December 20, 2013
Google is a better source of information than HR team, say line managers
The image of the cosy Personnel Manager, part mentor part counsellor, has little in common with the reality of the modern Human Resources professional, steering the organisation through the upheavals of a prolonged recession and engaged in strategic thinking, such as big data. In many ways the professionalisation of HR, which (unlike FM) has achieved Chartered Status, is an encouraging sign that organisations understand the importance of their most important assets – the people. However, the rise of the HR professional has also created barriers between them and line managers. A lack of openness and slow response to queries from HR is driving line managers to Google the answers rather than wait for their increasingly preoccupied HR colleagues to respond. More →
December 18, 2013
Companies need to work out what they want to emerge from the BYOD pile-up
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology
Anybody who tells you they understand what is happening with BYOD, doesn’t understand what is happening with BYOD. Even by the standards of workplace technology, trying to get a firm grasp on the current state of play when it comes to the practice of Bring Your Own Device is particularly challenging. Surveys, opinions, research and case study pile up each day, crashing and bouncing off each other like the culmination of the multiple car chases in the Blues Brothers and just as difficult to untangle. The latest batch of news and views highlights exactly how disparate and conflicting the available information is. But underlying it all appears to be a single discernible and consistent point; while organisations may be less focussed on BYOD’s perceived advantages and rather more worried about the consequence of not implementing the practice, they still don’t trust it.
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