The purpose of this paper is to examine how HR can help an organization to meet its business goals.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how HR can help an organization to meet its business goals.
Design/methodology/approach
Reveals that a UK retail‐marketing agency that set up its HR department five years ago now has HR representation on the board of directors. Explores the various stages in HR's development at the business.
Findings
Contends that six years ago, with a team of 70 people, changing employee legislation and large corporate accounts, the company was at risk through not having an HR function in place. Argues that, operating in the creative industry where high employee‐turnover rates, burnout and job dissatisfaction are common issues, it was missing out on using its human resources and strong culture to gain a competitive advantage and facilitate growth.
Practical implications
Advances the view that putting in place an HR strategy requires buy‐in from the senior management team, and introducing HR for the first time is made easier by involving employees and management early in the process. Show that, in this case, an employee survey, supported by a strong communication programme, proved to be a key tool in highlighting the issues that needed to be addressed by the new HR function and in providing an ongoing tool for continuous improvement and engagement with employees. Involving clients and taking into account the needs of external stakeholders further boosted the effectiveness of people policies.
Originality/value
Demonstrates how investing strategically in HR can result in cost savings, enhanced productivity and improved customer service.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this case study is to show how HR can help an organization meet its business goals. Investing strategically in HR can result in cost savings, enhanced productivity and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this case study is to show how HR can help an organization meet its business goals. Investing strategically in HR can result in cost savings, enhanced productivity and improved customer service.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study feature follows the development of HR at a retail marketing agency in the UK and its five‐year journey from being non‐existent to becoming a fully functioning department with a strategic positioning on the board of directors.
Findings
With a team of 70 people, changing employee legislation and large corporate accounts, five years ago the organization was at risk as it had no HR function in place. Also, operating in the creative industry where high employee turnover rates, burnout and job dissatisfaction are common issues, it was missing out on using its human resources and strong culture to gain a competitive advantage and facilitate growth.
Originality/value
Putting in place an HR strategy requires buy‐in from the senior management team, and introducing HR for the first time is made easier by involving employees and management early in the process. In this case, an employee survey, supported by a strong communications program, proved to be a key tool in highlighting the issues that needed to be addressed by the new HR function and in providing an ongoing tool for continuous improvement and engagement with employees. Involving clients and taking into account the needs of external stakeholders further boosts the effectiveness of people policies.
Details
Keywords
School libraries in the United States have existed since the founding of private schools and academies in New England, such as Phillips-Andover and Phillips-Exeter in the late…
Abstract
School libraries in the United States have existed since the founding of private schools and academies in New England, such as Phillips-Andover and Phillips-Exeter in the late 18th century. The development of public secondary school libraries, however, did not occur until early in the 20th century. While New England's academies were national leaders in secondary school education, New England's public schools lagged behind their counterparts in the Central region of the United States in the development of school libraries. The first national standards for secondary school libraries was adopted by and published by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1918 from a study and report by the Committee on Library Organization and Equipment (CLOE), chaired by Charles C. Certain. The 1918 standards were entitled, “Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Size.” (NEA, 1918) This was the first attempt to quantify high school library facilities by identifying standards for a good high school library. In 1920, the American Library Association (ALA) endorsed and published these standards, which have become known as the “Certain Standards,” in honor of the committee chair. The “Certain Standards” addressed the need for high school libraries to become an integral part of the school by setting goals, planning, and establishing quantified collections, seating, and equipment. These standards also called for creating a library classroom and for hiring a qualified librarian (with 1 year of postgraduate study and one year of internship) (NEA, 1918; ALA, 1920). Most importantly, this document identified the role of the librarian as a professional who was not expected to do clerical work, but who “… should have the ability to work for and with teachers” (NEA, 1918; ALA, 1920, p. 12). Therefore, the standards movement began as an effort to quantify library facilities and to provide qualified librarians in secondary schools which became the focus for improving school libraries throughout the 20th century (Roscello, 2004).
Morten Eriksen and Tarjei Thorkildsen
In most jurisdictions a suspect has the right to remain silent during criminal proceedings and he cannot be penalised for making false statements. This is loosely known as the…
Abstract
In most jurisdictions a suspect has the right to remain silent during criminal proceedings and he cannot be penalised for making false statements. This is loosely known as the ‘ban on self incrimination’ and is regarded as an important factor in due process protection of individuals subject to criminal proceedings. The right to silence applies only to the stage of criminal proceedings, and up to date it has surprisingly not been seriously debated. A criminal may have caused individuals and society major loss, damage or suffering; in principle one would expect that he would be obliged to assist in the clearing‐up of the case, particularly if this could ameliorate or repair the negative consequences of the crime. But this is not the way it is looked at. The suspect is under pressure, and must not be faced with the choice of lying or confessing.
Jane Brown, Anders Wäppling and Helen Woodruffe-Burton
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to questionnaires as a corporate touch point, and their relationship with corporate identity (CI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to questionnaires as a corporate touch point, and their relationship with corporate identity (CI).
Design/methodology/approach
Following observational research, the paper presents a review of published works, including journals, textbooks and industry papers that consider qualitative aspects of questionnaire design. Primary data was collected via existential phenomenological interviews to understand the experiences of employees who engage with questionnaires from external companies within the industrial business-to-business (B2B) industry.
Findings
A lack of practical advice around aesthetic appearance of questionnaires in both journal papers and research design textbooks is identified, suggesting limited awareness of visual aspects of questionnaire design, even for those with formal training. Through interviews, it is suggested that poor design is forgiven through the understanding of the practical nature of the document, the idea that CI is a performance that is unnecessary at particular points of the B2B relationship, and that a more powerful company need not spend time on CI if collecting data from a stakeholder that is perhaps perceived as less important than other stakeholders. The findings indicate that organisations should consider questionnaires as a vehicle to promote CI, and as stakeholders to consider the document in terms of their relationship with the issuing company.
Research limitations/implications
This study proposes that qualitative inquiry is required to further determine how questionnaires are understood as a corporate touch point by stakeholders.
Originality/value
This paper considers the relationship between questionnaire appearance and stakeholder perceptions in the context of CI.
Details
Keywords
Ramona Ridolfi, Ame Stormer and Gary Mundy
The negative effects of gender disparities on nutrition outcomes for women and children are well documented. Gender analyses are often used at the start of projects to capture…
Abstract
The negative effects of gender disparities on nutrition outcomes for women and children are well documented. Gender analyses are often used at the start of projects to capture contextual factors contributing to persisting inequalities and malnutrition but there is a dearth of information about processes for applying findings to program designs and activities at the implementation level. The authors describe a three-phase process used by Helen Keller International (HKI) in 2015–2016 for a nutrition-sensitive program called Family Farms for the Future in rural Cambodia that included: (1) a community-based gender assessment; (2) a workshop to interpret findings from the assessment; and (3) a strategy to incorporate gender-relevant findings into program activities. The gender analysis used qualitative methods involving 32 participatory group activities and 20 individual interviews with men, women, and elders in the program communities. Findings and insights gained from this analysis revealed persistent and different gender disparities and perceptions from each respondent group regarding the reasons for the inequalities. A workshop organized to share the gender analysis findings with program implementers generated ideas and strategies for incorporating and translating findings into program activities. This three-phase process was crucial not only to reveal and understand barriers to socio-economic empowerment of women, but also to obtain buy-in from program implementers and to encourage use of their insights to translate findings into practical strategies and activities to address gender disparities that may influence nutrition and health outcomes of women and children.
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Keywords
Lawrence Angus, Wendy Sutherland-Smith and Ilana Snyder
Because access to new technologies is unequally distributed, there has been considerable discussion in Australia and elsewhere about the growing gap, the “digital divide,” between…
Abstract
Because access to new technologies is unequally distributed, there has been considerable discussion in Australia and elsewhere about the growing gap, the “digital divide,” between the information-rich and information-poor (Bolt & Crawford, 2000; Castells, 2001; Companie, 2001; Gordon, 2001; Haywood, 1998; Negroponte, 1996; Nixon, 2001). Most schools have incorporated computers and Internet access into classrooms, partly in response to concerns about the gap between technology “haves” and “have nots” (Facer et al., 2001). Such concerns have led to high-profile information technology policy initiatives in the USA (Lentz, 2000; US Department of Commerce, 1999), U.K. (Selwyn, 2000), Australia (Foster, 2000) and other nations. Many families have invested in computer systems at home in order to provide their children with access to the growing body of information available through technology. Similarly, in an attempt to “redress the balance between the information rich and poor” by providing “equal access to the World Wide Web” (Virtual Communities, 2002), the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Virtual Communities (a computer/software distributor) and Primus (an Internet provider) in late 1999 formed an alliance to offer relatively inexpensive computer and Internet access to union members in order to make “technology affordable for all Australians” (Virtual Communities, 2002).
Helen Berry and Debra Rickwood
It is proposed that social capital, a societal‐level construct, can be measured at the individual level. This ‘personal social capital’ is a psychological construct defined as a…
Abstract
It is proposed that social capital, a societal‐level construct, can be measured at the individual level. This ‘personal social capital’ is a psychological construct defined as a logically linked sequence of social behaviours: community participation, social support and trust in others. Individuals who have more personal social capital will participate in their communities more and have more social support, greater trust in others and less psychological distress than those with less. It was also predicted that social values would influence levels of personal social capital, indirectly influencing distress. Structural equations modelling revealed that, within the construct of personal social capital, the strongest predictor of distress was community trust. Harmony values also directly predicted distress, while security values had an indirect effect via reduced community participation, social support and community trust.