We all know that having good self-esteem is a key part of happiness. If we don’t believe in ourselves how will we ever achieve our goals or feel grateful for the things we have? There is plenty of information about self-esteem in relationships, friendships and everyday life but just how important is it in … Continued
As many people who read my intermittent blogs know, I am an advocate of strengths based everything – recruitment, coaching and feedback. However, recently I am becoming increasingly concerned about the beneficial claims made of strengths based recruitment combined with the criticisms largely directed at competency based recruitment. Competencies were ground breaking, fair and … Continued
6 steps beginning with ‘a’ and they all should fit on one A4 page. How neat is that? (thank you Robin Hoyle) AIM – what is the aim of the training activities? for instance, do you want your training to operate at zero cost to the business? AUDIENCE – identify your audience. It is unlikely … Continued
The average employed adult spends at least eight hours at work five days a week. As a result, for many, work represents more than just a place where we go to earn money. The workplace is in fact an important source of social support and it’s not uncommon to form close and sometimes even life-long … Continued
When Harvard Business School and Standford’s Graduate School came together to undertake research into work based stress, they discovered that work stressors were killing 120,000 people annually. Causes were long hours, economic insecurity at lower levels of organisations exacerbated by uncertainty over contracts and low pay. In the UK we struggle with many of the … Continued
Today’s front cover of The Independent screams out that thousands of working class people are being denied jobs at top firms as they effectively need to pass a ‘poshness test’ to join elite employers. This was according to an official body set up by the Government to promote social mobility. This poshness test includes ‘the … Continued
What is the impact on our performance of day to day, small and seemingly inconsequential interactions? Teresa Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School. Originally educated as a chemist, Teresa received her doctorate in psychology from Stanford University. She studies how everyday life … Continued
As I attended a conference yesterday focused on strengths int the workplace, I was reminded of the benefits of strengths based recruitment, but also some of its challenges. There is growing evidence to suggest that there are huge benefits to organisations when their employees get to use their strengths in the workplace. Being able to … Continued
The reasons why successful hiring managers use psychometric testing According to the CIPD, the average cost of filling a job vacancy can range anywhere from £4,000 all the way up to £10,000 for a senior manager. When you include the associated labour turnover costs of a bad hire and then implementing the recruitment process … Continued
There is a growing canon of research on the benefits to organisations when employees get to use their strengths at work. Using your strengths every day increases engagement, meaning and job satisfaction. That translates to lower employee turnover and absenteeism. In addition, leveraging strengths is key to releasing creativity as it increases the amount of … Continued
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