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The politicians negotiating a power sharing deal find themselves in an unfamiliar situation. One of (many) problems with our political situation is its confrontational nature. It is even reinforced by the layout of the House of Commons with government and opposition facing each other down across a gangway. But in order to form a government today, politicians are obliged to reach a consensus. There is much that they can learn from the world of work in order to do this. Read the rest of this entry »

In Hilary Mantel’s excellent book Wolf Hall she describes how Henry VIII’s lawyer agrees to take in his friends’ son as an apprentice. At the age of seven the boy is bundled off from his rural family home to live with his new Master in the heart of bustling London. He spends the rest of his life in ennobled society, where he eventually rises to power in the King’s court and for a while serves as the gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots. Read the rest of this entry »

As the election campaign draws to a close a small, largely unheard-of bunch of people will be joining the ranks of the unemployed. I’m not talking about defeated MPs. I am referring to the campaign staff that each party takes on some months before the election. They include researchers, communicators, administrators and event managers. They are all on short term contracts. Their job is to administer the election campaign. Theyy know that when the election is over, so is their contract. Read the rest of this entry »

The Movement for Happiness has been receiving a lot of media attention recently. Founded by Led by Lord Layard, Geoff Mulgan and Anthony Seldon the movement’s aim is to work for more happiness in the world, and less misery. And in case this sounds a bit flaky, the movement reassures us that we have a whole new science of happiness, which is being pursued not only by individuals but even by governments at policy-making level. Read the rest of this entry »

We should not be surprised by the lack of detail in the electioneering around public sector job cuts. For most electors certain public sector workers are heroic, one only has to think of the two firemen killed this week, the soldiers caught up in a daily bloodbath in Afghanistan, policemen, social and health care workers whose lives are filled with risk and confrontation, teachers and others who are frequently subjected to abuse and attack. Read the rest of this entry »

A client recently told me of a psychometric test that he had been asked to take by  a company where he was applying for a job. I don’t know which test it was, but it left me wondering what questions it could possibly have asked him. Because the test’s conclusion was that he should have been either a fisherman or an antiques dealer! It did not explain why, and apart from the fact that both recommendations seem to be over-specific (why an antiques dealer and not, for example a trader in second hand stamps?), there seems to be no logical connection between the two.

I am not a fan of psychometric testing. Granted, it has its uses in specific situations, where for example a company wants to check tha Read the rest of this entry »

Election season, like Christmas, is a time for wish lists. A time to think about the  promises we would really like politicians to make. As a campaigner for the career profession, that is to say as someone who believes that effective career advice can only be delivered by qualified, dedicated professionals, I have a wish list too. Read the rest of this entry »

It has always been difficult to earn a living in music, whether as a musician, manager or composer, unless you are extraordinarily talented or extremely lucky. In the past financial stability depended on getting gigs or a recording contract. But in our more economically sophisticated world, managers and artistes seek out start up capital to launch themselves. And they are complaining that it is well nigh impossible for a start up music company to access development money. Despite the existence of various government backed schemes, banks are just not lending. Read the rest of this entry »

A cross-party group of MPs are recommending that the banking industry should ensure that more women occupy senior positions. The report notes that only 9% of board members of FTSE 100 banks are women, compared with an average of 12.2% for the FTSE 100 as a whole. This in itself would be a good enough reason for a higher representation of women on the boards of leading banks (an indeed the other FTSE companies), but interestingly the MPs highlighted another factor that they considered equally important. Read the rest of this entry »

The Daily Telegraph is today publishing a letter written by twenty three bosses of some of Britain’s biggest companies, supporting Conservative proposals for a cut in National Insurance contributions. It is not the first time in this pre-election campaign that a group of eminent people have written to the papers in support of one party’s policies or another- two groups of economists did so a few weeks ago, one in support of Labour and one in support of the Tories. But now that top executives have taken a partisan stance, we have to ask if political battle lines are being drawn between socio-economic classes. Read the rest of this entry »