The public sector is better on balance

As you return from your summer break, your work-life balance may be sliding fast towards the work side of the equation. In this issue Human Resources and Accor Services reveal the results of a detailed survey on this ever-important issue. And, according to replies from more than 200 HR professionals, you are one of a rare breed. Work does not appear to spill over too much into your evenings or weekends and few of you work especially long hours. Does this mean the HR function leads the way or is it a shameful thing for HR people, generally responsible for work-life policies, to admit they too have a problem? Only you can answer that.

But how seriously do organisation chiefs take this issue? Do they pay only lip service or are they devising hard policies to make work-life a serious part of their attraction and retention strategies? This question was posed in a variety of ways to several hundred HR professionals in the private and public sectors. The results suggest that the public sector leads the way. Respondents stress that work-life policies help to retain staff. The private sector is less likely to see it that way. The former uses flexible working methods like job sharing again less popular in the latter. This could reflect the fact that it is much tougher to retain people in the public sector and that financial rewards cannot be used to the same extent as the private sector. So, if you are looking for well-thought out work-life strategies, go to your local school or hospital.

There are tough HR jobs and then there are really tough HR jobs. Many would agree that Ann Burfutt, as HR director at London Underground, has had one of the hardest HR briefs around. Now, after eight years, she is leaving to write childrens stories and run a country hotel a long way from the round of trade union talks and the organisational upheaval she experienced at London Underground. Debbie Meech, Freeserves director of talent management, has also had a tough brief: helping the small internet service provider go from 34 staff to over 300 in two years. Now she faces the task of maintaining its sparky, start-up culture while establishing processes and controls as the young company moves into a new growth phase.

Are you ready for the old generation? Now that the average lifespan has increased, company pension schemes need to be refashioned. In this at least BT seems to be ahead of the game. Leadership remains a key interest among our readers and historian Andrew Roberts contrasts the styles of Napoleon and Wellington.

From this month Human Resources magazine goes online at www.humanresourcesmagazine.com. It aims to provide instant access to our archive of articles, current information about suppliers in the HR market, the hottest jobs and next years HR excellence awards.

Morice Mendoza

Editor