Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsHR strategy

Pace of change gives HR a chance to steer organisations

by Louisa Peacock 3 Jun 2008
by Louisa Peacock 3 Jun 2008

EXCLUSIVE

Senior HR figures have called on the profession to use the frantic pace of change in today’s workplaces to take control of their organisations’ futures.

HR leaders at communications giant Vodafone, postal services provider Royal Mail, consumer goods firm Unilever and publishing group Taylor and Francis sounded a rallying call to the profession.

Recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 81% of HR functions alone have been restructured in the past five years.

And the Chartered Management Institute predicted that many organisations would undergo further radical structural changes in the next 10 years.

Talking exclusively to Personnel Today Mike Taylor, director of HR transformation and services at Vodafone, said that senior practitioners should use this change as an opportunity to shape their organisations’ agendas.

“Our businesses are changing and evolving really rapidly. HR should be right at the forefront of change, along with the business leaders, making sure they’re helping their businesses evolve for the future,” he said.

To do this, Royal Mail director of people and organisational development services Dermot Toberty stressed that HR must clearly define what it can add to the business.

“When we’re talking the language of ‘value-add’, is it about cost reduction, or getting processes slicker, faster or cheaper?” he asked.

“Think about what you’re producing, think about it like you’re in a manufacturing environment: are those interventions genuinely driving the company forward?”

Toberty also called for simple language from HR professionals. “Try and strip away the jargon and work with line managers to understand what the common agenda is about the things they would like to see in their organisations.”

Earlier this year consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that 89% of chief executives rated the people agenda as their main concern – but just 43% thought their HR teams were equipped to deal with the challenge.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Gareth Williams, HR director at Talyor and Francis, said: “There is cynicism from the top as to what HR is really there to do. But this presents HR with a chance to strengthen its leadership and focus on the outputs we deliver.”

Unilever HR business partner Theresa Winters agreed. “It’s about balancing the priorities you have and balancing your business’s change with central HR, and the day-to-day things that pop up,” she said.

Louisa Peacock

previous post
External influences: need to know
next post
Union quest for workers’ rights continues despite raft of legislation

You may also like

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

Ryanair demands flight attendants pay back salary increase

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

UK and EU agree to collaborate on ‘youth...

19 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...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 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+