Monday 12 November 2012

Extension of flexible working rights is good for business, and a welcome recognition of a changing world of work

The extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees in the UK has been welcomed by the CIPD.

"The government’s decision to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, following the overwhelming weight of evidence from their Modern Workplaces consultation process, is a welcome recognition of a changing world of work that will benefit employers and employees alike, according to Peter Cheese, Chief Executive at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development."

To read the full press release go to http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/press-releases/extension-flexible-working-rights-more-flexible-parental-leave-good-business-131112.aspx

Monday 5 November 2012

The days of sheep-dip leadership and management training are over, claims CIPD

The CIPD recently produced a report into the future of leadership & management development in organisations.

"New research reveals the need for a new breed of leadership, which requires development programmes aligned with corporate culture, values and priorities

A new type of leadership is needed in modern organisations in order to build positive workplace cultures that get the best out of people and support innovation, empowerment and ethical behaviour. This is a conclusion that emerges from a new CIPD research report Perspectives on leadership in 2012: Implications for HR. The report summarises the main developments in recent leadership theory and leadership development, as well as the key role of HR in building leadership capability.

It highlights various factors that are influencing leadership theory, including falling levels of trust in political and business leadership as a result of the financial crisis, the MPs expenses scandal and public concern over excessive boardroom pay, bonuses and rewards for failure.
The report authors, Rachel Lewis and Emma Donaldson-Feilder, examine the elements of three emerging strands of leadership theory; relational leadership, values-based leadership and contextual leadership.

The first two highlight the quality of the relationship between leader and their direct report, and emphasise the importance of leaders who are self-aware and can display honesty, integrity and strongly held ethical and moral principles. Contextual leadership focuses on how leadership is influenced by the culture and systems of the organisation as a whole, for example, by its values and the extent to which managers are empowered to lead at all levels of an organisation.

The report also highlights key insights for leadership development, for example, evidence suggesting that if a manager regards themselves as a leader they are more likely to behave like one. Managers must also want to learn if development activities are to have any impact so a focus on understanding why people might be motivated to become leaders is also crucial.



Finally it examines the critical role of HR in developing leadership capability by
• Defining what good leadership is
• Developing leadership and follower skills
• Creating systems, processes and policies that support good leadership
• Creating conditions in which the value of leadership is recognised
• Ensuring that leadership development frameworks are aligned with organisations' core purpose and values
• Deploying a range of ongoing learning interventions to support sustained behaviour change.

Peter Cheese, CEO at the CIPD, comments: "Leadership is no longer just about the boardroom; managers at all levels need leadership skills - the power to win people's hearts and minds and build relationships based on mutual trust and respect. In an increasingly knowledge-based economy, the key to performance is through engaging employees in ways that produce discretionary effort and creating an environment which encourages greater employee empowerment and voice to facilitate the exchange of ideas and know-how."

"Today's leaders need to be self aware, have a strong moral compass, and understand that their behaviour is key to whether an organisation's values are worth more than a passing reference in the annual report or on the company intranet.

"In order to build this type of leadership capability, the role of HR is fundamental. HR needs to ensure that how managers are recruited, managed, trained and promoted supports the development of required leadership skills and behaviours. HR must ensure that leadership development frameworks are aligned with organisations' core purpose and values and understand how to deploy a range of ongoing learning interventions that actually lead to sustained behaviour change. The days of sheep-dip manager training are over."

The full report can be found here: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/perspectives-leadership-2012.aspx"


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Thursday 17 May 2012

Disabled, gay and young workers 'suffer most bullying'

The CIPD recently published an article saying that people with disabilities and chronic health conditions are most at risk of workplace bullying, while 1.25 million employees face violence at work, according to UK-wide research.

Academics from Plymouth and Cardiff universities interviewed 4,000 employees as part of a four-year study into staff ill-treatment in the workplace.

Bluegem offer a range of training and supporting learning opportunities to help organization's promote inclusions and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. Contact us on 08444 827280 for more information.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

What's on Manager's minds?

The CIPD recently published this article relating to a report from Roffey Park regarding the pressing issues on business managers minds.

"The economic climate is still the number one challenge for business, says this new research report from Roffey Park, with most organisations preoccupied with efficiency and cost savings.

  • The prolonged economic crisis is having a negative impact on managers who are feeling more insecure and under pressure, with public sector managers most affected. Those at the top of organisations generally feel more secure and optimistic about the future.

  • Larger organisations are finding the economic climate more difficult. They are under greater pressure from reduced revenue and difficult employee relations but are also finding it hard to adapt to changes in the macro-economic, political and regulatory environment.

  • Redundancies are still only being handled adequately. Well-managed redundancies align staff reductions to future business needs, carry out an open and transparent process with real consultation at all levels and provide good support for the people leaving.

  • International organisations are finding bureaucracy, political and legal systems and IT a challenge in managing international teams effectively. They also found it difficult to manage performance when cultural issues were problematic."


  • To help your business improve performance whilst maintaning employee engagement, contact us at Bluegem 08444 827280 or visit us at www.bluegem.co.uk.

    Monday 12 March 2012

    Surface Structure and Deep Structure - Snow

    With our Canadian office opening in Calgary soon, this article by our colleague Clare Smale seemed very appropriate.

    "The Sami people of Sweden, Norway and Finland have a language which lists hundreds of words for snow. In England we have just a few. If I was to ask you what the word 'snow' means, what would be the first three words that you would write down?

    I would probably write something like white, precipitation (that's the geographer in me coming out) and frozen. IN NLP, the word 'snow' would be called a surface structure description. It's is a word that generalises, deletes and distorts all the different things that snow can be, in order to give one all-encompassing term that is easily understood. In reality, we all have a different interpretation of this word, probably including different pictures in our mind of 'snow' (maybe an Alpine view, skiers, a Christmas scene, a car stuck in a drift or many other possibilities). 

    In the UK we get so little of the white stuff, that using a surface structure word serves us well most of the time. Even in the UK 'snow' can be confusing and interpreted in different ways - commuters, farmers, excited children, the emergency services and sports clubs will all interpret and react to a 5cm snow forecast in different ways.

    To uncover the generalisations, deletions and distortions that the word 'snow' has created, we would need to ask more questions and drill down into the detail of all the different possible types of snow. The deep structure is everything we know about an experience. The surface structure is everything that has been deleted, distorted and generalised by our language and representational systems (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic)."

    To read the rest of this article and find out more about Sami words for snow and some practical ideas for you, click here
    http://www.inspired2learnconference.com/Snow-Article.html