Hays UK jobs and employment blog

Well, what a challenging year this is turning out to be. We’re not even halfway through and have already experienced more change and upheaval than we ever could have predicted, and the changes aren’t stopping or slowing down just yet. No doubt your organisation, like ours, had to make the unprecedented change of catapulting all employees into remote work, almost overnight. No matter where...

  Covid-19 is unlike anything that we’ve seen in recent history. It has dramatically changed our day-to-day lives and the way in which we work, meaning organisations and professionals have had to adapt to this new world rapidly and take on new challenges. One issue, a prolonged period of isolation could create, is the negative impact on people’s mental wellbeing. So, what can we learn...

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on our lives, work, and – crucially – our NHS and public services. Since the beginning of the crisis, our front line key workers have forged on tirelessly to ensure we can all continue to stay at home and save lives. At 11am on 28 April, all of NHS England’s national and regional teams along with the public were asked, in a minute’s silence, to...

When it comes to managing our teams, the coronavirus pandemic has brought a whole host of unique challenges and obstacles we couldn’t have predicted. The priority for all of us is to ensure the health and safety of our people. But, how do we as managers and leaders, when faced with extended periods of lockdown and into the new era of work that will include increased remote working, help...

The world of work is moving into a new era. As the lockdown lifts, we’ll in all likelihood find ourselves in a ‘hybrid’ phase for a long time, where social distancing rules still apply, but organisations will be keen to get staff back into the workplace. This will result in an agile style of working in which employees will be dividing their time between remote and on-site working. Temporary...

To say that 2020 hasn’t exactly got off to the best start for many of us would be the understatement of the century. Here in Australia, we were only just beginning to start the recovery from the devastating bushfires that wreaked havoc across the country, impacting massively on lives, businesses and wildlife. This wasn’t just happening in Australia, many other parts of the world have also...

With many of us now having become accustomed to ‘lockdown-life’ and working remotely, the big challenge facing organisations will be how to manage the evolution of working practices as social distancing measures are gradually eased. This ‘new era’ of work is unlikely to immediately constitute a complete transition back to life as we knew it before, with many teams likely to be working to...

Most of us, at some stage or another question ourselves. We question our abilities, our skill, our judgement. We worry that we’re not good enough. We listen to the self-deprecating thoughts buzzing around in our minds, and we take those thoughts to heart. After all, we’re all human and all of us experience a dent to our self-confidence at some stage or another, some more regularly than...

Our lives will never be the same again. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration, it’s a fact. COVID-19 has already, in a matter of just a few weeks, completely changed our world. If you take a step back and really think about the magnitude and speed of what’s happening around us, it’s remarkable – we probably won’t experience anything like it again in our lifetimes. It feels like a line has...

A key role for leaders is to engage and motivate their team – but how? And how can you do it when everything is so uncertain and different? To help us to find the answers, it’s useful to look at some of the main elements of engagement and motivation. There are numerous engagement theories and models our there – in fact, the ‘Engaging for Success’ report of 2009, estimated that...

There is much we don’t know about what the world will look like once we emerge from the coronavirus crisis, nor exactly when this will be. What we do know is that we are now entering a new era of work, one that most likely involves hybrid ways of working and managing teams. With this comes a renewed focus by employers on certain technical and soft skills. Here are four skills that are in...

As we move to a new era of work, many managers will need to coordinate ‘hybrid’ teams working on different schedules – with some working different set hours and others working remotely. Taking a new scheduling approach will be key to navigating this change. With this in mind, here are five things to keep in mind when creating a new schedule to manage your teams effectively, no matter where...

In the current pandemic where everything is uncertain and the world of work is completely different, what can we do to maintain our mental wellbeing? How do we manage any worries or feelings of anxiety that we might be having? If things seem uncertain or difficult in this time, or you are wondering how to get through this time, remember the three ABCs of our basic psychological needs –...

During any extra free time that lockdown affords, it will come quite naturally for some to take a moment of stillness and reflect on their career – but for others, this will require a more proactive effort. But being physically away from your usual workplace for longer than ever before is a great time to consider both your current job and your future career. To get you started, here are some...

As an employer you will always aim help your team flourish and succeed, but there will be times when difficult conversations need to be had – whether you are placing your staff on furlough leave or need to discuss flagging performance. Ultimately, you need to do what’s best for your team and your organisation, so here are 6 golden rules to remember which will make those difficult...

The worldwide coronavirus crisis has put managers to the test, and many have had to adapt rapidly to protect their teams and organisations. The paradigm shift to ways of working has been compared to other crises like the Second World War, and just as that conflict was a catalyst for social and economic change, the impact of coronavirus will be far reaching, potentially changing the way we...

Despite the ongoing uncertainty, you should still be looking to the future and considering how you can make your professional ambitions a reality. But how should you conduct your job-search in the wake of coronavirus? How has your profession changed since the advent of the pandemic? And how can you ensure your CV reflects this? 1. Emphasise your change management experience or mindset The...

Only a mere few months ago, the world of work looked remarkably different and organisations had priorities completely unlike the ones they have today. In the wake of a crisis however, things can change rapidly, and leaders across industries are finding themselves in need of certain skills to ensure they come out the other side of this pandemic in the best form possible. It seems unfeasible...

You may not think that being based at home full-time during the current situation is the opportune moment to be moving up the career ladder. However, spending so much time at home can offer a few benefits, the main one being that you have likely gained some spare time to reflect on your career and upskill. So why not dedicate your new-found free time to develop in areas that will place you...

As working parents at Hays with 6 children between us aged 2-11 and partners who also work full time, like many we are both currently trying to navigate our way through full time remote working whilst parenting children at the same time. The challenge of confined living will have been particularly acute for those families spending days on end under the same roof, but despite being a...