Purpose – This paper aims to examine the factors that helped Marriott Hotels in the UK to 14th place in this year's Sunday Times list of the top 20 big companies to work for. Design/methodology/approach – Focuses on employee relations at Marriott in the UK, the Spirit to Serve program and...

Purpose – This paper aims to describe how training and coaching by Kepner‐Tregoe helped to change behaviors among customer‐support employees at Siemens Automation & Drives. Design/methodology/approach – Describes, briefly, the focus of the “Resolve” workshop, but concentrates on the...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine two management‐development programs at EDF Energy – the 4Is program for directors and senior and middle managers, and Turning up the Volts, for team managers in the customers' branch retention and acquisition department. Design/methodology/approach –...

Purpose – This paper aims to advance the view that employees should be allowed to evaluate their supervisors, with a review of these evaluations by the next level of management. Design/methodology/approach – Draws on reflections from a workshop in which members of the workforce shared their...

Purpose – The article sheds light on the phenomenon of bullying in the workplace and the need to create truly assertive and inclusive organizations in which business leaders and employees embrace diversity in all they do. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a framework of...

Purpose – The paper examines why leadership development needs to pay more attention to business acumen. Design/methodology/approach – The article reveals why traditional leadership‐development approaches, which rely on personality and competency assessments as the scientific core of their...

Purpose – The paper focuses on ways of tackling low staff morale in a large public‐sector organization. Design/methodology/approach – The author argues that the quality of leadership and the people‐management skills of line managers affect employee morale, yet people can feel positive...

Purpose – The paper examines the effect that weak enforcement of property rights has on the HR practices of firms operating in a hostile business environment. Design/methodology/approach – Through a case study of a workers' co‐operative named Cofudeco, supplying a farm named Hacienda...

Purpose – The paper describes how Dial‐a‐Cab, the largest supplier of licensed taxis in central London, has introduced a program to provide Level 2 National Vocational Qualifications to contact‐centre staff. Design/methodology approach – The paper details the reasons for the program,...

Purpose – The paper shows how two banks – Bank of Credit and Investments (BCI) and ABN Amro – have taken the paternalism widespread in Latin America into account in designing their HR policies and management practices. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reveals, through case studies...