Budget 2009: Chancellor moves on unemployment to avoid another ‘lost generation’
Alistair Darling has promised not to allow short-term job losses to become long-term unemployment, announcing a raft of new measures aimed at helping the jobless gain skills and find work.Under new proposals revealed in the Chancellor’s 2009 budget speech, the government said that people under 25 who had been unemployed for over 12 months would […]
HRD 2009: Web 2.0 critical to HR’s innovation agenda
Web 2.0 technology forms one of the critical agendas for HR going forward, an expert has said.Addressing delegates at the HRD conference in London this week, Professor Graeme Martin, who was involved in the recent research report on Web 2.0 and HR for the CIPD, said that Web 2.0 promises to offer what other forms […]
Training your way out of the recession…
At last a solid academic report that suppots that which most of us know…Researchers from the Cranfield School of Management have released a report “Nurturing Talent”, which clearly supports the up-skilling of current staff, utilizing online training tools and not cutting the training budget is a smart thing to do in low economic times.If you […]
HRD 2009: HR must be “confidante” to CEO in a recession
CEOs want their HR directors to be a “sounding board” on all people issues during the downturn, according to a leading expert.Speaking at a seminar at the CIPD’s HRD conference, which explored what CEOs want from HR professionals, Steve Tappin, author of The Secrets of CEOs and advisor to some of the world’s top CEOs, […]
HRD 2009: Three rules to sustaining performance in a downturn, says expert
Solidarity, energy and autonomy are the three rules for creating organisational resilience during a downturn.This is according to Richard Reeves, director of the think-tank Demos, who was addressing delegates at the CIPD’s HRD conference in London this week. In his seminar examining how to sustain performance in a downturn, Reeves outlined the concepts around these […]
How does top talent react to cost cutting?
As businesses seek to consolidate and cut back, development opportunities for key talent may disappear. Claire Logan examines how to retain and motivate top talent whilst budgets are being slashed. Tactical cost cutting and management of redundancy programmes take up the majority of an HR team’s time during a recession. However, implementing both of these […]
Mental illness in the workplace: The hidden epidemic
With 50% of all sickness and absence attributed to stress every year, at an estimated cost of £4bn to UK employers, isn’t it about time that employers stopped burying their heads in the sand? Verity Gough explores how HR can play its role in dealing with this last taboo. When it comes to mental health […]
Ask the expert: Long-term sickness
An employee, who had been off sick with work-related stress for several months, was made redundant on her return to work but was not consulted with about the decision. Esther Smith and Martin Brewer advise on where this leaves the employer. The question: We provide property management services to a client. We have an employee […]
Up in smoke: ‘Quit’ day? Nothing to worry about
Through a stop-smoking programme set up by her employer, Becky Midgley has managed to ‘officially’ quit the cigarettes and is feeling positive about the future. Well, the day came, the day passed, and I have officially stopped smoking. This week was a bit tricky for the advisors; the bank holiday meant that they couldn’t come […]
Keep ‘Budget for jobs’ genuine, pleads CIPD
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has urged the Chancellor to ensure this really is a ‘Budget for jobs’ by keeping people in work through a cut in employers’ national insurance contributions.This should be backed by a focus on job creation for the young and long-term unemployed, added the institute.Dr John Philpott, public […]
Video voxpop: What causes stress in the workplace?
In association with Vox Pops International, HRZone.co.uk presents the first in a series of video voxpops, where the general public shares its thoughts on stress in the workplace. In this video, members of the public are asked: What causes you stress in the workplace? Vox Pops International is an innovative research agency which captures and […]
Health, work and director leadership
Geraint Day, from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), comments on HSE survey findings regarding director leadership on health and safety, including practices and influences to ensure that health and safety is addressed at board level. Workplace health is on the agenda of most boards of directors in UK organisations that employ five or more […]
Increase in employment tribunals: Don’t get caught out
Statistics show that there has recently been an increase in the number of employment tribunal claims. Michael Delaney examines the reasons behind this and advises employers involved in making redundancies on how to avoid being taken to tribunal. Recent data from the Tribunals Service has shown an increase of 43% in the number of employment […]
Keeping stress down and motivation up in challenging times
During a recession, stress levels in the workplace are likely to be higher than usual. Annie Lawler offers some top tips on maintaining a healthy, motivated and competitive team that can kick-start the recovery of your business. During challenging times, it’s more important than ever to be aware of undue stress levels amongst your team. […]
Up in smoke: One week until ‘quit’ day
We continue to follow Becky Midgley in her quest to stop smoking through an eight-week programme set up by her employer. This week, with less people turning up to the session, she felt more confident in opening up about her cigarette habit. With over half of the group ‘in meetings’, I found this week’s session […]
So you want staff who are engaged?
Staff engagement is, of course, a major contributor to the success of any business, which is why the recent Sunday Times ‘Best Companies’ list is so well regarded. Yet, asks John Pope, what do we really mean by ‘best’ company and are we in danger of employees becoming too engaged? The recent Sunday Times Best […]
Ask the expert: Reduced working hours and pay
Due to the current climate, an employer would like to reduce working hours to three days per week. Esther Smith and Matthew Whelan advise on the legal implications to be aware of in terms of a reduction in pay. The question:If we want to reduce employees’ working hours so they only work three days per […]
Food Buyer in Good Health after Cutting Staff Absence and Improving Payroll with COA Solutions HCM System
The Health Store, the UK’s largest, independent and co-operatively owned buying group supplying independent health and wholefood retailers, has reduced staff absence levels from 7% to 2% by implementing a Human Capital Management (HCM) system from COA Solutions (www.coasolutions.com). This HCM system, which has integrated HR, payroll, absence recording and time and attendance functionality, has […]
How does your organisation impact on work-related health?
Maria Karanika-Murray and George Michaelides discuss how organisational culture and policies affect the quality of working life and the work-related health and wellbeing of your workforce. What determines work-related health?Research and theory has typically placed emphasis on the individual and their job. We have good knowledge about how the quality of working life impacts on […]
HR tip: Refusal to supply references
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: "We have found a superb candidate for a vacancy we have. We always ask for two references, including one from the previous employer, but this lady refuses to supply them. When asked […]