EDITION 731
17 SEPTEMBER 2018

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to make one-on-one meetings more effective: A one-on-one meeting with your direct reports often feel more stressful and disorganised than they need to be. A few simple steps can make them more productive and collaborative: [MORE] 
    

2. Middle-aged urged to have drink-free days. Public Health England and the charity Drinkaware are urging middle-aged people to cut their alcohol intake by having regular “drink-free days”. People aged 45 to 65 are more likely than other age groups to drink more than the recommended limit of 14 units a week. Doctors say introducing regular days off – preferably two consecutively – will improve sleep and reduce health risks. BBC
    
3. Challenging times as John Lewis profits fall 99%. The head of John Lewis, Charlie Mayfield, has spoken of “challenging times in retail”, after the store announced its profits were down 99%. Pre-tax profits for the first six months of 2018 were just £1.2m, down £95m on the same period last year. The firm is also warning that its profits for the full year will be substantially lower. Daily Mail
    
4. English employers most optimistic in Britain. Employers in England are more optimistic they can deal with the impact of Brexit than anywhere else in the UK. However, a pessimistic outlook across the rest of Britain has dragged overall hiring optimism to its lowest level in six years. The survey of 2,100 employers across nine different industry sectors suggested 2018 is the weakest year for jobs confidence among UK employers since 2012. The Guardian
    
5. The problem with personality tests. If your human resources department relies on personality tests to screen candidates, it’s probably doing things wrong. Why? Although personality tests are useful for personal development, they aren’t great at predicting future job performance. And that’s a problem, since many employers use the tests to do exactly that. [MORE]
    
6. Ten fattest countries in Europe. Only two European nations have higher levels of obesity than the UK, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). At 27.8%, the percentage of the UK population who are obese is lower only than that of Turkey, at 32.1%, and Malta, with 28.9%. The Telegraph
    
7. Government launches saving scheme. The government launched a savings scheme for those on lower incomes offering a 50p bonus for every £1 put away. Under the scheme, an estimated 3.5m people will be able to deposit between £1 and £50 every month over a term of four years – accruing up to £2,400 including a maximum £1,200 bonus. The much-delayed scheme was first announced in early 2016. The Times
    
8. A question of lifestyle. People who took less than three weeks off work a year were 37 per cent more likely to die during the counts of a 40-year study. As an antidote, a growing number of young professionals are quitting the workforce after embracing a new movement called Fire. Millennials see Fire, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, as a way out of soul-sucking, time-stealing work and an economy fueled by consumerism. The New York Times.
    
9. How Nato’s phonetic alphabet was chosen. During the First World War, the Royal Navy used an alphabet that began Apples, Butter and Charlie, while British infantrymen in the trenches had their own version, which started Ack, Beer and Charlie. The final version of the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet - better known as the Nato phonetic alphabet or simply the Alpha, Bravo, Charlie alphabet - was implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 1956. Wikipedia
    
10. The bottom line. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is to use $2bn (£1.5bn) to set up a charitable fund to help the homeless and to found pre-schools. Worth $164bn (£125bn), Bezos has been criticised in the past for not doing more philanthropic work. His Day One Fund will help fund existing homeless charities and create a network of pre-schools in low-income areas. BBC