Like me, I’m sure most of you still revert to the old school days’ habit of clearing your desk in preparation for the new school year. Not only can it serve as a boost of inspiration, that sense of a fresh beginning can do wonders for your productivity levels, positive mindset and creativity.
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Part of this trend towards inhouse recruitment is about cutting costs, but when I look at the findings from the report by Thomas International I take some comfort that our business would not be trading if 57% of the people we placed were ‘not working out to some degree’.
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Work-life balance has taken on a whole new dimension in the last 15 months or so. Whilst many were seeing working from home as possibly the only silver lining of the pandemic, others now struggle to draw a line between home and work, and feel like they live at work, not work from home. So as communicators, how do we help to develop a new approach to work that is healthy for individuals and beneficial for organisations?
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Back at the start of 2020 flexible working was still a contentious debate and the word hybrid meant a new bike or car. Roll on 15 months and we all know it to mean something quite different and life changing. While we continue to find our way out of this pandemic, organisations are now grappling with evolving workplace models to support their people and performance longer term.
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We were delighted to meet with fellow communicators yesterday for another online networking session. This one was a bit different, welcoming a senior communicator and the leader of her business region to share perspectives on partnering to drive growth. Helen Baldwin is Head of Employee Communications, EMEA and Frederik Maris is VP, EMEA for Splunk, a fast growing US software company employing more than 6,000 people in 27 offices worldwide.
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As professional communicators dyslexia is something we should all be taking into consideration, especially as it affects at least 1 in 10 people. Dyslexia is a recognised disability, and can affect organisational skills, the ability to and speed of processing instructions, directionality (for example, clumsiness and mixing up lefts and rights), visual processing and visual stress as well as fluency of reading.
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As we’re approaching the end of the year and looking forward to the New Year (really, really hoping that 2021 will be much more of a positive one!), I thought I would share with you some ideas on improving and developing your professional network.
The Christmas break is a great time to put a little focus on your networking and develop a strategy for the new year. Even if you’re currently in a role and not actively looking to move onto something else, it’s still good practice to keep up to date with some professional network ‘house-keeping’.
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Winter was brightened this week by an online gathering of our community for a hugely enjoyable workshop. We were delighted to be joined by senior communicators from two very different organisations: Aoife Reynolds, Head of External and Internal Communications, EMEA for Nomura and Donna Dew, UK Head of Internal Communications and Engagement at William Hill. Both explained their 2020 experiences and direction this year based on what they’d learned.
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So, what does the future look like for employers? Will you be able to continue to enjoy the many benefits of bolstering your comms teams with contractors, who bring specialist knowledge and experience and an extra bit of oomph just when you need it?
The simple answer is ‘Yes’. With a bit of planning, educating and preparing there is no reason to shy away from this kind of resource.
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Well, 2020 wasn’t the best year and there’s certainly a mood of despondency following the recent announcements of national lockdowns across the UK. But after a good, albeit like most, quieter Christmas break than usual, I wanted to share what’s kept me going and what I’m hoping will continue in 2021. I’m calling these my beacons of hope. Some are connected, but all positively impact my approach to work and have never played a more important part in my life and career than they do currently.
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As we’re approaching the end of the year and looking forward to the New Year (really, really hoping that 2021 will be much more of a positive one!), I thought I would share with you some ideas on improving and developing your professional network.
The Christmas break is a great time to put a little focus on your networking and develop a strategy for the new year. Even if you’re currently in a role and not actively looking to move onto something else, it’s still good practice to keep up to date with some professional network ‘house-keeping’.
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2020 has by turns made us Zoom or Teams enthusiasts, experts, and emerging from our second lockdown, burnout victims. There now seems to be a deluge of articles describing our exhaustion from the platforms that so successfully brought us together for our first lockdown. What’s harder to find is how organisations are gaining from this seismic shift in the way teams communicate, and how those teams are working differently as a result.
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We were privileged to be joined by Johanna Lavender, Head of Communications for functions at bp, and Richard Walden, Head of Communications at Heathrow, who shared with us their organisation’s ‘Covid Journey’ and what they have learnt from it.
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We know that things will be up and down for some time, so here are my tips on how to keep balance in your own search for work. This is based on my many conversations with contractors and candidates over the years as well as during this pandemic
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Our upcoming event (albeit a virtual one!) on 18 November focusses on ‘purpose, positivity and practicalities’ and we’re looking forward to hearing how fellow communicators have adapted and grown in a challenging time.
I don’t know about you, but it’s been hard these last few months to keep the old chin up and carry on as ‘normal’. Every day still has something positive in it…but some days it feels like you just have to look a little harder to find it. So, I started thinking about some tips on how to keep the positivity up.
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It seems that Covid-19 is changing how business leaders think about our working hours; Survation and think tank Autonomy found that 79% of leaders are now quite or very open to a four day week. With homeworkers gaining their commute and meeting travel time, leaders are seeing the benefits of reduced or flexible working hours. Many of us have been lucky to discover new exercise, the great outdoors or just our families! And a better balance in our lives, something to offset the profound negatives of 2020.
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Whilst we are all trying to make sense of the world as individuals, we also need to come together to support our organisations to respond to these events in an appropriate manner. It can be very tricky as an individual to be sure you are saying and doing the right thing – so coming together in a corporate environment with many different perspectives to create an appropriate ‘corporate response’ seems even harder.
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Whilst we are all trying to make sense of the world as individuals, we also need to come together to support our organisations to respond to these events in an appropriate manner. It can be very tricky as an individual to be sure you are saying and doing the right thing – so coming together in a corporate environment with many different perspectives to create an appropriate ‘corporate response’ seems even harder.
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