People Management

The Challenge of Recruiting for the Best Job in the World (OCR Applied Unit 9)

The case study for OCR Applied Unit 9 (Erica’s Eco Tours Ltd) focuses on the strategy of a specialist tour operator that runs small-group escorted tours to long-haul destinations.  One of the strategic challenges is how to recruit and retain high quality people to act as Expedition Leaders.  Here are some links to resources that help students learn more about the role and the ways in which a successful tour operator manages the recruitment process.

Avoiding the risks that lead to shattered lives

I was in the tutor2u food manufacturing division (my kitchen) stirring some delicious home-made bacon broth when a piece on tonight’s Five Live news caught my attention.  It featured a representative from the Health & Safety executive discussing new legal requirements for business owners and led onto a discussion about how complying with health and safety legislation actually generates a good return on investment for a business.

Motivating the 80%

The 80/20 principle is often used to refer to the fact that 20% of staff contribute to 80% of the output of an organisation.  In terms of motivating the 80%, I wondered how successful this tool might be.

Counting the Cost of Workplace Sickness

An important report into workplace sickness is a goldmine for Business teachers looking for some great examples of issues in people management.

Would you be motivated by a wacky workplace?

It’s well established that motivating staff is a complex science that – almost always – involves much more than paying good wages.  Most of us find that other aspects of work are more rewarding, on a day-to-day basis.  Choices about jobs, careers and lifestyles involve decisions about more than the salaries on offer.

But would you work for a boss who promised happiness more than wealth?  Would you believe her?  A couple of go-ahead firms – Orange and Innocent – feature in a web article You’ve got to laugh - BBC where the offer of a stimulating workplace is every bit as important as the wage rate.

Google is at it too, Google your way to a wacky office - BBC with a workspace in Zurich that includes a slide, a games room, a ‘chill-out’ aquarium and plenty of free food.  They have meeting ‘pods’ in the style of Swiss chalets and igloos, fireman poles to allow easy access between floors and a slide to ensure that people can get to the cafeteria as quickly as possible.  The ‘wacky’ publicity can’t hurt in an environment that is increasingly hostile to the firm’s business practices.  They also hope that the innovative environment will help information exchange between staff.

John Lewis staff bag a bumper bonus

I’m going to have to keep this blog entry secret from my team at tutor2u.  News that staff at John Lewis are each to receive a 20% bonus certainly focuses the mind on how to use pay as a method of remuneration.

21p extra on the National Minimum Wage

Slowly, step-by-step, the National Minimum Wage is increasing.  The latest increase of 21p per hour represents a 3.8% increase on the previous rate of £5.52. The NMW was last increased in October 2007, just six onths ago.

Starbucks Closes 7,100 US Outlets

...for a few hours, to train all the staff.  An amazing decision taken by the new boss of Starbucks in the US to kick-start his recovery strategy for the poorly-performing coffee chain.

Is it worth working for nothing?

Would you work 40 days a year for nothing?  Probably not, unless you had a job you truly loved and could afford to forego the financial rewards.  However, a new survey suggests that the average British manager works 40 days of unpaid overtime per year.

Team spirit, innovation and business success

People are naturally cooperative and humans have a phenomenal capacity to work collaboratively in teams according to Lynda Gratton, Professor of management practise, London Business School, one of the contributors of Peter Day’s latest In Business programme. He visits the preparations of the Cambridge University boat race team to discover some of the factors that influence team-building and its significance in helping businesses to innovate, raise productivity, succeed in markets and drive shareholder value. Increasingly modern business organisations are looking for team-players, we hear that Goldman Sachs may put people through up to sixty interviews before taking them on! The programme interviews the author Mark de Rond, Reader in strategy & organisation, Judge Business School, Cambridge who has written a book about his experiences with the Cambridge boat race crew entitled “The Last Amateurs”.

Are staff appraisals a waste of time?

An Investors in People survey, reported by the BBC, found that 29% of people felt the experience was a waste of time, while 44% believed their appraiser had been dishonest.

Will you be at work on Christmas Eve?

Employers have denied “Scrooge-like” attitudes to Christmas after research suggested one in four staff would be expected to work on Christmas Eve.