CIPD

Welcome to the first podcast for 2015! In this podcast Chief Executive Peter Cheese explains the key themes the CIPD will be focusing on in the coming year and introduces 4 important thinkers discussing what they think is significant and cutting edge for the profession right now. First we speak to Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, about the science of human behaviour and its relevance to HR issues. Next we hear from James Rule, Director of HR Solution Effectiveness at Thomson Reuters who describes a scheme called ‘partnering for performance’ that embodies the idea of aligning talent within the business with opportunity and how they have used technology to achieve this. We also hear from Arnab Banerjee, an HR Transformation and Technology expert, who describes the ways technology can optimise HR and his predictions for what will happen in this space. Finally we hear from Rita Gunther McGrath, a Professor at Columbia Business School, who outlines why she believes that businesses should stop focusing on sustaining a competitive advantage and instead work towards identifying different opportunities and working in an agile way to take advantage of these opportunities.

As the nature of organisations changes to become less insular and more networked, strategic business partnerships are on the rise and HR’s role in these partnerships is critical This podcast looks at HR’s role in business partnerships and the key considerations that should be made when approaching business partnerships. We speak to to Paul Sparrow, Director of the Centre for Performance-led HR and Professor of International Human Resource Management at Lancaster University Management School about why business partnerships are on the rise, the concept of mutual benefits and the three overaching themes that his research has identified as affecting the outcome of partnering arrangements; risk and capability, governance and sharing knowledge and learning beyond your own organisation. This podcast will be followed up by the February episode where we speak to Shell and Rolls Royce to learn about their experience of HR’s role in the success of their business partnerships.

This podcast explores the tricky business of team creation and discusses the role and contribution of evolving technology, the importance of communication patterns and shared values.

In this podcast we discuss the impact of increasing numbers of migrant workers on the UK workforce and in particular the effect that this is having on young people as they seek employment. We speak to Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD, who sets the scene for the numbers of migrant workers compared to 10 years ago. We discuss the rising number of skilled EU workers entering the UK workforce and the impact on the UK employment rate. We also speak to Alex Gennie, Senior Research Fellow, IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) and Sinead Lawrence, Senior Policy Adviser, CBI (Confederation of British Industry) about how the employment landscape is changing in general and why it is important to consider the impact of EU migrant workers as part of this changing landscape. We go on to discuss what EU migrants bring to the workforce in terms of skills and values and the effect this is having on young people in particular.

In this podcast Sandy Pepper, Professor of Management Practice at LSE, Deborah Hargreaves, Director of the High Pay Centre and Mark Childs, Managing Director of Total Reward Group, discuss the issues and questions about executive pay.

While your business is small, the founder can personally interact with the employees and convey the core vision that they have for the organisation. As the organisation expands, this is increasingly difficult, and the founder has to rely on others to ‘sell the dream’. In this episode, we speak to Alex Saint, co-founder and CEO of Secret Escapes, about the process of ‘stepping back’ as his company has expanded and opened offices abroad. We also speak to Ksenia Zheltoukhova, Research Associate at the CIPD, who discusses recent CIPD research findings , which highlight the importance of finding a way to formalise your values as your business grows. To hear how DUO have formalised their values with the help of employees from across the business, we speak to Claire Alexander, HR and Talent Development Manager at DUO. We also speak to Ben Saunders, Head of HR at IMarEST, the professional body for marine professionals, about the vision and values challenges faced by a membership body, and

In this podcast we speak to Pensions Minister Steve Webb about how the pensions landscape has been changing, with the implementation of auto-enrolment, and recent changes to the state pension and to annuities.

In this podcast we explore the work of Professor Eugene Sadler-Smith, who researches and writes on insight, intuition and creativity.

Most people have a story of a poor or badly-organised introduction to a workplace. As the beginning of an employee’s relationship with their new employer, however, getting the induction process right is really important, and an unmissable opportunity to explain what the company’s all about. On a mission to find out how to do induction differently, we spoke to three companies from a range of sectors who have all recently revolutionised their induction processes. Coffee company UCC send a ‘culture pack’ to new hires, and establish a strong connection with employees before they even begin. BBC Worldwide have worked with communication company One Fish Two Fish to develop a truly multimedia approach to induction that introduces employees to their content and brand. Meanwhile, global HR consultancy Mercer have worked with Big Picture Learning to create a visual representation of their company and strategy, which helps new starters to see where their roles fit in the context of the organisation. All of these companies have moved away from a traditional ‘broadcast’ approach, which sees lots of information transmitted to bewildered new starters, to a process that is far more two-way, and that involves interaction, discovery, and conversation. Author and academic Paul Turner discusses the importance of this, and of aligning the induction with the brand and values of the company. He also describes how companies can measure the success of a new approach. Share your induction experiences, or let us know what you thought of this episode, using the hashtag #CIPDpodcasts Paul Turner, author and academic Naomi Godwin, HR Advisor, UCC Anna Charleston, Head of HR Operations, BBC Worldwide Nicole Black, UK Market Manager, Mercer

This month we’re looking at how organisations increasingly need to formulate a strategic response to an age-diverse workforce, as working lives get longer and the younger end of the workforce also becomes a focus. This is about going beyond the legal necessities in terms of age discrimination and equal opportunities, and looking at the issue strategically. The CIPD’s Dianah Worman gives us a picture of the age profile of UK workers, and also talks through some of the results from recent CIPD research. We speak to Judy Greevy from HMRC about the organisation’s award-winning approach to age diversity, including workshops that address common misconceptions about younger and older workers. We also speak to Marcus Lee from Santander about the bank’s impressive endeavours to offer opportunities to young people, and also their focus on ‘re-careerers’ who might consider a move into banking later in life.