News: report reveals mismatched expectations between employers and young applicants

A mismatch exists between employers’ expectations of young people during the recruitment process and what young people think is expected of them. This is hindering the flow of younger workers into the labour market. The CIPD report, entitled Employers are from Mars, young people are from Venus, found the following were contributing to high levels […]

HR analytics are key to boosting the bottom line, says KPMG

Organisations are not collecting meaningful information about their people because of the pressures of collecting and reporting on historical financial data, preventing them from driving growth and speeding up decision-making. According to Robert Bolton, partner in KPMG’s global HR Centre of Excellence, this is creating an “organisational landscape dominated by more questions than answers, with […]

Four recent employment law precedents HR should know

The effects of symptoms should define disability rather than the etiologyFrom: Walker v Sita Information Networking Computing LtdAn employment tribunal concluded that a man weighing over 21st was not – legally – disabled because there was no identifiable physical or mental cause for his obesity. The judge in the appeal rejected the tribunal’s findings, arguing […]

Positive psychology – a useful tool for HR directors

This article was written by Sarah Lewis, chartered psychologist and author of ‘Positive Psychology at Work.’ What is it?Positive psychology is the study of ‘strengths, virtues, excellence, thriving, flourishing, resilience, optimal functioning in general, and the like’ (Donaldson 2011). It was introduced as a field of study by Seligman at his inaugural address to the American […]

What you don’t know can hurt you: assessing your organisation’s social media use

This article was written by Steve Miranda, Managing Director of Cornell University’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS), a partnership between industry and academia devoted to the field of global human resource management. With social media, what you don’t know can seriously hurt your organization. An offensive or inappropriate blog post, tweet or Facebook comment […]

Talent spot: Andrew Lawson, Head of People at Drake & Morgan

Andrew Lawson, head of people at bar and restaurant group Drake and Morgan, has spent most of his working life working in the food and drink industry for organisations of all sizes. But if Lawson had stuck to his original plan, he would have been in the kitchen rather than in an office. His first […]

Business hubs – the only way to attract the best talent?

This article was written by Nic Scott, CEO of cloud services HR provider Fairsail. Will businesses in future be concentrated around hubs – encouraging us to share knowledge, talent and resources? Or will business be able to thrive anywhere in the country and attract the best talent to them regardless of location? The benefits of […]

Legal guidance: protecting company information in the cloud-era

This article was written by Sophie Vanhegan, employment solicitor at GQ Employment Law LLP. Recent years have seen dramatic changes to the use of technology in the workplace, creating new potential avenues for employees to steal sensitive data and, consequently, a growing headache for HR teams. One of the latest challenges is the growth of […]

Ten commandments for successful succession planning

This article was written by Donal Laverty, Organisational Development Partner at RSM Tenon. As an organisation, are you struggling to manage your talent pipeline? Are unexpected leavers causing you problems in business continuity? A range of national and global surveys of HR Directors and Managers highlight an increasing struggle for organisations to attract and retain […]

Why do multinationals struggle to conquer overseas markets?

This article was written by Bryan Roberts, Director of Retail Insights at Kantar Retail. The unsurprising news that Tesco is planning a disposal of its beleaguered US business Fresh & Easy has added one more to the body count of UK retailers that have failed to make a successful entry into the American retail sector. […]

News: 72 percent of workers give 10 hours of free labour a week

Nearly three-thirds of British workers are working 10 hours extra every week, providing a boost of £142bn to the economy, according to new research from Travelodge. One in ten employees is working their weekly workload again, while a third of British workers are working an additional 16 hours a week more now for free than […]

Overseas expansion: get ready to ‘think global, act local’

This article was written by Vincent Belliveau, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMEA, Cornerstone OnDemand. According to research undertaken in December 2012 by private medical insurance providers, Expacare, close to half of British companies, of all sizes, are looking to extend their presence overseas. Furthermore, in the last year alone, high profile companies such […]

News: employers to ramp up short- and long-term overseas assignments in 2013

Companies across the globe will increase the number of short-term and long-term assignments in 2013, focusing on China, Brazil, Australia, the UK and the US. The increase will come from a desire to provide specific technical skills not available locally (47 percent), to provide career management/leadership development (43 percent), to ensure knowledge transfer (41 percent), […]

Measuring the benefits of healthcare investments on the bottom line

This article was written by Mike Blake, director of PMI Health Group. Boardroom executives are frequently unaware of the bottom line benefits of employee healthcare programmes, considering them a nice-to-have rather than a strategic necessity. Returns on investment can be realised however and if suitable methodologies are adopted by HR departments, it is also possible […]

News: employers show increasing appetite for tech to improve staff health engagement

Employers are committed to using new technologies to promote health engagement and encourage positive behaviour among employees. The study, Emerging Technology in Health Engagement, was released by employee benefits firm Buck Consultants and WorldatWork. It examined the current use and future potential for three major technologies: gamification, social media and mobile applications. Of the three, […]

Four damaging mistakes that HR professionals continue to make

HR continually evolves – practices that work one year may be ineffective the next as the workforce evolves and peoples’ needs change. External culture can also influence what is and what isn’t effective in the workplace. These four common scenarios are commonplace in today’s HR function – a few of the examples are seen as […]

Lowdown on PAYE umbrella companies for HR managers

This article was written by Phil McDonald, Managing Director of PAYE umbrella firm Paraplus. An umbrella company is a organisation that acts as an employer to contractors who work under a fixed term contract. With a pay as you earn (PAYE) umbrella company, contractors become an employee of that umbrella organisation. It issues invoices to […]

News: MPs back Government plans for ‘shares-for-rights’ scheme

MPs have shown support for Government plans to allow businesses to offer company shares to employees in exchange for reduced employment rights. The initiative was initially rejected in the House of Lords before MPs voted to reinstate it on April 16. Michael Fallon, Business Minister, said the shares-for-rights scheme was a good deal, particularly for […]

News: almost half of UK workers feel ‘threatened by their boss’

Close to half (47 percent) of UK employees feel actively threatened by their boss, according to new research from leadership development consultancy Head Heart + Brain. Broken down by sector, civil servants (72 percent) felt the most threatened – unsurprising considering the changes that have run through the civil service over the last three years. […]

10 myths that pervade the HR industry

This article was written by Millie Sarin, Deputy Knowledge Manager at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). If you’ve been in HR for years or are just learning the ropes, there are a number of common workplace misunderstandings that seem to crop up again and again. The Acas advice helpline receives around a million calls a year, […]