Blog: Does HR have the right skills to be in the boardroom?
In a pan European study undertaken by Mercer among over 300 HR Professionals across 25 countries it is revealed that 70 percent of organisations have or are planning to transform their HR functions. A big shift in the way businesses perceives HR seems to be the catalyst for this activity. HR is now seen as […]
Blog: ‘The start-up of you’ – Becoming a career entrepreneur
The co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman with co-author Ben Casnocha have recently produced a thought-provoking new book on how to apply the strategies of successful entrepreneurship to career development. In other words, how to approach your career as “the start up of you”. Although The Start-up of You (2012) is written for all ages, […]
Bridging the leadership communication gap
Trust and Leadership are rare bed fellows – as illustrated by the results of a recent CIPD Employee Outlook survey. In case you missed it, the level of workers’ trust in their senior managers remains worryingly low, while relationships with immediate line managers are found to be consistently more positive across the board. This […]
Blog: Building a magnetic culture
Recognise This! – Great books on organisation culture are few and far between. ‘Building a Magnetic Culture‘ is a must read. Readers of my blog know that organisation culture is passion of mine – especially how to build a culture of recognition and then proactively manage it. I’ve heard many discount the ability to […]
Research puts migrant construction worker safety in the picture
Deaths and injury among migrant construction workers could be cut by up to 20% simply by including pictures in safety training, research has revealed. Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that migrants, who comprise 6% of the UK’s 2.3 million construction workers, are more likely to be fatally injured than native UK employees […]
Changes to skilled migrant rights will “cause big problems for employers”
Skilled migrant workers from outside of the European Union who earn less than £35,000 are to lose the right to work in the UK for any more than five years in a move that will “cause big problems for employers”, a think tank has warned. The move, which will be introduced from April 2016, is […]
Blog: How to make the most of an international labour pool
The world is a much smaller place with communication being virtually instant and video conferencing becoming more common than long distance business travel due to its efficiency and cost benefits. So it makes sense that local candidates for jobs that have limited-to-no need for them to be physically present might not always be the best […]
Talking Point: How to eat an elephant – Moving to a strengths-based culture
The case for using a strengths-based methodology was most recently supported by David MacLeod’s excellent review entitled ‘Engaging for Success’. But moving from a deeply-ingrained competency culture to a strengths-based approach to recruitment and performance management brings to mind the question, ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ In 2003, I joined a new organisational […]
Nearly half of staff slam managers as “ineffective”
UK employers are failing to provide line managers with effective management and leadership training, even though a huge 43% of employees believe they are ineffective. Moreover, a survey among 4,500 managers, which includes 550 HR bosses, which was jointly published by the Chartered Management Institute, HR consultancy, Penna, and Henley Business School also revealed a […]
Inclusion: Reaping what you sow
From the rallying cry of the Lord Davies report calling for more women to join British boardrooms to the abolition of the official retirement age, diversity has been in the full glare of the media spotlight over the last year. Yet the story at ground level is rather different and the key theme in […]
Blog: Finding the right way to praise
What positive news there was in the HR press in the past week. Not only did support services firm Capita post a 6% rise in profit amid some pretty tough economic conditions, but the ‘headline news’ was the fact that the company’s Chief Executive noted that the climb was partly down to “outstanding” members of […]
Is interim HR management for you?
Leaving behind the stable world of PAYE won’t appeal to everyone in the current economic climate. But even with predictions of a second recession ahead, many HR professionals still crave a new career challenge and some are even brave enough to make big changes. One career option that commonly appeals to senior HR practitioners […]
Anywhere Working Week: Helping employees switch off in an ‘always on’ world
Workplace change has never been as rapid as it is today. Globalisation and exponential increases in the use of technology have generated a 24/7 culture, where staff are often expected to work anytime and anywhere. Yet, as anyone working in HR knows, this ‘always-on’ situation is a double-edged sword. Employees today are generally […]
Change programmes: Asking the awkward questions
As difficult economic circumstances continue, it seems likely that organisations of all types are going to have to find new ways of cutting costs, improving productivity and just generally fighting harder to get business. This will mean scrutinising activities that do not clearly help them meet their goals in the short-term and potentially terminating them. […]
Unpaid overtime saves employers £29.2bn each year
One in five workers regularly work unpaid overtime saving employers a huge £29.2 billion per year, with older workers and long-servers by far the most likely to offer their services for free. According to an analysis of official government figures undertaken by the TUC to mark ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day’, some 5.3 million people […]
Lincolnshire to see biggest ever transfer of police staff to private sector
An outsourcing deal allowing a private security company to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire is expected to result in the biggest ever single transfer of police staff to a commercial firm. The agreement between G4S and Lincolnshire Police is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK and […]
Talking Point: Why HR directors should manage, not mother
When it comes to evaluating staff behaviour and performance, what kind of manager are you? And more to the point, is your managerial style – and that of your colleagues – damaging the business? Some employers apply strict policies to keep employees on a tight rein. Others take a more laid-back approach, letting conduct […]
The HR Headmistress: How to deliver compliance training with aplomb
Compliance training is like visiting a difficult family member. You may not really like spending time with them, but your mother insists. Topics such as health and safety, data protection, food hygiene and employment law evoke a similar rather less-than-thrilled response in a ‘we do it because we have to, but don’t expect us to […]
Blog: Charity needs to begin at home for third sector HR
I find many people tend to assume that the Third Sector is mostly staffed by tree-hugging hippies, and is full of warm and fuzzy organisations where group hugs are on each meeting agenda. (This is usually the view of people who work in the private and public sectors, funnily enough.) But did you know […]
HR’s critical role in shaping company culture post-M&A
As soon as a merger or acquisition is announced, the culture of both entities begins to change as people start to think about, and behave towards, their immediate environment in a different way. This means that HR directors need to act quickly to help guide these changes and ensure that the transaction fulfils its original […]
