How to Make Small Talk - You Can Do It!

Social communication is a very important part of our social skills. Your ability to interact with others in a free and easy way, with the other party feeling comfortable as well, can be an invaluable asset to you. From time to time, people find themselves in situations where they have to start or engage in informal discussions. This is often known as small talk.

Over 55s braced to work until 70 to stay mentally fit

Older workers (55+) in the UK are bracing themselves to continue working until they are 70 years old, according to new research by the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.

No Time to Exercise? Do It While You Work!

There just aren't enough hours in the day. At least, that's what we tell ourselves. Most of us struggle with busy schedules, too many time demands, and desk-bound jobs. That doesn't help with the aches and pains - tight necks, aching backs, sore shoulders, tired muscles - that many people face every day.

How To Keep Your Focus - Staying On Task

The Art of Handshaking: It Takes Two to Perfect It!

Not only in the corporate world, at places (in societies) where 'privacy' prevails supreme, has a handshake represented a silent understanding between the two individuals. Truly, it sets a base for a formal exchange of communication in immediate of near future. From the view of a highly respected professional skills trainer, the quality of the 'handy' physical touch often corroborates with the 'quality relationship' that may dwell and continue.

Making That First Impression at Work

YOU LANDED A NEW JOB BECAUSE of that wonderful first impression you made at an interview. But don't rest on your laurels. Now you must continue making positive first impressions with your boss, team members, and other colleagues.
You'll have the opportunity to do so during your first week on the job. So you better hit the street running to prevent it from becoming your last week.

5 Ways to Kill Employee Morale

Making sure the company is running efficiently and effectively is more complicated than hiring qualified people and telling them what to do. Having an incredible staff to support and carry out your business’ goals will only get you so far; the key is fostering a community within the workplace in which your workers not only feel comfortable to work and produce quality results, but empowered to take ownership and make decisions which will have a positive impact to the company.

4 Ways to Grab the Attention of Your Audience

Gaining your audience's attention at the beginning of your presentation is crucial for two reasons: your audience will remember the first things you say (primacy effect), and they will decide to stay engaged with you. Here are 4 ways to start your presentation on the right path for engagement.

Getting a Job - Five Tips for Interview Success

- What do I know about the job I am applying for?
- What do I know about the organisation who will be employing me?
- What do I know about myself?
- What do I know about the world at large?
- What do I know about the wider context of the organisation's market-place?

Women earn 8,500 pounds a year less than men by the time they reach their 50s

The new analysis of official statistics shows that women earn less than men annually at every stage in their careers. However the gender pay gap is at its widest when a woman hits 50. She will earn £85,040 less over the course of this decade than a full-time man.

Good Sleep is Essential for Mental Wellbeing

Insomnia affects approximately 69% of adults with depression. Poor sleep also increases the risks of developing anxiety and depression, and acts as a barrier to successful treatment.

10 Things To Do While Booking Any Hotel & Grab The Best Deal

If you are an avid traveler, you appreciate the need for early planning before making the trip. One of the most important aspects to consider is of course accommodation. It is also one of the most expensive components in your travel plans and it is always advisable to shop around for the most affordable deals.

Discrimination at work allowed to flourish unchecked as employment tribunal claims fall by 9,000 a month

New figures published by the TUC show that the number of working people challenging discrimination or unfair treatment at work has fallen by 9,000 a month since charges of up to £1,200 came in.

How to Gesture - AKA; What do I do with my hands?

Gestures, and especially hand movements, are important because they help orchestrate the language comprehension centers of your brain. In fact, your brain needs to integrate both the sounds and body movements of the person who is speaking in order to accurately perceive what is meant.

Half of women working in football have experienced sexism at work

• As recent polling showed that nearly half (46%) of women working in football have experienced sexism in the workplace.
• Nearly two-thirds (61%) of women in football have witnessed sexism at work.
• Nine in 10 (90%) of women in football still believe that more could be done to increase the chances of women not only breaking into the sport but getting further opportunities once in it.

Why Corporate Wellness Is Very Important for Every Organisation

Considering the level of stress and pressure in workplaces, wellness has turned up as one of the much-needed strategy that different organisations should apply in their work place. Different programs for achieving corporate wellness are getting even more popular in businesses having different sizes of work force.

5 Top Tips To Be Better Organised in Business, Work and Life

Quite often we know what we want to achieve in life, but we do not know how to plan our lives to achieve it. Organisation and planning are vital if we want to get to where we want to go. They are also crucial to getting organised and ensuring our success.

Organisation is about maintaining the right balance in our lives. It is about being able to allocate the right amount of time and attention to a given task so that it is fully completed...

Does Being Disorganized Make You Less Effective?

An effective manager is an organized manager - because being organized reduces distractions and removes the unnecessary from your life. Sometimes "getting organized" is easier said than done, however.
But if you can't keep your own workspace in order, how can you expect to properly manage others? If you begin your meetings half-focused on your computer screen, how can you expect your words to have much impact?

Pressure at work damages our relationships, says new report

Charities call for employers to offer flexible working and relationship support

Research out today highlights the immense pressure felt by UK employees to prioritise work ahead of relationships. One in three workers (33%) says their boss thinks work should come before family life, and a third (33%) also say their employer thinks the ideal employee should be available 24 hours a day.

Logged on but can't turn off?

A third of UK employees say remote access to work means they can’t switch off

New report finds many workers experiencing problems working away from the office, highlighting need for better guidance on flexible working

Almost a third of UK workers (32%) feel that having remote access to the workplace means they can’t switch off in their personal time, according to the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report.

Professional Salaries have grown by 3.68% in the past 3 years

The need for more clearly defined administrative roles is set to continue in 2017 with specialists in telemarketing/telesales expected to reap the highest salary rises at 3.2%: £16,750 - £17,000 (2016) to £17,000 - £23,000 (2017).

Disney Business Solutions launches Roadmap to Adventure

Disney Business Solutions launches Roadmap to Adventure, a new interactive rally game at Disneyland Paris

Following the launch of Meetcentives , Disney Business Solutions unveils its newest team-building innovation: Roadmap to Adventure , an interactive rallye game through Disney® Parks. Participants (up to 300) will encounter a wide range of challenges in teams of six within 2.5 hours, with a digital tablet in hand. Challenges include taking pictures of specific places, making short video clips, solving puzzles, scanning objects and many others.

The Great British High Street competition has revealed the nation's best high streets

The Great British High Street competition has revealed the nation's best high streets. Twenty-seven finalists now have the chance to impress an expert judging panel and battle it out in a public vote to be crowned Britain's best.

The importance of colour in business

Are we perceived as unique, presentable professionals in our people-centered work environment? Do we confidently engage with clients, prospects and colleagues with an authentic message and personal presence? Do we consider the impact of colour on how we progress in business?

The Etiquette of Sympathy: When a Colleague or Client Suffers a Loss

When a colleague, co-worker or business associate loses a family member, do you find yourself stuck on the etiquette of sympathy? Do you wonder how you should handle this kind of situation? Do you worry that you will use the wrong words or that you will intrude on the other person's grief?

The 21st Century Quest for Work-Life Balance

Called out by The New York Times last year for the challenging amount of hours it expects from its employees, Amazon is launching a test-run of a 30-hour workweek for some its technical teams.

Online Security For Small Businesses

The spotlight for online security for small businesses in the United Kingdom has never been brighter. The new European Data Protection Regulation, which regulates the progression of personal data within the European Union (EU), will come into full effect by April 2018 – which replaces the previous Data Protection Directive due to its out-of-date guidelines.

The Pain of Beginning Again

Let’s face it there are times that we all have had to start all over. The idea of beginning something again can be terrifying. The thought of all the efforts of planning and trying to re-call, re-connect and re-establish can be exhausting. However, when the passion of what you lost outweighs the pain of starting again…you go for it!

A fifth of secretarial and support professionals didn't take their full leave allowance last year

Research from the Robert Walters Career Lifestyle Survey has revealed that 18% of secretarial and support professionals did not take all of their annual leave, with 5% of survey respondents stating that they had taken none of their annual leave last year.

Number of temporary agency workers rises by 29% in a decade

The number of temporary agency workers has increased by 29% in the last 10 years, according to a new evidence which shows a shift in the country’s labour market.

New report on law trends in HR shows employers face many challenges

The report, based on research carried out by lawyers from 58 countries, shows that, employers are constantly weighing up their employees' rights to freedom of expression and privacy against their own rights to protect the business from the effect of adverse comment and improper disclosure by employees with whom they are in dispute, with particular regard to social media platforms.

British business travellers spend record 1 billion pounds on business trips to the US in 2015

New analysis(1) by Collinson Group reveals that UK business travellers spent £1.05 billion on business travel trips to the US in 2015, the first time it has risen above the billion-pound mark and up 35% from 2014. Such is the value of the US market that the amount spent in 2015 was more than the combined value of the next two markets: Germany (£451 million, up 26%) and France (£408 million, up 1%).

Majority of UK CFOs aspire to be CEO

The majority (86%) of UK Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are driven to reach the top role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in their current organisation, reveals new research1 from leading recruitment agency Robert Half UK.

People want job security as well as decent pay

As the ONS publishes new figures showing 900,000 people are on zero-hour contracts, Citizens Advice highlights how having a steady job is just as important to people as earning a decent wage.

Should employers clamp down on Pokemon Go?

Popular game prompts questions over use of personal devices, as Boeing becomes first business to ban it at work

The take-up of smartphone game Pokemon Go has been so remarkable - and the experience of playing it so immersive - that employers may need to revisit their policies to prevent a productivity glut, according to experts

Employers opt for temporary staff as permanent recruitment plummets

Hiring decreases to lowest point since 2009 recession; HR opportunities also affected, say specialists

The number of people being hired on a permanent basis has dropped more quickly than at any point since May 2009, according to a widespread study of recruiters.

The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) report, compiled by Markit, found that nearly 38 per cent of recruiters placed fewer people in permanent positions in July, compared with 32 per cent in June.

UK workers experienced sharpest wage fall of any leading economy

UK workers have suffered the biggest fall in real wages among leading OECD countries, according to new analysis published today (Wednesday) by the TUC.

The analysis shows that between 2007 and 2015, real wages in the UK fell by 10.4% - a drop equalled only by Greece.

By contrast, over the same eight-year period, real wages grew in Poland by 23%, in Germany by 14%, and in France by 11%. Across the OECD, real wages increased by an average of 6.7%.

4 Things you Need to Know about the Nutrition Facts Label

We all recognize the black and white Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods. Maybe if we are trying to be a little more health-conscious, we glance at it before buying food at the supermarket, more or less understanding how to decide which food is better for us. However, most of us prefer to ignore the nutrition facts label either because it doesn't interest us, or because "ignorance is bliss".

How Stressful Thinking Impacts You

Most of us experience tension daily, often it's hour by hour or worse minute to minute. How we cope with stress and worry determines whether we move forward or allow it to hold us back. Habitual negative thinking is often frenzied, inaccurate, and undependable, yet you can go through your entire life with negative thoughts that cause unproductive behavior and a more difficult life. Most people dealing with stress especially chronic stress assume that there's no getting around it, and its just the way life has to be. But this is certainly not the case!

For Meeting Planners Only

In planning traditional conferences and meetings, you consider who your target audience is, what topics need to be covered, who your keynoters and workshop presenters should be, and how much time should be allotted for each session.

Equally important as those details are to the overall success of your event is the venue and the ambiance. If people can't get to the location easily and affordably or if they aren't comfortable while they're there, your best planning won't matter. Accessibility is critical when choosing a location. When the site is difficult to find, hard to navigate or unreasonably costly, attendance will suffer.

When Managing Difficult People, Don't Let Pet Peeves Hook You

Do you have any pet peeves that annoy you about other people? Some of people are reluctant to admit their pet peeves. They believe they shouldn't have any, or they're too embarrassed to admit to them.

Some people will talk about things that irritate them about other people, and drive them crazy. Things they disapprove of, find embarrassing, or just don't like.

Guidelines to Follow for Event Fire Safety

No matter the size of the event, or where it is located, there is always a risk for a fire to break out. When you are in charge of planning a special activity, it is your responsibility to make sure that the attendees, dwelling, and the surrounding areas are going to be adequately protected in the instance that a fire emergency does occur.

3 Ways To Increase Focus In The Workplace

Most human resources studies show levels of disengagement in the workforce have never been higher.

While this can be down to numerous reasons, from a poor workplace culture and inadequate reward systems, to poor leadership, there is also the element of distraction that plays an increasingly large part in this trend.