Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Careers in HRLatest NewsThe HR profession

HR Directors Club: What will you banish to Room 101?

by Personnel Today 7 Aug 2007
by Personnel Today 7 Aug 2007

What is your pet hate about the HR profession? What demons would you banish to Room 101, never to be seen again? The troublesome line manager? The IT department? The payroll system?

The Personnel Today HR Directors Club is holding a thought leadership and networking lunch at the annual CIPD conference in Harrogate on the topic of HR Room 101. This is a chance to vent your frustrations and enjoy a light-hearted discussion with other senior HR directors over lunch. We guarantee you will leave the event feeling thoroughly exorcised.

By way of an appetiser, we asked four leading HR directors what they would put in their Room 101.

Carole Harden, HR director, HM Revenue & Customs, says: “I hate reading endless articles predicting the profession’s demise and asking HR to justify its existence. I don’t see much of that with the finance and IT departments. HR professionals must surely be the most accomplished doom and gloom merchants in business today. Why don’t we accept that most HR professionals wear many hats, such as ‘strategist’ or ‘tea and sympathy’ when necessary?”

Jill Tombs, director of HR and governance, Mencap, says: “The term ‘human resources’ is very impersonal and I think lots of staff don’t like or identify with. Also, the use of acronyms and jargon – it’s important that HR is accessible to all staff, and using buzzwords and new jargon works against this. Finally, I would banish managers who don’t talk to their staff, abdicate responsibility and blame HR when they have to address problems like absence or poor performance.”

Dina Knight, HR director, Northgate Information Solutions, says: “One of my pet hates is the theoretical HR practitioner who is completely removed from what HR should focus on – tangibly supporting business strategy. We hear about grand HR strategies that are great in theory but operate in a vacuum completely out of sync with what’s happening in the business and what the business needs. There are some in HR who talk a good story about HR strategy, but demonstrate little practical evidence of what they have done.”

Danny Kalman, HR director, Panasonic Europe, says: “Having worked in HR for more than 25 years, I get frustrated by those in the profession who claim all their decisions and policies have been successful and implemented without problems. We all make mistakes and we often face challenges when trying to introduce new processes. Be open, admit your failures and explain what steps you took to respond accordingly – as a result people will respect you more.”

Join the debate on 19 September at the Hotel du Vin, Harrogate. For more information, go to www.hrdirectorsclub.com/events

Our sponsors

July marked the start of the fifth year of the HR Directors Club. We are delighted to welcome four new sponsors on board, ADP, Grass Roots, Oracle and totaljobs.com, and are thrilled to have the continued support of Hammonds. Visit www.hrdirectorsclub.com/about/sponsors for more details.

Member benefits

The Personnel Today HR Directors Club has negotiated a number of new member benefits for this year. These include money off services from the AA, discounts on suit hire and purchase at Moss Bros, discounted membership of the Institute of Directors, and reduced rates at hundreds of hotels worldwide. Visit www.hrdirectorsclub/discounts for full details.

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
CBI research shows manufacturing job losses at lowest rate for two years
next post
Sector skills councils directory

You may also like

More than £1bn of upskilling loan money has...

26 May 2022

Monkeypox advice for employers: working from home and...

26 May 2022

Davos 2022: Upskilling workers necessary to overcome business...

26 May 2022

Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer...

26 May 2022

Personnel Today Awards 2022: Two weeks left for...

26 May 2022

Davos hears that ‘wages can rise’ without creating...

26 May 2022

Burnout afflicts finance sector despite hybrid working

26 May 2022

Sue Gray findings: Party culture during lockdowns approved...

25 May 2022

Employers lack data to make IR35 worker status...

25 May 2022

Biggest national rail strike threatens summer

25 May 2022
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+