Firefighters spend less than 10 percent of their working time on emergencies. Yet the way they spend the other 90 percent of their working time directly influences how they respond to emergencies. Good leadership skills can help firefighters to make the most of the time they spend on their more...

Giving junior team members a significant role in hiring decisions and encouraging employee feedback on customer‐comment forms are just two of the unconventional human‐resource management practices that have helped to make Pret A Manger one of the most admired brands in Britain. McDonald’s...

Faced with declining revenues and significant business losses in the early 1990s, IBM reviewed its products, services, infrastructure, operations and functions. As part of this process, HR processes, policies and practices were either reformed or eliminated. Bob Gonzales, vice‐president of HR...

Better communications between managers and their employees are helping two US companies – Dow Chemical and Texas Commerce Bank – to manage their diverse workforces. Dow Chemical reports greater empowerment and improved attitudes to work following adoption of a new process for managing...

A US supplier of networking information technology (IT) has only 5 percent annual turnover of IT staff, compared with an industry average of 15 percent. SoftwareCo’s success in attracting, developing and retaining these key employees is based on understanding that they need a challenging and...

Christopher Garnett, chief executive of the UK’s Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), takes a hands‐on approach to customer service. He could sit back and enjoy red‐carpet treatment aboard his own trains, but he is more likely to be found handing out newspapers to passengers and delivering...

Despite recording more than $1 billion in annual sales world‐wide, LL Bean faces the pressures of all major retailers – competition, fluctuating sales, overcapacity in the sector and potential squeezes on margins. The business is one of the world’s best‐known brands in outdoor sports and...

For UK bank Barclays, equality and diversity best practice is not only the right thing to do, it delivers innovation, insight and access to new resources. The bank’s four‐year objectives are to double the number of women in the most senior positions, from 11 percent to 22 percent, and to...

A UK accountancy firm which is “founded on its people and earns its licence to operate through them” allows any of its employees to take half a day each month in work time for regular volunteering. More than 2,000 employees, from all levels of seniority, take part in KPMG’s Community...

Lawyers, coming from a culture where admitting lack of knowledge and making necessary “mistakes” are not seen as correct behavior, may not be the easiest group of people to train. In general terms, they may not always respect people from professional disciplines other than their own. They...