Jobs & employment blog

  Expanding into a new country is a huge milestone for any organisation. It is also one of the most challenging. From finding the right people to forming a balanced team, there are many different factors to consider. In the last few years, Manchester City Football Club has extended from their North West England home to have a presence in places such as Singapore and Abu Dhabi. As...

The lockdown period has been a learning curve for both businesses and professionals. We have had to learn how to use new technologies and how to remain productive when outside of the office, all whilst consciously supporting one another’s mental health and wellbeing. Everybody’s experience of lockdown has been unique to them, with many facing daily challenges that have had the potential to...

The COVID-19 crisis has brought sweeping change to so many aspects of our lives – where we work being one of them. Some of these changes will be permanent. Indeed, many organisations have found that having a greater number of their employees based at home has worked out well for all parties. As a result, some employers have decided to shift completely to remote working for good, while others...

As governments around the world slowly start to ease lockdown restrictions, for many leaders, focus is now firmly on how to return to growth when operating with backdrop of uncertainty and unease. This is a monumental challenge, but we can rise to it if we utilise our organisation’s most valuable asset – our people. Post-COVID, people will be the key to driving your organisation’s growth ...

  The decision you make when choosing which employer to work for, and which role to accept, has always been an important one – life changing in fact. It’s an intently personal thing, rooted in your values and hopes and dreams for the future. However, it’s likely that during the lockdown period, you’ve been afforded more time to think and ruminate on your career trajectory,...

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched all areas of business. It has meant organisations and workers alike have had to adapt and be agile to deliver, in some cases, the same job they had been doing one way for some time. Delivering training is no different and in this new era of work, having a robust training programme will be fundamental to helping organisations to adapt to and embrace change in...

If there’s one thing social distancing measures have shown us, it’s that a large percentage of the workforce can work productively and successfully from home. The traditional perspective that people must be physically present in one set workplace during standard business hours has been turned on its head. Scepticism has been replaced with a new-found awareness that output, performance and...

Continuing physical distancing measures will see your former open-plan office layout replaced with a new seating plan, separated desks and dividers. It will likely lead to you returning to your workplace on a roster system with staggered start and finish times. There will also be fewer in-person meetings and informal brainstorming sessions around a colleague’s computer. In short, the...

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organisations to undergo significant change and adjust to an unexpected new reality. From adapting products or services to adopting new technology to run their business, in a matter of weeks organisations have undergone levels of change that, pre-crisis, we wouldn’t have thought possible in years. Consequently, the people working in these organisations have...

If you work in inclusion and diversity (I&D) at the moment, you’re probably concerned that years of progress could be lost within a short space of time. Senior teams are focusing on the here and now: reacting to fast-changing government advice, trying to keep day-to-day business running virtually, and attempting to salvage business as we all deal with the continued financial fall-out of...

In just a matter of weeks, the world of work has been shaken by more change and uncertainty than it has experienced in an entire generation. The COVID-19 crisis is forcing organisations around the world to transform their business models, find new ways of working and question their very purpose in what feels like the blink of an eye. Establishing trust is key when leading through a crisis ...

The global COVID-19 crisis has already transformed the way in which we work in such a short space of time. As the situation continues to develop and the road to recovery is expected to be a long one, business leaders and professionals must adapt and be agile to the challenges that are presented to them on a daily basis, with valuable lessons to be learned along the way. In this Q&A,...

“I’m so nervous.” “I’m sure all the other candidates are better than me.” “I’ve never had a video interview before, it’ll probably go wrong.” “I feel worried about the impact of the virus, what if that negatively impacts my performance?” 80% of all the thoughts we have are negative. Yes, you read that right, 80% of the 12,000-16,000 thoughts we have every day are negative. And, of...

In these difficult times, most interviews are being conducted remotely either over the phone or by video call. So, in this Q&A, we’re joined by Gaelle Blake, Director of Permanent Employment at Hays UK and Ireland. Gaelle is here to share her expert advice for those who are worried about interviewing remotely, to help them overcome their fears and secure their next job. 1) Before...

As the restrictions that were put in place across the world to combat COVID-19 begin to be lifted and plans to transition back into the office are underway, we can expect a very different workplace to the one we left behind and a different way of working. So, what do HR departments need to consider as they begin this transition? The phased return to the workplace will be a slow one and not...

With restrictions around the world beginning to slowly ease, and home working set to become more normalised, many leaders have understandably been wondering how their teams will operate post-crisis. Much of the answer to this question is currently unclear. However, it seems inevitable that many organisations will adopt more flexible working policies, allowing at least an element of home...

We have all found ourselves having to adapt quickly, both in our personal and professional lives. In this way, the COVID-19 pandemic has served to highlight a key skillset which we all need to continually develop and nurture, in order to operate successfully in our role, no matter what that role may be. Change agility, the ability to quickly and successfully embrace and adopt change, will...

All around the world, leaders and managers are currently welcoming new starters to their teams remotely. As such, the onboarding process is being done entirely from home – this is unchartered territory for most, and interestingly, it’s a scenario that will likely become more common, with hybrid teams set to become more prevalent in the next era of work, post-crisis. Why is a positive remote...

Social distancing rules aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus forced mass remote working onto a significant percentage of the world’s skilled professionals. While this was designed as a temporary stop-gap, many employees have come to appreciate the benefits of working from home and wish to retain some form of flexibility once they transition back into co-located workspaces. While the...

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally.” Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Practising mindfulness is not about avoiding all of the many thoughts (positive and negative) that are buzzing through our minds every day. It’s...