“To be successful, we must be tuned into the challenges and expectations of society,” says Shell’s Chief HR Officer
Hugh Mitchell was appointed HR director of Shell in 2005 and in 2007 joined the oil company’s Executive Committee. He joined the HR division at Shell Exploration & Production in Aberdeen a few months after graduating from Edinburgh University and held a variety of HR and business roles across the UK and Brunei, including HR […]
Are line managers holding back your talent?
It makes sound business sense to identify who in your organisation has the capability and potential to add real value in the future. When you know who your rising stars are, you can provide accelerated promotion opportunities and development programmes to nurture, engage and retain them. But what if you’re identifying the wrong people? Line […]
Who’s holding the organisational moral compass?
In an age where many of the tech companies in Silicon Valley espouse their great benefits such as 'bring your pet to work' or skateboard parks and, recently, the episode with egg freezing, whose responsibility is it to ensure that there is a moral compass guiding benefit packages or incentives offered to staff? Whilst companies […]
“HR directors must show senior leaders what the root causes are to problems,” says KPMG’s Kate Holt
Kate Holt is KPMG’s Director at their Global HR Centre of Excellence. She helps clients get the most from their workforce in a range of areas including cost optimisation, organisational capability and transformation, employee engagement and uptake of IT platforms. She has been with KPMG since 1999 in a variety of roles including HR director, […]
How can leaders become more inclusive?
Most leaders today recognise the benefits of sharing responsibility. The days of top-down hierarchies are almost behind us. It’s difficult for an elite group of people at the top to cope with the complex challenges facing organisations today without involving others. No matter what market you operate in, there is still a lot of volatility […]
What digital roles should you hire for in 2015?
With the new year fast approaching, now is the time that people start throwing their two pence in on what’s going to be big in 2015 in terms of new roles that companies will be recruiting for over the next 12 months. This is no different with the digital industry, and is especially important as […]
Help your leadership team decide what they want to be famous for
All organisations need to work on strategy, operations and relationships; that’s not in question, but to help their organisations stand out and really compete leaders should decide which of these areas they’re going to major in and answer the question ‘what do we want to be famous for?’. Is it strategic focus; reading the market, […]
2015 recruitment trends
The recruitment industry has taken a kicking. In 2007 it was worth £27 billion. By 2009 it had dropped by a third. Not surprising that recruiters get nervous, even though since that period it has now levelled out at £28 billion. That increase is expected to continue but we can’t be complacent. We will be […]
2014 employment law review
There have been a number of key developments in employment law in 2014, many of which have had a wide-ranging impact for employers. Holiday Pay The most notable, and widely publicised, of these developments was the series of significant decisions in relation to holiday pay, building on the Court of Justice of the European Union's […]
How to encourage your teams to embrace the career spiral staircase
When it comes to careers, most of us are familiar with the phrase “climbing the career ladder”. Whilst some individuals might still be focused on getting to the next rung, and pushing themselves upwards, it’s actually quite an old fashioned analogy for today’s workforce. The career spiral staircase better reflects the needs, aspirations and motivations […]
The ageless workplace: how to attract and retain employees across five generations
Learn more ways to improve your workplace wellbeing with The Ultimate Wellbeing Toolkit – a practical learning hub brought to you by financial protection specialists Unum, designed to equip HR professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to show employees that they are valued. Regardless of age, a key factor in employee retention is whether staff feel […]
Five ways to foster intrapreneurial thinking
Entrepreneurs take risks and find new ways to do things. And for many years, they have had no place in large organisations for this very reason. They break the rules. They get bored quickly. And they generally have ideas that go beyond protocol and process. But with the rise of digital technology, companies are finding […]
Are your employees your brand advocates?
Building and maintaining brand loyalty is the ‘Golden Chalice’ for businesses all over the world – without it, businesses lack identity; customers and staff feel no loyalty and trade is lost.If you are to succeed over time and avoid being a flash in the pan, it is absolutely essential that everyone who comes into contact […]
10 most read articles from 2014
Happy new year all! If you're trying to pack in a bit more HR insight before we roll into 2015, take a look at the below – our top 10 most-read pieces from 2014. Enjoy. 1. The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence New evidence, according to Professor Adam Grant from Wharton School of Business, suggests […]
Book Review: Developing Mental Toughness by Clough & Strycharczyk
Title: Mindful Leadership Coaching: Using Mindfulness to Develop Leaders and Transform TeamsAuthor: Peter Clough & Doug StrycharczykISBN: 978-0749463779 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates. Subtitled “Improving performance, well-being and positive behaviour in others”, this is a useful book that will offer new insights for HR managers and line managers alike. Based on over […]
Old systems, new world
Today’s new breed of fast-growing, global businesses often find themselves held back by systems that were designed for a slower-paced, more predictable world. Modern workforces now expect access to information and systems whenever and wherever they are. Moreover, managers need accurate and consistent information so they can see how their organisations are performing, as well […]
Eldercare – what it is and why it’s becoming increasingly important in the workplace
It seems like common sense to recognise that those working for us might need a little extra support to help them with added pressures at home. Finding new ways to retain our best workers isn’t rocket science. For many, childcare facilities or vouchers make an excellent employee benefit. But what about eldercare? We’re all living […]
Book Review: Mindful Leadership Coaching by Manfred FR Kets de Vries
Title: Mindful Leadership Coaching: Using Mindfulness to Develop Leaders and Transform TeamsAuthor: Manfred Kets de VriesISBN: 978-1137382320 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates. In a world where coaching seems to be on an ever-increasing popularity curve, it is a real pleasure to read a book that tackles the subject in such […]
Religious concerns at Christmas – consideration or over-compensation?
Recently I had been invited to undertake some consultancy work for a Residential Home for Adults with Learning Disabilities. The consultancy work involved participating in the team’s weekly meetings to understand the team communication and dynamics. During one of the meetings, there was a discussion about a new staff member due to join their team, […]
Listen to the research: negotiation doesn’t just mean haggling
If you watch too many business-based dramas, or television shows about wannabe entrepreneurs, you could be forgiven for believing that negotiation is a means of demonstrating machismo and wringing out an extra few percent from a sale or an investment, just for the sake of the cameras. Or that it’s an all-night, shirt-sleeved argument to […]
