The People Advantage

NEVILLE BAIN is Chairman of The Post Office, Hogg Robinson and the SHL Group. Previously he has held positions including Group Chief Executive for Coats Viyella and Deputy Group Chief Executive for Cadbury Schweppes. Previous publications include Successful Management (Macmillan, 1995), and Winning Ways Through Corporate Governance (Macmillan, 1996)

BILL MABEY is a chartered occupational psychologist. He is a Director of the SHL Group having previously held the position of Managing Director of SHL in the UK. SHL operates in 40 countries worldwide (see shlgroup.com for details). He has also held positions as a professional market researcher in the UK with the British Market Research Bureau and in Asia Pacific as a Director with the Survey Research Group

The main source of competitive advantage for an organisation rests in its people. Many companies claim that its people are the greatest asset of the company, but the evidence is that few behave accordingly. Indeed, when managers are appointed to new important positions, such as their first general management position, few receive any special training for this role. The evidence is that most appointees are appointed on the basis of their track record, and not through any attempt to evaluate the new position and to match the candidate's objectively measured skill base against the core competencies needed for that job. This book demonstrates the many ways that the careful selection of individuals and teams can add value to the enterprise. It also demonstrates that there are methods by which teams can be enhanced through utilising and understanding the diversity of the different styles of the individuals.

PART ONE: AN OVERVIEW Setting the Scene Competencies and Attributes Selecting the Right People Developing People in the Right Way Optimum Use of the People Resource An International Perspective PART TWO: SPECIFIC ISSUES The Testing of Abilities and Personality Motivation Leadership Further Applications - Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Stress and Communication Further Applications - Strategic Thinking and Knowledge Improving the Performance of the Board Looking into the Future Lessons Learned APPENDIX References Index