Seven secrets to managing change effectively
Since the start of the recession, organisations have made cuts where they can, but there now appears to be precious little slack left to prune. As a result, over the year ahead, many employers are likely to start refocusing activities and the introduction of change seems to be a certainty. But while change tends […]
CEO Insight: SuccessFactors’ Lars Dalgaard on new owner, SAP
For the last couple of years, SuccessFactors‘ chief executive Lars Dalgaard has used a slide in his presentations that picks out the headlines in German newspapers reporting when his firm won a major Software-as-a-Service-based human capital management contract at Siemens out from under the corporate nose of SAP. It’s a slide that we can assume won’t be getting […]
Leadership development is top L&D priority in bid to “sort wheat from chaff”
Leadership development for senior managers has for the first time this year become the top priority for learning and development activity as employers attempt to "sort the wheat from the chaff". According to the Corporate Learning Priorities Survey 2012 carried out by Henley Business School’s corporate development team, some 47% of respondents made it their […]
Blog: Harnessing employee emotional intelligence to boost productivity
I read an interesting story on emotional intelligence in the workplace in the Guardian a few weekends ago, which I couldn’t resist sharing. The article is based on a recent report from occupational psychologists JCA, which studied 12,400 workers from 2001 to 2010, the results of which got me fairly worried. According to the […]
HR’s critical role in shaping company culture post-M&A
As soon as a merger or acquisition is announced, the culture of both entities begins to change as people start to think about, and behave towards, their immediate environment in a different way. This means that HR directors need to act quickly to help guide these changes and ensure that the transaction fulfils its original […]
Blog: Why is staff engagement in decline globally?
Recognise This! – Employees worldwide are disengaging at work, leaving organisations at a competitive disadvantage. Recent research out of Kenexa is showing employee engagement on the decline globally. “EEI scores declined, not only in the aggregate of these economies, but in each individual country as well. The pattern of scores over time is fairly […]
Ask the Expert: When should we CRB-check our site engineers?
The question We are currently looking into whether we need to undertake CRB checking for some of our site engineers, but are not 100% sure if we require it? As a company, we occasionally (and I have to highlight that it is only occasionally) send engineers out to schools or attend calls in […]
Dept of Health apologises for paying senior execs via limited companies
The Department of Health has apologised for misleading the opposition about paying senior figures via limited companies to help them avoid income tax. According to one insider, the 25 cases identified by The Guardian could be “the tip of the iceberg”. The comment mirrors that of AccountingWEB member, The Black Knight, who commented on […]
Talent Spot: David Kast, head of HR at Hogg Robinson Group
When David Kast first started working in a branch of travel agency Hogg Robinson Group in the early 1970s, he had no inkling that he would still be working for the same firm 39 years later – or that his career would have veered off into HR and training. Kast had left school unsure of […]
Training budgets first to be cut due to unclear business value
Learning and development budgets are among the first to be cut when times are hard because it is unclear what value training brings to the organisation and what return on investment it generates. According to a survey among 104 learning and development managers undertaken by managed learning company, KnowledgePool, three out of five said that […]
HRD Insight: Enterprise-Rent-A-Car’s Donna Miller on graduate recruitment
Enterprise-Rent-A-Car puts a huge focus on graduate recruitment schemes, with the aim of encouraging fresh thinking and bringing new ideas into the company. The firm, which was set up in 1957, has a culture of promoting from within. It recognises that providing employees with clear opportunities for advancement motivates them and encourages them to […]
Blog: The necessity of developing management resilience
The resilience theme is continuing in my blog posts, this time due to a recent news item I’ve read. According to the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development‘s (CIPD) quarterly Employee Outlook survey, UK middle managers are feeling the squeeze as a result of the economic downturn. The results highlighted that almost half […]
Blog: Are most diversity initiatives just PR stunts?
If we want to create truly sustainable change and a culture of involvement and responsibility throughout our organisations, then we need to examine our every action to ensure that it supports our objectives. Sustainable change requires total commitment, not just rhetoric. Sadly, this isn’t always the case – as a recent survey from recruitment […]
Analysis: Oracle’s Taleo buy marks tipping point in talent management sector
Oracle’s takeover of Taleo yesterday could mark a tipping point in the evolution of the talent management software sector, analysts believe. The story so far is this: SAP buys Software-as-a-Service vendor, SuccessFactors, to beef up its next generation human capital and talent management offerings. Newcomer Workday, which is also an SaaS provider, readies itself […]
Leadership training mandated for senior Whitehall project managers
Civil servants are to receive mandatory training in leadership and project management skills thanks to the creation of a new £7 million Major Projects Leadership Academy. But the initiative, which will be delivered in partnership with Oxford’s Saïd Business School and consultants, Deloitte, is targeted to save the government £10 billion per year once it […]
Management book of the year unveiled
‘The Cult of the Leader’ written by Christopher Bones won the Chartered Management Institute’s ‘Book of the Year’ at an awards ceremony hosted at the British Library in London last night. The work was unanimously assigned the top slot by five judges, including Professor Cary Cooper, Sir Anthony Cleaver and former chief executive of the […]
Blog: Breaking the taboo – How to tackle redundancy and redeployment
Redundancy and redeployment are taboo words which the HR industry is trying to avoid at the moment, but there are times when, unfortunately, we have to face these processes. Obviously this is not something which we take lightly, and alternatives should be considered in the first instance. But if you do have to take the […]
CIPD aims to find new CEO by November
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is looking for a new permanent chief executive by November to replace current incumbent Jackie Orme, who is ill. Orme, who is on long-term sick leave as she undergoes treatment for cancer, has asked to step aside from her duties. When her health allows and she returns to […]
Blog: Taking a leaf out of marketing’s magic book of metrics
How defined is your brand? “I have always believed that great brands are built on improving the lives of the people they serve; I wanted to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren’t incompatible but, in fact, inseparable,” said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Proctor & Gamble and author of GROW. […]
The Costa Concordia disaster: A personality problem?
Although it is difficult to separate fact from speculation right now, the evidence would appear to suggest that, after the Costa Concordia ran aground, its captain, Francesco Schettino, did not react well. First of all, he seemed to go into denial, before apparently falling to pieces, abandoning ship before his passengers and having to be […]