Business leaders are often the face and voice of their organisation, and considered personally responsible for performance. The entity and the person often become synonymous, and some leaders actively cultivate this — naming no names Elon. But only the very smallest of businesses are true sole traders, which means leaders of every other type of organisation (big and small) must work with their teams. Yet study after study have shown organisations perform better when leaders learn to let go...

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If you want the best shot at hiring the most talented employees, then time to hire is one of your most important HR metrics. 

All too often, employers lose top quality candidates to their competitors, for no other reason than moving too slowly. After all, being offered a job elsewhere is one of the top 10 reasons people turn down job offers. 

When it comes to hiring talented people, first mover advantage is crucial. Having a faster time to hire on average could give you a competitive advantage over other organisations trying to fill similar roles.

But what is a good time to hire average, and how is it calculated? 

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The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the workplace virtual. Seemingly overnight, millions of workers around the world were forced into home offices (or perhaps dining tables, couches or even beds!)

While some organisations have started to transition back to the physical workplace, there are others who will keep a remote-first working arrangement, and others who will adopt a “hybrid” combination of the two. And this is throwing up big challenges when it comes to building company culture.

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Our people are our biggest asset. For many, this may simply sound like management speak. But as HR professionals, you know better than anyone that a company’s worth is determined by its’ ability to produce results and drive growth. And this largely comes down to your people.

But when it comes to convincing senior management of that value, this can be harder than it looks.

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In an effort to avoid job cuts during the pandemic, many companies opted for scaling employees back to fewer hours or cutting out whole days altogether. For many, the idea of a four day work week was more necessity than nice-to-have in 2020.

Now that we’re re-thinking what the world of work will look like, and with more employees pushing for greater flexibility, some organisations are wondering whether a four day work week might be a good option for the long-term. Others on the other hand, denounce the idea as madness.

So what’s the go? Could a four day work week actually be good for business?

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Everyone loves a like! We see this every day in our personal lives - the social media landscape is set up to provide positive reinforcement and recognition to help people build social connections that feel valuable on both sides.

Each time we give or receive a like, it boosts our self-esteem, gives us an incentive to keep doing what we’re doing and makes us feel more connected to our network.

This need doesn’t go away when we enter the working world. In fact, the need for recognition has become more important than ever, following the recent remote working and social distancing mandates.

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Having a key employee quit is not something anyone looks forward to. Just thinking about all that knowledge and all those valuable skills that are about to walk out the door is enough to make you want to curl up in a ball and eat biscuits all afternoon. Plus there's the effort of replacing them to consider.

But managing the exit of an employee is one of the realities of being in HR. And as an HR manager, you have an important role to play in making sure the transition is as painless as possible.

Here are five strategies from HR experts who have lived through their fair share of losing important employees – they share their dos and don’ts for managing the exit of a key employee.

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There are many famous food ‘combos’ such as Tim Tams and tea, sausages and sauce, and burgers and beetroot. And let’s not forget the ultra-divisive pineapple and pizza combo. Regardless of where you sit in the pineapple debate (for the record we’re pro pineapple), most people will agree that one of the most well-known combos in business is HR & Payroll – where the functions of finance meet the administrative prowess of the human resources team.

Paying employees an accurate amount, on-time, is important for several reasons. One solution that many businesses use to reduce the risk of error is software integrations. These help streamline the conjunction of HR & payroll and minimise risks in a couple of areas.

Firstly, payroll mistakes where overtime is missed, or hours worked are paid at the wrong amount, can be costly for both employee and organisation and time consuming to correct.  Secondly, incorrect payroll can result in a serious lapse in productivity, as well as negatively affecting company culture.

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One of the biggest knock-on effects of the pandemic has been the transition to remote work. And with that, the realisation that in many industries, people can work for any company regardless of where they might live.

Although the shift to remote work has many benefits such as a wider talent pool, increased flexibility and lower costs, it also brings its own set of challenges. Particularly when you’re dealing with international employees.

HR is complicated enough when you’re only managing a local team, governed by local laws. Throw a global workforce into the equation, and you uncover a whole new set of dynamics. But what is it that makes international HR such a challenge?

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It’s difficult to ignore the fact that our world is at a bit of a make-or-break moment in terms of environmental sustainability. Notable figures like David Attenborough have done fantastic jobs warning us of the dangers we face if we continue down the path we’re on.

But something that is a little more difficult to see is how HR and environmental sustainability come together. After all, HR is responsible for things like hiring and firing, right? What have they got to do with environmental sustainability? 

These days HR teams are playing a more strategic role in business, advising on key issues that contribute to the organisation’s success. It’s important that you’re across the issues that are important to your leaders and employees - and in 2021, environmental sustainability is top of mind for many people.

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