Talent Spot: Community blogger, Christina Lattimer
Christina Lattimer, owner of HR and leadership development consultancy People Discovery, has been tackling HR issues for all of her working life, even if she didn’t take up her first official HR position until 10 years ago. “I’ve only been a pure HR specialist since 2002 and was a business manager for lot of years […]
News: Sailors’ pay docked after £1.2m MoD overpayment error
Hundreds of Royal Navy sailors face having up to four day’s pay per month docked after having been mistakenly overpaid to the tune of £1.2 million by the Ministry of Defence. According to the Daily Mirror, the junior ratings were told in a letter received yesterday that they would be required to pay back the […]
Blog: Four leadership challenges faced by Barclays’ new CEO
Over the past few months the commercial banking sector has had its fair share of challenges. The Barclays‘ Libor rigging scandal, negative publicity surrounding bonuses and increased competition from smaller high street banks are to name just a few. No doubt this turbulent environment will present challenges for Anthony Jenkins, who has just become […]
Providing operational leadership: The emerging role of the HR COO
HR business partners continue to be challenged by both the business and the HR function itself to play a more strategic role. While the business demands increasingly focused levels of support, the HR department is left balancing such requirements with its own priorities in terms of making cost savings and providing services consistently. Most […]
News: Half of HR departments will be restructured in next few years
Nearly half of all organisations intend to restructure their HR departments over the next few years in a bid to cater more effectively to the changing needs of the business. According to professional services firm Tower Watson’s HR service delivery survey conducted among HR and HR/IT executives working at 628 organisations across the world, just […]
Blog: Organisational values – Actions speak louder than words
“For us this lawsuit has always been about something much more important than patents or money. It’s about values. We value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on Earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy.” This was part of the missive […]
Talent Spot: Carole Jones, acting group HR director at Aviva
Carole Jones, acting group HR director at Aviva, is very grateful that Commercial Union took a chance 22 years ago and gave her a job, even though she had little relevant experience. She has since stuck with the company through a number of mergers and name changes and, when the post of acting group HR […]
The HRZone Interview: Best Companies’ Wayne Clarke on engagement
Wayne Clarke is managing partner at workplace engagement specialists, Best Companies, the firm behind the prestigious Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to Work For’ annual listing of high-performing organisations. It has identified eight key factors that are critical to be an employer that staff rate highly. They comprise: How employees feel about their leaders How […]
In a Nutshell: Five tips for creating a positive company culture
Culture is one of those nebulous things that it’s hard to put your finger on: it’s something you instinctively know is spot on or out of kilter. Get it right and you have a happy workforce who will hopefully ensure that customers are happy too. Get it wrong and there is a chain reaction in […]
News: North Tyneside ditches shared services plans to save jobs
North Tyneside Council has ditched plans to go for shared services in favour of outsourcing in a bid to save 360 jobs that would otherwise be at risk. The aim of the local authority’s four-year plan is to save £47 million and two preferred bidders have already been selected to pitch for its business. […]
Blog: Communication is the essence of good leadership
All eyes turned towards the manager as she gave her opinion of a strategy that was being discussed. This was part of the strategic meeting with the leadership team, with the C-Level executive sitting at the head of the table. As she walked through her reasoning, everyone was nodding their head in agreement. She […]
How to tackle your first 100 days as HR director – Part 2
These days, an HR director’s achievements in their first 100 days of taking on a new position are routinely seen as an indication of their future leadership potential. This means that swift delivery on goals and an immediate return on investment are considered more essential than ever. So how can you ensure that you […]
How to get ahead in HR
HR professionals have been put in the spotlight over the last two years as the function became even more critical during the downturn. Most are now working to execute strategies and make changes across various business functions to come up with innovative solutions to offset business cost pressures. Throughout the economic crisis, many HR […]
Blog: Learning to manage sickness absence more creatively
Newly published figures by the Health and Social Care Information Centre have revealed that NHS workers took an average of 15 days of sickness absence over the last year – an improvement on figures from three years ago. Sceptics have been quick to note that the level of sickness absence in the NHS is considerably […]
Do you get commercial?
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has been pushing the idea that HR professionals need to become more business-savvy for some time now. As a result, we interview Debbie Pask, founder of specialist HR recruitment consultancy, Paskpartnership, in order to find out why being able to demonstrate commercial nous is becoming vital for every […]
Lessons from Olympians: Seb Coe, the ultimate expert-turned-leader
The concept of an expert becoming a leader is scarcely unexplored territory. But the focus is usually on the skills that the erstwhile expert needs to acquire and demonstrate as they move from one role – and mind-set – to another. There are other attributes that are just as critical to the success, not […]
Case Study: LV= focuses on staff enagement to negotiate change
LV= (London Victoria) has nearly tripled its workforce from 2,000 employees in 2007 to 5,600 in 2012 and now insures one in 10 cars on the road. But its HR director, David Smith, recognises that such fast growth can foster uncertainty and anxiety as well as generate cultural change that is not always positive. […]
News: UK employers do little to tackle poor internal management skills
Even though the vast majority of UK businesses believe that their performance is at risk of being held back by a shortage of skilled managers, all too few are doing anything much about it. According to a survey conducted among 750 managers with responsibility for talent management by the Institute of Leadership & Management, the […]
Diary of a misfit: For hire – One creative/HR director hybrid
I am a misfit, a freak of nature, the result of a three-year HR experiment gone badly wrong. Either that or I am the future, a ground-breaking trailblazer to lead HR into a new era. I’m not sure which – and this is why I need your help. You see, after more […]
News: Surrey contract bidders asked to offer NEET apprenticeships
Contractors bidding to work for Surrey County Council are being asked to hire apprentices in an effort to combat the high number of young people currently not in education, employment or training. The move comes only weeks after the local authority pledged to create a £3,000 pot to fund apprenticeship places at small-to-medium enterprises for […]