Lisette Howlett has a unique range and breadth in HR and a track record of achievement spanning 15 years with global Human Resources in blue chip companies and 5 years in local government and the public sector. This includes extensive global HR project and content leadership and internal/external HR consulting covering UK, U.S., Switzerland, Europe, and Asia.
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Recruiter Prejudice
07 May 2009
Writing a series of blogs on interview questions has made me start to think about the validity of 'liking someone' as a selection decision. And the concern that we use our own personal filters when judging suitability. How happy are we to hire someone who talks about 'religion and politics' in an interview and we have fundamentally different views
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Recruiting via social networking sites
02 February 2009
Discussion on the benefits and ethics of using information published on social networking sites is rife. It seems to me, however, that the focus should be more on how best to use the information (and thus equip our recruiters) than to castigate the use and drive the practice underground.
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Paid Sick Leave
08 September 2008
This blog considers the options and pitfalls around paid sickness absence. Is this the natural extension of a civilised world, or an obstacle track with winners and losers?
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10 common barriers to change
10 July 2008
There are a number of barriers to successful change - both in terms of implementing it and equally, if not more importantly, sustaining it. I have jotted down my top 10 barriers and would welcome feedback as to your top barriers - either from this list or one of your own:
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Recruitment Effectiveness
14 June 2008
Recruitment Effectiveness is a topic of considerable interest to me - both as an HR professional and as a consultant. I therefore thought this extract was worth sharing.
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Training Course Attendance
03 May 2008
This article shares some suggestions on how to raise the profile of training and increase your attendance level to 95-99%. It even suggests ways to increase your training budget...
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Delegation - empowerment or abdication of responsibility
30 April 2008
This article shares some reflections on the art of delegation (take a deep breath and close your eyes and keep them closed) and the obligations (they get the credit, you get the blame). Actually I like delegating since you find out different ways to do things and get to be reminded that you are expendable ...
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Recruiting Students and Graduates
12 April 2008
Another area that I am often asked about is student and graduate recruitment. In this market the main challenges are finding, identifying and attracting the best talent.
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Managing Ambiguity
05 April 2008
I was once told by my manager that I had the greatest tolerance for ambiguity of anyone he had ever met. Whilst not knowing his circle personally precludes me from confirming or refuting this statement it is undoubtedly true that I am totally comfortable with ambiguity. This article explores the concept of managing ambiguity in the workplace.
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Essential HR Capability: compartmentalisation
28 March 2008
I have always believed that to be a really excellent HR professional you have to be able to do lots of things – understand organisations, understand people, multi-task…the list is long. For me one of the distinguishing capabilities is what I call the ability to compartmentalise. And it is this element that I have explored in further detail in this article.
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Effective Recruitment of HR
26 March 2008
Hiring an HR professional for your organisation or team can be quite a challenge. If you are in HR and hiring a team member you have the pressure that your selection will be judged by others as a measure of your professional capability. If you are in the line and hiring then you are doing so without the help of the very person you would normally turn to.
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Paradigms and Transformed Views
14 March 2008
One of the things that has always fascinated me in corporate life is just how empowering giving someone permission to act can be. It is a strange phenomenon that people impose constraints upon themselves that they ascribe to others or the environment or just accept as is. Frequently these are not articulated so are hard to spot and therefore remove. Leaders have a role to play in taking away unnecessary constraints and blockers, but people can also do this for themselves. This brief article shares some ideas on how to do this...
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Motivation
07 March 2008
I was looking out the window this morning trying to think up a sensible topic for my next blog. I have set myself a goal of three a week . This seemed to achieve a balance between my preference for longish articles, the pressures of work, and the need to provide my readers with interesting materials.
Not surprisingly the question of motivation came to mind ... thus this article talks about how to motivate oneself to get things done.
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The Hawthorne Effect
02 March 2008
I made a reference to the Hawthorne effect in a recent article I wrote and promised to cover the subject in more detail. I read about the Hawthorne experiment some time ago but it has always struck me as particularly pertinent. It essentially is a demonstration of the fact that workers are human; the the more respect and attention you give people, the more they are able to give back in return. In todays management world this is seen as 'good management practice' and underpins much team building and employee engagement investment; nevertheless it is frequently overlooked.
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Self Directed Teams
28 February 2008
I recently spotted a consulting opportunity around the introduction of self directed teams. Geographically it did not make sense for mlh global hr consulting to make a pitch but it did get me thinking about the topic. This article explores the idea and asks some questions. And even allows me to indulge a little in areas of personal interest.
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The Matrix Mindset
22 February 2008
This is a short input on the matrix mindset - a preamble to tackling the bigger issues of leading in a matrix environment and working in one
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The Matrix Organisation - Defined
20 February 2008
This is my second in the Matrix Management 'series'. It marks a milestone for me in that it is also my first blog with a picture.
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The Matrix Organisation - General Structures
18 February 2008
Changing business need, increased turbulence, multi location working and new trends have all conspired to change the way organisations structure and 'organise' themselves. This can have a very profound impact on the people within the organisations - both leaders and all employees.
In this series of explorations I propose explore the matrix organisation. This first in the series looks at different options for organisation structures as an introduction to the topic.
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Dual Career Structures - creating a community
15 February 2008
This is the third of the trio of commentaries on the Dual Career Structure and aims to provide some ideas on building a community and thus releasing energy for the benefit of both the individual and the organisation. Retaining your most expert people is only half the battle - enabling them to have an impact on the organisation as a whole (rather than
just in their specialist area of contribution) is the other half.
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Dual Career Structures - how to implement one
13 February 2008
To continue my theme of dual career structures, here are some suggestions of things to take into account when implementing one.
In due course I will add a third to the series sharing some ideas on bringing them to life.
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People and Risk - Retention
12 February 2008
This third commentary on people and risk focuses on retention.
The loss of talent is one of the main risks an organisation can face. Effective retention strategies need not cost additional money - indeed they can save money since they allow for more focused spending - and they should sit alongside effective strategies for exiting people from the organisation where this is the right thing for both or either the individual or the organistion.
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People and Risk - global terrorism
11 February 2008
In the second of the series on people and risk I have explored some ideas around loss of talent in additiion to sensible contingency planning. The focus continues to be applying the learning and thinking from contingency planning to everyday business.
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Dual Career Stuctures - why have them
11 February 2008
Establishing a dual career structure - allowing for 'experts' to progress within the organisation to positions that attract the same level of pay, benefits and status as senior management, can significantly enhance the career options within the organisation, reduce the flow into management roles of ambitious and highly skilled individuals who are not natural managers (nor really wish to be), provide a focus for innovation, creativity and ensure the development of deep expertise within the organisation.
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People and Risk - Bird Flu
09 February 2008
Given the current news coverage of Bird Flu I thought it would be interesting to kick off a series of musings on people and risk. My main proposition is that good planning and thinking about potential risks can and should impact on 'everyday' business and can and does bring benefits to the organisation that go beyond compliance or risk containment.
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Middle Management - ineffective
08 February 2008
The Hay Group have released a report which includes feedback by executives on the effectiveness of middle management. All in all a somewhat depressing read - but one wonders if it signals simply one of the many disconnects in organisations today...
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Spotting Talent
25 January 2008
How often do we spot real talent in unlikely places? And if we do spot it what do we do about this? Indeed, what can we do about this? My thoughts in this blog were stimulated by imagining the current chaos facing the BA traveller and from this meandered through thoughts of talent to those of networking.
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Are entrepreneurs born or made?
14 January 2008
Do you subscribe to the theory that certain people are born with the personality traits that make a good entrepreneur? Or do you favour the idea that Entrepreneur emerge out of a combination of entrepreneurial opportunities and people who are well positioned to take advantage of them?
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The Recruitment Market: Lots of Activity, Little Measurement
14 January 2008
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) 8 in every 10 organisations use Recruitment Agencies but only 28% of them have a structured approach to assessing their performance.
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Interesting observation on people today
28 November 2007
Stumbling across an interesting article in a US college newspaper caused me to reflect on the discomfort of people with the unusual and the loss of opportunity that this can result in
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Perception and Reality
23 August 2007
I was interested to spot a comment highlighting the difference between perception and reality. Interesting in itself but also illustrative of the challenge we have within companies and as leaders in creating a consistently positive image, with stories and myths to support it.
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Business Partnerships - a perpetual problem?
07 July 2007
This article explores the 'perpetual problem' with partnerships. Running a business as a partnership can bring considerable strengths but at the same time it requires thought and attention to get it right.
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The essence of people
27 June 2007
Thinking about the impact of different cultures, both geographic and corporate, require different behaviours let me to jot down these brief thoughts.
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CVs - when does spin become exaggeration become a lie?
22 June 2007
I noticed a story on Sky News earlier this week about telling untruths
in CVs and interestingly only the day before I added a story to our
recruitment site. This got me thinking.
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Reflections on the last month
23 May 2007
I have had this nagging awareness that my commitment to three posts a
week was sadly flagging but it was not until I posted the last blog
that I realised just how much time had passed. I am therefore kick starting my return to disciplined application of effort with a bit of a ramble on personal disappointment and the joys of working with great people.
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Recruitment Thoughts
15 May 2007
Louise Triance (http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com/) very generously offered to list my blog on her site. Given her site is all about recruitment I thought that I would focus a few articles on recruitment.
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Recruiting as a small company
09 May 2007
I am often asked about how small companies can recruit effectively and find talent. Whilst the specific quest will be different they all share at least one challenge – namely how to find really good people at a cost they can afford. This article explores some ideas in this area.
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Recruitment: Candidate Care
05 May 2007
I promised in one of my previous articles to return to the subject of candidate care. How do even the most consciencious of recruiters cope with situations where they get literally thousands of applications for a single job they have advertised? This article touches on what is a vast and complex area.
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The contents of these articles are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal or professional advice.