Council HR managers made sure they turned out smartly at their annual conference last week, for the keynote speaker was General Sir Mike Jackson, former Chief of the General Staff. The plain-speaking veteran of Bosnia and Kosovo told the PPMA conference in Brighton his views on running organisations which included ‘the purpose of process is not to preserve it but get from A to B'. He also added: ‘Some organisations confuse activity with achievement.' And just for good measure he revealed: ‘I can't stand the term "HR". It makes people sound like paper clips.'
