Embracing employee engagement in 2014
Employee engagement may have been the new ‘buzz word’ from America just a few years ago but now businesses large and small are buying into it in some shape or form. However, in many companies it still seems to be a side project or a matter on the agenda, rather than an intrinsic part of […]
Securing HR’s place at the strategy ‘top table’
Business strategy matters. It is an organisation’s means of laying out its mission, its values and objectives, as well as being the key to unlocking growth. Everyone's role within an organisation is influenced by the direction of its strategy – what they do, what they don't do, and how they do it. Successful strategy requires […]
How can HR support managers in helping their teams support change?
In the second of two articles on change, Valerie Nichols explains how HR practitioners can support managers in helping their teams to ride the waves of change and avoid a wipe out. Read the first article on handling resistance to change. Any manager in your organisation who is trying to implement change will probably have […]
The formula for an antidote to Blue Monday
Blue Monday; January 20th 2014, officially the most depressing day of the year. A gloomy combination of poor weather, the arrival of Christmas credit card statements, still a while to pay day, already failing New Year’s resolutions… This is also the time of year when most people feel dissatisfied at work and, if they’re not […]
Will 2014 be the year of innovation for HR?
January is traditionally a month for both personal and professional resolutions. Unlike the personal promises currently being made to join the gym, start a diet or break a bad habit, the workplace is crying out for cast-iron commitments from their employees. Can you imagine what could be achieved if we entered the new year with […]
How Netflix reinvented HR
Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, called this document one of the most important to ever come out of Silicon Valley. Written by Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, and colleagues, the document sets out the techniques used to shape culture and motivate high performance at TV-on-demand company Netflix Warning: some of the ideas are out there. […]
Using social media as a force for good in HR
This article is based on content from our academic-led HR Technology toolkit, which features evidence-based and practical advice from leading researchers around the globe on how to get the most from your HR technology investment. In a contribution to our recently published HR Toolkit, technology in the form of mobile, social, cloud and big data […]
Never the Twain? Why the non-profit and profit sectors should meet, and the mutual benefit for HR
There is a common misconception of the not-for-profit (NFP) sector as being a dream for HR, since charity organisations are all apparently warm and fluffy, staffed by cardigan-wearing plant-whispering hippies who have group hugs as an agenda item at meetings. Not so! In fact, according to CIPD labour reports each year, the ‘third sector’ has […]
Line management – the heart of the employee/employer relationship
An organisation which realises the importance of strong line management is an organisation which will flourish and grow. Most managers understand the importance of employee engagement and employee relations but in times of economic uncertainty when budgets are tight, the gap between managerial good intentions and the actual practice widens. Line managers sit at the […]
Is Google the new HR department?
Four in ten managers said that Google is a better source of information and support than their HR team, in a new survey put out by Hay Group. The cause is a perceived lack of support and availability of information from the HR department. Budgetary cuts are the culprit, according to HR directors. 94% said […]
Are you employing a corporate psychopath?
This article was written by Clive Boddy and Derek Miles. Clive and Derek are, respectively, Professors in Leadership and Human Resource Development at Middlesex University Business School. You can email them at c.boddy@mdx.ac.uk or d.miles@mdx.ac.uk. Psychologists report that 1% of the general population are psychopaths and lucky for most of us the violent ones tend to […]
Is HR a department of cobbler’s children?
Do you hate your HR job? Or maybe you don’t hate it exactly, but just think that there is something else out there that you’d enjoy more? Are you, in all honesty, a bit rubbish at it? HR has been getting a lot of bad press lately. Thanks to that woman at the BBC (HR […]
Interview: Phil Merrell and Nicola Cull, Directors at Towers Watson
Phil Merrell and Nicola Cull are Directors in Towers Watson’s Communications and Change Management practice. 1. Change is not a new process – there’s been a lot of progress in how companies streamline other processes, such as technology delivery and onboarding, but change seems to be lagging behind. Companies still seem to struggle, often with […]
Lack of support for managers leads to leadership problems and crisis of organisational culture
Over a third (36%) of line managers have not received any training for their role, according to new research released today from the CIPD. Time for effective line management is also de-prioritised in favour of mission-critical and goal-orientated tasks. The research also found that 24% of managers face situations where they must put the company’s […]
The effect of cultural dynamics on profitability
As human beings, we are culturally programmed to view the world from our own national perspective. This makes us blind to our own culture. Just as fish don’t see water, leadership teams from the same nation as the company, or who have worked at the company for a long period, may struggle to see when […]
UK firms have ‘half the rate of staff sickness’ of German counterparts
The number of UK companies reporting high rates of staff sickness has fallen to half the rate reported in Germany and France. This is according to Dr Wen Wang, of the University of Wolverhampton Business School, who reported the findings to the British Sociological Association’s conference on work, employment and society. Dr Wang said that […]
Workers ‘take caring bosses for granted’
Empathetic bosses who go out of their way to help employees with personal and work problems are being taken for granted, according to new research from IMD business school. The study found that employees tend to view these acts of kindness as part of the manager’s duties and do not plan to put in extra […]
What you need to be doing when employees leave the business
HR departments carry the vast majority of the administrative burden when employees decide to leave. But beyond the usual P45 paperwork, how else do HR departments need to prepare themselves and ensure the necessary processes exist for departing colleagues, while ensuring that company property is returned and regulations are adhered to? Roger Moore, General Manager […]
Ask the Expert: can you refuse to interview an unsatisfactory former worker?
Question: Can you refuse to interview an unsatisfactory former worker? What is the legal position if a former employee who had a poor performance/attendance record but left of their own accord rather than having formal action taken against them, applies to work for your company again? I can’t seem to find any guidance relating […]
Mid-Staffordshire: a challenge to HR to show its mettle
The Francis Report into the scandal of Stafford Hospital needs to be read thoroughly by all senior managers for the lessons to be learned about executive responsibility. The inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC was set up to assess the wider lessons to be learnt by the NHS from the Staffordshire scandal where up to […]
