HC Global

Some weeks ago I used the title to suggest that things could get a little ugly over the expansion of Heathrow.

However, I am now resigned to the fact that the march in Dublin at the weekend and various similar civil skirmishes around the world is just a foretaste of what is to come sadly in the UK and it is going to get ugly - of course we had a taster over the recent migrant labour issue which actually was a non-issue legally but that didn't suppress the feeling of anger nestling just below the surface and so effectively whipped up by the Unions.

As denial slowly turns to anger, a proportion of the people up and down the country are going to feel a growing inequity with regard to their circumstances. In fact coincidentally, there is a report this morning on this issue - see 'Police fear UK summer of rage' as an example.

Also stories like the 'expense issue' highlighted by Cabinet ministers such as Jacqui Smith (aka as 'taking the p****) will just add flame to the fire, as will the new revelations about the MEP gravy train ('How to make a million in five years') providing a 'stick' for any in Europe who want to sow discord or just feel aggrieved and rightly so.

Talent in the UK Government is sadly lacking which must be obvious even to those most myopic amongst us. There is a dearth of leadership and moral compass.

Human capital can be wonderfully creative and innovative, the most hearty resilient, the most loyal and productive, the most willing and the most successful at teamwork.

The flipside of human capital is the 'selfish, egotistical, greedy, 'in denial', overly-reliant, comfortable (against change), 'don't rock the boat' mentality - THE DARK SIDE. We've seen plenty of that from all sides in recent weeks.

And thus expect growing insurrection as people take to the streets whether for justifiable or other means.

An unfortunate growing of private vs public sector, haves vs have-nots, the unfunded vs the funded, middle/working class vs elite governing amongst others, etc. It's not good. There's also some real questions about the stability of the EU about to be asked.  We should never have got here......

And as a growing black hole emerges in taxation expect more to go underground as the black economy grows. The 'banker bonus issue' is really just a magician's misdirection. It's been interesting to read The Guardian's series on big companies legally avoiding taxation to a few billion.

I would have preferred them to have eagerly spent the same investigative time on where the £600 odd billion goes each year from the public coffers...........it's where the answer lies....

What the Stanford case message provides in human capital terms

On the subject of fakery. Ponzi schemes and hyper-egos, the current Stanford case is illuminating for HR as much as others:

Yet again, we see that 'warning signs' were ignored. One interesting insight was the now infamous meeting of Allen Stanford and the ECB at Lord's cricket ground.
For those of you who haven't followed this story Stanford last year touched down in a helicopter at Lords cricket ground in a huge fanfare touting the $20 million jackpot for the 'new cricket era'.

It turns out that the helicopter bearing the Stanford name was not owned but leased on an hourly basis. The gold Stanford logo had been applied by the leasing company. And the helicopter was only in flight for about 5 minutes.

Nor was there $20 million actually in the 'chest' that got so much media attention. It certainly fooled many.......

Truly style over substance which reminds me of a number of HR suppliers who we occasionally come up against, and come to think of it a few HR Directors and academics as well. I do hope the same fate awaits.

The fact that a staid governing body like the ECB got hoodwinked 'hook, line and sinker' also reminds me of another governing body closer to home -do you recognise it?

Bogus training

No, I don't mean generally(!) but actually the very sad fact of exploiting the unemployed or the fear of unemployment. A good article in yesterday's Observer on this topic.

Of course the Government is currently renegotiating hundreds of millions of pounds with suppliers in getting unemployed back to work. Am I the only one who questions this?

Rewarding middlemen (brokers if you like) to push into the market with various targets reeks of 'wasted money' or worse 'a playground for the unscrupulous or even the scrupulous to waste taxpayers money and pocket profits'.

Why not just give growing businesses (like ours, for example) a contract to take a number of people on (subject to various clauses) and cut out the middleman entirely - a market pull approach instead?

Why indeed?

That madman Colonel Gadaffi and the lesson he brings

I have known Colonel Gadaffi for over 30 years (not personally you understand).

I've always thought that he was several drills short of an oil platform. But here, now the man seems to be talking a lot of sense (it could be a ruse but so what?)

'CG' is advocating a dismantling of Government, ending corruption and giving it back to the people. He's quoted as saying "The administration has failed and the state economy has failed. Enough is enough'.

Gadaffi for Uk Prime Minister anybody? or failing that the EU presidency on a permanent basis?