Lancaster University acquires The Work Foundation
Lancaster University has acquired The Work Foundation after it was wound up due to a pension deficit. The 92-year-old workplace practices researcher and consultancy will continue to operate as a distinctive entity and its brand and work programmes will remain intact. It will stay at its Westminster headquarters and none of its 43 staff, including […]
Video: Marcus Buckingham, the strengths finder
Marcus Buckingham, developer of the Gallup Strengthsfinder system, on why we should be developing our strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses. Charlie Duff met Marcus at a Benchmark for Business event in Manchester. The next event is taking place in London on 17 November 2010. Titled Exceptional Talent, Extraordinary Teams, it will feature Sir Ken […]
UK must address management skills gap
If the UK is to close the productivity gap with international competitors, the coalition government must focus expenditure on improving the country’s poor quality of management skills, an HR body has warned. In response to its ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ consultation, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) urged the government to develop a […]
Ed Miliband needs to ‘reconnect’ business with Labour party
The British Chambers of Commerce has warned Ed Miliband that he must make reconnecting the Labour Party with business a key priority for his early months in office. According to a survey of Labour back-benchers undertaken by polling organisation ComRes on behalf of the BCC, while small-to-medium businesses are keen to see a reduction in […]
HR taking action but management not owning engagement
Although just over half of HR professionals are concerned about staff motivation levels, the majority of organisations are failing to put practices in place to ensure managers own the issue. According to a survey among HR managers undertaken by law firm Davies Arnold Cooper, some 55% are worried about staff engagement are and are, therefore, […]
Ask the expert: Grievance response time
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith consider what an employer needs to do to respond to a grievance raised by an employee – and in what timeframe? The question: Grievance response time – how long do we have? If you raise a grievance with your employer, how long do they have to […]
Unleash your strengths with Marcus Buckingham
Help yourself and your employees think about your strengths rather than focus on your weaknesses with these mind-opening tests from Marcus Buckingham. These exercises are simple ones which you can do yourself and send to others as the first steps in understanding and developing your strengths. Who’s on your board? Draw an oval on a […]
Uncertainty taking toll on morale
Four out of five senior managers believe that the current unsettled economic outlook is more difficult to deal with than outright recession, not least because they are finding it increasingly difficult to win staff buy-in for difficult decisions. Just under half acknowledged that employees now had a jaundiced view of the sincerity of the leadership […]
SMEs recognise value of social media
While just over half of small-to-medium businesses regularly use social media in their day-today activities, the number jumps to four out of five among engineering and technical firms. According to a survey of 269 companies undertaken by Darryl Willcox Publishing, some 35% of SMBs updated social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter on […]
Bosses confident growth is around the corner: podcast
Is growth in business or hiring just around the corner? A study of European business leaders has revealed nearly 40% are planning to invest in existing talent, while a quarter claim they will invest in training as this long awaited confidence makes a welcome return to the market with over half of all companies across […]
Influencing engagement: the role of the line manager
John Pope offers advice on how managers can work with their teams to maximise engagement, supported by the HR function. I thought that the subject of engagement had had enough debate; we have read about its importance and its measurement by engagement surveys; we have heard about the importance of bringing new staff into an […]
From the top to the tip – Undercover Boss with Colin Drummond, CEO of Viridor
Colin Drummond, CEO of Viridor, the recycling, renewable energy and waste management company went undercover to discover more about his business. Before the programme aired, we got a sneak peek at Colin’s Undercover Boss experience. Undercover Boss is one of those rare programmes which highlights relationships between bosses, employees and organisational culture to a mass […]
Ask the expert: Poorly performing line manager
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise on how to handle a poorly performing manager. The question: I have inherited a poor performing line manager in my team, the issues are: There is no team motivation in his department He is not spending anytime training & developing his new team members […]
UK managers ‘deluded’
More than half of UK managers delude themselves as to their strengths and weaknesses due to a heady mix of inadequate training and development and being pushed into roles they had no desire to take. According to a survey undertaken among 2,158 bosses by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), about 44% defined themselves as excellent […]
Unions may coordinate action against cuts
The prospect of a general strike moved a step closer yesterday after the RMT union tabled a motion calling for co-ordinated industrial action in protest at the coalition government’s proposed public sector jobs and pension cuts. The transport union’s motion will be heard at umbrella organisation the TUC’s Congress, which takes place from 13 to […]
Ask the expert: Change to rate of bank holiday pay
This week the experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on how to change a rate of pay. The question: Change to rate of bank holiday pay I am thinking of reducing the premium we pay to staff for working on a bank holiday from double time to time and a half. We have […]
The end of team bonding down the boozer?
Although nearly three out of five managers take staff to the pub for team-building purposes, just over half of employees are unenthusiastic about going out with their colleagues and one in five actively dislike it. These are the findings of study entitled ‘Health of the Workplace’ undertaken by insurance firm Aviva. The research also revealed […]
20% claim they are bullied by boss
In somewhat of an indictment of UK business leadership, just over one in five UK workers claim to be bullied by their boss, while almost a third believe their manager is incompetent. A study among 1,298 staff commissioned by HR consultancy Reabur.com also revealed that a further 22% of respondents felt their manager was ‘under-qualified’ […]
Leadership matters: Disruptive team member
This column answers your questions on leadership, talent management, performance improvement and the employee behavioural issues that can cause even the best leadership techniques to go awry. This time a disruptive team member is causing a management headache for a team leader. The dilemma A team leader in a government organisation has inherited a new […]
Managing remotely – hands on, but hands on what?
The principles of leadership are no different whether you are co-located or virtual: the challenge – apart from adopting and practising appropriate principles, of course, is making them work in the virtual context. Robert Terry of ASK gives his tips on managing disparate teams in the first of a two-part series. What changes in the […]
