’s what our MasterMind leadership development is all about. It gives people all the tools and insights to become brain-savvy leaders. And what’s more, it does it in a brain-savvy way. With leadership development tools, techniques and programmes geared completely towards how people learn best.

Source: http://www.headheartbrain.com/do-leaders-need-to-like-parties/

Business skills and you...

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:01:00 +0000

"Business leaders are “struggling with basic management skills” as budget cuts and efficiencies increase the pressure on organisations, research from Roffey Park has revealed."...

Read more here:

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2013/02/leadership-research-reveals-managers-struggle-with-basic-skills.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=pmdaily&utm_content=120213_news_1

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:03:00 +0000

Packard's 8 Hidden Human Needs makes an interesting read.

Reassurance of Worth (is it the same as need for recognition??) and Ego Gratification (this seems to be hinting at some kind of 'Lord of The Flies' scenario) especially caught my eye.

One could argue that since the title itself is emphasizes on the work 'Hidden' there could perhaps be more than 8 of such needs. Some still hidden under the complex nature of man.

How about the 'need to protect self or need for self-defense'? This could potentially stem from the 'fear of unknown', thus exposing the line managers to exploitation by the ones who claim to have the know-how. How would you as an HR manager stop this exploitation? Or are you the HR leading this exploitation?

How can the top management distinguish between people promoting the corporate agenda and self promotion?

Hence the importance of checks and measures at every stage.

Hidden Human Needs... an interesting concept that once again puts human psychology at the heart of HR.

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:12:00 +0000

The key question: What could you do as an HR professional to change this?

Staff performance hit as leaders fail to develop team working

Four in ten managers ‘not resolving conflicts effectively’, finds survey

Half of UK employees feel that their organisation does not help them develop good team working skills, according to research released today.

Although staff understood how their own work contributed to team targets, one-fifth said they had never been in a meeting where team performance was discussed, the survey of 2,000 people by training consultancy Cedar revealed.

The results also suggested room for improvement in the skills of team leaders, as four in ten respondents reported having a manager ‘who does not assist in resolving conflicts’, which in turn had a damaging effect on the team’s overall performance.

Difficult inter-personal relationships within teams also had a marked impact on productivity, with a third of respondents dreading coming into work as the result of a bad team environment and a further third believing a tense atmosphere had an impact on their ability to do their job properly.

Half of those surveyed also said that the biggest office timewaster was ‘sloppy work’ from their team colleagues that needed re-doing.

Consequently, more than a third (37 per cent) of employees preferred to work on their own – suggesting that many business cultures did not encourage employees to communicate ideas, share responsibility and trust fellow team members, said Cedar.

“A lack of adequate training and support for effective team working has a potentially damaging knock-on effect on business productivity,” explained Penny de Valk, chief executive of Cedar.

“Team leaders play a vital role in delivering organisational performance, while their style and effectiveness has an impact on their team’s ability to deliver successfully,” she continued.

“This requires a savvy, influential leadership style to get all members of the team focused on team goals, as well as awareness of their position as a role model. Regular meetings to discuss team performance, alongside opportunities to socialise as a team, create the right atmosphere for team productivity.”

Source: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2013/01/staff-performance-hit-as-leaders-fail-to-develop-team-working.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=pmdaily&utm_content=310113_news_1

noreply@blogger.com (S Barker) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:10:00 +0000

While I am sure we all get the People Management updates in our inboxes,I am thinking about the Z generation (distinguished by the use of their thumbs...) they are solitary characters hidden behind their screens...do we really expect team work from them? If so, then perhaps organisaitons need to include team work as part of the induction and part of their on-going staff training programmes. Think!