Will leaders or entrepreneurs secure our future?
Whether or not we are now emerging from recession, the shock and anxiety of it all has made armchair economists of us all. Terms such as ‘derivatives’ ‘quantitative easing’, ‘toxic banks’, and ‘sub-prime’, have eased themselves into the vocabulary. We may not know for sure whether we are Keynesians or Monetarists, but we all have […]
Employee shareholder status – will it work for you?
What is it? This new category enables employees to be engaged on special contracts under which they lose many of their employment rights, including those in relation to unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy payments. In return, they must be granted shares in the business valued at a minimum of £2,000 at the time of issue. […]
Holiday pay suddenly becomes more expensive for employers
Holidays used to be simple for employers – you waved goodbye to your staff for two weeks in August and one at Christmas. No longer. In recent years, a series of cases in the Employment Tribunals and the European courts have made holiday pay increasingly complex and expensive for employers. The recent Employment Tribunal decision […]
Currys interview candidate ‘made to dance’ to Daft Punk
A university graduate said he was left ‘humiliated’ after being asked to dance to a Daft Punk song during a job interview at electronics store Currys. Alan Bacon, 21, said he spent a week preparing for the interview, but instead of being asked to showcase his skills, he ended up performing robot dance moves “like […]
How being brain-savvy can improve performance management
The press coverage of Microsoft’s ‘stack rating’ system has put the whole process of performance management and ratings back in the headlines. I am sure many HR people are rather surprised that a system that was popular in the 80s and 90s is still being used by a ‘modern’ company like Microsoft, especially one that […]
Interview: Andrew Millard, Senior Director Marketing EMEA, Citrix
1. Are trust issues created by mobile working arrangements or do we just have an endemic problem of low-trust workplaces, which is highlighted and emphasised by the geographical remoteness of mobile working? It’s hard to argue with the advantages that remote and mobile working offers, both from an employee and business perspective. However, when it comes […]
Key insights from Gallup employee engagement report
This is a few months' old but it’s a good read so thought I’d draw your attention to a few insightful tidbits. “TO WIN CUSTOMERS — and a bigger share of the marketplace — companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees.” Top-level: Engagement makes a quantifiable difference to the bottom line […]
Universities twice as likely as other employers to use zero-hours contracts
Universities and colleges are more than twice as likely to use zero-hour contracts than other employers, according to freedom of information requests. Over half of the 145 UK universities and two-thirds of the 275 further education colleges that responded to the requests said they made use of the contracts. The information was collated by the […]
Unconscious bias: are you guilty of blocking the talent pipeline?
A man stood in the L’Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold, January rush hour morning. Over a period of 45 minutes, he played six Bach pieces. Only seven people stopped to listen. 27 gave him money but continued to walk. He collected $32 in […]
Office politics: what HR practitioners need to know
"In a 2012 book, 50% of respondents described office politics as being constructive rather than destructive." — Large or small, multinational or family-owned, public, private or third sector – every workplace has ‘office politics’ in one form or another. Some HR practitioners might consider office politics a subject best avoided through fear of becoming too […]
UK firms have ‘half the rate of staff sickness’ of German counterparts
The number of UK companies reporting high rates of staff sickness has fallen to half the rate reported in Germany and France. This is according to Dr Wen Wang, of the University of Wolverhampton Business School, who reported the findings to the British Sociological Association’s conference on work, employment and society. Dr Wang said that […]
Playing the game – what are the business benefits of gamification?
Why do we play games? What is it that keeps us addicted to the last minute goal, the last ball or the crucial roll of the dice? And what impact do insights on gaming habits have on corporate Human Resources strategies? The game IS the reward Researchers have found that playing games leads to the […]
Interview: Mick Collins, Principal Consultant, SuccessFactors
Mick Collins is the Principal Consultant for Workforce Analytics & Planning at SuccessFactors, an SAP Company. In his role, Mick leads a global team and provides consulting services to multiple clients including Fortune 500 firms in the retail, publishing and consumer products sectors. He has extensive experience in public speaking and regularly participates at some […]
Unpaid intern who sued Sony settles for £4,600
An intern who worked for Sony has received a £4,600 settlement from the company after suing for unpaid wages. Chris Jarvis, 25, worked from 9:30am until 6pm for three months at Sony’s Cambridge offices in 2012, making the 1.5 hour journey from his home in Milton Keynes twice a day. Jarvis said that he thought […]
Five reasons the perfect candidate just isn’t so perfect
If you recruit, at any level, chances are you’re overlooking potentially excellent candidates in the mistaken belief that lack of experience makes them unsuitable for the job. Here’s why the person you think is perfect, probably isn’t. 1. Their experience – it might seem a perfect fit, but previous experience, even significant levels, have absolutely […]
HR must help employees find their ‘core’ and how it relates to the company’s vision
Results! That’s what every CEO wants and, ultimately, they need it from sales -and from those responsible for sales. So this means higher sales growth targets and selling more of that “new high margin solution” to higher level and higher worth customers. The HR profession is charged with developing the right people to ensure the […]
Only a quarter of employers achieve long-term gains from change management initiatives
Just a quarter of organisations are able to keep the momentum of their change management initiatives going over the long-term. This is according to a new survey by professional services firm Towers Watson, which found 55% of employers say change management initiatives meet their initial objectives. However, just one in four (25%) say the gains […]
Doing business in the USA – cultural considerations for HR
The USA is the world’s largest national economy and, according to many, the world’s only remaining superpower. Even with the tremendous growth of emerging economies in parts of Asia, South America and Africa, US GDP is approximately double that of China, the world’s next largest economy. Although the US may seem familiar to many, thanks […]
From ‘ready now’ to ‘ready in a lifetime’ – the baby boomers are here to stay
Just when we thought the Baby Boomers were off to lower their handicaps, the fickle hand of legislation has again changed the rules. The Baby Boomers were going to retire. That would have reduced the payroll. And, those starting their careers (who now have lower pay expectations because of the recession) would at last have […]
Work-based learning schemes: the future of employment
Apprenticeships have traditionally offered a healthy alternative to university, but with the tripling of tuition fees, demand has increased by 32 per cent this year.[1] As a result, a number of organisations including John Lewis have started offering a further option by creating a university within their walls. Over the coming years, more organisations will […]
