Editors Blog

Do you think your HR director is one of the best in the business? Or are you an HR director worthy of greater recognition?

We're calling for more entries into Personnel Today's 2008 HR Director of the Year Award.

This award is for an individual HR director who can demonstrate outstanding leadership. Entries should explain the contribution the HR director has made both to their own team and to the organisation as a whole.

Candidates must demonstrate that they have developed an effective HR team and present evidence of their contribution to the business. Past winners have submitted testimonials from across the organisation and its customer base to back up their entries.

Shortlisted individuals get invited to the glitzy awards ceremony in November and the chance of picking up the top prize in front of 1,300 guests. Fame and success awaits!

Visit www.personneltodayawards.com for more details and to enter.

A new website that allows employees to rank their workplace was launched this week.

Work Rewired is designed to give a heads up for prospective employees interested at working in certain companies, using feedback and written reviews

Anonymous entries are permitted, which may allow for the website to be abused.

The wait is over. We've completed our quest to identify the people making the biggest impact in HR and business and it's time to reveal our Top 40 Power Players 2008. This is Personnel Today's ranking of the most influential practitioners in HR today.

If you're not aware of the people featured in this year's list, then you need update your contact book and start networking. Time to get to know them, perhaps?

So how did we identify our Power Players? Over the past few months the Personnel Today editorial team has debated and argued the list and nominations and voted on the finalists.

With valued input from our editorial advisory board members - a range of ­academics, senior HR directors and consultants - and importantly you, our readers, we have ranked the nominated individuals in order of their industry influence and impact throughout 2008.

The antics of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross were enough for many papers to shift the economic crisis off the front page last week, but for the HR community the challenges persist.

Talking to senior HR professionals at Personnel Today's HR Directors Club event in Oxford last week, it is evident they are battening down the hatches for a full-blown recession. That is, apart from the HR director at one leading tea manufacturer. Tea is, apparently, the ultimate recession-proof product, with people likely to drink more cuppas as they tighten their belts and make cutbacks elsewhere.

For those of you currently tasting something a bit more bitter than tea, this week's Personnel Today has articles examining the real nitty-gritty of HR's job.

The race for the White House has been an intriguing study of leadership, with every action and every word judged and analysed for its meaning.

Barack Obama has been described as a leader with vision, who ignites passion, brings people together and wins hearts and minds.

A survey conducted by the leadership network Leaders in London found that out of 1,024 managers nationwide, 85% backed Obama over his rival John McCain. There's no doubt that Obama has the passion and ability to engage an audience, but being visionary is as much a desirable leadership trait as it is risky.

A strange title for an article, but one the BBC News Magazine website is running with to coincide with the release of the new film The Damned United, which tells the story of Brian Clough's ill-fated 44 days in charge of Leeds United FC in 1974.

The piece asks whether Clough's legendary managerial qualities (he won two European Cups with the unfancied Nottingham Forest) could transfer to the modern workplace.

This is a man who reportedly said to the Leeds players on his first day: "As far as I'm concerned you can throw all those medals you've won in the bin, because you won them all by cheating." What a way to introduce yourself as the new boss!

Clough would no doubt find himself hauled before HR on a weekly basis, but the article talks in broad terms about vision, talent management, inspiration and pastoral care - but what is perhaps more interesting are the comments posted at the end of the piece by readers.

One says: "I don't think Clough would fit into the modern workplace one iota. He'd be too brash, would upset the women with his alpha male views, and he could never hack the bureaucracy of an organisation."

That may be true, but managers for whom staff would give their all and put in maximum effort are in short supply. A few Cloughies across UK Plc at the moment wouldn't go amiss.

Sir Clive Woodward opened this year's Human Resources Forum on board the Oriana with his keynote speech, "Talent alone is not enough".

Having always been a little sceptical of the numerous speakers on the circuit who try to point out parallels in sport and business success, I wasn't expecting too much from the coach who successfully led England to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

I was also a little doubtful following Sir Clive's attempted application of this sporting success into other arenas, namely at Southampton FC - that's "soccer" to make the distinction clear - and in his current role as elite performance director for the British Olympic Association.

But I was impressed. His hour-long talk followed by a candid Q&A was a simple step by step guide to success in any field, sport, business or anything else.

Following the loss of four of the most senior women in British politics this week, it naturally follows that people are starting to wonder whether Gordon Brown's new government will continue to represent women.

Equality campaign group the Fawcett Society has already voiced concerns that the prime minister's cabinet re-shuffle won't lead to many top jobs for females.

Over the past couple of days, Jacqui Smith (now ex-home secretary), Hazel Blears (now former communnities secretary), and 'Blair Babes' Beverly Hughes (now the ex-children's minister) and Patricia Hewitt (a former health secretary) all quit the government for a variety of reasons from being caught up in the expenses scandal to wanting to spend more time with their families.

Details of the re-shuffle have been emerging all day, but it is not yet clear how many women will make up the final cabinet team.

Fawcett said it was watching closely to ensure that women were represented in Brown's new government 'of all the talents'.

Director Katherine Rake said: "Having lost two senior women from cabinet, eyes are on Brown today to ensure that he does not backslide on women's representation. We await with anticipation the full results of the reshuffle to find out what the balance will look like."

Before leaving office Blair had eight women in his cabinet of 23, making it 35% women.