Microsoft loses second top US manager amid fresh UK revelations
Microsoft has lost its second high profile US director in as many weeks amid fresh revelations of inappropriate executive behaviour during its UK High Court battle over sexual harassment claims. According to the Daily Telegraph, Linda Zecher, a board member and vice president of the software giant’s worldwide public sector business, shocked colleagues when she […]
Blog: Should HR take responsibility for the phone hacking scandal?
The British tabloid News of the World generated headlines recently after its reporters were found to have routinely hacked into the cell phones of celebrities and murder victims. News Corporation, which owned the newspaper, shut it down after other news organizations found a pattern of wrong-doing among journalists and an out-of-control, anything-goes corporate culture. But […]
Talent Spot: Guy Pink, HR director of Addaction
Knowing your company helps saves lives is a pretty good motivator for getting up and going to work each day. Guy Pink, HR director of drug and alcohol treatment charity, Addaction, may not be on the front line providing counselling or advice, but he plays a vital supporting role, ensuring that the charity creates […]
Blog: HR must not let uninspiring company cultures set in
Some news that shocked me last week was that which described how over 300,000 children live in homes where no-one had any experience of work. It seems strange to think that so many children could be living in an environment where work is so alien. When this type of culture becomes established it can be […]
Female unemployment to jump again from 23-year high
Even as it became clear that Lord Davies’ boardroom gender targets were being ignored by most UK companies, the TUC warned that female unemployment rates were set to jump further from current 23-year highs. An analysis of official statistics undertaken by the union umbrella organisation revealed that, because the number of women employed in the […]
Holcim cements behaviour metrics into leadership development scheme
Evidence suggests that HR-sponsored leadership development programmes that are deemed to be high quality are 20 times more likely to measure performance than those rated as ineffective. Despite this, however, only 5% of organisations are able to provide meaningful metrics that effectively demonstrate a correlation between HR and business performance. But if HR is […]
New boss hacks back on Everything Everywhere management team
The new boss of mobile phone company Everything Everywhere marked his first day in the job by wiping out half of his management team including two senior HR executives. Olaf Swantee, chief executive of the company, which was created out of the merger of Orange and T-Mobile last year, announced yesterday that he had hacked […]
Leadership development programmes not up to snuff in too many organisations
Just under a quarter of HR professionals believe that their leadership development programmes are ‘highly effective’, while about one in five admit that they are useless. But according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and talent management consultancy, DDI, about a third of UK leaders rate the quality of leadership in […]
Female bosses to wait a century for equal pay, says CMI
Female bosses in the UK will need to wait nearly a century to be paid the same as their male counterparts, although women are already earning more than men in the most junior management positions. These are the key findings of a poll undertaken among 34,158 executives by XpertHR on behalf of the Chartered Management […]
Tate trustees take action to stop bullying
Complaints of bullying by managers has led the Tate galleries to issue a directive pointing out that staff have a right to work in a safe place “free from harassment or discrimination of any kind”. According to the Independent, the problem was considered so serious that the organisation’s trustees, who are appointed by the Prime […]
Blog: Apple loses Jobs – so what does it mean for the people?
When one of the world’s most celebrated business leaders announces plans to make a move, the focus is all too often on shares and customer impact, but little is mentioned about the impact it will have on the people within the organisation. When Steve Jobs announced he is standing down as chief executive at Apple, […]
Blog: Workplace relationships – just like in personal life, you want a good match
“You were too aggressive and I do not like aggressive.” My wife and I laughed so hard that I almost had to pull over on the side of the road with laughter. On Friday, my wife Janetta and I celebrated 39 years of marriage. The line above was referring to when we first met […]
Horrible bosses: how to spot them and handle them
The difference between an authentic leader and a horrible boss would appear obvious. But it’s not correct to say it all boils down to behaviour because some of the most authentic leaders I know are capable of behaving ‘poorly’ at times, says Gareth Chick, a director at Spring Partnerships. The fundamental difference for me is […]
Bonuses and allowances compensate council bosses for pay cuts
Local authority bosses were compensated for promised pay cuts last year by having their bonuses and allowances boosted instead. The move came despite calls by Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, for town hall chiefs to take a 10% wage reduction. An analysis of accounts published by 128 of the largest council’s […]
Workers uninspired by business leaders, finds study
Although good communication skills, demonstrating integrity and having the ability to motivate are the top three most desirable leadership attributes, few UK workers believe that their boss displays them. Instead a survey among 1,047 employees undertaken by ICM Research on behalf of executive search and leadership consultancy Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann revealed that just under one […]
The secret to staff satisfaction
The current climate is not only affecting business profitability but also staff morale, with employee satisfaction rates at their lowest since 2009, according to a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Further research carried out by mental health charity, Mind, revealed that 41% of people are stressed by their jobs, with […]
No ‘time to train’ in SMEs, say Government
The coalition government has ruled out extending the right to request time for training to employees in small to medium businesses until at least 2015. Under proposals made by the last government, staff in companies with less than 250 personnel would have been entitled to the same rights as those in larger organisations by April […]
Difference in earnings between public and private sector widens in poor job market
Although public sector workers are now paid an average of 7.8% more than their private sector counterparts, the number of people finding work in either area has slowed to a 22-month low. According to the Office for National Statistics, by April 2010 the difference in average earnings between public and private sector staff has widened […]
Employees have too much holiday, say 25% of SMEs
Around a quarter of small-to-medium employers believe that workers get too much holiday and would like to prune their entitlement by about four days in a bid to cut costs. According to a survey among 403 SMEs undertaken by BDRC Continental Research on behalf of insurance company MetLife, some 27% believe they are too generous […]
Wanted: HR mentors to support SMEs
The coalition government is hoping to create an “informal” nationwide network of 40,000 business mentors over the year ahead to support small-to-medium enterprises in areas such as HR, marketing and finance. The initial plank of the scheme, launched by the British Banking Association yesterday, is expected to see 1,000 current and retired employees from Barclays, […]
