National Apprenticeship Week: Apprenticeships O2-style
With the economy still faltering, unemployment at 8.4% and the promise of more job cuts to come, people are naturally becoming more and more worried about their employability and job security. With over one million 16 to 24 year olds out of work, the situation is even more acute for young people as the pressure […]
The Learning Awards winners revealed
The learning and development industry turned out in force on Thursday 2 February in support of The Learning and Performance Institute’s annual Awards ceremony, The Learning Awards. Sharron Davies MBE, twice British Sportswoman of the Year, hosted the event, which took place at the five star Dorchester Hotel, London. The ceremony was filled with international figureheads […]
Blog: Social media for HR – fear, authenticity and learning together
Increasingly I’m being asked about how to implement and manage a more social way of communicating. Sometimes within organisations, sometimes with customers, and when really lucky – sometimes with all stakeholders. I recently gave a talk for the CIPD on Social Media for HR, covering subjects like fear, authenticity, support and learning together. I’ve […]
Learning Technologies 2012: Thoughts of the future
There was a definite buzz at this year’s Learning Technologies 2012 exhibition and conference at Kensington Olympia on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Keynote speakers Edward de Bono, Ray Kurzweil and Jaron Lanier brought a philosophical bent to the proceedings as if they had been selected purposely to emphasise the post-technological age in which we […]
Talent Spot: Community blogger, Derek Irvine
Derek Irvine, one of HRzone’s most prolific and respected bloggers, started his career as a marketing and brand man in his home town of Dublin. Currently vice president of strategy and consulting services at rewards and recognition software and services provider, Globoforce, he is still based in Ireland, but spends a good chunk of his […]
Blog: Taking a leaf out of marketing’s magic book of metrics
How defined is your brand? “I have always believed that great brands are built on improving the lives of the people they serve; I wanted to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren’t incompatible but, in fact, inseparable,” said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Proctor & Gamble and author of GROW. […]
Talent Spot: Dan Grant, head of HR at Dell UK
There’s a saying within Dell: ‘It’s not just what you do that’s important, but how you do it…’ It’s a maxim that Dell’s head of HR, Dan Grant, strives to live by. If you’re honest in the way you deal with people and keep your promises, then you can’t go far wrong, he believes. […]
Trends 2012: Modern life skills
The demands and challenges that HR professionals face at the moment are becoming increasingly complex. Stress-related illness and mental health problems have a huge impact on staff morale, not to mention their effect on productivity and, therefore, business success. The cost of absenteeism is huge and the issues surrounding presenteeism are both time-consuming and […]
Blog: Is there a place for QR codes in recruitment?
As digital technology continues to engrain itself in our day to day lives, we’ve been increasingly looking at how we can reach our candidates through these new channels. It seems that as quickly as organisations get comfortable with one communications channel, another one springs up! As specialist online recruiters, it’s our job to help […]
Three out of five HR professionals happy in their job
Nearly three out of five HR professionals are happy in their job, with only 5% hating where they work, according to a study. But although HR personnel are working longer hours than ever, this situation is not their biggest bugbear. Instead IT issues such as PCs and printers crashing for no apparent reason cause […]
Blog: Social media and the workforce – Can you hear me now?
Can you hear me now? That ubiquitous phrase made famous by Verizon became quite apropos at the end of 2011. After the most embarrassing debacle in history of marketing/pricing, Verizon was forced to backtrack, put their tail between their legs, and somberly walk away from what they thought would be another revenue steam. Netflix […]
Talent Spot: Darren Hockaday, HR director at London Overground
“I’ve made it my business to get as close to the business and operations as possible. As an HR director, it’s not desirable, it’s essential that I know every role in the organisation and that I’m out there speaking to people and knowing how things are done,” says Darren Hockaday, HR director at London Overground […]
Survey: Do you engage in training and if not, why not?
Just under two thirds of practitioners regularly or occasionally undertake training, work towards qualifications or carry out any form of continuing professional development, according to a recent poll by The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals. But while the figure appears promising, the Insitute, which is focusing on CPD this year due to the introduction of […]
Tweeter allegedly sacked after admitting depression
A Twitter user who opened up to the boss earlier today about his depression was apparently fired three hours later after allegedly being told that “we’re a small company, there’s no room for passengers”. The tweeter aka @badlydrawnroy claimed that his employer initially tried to make him resign, but later sent him a letter of […]
Talent Spot: David Arkless, president of End Human Trafficking Now!
David Arkless, ManpowerGroup’s president of global corporate and government affairs, constantly criss-crosses the globe advising on labour issues, talking to governments and spearheading a campaign against human trafficking. It’s an impressive and worthy remit that more than fulfils his modest childhood ambition: “I grew up in a very, very working class family in a council […]
Book Review: The Hedgehog Effect by Manfred Kets de Vries
Manfred Kets de Vries has been writing about organisational psychodynamics and consulting internationally for 30 years. He is rated as one of the world’s leading leadership theoreticians, is programme director at international graduate business school, INSEAD, and holds a number of professorial posts internationally. He has also written and published many books and articles. […]
Talent Spot: Helene Speight, head of HR at Endava
“My experience on ‘The Apprentice’ didn’t teach me anything about business, but it did teach me about the media and it also taught me a lot about myself,” says Helene Speight, group head of talent management at nearshore IT outsourcing services provider, Endava. And having self-awareness and an understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses […]
Public sector disillusion widespread, warns recruiter
Public sector employees are currently so disillusioned that just over half of those looking for work would be prepared to sacrifice a better pension for perceived higher job security in the private sector. These are the findings of an online poll among 1,380 public and private sector employees and 955 employers undertaken by recruitment firm […]
Blog: The UK’s first HRD-only networking event launches
The first in a new quarterly series of exclusive HRD networking events took place in London last week centred on the latest thinking in measuring talent from guest speaker and Danish human capital management expert, Morten Kamp Andersen. The debate held by participants in the HRD Network focused on three areas: Why measure HR and […]
Health and wellbeing programmes: Engagement is key
Many organisations are beginning to understand that employee wellbeing plays an important role in personal happiness and productivity which, in turn, has a positive impact on corporate performance. But one of the biggest challenges is simply engaging staff sufficiently to actually take part in the wellbeing programmes intended for their benefit. High levels of such […]
