HR Chat Room

In this podcast Alison and Jen are delighted to be joined by Emma Haddleton, Chartered Psychologist, specialising in various areas including leadership, occupational psychology and coaching.    In this one we explore what authentic leadership means and why it is not as easy as it sounds.  We share stories from our working lives related to this area and we discuss the challenges individuals face if they work too hard at keeping the work mask on.  We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did when we recorded it!

06-24

42:04

In this podcast Jen and Alison are delighted to welcome Clay Lowe as our guest.  We discuss the rise in Hybrid working since the end of the pandemic, a current topical item for millions of office workers (in the main) up and down the country...  From what it is v remote/home/flexible working to the challenges and benefits, the areas organisations should consider in making this model work the legal bits, and the role of the managers and leaders - as well as much more.  Our guest this week, with the amazing voice tones for listening to is Clay Lowe who also offers some handy collaboration tools to discover if you haven't already: The Visual Collaboration Platform for Every Team | Miro MURAL is a collaborative intelligence company | MURAL Interactive presentation software - Mentimeter Kahootz | Secure Cloud Collaboration Platform 2021Enjoy! We did... 

06-09

46:45

In this episode Alison and Jen discuss the importance of focusing on employee wellbeing and the business benefits linked to employee wellbeing.  They discuss how to develop an employee wellbeing policy, the importance of good people management, leadership buy-in and resources organisations may need to develop this policy.  

03-25

42:57

In this episode we discuss what coaching is, why it is an important skill in many situations, specifically at work, and why is it not as easy or straightforward as it might seem.  We also discuss our own learning and experiences of coaching.

01-17

41:33

Alison Bell and Jen Brown bring you the first episode of the HR Chat Room Podcast.  In this podcast we discuss the topic of performance management.  Very often organisations see the value of implementing a performance management process but for one reason or another they don’t get the best value from what they do in this area. In this podcast we explore some of the practical steps that organisations can take to ensure good performance discussions happen at work and do add the anticipated benefits to the organisation.     

01-13

34:52

In this episode, Alison Bell from Bell HR and Jennifer Brown from J7 Evolve Limited discuss the various preferences people have for working from home, in an office, or in a hybrid model, and how these preferences can change over time.Key Points:1. The pandemic accelerated the shift towards flexible and hybrid working, proving that remote work is possible for many jobs.2. People have a wide range of preferences for their work environment, and these preferences can change depending on their lif...

06-21

23:59

In this episode, Alison Bell from Bell HR and Jennifer Brown from J7 Evolve Limited discuss the challenges of building and maintaining confidence in the modern workplace, where flexibility, creativity, and innovation are increasingly valued.Some of the key points we discuss in this episode are:1. In the past, structured work environments with clear expectations and training helped build confidence, but the modern workplace's emphasis on flexibility and creativity can lead to dips in confidenc...

05-30

23:55

In this episode we continue our conversation on the subject of coaching in the workplace.  This time we focus on the coaching being provided by an external, professional coach and our guests Susan and Sally share their experiences of doing this when we worked with them at Strathcarron Hospice.  Together we chat, not only about the benefits, process and experience but also about why and how you might approach this.

05-20

38:04

In this episode of the HR Chat Room Jen and Alison discuss returning to the workplace.  After such a long time of working from home many people have adapted to this new way of working and in some cases would prefer not to return to  pre-pandemic workplaces.  We discuss how organisations can determine the best working practices for them, the communication and consultation with staff and the planning that is required to adapt to a new  way of working.  

05-06

36:07

In this episode Jen and Alison are delighted to be joined by Lynsey Weir of Aspire 2 B Coaching and Development.  We discuss the routes we took to becoming a qualified coach and why a coaching qualification was important to us. Lynsey provides us with different options available for coaching training, she discusses accreditation and also provides really helpful points to consider when researching coaching courses.  We hope you enjoy this most recent episode of the HR Chat Room podcast.

04-22

27:17

In this episode we discuss why conflict at work can feel so difficult, how to think about it differently so it doesn't seem such a bad thing, actually why it can be a good thing if handled well.  Plus - how to manage it and the dangers and potential consequences if it is not handled properly.

04-08

38:02

The term "coaching and mentoring" is often used by people when they are  referring to one and the same thing.  When we drill down into how these interventions work though we can see that they are very different.  In this episode we explore the similarities and differences in coaching and mentoring.  We are also delighted to welcome our first guest onto the podcast.  Danielle Kyle of Scotia Doors and Windows discusses her experience of working with Alison as a mentor.  

03-08

26:52

Alison Bell and Jen Brown discuss the various impacts and questions brought by the Covid19 pandemic in the latest episode of the HR Chatroom Podcast.   This chat is about the common issues faced by employers in managing staff through the pandemic.  We discuss the need to maintain a safe working environment and we also explore how to deal with vaccination status.  In addition to the practical steps employers need to take we will consider how to manage people through unprecedented times of change at work.  We direct listeners to online resources which they may find helpful.  The websites mentioned are: https://www.seemescotland.org and https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work (discussed at 23:22).

01-31

29:15

This short audio clip provides an introduction to the HR Chatroom Podcast which is due to be launched in January 2022.  We are Alison Bell and Jen Brown and we hope that you will follow our podcast to receive notifications when our new episodes are uploaded.