HR Zone has published some fantastic features in 2005. Just in case you missed them first time around, here’s a selection of the most popular.
Opinion and thought articles:
A sounding-board for key HR commentators which allows them to express their views and get on their soap box.
Salary errors – the hidden debt
Larry Coltman, Partner and Head of debt recovery group at Reed Smith investigates.
Opinion: Bosses to blame for soaring absence
Gerry Baxter of management consultancy Baxter Neumann argues that organisations are as much to blame for sky-high absence as work shy employees.
Why HR Directors get fired
Why is it that HR Directors get fired? Or, even worse, marginalised by their executive colleagues? I’d like to say it’s because senior colleagues are too busy to recognise the true worth of the talent they’ve got in HR.
Feature: Making HR transformation work – six steps to success
For almost a decade, major organisations have been restructuring their HR functions to focus on higher value activities and make HR transactional delivery as efficient and inexpensive as possible; Bettina Pickering and Neil McEwen assess whether they have succeeded.
HR Business Partnering – What does it really mean?
More and more people are describing themselves as ‘HR Business Partners’ and the job adverts are increasing along with salaries for many of these lucrative posts. Is it just a change of name, or is it really a different role? These Frequently Asked Questions, should help you decide.
Profile features:
Find hints and tips for how to get to the top of the HR tree in our series of interviews with top HR professionals.
How Did I Get Here? Sally Gregory, VP Human Resources-Europe, National Car Rental
Being a biology teacher doesn’t usually lead to a career in HR but this is just what Sally Gregory did.
Focus On: HR Specialists – Satya Kartara, Director of Diversity at Royal Mail
When Royal Mail started to lose a million pounds a day and bullying issues escalated beyond control, Chairman Allan Leighton recognised that a change programme was the only way to turn failing fortunes around; Satya Kartara as Director of Diversity for the organisation put diversity management at the heart of the renewal strategy.
How Did I Get Here? Jayne Mee, HR Director, Spirit Group
Jayne Mee, HR Director of Spirit Group, the UK’s leading independent managed pub operator with 2,000 pubs nationwide and a team of 40,000 reveals her secrets of success in this latest How Did I Get Here?
HR and Payroll Tips:
Our weekly tip gives you the expert answer to thousands of issues and problems.
HR Tip: Dealing with CV liars
We have an employee in our sales department who stated on his application form that he has GCSEs in English and Maths. We have subsequently discovered that he failed English. Can we fire him for dishonesty?
HR Tip: New recruit fails to show
We recently made an offer of employment to a man who accepted in writing. However he failed to turn up for work on the agreed day and instead let us know indirectly that his existing employer had offered him more money to stay. What action can we take?
HR Tip: Employee handbooks
Is the employment handbook that we issue part of the contract of employment?
HR Tip: Behaviour at work functions
At the latest office party some employees got drunk at the local hotel, started a bit of horseplay and smashed some furniture.
Case studies:
Real-life problems, dilemmas and solutions.
Case Study: Royal Mail delivers First Class HCI Service
Royal Mail implemented the government’s Home Computing Initiative (HCI) to inject meaning to Chairman, Alan Leighton’s objective to make the organisation ‘a great place to work’; 22,000 employees have since signed up heralding the scheme a success.
Case Study: Barclays scoop top rewards with HR shared service centre
When new CEO Matt Barrett announced tough financial targets in line with his value-based management philosophy, the decentralised and fragmented HR function was an obvious candidate for review.
Editor’s Comment:
This weekly opinion piece from the Editor takes a look at a key issue or burning topic and presents the views of key spokespeople.
Editor’s Comment: Silencing the Levi ‘luvvies’
Productivity is bubbling over in an open necked shirt and a pair of 501s; latest findings suggest that the traditional armoury of the office, the suit is hampering our creative juices.
Editor’s Comment: Laissez faire … the best option?
Playing ‘soldiers’ while trussed up in a boiler suit, toy gun in hand is the ultimate in tired and tested teambuilding activities that are designed to bond and unite colleagues through mutual humiliation; an aspect of management that begs the question is it worth it?
Editor’s Comment: The recruitment catwalk
Liars are more likely to land a job than ‘honest Jims’ and joining the rogue traders at the front of the jobs queue are those with a Danny De Vito height advantage; Editor’s Comment looks at why our recruitment methods are as prehistoric as the woolly mammoths.
Editor’s Comment: Finding love in the concrete jungle
Editor’s Comment looks at why the office has become the new ‘dating’ hot spot.
Columns
Our range of HR columnists, comment on the latest thinking, HR trends and thoughts
HR Practitioner’s Diary
Sue Kingston a self-employed HR Consultant with 23 years experience in the HR field tackles TUPE transfers, drink and drugs and lands a new contract while ‘fessing up to her singleton status.
Figuring things out: Help – I’m the new HR Director, now what?
You’ve made it. Your dream has been realised, you’re in a senior HR role with a seemingly dynamic company that will provide challenges, working with a CEO that gives every indication of listening and being on your side. And then the realisation of what you’ve taken on really hits home.
Bite-size learning: Age discrimination
Kick-starting a five-part, bite-sized series, Lucy Lewis, associate in the employment and incentives department of Lewis Silkin spells out just what employers can and cannot say in recruitment advertisements.
Extracts of a Life Coach: Starting out
Life coach Emma Ranson Bellamy steers us through the life coaching waters and shares her ‘on the couch’ experiences.
Hard(y) Law Talk: Parental rights at work –whatever next?
Alongside, fire exits and caution signs, required under health and safety law, every workplace should display a new sign: ‘Danger: parents at work!’ given the controversy that so-called family-friendly policies are still yielding.
Colborn’s Corner: Mind your Ps and Qs
Last Wednesday was National Kissing Day, a time to celebrate romance and love; Quentin Colborn reflects on relations between men and women at work and wonders just how far our political correctness should go.
Briefings:
Our briefings offer members an in-depth look at special interest topics.
In Brief: HRZone’s Guide to Company Cars
HRZone has compiled an at-a-glance guide designed to help decision-makers of the £40 billion company car and van industry make the right choice.
Briefing: Dressed to impress?
Should we regret the passing of the tie and pin-stripe? Ranjit Dhindsa, Head of Employment at the Midlands office of international law firm Reed Smith reports on the trend towards open-necked shirts and the inevitable clash with rules and regulations.
Legal Briefing: Employment Legislation – April 2005
Alison Wallace, head of employment practice at Steptoe & Johnson updates HRZone members on the latest raft of employment legislation.
What’s the answer?
Legal guidance to members’ questions.
What’s the answer? Quashing ‘sickies’
We ask two experts to provide their solutions to your problems; this week Nicholas Snowden, Senior Solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Peter Duckitt, HR Consultant present their ideas on how to curb the growth in ‘sickies’.
What’s the answer? TUPE transfers
Nicholas Snowden, Senior Solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson present their ideas on the rules surrounding TUPE transfers.
What’s the answer? Is time off for IVF sick leave?
Nadia Hoosen, senior solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Helen Badger, an employment law expert at Browne Jacobson provide advice on whether absence for IVF treatment should be regarded as sick leave.
What’s the answer? Adultery: Grounds for constructive dismissal?
Nicholas Snowden, senior solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Stephanie Wootton, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson present their ideas on the law governing constructive dismissal.
What’s the answer? Return to work following sickness
Joanne Archer, Senior Solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Ranjit Dhindsa, Head of Employment at the Midland’s office of international law firm Reed Smith offer their ideas on returning to work in a clean environment following a bout of sickness.
