Engaging for success: Motivating line managers to motivate others
The most successful organisations recognise the crucial role that HR has to play in developing managers to ensure that they are effective at engaging others. But in order to be good engagers, managers need to master five fundamental roles and be able to recognise when each one is required and appropriate. These roles are […]
News: Lean process focus leads to drop in assessment centre quality
A growing desire to implement cost-effective, streamlined processes is leading to falling quality at many assessment and development centres, according to research. A survey among 543 HR professionals in 53 countries conducted by talent management consultancy a&dc, revealed that 17% of assessments lasted half a day or less, even though just over half of those […]
Book Review: Workforce crisis – How to beat the coming shortage of skills and talent
The baby boomer generation are starting to retire and declining birth rates mean fewer young people are entering the workforce. Unsurprisingly, therefore, exploring the implications of what this situation means for the economy and for workforce planning as well as understanding the different generational needs, is currently a hot topic. In fact, it appears […]
Blog: Do you undertake workforce planning?
The economic outlook for the UK may still be flat lining but companies appear to be staying resilient and retaining staff, which is reassuring. Our recent survey of 900 companies throughout the country reveals that 81 per cent will be making ‘no redundancies at all’ in the next six months and just 4 per cent […]
Analysis: IBM buys Kenexa to create ‘Smarter Workforce’
SuccessFactors, Rypple, Taleo, and now Kenexa. IBM has taken a leaf out of the respective books of SAP, Salesforce.com and Oracle to mount a takeover bid in the cloud human capital management applications space, by making a $1.3 billion punt for Kenexa. The acquisition target’s HR software is intended to help companies recruit and manage […]
Blog: One suggestion for tackling the workplace gender imbalance
Women form half the UK workforce but, according to new research from The Institution of Engineering and Technology, just six per cent of engineers are female. Change is called for as the strategically important sectors of manufacturing and engineering need to recruit 82,000 new scientists, engineers and technologists by 2016 and companies are reporting difficulties […]
Blog: Humanising human resources
During our recent recession we’ve seen the demands on human resource increase massively through consolidation and downsizing. As our economies begin to regain speed this trend doesn’t seem to be bucking, but there is a choice on where to focus. To so many well performing corporations, numbers matter – I won’t argue with that. […]
Blog: AT&T – Taking talent management to the next level
Advancing technology is having a radical impact on the skills that companies need to attract and retain talent, particularly within the media and communications industries. There is no disputing the power of social media, and because so much online conversation relates to events happening in real time, traditional marketing and advertising companies need to keep […]
Ernst & Young uses strengths-based assessment for graduate recruitment
Research from HM Treasury published prior to the release of this year’s A-level results has shown that a record number of young people are seeking alternatives to university and are turning instead to apprenticeships or on-the-job training schemes. But with more job candidates on the market than ever before, the importance for HR directors to […]
Blog: Attracting and retaining talent across borders
As the world has become more interconnected with globalisation, it’s inevitable that there has been a rise in the number of employees working across borders. The question is though, do we have the right talent in the right roles? This issue was highlighted in a recent Financial Times article, which looked at how institutions […]
News: UK employers do little to tackle poor internal management skills
Even though the vast majority of UK businesses believe that their performance is at risk of being held back by a shortage of skilled managers, all too few are doing anything much about it. According to a survey conducted among 750 managers with responsibility for talent management by the Institute of Leadership & Management, the […]
Blog: Entertainment, media and tech are HR hiring hotspots
There is no doubt the economy is fragile. Last week it was reported that the UK recession has deepened as latest official figures show the national GDP fell by 0.7% between April and June. Despite this, sectors such as high-end retail, entertainment and media are still seeing growth, and in times of financial insecurity, […]
News: Clear link between HR effectiveness and financial growth – study
Organisations with an effective HR function generate revenues that are up to 3.5 times higher and profits that are about 2.1 times greater than rivals, according to research. These are the key findings of a survey among more than 4,200 HR and non-HR managers based in over 100 countries across the world conducted by The […]
Blog: Three ideas for retaining young talent when career paths are scarce
Recognise This! – Boomers are about to surpass Gen Y in the workplace. Steve Boese (another go-to blogger of mine for anything relevant and important in the moment in HR) recently pointed out this alarming statistic: For the first time since these things started being tracked (1950), we are on the cusp of the number […]
Retention matters: How to support adoptive parents
The Prime Minister set out plans to create a “fairer and faster” adoption process recently in a bid to help more people adopt. But because the aim is to introduce the changes “as soon as possible,” employers must to be ready to deal with a potential rise in the number of adoptive parents wanting to […]
How to get a seat on the board
The diversity of the workforce should be reflected at the most senior level. It’s true that almost all businesses need an ultimate decision maker, but the reason most companies are run by boards is that people able to look at problems from different angles tend to come to better decisions than any individual could. […]
Barclays and the value of succession planning
The Libor rate-rigging scandal has resulted in the men at the top of Barclays, chairman, Marcus Agius, and chief executive, Bob Diamond, falling on their respective swords. But inevitably any changes to the senior management team have a direct impact on the business, potentially leaving it feeling rudderless and having a negative effect on staff […]
Social media trends: Moving into the mainstream
The opportunities and possibilities offered by social media are limitless – and that’s the problem for many HR professionals. The question is where exactly do you start and how do you know what will work for your business? The simple answer is: just start somewhere, for the beauty of social media is that […]
Blog: HR – also known as The A Team
Are you the Mr. T of your organisation? By that I don’t mean do you wear excessive amounts of gold bling, have a slightly dubious Mohican and yell “Quit your jibber-jabber!” in meetings. I mean if there is a problem, if no-one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe your staff can […]
A typical HRD: Part 4 – FTSE 250 companies
The focus and pressure on top HR directors in commerce and industry has never been greater than it is today. As a result, over recent years, their remit has evolved to require a far broader, more business-oriented background and set of skills than was previously the case. But this situation has, in turn, led […]
