ABSTRACT
Technological advances and variation in demand for products and services worldwide since the turn of the century have created relative instability, cyclic hiring and downsizing in many organizations. However, during these times the way in which people are managed and developed at work has become recognized as one of the primary keys to improved and sustained organizational performance. This is reflected by popular idioms such as ‘people are our most important asset’ or ‘people make the difference.’ Indeed, such axioms now appear in the media and on corporate public relations documents with such regularity that the accuracy and integrity of such assertions has begun to be questioned in some quarters. This chapter draws on some of the research undertaken by the European Centre for Business Excellence (EC for BE) (now The Oakland Institute, the research and education division of The Oakland Group), which focused on world-class, successful and, in many cases, award-winning organizations. It describes the main people management activities that are currently being used in these leading edge organizations.
