Leaders urged to take their five-a-day in people management
Acas and the CIPD have launched a ‘five-a-day’ management guide to help UK business leaders improve people management practices and address the nation’s productivity gap. The guidance covers five core management areas including team management, individual management, conflict resolution, and self-management, drawing on research showing that poor line management standards significantly impact organizational performance.
Exclusive video: Philippa Hird interview
Philippa Hird, former group HR director of ITV, discusses HR’s role during economic downturns, preparing for recovery, leadership’s impact on employee engagement, and the unique challenges of HR in television.
Seven ways to recession-proof your HR department
Discover seven essential strategies to strengthen your HR department’s business impact and resilience during economic downturns. Learn how to measure HR’s return on investment, justify budgets to leadership, and maintain critical functions like training and performance management when finances tighten.
HCM: Using analytics to help organisations fight back
Eight key metrics can help HR directors navigate economic downturns by providing workforce insights that improve efficiency and drive cost savings. These analytics—including absence rates, turnover, recruitment ratios, and management-to-staff ratios—enable organisations to make informed decisions about staffing and resource allocation without unnecessary job losses.
Mergers and acquisitions: Creating a stronger HR function
During mergers and acquisitions, HR functions often neglect merging themselves well while helping the business integrate. Strategic alignment of HR during this process creates a stronger function and sets an example for the organization. Practical communication, engagement, and strategic planning are essential to turning merger challenges into opportunities for HR improvement.
Adding value through interim management
Interim managers add significant value beyond simple coverage, bringing objectivity to sensitive situations, seniority that exceeds their assigned roles, and direct accountability for implementation. Understanding these five key dimensions helps organizations maximize their interim workforce’s impact on business outcomes.
HR business partnering 2.0: Delivering on the original promise
HR business partnering has failed to deliver its original promise because the profession focused on the HRBP role itself rather than building business partnering capabilities across the entire HR function. True value comes from applying Ulrich’s holistic model organization-wide, not just through designated business partner positions.
HR hits rock bottom in the boredom list
HR ranks in the middle of workplace boredom levels, with half of graduates in the field regularly bored at work, according to a new boredom index. Lack of challenge, underutilized skills, and repetitive tasks are the main culprits behind workplace tedium.
Book review: Why Should Anyone be Led by You? What it Takes to be an Authentic Leader
Goffee and Jones examine what makes leaders authentic and why followers crave it. Drawing on 20 years of research, this thoughtful book explores how leaders can reveal their humanity while maintaining credibility and creating meaningful performance.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Standards
Sue Kingston shares her HR experiences managing an Investors in People reassessment for a local company. She redesigned the appraisal process to be more constructive and development-focused, condensing forms into user-friendly one-page reviews that emphasize training needs over past performance issues.
How Did I Get Here? Laraine Levin, Head of HR, QA
Laraine Levin, Head of HR at QA, discusses how HR serves as a strategic partner guiding business decisions through emotional intelligence and people management. She explains how HR builds credibility by remaining accessible, efficient, and aligned with organizational objectives to support company growth.
How Did I Get Here? Amanda Shaw, Head of Human Resources, Cottrills
Amanda Shaw, Head of HR at Cottrills, discusses why fostering positive culture is central to HR strategy and why HR professionals must be commercially minded, involved in the business, and act as change ambassadors to remain effective.
How Did I Get Here? Tom Russell, Director of Strategic Resourcing and Reward, Cancer Research UK
Tom Russell, Director of Strategic Resourcing and Reward at Cancer Research UK, discusses his role leading the organization’s talent attraction and retention strategy, the evolving perception of HR, and why the charity is an exceptional workplace for scientists, fundraisers, and diverse professionals united by a meaningful mission.
How Did I Get Here? Cathy Wilcher, HR Director, CFS
Cathy Wilcher, former Abbey HR Director, joins CFS as HR Director and Executive Committee member. She discusses how strategic HR linked to business strategy, strong leadership, and four core people practices—attracting talent, providing vision, encouraging learning, and recognizing excellence—create competitive advantage and employer of choice status.
Linking Training to Business Needs: The Secrets of HMRC Revealed. By Sarah Fletcher
HMRC’s Head of Learning explains how the organization aligns its training strategy directly with business needs, measures training success through performance indicators, and tackles challenges from departmental mergers and changing service delivery requirements.
How Did I Get Here? Massimo Macarti, HR Director, Canon Europe
Massimo Macarti, HR Director of Canon Europe, discusses how strategic HR partnership drives business results and why credibility in both business expertise and personal leadership inspires employees across the organization.
How Did I Get Here? Anne Harley, HR Director, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
Anne Harley, HR Director of the RSPB, discusses the strategic role of HR in conservation, how the function balances necessary processes with approachability, and why the organization’s people-focused culture makes it a great place to work.
From bad to worst: Can HR rise above the taunts?
A recent survey ranked HR among the worst-performing business functions, even below IT. HR leaders face perception challenges as CEOs often view the department as an activity rather than strategic business discipline, despite improving salaries and educational standards in the field.
How Did I Get Here continued … Gabrielle de Wardener, Human Resources Director, Loyalty Management Group (LMG)
Gabrielle de Wardener, HR Director at Loyalty Management Group, discusses the challenges and rewards of HR work, the importance of HR influence in senior management, and her philosophy on leadership and organizational change.
How Did I Get Here? Gabrielle de Wardener, Human Resources Director, Loyalty Management Group (LMG)
Gabrielle de Wardener, HR Director at Loyalty Management Group, shares how strategic people management translates business strategy into practical solutions, emphasizing responsive service over bureaucracy and leveraging technology to automate transactional HR work.
