Blog: Top tips for presenting with panache
Many of us are called upon to present in the modern workplace, whether it’s a formal presentation to hundreds, a business briefing to your department or simply at a small meeting around a table. Presenting and presentations can take many forms. Being a good presenter in front of your staff builds your status and garners […]
Creating a sunny workplace ‘climate’
It is widely accepted that effective leaders are critical to organisational success. But in times of economic uncertainty, when confidence is low and even short-term predictions are impossible, a good leader comes into their own. Right now, all across Europe, organisations are depending on their managers to ensure that they continue to perform in the […]
Talent Spot: Damian Hughes, HR author, speaker and consultant
HR practitioners know the value of having a varied CV. But in the case of Damian Hughes, now running his own consultancy Liquid Thinker, varied doesn’t appear to do justice to the eclectic mix of careers and experiences that he’s amassed – and all before turning 40. Hughes has been a footballer and Manchester United […]
Blog: Why you should stop motivating staff
Recognise This! – Factors that serve to demotivate employees are stronger than those that motivate them. For decades, “good” managers have concerned themselves with how to motivate employees – how to encourage their employees to give their best. New research from Jim Collins, co-author of Good to Great and Great by Choice, offers a […]
Blog: A new role for HR?
Every year we bring together key thinkers in the HR Profession for the Ochre House HR Directors Annual Symposium and this year, they certainly didn’t fail to impress. The subject for the day was Redefining Business Value Through a Talent Centric Approach and it wasn’t long before the room was buzzing with conversation. One […]
Communication: the secret to recruitment success
Does your hiring process actually lose you candidates? How do you manage something that is effectively intangible and immeasurable? From an executive recruitment consultant’s perspective, how organisations deal with those quiet times while waiting for an internal decision or response about a prospective hire can be just as important to the relationship as how the […]
CEO Video Insight: NetApp UK’s Dave Allen on staff engagement
At the end of October, data storage firm NetApp was named number three in Fortune magazine’s list of top 25 multinational companies to work at. The firm, which employs 500 people in the UK and Ireland, is headed by managing director Dave Allen. He speaks to us here about how the organisation has tried to […]
Attrition rates for contact centre staff leap
Attrition rates for contact centre agents are on the up again after three years of decline, but are forecast to keep on rising into the foreseeable future. According to contact centre industry analysts, ContactBabel, the mean annual turnover rate for UK call centre staff increased to 21% in 2011 from a six-year low of 16% […]
CIPD Conference: Developing business savvy
Because HR’s fundamental role is to support sustainable organisational performance, being able to demonstrate business, contextual and organisational savvy is vital – and becoming more so as companies become increasingly complex. This is the key finding of a panel discussion entitled ‘Giving HR the Business Edge: how HR can drive impact and influence’, which took […]
CIPD Conference: ‘No one-size-fits-all for leadership practices’
Despite the abundance of formulas to identify what makes a good leader, the problem is that each one has different competencies and, therefore, leads in quite different ways. This means, said Marcus Buckingham in his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual conference in Manchester this week, that trying to transfer […]
CIPD Conference: People management key to Tesco’s success, says Leahy
Tesco’s success has been based on good people management and the simple act of giving workers what they want, believes Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of the supermarket chain. In his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in Manchester this week, he said that employees fundamentally desired four key things: […]
Talent Spot: David Smith, HR director at LV=
When David Smith, HR and communications director at LV=, first joined the UK’s largest friendly society he was faced with the ultimate challenge: a blank sheet of paper. At that point, in 2008, the company had outsourced its entire HR function. Smith’s first job was to bring HR back in-house. It was a time of […]
CIPD Conference: “HR must become business leaders and strategists”
If HR professionals are to take up their rightful mantle as agents of change, they must become “first and foremost business leaders and strategists driving performance and change through people”. Gill Rider, president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, warned in her keynote speech to open the organisation’s annual conference in Manchester today […]
Melody Hossaini’s verdict on the Young Apprentice: Episode three
Melody Hossaini, a candidate in the last series of BBC TV’s The Apprentice, social entrepreneur and founder of InspirEngage International, blogs about the third episode in the new season of Young Apprentice: Week three task: £800 to start up their own floristry businesses. Each must pitch to three corporate clients set up by Lord Sugar, […]
The changing face of the European HR technology market
Over the last few years, the delivery of HR services in Europe has evolved significantly, driven largely by a need to balance increased demand with the ability to manage costs – and improve quality. European economies are more diverse than in any other region of the world and businesses are under tremendous pressure to be […]
Lincolnshire shared services deal to save £1.3m by axing 20 posts
Plans for North and North East Lincolnshire councils to enter into a shared agreement to jointly provide local taxation and benefits services could save taxpayers £1.3m, mainly by getting rid of 20 full-time equivalent posts. The agreement, which will cover housing and council tax benefits administration, collection of council tax and non-domestic rates and other […]
Talent Spot: John Ainley, group HR director at Aviva
“Authenticity is very important. You can be authentically awful, but being comfortable with who you are, is crucial as an HR director,” says John Ainley, group HR director at Aviva. Ainley, who is a member of the insurance group’s executive committee and reports directly to its chief executive, started working there as a divisional HR […]
Blog: Does HR belong in finance?
Recognise This! – HR must provide strategic value to claim a place on the executive team. What’s the reporting structure for HR in your organisation? Do you have a CHRO or similar that reports directly to the CEO? Or does HR report up through operations (the COO) or finance (the CFO)? Workforce Management recently […]
Melody Hossaini’s verdict on the Young Apprentice: Episode two
Melody Hossaini, a candidate in the last series of BBC TV’s The Apprentice, social entrepreneur and founder of InspirEngage International blogs about the second episode in the new season of Young Apprentice: Week two task: Design a product for the parent and baby market and pitch it to leading retailers. This week saw a classic […]
Talent Spot: John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire
The various jobs and responsibilities may have changed over the years, but for John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire, one thing has remained constant. “Dealing with people is what I do, and what I love,” he says. His natural people skills were noticed early on by his first employer, NatWest. Hardman had started on […]
