In a Nutshell: Five ways to nurture your own career
The current economic climate has really put into sharp focus HR’s contribution to business success. As businesses have downsized and try to hold on to and attract talent, they have turned to HR professionals to come up with innovative solutions to business issues. Here are five ways to make yourself even more indispensable: […]
Blog: Kite Foundation encourages learning transfer through charitable donations
It is widely accepted that the biggest challenge facing trainers is not so much what goes on in the classroom but what doesn’t go on in the workplace. For a myriad of entirely understandable reasons, learners struggle to find the time, opportunity and motivation to use their nascent capabilities in the crucial first few days […]
News: Clear link between HR effectiveness and financial growth – study
Organisations with an effective HR function generate revenues that are up to 3.5 times higher and profits that are about 2.1 times greater than rivals, according to research. These are the key findings of a survey among more than 4,200 HR and non-HR managers based in over 100 countries across the world conducted by The […]
Case Studies: UBS and Elizabeth Arden remain loyal to Oracle
In the increasingly febrile battleground of the cloud-based human capital management software market, a number of PeopleSoft customers have opted to stay with current owner, Oracle, in order to adopt its new Fusion system. First of all, UBS, has selected the offering to help it manage its 65,000-strong workforce in 50 countries. John Bradley, global […]
News: Doctor shadowing scheme introduced to cut NHS ‘killing season’
The NHS has introduced a scheme in which junior doctors will shadow senior colleagues for at least four days in a bid to curtail the impact of the annual ‘killing season’. The initiative was introduced following pilot projects across the country and will run in late July from this year onwards. Senior doctors will […]
Talent Spot: Community blogger, Dianne Bown-Wilson
People are living longer, the overall population is aging and people are going to be working for longer. Everyone knows these facts and yet employers and workers alike are struggling to deal with them. But Dianne Bown-Wilson set up a consultancy, in my prime, to address these very issues, providing advice, strategic guidance and […]
Is it worth bothering with a CIPD qualification?
Although a CIPD qualification isn’t always requested by employers, there are always some hiring managers who include it as a prerequisite on their job specs and adverts. If you already have an HR-related degree or extensive industry experience, the CIPD may be less of a necessity – but it’s a well-respected qualification that could open […]
The HRZone Interview: Dr Cary Cooper on well-being at work
Dr Cary Cooper is professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School and author of more than 150 books on topics ranging from occupational stress and women at work to organisational psychology. He is also a regular contributor to TV, radio and the press and, in 2001, was awarded a CBE for […]
Blog: Babies in the office – Will it work?
The BBC series ‘Babies in the Office’ has been an interesting insight into the prospect of parents bringing their babies and toddlers right into their workspace. As an experiment the program is brilliant, but for me the long term potential of this concept seems limited. I suppose that they chose a call centre […]
Blog: The power of story-telling
“Once upon a time …” You say those words to any child and they visually go into a trance. These were the words that were always used to tell a story. When my children were small, my wife would give them their bath and I was the story teller. I would come into the […]
Talent Spot: Philippe Ferrie, head of HR at Vallourec
When a global company has a decentralised culture, it can be hard to persuade people to accept standardisation that is handed down from head office, even if it makes their work lives easier. This was the situation that Philippe Ferrie, worldwide employee relations coordinator at Vallourec, found himself in when the company chose to implement […]
Talking Point: Is it better to outsource training or offer it in-house?
Although employee performance may have improved over the last two years, individuals are still not working to their full potential, a recent poll of HR directors revealed. With the economic climate as it is, however, it is clear that employers must ensure that they get the most out of the talent they already have. […]
Blog: Three ideas for retaining young talent when career paths are scarce
Recognise This! – Boomers are about to surpass Gen Y in the workplace. Steve Boese (another go-to blogger of mine for anything relevant and important in the moment in HR) recently pointed out this alarming statistic: For the first time since these things started being tracked (1950), we are on the cusp of the number […]
How to tackle your first 100 days as HR director – Part 1
We live in a rapidly changing world in which the political and economic outlook for the next 12 months is very unclear. In this unstable commercial environment, uncertainty about the future feeds a growing sense of urgency in the here and now. As a result, judgments are made much more quickly. This means that […]
News: Shop floor workers make better leaders than general managers
Bosses who have experience of working on the shop floor make better leaders than career general managers, research has found. A study conducted by London’s Cass Business School and the University of Sheffield, in which academics analysed every Formula One race – almost 18,000 – that had been staged over the last 60 years, […]
Blog: How family-friendly is your organisation?
Any organisation with more than a few employees will have staff that are having children. It’s a big deal, not only for them, but for the employer too. Even though this is the case, many organisations provide little in the way of learning support for these staff. Interestingly those employers that do assist their […]
Putting the Games plan into practice
“The Olympics is a big morale booster for the country this year,” believes Phoebe Leet, head of HR for UK and Ireland at IT network giant, Cisco. And as a technology partner for the Games, the vendor has naturally had the event on its mind for some time. As a result, it has already […]
Blog: How often should I change my job?
The job for life no longer exists. Modernisation of the world of work means many employees must now work harder to turn their dream career into reality. The old career paths have disappeared and you have to take responsibility for your career and progress. Perhaps you feel you’ve reached a career ceiling but still have the […]
Blog: How to have a high impact interview – From both sides of the desk
Whether you’re looking for a job or a job-holder, chances are you’ll have a few interviews ahead of you! Personally, I enjoy interviews, whichever side of the desk I’m on. I get to chat about myself and my work over a cup of tea to someone who wants to know – what’s not to like?! […]
Talent Spot: Eivind Slaaen, Hilti’s head of people and culture development
For Eivind Slaaen, head of people and culture development at Hilti, creating the right company environment is imperative. But the irony is that, although developing culture is at heart of what his department does, such activity is considered a line management issue rather than an HR one. “I have HR colleagues who struggle with […]
