The future of work: what the world will look like in 2025
Even with three decades of research into work under my belt, I still find the future of work incredibly difficult to predict. That’s why I created a research consortium designed to tap into ideas and knowledge from across the world. Each year, my research team and I begin by identifying the five forces that will […]
CIPD Conference: People management key to Tesco’s success, says Leahy
Tesco’s success has been based on good people management and the simple act of giving workers what they want, believes Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of the supermarket chain. In his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in Manchester this week, he said that employees fundamentally desired four key things: […]
Talent Spot: David Smith, HR director at LV=
When David Smith, HR and communications director at LV=, first joined the UK’s largest friendly society he was faced with the ultimate challenge: a blank sheet of paper. At that point, in 2008, the company had outsourced its entire HR function. Smith’s first job was to bring HR back in-house. It was a time of […]
CIPD Conference: “HR must become business leaders and strategists”
If HR professionals are to take up their rightful mantle as agents of change, they must become “first and foremost business leaders and strategists driving performance and change through people”. Gill Rider, president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, warned in her keynote speech to open the organisation’s annual conference in Manchester today […]
Seven secrets to staff engagement
The fundamental role of HR is to motivate the right people to do the right things at the right time. This situation puts the spotlight on how to boost employee engagement and ensure that workers are committed to the organisation. If you want staff to perform effectively, what are you going to give them in […]
Mediation: Part Four – How to deal with the outcome
When destructive workplace conflict rears its ugly head, it will typically be an HR professional who suggests mediation as an option to try and resolve the situation By the time the case gets to mediation, this ‘referrer’ will probably have invested significant time and emotion in it and will most likely have expectations about the […]
Blog: Why bother with managing staff careers?
In today’s tough economic circumstances, organisations are seeking competitive advantage through the best use of their people more than ever before. In a time when the job market is uncertain many companies and business leaders may feel that career management is not a priority, seeing it as something that is personal to employees. But […]
Investment in work-based training has direct impact on bottom line
Investment in work experience, quality work-based training and apprenticeships provides not just soft intangible benefits, but also has a positive impact on the bottom line, a UK academic has advised. Jonathan Garnett, dean of the Institute for Work-Based Learning at Middlesex University, which held a ‘Getting the UK Working’ conference with employers lobby group, the […]
Lincolnshire shared services deal to save £1.3m by axing 20 posts
Plans for North and North East Lincolnshire councils to enter into a shared agreement to jointly provide local taxation and benefits services could save taxpayers £1.3m, mainly by getting rid of 20 full-time equivalent posts. The agreement, which will cover housing and council tax benefits administration, collection of council tax and non-domestic rates and other […]
Talent Spot: John Ainley, group HR director at Aviva
“Authenticity is very important. You can be authentically awful, but being comfortable with who you are, is crucial as an HR director,” says John Ainley, group HR director at Aviva. Ainley, who is a member of the insurance group’s executive committee and reports directly to its chief executive, started working there as a divisional HR […]
UK lags behind rest of OECD in management skills
An influential HR body has called on the Coalition Government to find ways of encouraging UK employers to fill damaging gaps in current management and leadership skills profiles. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has published a Work Horizons report entitled ‘Good Management – A New (Old) Driver for Growth’, ahead of next month’s governmental […]
A question of ethics: Candidate profile-building using social media
The internet has, and will continue to, change the way we do things. ‘Business web sites’ such as LinkedIn and other social media web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly being used to meet people and sustain friendships and business relationships online. More and more organisations are also using social media to […]
Blog: High-performance HR – it’s about technology AND social media
“I only have 90 connections, I know but I was only connected to LinkedIn about a year ago.” “Yes, I did look her up on LinkedIn and I thought: ‘how you could be the head of HR and only have 32 connections?’” These statements came from people I spoke with last week concerning the […]
Blog: 10 top tips to build an engaged workforce
An engaged employee is someone who will go that extra mile for your company. Companies with high employee engagement levels grow on average 4.5 times faster than those with low levels, according to a 2010 study by Hays. Engaged employees means lower staff turnover & higher productivity. However, engagement takes work – here are […]
Talent Spot: John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire
The various jobs and responsibilities may have changed over the years, but for John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire, one thing has remained constant. “Dealing with people is what I do, and what I love,” he says. His natural people skills were noticed early on by his first employer, NatWest. Hardman had started on […]
The HR Headmistress: Coping with ET1 tribunal claim documents
Unless you’re a solicitor, the arrival of an ET1 employment tribunal claim document does tend to cast a gloom over the morning. Such claims have risen considerably in recent years and, in the current economic climate, contractual changes and redundancy dismissals are commonplace. In an ideal world, we should be ensuring compliant, timely and […]
Staff education and training are critical to corporate security
Earlier this year, a security firm called RSA was embarrassed by a major breach that led to information about its user authentication token technology leaking out. The company not only faced a huge bill to physically replace its offerings, which were now useless, but also attracted unwanted column inches from press around the world. Just […]
Blog: Developing a customer-service mindset in HR
“We hire happy people and teach them to make sandwiches.” ”To maintain a connection between the front lines and the back office, every manager is required to spend four days a year on the shop floor.” (Pret a Manager). “We hire ‘customer service people’ and teach them all about coffee.” (Starbucks). This week, I ordered […]
Talent Spot: Denise Keating, head of the Employers’ Network for Equality and Inclusion
There isn’t much in either an HR or business setting that Denise Keating hasn’t tried and mastered. As well as systematically working to make herself an expert in every aspect of HR, along the way she has also picked up experience of areas such as IT and clinical governance. “I never lost jobs, just gained […]
Temps entitled to tips under Agency Worker Regs, warns lawyer
The hospitality industry must pay temps their fair share of customer tips or risk legal action under the new Agency Worker Regulations, a lawyer has warned. Although many of the UK’s largest leisure chains have in the past failed to share gratuities with agency staff, individuals with 12 weeks’ service will now be entitled to […]
