Ideas & articles // Articles
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The end of certainty....?
As we head into 2008, the markets are wobbling, press stories abound that redundancies are on the way, and yet more young people have been killed on the streets. The future seems a scary, uncertain place. Karen looks at uncertainty, and wonders whether our fear of it is justified, and what companies can do to equip employees more effectively to handle it. Written for HRZone.
Click here to read document.
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Training difficult people.
From time to time trainers face the ‘difficult’ participant: the one who doesn’t want to be there, or doesn’t care; the one who won’t shut up, or won’t speak up; the misery guts, or the joker, the know-it-all, or the ‘doesn’t want to know’. Karen, along with other members of HR on line community TrainingZone, added her two penneth....
Click here to read a piece which appeared on www.TrainingZone.co.uk on 26 February 2007.
Click here to visit www.TrainingZone.co.uk.
fe3 in the news!
To list or not to list?
There are more than 30 UK recruitment companies listed f the stock exchange, and more are planning to come to market. In this short piece, Gary considers some of the pitfalls of listing.
Click here to read an article that appeared in Recruiter magazine on 4 October 2006.
fe3 in the news!
Brand new behaviour.
The logo is redesigned, all the signage has been changed and you may even have a new name. Now what? Karen takes a brief look at ways in which organisations can help their employees to live the brand.
Click here to read an article that appeared in The HR Director on Tuesday 7th November 2006.
fe3 in the news!
Values as mental programming.
Values programmes are a way for management to attempt to exert control over their employees.
But what are the rights and wrongs of such an approach?
Click here to read an article that appeared on www.HRZone.co.uk on June 26, 2006.
The Seven Steps of Effective Executive Coaching - book review.
Karen reviews this new book on executive coaching from one of fe3's associates, Fiona Eldridge. It presents a new model of coaching developed through two years of detailed research and interviews with coaches and their clients both in the UK and Europe. Written by practitioners, for practitioners, it recommends a variety of tools not normally used in coaching, making this a sometimes surprising and illuminating read.
Click here to read Karen's book review written June 2006.
Absence - a case of World Cup-itus?
The websites and journals are suddenly populated with articles about managing World Cup absence, estimating that 25 per cent of workers will skip work to watch the England matches at astronomical cost. But are managers right to squash the nationalistic leanings of millions of footie fans? This article reminds employers that employees have other values than just those designated by the employer.
Click here to read an article written June 2006.
The new wave of optimism - watch your brand!
Corporate financiers and bankers are rubbing their hands together in glee as the good times return to the City in a wave of merger and acquisition deals. While we welcome a new spirit of confidence in these gloomy times, senior managers might be wise to think a bit further than the potential increased shareprice - particularly as previous M&A has often failed to live up to expectations in terms of shareholder value. We take a look at the importance of the brand to future growth prospects and to employees.
Click here to read an article written February 2006.
The HR Value Proposition, book review.
Our guest writer is again Manohar Suresh who is currently completing his MA in International Management. Manohar reviews the latest book from Dave Ulrich - professor at the University of Michigan School of Business and Wayne Brockank, clinical professor of business at the same institution.
The HR Value Proposition (Harvard Business School Press, 2005) draws on their 16-year study of more than 29,000 HR professionals and line manager and argues that HR value creation requires a deep understanding of external business realities and how value is created by key stakeholders inside and outside the company.
They provide practical tools and worksheets for leveraging this knowledge to create HR practices, build organizational capabilities, design HR strategy, and marshal resources that create value for customers, investors, executives, and employees.
Click here to read Manohar's book review written January 2006.
Holding on - a study of retention and attrition in Indian IT and ITES companies.
The rise of India in the IT and IT enabled services (ITES) industries has been nothing short of meteoric. The country is considered to be one of the world's largest emerging economies with the World Bank forecasting that India could be the world's largest economy by 2020. According to Forbes, it is a prime target for international investment.
Liberalisation of the Indian economy and extra competition from overseas firms is putting pressure on the HR function of Indian domestic companies to prepare and develop employees.
However, the fly in the ointment for these industries is the retention and recruitment of a highly educated, but increasingly choosy workforce.
fe3 consulting has conducted some intense qualitative research which looks at the possible reasons why graduate workers are so hard to keep in these organisations in both the IT and ITES sectors. The majority of the interviews were conducted by our associate Manohar Suresh and the bulk of the analysis and background research was done by Karen Drury.
Click here to read the IT Report, published September 2005.
Click here to read the ITES Report, published September 2005.
Go ahead - make my day.
Is it possible to motivate people? Or is this something that only individuals can do for themselves? In this article, Gary looks at the benefits of employee motivation and engagement and discusses what managers can do to get staff to take more interest.
Click here to read an article written July 2005.
Training – an act of faith?
The idea of training as an intuitively "good" thing exists in the face of the completely underwhelming evidence supporting a link between training and performance. We look at the assumptions made about training, and identify a number of organisational aspects of to consider when commissioning, or even thinking about training.
Click here to read an article written April 2005.
The Democratic Enterprise, book review.
Our guest writer this month is Manohar Suresh, who is studying for his MA in International Management. Manohar considers the latest offering from Professor Lynda Gratton, whose latest book The Democratic Enterprise (FT Prentice Hall) explores the possibility of offering choice to individuals and organisations to build companies of which we can be proud. Read Manohar's book review here.
Click here to read Manohar's book review written April 2005.
Negotiating the un-negotiable – appraisals and the psychological contract.
The psychological contract is the unspoken promise made between an employer and its employees. Violating this contract can have a significant impact on the relationship between employers and employees. But how can something which is in your head (or psychological) and not written down be understood and monitored so that violations are less likely to occur? fe3 suggests that the humble appraisal may be a way to monitor the expectations of both employer and employee, if undertaken with this in mind.
Click here to read an article written January 2005.
