In many parts of the UK economy, uncertainty and gloom currently dominates. A seemingly endless sense of the dark night seems to have enveloped many and if you feel like this, you are certainly not alone.

The mark of the truly exceptional organisation is the manner in which it handles these dark nights. It is easy to think back fondly to better times and wish idly for their return. There were certainly a lot of motivated, happy teams around in the buoyant late 1990s, but that wasnt because people skills were better then than they are now. Anyone can motivate a team that is already doing well. But when times are hard, enthusiasm depends to a great extent on the behaviour of those who lead them. And this is where HR can make a real difference to the fortunes

of an organisation.

The motivation of your staff in tough times is a major test of HR effectiveness. For Virgin Atlantic, for example, the fallout from 11 September 2001 was brutally sudden. Relations with staff were good, but it was immediately clear that 1,700 jobs had to be shed quickly if the airline was to survive. The motivation of those left in their jobs was improved greatly by good HR. As Moira Nangle, organisation and development director at Virgin Atlantic, puts it: It was very important to make sure people went with dignity we knew the way we treated leavers would influence the commitment of the people staying.

When the night is so dark, the HR stars need to shine more brightly.One such constellation of stars can be found at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Group HR director Neil Roden and his team have excelled in this years Human Resources Excellence Awards. By the time our panel of esteemed judges put away their wigs and gowns, they were clear winners of our Overall HR Excellence Award, sponsored by AON Consulting. RBSs HR team was a category winner for its early, thorough and enlightened approach to the acquisition of NatWest, a bank three times its size and was also short-listed for its efforts in change management and its benefits programme. The judges put a strong emphasis on the importance of being able to demonstrate the impact of HR on good business performance. Three years on from the acquisition RBSs results look very good indeed.

Finally a reminder that the brightest stars in HR will be found at our Leaders Forum in September. This exclusive annual event is designed specifically for senior HR professionals and the limited free places available are filling rapidly.

Trevor Merriden, editor