Talent Spot: Lisa Sarjeant, HR director at the CIPD
As HR director at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – Europe’s largest chartered professional HR body – it’s no surprise that Lisa Sarjeant sits on the executive team and is instrumental in setting organisational strategy. While those HR professionals who are struggling to make their voices heard at the top table may envy […]
News: Former Olympus CEO settles unfair dismissal case out-of-court
Former Olympus chief executive Michael Woodford has reached an out-of-court settlement with his ex-employer for unfair dismissal. Woodford was sacked just two weeks after his appointment on blowing the cover on a $1.7bn accounting scandal at the Japanese company. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, but the Financial Times has reported […]
Blog: Punk rock HR – A no-nonsense guide to hiring, inspiring and firing
This is the first post to introduce my new book “Punk Rock People Management”, which I intend to serialise on the HRZone. If you are in a hurry to read the whole thing, simply contact me with PUNK in the title and I’ll send you the whole thing in one go for free. […]
Blog: Seven tips for navigating murky M&A waters
News last week that Mike Lynch is to leave Hewlett-Packard, just a year after the technology giant bought Autonomy, the data company that Lynch built from scratch, has sparked much speculation about a ‘clash of cultures’ between the two companies. This highlights the importance of a robust HR strategy to guide companies through the managerial […]
News: Three police forces adopt shared HR services for first time
The three police forces of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are set to become the first in the UK to share HR services under a collaborative agreement with outsourcing provider, Capita. The shared system called Origin will be provided by Capita’s secure resource solutions business under a contract worth £2.3 million over five years and, over […]
Blog: You may call yourself an HR business partner, but are you – really?
“So, what does the new title mean?” She had walked out on Friday as a generalist and returned on Monday with a new title of Business Partner. “It means I am now assigned to a business unit, I am their personal HR representative. “ And with that, a new title took hold, but within the […]
News: Half of pubic sector workers got zilch in April pay settlement
As the April pay bargaining round in the public sector gets into full swing, it appears that just over half of all workers can expect to get nothing this year. The latest figures from online resource, XpertHR, based on 29 pay reviews that came into force last month, indicated that in 55.2% of cases, staff […]
A typical HRD: Part 2 – The third sector
As the economic landscape has changed over the last four years, so too has the typical profile of an HR director in the third sector. Historically, in some circles, the industry was regarded as a bit of a backwater – a pleasant environment in which to work, but not at all ‘cutting edge’ from an […]
Living Leader Learnings: How can I make all of my team equally motivated?
The challenge: The manager of operations and logistics for a national vehicle leasing company asks: “I have always believed that I am a pretty good motivator, but the performance levels across my team differ significantly. A number of people always exceed expectations, but the rest of the team are just not stepping up in […]
News: CIPD’s new CEO appointed to further its global ambitions
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has appointed Peter Cheese as its new chief executive in a bid to further its global ambitions. Cheese, who is currently chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management, will take up the new position on Monday, 2 July. He is taking over from Sue Upton, who […]
Blog: Dealing with the leadership ‘reality gap’
When someone gets ideas above their station and too big for their boots, it generally pays dividends to bring them back down to earth in the most diplomatic way possible. It’s not always easy, but when it’s a close friend or family member you can afford to be frank. At work it tends to […]
What does it take to be an HR director?
Securing an HR director job is tough. If you apply for an HRD role, you’ll be faced with strong competition from both inside and outside the organisation. There are some common factors that employers look for when hiring. Ideally, you’ll be someone who is currently a senior HR business partner or a head of HR, […]
Blog: What impact does office politics have on people’s work lives?
Ask most people in businesses today if they think that manipulation and office politics affect their working lives and they’ll say yes. But ask them to quantify the impact on the business and that’s a much more difficult question to answer. In 2011, Revelation Consulting Ltd set out to answer that question, and we […]
Talent Spot: Fiona Lawlor, HR director at Jack Morton Worldwide
During Fiona Lawlor’s time at Jack Morton Worldwide, she has seen the HR function develop from being a lowly back-room admin operation to become a strategic partner of the business. Today, Lawlor is HR director and a senior vice president of the brand experience agency, but when she joined 18 years ago, it had no […]
Blog: How to get the most out of restructuring, redundancy and redeployment
For some people it must seem like a merry-go-round when they experience the upheaval of round after round of restructuring, redeployment and redundancies. Every few years the company is turned upside down and yet often doesn’t seem to gain the benefits. This must cause a lot of confusion to those in charge. They […]
Blog: Nine attitudes to help you become an emotionally intelligent leader
Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Managers get the best results! Like learning to drive, leading and managing people is an experiential journey. My entrance onto the leadership stage was when I was promoted into the role, having stood in for the team leader from time to time. I don’t know about you, but although I […]
Blog: CEO confessions – What it takes to create a successful company culture
Recognise This! – No company will build the same culture, but every organisation should focus intentional effort on building the right culture for them. I’ve been traveling a good deal again lately, which means I’ve had time to dig into my “organisation culture and leadership” pile of books. A short flight recently gave me […]
Blog: M&A success – It’s a people thing
“I knew enough to allow them to handle their own culture, headquarters and management,” said Paul Murry, CEO of Calvin Klein, a PVH Corp. company. In 2003, PVH bought Calvin Klein when sales were $2.8 billion. Last year, the numbers ended with sales at $7.6 billion. That statement alone tells why M&A must have a people […]
Three ways for HR leaders to thrive in today’s changing business landscape
In recent years – and even more so in recent months – the business landscape has changed dramatically. It has become more global, more complex, faster-paced and less predictable. The competing and conflicting challenges that leaders face today have morphed from the ‘tame’, if complicated, issues that could be tackled successfully using tried and […]
Blog: What makes a good mayor?
Today, as votes are being cast in London to elect the city’s mayor, and a further 10 English cities vote on whether they wish to have a mayor at all, it’s a good time to contemplate the value and role of a leader and what lessons our business leaders can take from this week’s mayoral elections. […]
