Describes a four‐year study to identify the emotional state of National Health Service and local government senior and middle managers. This was accomplished via managers’ drawings to express their feelings about change. Describes various drawings and discusses their implications.
Discusses the introduction of a corporate change programme at Motability Finance Ltd. Reports how work groups were established to cover empowerment, staff development and competences, management style, team building and communications. Describes employee and customer satisfaction surveys, undertaken in an attempt to become a customer‐driven organization. Details the introduction of a document retrieval system and training programme.
Criticisms of business schools for their MBA and other provision have resulted in leading members of schools collaborating with human resource professionals in redefining corporate requirements for management development. They are creating a programme which is innovative, international, practical and reflective, embodying collaboration both between sponsoring companies and between five leading business schools spanning three continents.
The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act will come into force on 2 December 1996, but will not automatically make consideration of disability illegal in employment‐related decision making. Discusses benefits of employing disabled people and provides case studies.
Examines the way in which companies plan for the future and argues that current strategic planning and re‐engineering approaches alone will not enable organizations to compete in the future. Advocates the idea of all stakeholders pooling knowledge and resources to build up a “rich picture” to improve the organization’s systems. Describes Future Search conferences, where a large number of stakeholders are brought together to explore the past, agree the present and draw up action steps for the future. Examines in detail the case of two equal opportunities groups needing to merge and develop a coherent strategy.
Describes the importance of training and summarizes learning theory. Details the top ten learning methods: videotapes, lectures, one‐on‐one instruction, role plays, games/simulation, case studies, slides, computer‐based training, audiotapes and films. Discusses the factors to consider when selecting a training method or combination of methods. Emphasizes the importance of post‐training evaluation.
Explains the increased company embedment (ICE) model for unfreezing an organization and creating a climate in which learning flourishes. By taking a holistic approach, an environment is created where ICE is replaced by initiative, commitment and enterprise, allowing people in their own time and at their own pace to absorb what is in the organization. Describes an application of the technique to a small company, Appleyard, a motor franchise business.
Describes IKEA’s self‐managed learning programme. The company has a decentralized approach and its trading arm operates at national levels. Their self‐managed learning programme was developed by the UK‐based Roffey Park Management Institute. Roffey Park have also developed a self‐managed MBA programme for six managers from Portugal.
Describes an innovative behavioural assessment technique devised by Exeter‐based Quality Values Publications. The methodology recognizes nine critical motivating factors which combine in any organizational culture: identification, internationalization, instrumentality, consensus, rationality, development, group dynamics, equity and equality. Describes application of the method at Normalair‐Garrett.
Focuses on the individual and management development process (MDP) and the importance of training and education as complementary inputs towards the goal of maximizing individual and organizational potential. Develops a two‐dimensional framework, consisting of a skill continuum and a contextual continuum, to identify the key issues which need to be addressed by education and industry. Advances the MDP three Cs model of competence, confidence and capability, presenting a skill hierarchy and map and discussing transitional frictions. Emphasizes that management development should be viewed in the context of an organization’s strategic direction, highlighting an important link with operational and competitive success.
Personal development has been one of the popular HR trends of the 1990s, and yet has received little close scrutiny as to its application in practice. Reports on the experiences of 14 employers using personal development plans. Finds that employers hope for different things, some want cost effectiveness, others to forge a new deal on development and others to develop a more autonomous workforce. In practice personal development plans (PDPs) are resource intensive but do seem to get individuals to own their own careers and become more autonomous. The means by which they are created can also have a significant effect. Suggests learning points for organizations considering the implementation of PDPs.
Summarizes what business and management games are, their history, the different types of games that are available and what their uses are. Through interviews and a questionnaire survey the users of games are studied to ascertain who they are, why they use or are involved with games and what they think of them.
Reports on the success and rapid growth of Roleplay UK, which has established itself as the leading supplier of professional role players throughout the British Isles. Clients include large insurance companies, which are currently obliged to assess all their salesforces to determine their competence and potential to achieve the Financial Planning Certificate Level 3 ‐ compulsory by July 1997. Professional role players have proved ideal in making the assessment processes realistic. Gives some opinions of personnel professionals who have used the services of the company.
Suggests that once companies introduce 360‐degree feedback, it becomes an established part of their performance appraisal system. Provides reasons why one‐dimensional feedback is often not enough, and how 360‐degree feedback can increase individuals’ awareness of how they are perceived. Lists benefits of the system and discusses what is involved.
Examines key competences required in US places of work and describes how these can be most effectively taught in the workplace and not the classroom. It is more efficient to train staff in the workplace. Describes vocational training programmes set up at Northern Tube, Pacific First Federal and an apprenticeship programme at Siemens Stromberg‐Carlson. Concludes that if employees are given an opportunity to improve themselves, most will.
Addresses the questions of why adults seek training and what motivates them to learn. Provides guidelines for managers distilled from key sources. Also looks at the problem of motivating the transfer of training to the workplace. Sometimes it is difficult to motivate employees, first to accept training and then to have them use the training once they have returned to work.
Describes the METHODS teamworking model which includes seven basic principles: measurement; encouraging improvement; teaching; listening and conflict resolution; optimization and innovation; dreaming; and success. Explains how these principles have worked for two teams at J.C. Penney.
Outlines the links between the three key concepts that come with power ‐ leadership, responsibility and learning ‐ and what they mean for learning organizations. Suggests that leadership needs to balance the interests of all stakeholders in any situation to be more effective; that a responsibility approach is inclusive and more concerned with long‐term issues; and finally that learning is the heart of the productive activity, quoting Revans ‐ “for any organization to survive, its rate of learning must be equal to, or greater than, the rate of change in the environment”.
Discusses the building society’s approach to its expansion programme, which is based on developing the workforce. Describes the development programme and the development centre, and concludes that employees are very satisfied as staff retention is high.
Suggests that team briefing, e‐mail and informal networks, while useful tools, do not necessarily solve the communication problem and details various steps that can be taken. Discusses three elements of a meeting: task, maintenance and process, which, in the right proportions, can make the meeting more effective. Maintains that keeping a balance between electronic and human communication is important, and meeting in pairs and sub‐groups will help to build relationships. Concludes that noticing colleagues and listening to what they say is an effective way of improving communications.
