ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.

Leadership, personal development and HR

How to develop yourself, your team and your career. Practical advice on achieving a productive, happy and healthy team.
Contents
Back to top

Latest on leadership, personal development and HR

Read our latest features and articles on leadership, personal development and HR
Volunteering for ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2023
To celebrate Volunteers’ Week, Meera Shah, Director of M&A at accountancy firm Buzzacott, explains how volunteering for an ICAEW faculty has been a career-enhancing move.
Volunteering to inspire future talent
  • Article
  • 31 May 2023
As Volunteers’ Week gets underway, we hear how the Rise programme offers opportunities for ICAEW members to help boost social mobility.
group young people man women students glasses ICAEW summer
7 things to do this summer
  • Article
  • 30 May 2023
The summer months offer opportunities for personal and professional growth. Here’s how to make the most of the season - including carving out time for some much-needed rest and relaxation.
Dominic Buttery and Jas Rayat young people students chair and vice chair ICAEW
Meet your Student Council Chair and Vice Chair, 2023-2024
  • Article
  • 30 May 2023
Dominic Buttery and Jas Rayat are the ICAEW Student Council Chair and Vice Chair for 2023-2024. They tell us about their plans and priorities for the coming year.
students young women colleagues office ICAEW audit qualification
How to nail your Audit Qualification
  • Article
  • 30 May 2023
Confused about the why, when and how of the Audit Qualification? ICAEW Senior Audit Qualification Manager Sarah Muir gives you the lowdown.
Boomerang employees: potential risks and rewards for firms
  • Article
  • 25 May 2023
After the jobs-shifting trend of the COVID-19 years, workers are angling to return to their previous employers – but rehiring former staff needs to be far from a rubber-stamping exercise.
Mental Health Awareness Week: don’t struggle alone
  • Article
  • 18 May 2023
If you feel overwhelmed by anxiety at work – or anywhere else – there are practical strategies to help and experts to turn to.
Mental Health Awareness Week: are you addicted to tech?
  • Article
  • 17 May 2023
Technology addiction is more prevalent among professionals than you might think. It can lead to a drop in productivity, anxiety, depression and then worse addictions.
Read more

Topics in depth

Young business people
Career development
Find guides and other resources on careers, job hunting, professional development and personal skills to help you at work.
Smiling business women working together on contract documents
Communication and presentation skills
A range of articles, reports, eBooks and guides to help you successfully develop your communication and presentation skills.
Teamwork groups inclusive
Human resources and employment law
Access articles, books and online resources on human resources and employment law.
Image of female manager
Leadership
Learn how to become an effective leader.
Female boss with colleagues
Managing meetings
Find out how to run better meetings, how to chair meetings, take minutes and participate more effectively.
Team meeting
Managing teams
A collection of books, articles and guides to help managers get the best from their teams – whether they're experienced leaders or first-time managers
Older man working from home in meeting
Negotiation skills
Need to negotiate with clients, colleagues or business contacts? Here's a range of books, articles and guides to help you successfully develop your negotiating skills.

Reports

Special Report 72 - The aspiring CFO
  • Report
  • Nov 2021
A practical, realistic, hands-on and immense learning opportunity of all you need to know to become the CFO
Organisational culture: leadership styles
  • Report
  • Jun 2021
It is recognised that an effective culture can reduce risk and improve performance of an organisation, and that the success or failure of the culture is greatly influenced by its leaders. This guide, written by Jenny Jones, explores different leadership styles and the impact they can have on organisational culture.
Superforecasting: How to improve your forecasting skills
  • Report
  • Feb 2021
Forecasting is an essential skill for finance professionals and managers. Business decisions of all kinds depend on effective approaches to looking ahead. This guide outlines the core principles of “Superforecasting” which will help you develop your forecasting skills.
Off-payroll working – a user guide
  • Report
  • Feb 2021
This practical guide explains the off-payrolling rules as they apply to medium and large businesses. It sets out the operational impacts on finance and payroll departments and how to overcome some of the practical issues of implementation.
Exclusive Special Report 69 - Effective collaboration
  • Report
  • Nov 2020
Collaboration has been a trendy buzz word in business lexicon for some time now, but, as the pandemic has done with many other ‘nice-to-have’ skills, it has now become absolutely necessary to master. With your colleagues, business partners, suppliers and all other stakeholders more than likely working from home, and maybe even across different locations and time zones, effective collaboration is essential.
Special report 67: Problem solving
  • Report
  • Apr 2020
This month’s special report focuses on solving problems of all shapes and sizes in the workplace. Whatever your position in the hierarchy, there are practical hints and tips included to make your day-to-day work easier and more efficient.
Preparing smarter business plans
  • Report
  • Mar 2020
The ICAEW Business and Management Faculty shares hints and tips for businesses writing a business plan at a time when many businesses are applying for finance to help them through the pandemic.
Exclusive Special Report 66 - Managing change
  • Report
  • Dec 2019
Change is inevitable, it is all around us. Brexit, political upheaval, increasing regulation and a growing protectionist agenda make it incredibly difficult to run your business. BAM are here to help, with our special report on managing change, we can help successfully guide you through inevitable change with our practical tips and hands on approach.
See more

Webinars

Why you? 101 job interview questions you'll never fear again
  • Webinar
  • Sep 2021
James Reed shares interview preparation techniques and tips on how to ace a job interview.
Online learning: Get the job you want
  • Webinar
  • Sep 2021
This webinar from the Business and Management Faculty and CABA will explore networking and how to develop a personal brand.
Building an innovative team
  • Webinar
  • Jul 2021
This webinar from the Business and Management Faculty will explore what is meant by innovation, and the expectations from an innovative team.
Skills to future proof your career as much as possible
  • Webinar
  • May 2021
This session will provide tangible advice and guidance on what to consider to develop your career, including key skill development.
Motivating your team: A three-pronged approach
  • Webinar
  • Mar 2021
This webinar explores three aspects of motivation that need to come together to get the most from your staff.
Digital downtime
  • Webinar
  • Mar 2021
This webinar provides a balanced view of smart technology and how it influences all our lives.
Future proof your organisation - an internal audit approach to operational resilience
  • Webinar
  • Mar 2021
This webinar explores how to develop an audit approach to deliver effective assurance as organisations progress their resilience journeys.
Navigating office politics positively
  • Webinar
  • Nov 2020
This webinar will look at what organisational politics is, why it occurs and what individuals need to focus on to improve their personal political intelligence.
See more

eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Exclusive Good retirement guide 2023: everything you need to know about health, property, investment, leisure, work, pensions and tax
  • eBook
  • 2023
  • Jonquil Lowe
  • Kogan Page
Contains information, suggestions and advice on all aspects of retirement and beyond.
Exclusive Key performance indicators: developing, implementing and using winning KPIs
  • eBook
  • 2020
  • David Parmenter
  • Wiley
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) help define and measure the organizational goals which are fundamental to an organization's current and future success. This book provides a model for simplifying the complex areas of KPIs while helping organizations avoid common mistakes and hazards.
Exclusive Numbers business: how to grow a successful cloud accountancy practice
  • eBook
  • 2018
  • Della Hudson
  • SRA Books
This book is a road map that will help a qualified professional to start a successful business from scratch with no personal or business contacts; recruit and train a team of technical and administrative staff; move from the kitchen table to external premises; create a highly systemised business, which can function independently of the business owner; run an ethical business, which contributes to the local community; host and speak at business events; set up a marketing system that operates even during the busiest periods in order to; grow the business organically; purchase a business; and sel...
Exclusive Employer's handbook 2017-18
  • eBook
  • 2017
  • Barry Cushway
  • Kogan Page
The Employer's Handbook gives guidance for all small- to medium-sized employers in the UK, clearly identifying the legal essentials and best-practice guidelines for effective people management.
Exclusive Doing business in China (4th edition)
  • eBook
  • 2017
  • Chao Xi, Morgen Witzel, Tim Ambler
  • Routledge
This title offers business-people a theoretical framework for the understanding of business practices, markets, negotiations, organizations, networks and the Chinese business context.
Exclusive Business law
  • eBook
  • 2016
  • Ewan McIntyre
  • Pearson
Guide to the legal principles that apply to business. Aimed at non-law students.
Exclusive Interpretation and application of UK GAAP for accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January 2015
  • eBook
  • 2015
  • Stephen Collings
  • John Wiley and Sons
A detailed guide to applying new UK GAAP.
Exclusive Reward management
  • eBook
  • 2014
  • Michael Rose
  • Kogan Page
Understanding and implementing effective reward strategies in your organization.
Terms of use

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

More eBooks

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive The power of storytelling in the finance function
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2023
  • Daniel Butcher
  • Strategic Finance
The CFOs of RGP and Paychex provide tips for finance professionals to improve their communication skills through storytelling. Start with analysis and interpretation to get an accurate view of the data, then weave an insightful financial narrative adapted to your audience. A storytelling sklll set can be used many ways - within presentations, meetings, reports or just everyday interactions.
Exclusive Inc. Best Workplaces 2023
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Bill Saporito
  • Inc
Business magazine Inc.'s list of the best US companies to work for in 2023. Some of the most popular companies focus on employee wellness - particularly mental well-being and work-life balance. They have found ways to extend their culture without busting the budget; for example setting up a meditation room or offering a quarterly 'mental health day'.
Exclusive Simon Sinek - 'knowing the why'
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Christine Lagorio-Chafkin
  • Inc
In 2009, Sinek delivered a TED Talk that explored his notion that all great leaders share a trait - what he called 'knowing the why'. Having spent a career redefining servant leadership, here he reflects on his biggest leadership lessons learned.
Exclusive Build your personal brand
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Jill Avery, Rachel Greenwald
  • Harvard Business Review
Advice on how to communicate your value to the world, giving you the guidance you need to create a personal brand that you can comfortably live with. The approach involves seven steps: 1. Define your purpose, 2. Audit your personal brand equity, 3. Construct your personal narrative, 4. Embody your brand, 5. Communicate your brand story, 6. Socialize your brand, 7. Re-evaluate and adjust your brand.
Exclusive Changing environment
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Antoinette Alexander
  • Accounting Today
Many accounting firms are reflecting on the wins and challenges they've faced in a remote work environment and are recalibrating their operating model to effectively manage a remote, or in many cases hybrid, workforce. The article takes a look at why it is important to provide staff with remote opportunities and then dives into the best practices that firms are employing to drive success.
Exclusive Creating a business around employees with disabilities
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Amy Wright, Ben Wright
  • Harvard Business Review
As the parents of two children with Downs syndrome, the authors learned that 80% of people with disabilities in the United States are unemployed. They decided to open a small coffee shop, and employed mostly people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their business has grown into 17 owned and franchised locations across 11 states — collectively staffed by 400 people with disabilities. In this article they share their experiences on how to get the best from these team members and capitalize on all the value they provide.
Exclusive Creating an internal talent marketplace
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Bo Cowgill, Jonathan M.V.Davis, Bettina Hammer, Pablo B.Montagnes, Patryk Perkowski
  • Harvard Business Review
Match your company's skill needs with suitable existing employees by setting up an internal talent marketplace (ITM). The article describes the pros and cons of ITMs and explains how to build and optimize one. They are particularly suited to industries with high worker-replacement costs, large workforces and employees who tend to be generalists.
Exclusive Why leadership requires more than wielding an Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber
  • Article
  • 01 Apr 2023
  • Jason Richmond
  • Leadership Excellence
How organisations can minimize employee resignations by improving compensation packages and considering adding culture-centric benefits such as subsidizing fitness centre memberships, childcare services or mental health therapies. The article takes a look at the results of a 2022 Remote.co Work & Financial Wellness Report, which found that 'Remote work options' was the top priority of workers surveyed, followed closely by 'Salary' and 'Work-life balance'.

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on leadership, personal development and HR. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).
Pension magic: how to make the taxman pay for your retirement
  • Library book
  • 2022
  • N.Braun
  • Taxcafe UK
This book 'shows you how to build a big retirement pot by claiming thousands of pounds of extra tax relief on your pension contributions'. Includes sections on pension contribution rules, pension freedom rules, pensions v ISAs, higher-rate taxpayers, auto-enrolment, salary sacrifice pensions, company directors, family pension planning and pension planning for the self-employed and property investors.
Finance aspects for medical doctors: a practical approach
  • Library book
  • 2022
  • M.B.Khatri
  • PKA Books
Intended for use by GPs, practice managers and accountants, this book covers topics including employment and self-employment, tax saving measures, consultants earnings from private practice, pension contributions, IR35 and types of contracts.
Salary versus dividends: and other tax efficient profit extraction strategies
  • Library book
  • 2022
  • N.Braun
  • Taxcafe UK
This tax guide deals primarily with the 2022/23 tax year, providing information on how companies and company owners are taxed, how to extract more income tax efficiently, keeping income below the key thresholds, splitting income with your family, other profit extraction strategies and salary and dividend practical tax issues.
Business entrepreneurship for filmmakers: making a living as a creative artist in the film industry
  • Library book
  • 2020
  • C.Haine
  • Routledge
From creating a business model, dealing with taxes and funding, finding and managing clients, networking, investing, cashflow, and planning for the long term, this book provides real-world, pragmatic advice on navigating a freelance film career.
TUPE: Brexit impact and other recent developments
  • Library book
  • 2020
  • J.McMullen
  • LexisNexis
Tolley's Tax Digest highlighting the principal developments in the law and practice involving the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations 2006. It follows the structure of TUPE, highlighting developments in the courts and tribunals according to the relevant parts of the TUPE Regulations. Appendix contains employment tax implications of a TUPE transfer.
Company meetings handbook
  • Library book
  • 2020
  • S.Lawrence
  • ICSA Publishing
This book will act as your ultimate reference point to all things meetings, an area that is more complex than ever in the new working environment. This book will ensure that these meetings are fully understood and undertaken in the most efficient and valuable manner.
Employment status: a tax guide
  • Library book
  • 2019
  • D.Kirk
  • Claritax Books
This book guides the reader through the extensive and apparently contradictory case law on employment status. The special cases section includes information on the entertainment, sport and media sector, farming sector, legal sector and healthcare professionals.
Staffing for success
  • Library book
  • 2019
  • A.Bernstein
  • LexisNexis
Short guide covering the process of recruiting, the legal niceties of hiring, and techniques to keep staff motivated and on board.

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

External resources - HR organisations and networks

Employee Benefits
  • DVV Media HR Group Limited
News, analysis, case studies and events listings on pay and benefits topics.
HR Magazine
  • Mark Allen Group
Online magazine with news and features on HR, plus the HR Most Influential annual list of influential HR practitioners and the HR Excellence Awards.
New Zealand Journal of Human Resources Management (NZJHRM)
  • HRNZ
An academic journal which publishes 'original material on the development and practice of human resource management in New Zealand and the South Pacific region'.
People Management
  • CIPD
Free online magazine of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), with latest news, employment law updates and viewpoints.
Personnel Today
  • DVV Media International
News resource for HR professionals, offering employment law news and guidance, Employer's Guides and an archive of articles published in Personnel Today, Training, Employer's Law and Occupational Health since January 2000.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

External resources - Leadership

Acas guide on leadership
  • Acas
Guide from Acas designed to support people with leadership responsibilities at all levels of an organisation. Outlines the essential qualities, actions, considerations and implications associated with leadership using the Acas framework for effective leadership.
Investors in People leadership articles
  • Investors in People
Knowledge base of articles on leadership from Investors in People, covering topics such as motivating and empowering your team, democratic leadership and improving team wellbeing.
Leadership guide
  • Atom Content Marketing
Whether you are the managing director or a shift leader, the way you lead is the single biggest success factor for everyone you work with. This business guide covers leadership at all levels, leadership from the top, communicating the vision, what do leaders do, making decisions, managing the team and knowing yourself.
Leadership in the workplace
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
This factsheet investigates the concept of leadership and how it differs from management, the factors that can influence leadership development, and briefly examines how a principles-based approach to practice can support the development of leadership skills in people professionals.
The Gender, Leadership and Inclusion Centre (GLIC)
  • Cranfield School of Management
The GLIC is a research community which collaborates with industry and produces high quality research in the areas of gender, leadership and inclusion at work. The centre, which is part of Cranfield University's School of Management, is responsible for an annual benchmarking report, The Female FTSE Board Report which has been published since 1999 and includes details of the number of female directors on FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 boards. The website provides information on the work of the centre, its research projects and published research papers.
The role and expectations of a CFO: A global debate on preparing accountants for finance leadership
  • International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Discussion paper and selection of resources from IFAC. The paper looks at the changing scope of CFO and finance leadership roles and how accountants can prepare for career progression.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

Can't find what you're looking for?

The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.

Everything business

Find out about the key benefits available for members in business and the support from ICAEW. We are proud of our some 60,000 members working in and running business all over the world.
Read More
Winding road
Information

Some of the content on this web page was provided by the Chartered Accountants’ Trust for Education and Research, a registered charity, which owns the library and operates it for ICAEW.