Blog: CIPD 2012 – Impose company values at your own risk
During a Question & Answer session at the CIPD conference yesterday, Simon Jones tweeted something that caught my eye. Peter Cheese, the recently appointed CIPD CEO, asked a gathering of around a hundred people, ‘How many of you can recite your company values?’ Three people raised their hands. There was some surprise about the low response among the audience, but I’m […]
News: CIPD 2012 – ‘Employers must take more responsibility for skills development’
If the UK is to remain competitive globally, employers must take more responsibility for addressing structural employment and systemic skills issues among the next generation of workers, according to government representatives. Jo Swinson, a Liberal Democrat MP and current minister for employment and Michael Davis, chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, […]
Talent Spot: Community blogger, Emma Littmoden
On Emma Littmoden’s road to the top, you’ll find some loo roll, wet wipes and a jockey’s uniform. Before becoming sales and business development partner at leadership development provider The Living Leader, Littmoden had earned her sales spurs selling hygiene products and been one of the top five female amateur jockeys in the country. In […]
Talent Spot: Louise Rooney, head of HR at ServiceSource
As HR manager at IT firm ServiceSource, Louise Rooney has a major recruitment job on her hands. When she first joined, the company’s headcount was about 120, but in less than a year, it had grown to 165 and there are plans to create another 100 posts over the next few months. “Sourcing the right […]
Talking Point: Is low staff turnover for losers?
Who on earth ever said that low attrition rates were the mainstay of business success? Staff turnover levels have been obsessed over for years and are still the cause of many a furrowed brow in meetings on the subject. Some teams are even trained to worry – far too much – about an issue […]
Blog: Did Man City’s Mancini display emotional intelligence?
When the chips are down, how often do we hear leaders, whether in sport, politics or business, admit responsibility and shoulder the blame? Not that often. But, last week, following a defeat away to Ajax (which could be the final nail in the Champions League coffin for money-clad Manchester City), Roberto Mancini, did just […]
Five tips for becoming a successful interim
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and work as an interim. When starting out, the three main elements to consider are: Whether to be self-employed (sole trader) or to form a limited company (personal services company). You are likely to find that most agencies expect you to be the latter and in fact this […]
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 […]
The HRZone Interview: Jon Ingham on where HR is going wrong
In the view of Jon Ingham, HR consultant, author and blogger, the current obsession of HR practitioners to be seen as business people first and HR professionals second could seriously backfire. The danger is that, by becoming too much like everyone else in the business, HR will lose sight of what its key focus should […]
In a Nutshell: Five tips to foster a change-friendly culture
A recent study conducted by IT product and services vendor Fujitsu confirmed what many have long suspected: Just over two thirds of the employers questioned believed that they were failing to keep up with the growing pace of change – despite all of the financial risks that such a scenario generates. But what is it […]
HRD Insight: Allianz’s Philip Gennoy on aligning HR and business goals
For Allianz Insurance’s HR director, Philip Gennoy, the key to ensuring that HR strategy and business goals knit tightly together is to keep a close eye on both the day-to-day nitty-gritty as well as the bigger, more long-term picture. The idea is that by breaking strategy down into bite-sized tactical pieces, it becomes possible to […]
News: Mobile commerce joint venture outsources HR
A newly formed mobile commerce joint venture dubbed ‘Project Oscar’ has outsourced its transactional HR activities in a bid to set up a cost-effective HR function quickly. The joint venture between Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone will enable in-store shoppers to purchase goods using their smartphones as an alternative to cash, credit cards or loyalty […]
Blog: Does Boris demonstrate the five fundamentals of leadership? Part 2
The hype surrounding the Boris Johnson shows no sign waning, especially after his attention-grabbing speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago. As mentioned in part 1, Johnson is a performer – though, when you look beneath the gags and standard routines, is there something far more complex and substantial […]
What political leaders can teach us about presenting
Not only do HR directors and other senior executives need to be able to present well, but they also have to convince their audience that they are natural born leaders. Whether giving a presentation at an Annual General Meeting, to the entire workforce at a staff away day or to the great and the good […]
How to recognise workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is definitely on the rise, not least because of the ample opportunities for cyber-bullying in our increasingly high tech work environments. The situation is also not helped by the tough economic climate, which tends to have an impact on management behaviour and can lead to increased levels of stress throughout the organisation, not […]
Blog: Remember your manners – The benefits of just saying ‘thank you’
“All I want is for someone, sometime, just one time, to say thank you.” She works late every night, and pulls long hours. This particular morning she left home at 5:30 to make sure she got in to prepare for the big meeting. She left at 8 that night to go home. As she […]
Blog: Eight tips for handling a ‘difficult conversation’
No-one likes having ‘difficult’ conversations – but as a manager it is inevitable that at some point an issue will arise that has to be addressed. It may be that an employee’s performance is under par, a project has gone horribly wrong or a crucial meeting has been mishandled. It’s tempting to sweep poor […]
Blog: The World of HR – Today’s frustrations, tomorrow’s dreams Part 2
Last week we told you about a time travel challenge we posed some of our clients. We asked them in 20 years’ time, when you look back at HR, what would you tell people it was famous for? We asked them to complete the sentence: “A long time ago, in a company far, far […]
Blog: Does Boris demonstrate the five fundamentals of leadership? Part 1
Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s popularity has risen to such an extent that commentators are increasingly speculating over the possibility that the eccentric former journalist could be the next Prime Minister. The mayor’s meteoric rise received a welcome boost from a successful London 2012, but has he got what it takes to be an international […]
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 […]
