All employers asked to name the single most important factor in their success story would doubtless sing the praises of the organization’s most vital resource – their staff. It follows, then, that attracting and retaining real talent has to be the big issue facing companies. They need to...

Purpose – This paper aims to present the views ofMatthew Brearley UK HR Director at Vodaphone. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides an interview with Matthew Brearley who has a wealth of commercial experience in driving business performance through coherent and innovative people...

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...

Increasing delegation to clinical departments has been a feature of health‐care organizations in recent years. However, as managers of these departments take greater responsibility for results and resources, it follows that they need relevant and objective information to carry out their work...

Hotel guests are used to awarding marks out of ten for the service they receive but, at the USA’s first restaurant and hotel to receive double‐five‐star (Mobil) and double‐five‐diamond (AAA) ratings, the staff award marks out of ten on their guests. Every night, waiters at The Inn at...

A documentary shown on UK television last year followed the fortunes of a group of Indian university graduates who were being trained to work in call centers catering for UK customers. The trainees had to work on being as accent‐less as possible and they also had to “bone up” on aspects of...