This
week’s letters
First
HR posts are too hard to find
With
regard to the letter from Paula Laite regarding how difficult it is to get a
job in HR (Letters, 13 February) I would like to add my voice to her comments.
As
someone who has completed a post-graduate diploma in HR management and has
graduate membership of the CIPD, I have found it it impossible to get my first
position in HR. Recruiters appear to have the blinkered view that applicants
must have “XYZ years’ experience”.
Why
is a profession that should be encouraging opportunities for new staff failing
to give people the chance to prove themselves?
There
appears to be a lack of first-level HR jobs, with hardly any being advertised.
I would like to see the industry and the CIPD make an effort to help new people
into the industry at the ground level and then train them for the future, there
is a lot of talent out here, don’t let it go to waste.
On
another note, can anyone let me know why, after paying my large fees to the
CIPD for the past four to five years and spending two years studying for my
postgraduate diploma, when the IPD changed to the CIPD they removed my right to
use any designatory letters after my name.
This
was one way of showing I had achieved something after my hard work, and it
seems very unfair to me.
David
J Bryden, Edinburgh
Construction
firms have stereotypes
It
was interesting to read Steve Rotherman’s letter (6 February) regarding the
“Respect for People” article (5 December 2000) which concerned the image of the
UK construction industry.
Mr
Rotherman appears to have been most upset by Personnel Today’s coverage when he
suggests that the article contains ‘gross generalisations of site culture.’
But
he should not be so critical of your article as we do have operatives (and
managers) in construction who are sexist, racist and ageist and thus can be
seen to reinforce construction’s stereotypical macho culture.
Indeed,
a look at the top three selling weekly journals for the construction industry
indicates a ‘healthy’ attitude to reporting on construction problems. I think
Personnel Today provided an accurate account of the UK construction industry.
Mike
Murray, lecturer in construction management, Glasgow
Do
not listen to the ‘horse whispering’
Reading
through the Letters page (23 January), I saw replies to Personnel Today’s
original article on “horse whispering”. Robert Clarke even ventured to state
that MBS might have “hit on the next big idea in HR management”.
Why
is it that in the HR press there are continuing debates on how to raise the
profile of HR and ensure that HR professionals are seen as equals of directors
in other disciplines, when ideas like “horse whispering” are given an ounce of
credibility?
Pseudo,
voodoo techniques may be popular with the HR press but I would not feel
comfortable taking this idea to the board of directors of a major company.
If
the HR press and HR professionals want to raise the profile and credibility of
the HR profession in the wider interests of all staff, in all organisations,
they should leave these pathetic ideas well alone.
Simon
Derry, consultant, via e-mail
Corus
should have told its staff first
I
was very disappointed to read that Corus believed its communication to its
workforce in relation to the redundancies had been strategically planned.
My
husband has worked at Llanwern steel plant in Newport for almost 13 years and
the first communication from management he received was on 6 February – well
after the job losses had been reported by the media on 1 February.
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Your
article gave the impression that Corus had done everything possible. What they
should have done was inform the workforce before the media – this would have
helped everyone to get through a very difficult time.
Nichola
Morden-Tew, personnel adviser, Harlow Pressings
