Blog: Taking a leaf out of marketing’s magic book of metrics
How defined is your brand? “I have always believed that great brands are built on improving the lives of the people they serve; I wanted to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren’t incompatible but, in fact, inseparable,” said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Proctor & Gamble and author of GROW. […]
HRD Summit: ‘HR must hive off strategic activities to be truly effective’
To effectively take that much coveted seat at the top table, HR must follow the example of other functions and separate out strategic activities from transaction-based, operational tasks. But while departments such as IT, marketing and finance have already made the move, it is politically still not considered the right thing to say in the […]
Microsoft backs same-sex marriage to help it compete for talent
Microsoft has joined with five other companies to officially support the legalisation of same-sex marriage because it believes that discrimination of any kind is counter-productive in the war for talent. Washington State in the US, where the high tech giant is based, is scheduled to hear two bills today (Pacific Daylight Time) which, if passed, […]
Trends 2012: The talent issue
Prime Minister David Cameron predicts that 2012 will be another tough year for the UK economy. With this in mind, employers should be considering the implications of financial austerity measures, particularly with regards to selecting and nurturing talent. Selecting talent: In 2012, the ‘try before you buy’ trend will become increasingly prevalent due to two […]
Salesforce to Rypple gamification and social media out into HCM space
Just before Christmas, Salesforce.com made a move that was either very surprising or totally predictable, depending on your interpretation of events. The move in question was the decision to acquire Toronto-based HR system provider, Rypple. This was a surprise to the extent that Salesforce.com’s chief executive Marc Benioff had previously been resolute in his intent […]
Talent Spot: Helene Speight, head of HR at Endava
“My experience on ‘The Apprentice’ didn’t teach me anything about business, but it did teach me about the media and it also taught me a lot about myself,” says Helene Speight, group head of talent management at nearshore IT outsourcing services provider, Endava. And having self-awareness and an understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses […]
Trends 2012: Talent management
It’s been difficult for the HR industry to keep pace with the multitude of employment law changes this year – a situation compounded by the turbulent economic situation in Europe. The UK Government’s reference to ”six years of austerity” was no empty threat and businesses are continuing to make redundancies, undertake restructuring and redeploy staff […]
Blog: The UK’s first HRD-only networking event launches
The first in a new quarterly series of exclusive HRD networking events took place in London last week centred on the latest thinking in measuring talent from guest speaker and Danish human capital management expert, Morten Kamp Andersen. The debate held by participants in the HRD Network focused on three areas: Why measure HR and […]
Blog: Some strategic HR predictions for 2012
Recognise This! – Bersin’s predictions for 2012 are already beginning to come true. Are you ready? What can you expect in 2011 in Strategic HR and Talent Management? Bersin’s 14 predictions for the year seem largely on target to me. John Hollon, editor of TLNT, provides an excellent summary of all 14 predictions, but here […]
Blog: What state is HR in?
Last year, employers faced a sustained increase in workplace unrest as austerity measures, longer working hours, stress and a genuine skills gap took their toll on the UK workforce. A survey among 550 HR professionals, who looked after a combined workforce of over two million, undertaken by law firm Speechly Bircham and the Management Learning […]
HR vacancies rise, but salaries remain flat
The number of permanent HR vacancies, particularly for global and public sector posts, is on the rise, even though pay continues to remain relatively flat month-on-month, a report has revealed. According to October’s Talent Spotlight from recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark, the amount of permanent HR positions available increased by 1.3% last month compared with […]
Blog: How to turn volunteering into team-building
My daughter decided to volunteer through a program at her job. Each employee has the opportunity to volunteer their services and receive a day off in return. She was up early on a Saturday morning and headed into New York City to work at a soup kitchen in the Bowery. To her surprise, basically […]
Half of public sector workers fail to recommend it as career choice
Nearly half of all public sector workers would not recommend working in the area to either those just embarking on their career or people fancying a career change. According to a study of more than 1,000 staff by recruiter Badenoch & Clark, disillusionment was particularly high among central and local government staff, with 63.3% and […]
HR Forum: HR lessons from the beautiful game
The Beautiful Game has important lessons to offer team-based, talent-dependent industries, believes Professor Chris Brady, former dean of the BPP Business School, who is now helping his son to run Southend United. “People say that business is more complex than football. But rather than saying that ‘business is complex and football is simple’, it’s […]
The pros and cons of social recruitment
Employers are starting to recognise the benefits of using social media to source and engage talent. Facebook has opened up recruiters’ doors to just under 20% of the global population. LinkedIn is providing access to more than 125 million workers throughout the world and Google’s Google+ social networking site is gaining traction at a breath-taking […]
Employers lose top talent due to neglect not pay, says study
Low trust levels in senior management, job dissatisfaction and excessive amounts of daily stress are the key reasons why employers lose top talent. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s quarterly Employee Outlook survey, staff are, unsurprisingly, much more likely to position themselves among the 22% currently looking for a new job if […]
Talent Spot: John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire
The various jobs and responsibilities may have changed over the years, but for John Hardman, HR director at HSS Hire, one thing has remained constant. “Dealing with people is what I do, and what I love,” he says. His natural people skills were noticed early on by his first employer, NatWest. Hardman had started on […]
Top mandarin’s pay link to PM’s salary “crude” and “arbitrary”
The perceived link between senior public servant’s pay and the Prime Minister’s £142,500 salary has been criticised by an influential Commons Committee as "arbitrary" and "too crude" to be meaningful. In a report published today, the Public Administration Select Committee said that, while there was an acknowledged need for civil service pay restraint in the […]
Blog: Committing to a compassionate culture within the NHS
Compliance to compassion was a phrase that has resonated with me this week, since another damning report was released on the state of the national health service’s approach to eldercare. A lady on the radio yesterday (Thursday) urged officials to shift thinking across the organisation, and actually change the way that individuals approach their day-to-day […]
Blog: It’s time for HR and recruiting to kiss and make up
Recently I read a great book called In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the whaleship Essex. It tells the true life story of a whaling ship from Nantucket in the 1820’s which was sunk by a rogue sperm whale. Herman Melville based his famed novel Moby Dick on this tragedy. The […]
