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Essay about Human Resouce Management

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Leadership Development in South Riding Council
Leadership skills development is often a neglected area in local councils across the UK. South Riding Council has sought to address this issue through establishing its own local leadership institute.
The council, like all other local authorities, is facing the challenge of developing the leaders of tomorrow within a turbulent operating environment. The recruitment and retention of key staff is not easy in an area hit by a long-term decline in the local economy, following the decline in traditional and manufacturing industries like coal mining, ship building and steel making.
The quality and performance of leadership within the council was highlighted in the findings of several external …show more content…

A new HR strategy was launched in 2009 with leadership improvement its key component. The strategy committed South Riding Council to establishing an organisation wide framework to `develop leadership skills at political and senior managerial levels`. More recently, the council has invested time and money in shorter-term projects to enhance desired leadership skills. The latest initiative has been the creation of a leadership institute.
The Leadership Institute (LI) was launched in 2010 in conjunction with a local higher education provider. It`s focus is on improving management and leadership skills throughout the organisation to aid succession planning.
Commenting on the LI initiative Harper said: `There is always plenty of hidden talent in … a local council. People may be doing amazing things outside work, but because they are not properly engaged at work their potential is not fully realised.`
The LI has established a one year learning programme based on current issues in local government leadership. The programme includes a range of teaching and learning methods from ‘master classes’ on topics such as inspirational leadership and motivational techniques to traditional classroom based sessions on staff engagement and organisational commitment. The programme also involves one-to-one mentoring, group coaching and individual action learning work.
The LI, although a recent development, has seen promising early returns on the investment of

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