Tvarita Consulting Blog

UK: New HR Head for the BBC

The BBC has hired a new HR chief to replace Stephen Kelly.

Lucy Adams, the current HR director at law firm Eversheds, will join the broadcasting giant this June to take up the post of director, BBC people, in the corporation's HR division.In her new position, Adams will be responsible for the full range of HR functions including training and development, resourcing, employee relations, reward, safety, organisation design and change management. She will lead a team of 475 HR, training and safety professionals.

The role includes responsibility for the BBC's outsourced HR services, and will see Adams become a member of the BBC executive board.

Adams said: "The BBC is a unique organisation. Its staff create output and services which are hugely valued by countless millions across the world. It's a privilege to join the BBC and make a contribution in the challenging climate ahead."

Adams has been at Eversheds since April 2008.

Prior to this she spent nine years at facilities management group Serco, starting as change director in the rail division prior to becoming the group HR director in 2004.

Source: Personneltoday.com

India: The Pink Slip Phenomenon Spreads

Ahmedabad: It is not just metros but even the commercial capital of Gujarat is reeling under slowdown, if the retrenchment figures are anything to go by. After Mumbai and Delhi, retrenchment is believed to be highest in Ahmedabad, according to a recent survey titled 'Changing Expectations at Workplace' done by TeamLease Services Private Limited.

Of the total 350 respondents picked up by TeamLease, around 30 were from Ahmedabad. The survey respondents included both employees and HR personnel across the cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Also, the employee respondents’ profile ranged between the age group 22–45 years across the departments of sales, marketing, business development, operations, finance, admin/HR and systems (IT). While 52 per cent of the respondents in Mumbai said they were retrenched due to slowdown, Delhi and Ahmedabad saw 43 per cent seconding it. Moreover, retrenchment was relatively higher in Sales, Marketing, Business Development and Operations domains. IT, Finance & HR/Admin provide a supportive function which is an enabler to business, hence the effect felt in these functions is relatively lower.

Source: Business Standard

US: HR Pros Want Executive Pay to be Limited Further

There are more HR professionals who say that President Barack Obama's limits on executive pay for firms receiving bailout money don't go far enough than those who say the restrictions are on target, according to a poll on Compensation.BLR.com and HR.BLR.com.

In early February, President Obama and the Treasury Department issued a set of guidelines on executive pay for financial institutions that are receiving government assistance to address the current financial crisis. 

The guidelines put limits on executive compensation at banks receiving "exceptional assistance" from the federal government. If banks fall under the exceptional assistance standard, they must limit senior executives to $500,000 in total annual compensation (except for restricted stock).

When HR professionals were asked what they thought about the limits,  45 percent said they don't go far enough, compared with 43 percent who said the limits are fair and sensible. Just 12 percent of respondents said they thought the limits were too strict.

More than 500 HR professionals responded to the poll.

Two weeks before the release of the new guidelines, Obama criticized Wall Street firms for the size of the bonuses they paid out in 2008 despite the flagging stock market. He called the size of the bonuses the “height of irresponsibility” and “shameful.”

In January, the New York Comptroller reported that that the bonus pool paid by Wall Street to its employees in New York City totaled $18.4 billion in 2008. The size of the bonus pool was the sixth largest on record, but it was also a decline of 44 percent from the bonus pool in 2007.

On February 17, Obama signed legislation that includes a provision that prohibits participants in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)--which allows the federal government to purchase assets and equity from financial institutions in order to strengthen the sector--from giving executives “golden parachutes” or paying any bonus, retention award, or incentive compensation during the period in which they have TARP obligations outstanding. 

Source: Hr.blr.com

UK: Restructuring of HR Depts on the Cards

A quarter of HR departments increased their headcount in 2008 and 31% are expecting to restructure this year. A survey of senior HR professionals by law firm Speechly Bircham and King's College London, shows more than half (58%) of the HR professionals surveyed said engagement was the biggest challenge for them this year, followed by succession planning (44%), talent management (38%), managing redundancies (35%) and managing growth and expansion (31%). And although 42% of companies reported redundancies in 2008, 28% of HR staff are still having to deal with staff shortages due to lack of qualifications and skills. 

Almost three out of 10 respondents (29%) reported an increase in employee grievances last year and 23% expect this to increase further in 2009 - and 11% think there will be an increase in grievances associated with pay and conditions. Richard Martin, employment partner at Speechly Bircham, said: " There seems to be a real concern about grievances escalating considerably at a time when employee engagement is cited as a major concern. With the abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedures as of April 2009, employers will have to continue to devote energy and attention to their internal dispute resolution processes. Managers must realise aggressive management is not always the way to drive efficiencies across a business."

Source: www.hrmagazine.co.uk

US: Employees Allowed to Watch Obama Inauguration

According to the website HR.BLR.com, most employers allowed their workers to watch the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama on television or over the internet, according to a survey by Compensation.BLR.com and HR.BLR.com. 

In fact, more than half of them provided employees with a broadcast of the historical event. When asked “Did you allow employees to watch the Presidential Inauguration?,” over two-thirds of employers responded “Yes”: 57 percent responded “Yes, we provided a broadcast for employee viewing” and an additional 17 percent responded “Yes, we looked the other way if they watched on internet.” Only 28 percent of employers responded “No, if they wanted to watch they had to take time off.” 

It’s estimated that over 1 million people were in attendance in Washington, D.C. on January 20 to witness the inauguration in person. Another estimated 37.8 million viewers watched the inauguration on television—not including those who watched the event streamed over the internet. 

Meanwhile, CNN reported that it generated an all-time record 21 million online video streams on the day of the inauguration. 

The HR.BLR.com/Compensation.BLR.com poll included 326 respondents.

Kraft Signs HR Business Process Outsourcing Deal With IBM

Kraft Foods has signed a multiyear HR business process outsourcing agreement with IBM, marking the first such deal to be announced in several months.

Under the terms of the agreement, IBM will take over workforce administration, payroll, compensation, recruiting, learning and talent management for the Northfield, Illinois-based food company.

 Kraft has 103,000 employees in 180 locations worldwide.

Source: Workforce Management