Recent TRG blog posts

It's been a century since efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth discovered in 1920 that it's best to hire a lazy worker to do a hard job because they will find an easy way to do it. (And no, it's not Bill Gates who said it first.) But the philosophy of "working smarter, not harder" has not fully caught on among managers themselves. 

In an article published on FastCompany, Matt Casey, author of The Management Delusion—The Easy Way to Do a Hard Job, shared his thoughts on "the lazy management approach", a term which he coined during his time at Moonfruit (UK). The name is a clever take on the nature of his management position, and it has nothing with being lazy.

If you think employers that offer employees the ability to work from home any day of the week is progressive enough, think again. COVID-19 has accelerated an endless number of transformative initiatives that are otherwise put on hold indefinitely. Among which, work from home (WFH) was the one that witnessed the strongest growth due to increasing health concerns.

Read more: 5 questions for leaders to ensure business continuity post-COVID

To create a positive work environment, your company needs a strong employer brand, an inspiring organisational culture, a clear vision, a well put together strategic plan, and competitive perks and benefits. It is hard work, but worthwhile.  

Job interviews are arguably the most beloved employee selection tool. They are so widely used that interviews are synonymous with the hiring process. However, most job interviews are unstructured and prove to be unreliable and ineffective. That is, they fail to predict actual employee performance.

In the last two articles, we discussed the advantages of diversity and inclusion in the workplace as well as some obstacles the HR department might face during the process of building a diverse, equal and inclusive environment. In the next step, we are going to sketch out a thorough plan that helps your organisation to achieve this goal.

After several months of remote work from the office, many organisations and their employees have completely adjusted to business as unusual and found ways to maintain productivity from home.  

It is still baffling to look back and see how our lives have changed tremendously within just six months. People no longer rush their morning routine and run to the second floor to attend their 9 AM meetings. Travelling to work every day now seems like an old age thing. The post-COVID-19 work environment demands adaptability and flexibility.

Thanks to technology developments and globalisation, people nowadays are more connected than ever before. Therefore, the workplace becomes increasingly diverse in terms of nationality, culture, gender, experience, personality and more. We can see people from different countries who speak different languages work together under the same roof. This inevitable movement has changed the way corporations manage their talent resources to maximise the advantage of having multicultural perspectives.

We are living in an interconnected world fuelled by globalisation and technology advancements. As a result, the modern workplace is increasingly filled with modern teams that are undeniably diverse as well as inclusive and remote. In a post-COVID-19 world, this is the reality that many businesses are happy to experience.

Read more: Defining diversity and inclusion in the modern workplace

When it comes to the roles of EQ and IQ in leadership, there seems to be a preference, even bias, for EQ (emotional intelligence). On one hand, EQ is important for a leader since it indicates one’s empathy with others. On the other hand, IQ also plays a critical role in a leader’s competency and ability to meet requirements.

Read more: Back to Basics - What is Talent Management?