Sarah discusses how talent management operates in the company, how the recession has impacted on this, and how their approach is firmly tied to the business strategy. Look at p. 58 of your textbook and then try and answer these questions:
1. What does Sarah mean by looking ‘end to end’ in talent management?
2. How is development related to talent groups at Sky?
3. In Sarah’s view, how is talent linked to succession?
Chapter 4: Karen Jochelson, Director of Policy for Employment and the Economy, The Equality and Human Rights Commission
Karen talks about the work of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the issue of diversity and what methods can be used to encourage participation of women at board level, provide a better experience for women during pregnancy and maternity cover, and reduce the gender pay gap.
Look at p.125 of your textbook and then try and answer these questions:
1. Are equality and diversity the same or different?
2. How is diversity linked to innovation at work?
3. What do employers need to do to encourage diversity and what is the part played by line managers? Is espoused policy the same as enacted policy?
4. Can action planning help reduce the gender pay gap?
Chapter 5: Alison Blayney, HR Business Partner, TIGI Haircare, Unilever
Alison talks in Part 2 of her interview about the process of recruitment and selection and how these are conducted in the company. Look at p. 171 of your textbook and then try and answer the following questions:
1. How does Alison claim she is proactive in recruiting? What does she mean by ‘going beyond normal sourcing strategies’ to build talent pools?
2. Is LinkedIn effective for Alison? How does she use the employee referral scheme and who benefi ts from it?
3. How does Generation Y differ from Generation X? Explain how the employee brand is ‘leveraged’ to attract Generation Y.
Chapter 7: Helen Tiffany, Managing Director of HR consultancy firm Bec Development
Helen talks about the importance of human resource development and coaching. Look at p.252 of your textbook and then try and answer the following questions:
1. What is ‘unique’ about the sector in which Helen works? Does this affect the approach to HRD?
2. How does Helen’s view of HR relate to business strategy? How can this be achieved?
3. According to Helen, why has coaching become so important? Why is it having such a large impact?
Chapter 8: Ruth Altman, an experienced freelance HR practitioner
Ruth discusses the challenges faced by HR departments in universities and how higher tuition fees will impact on the reward system at universities.
Look at p.292 of your textbook and then answer these questions:
1. How does Ruth explain the development of the psychological contract at work?
2. How are changes in universities affecting HR?
3. How can a HR department really ‘add value’?
Chapter 9: Ray Fletcher, Director of Personnel and Development, Unite the Union
Ray considers trade unions in the contemporary workplace, their contribution to workplace learning, and possibilities for union–green coalitions. Look at p.317 of your textbook and try and answer these questions:
1. According to Ray, in the context of change and restructuring, does the role of HR change?
2. What does Unite do to promote learning at work?
3. Can a balance be found between green policies and the interests of union members?
Chapter 10: Keith Hanlon-Smith, Employee Relations Director at facilities maintenance company Norland Managed Services
Keith discusses employee relations, the employment relationship and HR as a strategic partner (the Ulrich model). Look at p.338 of your textbook and then try and answer these questions:
1. How is HR embedded in the business at Norland Managed Services?
2. What is Keith’s view on changes in employee relations?
3. How does Keith think that ‘agendas’ affect priorities?
Chapter 11: Gregor Karolus, Chief HR officer, Springer Nature
Gregor talks in the first part of his interview, about the importance of ethics and compliance to a business and how these can be encouraged. Look at p.382 of your textbook and try and answer the following questions:
1. What does business ethics mean to Gregor Karolus?
2. Why does Gregor believe that whistleblowers can have a positive impact on the organization?
3. What example does he give to illustrate his point?
Chapter 13: Gregor Karolus, Chief HR officer, Springer Nature
Gregor expands in the second part of his interview, on high-performance workplace systems and how these are implemented in large multi-national companies. Look at p.435 of your textbook and answer the questions below:
1. What does business ethics mean to Gregor Karolus?
2. Why does Gregor believe that whistleblowers can have a positive impact on the organization?
3. What example does he give to illustrate his point?
Chapter 14: Lana Kularajah, Senior HR Business Partner, Transform Aid International/Baptist World Aid Australia
Lana speaks about mentoring programmes in leadership and management initiatives, particularly to encourage female progression to senior management positions. Look at p.461 of your textbook and try and answer the following questions:
1. How does Lana distinguish between hard and soft skills in leadership? What are the individual and organisational challenges for LMD?
2. How does Lana view the dangers of leadership development as a ’tick-box’ exercise?
3. What did Lana’s organisation do to ensure more ’voices of infl uence’ were heard? How did this benefi t women or minority groups?
4. Why was mentoring introduced and who did it help?
Chapter 15: Keith Stopforth, Head of Talent and Development, Bupa Health and Wellbeing
Keith talks about the organizational culture at Bupa and how this is implemented, how talent management works in the company and how Bupa views diversity in the workplace. Look at p.483 of your textbook and answer the questions below:
1. What is Keith’s view of organizational culture and the role of the HR department in ‘shaping’ culture?
2. What is the role of competencies in this process?
3. How does Bupa embrace diversity? What opportunities are provided to encourage prospective employees, and how do you think these could be applied in other companies?
Chapter 16: Markus Hiemann, Sustainability Manager for NHS National Services Scotland (NSS)
Markus discusses the issues surrounding sustainability and green HRM. Look at p.520 of your textbook and try and answer these questions:
1. How has the idea of sustainability evolved over time?
2. Should sustainability be driven from the top down or from the bottom up?
3. How can sustainability goals be combined with performance management?
Chapter 17: Lesley White, Human Resources Director UK and Ireland, Huawei Technologies
Lesley discusses the challenges of working in a UK-based HR department for a company headquartered in China, cultural differences in working and management styles, and the place of HR in Huawei’s business strategy. Look at p.536 of your textbook and answer the questions below:
1. What does Lesley feel are the key features of working in HR in a global organization?
2. In Lesley’s view, how do Chinese managers respond to directives compared with Europeans, and why?
3. How is information-sharing affected by culture?