Is your Desk making you Fat?

How much of your day to you spend sitting?  For many of us we sit at the office, during our commute and later when we are resting at home, maybe as much as 14 hours every day!  Frighteningly, recent research suggests that a day spent sitting at a desk will undo the benefits from cycling to work or going to the gym!

A number of studies into inactivity have been conducted to try to understand what part sedentary behaviour is playing in the rise of obesity and diabetes.

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Why 80% of Managers are in the Wrong Job

For many ambitious employees the addition of the word manager to their job title is a proud moment.  It conveys success, status and power.  And rightly so. Line managers have more influence on employee productivity, engagement and retention than pay, work place conditions and even senior mangement.

It’s therefore very concerning to discover that according to Gallup, 82% of those bearing the title aren’t up to the job!

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8 Daily Habits of Successful Leaders

If your inbox and meeting schedule is dominating your working life, here are some habits adopted by successful leaders that enable them to retain a fresh perspective and intellectual edge.

1. Get out in the field – Management by walking about tends to illicit far more accurate information than reports and spreadsheets.  …

Why Junior Teams outshine Senior Teams

Over the last 20 years we’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of teams from groups of children through to boards of FTSE companies.

On reflection, it seems that the more senior the team the less effective it may be, here’s why:…

5 Ways Play will Boost your Business

Dangerous pranks, hurtful banter and the risk of distraction, are probably the reasons so many managers clamp down on fun at work. In doing so they are missing out on a number of opportunities to save money, harness talent and make new discoveries.

Read on for our top 5 ways in which play can boost your business… …

The Price of Efficient Workplaces

Brand managers, accountants and numerous other roles were very different 10 years ago. Whereas now it’s hard to tell who does what, in an open plan office with scores of people all sat staring at screens.

Many employees, regardless of role spend their entire day sat in the same seat, staring at the same screen. perhaps occasionally moving to another seat to attend a meeting. All the while, efficiently working through a series of defined tasks. Rarely, if at all sharing a thought with a colleague or testing a new idea. Consequently, the efficiency we’ve striven to achieve has compromised our ability to innovate. …

Plotting What Makes Your Team Tick

Understanding what motivates co-workers can ensure a happy and productive workplace. The Royal Navy use the Strength Deployment Inventory to maintain harmony aboard ship, as do many leading businesses.

Like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator the SDI is based on proven Jungian Psychology.  By highlighting individuals’ strengths it serves to encourage team members whilst also graphically showing the spread of strengths across the team….

How Balfour Beatty Play it Safe

3 Reasons Why Good People Will Quit in January

As we take time to rest and reflect over the Christmas holiday, it’s likely that some of your smartest colleagues will be making a new year resolution to switch jobs!

 

Here are the most common reasons why people might quit, and some ideas on how to keep hold of your talent:…

Broken Leaders – How to spot them

An MBA at Harvard will set you back around $150k, at the end of which you’ll have a potentially good leader. Add to this ongoing training at upwards of £500 per day, the costs of selection, shadowing and a few failures and you should get a reasonable manager. Developing good leaders is a costly business.

It’s therefore somewhat ironic that while we’ve got better at creating this precious commodity of bright talent we often fail to notice when cracks appear….