Why do so many HR outsourcing deals go wrong – and what can organisations do to head off problems? In a second interview with Webster Buchanan Research, University of Michigan professor Dave Ulrich argues that effective change management is critical

Named by Business Week as the number one management guru, University of Michigan professor Dave Ulrich is a force to be reckoned with in the people management field. His latest work builds a blueprint for a new-look HR function

How do you manage people who aren’t on your payroll, but play a central role in your success? Traditional ways of dealing with customers, suppliers, partners and contractors don’t always work, and you may need new types of cross-boundary people management practices, says CIPD’s Angela Baron

Why does Google give every US employee who buys a hybrid car $5000? Do you have the guts to ask new employees what they hated about you when they interviewed? And do you treat recruitment as a sales job? Controversial HR professor Dr John Sullivan suggests it’s time to rethink the whole way we hire.

Flexible benefits schemes offer greater choice for employees, provide employers with useful incentive tools and can cut payroll costs. So why do adoption levels lag expectations? Philip Hutchinson at Mercer Human Resource Consulting has some theories

Are you concerned about employee turnover? Do you really understand what makes your people tick and how they drive your business forward? Dr Theresa Welbourne argues that measuring employee energy levels – not merely satisfaction – is key to managing them

Why’s it dangerous for HR to think of itself as a business partner? Will CEOs ever get the high-level support they demand? And what does ‘strategic’ HR actually look like? Chris Brewster and Ken Bull at Henley Management College look to provide some answers

What makes a really useless leader? Ask Steven Sonsino, author of a new book on common leadership failings, who argues that most managers end up demotivating rather than inspiring

Managing older members of your workforce isn’t just about challenging in-built prejudices – you also have to rethink some of your people management practices, argues consultant and author Keren Smedley

The average company spends two percent of salary on training - but few organizations have anything like a comprehensive training strategy in place. Steven Tallman, VP at consulting firm Bain & Company, offers some practical advice

The brains behind the concept of business re-engineering in the 1990s, Dr Michael Hammer maps out an agenda for change in the twenty-first century