HR musings with added sparkle!
It’s the weekend, but there are still ways in which we can spread joy to those dearest to us, our families.
Task two – Call a loved one you may not have spoken to in a while
Don’t forget to share the task online via Twitter #HRElfOnTheShelf and on Linked In.
It’s 1st December and many of us will be dusting off those Christmas jumpers or finding a new way to decorate the office with those old decorations!
Right now, all over the world, parents are scratching their heads to think of new and inventive ways to reintroduce their Elf on the Shelf for their little ones. The purpose of the elf is quite simple; he causes mischief deliberately to encourage children to be on their best behaviour before Santa visits at Christmas. It’s a bit of fun and helps generate excitement leading up to the big day.
But it’s not all fun and games for the parents; there is a committed requirement for creativity, hard work and most of all effort, so what is in it for the adults I hear you cry?! It is simply to see the joy of their children faces (and for them to go to bed on time!).
Spreading joy this time of year can be difficult, so I have given HR Acts of Kindness a festive makeover for advent, for no other reason but to spread joy to all the HR folk from far and wide!
Christmas can be a magical time of the year, but for some people it can be an emotionally challenging time and with pressure increasing year on year, it’s a time that can play havoc with our mental health.
Among the chaos of shopping, retail adverts, festive lattes and that image of a “perfect” Christmas; for some people, this time of year can conjure up feelings of dread, loneliness and sadness. Whilst Christmas is unavoidable, it is important to highlight that when it comes to festivities in the workplace, there are employees who struggle for various reasons, and the problem with this is that it is not always obvious as employees are often reluctant to talk about it which can make it difficult to offer relevant support.
Continue reading “Tis the season to be (not so) jolly: Mental health at Christmas”
Last weekend, I took my step daughter Sophie to see a Spice Girls tribute act; as cheesy as that sounds we had a brilliant time! But whilst we were singing and dancing to our favourite songs, I reflected on the legacy that they had created, I was surrounded by women who were empowered and could be whoever they wanted to be.
Thinking about it really took me back to the early days in my HR career, I worked with mainly all female teams until I was offered a position in the transport industry and with gender equality being front page news, I thought that it is time to address what this actually looks like in male dominated workplaces.
Continue reading “Girl Power! Can women succeed in male dominated industries?”
“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique,”
Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism
A few weeks ago, I received a text message from my husband Mark, who insisted that we watch a programme on the telly that evening. He rarely does this so when I asked him about the programme and why he wanted to watch it, all he had to tell me was the title and I instantly understood why; the programme was Chris Packham: Asperger’s and me.
Natalie Ellis HR 