Is there such a thing as a typical HR career path?
There is no single typical HR career path. Entry routes vary widely, from graduate schemes to career changes from other sectors, and HR professionals often bring experience from operations, consultancy, customer service, or administration backgrounds.
Blog: Boris and Ken – Lessons in leadership
The London mayoral race between Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone reveals a critical leadership failure: both candidates prioritize personal ego and political attacks over serving the public good. Outstanding leadership requires focusing on developing others and team performance, not individual achievement and rivalry.
Living Leader Learnings: Why saying ‘well done’ just isn’t enough
Generic praise like “well done” lacks impact because it’s often perceived as insincere and fails to clarify what specifically deserves recognition. Effective leaders deliver specific, genuine feedback that highlights exact behaviors or outcomes they value, helping team members understand what to repeat and feel truly appreciated.
Blog: Why I rate The Apprentice US more highly than its UK counterpart
The UK’s Apprentice relies heavily on Lord Sugar’s positional power through interruptions and insults, while the US version featuring Donald Trump uses personal power through confidence and charisma, making it more constructive and effective leadership.
How to overcome six employee engagement challenges
Learn how to address six key employee engagement challenges, from clarifying accountability to tailoring communication across different workforce segments and measuring real business impact.
TV Review: The Apprentice Week 4 – Quality over quantity
In Week 4 of The Apprentice, the two remaining teams compete in a second-hand goods challenge, sourcing stock with £1,000 and reselling for profit. One team pursues a quality-over-quantity strategy buying few expensive items, while the other buys bulk cheap goods to upcycle, leading to dramatically different results.
Blog: The power of trust
Trust is the foundation of every relationship and achievement, yet it’s hard-won and easily lost. Without trust, organizations and societies experience conflict and stagnation, while trust enables cooperation, innovation, and peace. Trust develops through consistent truthful behavior and honest leadership.
NHS Academy set up to train next generation of leaders
The NHS Leadership Academy has been established to train leaders across the NHS, public health, and social care to improve patient outcomes. The national centre will develop doctors, nurses, health professionals, and managers to create engaged teams that positively impact patient care and health results.
Charities increasingly look to private sector for HR skills
Charities are increasingly hiring HR professionals from the private sector to manage organizational change, with 28% actively seeking commercial candidates. Traditional funding constraints and rising professionalism standards are driving this shift, as charities value private sector experience in change management and fresh approaches.
Blog: How well would you do if ranked by former employees?
A Glassdoor survey showed Tim Cook has a 97% CEO approval rating, but the real question is how leaders would be rated by their own former employees. The gap between how managers view themselves and how their staff actually perceives them can be as wide as the Grand Canyon.
TV Review: The Apprentice Week 3 – Stick to your guns
In week 3 of The Apprentice, candidates faced a condiment manufacturing challenge. Team Phoenix’s spelling error and production issues cost them dearly, while team Sterling’s chutney proved more profitable despite early setbacks. Michael was fired after failing to sell sufficient stock.
Case Study: JT bases leadership development scheme on ideal boss profile
JT has launched a leadership development program based on an aspirational senior manager profile to drive organizational change. The scheme uses five core competencies defined by senior leaders themselves, assessment metrics, and personalized development plans to foster measurable improvement beyond traditional training approaches.
Blog: How one company coped with tragic loss
When a shipping company’s top two leadership tiers died in a plane crash, new CEO Ingar Skaug rebuilt by embedding strong values across the organization, removing those unwilling to comply, and proving that a healthy company culture directly drives financial success and resilience through tragedy.
Seven ways for HRDs to boost their influence at the top table
HR directors can boost their influence at the executive table by building stakeholder support, translating HR priorities into business language, and adopting an executive mindset rather than a purely functional one. Seven practical strategies help HR leaders demonstrate credible business contributions beyond technical competence.
Five characteristics of an effective leader in times of crisis
Effective crisis leadership requires five key characteristics: motivating people and gaining buy-in through aligned values, communicating authentically and personally, breaking down hierarchical barriers, and maintaining transparency. Leaders must help employees understand the crisis and their role in recovery through genuine, personalized engagement rather than generic messaging.
Blog: Using transparency as a tool to rebuild employee trust
Organizations rebuild employee trust through transparency in hiring, leadership communication, and business strategy. By openly sharing job opportunities with internal candidates first, communicating company direction, and ensuring leader accessibility, companies demonstrate they value their workforce and operate ethically.
Blog: Are you an inspirational leader?
Inspiring people through HR leadership involves tapping into their values to create emotional, intellectual, and physical engagement. Great HR professionals understand what motivates their people and how organizational dynamics influence performance and commitment.
Blog: Three tips for changing company culture
Changing company culture requires proactive management and effort. Learn three key lessons: culture and strategy both matter, healthy cultures have defined attributes that take time to develop, and leaders can deliberately shape organizational culture through communication and behavior.
Olympian Insight: Steve Backley and Roger Black on what HR can learn from sport
Olympic athletes Steve Backley and Roger Black share key leadership and team-building lessons for HR professionals, emphasizing clarity of vision, accountability, and alignment across teams—insights applicable to modern workplace challenges.
Public sector jobs cull to lead to “tectonic shift” in UK labour market
Coalition government budget cuts will eliminate more than one in seven public sector jobs, reducing the workforce to record lows and triggering a “tectonic shift” in the UK labour market structure, according to the CIPD’s analysis of employment projections.
