Valam Solutions

During times of uncertainty, employees are given a true taste as to how their employer reacts to turbulent news and an ambiguous future. That has been the case for many throughout the coronavirus pandemic, where employers have come under fire for making rash decisions when it comes to their staff and their jobs. This was true for the CEO of the Derby-based aerospace company, Rolls-Royce. Earlier this year, Warren East was criticised for his ‘appalling’ behaviour as he appeared to smirk during a BBC interview where he was discussing potential job cuts at the business, due to the impact the global pandemic had had. It’s due to these actions that many employees have wanted to jump ship and find a new place of work during this time, however, with mass job cuts continuing to flood news headlines, plus, following the news that the UK is officially in a recession, many are still hesitant to leave the comfort of their current position. With this in mind, UK-based price comparison website Money...

Building communication between employees is a fundamental role of HR.  Without effective communication, teams can break down and ultimately cost a business money.   This has never been more evident during the pandemic when a pivot to remote work and digital communication meant that HR was often called upon to act as makeshift comms centre.  As Harriet Shurville, Chief People Officer at Iris previously told HR Grapevine: “One of the biggest challenges we’re currently dealing with is how we manage to keep everyone connected and convey that sense of shared company culture when everybody is in different cities and towns around the UK.”  Of course, there is clear reasoning for this focus on comms. Lack of clear internal communication hits productivity and morale among employees, as The Economist 2018 report Communication Barriers in the Workplace revealed.  In fact, the study found that respondents believe communication barriers lead to delays or failures in pro...

The qualities of a leader can have a huge impact on staff; if a leader tends to express unreasonable demands, a culture of fear will likely develop which can lead to high turnover. Whereas, if a leader is authentic and trusting, employees are more likely to stay. This is echoed in research by the University of Nebraska. In its study of entrepreneurial leadership, it was revealed that the biggest predictor of whether or not people are happy in their jobs isn’t company culture or office camaraderie, it is in fact an authentic leader. Similarly, Adam Weber, Chief People Officer at Emplify, has defined an authentic leader in his book  Lead Like a Human, as ‘someone who is willing and able to be themselves, and leads in a way that feels natural to who they are as a person’. However, being truly authentic can be easier said than done, partly due to the fact that many leaders chose to adopt the same leadership style as their mentor or manager. But to be truly authentic means to develop a ...

What is Self-Esteem? Most people's thoughts and feelings about themselves fluctuate somewhat based on their daily experiences. The grade you get on an exam, how your friends treat you, ups and downs in a romantic relationship can all have a temporary impact on how you feel about yourself. Your self-esteem, however, is something more fundamental than the normal ups and downs associated with situational changes. For people with good self-esteem, normal ups and downs may lead to temporary fluctuations in how they feel about themselves, but only to a limited extent. In contrast, for people with poor self-esteem, these ups and downs drastically impact the way they see themselves. Poor vs. Healthy Self-Esteem People with poor self-esteem often rely on how they are doing in the present to determine how they feel about themselves. They need positive external experiences (e.g., compliments from friends) to counteract the negative feelings and thoughts that constantly plague them. Even then,...