The same pattern can be seen in many workplaces as the summer holiday season approaches. Calendars fill up, unfinished matters are cleared from desks, and responsibilities are only resolved at the last minute. The thinking is understandable, but if the situation is managed poorly, the consequences quickly become visible in the form of excessive workload, an increased risk of errors and unnecessary bottlenecks. From a company’s perspective, effective holiday planning is not merely a soft...

As I write this article, I notice myself returning to the same thought again and again. Should I add disclaimers? Those just-in-case paragraphs in which I explain in advance what I do not mean before I dare to say what I actually mean. That this is not an argument against taking discrimination, racism, harassment or other serious misconduct seriously. There can and should be no compromise on those issues. Yet this very need for caution feels like an essential part of the phenomenon that...

For many people, the summer holidays are already behind them and the autumn routine is in full swing. Calendars are filling up with meetings, projects are moving forward and emails are piling up. After a holiday, people often feel rested and energised for a while, but that feeling quickly fades if the structures and culture of the workplace leave no room for recovery. From an HR perspective, this is a familiar phenomenon: a holiday may restore energy, but if there is no room to breathe in...