Banking on nostaligia

With a little nudge from Brussels, the government has decided to break up the state backed mega-banks into smaller retail banks, a bit like the ones we used to have in the olden days. These are going to be Boring Banks, says Alistair Darling. The ones older people will remember and younger people might have [...]

Don’t screw around at work

I have long believed that sexual relationships between work colleagues are best avoided. The unholy mess at Aviva, gleefully reported at HR With Balls, only reinforces my view.

Lulu and the Lampshades

This is one of the best things I have ever seen on YouTube.

They’re called Lulu and the Lampshades and, as far as I can tell, they are from London. They are playing at the ICA in London on 6 November, when I shall be in France.  Oh well, maybe next time…..
Hat Tip: John [...]

A word of advice for Nick Griffin

There are a number of golden rules to follow when preparing for difficult meetings.
If you are going to say something which will make you really unpopular, make sure you are prepared, know all your facts and can reel them off with confidence.
If your case is not watertight, anticipate where you are vulnerable and rehearse your evasion tactics [...]

Councils lead the way in back-office savings

It’s almost six months since the Treasury’s Operational Efficiency Programme published its recommendations. At the time, I was doubtful about the extent to which public sector organisations would be willing to cut costs by sharing back office functions but there have been some interesting developments since then.
In theory, the sharing of back office functions should be easier to [...]

Do politicians really have the stomach for localism?

A few years ago I was doing some coaching on performance management for chief executives of NHS trusts. When I put the question ‘Who is your boss?’ to the group it provoked a long discussion. The CEOs were unsure whether their bosses were the chairs of their trusts, or the CEOs of their strategic health authorities. [...]

The government – no more profligate than your average family

‘Household economics’ is a term I’ve heard used a few times recently in the debate over government debt and public spending. It’s usually used by those who argue that government debt isn’t as big a deal as some are making it out to beand that the rules that apply to governments are different from those [...]

If HR is so crap, why does it continue to exist?

One of the tricks of being a successful journalist is being able to write confidently and with the impression of authority on subjects about which you know next to nothing. Sathnam Sanghera admits that he has never dealt with anyone in an HR function but that didn’t stop him from writing an article attacking the HR [...]

Psst! Anyone want to buy an HR department?

According to the Daily Mail:
Huge swathes of the Civil Service would be privatised under radical plans being considered inside the Treasury.
Administrative functions across Whitehall, such as pay and human resources, would be hived off into new ‘public service companies’ that would then be floated in popular mass share sales.
An estimated 30,000 jobs would be shifted [...]

Shoesmith v Balls starts next week

Explaining his decision to force Haringey council’s summary dismissal of Sharon Shoesmith, Ed Balls said:
I had to make a grand gesture to appease a rabid tabloid campaign. Faced with the same circumstances, I would take the same decisions again.
Well, OK, that’s not quite what he said. His justification for sacking the children’s services director was:
to restore public [...]