Liam Byrne, Cabinet Office Minister, has signaled a shift in Government policy away from the target culture, as evidence mounts that it has had a devastating effect on customers of public services.

But he did not commit to a ... read more

There are still a few places left for senior finance/operations executives and HR executives for the Human Capital Forum events on 8 and 9 July. The half-day events, in association with Logica, mark the beginning of a unique ... read more

Adoption in Europe of workforce planning is on the rise and is leading to the HR function taking on a more strategic role, according to some promising research findings published by Infohrm – a provider of workforce planning, ... read more

Opposition is mounting to the shock decision of The Observer to drop one of the few dedicated columns on organisational management in the national media. It made a cost-cutting decision to end the weekly Simon Caulkin column just ... read more

By Philip Whiteley – In the strange world of management theory, it seems that some influential thinkers are coming round to the point of view that organisations consist of people. It’s been a long battle, lasting most of the ... read more

Anglian Water has reported a marked increase in operational efficiency through a radical overhaul of workforce planning systems, geared to matching human capital requirements more closely to demand. Work backlog has been reduced ‘... read more

The median pay settlement level has fallen sharply to 2 per cent, down from 3 per cent, the latest figures from the IDS Pay Databank, for the three months to the end of April, show.
April is a key bargaining month, and the latest... read more

Public sector workforce planning may be more advanced and long-term than in the private sector, according to research by Dr Peter Samuel of Nottingham University Business School.
‘Regular workforce analysis across a range of ... read more

Employers are falling into the trap of seeing employee engagement as an all-powerful indicator, guaranteeing company success, leading human capital specialist Rick Emslie has warned.
In an interview with the Human Capital Forum, ... read more

Logica has joined with the Human Capital Forum to announce a programme of workshops to help its clients develop advanced human capital tools. The aim of the initiative is to encourage a transformation in business culture and ... read more

The Human Capital Forum has linked with Sheppard Moscow, a leading international provider of coaching, leadership and organisational development, for the next Forum meeting.
Previous meetings have focused on human capital ... read more

Local authorities need to move towards systems thinking, away from simply following Government targets, a major report for the consultancy Vanguard has argued. Public sector organisations need to apply the principles of teamwork ... read more

Jack Welch, the former darling of the US corporate world and prince of the concept of ‘shareholder value’, has turned against the idea in one of the most dramatic u-turns in management history. He recently described the concept of... read more

Belatedly, the UK authorities are beginning to recognise the fundamental importance of people management. Lord Turner, in his recent report on banking reform, cited remuneration policies that were ‘counter to sound risk management... read more

The decision in 2005 of the then UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to cancel the requirement for an Operating & Finance Review was ‘an inexplicable mistake’, Anglo American chair Sir Mark Moody-Stuart told delegates at a lecture hosted ... read more

The Human Capital Forum has linked with ACI Europe to promote the Global HR – Change Management, Restructuring and Reorganisation conference, to be held in Brussels on 29-30 April.
It features speakers from leading organisations ... read more

Human resources directors recognise the need for improved human capital analytics, but are weighed down by a huge workload caused by the economic downturn, according to Patricia Taylor, director of global HR outsourcing at Logica... read more

EXCLUSIVE
Sponsors of the London Olympics are planning to boost employee engagement as part of their investment. The ground-breaking move has been pioneered by Olympic Gold Medal winner Adrian Moorhouse, who now runs the coaching... read more

EXCLUSIVE
There should be an end to quarterly reporting, and a cultural and behavioural transformation in business governance, Bob Garratt told an audience of business leaders at the Human Capital Forum Leadership Seminar on 5 ... read more

US health insurer WellPoint has identified massive areas for saving through analysis of staff turnover. It had suffered over 30% turnover of new hires in service operations within their first year. Typically, employees departing ... read more

A personal services company has recorded consistently higher sales performance, across all levels of tenure, for employees that have undergone training, specialist provider Infohrm has reported.

This company, which takes a ... read more

Business units at ABC Telco are creating their own human capital analysis each month and using the reports to fine-tune people strategies and improve performance.
The approach features single-page colour-coded reports with charts... read more

The controversy that has erupted over bonuses at UK banks highlights the extent to which business leaders, shareholders and the Government ignored human capital in the run-up to the credit crisis, the Human Capital Forum has ... read more

Institutional investors in the UK are starting to ask probing questions about companies’ human capital strategies in the wake of the credit crisis. In a marked turn-around from the boom years, where matters such as market ... read more

The consultancy Leadership IQ has highlighted a genuine memo announcing lay-offs as a classic example of poor communication likely to lead to low morale among survivors.

The publishing company’s CEO sent a message to all staff... read more

Skills are even more important during tough economic times, according to a report published on 21 January by the Confederation of British Industry.
In a major report the Confederation has highlighted how one employer has saved £5... read more

Employers are considering alternatives to compulsory redundancies during the recession, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and consulting giant KPMG.
The data is based on initial findings from the ... read more

Redundancy programmes are running at the highest level for 14 years, but companies need to take care of staff who survive the cut-backs, according to a survey by one of the leading employee opinion survey specialists.
Sirota ... read more

Most employers do not know the cost of employee absence due to a lack of good data, according to Mercer’s annual pan-European Health & Benefit report, published this month.
As the economic downturn deepens and affects all regions... read more

Professor Bob Garratt will address a Leadership Breakfast Meeting hosted by the Human Capital Forum on Thursday, March 5 in central London.
Well before the banking crisis broke, Professor Garratt was warning of systemic ... read more

The cost of making an employee redundant can be more than £15,000, even without taking hidden costs such as impact on engagement and productivity, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.
John Philpott, ... read more

Most boardrooms see employee engagement as a key priority, but are struggling to achieve better results, according to a major UK survey by consultancy the Engage Group.
The survey of more than 23,000 directors, including 2,500 at... read more

In a further indication that the economic downturn is causing an increase in interest in human capital reporting, Mercer HR has reported higher activity by corporate clients in core elements of human capital management.
‘We see ... read more

Key human capital measures, such as staff turnover and use of agency workers, should be used as risk indicators in child protection, a leading social services academic has recommended.
Ray Jones, professor of social work at ... read more

Human resources and payroll managers, and IT providers, need to be prepared for investors making requests for human capital reporting, according to the Human Capital Forum.
Forum member Richard Bishop-Laggett told a session at ... read more

The economic downturn could see an increase in human capital reporting, the latest meeting of the Human Capital Forum heard.
Paul Aldrich, senior consultant at CT Partners and author of Talent Portfolio Management, told the Forum... read more

A deadline of 31 October has been set for the next Best Companies to Work For competition. The contest, one of the few high-profile measures that assesses organizations on how they develop their human capital, has seen spectacular... read more

Data security is forcing employers to pay more attention to business intelligence and human capital reporting, according to a major supplier.

Patricia Taylor, director HR outsourcing services business of Logica, says that fears... read more

There continues to be resistance to assessing the impact of payroll and other people-related expenditure – even though it is the largest single item on the balance sheet, a human capital expert has claimed.

Dr Max Blumberg of ... read more

Members of the Payroll World Human Capital Forum have achieved significant business returns from improvement in HR and payroll-related measures, the latest meeting revealed.

Information on matters such as the retention and ... read more

A strategic approach to people management is key to making mergers and acquisitions effective, research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development has found.

Satish Pradhan, executive vice president of group HR at ... read more