Protected Conversations
29 / 11 / 2017
When it comes to sorting out problems with employees, many small businesses don’t like the hanging around that can accompany legal processes. Take redundancies, for example. The law requires a certain amount of consultation, even if only a few people will ultimately be affected. While well-intentioned, the protracted nature of the process often causes a great deal of stress for...
Professional Discourtesy
21 / 11 / 2017
Professional discourtesy is really irritating. Last week someone I had connected with on LinkedIn (but didn’t know) called me no fewer than four times to “have a chat”. I know from long and bitter experience that these chats are almost always time wasters so on work matters and during work time I don’t agree to talk to a stranger without...
Stress Busting – The Drug-free Way
07 / 11 / 2017
Government figures suggest that diagnosable cases of stress, depression or anxiety affected 488,000 British workers in 2015. Last year, doctors wrote 70 million prescriptions for antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Stress related illnesses are not only unpleasant for sufferers it’s a significant risk to British business. With this in mind I was interested in the observation carried out by Dr Michael...
Giving Honest Feedback
01 / 11 / 2017
Hallowe’en is past but there are still scary things lurking in the corners of HR. Giving feedback scares many managers, especially if it contains criticism of some type. If you lead a team, providing regular feedback is a part of the job; but more than 70% of employees think they need more feedback and that their performance would improve in...
Developing Curiosity – The Route to a Happier Life?
25 / 10 / 2017
Albert Einstein was clear that asking questions is an essential skill. He said: If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Curiosity...