Recent Posts

Practice makes perfect, especially when 32 miles of the Dorset coastline are involved!

Practice makes perfect, especially when 32 miles of the Dorset coastline are involved!

This weekend, whilst many of you enjoyed a lazy Sunday lapping up the summer sunshine, I took myself out for a doddle, a Dorset Doddle.  A run that started early Sunday morning at Weymouth Clock Tower and finished later that afternoon in Swanage.  With 32 miles and almost 8500 feet of combined accent and decent, it most certainly wasn’t a doddle!! Whilst staggering to the tops of numerous hills, passing beautiful spots such as Durdle Door[...]
"Grow your own" talent: to promote or recruit?

"Grow your own" talent: to promote or recruit?

Grow your own has seen a huge revival in the past few years, with gardeners and celebrities alike singing the praises of the benefits of home grown veg. Personally, I’m a huge fan, the sense of satisfaction gained from sowing a seed, nurturing it through its early days and watching it grow is wonderfully rewarding.  And, the end result, home grown veg pulled straight from the ground in your own garden is hard to beat.  However,[...]
Peak Performance in the Workplace: A state of "Flow"

Peak Performance in the Workplace: A state of "Flow"

A weekend with ultra trail runners! As many of you know, one of my major passions outside of work is long distance trail running, and I’m just back from spending a weekend in a muddy field somewhere in the deepest depths of Somerset at the Ultra Running Festival 2017.  A wonderfully inspiring couple of days crammed full of key speakers from across the Ultra Running community, GB athletes, running legends and world record holders, all sharing[...]
Employer Branding: Essential to recruitment success

Employer Branding: Essential to recruitment success

Talent attraction In today’s highly competitive job market, the ability to attract and retain the best talent in the marketplace is key to the success of any organisation.  A key ingredient in aiding with talent attraction is the creation of a compelling and consistent employer brand. What is an employer brand? An employer brand refers to the identity of the organisation amongst its key stakeholders.  It represents the image the organisation projects to current employees as well as[...]
10 reasons people leave their jobs - Number 1: Bad Boss

10 reasons people leave their jobs - Number 1: Bad Boss

There are many reasons why people leave their jobs, some that involve life events in an employee’s world outside of work that are outside of the control of an employer (e.g. relocating with a spouse, staying at home with a young family, returning to education to re-train). But the majority of reasons why employees quit their job are under the control of the employer, and it may not surprise many of you to learn the[...]
The importance of learning to fail successfully

The importance of learning to fail successfully

Having recently been invited to attend an HR forum where the subject matter for discussion was “Learning to Fail Successfully”, my thoughts were initially drawn to the negative connotations associated with the word “fail” and I was a little unsure about attending.  However, intrigue got the better of me and I’m thankful it did as the forum was highly thought provoking. What is failure?  Whilst I know I have failed more times than I’d like to[...]
Successful Recruitment: The importance of cultural fit

Successful Recruitment: The importance of cultural fit

When recruiting a new member of staff into an organisation it can be a tough challenge to find people who have the technical skills and experience to do the job.  Often so much time and energy is invested into looking closely at the skills and experience a person can bring to a role that a person’s fit with the company’s corporate culture can be overlooked. Only too often recruiters and hiring managers place too little emphasis[...]
Recruiting for Emotional Intelligence

Recruiting for Emotional Intelligence

We all have an appreciation for the importance of emotional qualities in a person within the workplace.  It was Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990) who, in looking at a wide range of personalities and reactions to certain situations, first introduced us to the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) and found that: People need to be able to accurately perceive emotions in themselves and others, whilst having the ability to express their own emotions effectively. People need[...]
Valentines: Are you passionate about your career?

Valentines: Are you passionate about your career?

It’s the season of love and, with this in mind, we thought we’d enter into the spirit of things and pose the question “how many of us can hand-on-heart say we are truly passionate about our career?”  As HR professionals there is often the consideration of whether our employees are fully engaged in their roles and the organisation, but do you ever stop to ask yourself if you love your own job?  Do you get[...]
Recruitment: The "Whys", "Whats" and "Hows"

Recruitment: The "Whys", "Whats" and "Hows"

Recruiting new employees into an organisation is a difficult, time-consuming and often costly process.  Before embarking on a new piece of recruitment it helps to be sure you know the “whys”, “whats” and “hows” in advance. Why am I recruiting? At first glance, this may seem like a simple question to answer, but when embarking on a piece of recruitment it is often about so much more than simply having a vacancy and needing to find someone[...]