HR intelligence to lead, innovate & grow.
Want to get your daily slice of HR knowledge to your inbox? Sign up now
Human Times helps you stay ahead of the latest news and trends that impact the HR industry. Every weekday, our unique blend of AI and team of expert HR and employment editors and researchers monitor 100,000s of articles, and social posts to create summaries of the most relevant and useful content to help you lead, innovate and grow. The award winning Human Times newsletter has four geographical editions with news tailored to your region.
The Social edition makes sense of the hottest HR related issues and opinion trending on social media.
From HR leadership to diversity and inclusion, hybrid working, organisational data, performance management, and retention strategies, Human Times is the only trusted free online news source dedicated to covering the most up to date headlines, articles, reports and interviews to make sure you’re abreast of changes in the HR industry.
You’re all signed up for the Human Times
Thank you for your interest in our service.
Watch out for a confirmation email from our subscriptions team. Once you have confirmed you will join the worldwide community of over 30,000 subscribers who are receiving daily HR intelligence to lead, innovate and grow.
Note: Due to the nature of this message you may find this in your "promotions" or "spam" folders, please check there. If nothing arrives within a few minutes let us know. If you do not receive this email we will be happy to help get you set up.
Adding the email address [email protected], will help to ensure all newsletters arrive directly to your inbox.
Of all the newsletters I receive a month, Human Times has been easily the most valuable and a real pleasure to read.
I share it with my department, I excerpt it for other members of the C-Suite. And – we shook our heads trying to understand what the source organization is and what ultimately funds it.
“Although I’m a recent subscriber I really enjoy taking a few minutes to read through the selection of articles.
In terms of how I use it – I use it to stay informed on the range of human centred topics that the newsletter covers. I wouldn’t change anything – it’s extremely useful as-is.
Thoroughly enjoy this daily summary of news and tidbits.
We’ve used to start new conversations or dialogue on matters we are in process but getting differing viewpoints. The strategy and the technology sections are always very useful.
I find it very helpful for the busy executive who doesn't always have the time to read the newspaper or go online.
Being delivered to my In-Box gives me the opportunity to review when/where I can throughout the day.
Recent Editions
Human Times
North America
A recent Gallup poll found that just two in 10 adult U.S. employees say they have someone at work they consider to be a ‘best friend.’ The percentage under age 35 fell by three points when compared to pre-pandemic 2019, to 21% from 24%, said Gallup workplace and well-being researcher Jim Harter. There was no change for workers 35 and older, he said. “We’re seeing in the data that younger people in general are feeling more disconnected from their workplaces,” Harter observed. “You can attribute some of that potentially to remote work. If they’re less connected to their workplace, they have fewer opportunities to connect with other colleagues and to develop those kinds of friendships that they might have had in the past.” Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, says more companies are actively encouraging friendships. His organization is one of a growing number of employers that buy lunches for people who invite somebody they're not close with to a meal as a way to encourage new ties. “From a diversity, equity and inclusion standpoint, we're trying to get people together who have different sets of experiences, lived experiences, backgrounds, etc.,” Taylor said. “The idea is, you go to lunch with a stranger and make them a friend.”
Full Issue
Human Times
UK
McDonald's has signed a legally binding agreement with the UK's Equalities and Human Rights Commission which requires the company to deal with what is thought to be more than 1,000 complaints from staff about workplace behaviour. The UK’s Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has previously raised the alarm over a “toxic culture” in McDonald’s restaurants. Ian Hodson, national president of the BFAWU, said: “It’s shameful that one of the richest corporations on the planet doesn’t take sexual harassment seriously until we raise it . . . I pay tribute to all our members who have spoken out on this issue and encourage McDonald’s to work with us in ending sexual harassment.” The agreement commits the group to a number of measures to better protect workers in the UK, including communicating a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment, providing anti-harassment training for employees, and improving policies to better respond to complaints. Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald’s in the UK and Ireland, said the company already has a “strong track record” in this area but wants to further improve it. He added: “As one of the UK’s leading employers, the safety and wellbeing of our people is our absolute priority. It is hugely important to me that everyone in our organisation feels safe, respected and included at all times – this is core to the values of our business.”
Full Issue
Human Times
Europe
McDonald's has signed a legally binding agreement with the UK's Equalities and Human Rights Commission which requires the company to deal with what is thought to be more than 1,000 complaints from staff about workplace behaviour. The UK’s Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has previously raised the alarm over a “toxic culture” in McDonald’s restaurants. Ian Hodson, national president of the BFAWU, said: “It’s shameful that one of the richest corporations on the planet doesn’t take sexual harassment seriously until we raise it . . . I pay tribute to all our members who have spoken out on this issue and encourage McDonald’s to work with us in ending sexual harassment.” The agreement commits the group to a number of measures to better protect workers in the UK, including communicating a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment, providing anti-harassment training for employees, and improving policies to better respond to complaints.
Full Issue
Human Times
Middle East
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai's crypto regulator, plans to quadruple its headcount over the coming months to process hundreds of license applications as new rules attract industry players to the Middle Eastern financial hub. VARA chief executive officer Henson Orser said the regulator expects to handle around 300 new applications this year and will begin issuing final permits in June for companies that have already obtained authorization under Dubai's minimum viable product licensing regime. “It's been a mad sprint,” Orser said, adding that it's a case of “be careful what you wish for. We've created a lot of work for ourselves in terms of supervision and enforcement.”
Full Issue
Human Times
Social
Deepfake 'news anchors' are appearing in pro-China footage on social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, a research group says. Graphika said it discovered the deepfakes on social media while tracking pro-China disinformation operations known as 'spamouflage.' Jack Stubbs, vice president of intelligence at Graphika, said: "This is the first time we've seen a state-aligned operation use AI-generated video footage of a fictitious person to create deceptive political content." In one video analysed by Graphika, a fictitious male anchor who calls himself Alex criticizes U.S. inaction over gun violence. Graphika's report said the two news anchors were almost certainly created using technology provided by the London-based AI start-up Synthesia. Synthesia’s website advertises software for creating deepfake avatars "based on video footage of real actors."
Full Issue
Read the latest HR highlights
How HR is Tackling Long Covid?
Fingers remain tightly crossed around the world that the rampant hospitalization and fatality stage of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally peaked. Vaccination programmes are accelerating, and restrictions are gradually being lifted...
Discover
ESG Is Not Just Another Name For CSR
Back in the distant 1980s if you wanted to demonstrate your environmental and ethical credentials it was sufficient to shop at or purchase shares in retailer The Body Shop. The charismatic Anita Roddick, founder of the “hippy” tinged retail chain, heralded a new age of environmental concern, caring capitalism and corporate awareness that evolved into what became known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR was much talked about and lauded, but in reality often ended up being a lot of a hot air (excuse the pun) and often never progressed much beyond a footnote in the annual report.
Discover
Have Older Workers Paid The Highest COVID-19 Price?
Across the world the pandemic is slowly but surely moving into its next phase. Recovery beckons. As furlough schemes across the U.S. and U.K. are being wound down, restrictions eased or lifted, and workforces moving back up the gears, early signs indicate that older employees are more likely to be casualties of the pandemic aftermath than their younger colleagues. Here at the we have witnessed an increasing number of stories supporting the growing belief that older workers are disproportionately paying the highest Covid-19 price.
Discover
Bosses. What's not to like? Plenty, say employees
“You’ll never have another boss like me, someone who’s basically a chilled-out entertainer”
So said, David Brent, the fictional manager of Slough-based paper merchant Wernham Hogg in the seminal TV comedy The Office. Ricky Gervais’s portrayal of Brent as a flawed, narcissistic, incompetent, and deluded manager was so well observed that many (including me) believed it was a genuine fly-on-the-wall documentary when they alighted accidentally on the first ever episode.
Rolling with the Payroll
To mark National Payroll Week the team at the Human Times has provided some insight into the industry that we hope you’ll find useful.
Discover
