CIPD

This podcast explores the relationship between productivity and engagement, discussing factors that contribute to optimal performance and the challenges organizations face in aligning them. It emphasizes the importance of tailored strategies, challenging work, and employee involvement. Additionally, it delves into the significance of smooth processes, high-performing teams, and factors influencing engagement levels such as skill development and work-life balance.

There’s not a week that goes by where the spotlight isn't being shone on corporate governance, from the collapse of Carillion to sexual harassment at work and the latest President’s Club scandal. In the wake of the 25-year anniversary of the Cadbury’s Corporate Governance Code the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a new consultation on the code. In this episode we ask what’s gone wrong with corporate governance in the UK? How do we create a better system for the future? And what opportunities do we have now to encourage Board practice to be more progressive and ethical in nature – from a human capital governance model, to a new remuneration committee.

In the second part of our cyber security double-bill, we take a closer look at an area of increasing concern: recruitment fraud. Between September 2015 and September 2016 over 1200 instances of recruitment scams were identified, costing victims an estimated £500,000. With individuals losing out, and organisations and the recruitment industry facing increasing reputational damage, we discuss the factors contributing to the rise in these cases. We’ll hear from experts at SaferJobs, Cifas and CIPD on what to look out for and the steps businesses and HR professionals can take to protect themselves and others against recruitment fraud.

The past twelve months have seen enormous changes in the social, political and economic landscapes: new policies and changing market conditions; new ways of working and changing employer/employee relationships; and changing values and demands for accountability and ethical practice. With businesses changing seemingly faster than ever before, the role of HR and L&D professionals has never been more important. In this episode we explore what top HR, L&D and business experts see as the biggest challenges and opportunities facing organisations and people professionals in 2018. We look at leadership, collaboration, technology and organisational agility and how HR and L&D roles in each of these areas contributes to making businesses more productive and ultimately more successful.

One of the biggest challenges for any organisation is managing risk and for HR professionals, their people are at the heart of creating a secure organisation. With up to 96% of cyber security breaches owing to human, rather than technological error, it is imperative that an organisation’s people, its management and its processes are well prepared. In the first of two episodes we look at the cyber security risks facing organisations today – a threat which the UK Government estimates cost £27 billion annually. We’ll hear from representatives from CIPD, Safer Jobs, the Corsham Institute, Cyber Insider and Cifas, the UK’s largest cross-sector fraud sharing database. We’ll be discussing the key role HR professionals play in managing people risk and the steps they can take to ensure their people processes are contributing to maintaining a secure organisation.

Over the past year the issue of performance management has been much debated, largely owing to several high-profile organisations publically abolishing their annual appraisals in favour of more regular systems of feedback. In this episode we’ll be looking at some of the latest trends in performance management from appraisals and smart objectives to performance ratings and employee involvement. We’ll be talking to Jonny Gifford from CIPD, about what the evidence has shown in the field of performance management, James Brook from Strengths Partnership about a strengths-based approach, and Ali Mohammed from Great Ormond Street Hospital about the practicalities of embedding good performance management practice across an organisation.

Businesses today are experiencing growing levels of distrust and disillusionment both internally and externally. Fuelled by high-profile stories of fraud and unethical behaviour from Volkwagen and Amazon to BHS and SportsDirect, customers, employees and investors are demanding greater transparency and stronger moral leadership from the organisations with which they do business. But is ethical behaviour a personal choice or a business imperative? New research from CIPD suggests that leaders who display strong moral character are likely to inspire greater motivation, productivity and commitment. In this episode we talk to three HR and business leaders about the role HR plays in developing strong ethical leadership in themselves and their employees.

Over the past twelve months performance management practices have come under close scrutiny with some high-profile organisations including Deloitte and Accenture scrapping their annual performance reviews, instead implementing a more fluid system of ongoing, timely feedback. To transition to this type of new system successfully, however, organisations must ensure that their people are equipped to give and receive more regular feedback and, crucially, that their culture is one in which coaching, mentoring and other forms of continuous feedback can thrive. In this episode we talk to Chris Britton and Nebel Crowhurst from River Island and Rhonda Howarth Nestle about why coaching is an integral part of performance management in their organisations. They offer practical advice on developing coaching capabilities and embedding them into the business. We also explore the psychology of coaching wit ex England cricketer and founder of Sporting Edge, Jeremy Snape.

In April this year the new Apprenticeship Levy came into effect, which means for the first time business with pay bills of over 3 million have to contribute to apprenticeships. It is expected that the Levy will encourage more employers to introduce apprenticeships or expand their existing programmes. In this episode we talk to employers, apprentices and apprenticeship providers to explore what the new world of apprenticeships could look like. What implications will the levy have for businesses and what opportunities could it provide potential candidates? With an increasing number of organisations offering apprenticeships, how can businesses stand out from the crowd? And could apprenticeship extend beyond the traditional 16-25 demographic? Also in this month's podcast, cast your minds back to Ksenia Zheltoukhova and her partner Ryan McKelvey, who were among the mere 7,500 who in the past year decided to take advantage of shared parental leave, a legislation introduced in April 2015 allowing both parents to share a block of fifty two weeks leave after the birth of a child. This month, in their final conversation with us, Ryan and Ksenia sum up the experience after a year full of surprises...

In his best-selling book, The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge outlines the concept of the ‘learning organisation’. These organisations would be agile, innovative and highly competitive. They would emphasise continual learning and work from a shared vision for all employees. Senge was certainly ahead of his time and 27 years after publication, organisations are still seeking (and often struggling) to embody these ideas. In this episode we discuss new research from Towards Maturity into the New Learning Organisation, and we chat to learning professionals from Virgin Media, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Heart Foundation to find what becoming a learning organisation has meant for them and what steps they’ve taken to put learning at the heart of their business.