Should management be everyone’s career end goal?
"Brilliant people – people who are good at their jobs – are not necessarily management material." Being technically brilliant does not automatically translate into being a brilliant manager of people. Traditional career paths have held up management positions as the ultimate destination. Management has been seen as the holy grail of promotional prospects. But is […]
How can we find the time to lead?
Nearly all leaders lack enough hours in the day to get everything done. A constant barrage of emails, calls, texts and social media only increases the pressure and demands urgent attention. The key word is ‘urgent’. By understanding the significant difference between urgency and importance, leaders can manage their time more effectively and accomplish more […]
Do you need an HR department?
Andrew's insight in this article is based on three years spent with the Royal Navy, examining their attitudes and. From this experience he wrote a book, Royal Navy Way of Leadership. I have spent the last three years writing the Royal Navy’s leadership manual, now issued to 15,000 naval staff. One of the things that struck […]
Finding those leadership moments of power
Leadership is a vital responsibility of every manager, young and old, in every organisation – the team leader and the lance-corporal, the directors and generals. Every manager needs to value their leadership role and spend time on it, acknowledging where they need help. For new start-ups this is particularly challenging as the focus will be […]
Getting HR the boardroom impact it deserves
Boards need your help Hand on heart, in the last 25 years has HR moved closer to having strategic boardroom impact? In my opinion, no. Yes, HR has flourished, developing new tools and insights and becoming a vital partner in operational delivery and corporate change. But so has finance, and look at what hasn’t changed: […]
How to smash leadership barriers
It has become a common mantra that it is vital to develop leadership in our organisations. Many firms spend thousands of hours and millons of pounds trying to develop their leaders. But when would-be leaders return to the workplace, they find the all the inspiring ideas about leadership are impossible to put into practice. Why […]
The key to 21st century leadership
Despite the IMF forecasting an increase in the UK’s GDP by 1.4% this year and 1.9% in 2014, and initial green shoots of recovery that are beginning to appear, it is clear from the CEOs we speak to that today’s climate is anything but comfortable. Finding strong business leaders has always been a challenge. It takes […]
A new workplace approach to dyspraxia
The Dyspraxia Foundation is the only charity dedicated solely to helping those living with dyspraxia; a condition that impacts on the lives of children and adults on a daily basis. The charity supports an adult group answering queries, producing factsheets, organising events and facilitating an adult Facebook page. A recent award from the Big Lottery […]
Culture change at Zappos and the power of a mantra
Although the spotlight shone on American retailer Zappos when it announced that it was demolishing its traditional leadership structure in favour of a holacracy (flat, without bosses), it wasn’t the first to make this change. Some have been doing it since day one. More than half a century ago, Bill Gore decided that he’d had […]
How to foster female talent
In December 2013 it was announced that Mary Barra will become the first female Chief Executive of General Motors. This move signifies an important change in corporate attitudes towards women in business, but why is it that the appointment of women in senior positions seems to remain the exception rather than the norm? One factor […]
Developing corporate entrepreneurs to drive innovation – part 2
Find out more about how to drive innovation through coaching in this free whitepaper. AOEC are also promoting a Twitter chat on coaching and innovation that starts at 8pm on Thursday February 13th. Why not join the conversation with hashtag #aoecinnov? This is part two of a two-part article series – read Developing corporate entrepreneurs to drive innovation […]
The way you think about leadership is broken
Most people think about leadership in an archaic way. And as much as I don’t mean to point the finger, chances are, you’re one of them. Frankly, the entire leadership belief system needs upending. Until we – as people in businesses up and down the country, up and down the corporate ladder – make some […]
Interview: Eoin Carty, Product Manager, ADP UK
On Wednesday 12th February 2014, ADP UK hosted a webinar, "How to stay connected to your workforce," with Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University Management School. View the video recording today and join Cary, alongside ADP UK's Product Director Trevor Townsend, as they discuss the best ways to learn how to align your people with your […]
Were psychometric tests to blame for the appointment of Co-op Chairman Paul Flowers?
Last autumn, you may recall, the former Chairman of the Co-operative Bank, Reverend Paul Flowers, was revealed to be neither as financially literate nor as clean-living as a senior role in an ethical bank might demand. As the “Crystal Methodist” and “Cocaine and rent boys” headlines piled up, questions were asked about how he was […]
Leadership figures in focus – Napoleon Bonaparte
Professor Stephanie Jones is co-author of the upcoming book Napoleonic Leadership – A Pact with Power, to be published by SAGE in London in mid-2015, to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon as a leader was complex and is a challenge for us to understand, despite dozens of new studies appearing as […]
Avoiding the wrong hire: keys to recruiting successful employees
Hiring the best, most talented workforce is vital to an organization’s success; however, this can be a challenging task for many companies. According to the Harvard Business Review, as much as 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. Many in HR are looking at new hires with a narrow lens, confined to […]
50 top tweets from the HR Directors Business Summit 2014
The HR Directors Business Summit took place on February 4th and 5th 2014 at the ICC, Birmingham. HRZone was in attendance and covered the event live – you can review the coverage here. Twitter was on fire with coverage of all sessions from exhibitors, bloggers, professionals and journalists. We’ve collected the best tweets from the […]
How can businesses weather out the storm?
All over the UK, employees struggle to make it into work due to the weather conditions every winter. With wind, rain, floods, ice and even talk of snow on the way, nearly everyone has been affected to some degree. When the weather makes it difficult to travel, employers should consider how this could impact on […]
7 thought-provoking photos from the HR Directors Business Summit
On February 4th and 5th, the annual HR Directors Business Summit came to Birmingham, UK, drawing in senior HR professionals from large and small companies across the world. These are seven of our top photos from the event. We also reported live from the event – you can review our live coverage here. How do […]
Creating a culture of innovation to be better than the rest
Companies are facing an increasingly competitive environment, having to tackle smaller profit margins, more demanding customers and a growing international competition. For many, the only way to respond to this challenge is to innovate and re-create their business in order to grow. Even though most corporate leaders are aware of this, many are at loss […]