Talent Spot: Stephen Kelly, chief people officer at Logica
Stephen Kelly, chief people officer at Logica, believes HR has significant influence on business success, having shaped talent strategies at major British brands including the BBC, BT, and British Rail. His career demonstrates how strategic people management and employee development drive organizational growth across diverse sectors.
In a Nutshell: Five tips to motivate yourself and others
An HR director shares five practical tips for boosting motivation at work, inspired by a children’s book about a dog who can fly when happy. Her advice emphasizes finding joy in your role, building authentic relationships, and inspiring others through storytelling and engagement.
How to get a seat on the board
HR professionals are severely underrepresented on UK corporate boards, with less than 1% of FTSE 50 board members having HR backgrounds despite the critical importance of talent management. This underrepresentation reflects a broader perception that HR professionals lack strategic business relevance and remain disconnected from senior leadership decision-making.
Blog: The importance of seeing the why in what we do
Understanding the “why” behind tasks is crucial for accountability and performance. When people see purpose in their work, they’re more motivated to meet deadlines and deliver quality results, rather than remaining resistant and making excuses about capability or capacity.
Talking Point: What’s happened to business ethics?
Recent corporate scandals at Barclays, News International, and GlaxoSmithKline reveal deeper issues with business ethics and management standards. Rather than simply replacing executives, organizations must address weak management structures, poor ethical leadership, and lack of professional accountability that enable misconduct throughout companies.
News: Whitehall shared service centres fail to deliver expected savings
Whitehall’s shared service centres have failed to deliver promised savings, with a Public Accounts Committee report revealing that setup costs exceeded £1.4 billion and some departments actually lost money. Of five participating government departments, only the Ministry of Justice broke even, while the Department for Transport and Research Councils UK incurred net costs of £255 million.
Blog: Leadership/management lessons from the Diamond debacle
The Bob Diamond case illustrates a critical leadership failure: strong vision without operational management. Effective executives must balance visionary leadership with robust management systems, as weak management undermines even the strongest strategic direction.
Barclays and the value of succession planning
Barclays’ executive departures following the Libor scandal highlight the critical importance of succession planning. Organizations face growing challenges filling leadership roles due to talent shortages and skills gaps, making proactive succession strategies essential for business continuity and employee engagement.
News: Coaching industry under threat from cowboys
The coaching industry, valued at nearly $2 billion globally, faces a significant challenge from untrained practitioners calling themselves coaches. A survey of over 12,000 coaches across 117 countries found that 43% are concerned about unqualified individuals undermining the profession, with most believing industry regulation is needed.
In a Nutshell: Five tips for being an effective manager
Effective managers recognize the importance of gratitude, fairness, and trust while adapting to challenges. Learn five essential management tips from Charles Elvin, chief executive of the Institute of Leadership & Management, including the power of saying thank you and taking calculated risks.
Talent Spot: Gill Crowther, HR director at Nominet
Gill Crowther, HR director at Nominet, built her career across Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, and Microsoft before launching her own management consultancy. She joined the .uk domain registry operator in 2007, focusing on creating an engaging workplace where employees feel both challenged and valued.
How business savvy are you – really?
HR professionals must demonstrate business savvy by understanding their organization’s business model, generating data-driven insights, and proactively connecting across departments. True commercial HR leaders focus on aligning people strategies with business objectives rather than simply labeling themselves as commercial.
HRD Insight: Fujitsu UK’s Ella Bennett on HR’s role in supporting change
HR directors play a vital role in helping organizations adapt to rapid change by developing strong leadership, fostering the right culture, building organizational capacity, and ensuring they have the right talent in place. A survey of 250 C-level executives revealed these elements are critical for responding effectively to external business dynamics.
The HRZone Interview: The CMI’s CEO Ann Francke on management
Ann Francke, newly appointed CEO of the Chartered Management Institute, aims to increase professional management qualifications and promote ethical, collaborative leadership. She believes management best practice improves organizational performance and wants to shift workplace culture toward greater diversity, engagement, and trust.
News: HR salaries rise at nearly twice the national average
HR salaries grew at nearly twice the national average in 2012, with HR business partners in commercial roles seeing the most significant increases. The Robert Walters survey found permanent UK HR staff wages rose 2.6% year-on-year, far outpacing the 1.5% average across other industries.
Blog: Why a balanced boardroom is a better boardroom
Research shows that diverse boardrooms with balanced male and female leadership improve business performance. Studies reveal that women bring distinct leadership strengths like empathy and authentic engagement, which complement traditional styles and enhance organizational decision-making and outcomes.
Is leadership development really the answer to your problems?
Leadership development is widely promoted as the solution to organizational problems, but this assumption may mask deeper issues like outdated systems, poor structures, and unclear goals. A perceived leadership skills deficit often persists despite significant developmental investment.
Blog: Crisis stories – What RBS’ Stephen Hester can teach us
RBS CEO Stephen Hester’s apology for technical issues that locked millions out of their accounts demonstrates how leaders use storytelling during crises. While his plane delay analogy provided context, experts say effective crisis communication requires stronger empathy and immediacy to truly connect with affected customers.
Strategy: 5 things to consider when adopting HR shared services
HR shared services centers can reduce costs and improve efficiency, but success requires careful planning. Five critical factors to consider are standardizing HR processes, redefining roles and responsibilities, implementing appropriate technology, measuring key performance indicators, and using data to continuously improve service delivery.
Blog: who holds the real keys to the organisation anyway?
Leadership disconnects from employees at their peril. When executives celebrate with lavish trips while workers face salary freezes and layoffs—as happened at Benjamin Moore—it signals misaligned priorities that erode trust. Employees, not executives, hold the real keys to organizational success through innovation, customer service, and value creation.
