Innovation is crucial to the survival and success of most modern-day companies and the Human Resources function is key to establishing a culture of innovation within any corporation - by Pam Moore.
The HR function are becoming strategic role players in promoting innovative approaches at companies. Reinvention and creative thinking in terms of novel services, new markets and organisational functioning have become crucial in modern-day business. No longer seen as merely administrative, HR departments are increasingly taking on strategic roles in the business world.
Innovation is a broad ranging term that includes not only the generation of creative ideas but bringing them to fruition and executing them. Different organisations approach innovation differently. Many mass market organisations believe that
Read more: Innovation and good HR: you can’t have one without the other
By: lvan lsraelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or via e-mail address:
Of all the confusing legal terms used in labour law the one that keeps most judges, arbitrators, employers and legal practitioners awake at night is the term “unfair”. The term is not defined in any of the statutes which leave the decision of what is “unfair” to whoever is applying their mind to each individual case where unfairness is being alleged.
Despite the controversy surrounding this concept every HR/IR practitioner needs to have a grasp of the legal meaning of “unfair” in order to avoid
BY lvanlsraelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on 0828522973 or on e-mail address:
Section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) prohibits employers from unfairly discriminating, directly or indirectly, against an employee in any employment policy or practice on numerous grounds including gender and sex. Also, section 6(3) categorises, as unfair discrimination, harassment of an employee on many grounds including sex and gender.
In view of the fact that the legislators refer separately to
Read more: Sexual Harassment, Gender Discrimination not the same
The Human Resource management field is changing fast, becoming a major strategic player for organisations and leading the way in which companies are perceived – not only by their employees – but by customers and clients as well.
By Pam Moore
Human resource management or HR is quickly developing into a cutting-edge sector within companies, responsible for spearheading crucial strategies that are imperative to the survival and success of businesses.
Long gone are the days when HR was just the place where employees went to check on pay slips or fetch leave forms. According to Dave Ulrich, Professor of Business at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, core HR strategic concerns are changing and becoming more about linking the inside of organisations to the outside.
This means HR practices can have a direct positive impact not only on a company’s employees – but also on their customers and clients. Putting people and brand at the core of a company’s strategy follows the wisdom of some very successful leaders. Warren Buffet, for example believes that assessing the intangibles – company brand and competent leadership – prior to assessing
Amanda walked out of the department meeting fighting back the tears. Her department had, once again been addressed by the MD and told that there was a complete lack of leadership in the department. As the HR Manager in a medium sized organization that had been her home for over 8 years, she was strangely feeling increasingly isolated and targeted- she was being told in one-on-one sessions with the MD (who she had been an integral part of the hiring of as an Operations Manager, General Manager delegate some 4 years back) that she needed his assistance and support in order to be successful but who in general department meetings and in meetings with other managers was highly critical of her. In fact it was starting to feel very deliberate but surely this was not the case? She had seen him behave similarly towards one or two of the other senior managers in the organization, but he had assured her that they were “deserving” of this. She and the MD had enjoyed a good working relationship up until a few months back. Whatever the cause, Amanda was losing confidence in herself and her competence. She was beginning to second guess herself and getting to work in the morning was becoming an emotional event in itself. But she loved the Company and her job. She would just have to try harder.
Meet the organizational psychopath (OP):
What is psychopathy? In psychiatry and clinical psychology, it is currently defined as a condition characterized by lack of empathy or conscience, poor impulse control or manipulative behaviours.
For most of us, the word “psychopath” itself seems like a loaded term, and overwhelmingly shocking to use for someone who might be our boss or a colleague in the next cubicle at work. Other terms used in the organizational context are, “industrial psychopaths”, “organizational psychopaths” or “corporate psychopaths”
In common usage, the term psychopathy probably is more correctly thought of as part of a spectrum: the milder end being populated by persons with narcissism, and the more severe end being populated by mass murders and people who lie to start wars.
On the broad continuum between the ethical everyman and the predatory killer, there's
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