The h2h blog

Navigating Career Transitions: The Value of Outplacement Support by Kathryn Taylor

February 7, 2024

Undoubtedly, the prospect of redundancy, or any career transition, is fraught with stress and anxiety. By providing outplacement support to departing employees, both parties benefit—a departing employee feels valued and supported by their former employer, while the employer fulfils its social and moral obligation to safeguard the welfare of departing staff members.

Developing Core Skills for First Line Leaders by Sarah Tiffany

January 23, 2024

When you think that first line leaders directly supervise as much as 80% of the workforce, it stands to reason that if you can systematically set them up for success then you have a great start in setting your whole organisation up for success.  Continuous development and improvement of the key skills for this population will contribute to a thriving workplace and establish resilient, high-performing teams.

Clowns to the left of me…by Caryn Douglas

October 31, 2023

This week is Stress Awareness week, so it felt like a good moment to think about how we manage the circus of our daily existence. New stresses are always finding their way into our ‘stress bucket’, filling it up. Before long, it can overflow and we end up tripping up over our feet which are suddenly enormous, getting soaking wet and feeling like a clown.

Give Managers a Chance! by Susan Binnersley

October 25, 2023

Having engaged with literally thousands of managers over the years in my industrial career, both as an HR leader and more latterly as the MD of a business consultancy, I know that most managers are fundamentally good people, with positive intentions and genuine respect for the people they manage. The current landscape is also tough for them with ever increasing demands.

Turn meetings from terrible to tremendous with Six Thinking Hats by Caryn Douglas

October 10, 2023

Some simple measures can be put in place to help this overload – clearly written agendas can help people know if a meeting is worth their time. Observation of prompt start and set end times can also help. Good chairing and notetaking is essential. Organisational culture plays a big role in whether these simple measures happen or not. But even when they are in place, once people are in the room agendas are abandoned, debates and disagreements take up more than their fair share of time, no time is available for creative thinking, and no agreements or decisions are made.

How The Art Of Active Listening Can Unlock Success In Your Organisation by Sarah Tiffany

September 27, 2023

Both our professional and personal lives are filled with a constant and relentless streamline of communication- emails, briefings, WhatsApp, notifications, podcasts, memos, meetings, adverts – the list goes on and on. Everyone has something to say and, in a world where everyone is talking loud and fast, the leadership skill of active listening can often be overlooked. In our latest blog we look at the key benefits that active listening can promote within you organisation and why this skill should never be underestimated: