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Careers & workplace advice from Hays

According to the World Health Organization, one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives, but worryingly mental health still has a stigma attached to it, especially when it comes to men and their mental health.

Despite women being more likely to be diagnosed with depression, data from the World Health Organisation indicates that the rate of suicide is higher among men than it is women.

So today, we’re joined by Business Psychologist Gordon Tinline, who is here to share his advice with our male listeners as well as, of course their friends, families, managers and colleagues to help men better invest in and maintain good mental health at work.

Continue reading Podcast 24: How men can open up about their mental health in the workplace →

“Skills” and “competencies” are two terms you’ll come across regularly when searching for your next job.  It might seem as if these two words are interchangeable – but it’s actually not quite right to describe “competency” as a mere synonym of “skill”. Continue reading Skills vs. competencies – what’s the difference, and why should you care? →

As you are probably well aware, one of the main reasons people choose to change jobs is because they want a little more money. Along with increased responsibility, more flexibility, a greater sense of purpose or a more suitable organisational culture, salary is usually a key factor in our decision making when it comes to changing jobs. Often, employees feel they’re not being paid fairly in their current role, and therefore decide that the time has come for their combined skills, experience and qualifications to command the higher salary they think they deserve. Continue reading How to work out what your ‘desired’ salary should be →

Digital technology is undeniably having a huge impact on both society and the workplace, generating unprecedented and constant change. It also brings potentially endless opportunities for organisations to innovate and outperform their competitors – but only if they are able to effectively overcome the barriers they face in doing so.

One important, yet often underestimated barrier in successfully exploiting all the benefits technology can bring, is people. So, today, I’m joined by Simon Winfield, Managing Director of Hays UK & Ireland, to discuss how leaders can address the ‘people element’ of their digital transformation efforts.

Continue reading Podcast 12: Why people are the key to the success of your digital transformation efforts →

An employee can be proactive if they are willing and able to think ahead and take actions to make positive changes to improve their work environment. They can be proactive in many aspects, for example, they can generate and apply new ideas when detecting potential industry trends, make suggestions when identifying problems that could undermine the performance of work units, or actively share helpful information with customers when serving them. Continue reading 5 sure-fire ways to motivate your employees to be more proactive →

We all know the importance of listening well in both our professional and our home lives, in fact, the importance of this skill is likely to increase. According to a recent McKinsey study, as the world of work shifts to automation, continuous learning and team-based working, a higher focus will be placed on the need for strong social and emotional skills – and the ability to listen well is at the core of this. Similarly, Mercer’s Global Talent Trends describes the importance of ‘human skills’ in the future workplace – those skills that aren’t easy to automate – and yes, that includes proper listening. However, listening remains an elusive skill – one that most people need to work hard at improving. Continue reading Are you a bad listener? Here’s how to get better →