Mary Carmichael

An Active Workforce

Your company may have a health and wellbeing strategy in place – but is it really working? Making sure employees are happy, healthy and more engaged in their wellbeing boosts productivity – and saves...

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Dealing with substance misuse in the workplace

Office parties: a potential backdrop to alcohol-fuelled photocopier ‘incidents’, excruciating dance-floor displays and bleary-eyed mornings after. And many an HRD will be breathing a sigh of relief...

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Who is the perfect interim manager?

There’s a scene in the 1989 film, When Harry Met Sally (just before the infamous ‘I’ll have what she’s having’ moment), when Meg Ryan’s character is ordering apple pie. She wants it ‘à la mode’ and...

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Passive jobseekers are vital to organisations planning for long-term success

Does the following look familiar? “18-65-year-olds seek potential matches for mutual benefits, including career development, financial success and emotional fulfilment. Must be generous,...

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Are HR management courses preparing students to be the people strategy stars of the future?

An understanding of finance, sales, marketing, ethics, operations, planning and people, plus a smattering of entrepreneurship and the ability to walk on water – this is the job description of many of...

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Interim managers: the A-Team of the business world, or expensive temps?

Interims have been perceived as many things – consultants by another name, retirees in search of a purpose, permanent managers who are ‘between jobs’ and even destroyers of business culture and...

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Topping up learning: university or employer provided academy?

Take one change of university fees policy. Stir in technology shifts that create increasing needs for new skills. Add a dash of social media, a sprinkling of emerging business nations, dollops of...

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Learning and Development Case Study: Heinz - A training scheme full of beans

After identifying the need to shift its training from external suppliers to an internal programme, Heinz set up Learning Bitez, covering skills from Outlook to can-making.

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Learning and development case study: First Group

By using interactive drama First Group has got the message across to staff that safety is not just about implementing rules and regulations, it's about people's lives.

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L&D Case Study: Costain - Building a model project manager

Learning and development

Costain's project management academy was set up to span nine career stages. But its first step was to build up a model of what a 'good' project manager looks like.

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L&D Case Study: Southampton City Council - Training that's just the ticket

Learning and development

Southampton City Council's training programme for traffic wardens is designed to give them the confidence to defuse potential confrontations with the public.

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Learning & Development: RTC Group trains military personnel to be fit for its technical roles

The armed forces have proved a useful source of recruits and trainees for the difficult-to-fill technical roles in companies that run the complex UK rail network.

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