Blogs
Does survey completion rate matter?
I’ve just read on a well-known HR site that we shouldn’t get too hung up on survey completion rate when measuring staff engagement – it’s OK if half the staff fill…
How to build an effective team
There is no mystery about how to build an effective team: it happens automatically. Give a group of eight-year-olds a ball and they will improvise a game in no time,…
Which is best for motivating a team – carrots or sticks?
We spend a lot of time debating the problems of motivating a team – when to use carrots or sticks, or what level of bonus might be appropriate for a…
Staff sickness cancels 500 trains
It has been a bad week for anyone who has to commute into London by Southern Railway. The trains are packed enough as it is, with many season ticket holders…
Motivation theory and what does it mean to thrive?
As you can imagine, that’s an important question to us. And in a field full of similarly vague concepts (happiness, satisfaction, engagement, motivation and so on) it seems an important…
Using WeThrive to boost employee engagement
There are plenty of tools out there to boost employee engagement, and they all produce impressive-looking reports. So far so good, but the hard part for managers who have to do…
How to improve employee engagement, not lose your shirt
France is famous for direct action, but this was something else We’re used to piles of burning tyres at the Eurotunnel, lakes of milk in the Champs-Elysées, etc., but the…
Why are so many people unhappy at work?
One way to answer the question about why so many people hate their jobs is to remember the very best job you ever had and ask yourself what made it…
Big business is dumping the performance review. You next?
According to the Washington Post, the annual performance review is finally on its way. A number of big companies have already said they’re taking the plunge, Accenture, Gap and Adobe…
Should office design be part of the performance appraisal process?
That sound an odd suggestion, but if you run and/or work in any kind of office you might want to read the recent Harvard Business Review blog post on office…
Healthy workplaces make for happy and effective employees
It’s official – the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK body that looks after public health, says that if you look after the wellbeing of employees…
One thing every manager can do that always improves staff performance
It’s Monday morning and I have a weekly management meeting with my director…. Last week was not a good week – we missed our numbers again ;-( As expected got…