Race discrimination in the workplace: what companies, large or small, need to know

This article was written by Donna Purchase, an employment solicitor and a Partner at QualitySolicitors Redkite. The recent race discrimination case brought against Virgin Atlantic in Wales highlights the importance for companies to bring themselves up to speed with exactly what constitutes racial discrimination, not just in the workplace but also throughout the recruitment process. The […]

Fewer than half of HR professionals have employee engagement strategy

These findings come from an employee engagement survey from HR software company Youforce. While 79 percent of HR professionals say engagement is a high priority, 41 percent don’t have an employment engagement strategy in place. Almost a third (30 percent) of those that do have a strategy say it improves employee performance, while 13 percent […]

Book review: Beyond the Call by Marc Woods & Steve Coomber

Title: Beyond The Call: Why Some of Your Team Go the Extra Mile and Others Don’t ShowAuthors: Marc Woods & Steve CoomberISBN: 978-1119962588 This book was reviewed by David Evans of Burn Bridge Associates Ltd. Opening with the statement from the influential Edgar Schein “The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to […]

Male-dominated culture is significant barrier to women reaching the top, say senior executives

Corporate cultures deemed excessively dominated by males are stopping women reaching the boardroom, according to senior executives. A quarter (23 percent) of respondents said it was the single biggest barrier to progression, while half (52 percent) believe today’s corporate cultures are dramatically reducing the length of time women are prepared to stay and develop their […]

UK SMEs neglecting to provide staff with adequate personal development path

Close to half (47 percent) of surveyed UK employees feel their SME employers do not invest enough in their personal development. A further quarter (27.9 percent) admitted to having never discussed training or personal development at all. This problem is particularly acute in London and the South East, where positive responses to the breatheHR survey, […]

Getting the ball rolling on data-centric HR strategies

This article was written by Jeremy Langley, Marketing & Business Development Director at Lumesse. As a HR leader, you are often sitting on a mound of crucial employee data, but it is often difficult to understand how to best utilise that data in order to implement an efficient HR strategy. Even harder still is knowing […]

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 […]