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Rigid organisational hierarchies are acting as a barrier to improving management and leadership skills at work.

This is according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which has published a new report into the topic, entitled 'Leadership – easier said than done'.

HR staff have a key role to play in addressing this situation, the organisation claims. They can do so by taking steps such as training individual leaders and improving the leadership capacity of the organisation as a whole.

Many employees who do not have formal managerial experience are now expected to "own the organisation's agenda", the CIPD claims.

As part of an approach known as 'distributed leadership', they are expected to "lead from the front" and do the right thing.

Poorly targeted training and restrictive organisational structures are serving to prevent management improvement that would help business growth and productivity, however.

Ksenia Zhelthoukhova, research adviser at the CIPD, said: "The fast-moving pace of change in the world requires a more distributed approach to leadership.

"However, our concern is that rigid organisational systems, characterised by hierarchy, short-term focus, individualism and 'us' and 'them' mentality, stifle the productivity of employees, undermining their ability to lead on the organisational agenda from the front line."

Leadership development in some organisations relies too heavily on developing the capability of individual leaders and managers, the report claims.

Outdated organisational structures and cultures can prevent potential leaders from applying what they've learnt in the training room to their work.

HR personnel can help to improve the situation by exploring the kind of leaders their organisation requires and seeing whether they would be supported by its structure.

Once priority areas have been identified, leadership training and development can be aligned to the requirements of an organisation.

HR can also play a key role by identifying people with the leadership qualities that are necessary to change the status quo. This must go beyond implementing formal processes; it should also encompass understanding where individuals are demonstrating leadership behaviours and where changes can be made in the structure of the organisation.

A consultation launched by the government is asking for the views of the scientific community on how science funding should be invested.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is looking to record the opinions of a wide range of organisations from the UK scientific community, including small and medium enterprises, multinationals, universities, students and think tanks.

It says funding could be allocated for a multitude of purposes, from refurbishing a university laboratory to investing in a new major international project.

The news follows chancellor George Osborne's pledge to invest long-term in science and infrastructure, increasing capital investment to £1.1 billion and growing it in line with inflation each year to 2020.

Commenting on the consultation's launch, minister for universities and science David Willetts said: "Today's launch of our consultation on future capital investment is a historic opportunity for British science.

"The next five years will see the largest ever sustained capital spend on science investment. Our scientists can identify the next Crick Institute or the next equivalent of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology for us to invest in."

The consultation will provide evidence for the government's Science Capital Roadmap, which is to set out a long-term strategic vision for a world-leading science and research infrastructure. It will be published during the autumn.

A series of questions is available on the BIS website, inviting organisations to give their views on how the money should be spent.

The government is hoping to maintain the UK's position at the forefront of scientific innovation. Although the country has just one per cent of the world's population, 16 per cent of the highest-quality scientific articles are published in the UK.

Investing in science is necessary to support the coalition's industrial strategy and to maintain the international competitiveness of UK research.

The government says it expects greater investment to elicit a number of responses from the research community, resulting in greater collaboration, better equipment sharing and improved access for industry.

Leaders need to reveal their personal side if they are to restore levels of trust among workforces.

This is the conclusion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the University of Bath, which have produced a new report entitled 'Cultivating trustworthy leaders'. 

HR staff have a particularly significant role to play in this area, as they have a number of means at their disposal to ensure trustworthy leaders are recruited and developed. 

The research states that leaders need to share their personal stories and take an interest in the personal experiences of their employees if they wish to maintain long-lasting, trusting relationships.

People still experience high levels of uncertainty regarding their future and now require "a greater and more overt demonstration of trustworthiness from their leaders".

HR methods that could be used to help address the issue include conducting values-based interviews, providing information on self-awareness, assessing staff using 360-degree feedback, creating environments where staff could have open conversations about trust and visibly rewarding trustworthy behaviours.

However, the study also found that HR departments currently have too many rules and policies in place which could damage trust, as they suggest departments do not have confidence in employees.

Individuals have little incentive to earn trust in such environments, as there are few opportunities for them to demonstrate their reliability.

Claire McCartney, research adviser at the CIPD, said: "It's proven that organisations with high levels of trust perform better in terms of innovation, problem solving, engagement and knowledge sharing. 

"Given the recent crises in trust in the banking and healthcare sectors in particular, it's more important than ever that HR steps up to provide the appropriate platforms for trustworthy leaders to develop."

She added that HR departments need to allow leaders to flourish and should not focus too much on process and technology.

The CIPD and the University of Bath studied 13 organisations with experience of retaining and developing trustworthy leaders. Their findings build upon an earlier report entitled 'Where has all the trust gone?'

A leading communications expert says HR departments have an important role to play in developing a clear communications strategy that will engage staff.

According to Karen Heath, chief engagement officer of Anthony Hodges Consulting, communications should be tailored to the needs of employees whenever possible.

Many companies do not take this approach, HR Magazine reports, often opting for a blanket communication sent to all staff rather than addressing each employee individually. Time and resource constraints tend to prevent organisations from taking the latter approach.

Ms Heath said it is worth questioning the efficacy of communications that fail to resonate with up to half of a firm's workforce.

Staff in separate locations often feel disengaged as a result of a "head office centric" approach to communications, she added.

Employers need to bear in mind local practices, economies and events, which can often have an impact on employees' financial situations.

"With ever more diverse workforces in the future, the idea of getting the message across effectively to every employee will become even more important," she said. 

"If you look at auto-enrolment in pensions, the message that you give employees in their twenties should be very different to those approaching retirement."

Changing shift patterns can also present challenges for communications, Ms Heath said. Audience analysis and research is vital before embarking on any communications campaign.

Ms Heath's comments highlight the importance of effective communication to ensure staff engagement levels are maintained.

In March, Martin Reed, the chief executive officer and chairman of psychometric people management tool provider Thomas International, said better communication is needed to ensure firms retain top talent.

He said both staff and management are often reluctant to have difficult conversations in the workplace and that frequent one-to-one discussions and conversations about problems that may arise are essential to maintaining engagement levels.

According to Mr Reed, such an approach is necessary because employees are likely to look for opportunities elsewhere as the economy continues to recover and this could pose problems for some organisations.

Two-thirds of HR professionals welcome the introduction of early dispute settlement by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

This is according to a poll conducted by Personnel Today, which reveals that 65.3 per cent of respondents believe early conciliation constitutes a positive step in tackling workplace disputes. 

Just 6.3 per cent of those polled disagreed with the statement, while 28.4 per cent were undecided.

Gill McCarthy, director of operational policy and performance at Acas, said it was positive from the perspective of her organisation that most respondents welcomed early conciliation.

Most of the audience of a live webinar held by Personnel Today (52.5 per cent) believe the level of tribunal fees is about right, while 28.4 per cent think they are too low and 12.7 per cent oppose them entirely. Just 6.3 per cent said they thought fees are too low.

Acas recently announced the introduction of the early conciliation service, which means claimants will need to contact the organisation before lodging an employment tribunal claim from May 6th.

The process is designed to save people the time, cost and anxiety involved in undergoing an employment tribunal.

Independent research has found that the pre-claim conciliation (PCC) process – the forerunner of early conciliation – has benefited the British economy by around £19 million.

Over three quarters of the 20,000 cases a year that the PCC has dealt with were not referred to an employment tribunal. 

The research also found that the average cost to employers of claims dealt with through PCC was just £475, with employers spending an average of just one day on a claim. This compares with an average of £3,700 and four days for an employment tribunal.

Acas chair Sir Brendan Barber said: "Early conciliation will give us the chance to help even more people resolve their disputes early as well as save taxpayers some of the cost of running the tribunal system."

The polls were conducted during a live webinar held on April 9th, with the vast majority of respondents describing themselves as HR professionals. The number of respondents ranged between 891 and 901.