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| Management Briefings
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The new frontier: Martin Reddington, Martin Reddington Associates (Nov/Dec 2008)
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The impact of Web 2.0 on HR strategy and practices has been the subject of much speculation
– both positive and negative – in the HR professional and technology press.
According to many experts, these social technology media have enormous potential to change
the way people collaborate, work and give voice to their opinions, attitudes and expectations,
especially when they are physically dispersed across time and space.
Indeed, a new generation of employees have grown up with such technologies – the so-called
‘V’ or virtual generation.
Because of its capabilities, the argument runs, Web 2.0 offers HR professionals an opportunity
to transform the business model – introducing new ways of adding value to internal
stakeholders and a more contemporary organisational architecture – thereby making a greater
contribution to their organisations’ strategic and reputational aims. So what is the truth in this?
Firstly, though, what is meant by Web 2.0?
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In search of meaning: Stephen Overell, The Work Foundation (September 2008)
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What is meaningful work? Lots of people would like to find an answer to this – although
meaning, like happiness, may prove elusive if you go looking for it.
One intriguing aspect of this question is that it simply could not have been asked before
relatively recent times. Our forbears of a century ago would have been perplexed not only by
the colossal hopes we invest in work, but also by the way work has become saturated with
issues of ‘identity’ in the advanced democracies of the West.
To go looking for meaning implies more than you enjoy work or that you are well-treated and
well-managed while doing it. What is new is how work has become part of people’s inner lives,
a means of expression – at least among the sorts of employees (70% according to one survey)
who tell researchers they want ‘fulfilment’.
In the past, the classic slogan of the industrial labourer – “a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay” – indicated that the worker’s
needs from employment were strictly economic. For many, of course, work is still a struggle for daily bread, with choices and
opportunities heavily influenced by class, race and gender.
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Avoiding the agonies of appraisal: Mike Thackray, ER Consultants (August 2008)
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Tom is the manager of a large retail outlet, soon to undergo his annual appraisal. He is
frantically searching for last year’s document which he promised to ‘review’ on a regular basis.
When he eventually unearths it, he discovers it is only half-completed.
Tom is worried that his manager, Jane, will be angry at his ‘lack of interest’ in his own
development. But she is too busy searching for her own copy to worry about what Tom is doing,
and trying to locate some notes she made about an issue with Tom’s performance a few
months ago. It really needs addressing, but without specific details she is worried that she may
come across as ill-prepared and inaccurate.
Welcome to ‘appraisal time’. You may recognise elements of this scenario as being applicable
to you or your organisation – yet appraisals are absolutely essential to the performance of
individuals and the organisation. You can’t run a business, department or operation without
clear targets, against which you are monitored, scored, ranked and rated…can you?
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Who needs people?: Bay Jordan, Zealise (May 2008)
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One of the great ironies of early 21st century business is that at the very time management is
recognising the value of people and their contribution to organisational success – and so
becoming increasingly focused on policies to win ‘hearts and minds’ and engender greater
employee loyalty – the more disengaged people appear to be.
The recently published Towers Perrin 2007 Global Workforce study, based on a survey of
90,000 workers in 18 countries and input from a database of more than 2 million people across
40 countries, reveals that only 21% of the global workforce are ‘engaged’ in their work, where
engagement means ‘freely giving their time, energy, creativity and knowledge to their work’.
The survey shows that of the rest, 41% are ‘enrolled’ (something that in one organisation used
to be referred to jokingly as ‘on the payroll but not at work’); 30% are ‘disenchanted’ and 8%
‘disengaged’.
Turn this around and it tells you that 79% (86% in the UK) of an organisation’s greatest asset and primary source of
competitive advantage are not pulling their weight. Worse, 38% are not only failing to pull their weight, they are actually
counter-productive; so negative that they actually, consciously or unconsciously, undermine the efforts of others.
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University of life?: Gary Weinstein, Akonia (March 2008)
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When my wife qualified as a school teacher I bought her a fridge magnet bearing the Japanese
proverb: “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” It
stands as a reflection on the balance between teaching the national curriculum and inspiring
pupils with a love of learning.
Think back to your early school days and ask yourself the question: “How many days did I
spend with a great teacher?” Now fast forward through your secondary and then tertiary
education. Was it more than a handful?
Consider your career thus far. How many courses have you attended where the teaching has really
been relevant to what you do? The likelihood is that it is not that many. It’s the time you spend
engaging with your colleagues, managers, partners, clients and business associates that has the
greatest impact on developing your business knowledge and skills. Without even realising it, this
implicit informal learning process constitutes the most significant part of your knowledge acquisition.
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Tale of the talents: Jim Matthewman, Mercer (January 2008)
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Most companies recognise the importance of key talents in driving their business success, particularly in this increasingly
knowledge and service-based economy.
Key people, because of their passion, their level of engagement and the excellence of their work, have become a fundamental
source of value and competitive advantage for an organisation – often more so than its systems or products. And because
individuals are unique and cannot simply be cloned by another organisation, key talents also serve to differentiate the
organisation from its competitors.
Many UK organisations have been actively engaged in a ‘war for talent’ over the past decade. But even those who have made
winning the war a priority are now facing increased competition because of changes in the hiring landscape.
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Technology versus the trainers: Vaughan Waller, Moore Stephens LLP (November 07)
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Stop most people in the street and ask them what they understand by the term ‘e-learning’ and
all you will get is a blank look. The name is fairly self-explanatory, however, and many will
guess that it is learning delivered by a computer. The slightly more enlightened will say that
e-learning is when courses are delivered online and that when they did one recently they found
it very boring and did not complete it.
But this view is now an increasingly inaccurate representation of e-learning. So much so that, if
the true capabilities of using technology to deliver learning were common knowledge to all
training and development professionals, they might be worried.
This article will look at the impact of the new technologies some have dubbed ‘Web 2.0’, as use
of the internet enables a completely new approach to delivering learning.
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Transactors or transformers?: Gerry Gibbon, The HR Solution (September 2007)
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Have you read either of the following recently?
“Human resource management has come of age as reflected in the appointment of HR directors
to the boards of many leading companies.”
”HRM remains under-valued and under-represented at the top of the organisational command
structure.”
These seemingly schizophrenic statements have appeared persistently throughout the past 15
years or so. From an insider’s viewpoint, the status of HR has remained obscure throughout this
period and probably before that too. That confusion is also reflected in the recurring debate
about whether the function is ‘personnel’ or ‘HR’ management.
These contradictions appear to be driven by two principal factors: the degree to which an organisation is perceived as needing
to change; and the fact that HR (or personnel) management operates, or at least can operate, comfortably at two levels.
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Striking a balance: Steve Heidt, EDS (July/August 2007)
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In business, it always comes down to people. As leaders, we have ravenous appetites for talent
– continuously craving the best and brightest to serve business needs for today and the future.
Technology alone can’t do it all. Someone has to integrate it. Having the right people with the
right skills in the right place at the right time is a never-ending priority.
Workforce management is one of three multi-dimensional global forces exerting tremendous
pressure on any enterprise. It’s certainly among those nagging little voices that can keep you
awake at night.
As a result, HR professionals must spend considerable time determining how to best keep
these forces in balance and how to satisfy our customers and be successful.
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Beyond the boomers: Alexa Fletcher & Chad Fry, BearingPoint (May 2007)
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It’s hard to surf the internet these days, or even pick up a newspaper, without reading about the
ageing workforce. Experts regularly remind us that baby boomers – those people born between
1946 and 1964 – make up approximately 50% of the current workforce and that as much as
40% of the overall workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next decade.
The experts highlight the threat that this poses for employers and their lack of preparedness to
manage this forecasted loss of intellectual capital. Based on recent survey results, as many as
70% of organisations lack the formal processes necessary to manage the impact of this
generational shift.
However, the magnitude of the challenge becomes even clearer when you consider that, for the
past several years, most organisations have failed to focus sufficient time, money and executive
attention on talent management – mainly due to the economic requirement to cut costs to meet
short-term market expectations.
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Future's bright but not as we know it: Jon Beaumont, Aon Consulting (March 2007)
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The world of work is changing and will continue to change dramatically over the next five years.
Advances in information technology will revolutionise the ways in which people communicate
and interact with each other at work, in turn creating enormous challenges for HR professionals.
The first change to note is the relative cheapness of sophisticated technology compared to a
decade ago. Because PCs and internet access are now so inexpensive, people are becoming
very skilled in their use of PC-based communication media. The interesting thing is that they are
doing this at home, rather than at work. Now hitting the job market are a generation of
individuals who use blogs and chatrooms as an everyday leisure activity. Most of these new
workers are going to be extremely frustrated at how out-of-date and limited their employers’ IT
equipment is.
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Living the dream?: Stephen Miller, SHRM (January 2007)
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In recent years, the field of human resources has experienced a significant transformation and redefinition. In the past, HR was
responsible for personnel and transactional activities and was heavily inundated. But in many organisations, HR has moved
from a merely administrative role to that of a strategic partner and facilitator across a wide range of activities – budgeting,
talent management, succession planning, trends analysis and forecasting, executive-level compensation, and corporate social
responsibility programmes.
For an organisation to be successful, it needs targeted strategic initiatives that are integrated throughout the entire
organisation. Many successful companies are realising that their HR department is a resource that provides a competitive
advantage. These organisations have recognised the value of addressing HR and business functions from a strategic
perspective that can ultimately be linked with overall business strategy.
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Human rights, and wrongs: Ian Mechie, Absoft (November 2006)
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Achieving an effective human capital management (HCM) strategy is an ongoing challenge for
all organisations, as they strive to achieve growth and increase employee productivity against a
backdrop of market uncertainty, rapid change, increasingly diverse competitive pressures and
the ongoing trend of globalisation.
The term ‘human capital management’ itself is becoming more widely used these days – and
the differences in approach that it demands are becoming more evident in business.
HCM is not the same as human resource management (HRM). HCM involves a strategic
investment in the intangible assets represented by the people employed by an enterprise –
comprising individual and collective skills, talents and capabilities. The aim is to achieve return
on your investment in both individuals and the organisation in a way that develops the business,
and can be reported on an annual balance sheet, if required.
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Facing up to new demands: Cliff Mills, PMP Research (September 2006)
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Most organisations live or die by the quality of their staff and the ability to maximise employee productivity. And with
intense competition in the market for high-calibre staff, the human resources department has a key role to play in
developing high-quality processes for the recruitment, development and retention of staff. In addition, maximising the
efficiency and deployment of employees often requires the adoption of effective project management tools.
To find out how successful organisations are in these areas, PMP Research recently interviewed a cross-section of
leading companies for their views.
The results show that the primary investment areas for the HR department are in employee performance management
(mentioned by 28% of the respondents), recruitment (24%) and learning management (20%). Also high on the list are
the internet-enabling of HR activities and processes (26%) and replacing existing HR administration systems (20%).
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Raising high potentials: Chris Watkin, Hay Group (August 2006)
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Talk to chairmen, CEOs and business leaders and many will tell you that along with deciding
on the right mission and strategy, choosing the right leaders is what keeps them awake at
night.
So why is talent management an essential, rather than a ‘nice-to-have’, for successful
organisations? The answer is clear when you look at exactly what talent management is all
about. It is fundamental to the ongoing life force of an organisation – the mechanism that
helps it win today and renew itself for the challenges of tomorrow. At a practical level, it is
the process by which a company puts the right mechanisms in place to deliver competitive
advantage through effective management of its people assets – in other words, ensuring the
right people are in the right roles at the right time to deliver on strategy now and in the
future.
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Talent contest: Rebecca Clarke and Victoria Winkler, CIPD (June 2006)
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Since management consultancy McKinsey first coined the expression ‘the war for talent’, the phrase ‘talent management’ has
become increasingly common in the world of HR. But is talent management something new and is it something more than the
latest HR fad? What does talent management mean and what is being done in organisations to manage talent?
The drivers for interest in talent management seem reasonably clear, even if its specific meaning is less obvious. We continue
to have a tight labour market in the UK and Ireland, with persistent skills shortages and changing demographics in the
workforce. The expectations of the workplace are also changing, with more staff placing value on concepts such as work–life
balance.
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A tale of two universes: Ian Seath, Ad Esse Consulting (April 2006)
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A few years ago, if you went into HR departments and asked them to describe their approach to process management,
you’d probably have been met with blank looks or be told that “We don’t have processes, or at least none that can be
managed”. This would quickly be followed by the assertion that “We’re a people department, it’s not about processes”.
If you’d then followed up your visit to HR with some discussions with their internal customers – senior managers, line
managers and staff – you’d have heard a different story.
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HR service delivery: Towers Perrin (February 2006)
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The deployment of technology remains at the forefront of the HR effectiveness agenda, given its impact on the bottom
line and management’s expectations that it will help streamline the organisation and its HR processes. Increased
technological efficiencies and options in recent years mean HR professionals now have an opportunity to make greater
gains, and realise better results, than they have in the past.
But it takes more than good technology to optimise HR service delivery as a strategic management tool, as opposed to
simply a basic HR function. Other requirements include effective long and short-term planning, the right processes and
a focus on the larger workforce needs of the organisation. There are several factors driving the recent growth of
innovative service delivery options, including new technologies and new business priorities that are creating both
challenges and opportunities for service delivery professionals.
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Salary sacrifice: Gary Hull, PricewaterhouseCoopers (December 2005)
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Salary sacrifice arrangements typically involve employees entering into formal
contractual arrangements to give up part of their pay in exchange for the employer’s
agreement to provide non-cash benefits of corresponding value. Significant savings may
be achieved by both employee and employer where the replacement benefits are tax
free. From the employee’s perspective, tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
are saved because previously taxable pay is sacrificed in return for tax-free benefits. The
employer saves on secondary NICs, for the same reason.
The tax-free benefits most commonly used in salary sacrifice schemes are childcare
vouchers, home computers and pension contributions. Other valuable tax-free benefits
such as health screening, workplace parking and mobile phones are also used by
employers.
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Look hard before you leap: Bettina Pickering/Neil McEwen, PA Consulting (Oct 05)
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Despite the constant discussion about automation and integration in HR, many HR
functions remain a technological backwater. Starved of IT investment and widely
perceived as a silo focusing on ‘soft’ people skills, the HR department often continues to
rely on spreadsheets and other ad hoc systems to manage activities as critical as
recruitment and training & development.
This reflects the fact that, in many cases, the drive to automate HR processes has gone
little further than implementing or outsourcing a payroll system. And even where the
organisation has invested in an expensive heavyweight ERP implementation, or signed
up for a technology outsourcing solution, HR often finds itself left behind in IT terms by
other functions whose automation is accorded a higher priority, and whose needs can be
met more easily and cheaply.
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Where do we go next?: Martyn Sloman, CIPD (August 2005)
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There is nothing new in suggesting that the implementation and application of new
technology in the workplace presents both opportunities and problems. However the
rapid evolution of information and communication technology (ICT), and the arrival of the
internet in particular, takes these challenges to a whole new dimension – and makes
them more urgent. Exciting new possibilities have emerged from this revolution for
people management and development professionals. We can become much more
effective players in the organisation and hence gain increased respect.
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Six steps to an HR strategy: Simon Court, Value Partnership (July 2005)
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Ten years ago, it was common for senior HR managers to say that the purpose of their
company’s human resource strategy was to ensure it had “the right people in the right
place at the right time”. But that was before companies’ business performance depended
on being intensely customer-focused, responsive to the demands of shareholders and
other stakeholders, good at cross-functional team working, effective at working across
international boundaries, and outstanding at foreseeing opportunities and responding in
a timely and profitable way.
And the HR strategy is under increased scrutiny because, from April 2005, every publicly
listed company in the UK has had to decide whether to report on human capital in its
Operating and Financial Review.
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Making capital: Judy Sweeney, AMR Research (May 2005)
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The human capital management (HCM) software market will grow at a modest 6% between now and 2008, as slower
growth in the larger administrative and operational applications is offset by newer, faster growing strategic applications
aimed at line-of-business users.
Two distinct vendor segments are emerging to support the HCM application market. The first, dominated by enterprise
resource planning (ERP) suite vendors, focuses on operational and administrative applications that manage basic
employee data and support HR operations. The second is a strategic set of applications typically supplied by best of
breed vendors and used by line-of-business managers rather than HR, to help optimise and align workforce
performance with business goals.
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Capital idea: Ceri Thomas, TPMG (January 2005)
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Human capital management is a relatively new business concept which is becoming more familiar among HR
practitioners, especially in publicly quoted companies. Its importance rests on findings that the way a company
manages its human capital significantly affects its financial performance.
As an approach to people management, HCM focuses on the factors that really predict and affect the long-term success
of the business. It treats the management of people as a strategic matter – rather than an operational concern best left
to the HR people. Consistent with that, HCM aims systematically to analyse, measure and evaluate how people policies
and practices add value to the enterprise.
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