Five reasons companies fail at talent management
This article was written by Lucinda Carney, founder of Actus performance management software and MD of Advance Change Ltd organisational development consultancy. Ok, I admit it, I disagree with talent management – or certainly the way it is currently bandied about as if there is some mysterious secret that only the chosen few have the answer […]
10 common email errors HR Professionals don’t want to make
Alison Kemp runs Switch Vision, where she and her team give training and coaching to technical teams and individuals on interpersonal communications. When looking at improving communications in organisations, ignoring how we use email is like driving with flat tyres and wondering why the ride’s bumpy. So that Human Resources professionals are seen as, well, […]
News: survey points to increased appetite for partnering among finance functions
The majority of UK executives (81 percent) want to form stronger partnerships between the finance department and other parts of the business, according to new research from recruiter Robert Half UK. However, a third of executives (33 percent) say they find it difficult to source candidates with the necessary skills and experience to implement a […]
News: companies must ‘increase transparency of engagement and wellbeing’
FTSE100 companies must increase organisational transparency to measure and improve the long-term successes of their employee engagement initiatives. This is according to the results of the Workwell FTSE100 benchmark, which scored the level of publicly available information provided by organisations across 25 engagement and wellbeing indicators. The research, which was issued by Business in the […]
Top five mistakes to avoid when introducing change
This article was written by Stephen Archer, director of business consultancy Spring Partnerships. Like strategy, ‘change’ is a rather overused word but in truth it is overused because flux is a better word. Change is permanent and so I suggest that ‘perma-flux’ maybe a better way to look at business today. But if change is […]
Making flexible working win-win for both employee and employer
This article was written by Richard Peers, Head of Human Resources, Vodafone Global Enterprise. Flexible working is arguably the way forward for businesses to increase productivity and attract and retain the best talent – a win-win for employees and employers. So why aren’t all businesses doing it? Because despite the well cited benefits, many questions and […]
News: staff comfort levels on salary discussions vary across the globe
More than half of respondents to a new global poll are not comfortable discussing salaries with their colleagues. There were significant geographic differences in the survey from job firm Monster – just 25 percent of US respondents were happy to discuss their remuneration, compared to 43 percent of Europeans. Of the 3000 responses, 18 percent […]
News: employee volunteering provides many benefits to employers
Research released by volunteering charity CSV shines light on trends in employee volunteering (EV) and the ways in which employers can maximise its effectiveness. The report, entitled ‘Employee Volunteering – Who’s Benefiting Now?’ [PDF, 335KB] analyses the relationship between different stakeholders, including businesses, employees and community brokers (who connect firms with local projects). Employee volunteering […]
Delivering feedback in a way that works
James and Simon Brooke are directors at Threshold, an international training and communications consultancy, and have just authored a book called Be Bulletproof, which aims to give employees the tools to protect themselves against the hazards of the workplace. Most organisations operate on the assumption that their managers are giving good feedback to employees. But […]
Top five Margaret Thatcher quotes and what they say about success
Since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died on April 8, commentary has been flowing in from around the world. Much of it has been positive, paying tribute to a passionate and dedicated leader who had the interests of Britain in her heart. There has been criticism as well, of a rigid and unwavering leader who […]
News: Employees ‘blame work’ for lack of exercise
Four in ten people blame work commitments for their lack of regular exercise, according to a new report from Nuffield Health and the London School of Economics (LSE). The report, 12 minutes more, emphasises the role that employers should be playing in encouraging staff to take exercise. Over £7bn could be saved, says the report, […]
The role of CSR in driving business performance
Nicky is a CSR professional with 20 years’ experience in managing and directing corporate social responsibility in global companies. She runs her own CSR consultancy, Nicky Amos CSR Services Ltd. She spent ten years as Head of Corporate Responsibility for The Body Shop. Successful business leaders are unlikely to disagree with the proposition that corporate responsibility […]
News: replace charismatic leaders with ‘intelligent conservatism’
Conservatism rather than charisma is the vital characteristic of successful business leaders, claims a new study.Research into leadership at European companies that have been in operation for over 100 years, conducted by Dr Christian Stadler, found that ‘charismatic conservatism’ is more important than charisma in driving businesses forward. Some of the firms Stadler looked at […]
Are you getting true value from your corporate values?
Many organisations these days have a set of corporate values as part of their employer branding. Relating to anything from ethics to relationships to actions, corporate or company values aim to articulate those things that an organisation genuinely believes in. They provide a framework for how people treat both internal and external contacts, do their […]
How regular training can reduce employee turnover
Zig Ziglar, the renowned US motivational speaker, rightly said, “What’s worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them!” There are three common fallacies made about investing in training. The first is that once employees are trained, they are likely to look elsewhere for better opportunities, the second is that […]
The suspicious motives of the employee engagement movement
This article was written by Karen Drury, consultant with Maven International (UK) Ltd. "A wise man … proportions his belief to the evidence."(David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding) Consider the changes made to employee legislation in the past few weeks. To bring a case for unfair dismissal against your employer, you now need to work […]
News: drive to increase women into the boardroom is stalling
A new report suggests that UK-wide efforts to appoint more women to boardroom positions have slowed down. Cranfield School of Management, which publishes a yearly report, found that in the first sixth months since 2012’s report, 44 percent of new board appointments to FTSE 100 companies went to women. A further 36 percent in FTSE […]
News: widening executive pay gap over last forty years
Company directors, including CEOs, have had pay increases almost twice the size of the average UK executive over the last 12 months, according to new salary data published today by XpertHR and the Chartered Management Institute. According to the survey, these changes are mostly due to sharp percentage increases in bonus payments at the top […]
Talent spot: Arran McDowell, HR Director at Elior
Making it onto the 2013 Sunday Times Best Big 25 Companies to work for list is proof that contract caterers Elior is on the right track in terms of engagement and company culture. But HR director Arran McDowell is not resting on his laurels. One of his chief aims for this year is to maintain […]
Legal guidance: handling flexible working requests
This article was written by Sofia Syed, employment solicitor at Mundays LLP. Despite Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer ‘s announcement to all employees that ‘speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home’, flexible working remains one of the biggest changes to the workplace in the last 20 years. Flexible working can include job shares, […]
