News: staff comfort levels on salary discussions vary across the globe
More than half of respondents to a new global poll are not comfortable discussing salaries with their colleagues. There were significant geographic differences in the survey from job firm Monster – just 25 percent of US respondents were happy to discuss their remuneration, compared to 43 percent of Europeans. Of the 3000 responses, 18 percent […]
News: employee volunteering provides many benefits to employers
Research released by volunteering charity CSV shines light on trends in employee volunteering (EV) and the ways in which employers can maximise its effectiveness. The report, entitled ‘Employee Volunteering – Who’s Benefiting Now?’ [PDF, 335KB] analyses the relationship between different stakeholders, including businesses, employees and community brokers (who connect firms with local projects). Employee volunteering […]
Delivering feedback in a way that works
James and Simon Brooke are directors at Threshold, an international training and communications consultancy, and have just authored a book called Be Bulletproof, which aims to give employees the tools to protect themselves against the hazards of the workplace. Most organisations operate on the assumption that their managers are giving good feedback to employees. But […]
Top five Margaret Thatcher quotes and what they say about success
Since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died on April 8, commentary has been flowing in from around the world. Much of it has been positive, paying tribute to a passionate and dedicated leader who had the interests of Britain in her heart. There has been criticism as well, of a rigid and unwavering leader who […]
News: Employees ‘blame work’ for lack of exercise
Four in ten people blame work commitments for their lack of regular exercise, according to a new report from Nuffield Health and the London School of Economics (LSE). The report, 12 minutes more, emphasises the role that employers should be playing in encouraging staff to take exercise. Over £7bn could be saved, says the report, […]
The role of CSR in driving business performance
Nicky is a CSR professional with 20 years’ experience in managing and directing corporate social responsibility in global companies. She runs her own CSR consultancy, Nicky Amos CSR Services Ltd. She spent ten years as Head of Corporate Responsibility for The Body Shop. Successful business leaders are unlikely to disagree with the proposition that corporate responsibility […]
News: replace charismatic leaders with ‘intelligent conservatism’
Conservatism rather than charisma is the vital characteristic of successful business leaders, claims a new study.Research into leadership at European companies that have been in operation for over 100 years, conducted by Dr Christian Stadler, found that ‘charismatic conservatism’ is more important than charisma in driving businesses forward. Some of the firms Stadler looked at […]
Are you getting true value from your corporate values?
Many organisations these days have a set of corporate values as part of their employer branding. Relating to anything from ethics to relationships to actions, corporate or company values aim to articulate those things that an organisation genuinely believes in. They provide a framework for how people treat both internal and external contacts, do their […]
How regular training can reduce employee turnover
Zig Ziglar, the renowned US motivational speaker, rightly said, “What’s worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them!” There are three common fallacies made about investing in training. The first is that once employees are trained, they are likely to look elsewhere for better opportunities, the second is that […]
The suspicious motives of the employee engagement movement
This article was written by Karen Drury, consultant with Maven International (UK) Ltd. "A wise man … proportions his belief to the evidence."(David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding) Consider the changes made to employee legislation in the past few weeks. To bring a case for unfair dismissal against your employer, you now need to work […]
News: drive to increase women into the boardroom is stalling
A new report suggests that UK-wide efforts to appoint more women to boardroom positions have slowed down. Cranfield School of Management, which publishes a yearly report, found that in the first sixth months since 2012’s report, 44 percent of new board appointments to FTSE 100 companies went to women. A further 36 percent in FTSE […]
News: widening executive pay gap over last forty years
Company directors, including CEOs, have had pay increases almost twice the size of the average UK executive over the last 12 months, according to new salary data published today by XpertHR and the Chartered Management Institute. According to the survey, these changes are mostly due to sharp percentage increases in bonus payments at the top […]
Talent spot: Arran McDowell, HR Director at Elior
Making it onto the 2013 Sunday Times Best Big 25 Companies to work for list is proof that contract caterers Elior is on the right track in terms of engagement and company culture. But HR director Arran McDowell is not resting on his laurels. One of his chief aims for this year is to maintain […]
Legal guidance: handling flexible working requests
This article was written by Sofia Syed, employment solicitor at Mundays LLP. Despite Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer ‘s announcement to all employees that ‘speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home’, flexible working remains one of the biggest changes to the workplace in the last 20 years. Flexible working can include job shares, […]
News: 80s generation ‘wakes up’ to pensions
Younger workers born in the 1980s are more ‘switched on’ to pensions than older colleagues and plan to save more, according to a recent survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF). The research, which polled 2000 people, revealed that half (53 percent) of respondents aged 25 to 34 will increase the amount they […]
News: High-performing staff receive twice average pay rise
Pay differentiation – the varying of pay rewards for staff – was found in 93 percent of firms responding to recent research. According to the survey of 124 UK firms by professional services company Towers Watson, staff singled out for higher salary hikes and bigger bonuses were identified as ‘high-performing,’ receiving average base pay rises […]
Top five qualities of a successful HR Director in 2013
Stephen Archer, director of business consultancy Spring Partnerships, looks at the top five qualities HR Directors need to succeed this year and to remain focused, despite the on-going pressures they face. Commercial or Organisation purpose awarenessWithout a clear understanding of the precise nature of the organisation’s purpose and its challenges it is impossible for an […]
What Talent Pipelines can learn from Oil Pipelines
Oil pipelines have integrity and efficiency built into their construction. They’re built for one purpose: safely, successfully and economically transporting crude oil thousands of miles. Talent is a commodity organisations need to transport from one point (schools, universities, rival organisations, the ranks of the unemployed, other countries) to a second point (their organisation). Oil pipelines […]
News: Higher apprentices are ‘most employable’ young people
Former apprentices are outpacing their peers when it comes to workplace fitness, according to a new study published today. According to the study from ICM Research, which questioned 500 employers with recruitment responsibility across the UK, employers in England rate qualified apprentices as 15 percent more employable than those with other qualifications. Those who complete […]
News: Acas launches new guidance on collective redundancies
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) today published new guidance to help employers deal effectively with collective redundancies. Collective redundancies are when employers consider making 20 or more employees redundant within a 90 day window. This situation might occur if the employer, for example: Needs to close/move all or part of the firm Reorganise […]
