The Department of Human Resource Management was shocked to learn of the passing of Emeritus Professor John Gennard last month.The Department of Human Resource Management was shocked to learn of the passing of Emeritus Professor John Gennard last month.
He first moved to the University of Strathclyde in 1981 to take up the Inaugural Chair in Industrial Relations and become its first Head of Department. He was a very successful Head over two lengthy periods. During his first spell, he led the merger between the Industrial Relations and Department of Administration to create the Department of Human Resource Management, which was to enjoy great success.
Professor John GennardIn his second spell as Head of Human Resource Management he was able to consolidate the Department's pre-eminent position as a leader in teaching and research. The Department's contribution to professional education was recognised through the award of Centre of Excellence (an award held by a handful of British universities) by the professional association for the HR profession, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Professor Gennard also served as vice-dean (1983-1987) and then Dean (1987-1993) of Strathclyde Business School (SBS). As Dean, he ensured that SBS fulfilled its mission of providing a quality learning experience for all students and undertaking research of international excellence. Success was measured through the highest rating awarded to SBS for its teaching quality by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the significant increase in its research performance in a number of Research Assessment Exercises (RAE).
He published widely in the field of industrial relations, publishing over a dozen books as well as numerous journal articles. He was editor of the journal Employee Relations, and was also a past president of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association.
In addition to his enormous contribution to academic life, he also engaged with many stakeholders beyond the university. He held senior positions with the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (CAC) and the CIPD. For the latter organisation he was the chief examiner for employee relations for two decades from 1988, and sat on several committees. He was also a specialist adviser on employee relations to the CIPD's governing council, a Chartered Fellow of the institute and was invited to become one of only a handful of Chartered Companions at the beginning of 2010, in recognition of his significant contribution to the HR profession.
However, his first love was without doubt the cause of working people and their organisations – the trade unions. In particular he had an enduring relationship with the print unions, mixing equally happily with shop stewards through to the general secretary of several unions. At the last annual conference of the National Geographical Association (NGA) on the eve of its merger with its sister union SOGAT in 1991, out of the 400 delegates attending, 90% of the full-time officials and 60% of all the delegates had been through training programmes tutored by him. In the same year, and largely as a consequence of his work, the NGA was awarded one of the government's prestigious National Training Awards in the presence of the Prince of Wales – the only trade union ever to be a recipient of such an accolade. The high spot in his relationship with the print unions took place at the NGA's final Delegate Meeting in 1990 – when he was made a full member of the union and at the same time presented with the NGA's Gold Badge – the highest honour that the union could bestow on an individual member. He was thrilled with this award – and on special occasions he wore it with great pride.
Professor Dennis Nickson, current head of the Department of Human Resource Management, paid tribute to Professor Gennard: "John was an outstanding academic who contributed enormously to the development of employment studies in his initial work on industrial relations and subsequent work looking at the role of HR Directors.
"He was a great servant of the business school and university generally, as well as being highly regarded by a range of stakeholders outside the university, especially his colleagues in the print unions. He was a much respected and admired colleague and he will be sadly missed."