Interview: Kathy Allison, Head of HR at boohoo.com
Kathy Allison is Head of HR at fashion retailer boohoo.com. 1. Tell us something we don’t know about employee engagement and how it works? There shouldn’t really be anything the profession doesn’t know about employee engagement, as it isn’t rocket science. My simple rules would be that employee engagement has to be bought into from […]
Why measuring the impact of training is absolutely essential
Our research recently found that only 28% of the 388 people we polled globally collect and use data within the Learning and Development department to monitor and measure the impact of training. Twenty-three percent collate information but find it a cumbersome process and fail to do anything with it afterwards. It's no surprise then to […]
Senior leader buy-in is fundamental to employee engagement
This piece was written by Gary Cattermole, co-founder and director of staff survey provider The Survey Initiative. It’s a common issue, organisations are eager to run an employee engagement programme but find it tricky to get their Chief Exec or members of the board to buy-in to employee engagement. Some board members may think it’s […]
Leadership for the Knowledge Worker Age
This article was written by Kevin Vaughan-Smith, managing director of leadership consultancy FranklinCovey UK & Ireland. The rise of the knowledge worker Mention the industrial age and many will think of the bustling factories and shipyards of the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries – more Brunel than Branson. Whilst the UK still remains an important […]
Is leadership development actually meeting the challenges faced by today’s leaders?
The Issue The nature and scale of the challenges currently facing leaders is captured in a recent survey, The Management Agenda 2013 by Roffey Park Management Institute, based on responses from 1460 managers. This shows that 20 percent rate the leadership in their organisation as poor, while 25 percent also report that culture change initiatives […]
The Emperor Ulrich’s new clothes: re-evaluating the role of HR Business Partners
This article was written by Roger Edwards, SVP and Principal Consultant, Pilat HR Solutions. Amazingly, it’s now over 15 years since Dave Ulrich launched the HR model or concept that would bear his name and the development of centres of excellence and HR Business Partners (HRBPs) have been largely at the centre of HR development […]
Beat burnout – seven ways to create an extra hour in the day
This article was written by Jeff Archer, Director of The Tonic Corporate Wellness. Someone said to me recently, ‘All I need is an extra hour each day and I’d get everything that I need to do done.’ Unfortunately, we’re all stuck with 24-hours in the day and 168 hours in the week so an extra hour […]
Book review: Beyond the Call by Marc Woods & Steve Coomber
Title: Beyond The Call: Why Some of Your Team Go the Extra Mile and Others Don’t ShowAuthors: Marc Woods & Steve CoomberISBN: 978-1119962588 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates Ltd. Opening with the statement from the influential Edgar Schein “The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to […]
Book Review: Stretch: Leading Beyond Boundaries by James Brook & Dr Paul Brewerton
Title: Stretch: Leading Beyond BoundariesAuthors: James Brook & Dr Paul BrewertonISBN: 978-1780884189 This book was reviewed by Michael Farry, Human Resources Director at PhotoBox. There are numerous leadership books on the market today. What sets this one apart from others I have read is the fact that it is written as an engaging fable full of practical ideas, tips […]
Talent Spot: Mark Simmons, HR director at supply & logistics firm Norbert Dentressangle Logistics UK Ltd
Norbert Dentressangle may not be a household name in the UK, but this colossal international logistics and supply chain firm has major ambition and is growing fast. Mark Simmons, HR director of Norbert Dentressangle Logistics UK Ltd since 2007, is part of the team spearheading that growth. Today, the UK business employs 10,000 people across […]
News: failure to attract and develop talent is undermining business strategy
Executives’ priority to define business strategy is being seriously undermined by their failure to invest in attracting and developing the talent needed to deliver those plans. This is one of the main findings in a Harvard Business Publishing survey, which calls on organisations to urgently rethink their leadership development models. Over a third of the […]
HR and the CEO – not quite good enough yet…
CEOs and CFOs believe that the HR function’s expertise and experience in people issues can help companies make difficult but crucial staffing decisions in challenging economic times. According to a study the Economist Intelligence Unit, senior executives in Western Europe value their relationship with senior HR leaders, with 69 percent of respondents saying that […]
Executive deafness to employee voices creating lack of engagement
UK bosses need to start to to listen to the voice of employees as engagement between staff and their employers sinks to a record low. That’s one of the key findings of the latest CIPD Quarterly Employee Outlook survey which exposes a worrying deterioration in employees’ satisfaction with their ability to feed views upwards, particularly in […]
Final pensions RIP for the private sector?
Final salary pensions in the private sector have closed their doors to new staff at the fastest rate on record, with just 13% of final salary pensions were open to new joiners in 2012. According to a study by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) out today, that represents a drop of a third from […]
The changing market for HCM applications
The market for HR applications is in a state of flux as a wealth of systems start coming up for renewal and cloud computing begins to enter the mainstream. Cloud offerings – where users pay a subscription to access software over the internet instead of licencing and running it in-house at a hefty capital cost […]
News: Management on the move in 2013
Almost a third of UK senior managers are looking to switch jobs this year, according to an independent report commissioned by career advisor AGM Transitions. The research found that the desire for a new job was high among senior managers, prompted by the prospect of better pay (37%) as well as a fresh challenge (18%). […]
Generating success: How to build a culture of confidence
Confidence is at the heart of effective performance. But the media continuously bombards us with very public examples of people in every sphere of life buckling under pressure. In terms of the performing arts, think of the contestants on Britain’s Got Talent! or the X-Factor. A botched performance can either make or break them. […]
The art of change management
When an organisation has to effect fundamental change, it usually implements it from top to bottom. Typically back room operations as well as the products and/or services that it offers will all be affected. As a result, a 360 degree investigation and feedback process can be a good place from which to start. […]
News: EU – Employers ‘must retrain or redeploy redundant staff’
European MPs have approved proposals for medium- and large employers to take responsibility for retraining or redeploying employees that they plan to make redundant. The European Parliament report, which was drawn up by Spanish socialist MEP, Alejandro Cercas, is calling for new regulations that would require organisations employing more than 100 staff in a single […]
Blog: Seven career questions to ask yourself for 2013
It’s that time in January when we take stock and decide on our resolutions for the year ahead. So I thought it might be useful to offer my advice on what you should be doing to enhance your career in 2013. Make time to think about your career. There is nothing more important than […]
