The HR profession stands ready and willing to help prime minister Gordon Brown fight a successful election campaign, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has insisted.
Research and policy director Linda Holbeche told Personnel Today that HR could help Brown deal with the employment issues that could be crucial for a second term.
Holbeche was speaking in Bournemouth after Brown made his inaugural Labour Party conference speech as prime minister.
Widely seen as a pre-election broadcast, Brown’s speech focused on housing, crime and the NHS.
“There was a noticeable absence in Brown’s speech of the issues of productivity and performance management across the UK,” said Holbeche.
She said the government seemed to have a misguided belief that all was well in the UK’s workplaces.
“But [workplaces] are not fast enough, not flexible enough, don’t manage people well – these are issues that the government should take seriously,” Holbeche said.
“Gordon Brown could do with using the asset that is the HR community. The profession is the glue that helps organisations develop. If the prime minister is not turning to HR then it is a poor show,” she added.
