Let it go! HR practices we know don’t work but use anyway
In 2014 we have the benefit of technology that allows us to see inside a working brain and compute massive amounts of research data to give us a never-before-available understanding of human behaviour. This has significant benefits for those of us who are responsible for improving the outcomes from people at work. If the main […]
Losing our souls
During my brief career in retail and one year spent studying visual merchandising, it was always drummed into you that there is only one view that counts when presenting merchandise: the customer’s. The display is never complete until you have stepped from behind the counter, window or cabinet and looked at it from every angle […]
The workforce talent quest (why Gen Y don’t want to be ‘retained’)
Most employers agree: retaining talent is at the top of their list of HR priorities. Talent retention is part of the traditional HR approach to people management: ‘resources’ that can be ‘gained, trained, maintained and retained’. Having established the organisational hierarchy and work flow, the cog that fits in that wheel is able to be […]
The unravelling
This article was first written at the height of the GFC – we have not advanced much since then. This blog is about the state of work – often a sorry state of work. When times are tough, as they presently are, we are more protective of work: as employees of the jobs we have; […]
Engagement: masturbating employee satisfaction
Just over 100 years ago while much of the Western world was enjoying unprecedented growth brought about by the industrial revolution, the medical profession was treating women afflicted by a particular malady, female hysteria, that was thought to be caused by abnormal movements of the uterus. By late 1800s it had become something of a […]
Rethinking downsizing
Fans of the hugely popular Dilbert comic strips will recognise Catbert, the Evil Director of Human Resources, whose sole aim is to torment the comic strip company’s employees. Downsizing, or mass redundancies, is used by organisations to improve their financial position particularly when they are under pressure from shareholders, competition and/or shifting consumer trends. Downsizing […]
Moral blindness
The day following the blog post, “HR: Morally Culpable?” an article appeared in the business publication, In The Black, entitled Are You Guilty of Moral Blindness? Article author, Eva Tsahuridu, writes: Generally, when we assess unethical behaviour, we tend to see it as rational and intentional. Sometimes it may not be so because of […]
HR: morally culpable?
Five years after the start of the Great Recession, the toll is terrifyingly clear: Millions of middle-class jobs have been lost in developed countries the world over. And the situation is even worse than it appears. Most of the jobs will never return, and millions more are likely to vanish as well, say experts who […]
Another blog on people and work, and the concept of collateral gains
It’s already a crowded space, the many articles and writings available, full of ideas and opinions on what makes the intersection of employment and people successful. Amongst them all is there room for yet another blog? The fact that employment continues to be plagued with difficulties: disengagement, unemployment, underemployment, skills shortages and bullying, for instance, […]