Curveballs
The nights are drawing in, the clocks have gone back; the heating has gone on. Venturing into town the shops are, unsubtly, reminding me that Christmas is just around the corner and with it comes the realisation that we will soon say goodbye to one year and hello to another. As I ponder on the […]
“We hire people who want to think for themselves, who want to be a force for good.”
OVO is a fast-growing energy company based in Bristol, already making a name for themselves both as a challenger within the industry and for having strong focus on company culture and values, having grown from a handful of employees seven years ago to over 1,200 today. We headed over to their foliage-filled office to take a look […]
Are you a punk or are you a Punk?
Blaire Palmer is CEO of That People Thing, a consultancy dedicated to inspiring leaders in fast-paced, ambitious businesses to drive change in their organisations in partnership with their people. Blaire has been described as a "secret weapon", a "business muse" and "that lady who does the leadership and team stuff". She is a regular guest expert […]
The Iceberg of Change
There are always a million reasons NOT to change and this graphic captures some of the most common reasons or 'excuses' for not innovating or initiating new plans. Being aware of how certain mindsets can prevent us from grasping opportunities when they arise can be one of the first steps in moving forward. Making people […]
OD and L&D – the space in the middle is where we all meet
“What’s the difference between L&D and OD, and does it matter?” was the question posed for a recent online chat. (I recommend you follow the hashtag #ldinsight on twitter and join in the conversation each Friday morning 8.00am-9.00am). I got a sense during the conversation that OD practitioners can be seen as making themselves somehow “other” – that […]
20 years of HR innovation…or not?
The end of August 2016 was a big milestone for Fosway Group, marking 20 years of learning and HR technology research. The last two decades have obviously brought about massive changes, both in technology and how we interact with it. What I have found interesting about reviewing our research archive as part of our anniversary […]
Bringing intelligent insight to innovation
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune… And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare It’s some years now since I first wrote about the way in which the pace of technological development allied to […]
Why employee autonomy means giving up control
"Why would I want to do that?" He’s the CEO of a venerable Canadian institution and right now he’s not impressed by my suggestion. By the tone of his voice you’d think I’d said he should give all his employees a 100% pay rise and six months paid holiday a year. In fact, I’ve suggested allowing […]
What are your experiences of L&D in retail?
We've covered it a bit in previous discussions, but seeing as L&D can change so much depending on both org size and industry, I wondered if retail was potentially the most difficult to get engagement from trainees, seeing as the roles are so stressful and seen as quite transient if customer-facing. The fact that many […]
What are the common characteristics that define High Performance Organisations?
In recent years we’ve been hearing a lot about High-Performance Organisations (HPOs) and what defines them. They outperform their peers. They deal with well with change. They are lean and know how to spread their resources. It turns out that no matter which list of HPO characteristics you look at, they all agree on some […]
Innovation requires real customer understanding
So, what do you know about your customers? Sure you may have some quite sophisticated statistical analysis programme which combines sales and store card data in order to track spending patterns for example, but in reality, how much does that actually help you to really understand your customers? Let me say at the outset that […]
Keys to Training New Employees on Security Protocols
Every network is vulnerable to hackers all over the world. Organizations should be concerned with all the threats out there. In fact, a recent report by DataIQ stated that by the end of 2016 over 1 billion data breaches. With the average data breach costing tens of thousands of dollars, it has become imperative for […]
Book Review: ‘The People Formula: 12 steps to productive, profitable, performing business’ by Jane Sunley
In The People Formula, Jane Sunley aims to ‘dramatically improve the performance and profitability of your business’ through the application of 12 steps which address many important business challenges. These steps address issues such as how to get buy-in from the top, driving employee engagement and delivering practical learning and development. The book is not […]
How to keep team players engaged
This was authored by Patrick Lencioni with assistance from Steve Turner and Mike Snelling. With the triple whammy of austerity, exiting Europe and its uncertain impact and the need for a government to demonstrate a new type of leadership it’s no wonder that when we at The Table Group consult in organisations we are hearing […]
What your voice in the workplace says about you
In business we usually get things done by talking. But how well are you doing this? Kate Laws from people business Connor takes a look at why it’s important to assess your communication and influencing skills at work. When it comes to business, talk isn’t cheap. From the board room to the shop floor, the […]
How to buy an LMS that you can’t stand [Buyer Insight]
Recent research conducted with LMS software buyers drew out some key conclusions and themes for purchasing the right business system. The research explored the initial triggers for change along with some of the key influences on the decision and people involved in the process. This research provided valuable insight into some of the steps that are […]
The 8 Learning & Development trends you can’t ignore
The field of Learning & Development has been developing immensely the last few years, the omnipresence of smartphones being, of course, a large factor. What are the most important L&D trends at this moment? According to Deloitte's research, the trends seem to be coming from the changing environments of the organizations, their need for a […]
How To Use Training To Foster Healthy and Engaged Employees
These days, it takes more than increasing salaries to cultivate healthy and engaged employees. Although the financial reward is why most of us need to work in the first place, encouraging true on-the-job motivation and enthusiasm is a slightly more complex matter. One of the most influential studies, conducted by the UK Civil Service Health […]
Politician analysis: Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, the man that Barack Obama has recently labelled “unfit” to be president of the US could potentially hold that very office on Tuesday November 8th 2016. We ask, how does a man who is widely reported to be brash, rude and more than a little economical with the truth, get to be […]
Careers development at a young age
When I was at school, it would have been amazing if a teacher had said: "Adrian, the reason I'm asking you to trot around the playground with a trundle wheel is because…" and: "Ade, the reason I'm asking you to do this with a Bunsen Burner is…" If "careers" had been embedded into Maths, English, French, Science, […]
