Blog: All the small things – Getting your PR right in HR
HR often finds itself at the interface between the business and the outside world. As such it is responsible for the external image that the business portrays. I want to share a story that happened last week, which has important lessons for all those who have to deal with the media as part of their […]
Blog: who holds the real keys to the organisation anyway?
What is the narrative of your movie reel? The rank-and-file workforce had weathered layoffs, had their commissions slashed, and on top of that, their salaries had been frozen over the past five years. However, the chief executive’s decision was this — let’s have the senior management team take a lavish trip down to Bermuda and […]
Expert voice: reaping the value of soft benefits
It’s a basic fact of human nature that we all like to feel valued and nurtured. But with tight budgets making it increasingly difficult to reward staff with big pay rises, organisations are, in many instances, looking at offering so-called soft benefits instead. And office perks such as sporting activities, gym membership and in-house […]
Blog: 3 tips for better feedback reception
Recognise This! – How you receive feedback is as important as how you give it. We can’t be great 100% of the time. Yes, we all work hard and want to do a good job, but sometimes we miss the mark. Or perhaps the “mark” moved on us and we didn’t adjust in time. Frankly, […]
Social Media Guide Part 2: How to tweet more effectively
Having set up your Twitter account(s), you will now want to start using it/them to begin pushing your message out and interacting with your new social community. At this stage, you will probably find it useful to begin using a system like http://www.tweetdeck.com/ or http://hootsuite.com/ – these are social media ‘dashboards’ that enable you to […]
Talent Spot: Michael Doolin, HR director at DHL’s Tradeteam
“I swore blind I wouldn’t end up doing what my father did and, 34 years later, I am,” laughs Michael Doolin, HR director at DHL’s Tradeteam. His father had been a shop steward before moving into industrial relations, which meant that there had been lots of very dull-looking manuals hanging around at home that had […]
Book Review: The road to innovation by Cris Beswick and David Gallagher
I particularly enjoyed the punchy and concise approach that Beswick & Gallagher adopted when writing “The Road to Innovation”. The book successfully integrated seven key themes – which are key to HR professionals in any business context. Moreover, the way in which each section asked questions of the reader made it a thought-provoking read […]
Beecroft fire at will proposals stung by dismissal
Fire at will proposals proposed by the Beecroft review look to be dismissed themselves following a ‘call for evidence’ by the government. Venture Capitalist Adrian Beecroft had proposed allowing employers to fire staff without explanation in return for a basic pay-off. Out of 135 responses by businesses, 38% called for the plan to […]
In a Nutshell: Five ways to structure your presentation effectively
How many dull presentations have you sat through – or worse still, delivered? To ensure that this awful situation doesn’t become a reality, it’s very important to structure your argument so that it has every chance of really engaging the audience, regardless of topic. Therefore, in order to prepare an effective presentation, it’s useful to […]
Blog: leadership personified by inspirational mothers
Whilst watching Breakfast News last week, I was completely in awe of two mothers, Grace Idowu and Margaret Mizen, who have both experienced the dreadful pain of having a son killed in an unprovoked knife attack. Their courage and compassion bowled me over and I was struck by how, as a result, they decided to […]
A typical HRD: Part 5 – The interim HR director
When asked to talk about what the typical HR director would look like in the interim market, my first thought is: ‘just how long is a piece of string’. Today’s professional interim HR director is far from that over simplistic profile of simply being an independent consultant, a professional on their way to retirement or, […]
Blog: how to comply with fire safety at work
In light of the recent news that Asda have been fined more than £55,000 for fire safety breaches they might have wanted to have a closer look at how to comply with fire safety. Having an affective fire action plan in place can help your company to evacuate quickly and safely and help to minimise […]
Blog: The followers guide to what your leaders want
Today, a search on Amazon.com showed 98,516 results for “leadership”. A further search for “followship” came back with a mere 39 results. I searched again for “team player” and received over 101,000 results, although “team player” wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I know sometimes part of great leadership is setting out what […]
Equal pay tribunals could lead to near £20k of audit and legal costs
A review of all staff wages must be carried out by a company after it has lost an employment tribunal claim over equal pay, according to equalities minister Lynne Featherstone If a tribunal rules that a worker has been discriminated against because of their gender, that firm would be compelled to examine employees’ salaries, an […]
Whistle while you work to keep the workplace spirits up
Whistle while you work still has resonance it seems, according to research from music licensing organisations PPL and PRS for Music. A study of 1,008 small and medium enterprise owners found that over three quarters (77%) reckon that playing music in the workplace increases staff morale, and creates a better atmosphere and working environment for staff […]
Enabling Technology: Renault drives off with SuccessFactors for global HCM
Car giant Renault will go live with a global, Cloud -based HR IT system next month in a bid to better equip HR with the tools needed to deliver business value. Renault signed the deal for SuccessFactor’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business execution solution in November 2011, setting an ambitious six-month target for the worldwide launch. […]
Living Leader Learnings: The Redundancy Challenge
The Company: Insurance Company The Challenger: Group HR Director My company is in the process of introducing a series of job cuts across the workforce, and some of the members of my team will be involved. I want to communicate with them directly and prepare them, though I know other board members are not planning […]
Expert Voice: How to get your life balance right
When life is busy, or all your energy is focused on something, it’s all too easy to find yourself ‘off balance’ and not paying enough attention to the important areas of your life. Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends and soul […]
Legal Commentary: Has dishonesty by an employee been sanctioned by the Court of Appeal?
The recent decision by the Court of Appeal – Cavenagh v William Evans [2012] EWCA Civ 697 – to come down on the side of the former director of a company who was made redundant after deliberately taking money from his employer, to which he knew he was not entitled, has set a precedent which […]
Social media trends: Moving into the mainstream
The opportunities and possibilities offered by social media are limitless – and that’s the problem for many HR professionals. The question is where exactly do you start and how do you know what will work for your business? The simple answer is: just start somewhere, for the beauty of social media is that […]