News: Latest raft of employer-backed technical colleges unveiled
The number of employer-backed technical colleges is set to nearly double to 34 in a bid to provide young people with better quality vocational training. Each state-run University Technical College will be backed by a university and local employers and pupils will be given the chance to transfer from the age of 14 in order […]
A typical HRD: Part 3 – Small-to-medium enterprises
Is there such a thing as a typical career path for someone wanting to become an HR director in a small-to-medium enterprise – or even a typical HR director profile in this space? HR professionals generally seem to fall into three categories: those who spend their careers in corporate, blue chip environments; those who prefer […]
News: Male boards ‘appoint candidates in their own image’
The appointment of women to senior management positions is being held back by male-dominated boards who hire executives that are similar to themselves, a report has warned. According to research conducted by Cranfield University on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, potential candidates for board-level posts among FTSE 350 companies are generally hired […]
Legal Insight: Pre-Olympic casual worker considerations
With the start of the Olympic Games coming ever closer, many businesses are looking to engage casual workers in order to meet the growing demands that they face as a result. It is routine for casual workers to be used in industries where the work is seasonal or varies from week-to-week and month-to-month. But as […]
Video Interview: Top tips for dealing with a stressful work environment
Steve Smith, Olympic high jump medallist and co-founder of workplace performance improvement consultancy, Raise the Bar, along with head of training and development, Gayle Robling, share their insights into how best to minimise workplace stress, boost mental resilience and give employees the competitive edge.
So you want to be…head of learning and development?
Head of learning and development roles are very popular but also very rare at the moment. Part of the reason for this is the nature of the job – not every organisation will have a Head of L&D. Smaller businesses may instead employ generalists to carry out this work or have L&D specialists at […]
Talking Point: Recruitment – The only way is digital?
One of the hottest hiring topics at the moment is the shift from reactive recruitment to talent marketing – a process that has largely been supported by the use of emerging technologies such as video job boards, social media and mobile channels. So, what are these new technologies and how can HR directors make sure […]
A typical HRD: Part 2 – The third sector
As the economic landscape has changed over the last four years, so too has the typical profile of an HR director in the third sector. Historically, in some circles, the industry was regarded as a bit of a backwater – a pleasant environment in which to work, but not at all ‘cutting edge’ from an […]
News: CIPD’s new CEO appointed to further its global ambitions
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has appointed Peter Cheese as its new chief executive in a bid to further its global ambitions. Cheese, who is currently chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management, will take up the new position on Monday, 2 July. He is taking over from Sue Upton, who […]
What does it take to be an HR director?
Securing an HR director job is tough. If you apply for an HRD role, you’ll be faced with strong competition from both inside and outside the organisation. There are some common factors that employers look for when hiring. Ideally, you’ll be someone who is currently a senior HR business partner or a head of HR, […]
Talent Spot: Fiona Lawlor, HR director at Jack Morton Worldwide
During Fiona Lawlor’s time at Jack Morton Worldwide, she has seen the HR function develop from being a lowly back-room admin operation to become a strategic partner of the business. Today, Lawlor is HR director and a senior vice president of the brand experience agency, but when she joined 18 years ago, it had no […]
Blog: CVs – To fib or not to fib….
CVs – to fib or not to fib? That may be the question, but to my mind it would only be worth £100 on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, since it’s a bit of a no-brainer really. Yet it still seems to be asked a lot, usually alongside the bold assertion “Well, everyone […]
State of the nation: The HR recruitment market
Without doubt, the overall HR recruitment market has been going through an ‘interesting’ 2012 to date. In general terms, the increased demand for interim hires is currently driving the market while continued economic uncertainty has a sustained impact upon permanent hiring at all levels. Financial services, for so long one of the key markets […]
A typical HRD: Part 1 – Financial services
HR directors with a global or Europe, Middle East and Africa remit who occupy senior positions within the financial services sector will ordinarily have enjoyed a successful first career elsewhere, before moving across and starting their ‘second’ one. As the strategic importance of HR – and all of its constituent parts, which includes talent attraction, […]
Blog: What makes a star performer?
We might like to think that two people doing the same job will produce similar levels of output, but in practice there can be significant differences. Certain people are twice as productive, sometimes even five times as productive, as others. In these challenging times, being able to identify, recruit and develop these rare performers […]
Blog: Nine attitudes to help you become an emotionally intelligent leader
Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Managers get the best results! Like learning to drive, leading and managing people is an experiential journey. My entrance onto the leadership stage was when I was promoted into the role, having stood in for the team leader from time to time. I don’t know about you, but although I […]
News: UK’s top 10 dream jobs revealed
Although all too few people are doing their ideal job due to either a lack of cash or lack of skills, the dream for most is to have more control over their own destiny. According to a survey among 3,000 UK adults undertaken by OnePoll and commissioned by Microsoft’s Bing search engine business, a huge […]
Legal Insight: Positive discrimination – A trap for the well intentioned?
Recent publicity on the use of positive action in recruitment or promotion in tiebreak situations has left HR directors with a dilemma. Should positive action be used to improve diversity either in the organisation generally or to help women and members of ethnic minorities break through “glass ceilings” into management? Section 159 of the […]
How to beat a counter job offer
Against a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, top talent at all levels is becoming increasingly hard to find and land. Competition for candidates is increasing as companies start to ramp up their hiring efforts after the downturn. This has given rise to more challenging candidate management and the infamous counter offer. Recent research by […]
The senior HR interim recruitment market: An insight
What’s the current global interim market like? From a UK financial services perspective it’s very competitive, with more candidates than opportunities. The current market consists of career interims, ex-consultants happy to be interims, and those available immediately who are ideally seeking perm but will take a contract in the meanwhile. With the candidate market being […]
