Top Briefings Passionate People

Happiness in the Workplace

Professor Peter Warr, from the Institute of Work Psychology and the author of Work, Happiness and Unhappiness shares his insights and observations about why businesses should strive to have happier work forces and what people can do to become more happy.

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Next Show

The next show will be released on 4th August and will feature an interview with Dr Kamal Birdi, on creativity.

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Anger in the Workplace

Professor Anta Rafaeli has studied the effects of anger in the workplace. In this episode I catch up with her at the Institute of Work Psychology’s Conference, where she explains why people get angry, what effect it has on other people and how to deal with it.

The Charities Commission went head to head with bloggers over whether blogs had any educative value. This is what they had to say to criticisms from the podnosh and bad science blogs, etc.

“We are aware that the reference to blogs written by individuals in our draft public benefit guidance for charities that advance education has provoked some debate, particularly among bloggers. The draft guidance was published three months ago for consultation to give charities and the public the chance to tell us what aspects of the guidance are helpful - and what isn’t clear. In the draft guidance we explain that in our view an activity will only be considered of educative merit if either the subject or the process is capable of being of educative value. We then go on to explain that where the value is not self-evident, positive evidence of merit will be needed.

To illustrate this we give the example of a wiki site which, if the content of the site was not verified in any way, would need to provide positive evidence of having educational value. Similarly an individual’s blog, if its content was not verified in any way, would have to provide positive evidence of having educational value - either through its content or the process by which the information was delivered. Our consultation on this draft guidance remains open until July 11, and we encourage anyone who would like to comment on the document to respond before this date so that their comments can be considered when we draw up the final guidance later this year. ” 

To have your say email them with your comments: publicbenefit@charitycommission.gov.uk 

Download the episode (12.2 MB)

 Top Briefings Podcast Club

Do join he Top Briefings Podcast club. It’s a new community site, for people who want to find out more about using podcasting to develop people’s knowledge and skills. Get tips and tricks and the latest podcasting news.

Its free to subscribe to and if you send an email to club@topbriefings.com we’ll send you a free ecademy PowerNetworker Pass so you can also network with thousands of people worldwide

Leave a comment

Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

Next Show

The next show will be released on 21st July and will feature an interview with Professor Peter Warr, on happiness - what it is and how to get more.

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Using Improvisation in the Workplace

John Cremer inspires people to express themselves through improvisation. In this episode he explains what improvisation is all about, how it can be used in the workplace and how you can develop your improvisation skills.

Download the episode (4.19 MB)

Top Briefings Podcast Club

Do join he Top Briefings Podcast club. It’s a new community site, for people who want to find out more about using podcasting to develop people’s knowledge and skills. Get tips and tricks and the latest podcasting news.

Its free to subscribe to and if you send an email to club@topbriefings.com we’ll send you a free ecademy PowerNetworker Pass so you can also network with thousands of people worldwide

Leave a comment

Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

Next Show

The next show will be released on 7th July and will feature an interview with Professor Anat Rafaeli, from the Institute of Work Psychology Conference on Anger in the Workplace.

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Nigel Risner, is one of the most inspirational speakers I have met. In this podcast, Nigel highlights the importance of countering the negative labels that we and others give ourselves, stepping out of our comfort zone and ensuring that we set the right goals for ourselves.

Download the episode  (4.51 MB)

Top Briefings Podcast Club

Do join the Top Briefings Podcast club. It’s a new community site, for people who want to find out more about using podcasting to develop people’s knowledge and skills. Get tips and tricks and the latest podcasting news.

Its free to subscribe to and if you send an email to club@topbriefings.com we’ll send you a free ecademy PowerNetworker Pass so you can also network with thousands of people worldwide.

Leave a comment

Do send us through your comments on the show – using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com.

Next Show

The next show will be released on 23rd June and will feature an interview with John Cremer on using improvisation.

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Every organization has examples of good ideas that have never taken off because key stakeholders have not been brought onboard. What Geraldine Grainger highlights in this interview is the importance of engaging with stakeholders in a way that is meaningful for them. This in turn can help us, when it comes to selling in our ideas and vision to the business we are working in.

Download the episode (5.27 MB)

Top Briefings Podcast Club

Do join the Top Briefings Podcast club to find out more about using podcasting to develop people’s knowledge and skills.

Its free to subscribe to and if you send an email to club@topbriefings.com we’ll send you a free ecademy PowerNetworker Pass so you can also network with thousands of people worldwide,

Next Show

The next show will be released on 9th June and will feature an interview with Nigel Risner on achieving your personal goals.

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There have been numerous management initiatives to improve organisational performance. They have included TQM, Just in time, supply chain partnering, empowerment, training and development and team working. But have they worked?

The results of a study of three hundred UK manufacturing companies over the last twenty years shows that human resource management has had a greater impact on productivity than any operational management initiative.

Download the episode (6.11 MB)

Follow up on Beating the Talent Crunch

“With loyalty to company’s gone, and talent hard to find, retaining the talent you have, in my opinion, is a key business priority.  I did the exact same thing - redesigned the benefits package and put together a comprehensive training and development program. According to employee surveys, it worked” – Kathy

“I think that lesser known companies have to be more creative in the way they attract and retain people. Sometimes for example in B2B sales companies, compensation plans that on the surface appear to be “really rich”, can be less so once the reputation of the company’s products are taken into account.

Sign on bonuses, cafeteria benefits, the ability to work from home, flexible schedules, etc can all play a part in attracting and retaining talented people.

I think the competition is part of the marketplace and we have to adjust locally while not losing sight of global influences.” - Andrew

Top Briefings Podcast Club

We have just launched the Top Briefings Podcast club-. It’s a new community site, for people who want to find out more about using podcasting to develop people’s knowledge and skills. Its free to subscribe to and if you send an email to club@topbriefings.com we’ll send you a free ecademy PowerNetworker Pass so you can also network with thousands of people worldwide.

Leave a comment
Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com.

The next show will be released on 28^th May and will feature an interview with Geraldine Grainger from John Lewis on creating a learning culture, which was recorded at the CIPD’s HRD 2008 Conference.

To ensure you get the next episode you can subscribe for free by visiting www.topbriefings.com and clicking on the subscribe button at the bottom of the page.

China is increasingly exciting the interest of HRD professionals. It is the third largest exporter in the world with more than 50% of its exports being produced by multinationals.

However over 40% of Chinese firms are experiencing problems in hiring Senior Managers.

In this episode Duncan Gotobed talks to Tracy Gu, about how Lenovo is beating the talent crunch He also talks to Anders Gronstedt on why most e-learning doesn’t work and how podcasting can be used as a training tool

Download the episode (7.58 MB)

Additional Information

Find out about Lenovo and its incredible success.

Visit Anders Gronstedt’s website and find out how he uses Second Life, the virtual online world, as a training tool.

Read Duncan Gotobed’s article on Podcasting in Learning

Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

The next show will be released on 12^th May and will feature an interview with Vikki Mathews from Nike and Kamal Birdi from the University of Sheffield on improving organisational performance, which was recorded at the CIPD’s HRD 2008 Conference.

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Motivation is often the difference between being average and achieving the remarkable. In this episode Duncan Gotobed talks to Professor Adrian Furnham, a Leading Authority on applied psychology about how to motivate people.

Download the episode (8.92 MB)

Purchase Professor Adrian Furnham’s books

Motivational video 

Watch this Today show clip to get the background on Team Hoyt

Then watch this clip, which tells the Team Hoyt story in a very powerful way.

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Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

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There are times when the right words can make the whole difference to the outcome of an emergency - just as the wrong words may turn a bad situation worse.

In this episode Duncan Gotobed talks to Carole Spiers, International Leading Authority on Corporate Stress about how to find the right words to say in a crisis.

Download the episode (12 MB)

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Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

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The next show will be release on 14^th April and will feature an interview with Professor Adrian Furnham, from University College London, about motivation and what the dark side of motivation is all about.

Damian Hughes is a former football coach who worked for Bobby Charlton and Manchester United.  In this episode he talks about the cultural change programme he initiated as Human Resource Director at Unilever’s Port Sunlight plant.

Download this episode. (12.2 MB)

Leave a comment

Do send us through your comments on the show using the voicemail line, which is: 020 8816 8033, or by leaving a reply on the show notes at blog.topbriefings.com

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To ensure you get the next episode you can subscribe for free by visiting www.topbriefings.com and clicking on the subscribe button at the bottom of the page.