Blog: How to avoid a Christmas bust-up
It’s official now, the Christmas season has started. The city is decorated, sparkling and illuminated. It is chilly, people have started sipping mulled wine, and pulling and wearing paper hats at Christmas parties. One of my colleagues is even planning her Christmas-tree decoration using a new app on her iPad. So, what’s the spirit […]
Blog: Demonstrating the X Factor – 3 things to help you sparkle in a job interview
In front of the Judges…Show them the X Factor! In today’s job seeker market there are so many different factors to consider when applying for a job – the content of your CV, the answers you give to role specific questions, psychometric profiling, assessment centres, telephone interviews and then of course the face to face […]
Blog: Punk Rock HR – Counting down the top 10 Christmas HR tips
In this mini series, I’m going to count down 10 HR tips as seen through the eyes and ears of Punk Rock. A kind of "HR Top of the Pops" but without the DJ. No need to pogo whilst reading these unless you must. Punk HR refers to brevity, simplicity and purity of thought […]
Case Study: How Norfolk Council maintains staff morale despite tough times
During the last few years, Norfolk County Council has experienced a squeeze on resources common to many public sector organisations. It’s been forced to make savings of £135 million over three years and is now halfway there, but hundreds of staff have been axed as a result. The cuts have arrived in conjunction with […]
Blog: Getting a handle on cross-cultural communication
I’m in Berlin so I guess it’s appropriate that our theme today is cross-cultural communication, how people from different kinds of cultures can get along better. You know, some cultures are more direct and upfront. People just say what they want to say. And other cultures don’t say no, they don’t say yes, they’re more […]
Have you got what it takes to be an HR director?
Securing an HR director job is tough. If you apply for an HRD role, you’ll be faced with strong competition from both inside and outside the organisation. There are some common factors that employers look for when hiring. Ideally, you’ll be someone who is currently a senior HR business partner or a head of HR, […]
Three considerations for effective succession planning
In the wake of the crisis that engulfed the BBC following the Jimmy Savile scandal, the broadcaster’s director general, George Entwistle, was forced to resign after only 54 days in the job. But less than a fortnight later, the BBC Trust was able to announce his replacement. Lord Tony Hall of Birkenhead, chief executive […]
In a Nutshell: Five ways to ensure that HR works effectively with the business
Susie Robinson is well used to dealing with a large and complex workforce in her role as senior vice president of HR for DHL Supply Chain in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As head of HR for EMEA at the world’s largest logistics company, she offers her advice on how the function can best […]
Blog: Five ways to ‘master the moment’
In an instant, you can change your mind. You change the impression you had of someone, or you decide something is not a good idea after all. Politics is full of these moments. General David Patraeus had to resign after being caught in an extra-marital affair. In a moment, questions arose about his military judgment. If […]
How to rebuild staff morale following a crisis
There have been plenty of instances of organisations lately in which bad news can only have damaged employee morale and confidence and had a negative impact on overall effectiveness and efficiency. Cases in point include the four figure job losses experienced at Ford and the BBC’s handling of investigations into sexual abuse claims surrounding Sir […]
Blog: Social networking in the workplace is coming of age
The standard view of social networks in the workplace is that they are time vacuums. Facebook and Twitter are the ultimate procrastination tools; great for staying in touch with friends but the enemy of work productivity. However, social networking is maturing for the workplace. Enterprise social networks (ESNs) take the concepts and communication tools from […]
Blog: Living Wage Week – Take-home pay is just the start of it……
Next week (Sunday 4 to Saturday 10 November) is Living Wage Week when, from this year onwards, a figure will be published for the minimum hourly rate that staff should be paid in order for them to be able to meet the basic costs of living. It’s a voluntary scheme where ‘Living Wage employers’ who […]
In a Nutshell: Five ways to introduce change without alienating staff
As HR director of IT reseller Trustmarque Solutions, Liz Reynolds has helped steer the company through some massive change as a result of growth. Here, she shares her tips on how to manage such change without alienating staff: 1. Listen to people It’s the people on the front line doing the jobs who know what […]
Christina’s Counsel: What can we do to motivate disaffected middle managers?
Hello and welcome to this month’s dilemma: The challenge This month, an employer asked for advice on how to motivate a group of middle managers. These managers had provided feedback indicating that they were demotivated due to a lack of control as they felt that the senior management team had all of the […]
Blog: The dangers of pulling rank – ‘Do you know who I am?’
There have been a couple of well-publicised incidents recently in which well known figures have allegedly pulled rank – whether it be Andrew Mitchell and his altercation with a policeman or George Osborne using a first class seat with a standard class ticket asking the ticket inspector ‘do you know who I am?’ (according to […]
Blog: Wasabi – A lesson in effective staff communications
For global companies spanning international locations, or large organisations spread across multiple sites one of the hardest, yet most important areas to keep on top of is the stream of corporate internal communication – making sure your company delivers and receives consistent messages throughout the entire business, no matter how many locations you have. Managing […]
Talent Spot: Ella Bennett, HR director for Fujitsu UK and Ireland
Since taking over as Fujitsu’s HR director for the UK and Ireland in 2009, Ella Bennett has achieved a lot. She’s reorganised the HR function, helped set up a new leadership team and employed social media to enable better communication between staff and the executive team. “I’ve learnt a huge amount being in ICL and […]
Talking Point: Isn’t there a better way to make redundancies?
A huge 2.7 million people in the UK have been made redundant over the last three years. But as shocking as that statistic is, even more shocking is the fact that the current model for making such redundancies isn’t mandated by law, is unnecessary, and is as harmful for those taking such action (organisations, HR […]
What to do when there’s board trouble
The effect on an organisation when big mistakes hit the headlines can be very destructive – and you don’t have to look much into the recent past to see some high profile examples. These include G4S and its staffing problems during the Olympics and Bob Diamond’s resignation from Barclays bank following the rigging of the […]
News: Bereaved parents call for corporate manslaughter charges against G4S
The parents of a private security guard have called for his employer, G4S, to be charged with corporate manslaughter after their son was killed by a colleague described by an alleged whistleblower as a “violent criminal”. According to a BBC documentary entitled ‘Britain’s Private War’, which is due to be screened on BBC Two Scotland […]
