Building much-needed business savvy
Learning and talent development professionals are used to expanding the skills of others in the business. Customer service has to improve and technical skills must be upgraded. Staff need to acquire knowledge of new technologies and leadership capabilities should be refreshed and strengthened. But a key development area that will also pay real dividends […]
“Institutional inertia” leads to slow progress on female board directors
“Institutional inertia” is to blame for the fact that only 33 FTSE 100 companies have heeded Lord Davies’ call to set targets for increasing the number of female directors on their boards. A progress report due to be unveiled at a Downing Street reception this afternoon will also reveal that, of the 33 firms that […]
Blog: Steve Jobs – lessons in talent management
The business world lost one of its most influential leaders last week, and while the technology world mourns its industry mogul there has been repeated talk of how Apple will not be able to cope without him. Steve Jobs was the man behind Apple, he made it what it is today but he did not […]
Blog: Strategies for dealing with a workplace bully
Imagine you’re attending your first meeting at your new job. The senior manager in the room begins by pointing out the failure of a particular department to reach a goal. He looks at the department chief, who appears ready to crawl under the table, and asks how he can face his family when he goes […]
Talent Spot: Dominic Ceraldi, head of HR at Pimlico Plumbers
“HR would be a good job, if it weren’t for folk!” Luckily, Dominic Ceraldi, HR and general manager at Pimlico Plumbers, has chosen to disagree with this helpful observation that was made by one of his bosses early on in his HR career. In fact, he aims to be very much seen, heard and […]
Navigating the choppy waters of cultural difference
What is considered polite in one culture may be considered impolite in another. But as travel and communications become ever easier, HR directors working in multi-national companies would be well advised to acquaint themselves with at least some of these cultural differences and to understand how they can affect the way that employees conduct business. […]
Creating a sustainable people strategy
When it comes to creating an environmental or sustainable policy, it seems that businesses are making the same mistakes that they did when the internet first arrived. At that time, everyone rushed to create a web site and packed it full of information. But they failed to either develop a suitable strategy or appreciate that […]
Talent Spot: Dean Hunter – HRD turned MD at Hunter Adams
Becoming a bobby on the beat may not be the most obvious first step on the career ladder to becoming an HR director, but for Dean Hunter, it was all part of the master plan. After university, he joined the police with the specific aim of specialising in HR and recruitment for the force. Full […]
HP axes second leader in a year
Hewlett-Packard was subject to more top-level upheaval today after announcing that the former head of eBay was to replace incumbent Leo Apotheker as president and chief executive, less than a year after he took the job. The high tech giant has appointed Meg Whitman, who has been a member of its board since January, as […]
Talent Spot: Nicholas Connell, head of HR at The Antique Wine Company
“Understand your colleagues and their individual motivations. Take the time to get to know them and how they react and that will help you in motivating them too,” advises Nicholas Connell, commercial manager at the Antique Wine Company. Connell, who qualified and began working as a commercial property lawyer five years ago, took on his […]
Microsoft paid £1 million to silence female exec passed over for top UK job
Microsoft paid more than £1 million to silence a female executive who allegedly was unfairly passed over for the top job at its UK arm. According to the Telegraph, Natalie Ayres – a married mother who had worked at the high tech firm for 15 years – missed out on getting the managing director’s post […]
HRD Insight: Paul Duncan on managing change at Swissport
When I joined Swissport International as interim HR director in December 2008, the UK arm of the €1.3bn airport ground services business was in the initial stages of a turnaround. This activity was being led by chief executive Mark Faulkner, who had arrived two months earlier from another company in the Ferrovial group, which was […]
Richard Branson’s ex-PA on the art of delegation
Mastering the art of effective delegation is essential to success, believes Penni Pike, who was executive assistant to high-profile Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson, for 31 years. Making the decision to delegate so that you can get on with the important parts of your job is a great first step, but just exactly how do […]
Blog: Lessons from Yahoo – where was HR?
“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board,” Carol Bartz wrote to her company’s workforce. “These people f***** me over.” “Why don’t you have the balls to tell me yourself?” “The board was so spooked by being cast as the worst board […]
Talent Spot: Michael Stirrup, head of HR at Waterstons
Stepping into an HR director’s shoes for the first time is a steep learning curve for anyone, but for Michael Stirrup, it has been more precipitous than most. For this is his first HR position and it supplements his usual day job of finance director. Over the five years that Stirrup has been employed […]
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 […]
