Devising little tests such as a hiring lunch and other tricks have always been around to test job seekers for cultural fit. Thomas Edison is famously reported to have served candidates a bowl of soup when he was interviewing for research assistants. He seemingly wanted to see whether they added salt or pepper to the…

There is much discussion around civility in the workplace and social media. On the one hand you have a demographic quoting from Orwell’s 1984  railing against “thought police” and insisting on the right to free speech. The words cancel culture and woke have crept into our vocabulary in recent months. On the other hand there…

Employer branding has always been important to attract top talent, but today it is more significant than ever. The emergence of a generation of super digitally savvy candidates means that the standard ways of building a strong employer brand are no longer sufficient. These candidates are smart enough to lift the curtain and dig deeper.…

What we can learn from the resistance to Unconscious Bias Training If you asked any corporate leader if they wanted their workplaces to be respectful, open-minded and psychologically secure for their employees most would say immediately “yes.” There would be a few who couldn’t care less but they are unlikely to admit that publicly. The…

And when did respect become political correctness? Have you ever noticed how people apologise for political correctness or pour scorn on it as somehow  it’s something we have to justify. We frequently hear sentences starting with “I know this is politically incorrect but…..”  They then go on to say something mildly or even extremely offensive.…

Last week I wrote a post “5 ways to avoid a toxic workplace culture.” This took a macro view of workplace culture. I have been asked by many readers to give practical tips to avoid being or becoming a toxic boss. There is an old adage that says people leave bosses not organisations so all…

Very often those leading or working in toxic workplace cultures are unable to see things how they really are. Bad habits and behaviours are so deeply ingrained that the individuals involved no longer notice. Or if they do, they make excuses “That’s how he/ she is” or “that’s the way we do things here.”  Then…

Toxic talk is prevalent but has now reached LinkedIn For some years Academics have becoming increasingly concerned about the potential fallout from “uncivil discourse.”  So called “toxic talk” can end up polarizing opinion “when individuals rather than issues are attacked” (Stryker, Conway, & Danielson, 2014). The concerns over incivility extend to the online information environment, where “nasty comments can…

In any hiring process I have been involved in, if I had a Euro (or any other currency) for the number of times I have heard these phrases I could probably retire: It didn’t feel right He/she wouldn’t fit There was something about… Trusting our instincts can help us in many ways. But in some…

Never before has the future of HR been so under the microscope. The pace of change in our workplaces is unprecedented. Businesses need to make decisions and make them quickly around digitalisation, gig and agile workforces, gender balance, diverse and inclusive teams, employee performance and engagement, at a time of global economic uncertainty.The role of…