The HR profit and loss account
In presenting the value of HR within the organisation, one approach is to consider whether HR is a profit centre or a cost centre. In strict accounting terms, unless HR generates revenue and profits through the sale of its services to outside organisations...
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Employee welfare
The original, traditional role of HR was employee welfare and many years ago, the personnel department may simply have been a nurse. Public sector organisations continued to have Welfare Officers for a long time but is taking care of employee welfare still a relevant role in a modern age?
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Competent
‘He’s an incompetent fool!’ He may be, but how can you be sure? Do you have a competent workforce and how do you go about judging if you do or not? Many larger organisations answer these questions by designing and implementing a competence framework which describes what people should be doing to do their jobs correctly.
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Kiss and make up
The football world cup continues to make the news but more for what is happening off the field than on. The events could very much be described as HR issues.
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Love your job, hate your boss?
What if you love your job but hate your boss? Normally, it’s just tough luck and you either have to put up with it or look for employment elsewhere.
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On the ball
Love it or loath it, the world cup in South Africa has focussed attention on football. As with many team sports, there is a lot that companies can learn from football about people management; that’s if you want to keep on the ball.
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Flooded out
The recent floods have caused havoc, not just for people and their homes, but also for businesses and the emergency services.
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Summertime team building
It’s the time of year when many companies are planning their summertime team building activities. The aims of such events include a number of factors such as focussed problem solving for a particular section, integration of newly formed units, general, company wide cohesion or as a bit of a jolly which forms an unofficial bonus or reward.
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Is it time you VAK’d your HR and Training department?
To vac something is a short form of vacuum clean but I’m not suggesting that you tidy up the HR office but consider how you might apply VAK principles in the workplace.
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Dispute
The economic crisis and strikes in Greece bring back memories of the dark days of industrial relations in 1970’s and early 80’s Britain.
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Self-service HR
It’s a DIY world; automation and self-service are everywhere. In petrol stations, supermarkets and restaurants, customers help themselves.
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Resourcing
As economies begin to pick up and optimism returns to the business world, HR Managers may start to think about reviewing their resourcing plan.
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Bereavement in the workplace
The tragic events of April 10th have brought the nation to focus on death and in particular, the process of grieving and mourning.
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Your move
The reality for most office workers is that their office environment rarely remains the same for long. Internal reorganisation, economy drives...
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Coolhunting HR
Coolhunting is a term from marketing and refers to the practice of researching youth culture for emerging trends. It’s about identifying what will be the next ‘cool’ design, style or product and how and where new things will be adopted.
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Talent management
Somewhere in the 1990s the term talent management came into existence. At the time, the main concern for HR departments was how to retain talented employees and this led to a focus on reward systems...
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Coaching versus mentoring - a tale of two cities
Language is not just about vocabulary but also perceptions and interpretations. It is interesting to observe that in Poland...
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Does everybody need a mentor?
It’s now 25 years since the seminal work, ‘Everybody needs a Mentor’ was first published. Subsequent editions have also enjoyed healthy sales so does the claim still hold water?
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The ambient office
The office environment has gone through a number of facelifts over the years and it’s not easy to say which the ideal format is. In the 60’s and early 70’s...
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Can HR be inspirational?
Can HR be inspirational? When you think of the word inspiration, you might associate it with political leaders such as Gandhi, Churchill, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela; you might think of...
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How can HR support innovation?
Innovation is one of the primary ways of gaining competitive edge over your rivals and many companies may look to their HR Departments...
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Family friendly relocation
In the course of reviewing Head hunter candidate profiles, I sometimes come across unsuccessful relocations being attributed to the employee's partner being unable to settle.
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HR Unplugged?
The 80’s and 90’s saw a string of bands react against heavily produced albums by bringing out recordings of live, ‘unplugged’ performances.
Author: George Sandford - Learning Associate, ACT Advanced Corporate Training
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Whistle while you work
As you are working now, can you hear music? Whether you can or can't, do you think you should be able to listen to music in the workplace?
Author: George Sandford - Learning Associate, ACT Advanced Corporate Training
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A stitch in time
‘A stitch in time saves nine’ is an English idiom meaning that an early repair saves a lot of work later on. Although Poland has been partially insulated from the financial fallout, the after-shocks of the economic quake continue to rumble on, particularly for multi-nationals and their key suppliers;
Author: George Sandford - Learning Associate, ACT Advanced Corporate Training
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