The HRZone Interview: David Frost on sickness absence
Every year, around 11 million workers call in sick and 140 million days are lost to sickness absence. The economic cost of ill-health is estimated to be a staggering £100 billion. Moreover, each year around 300,000 employees will not return to work, joining the benefits system instead. Not surprisingly, the government is keen to […]
News: Underlying joblessness worsens despite official figures, warns expert
Despite apparently positive unemployment figures, underlying worklessness is now much higher than it was in May and could jump quite dramatically in the New Year, according to an employment expert. The latest Labour Market Statistics report from the Office for National Statistics indicated that the UK jobless rate now stands at 2.51 million or […]
News: Christmas party hangovers to cost employers £740m this year
Hungover staff will cost employers a huge £740 million in lost productivity this year, with seven out of 10 expecting to party for at least two nights over the next 10 days. According to a survey among 2,000 workers conducted by hotel chain, Travelodge, three times more UK companies (75%) plan to host a […]
Blog: Five ways to ensure your meetings are effective
HR can play a big role in improving organisational communication simply by establishing a precedent for office meetings. Effective office meetings lead to improved communication in the workplace, higher levels of productivity, and increased employee morale. So how can you get the most out of meetings in your company? 1. Establish a Meeting Objective: The meeting organiser should […]
Blog: Getting your champagne stories ready for Christmas
December is a time of celebration, thanks and appreciation for many people in business. For others it’s also the end of a financial year and so appraisals are happening too. One leader I am working with described the appraisal season as the most remarkable time where she’s been reminded of what her team […]
Talking Point: Christmas – Is it really the season to be jolly?
A lot of employees are more likely to be looking for a bit of help and support rather than a party this Christmas. While it’s a rollercoaster time of year for people at the best of times, the financial squeeze is bringing with it new pressures that are generating their own potential problems and stress. […]
Talent Spot: Lynne Graham, HR director at WSH
For Lynne Graham, HR director of high-end catering services firm, Westbury Street Holdings, employee engagement is more than a buzzword – it has seeped into the fabric of the company. “I have a very strong belief in engagement,” she says. “A lot of companies see engagement as an internal PR exercise – reward and recognition […]
News: Investment manager loses £1.7m bonus over poaching lunch
An investment manager lost a £1.7 million bonus claim today after the High Court found that he had breached the terms of his employment contract by trying to poaching another employee over lunch. Fahim Imam-Sadeque had been head of sales for the UK, Middle East and Australia at Royal Bank of Canada’s Bluebay Asset Management […]
Vox Pops: How can you best build a business case for buying HR software?
What's the secret to coming up with a sound business case when purchasing HR applications? Attendees at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's HRD learning and development conference earlier this year share their insights:
News: EU pension change proposals to cost UK employers £350bn
Proposed EU pension changes could cost UK employers £350 billion in additional costs, reducing GDP by an average of 1.5% per annum and cutting 180,000 jobs by the mid-2020s, the CBI has warned. The European Commission is proposing to introduce a new funding regime, which would require final salary pension schemes run by individual employers […]
Blog: Nine questions to ask yourself for a healthy 2013
New Year Wellness Resolutions: Don't reinvent the wheel. Many people we work with claim they'd like more energy and a better balance in their life. But are their actions and approaches consistent with these desires? Take for example how much time they devote to planning success in different areas of life. Do they give enough […]
Blog: Four tips to help stressed out HR pros relax
Stress is common in the workplace and it negatively impacts the performance of employees. HR managers of small businesses often wear many hats and are placed in the position of recruiter, benefits administrator, payroll processor and more. Stress in the workplace makes a big impact. In fact, stress was the most common cause of […]
What can HR learn from the sales team?
Every business professional could improve their performance by adopting tried-and-tested selling techniques. But it is particularly true of those working in HR, a profession that requires top quality people and communication skills and the ability to win boardroom buy-in on often alien concepts ranging from workplace wellbeing strategies to the latest employee benefits. But […]
The changing nature of the workforce: Are jobs obsolete?
We are increasingly defined not by who we are, but by what we do. A combination of flexible working patterns, job insecurity and mobile technology are just three factors that have contributed to our professional lives bleeding into our family and private lives. Perhaps we do it to impersonate royalty? Everyone needs an opening […]
News: Employment market to remain tough until end of decade
Unemployment is unlikely to peak until 2014, with the jobs market expected to remain tough until at least the end of the decade, experts have warned. Even though official forecasts have been showing falls in worklessness lately, an analysis of figures undertaken by think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, which are due to […]
News: 1/3 of workers sleep with colleagues at the Xmas party
Even though just under a third of employees admitted to having had sex with a co-worker at the Christmas party, nearly three quarters don’t want to go this year. According to a poll of 1,000 UK staff undertaken by married dating website IllicitEncounters.com, three out of five also acknowledged having kissed someone that they work […]
Blog: How to avoid a Christmas bust-up
It’s official now, the Christmas season has started. The city is decorated, sparkling and illuminated. It is chilly, people have started sipping mulled wine, and pulling and wearing paper hats at Christmas parties. One of my colleagues is even planning her Christmas-tree decoration using a new app on her iPad. So, what’s the spirit […]
Blog: The rising challenge of presenteeism
The recent Chartered Management Institute/Simplyhealth report, “The Quality of Working Life 2012” surveyed over 1,000 managers in 2007 and 2012 and showed the impact of the recession on UK workplaces. In 2012, managers are now working longer hours due to larger workloads; increasingly they are suffering from ill health including stress and depression; and they […]
Conflict resolution: Learning from the lessons of the Anglican Church
The concept of mediation has been splashed across the headlines lately due to a suitably high-profile conflict: the Anglican Church has been divided in two by the issue of women bishops. But the Church is facing the same question as any conflict-stricken organisation does: what is the best approach to bring about a sustainable, long-term […]
That was the HR year that was
If it were possible to sum up a year in a single word, that word in 2012 might be ‘austerity’ – a word that means many things to many people, but which basically amounts to hard times for great swathes of the population. In economic terms, austerity refers to a policy of lowering expenditure by […]
