The CIPD are currently running a great initiative, in collaboration with renowned management guru Gary Hamel, entitled “Hacking HR to Build an Adaptability Advantage”. Although the title might appear a little like management-speak, it’s in effect a series of online brainstorming sessions which anyone can participate in, looking at how organisations can become more flexible and…

No global company is average. No sentence can begin, ‘the average global company’. By definition alone, a multinational is a success already, but like Roman emperors and ordinary people, it cannot rest on its laurels.



To maintain its accomplishments, a successful multinational must have the following:



1) Efficiency

All companies should have efficiency at the core of their production values. Wastage of money and resources is not the route to success. With…

Impactful HR: Finding the CEO’s voice 

Recently we were speaking to a friend of imagine~hr who has delivered developmental and OD services to both the senior leadership and HR communities in continental Europe and globally for a long time; and he summarised in a brief but compelling line…

Last post, I talked about the difficulty of creating employee engagement for “zombies” – people disengaged from their own lives and just going through the motions. If it’s highly unlikely to engage them, where does that leave us? Are engagement efforts all for naught? Not a bit, but I suggest looking at our…

HR folk have been licking their wounds this week after getting a bit of a bad press from their management colleagues.  A KPMG/Economist Intelligence Unit survey said HR people weren’t forward-looking enough, were too immersed in the day-to-day tactical stuff and were failing to add value to the business.

Now…

Uncomfortable reading for HR people this week in the shape of new research which shows they are largely viewed as ineffective and not fast or flexible enough to adapt their strategies to the changing world of work.

This serious ‘image’ problem is revealed in the KPMG/Economist Intelligence Unit report …

No-one likes having ‘difficult’ conversations – but as a manager it is inevitable that at some point an issue will arise that has to be addressed.  It may be that an employee’s performance is under par, a project has gone horribly wrong or a crucial meeting has been mishandled.…

So it’s all over.  The stadium doors are closed, the competitors are heading home and the talk has turned to how we can ensure the Olympic legacy lives on.

Sports clubs up and down the country have already reported a surge of interest from aspiring athletes, while volunteering has also had a major boost with record numbers signing up to support good causes over the last two weeks.  It will be interesting to see,…

If the reading material that’s crossed my desk in the last few days is anything to go by, it’s not been a good week for bad managers.

First came the Chartered Management Institute’s annual Quality of Work Life survey, which shows that negative…

A question for you to ponder on over the coming weekend.  Just how compassionate a manager are you?

Now I know that the word compassion generally doesn’t have much of a place in the business world.  But recent research from the Australian School of Business suggests that there is in fact a strong link between profitability, productivity and what it calls…

How did you react the last time you made a mistake at work? Did you hold your hands up and do your best to put the problem right – or did you berate yourself for being a failure but decide there was nothing you could do to rescue the situation?

According to an article that crossed my desk this week, a mistake doesn’t necessarily have to be a disaster. In fact, if handled appropriately, it can turn into a productive experience.

Writing in …

Why Must your Business go "Social"

Because I have been using social tools both to "do" business and to grow and market my business I believe it is a critical way forward, and yet almost every day and in many meetings I meet people that still just "don't get it".



They think of "social media" as Facebook and Twitter - but social is more than that - its about collaborating with the right people, at the right time to solve a business challenge of deliver a business…

The following is a guest post written by Group HR Director and seasoned blogger Alison Chisnell which was first published to Discuss HR in January 2012

So 2012 is well and here and…here’s a surprise…it really doesn’t feel any different to 2011. The economic and work environment continues to be extremely tough for many, if not most, and as HR professionals, now more than ever, we need to grit our teeth, show our resilience and work with the business to deliver value…