Blog: Seven ways to ensure your wellness initiatives are sustainable

Many wellness programmes begin with a fanfare, and rightly so.   If you’ve invested time and resources in developing the best wellness programme possible for your business, you’ll want to shout about it from the rooftops when it’s ready to launch.     You can then stand back and enjoy the flurry of activity and […]

Blog: Shared parenting leave – Is it really a win-win?

The latest government proposals in respect to encouraging a ‘family-friendly’ workplace seem to have met with general approval both from business and employee groups. Under the proposals, unveiled last week by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, from 2015, after the first two weeks of a mother’s maternity leave, the remaining 50 weeks can be […]

Talent Spot: Angela Williams, HR director at British Gas

Centrica’s British Gas is celebrating its 200th birthday this year – no mean feat in today’s cut-throat business environment – but its long history means that people have preconceptions about the company. “A lot of people see British Gas as old-fashioned and slow-moving and this is so far from the truth,” says Angela Williams, the […]

Talking Point: Do you know how best to help an employee through divorce?

Unlike death, people experience divorce as a failure.  But the level of compassion and understanding given to someone who is going through the process isn’t always as apparent as it is for someone who is in mourning.   Nonetheless, divorce is one of those ‘crises’ that can completely knock an employee down. Colleagues may try […]

News: Richard Review proposals on apprenticeships widely welcomed

Recommendations that employers should be in the driving seat in relation to apprenticeship design and funding have been widely welcomed. Another proposal put forward by the Richard Review, which was put together for the government by entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den star, Doug Richard, was that apprenticeships should last for at least a year and […]

News: Suspended civil servant sues Dept for Transport

A civil servant who was suspended following the West Coast mainline rail franchise fiasco is to take legal action against the Department for Transport over the way that she was treated. Kate Mingay, the DfT’s director of commercial and technical services, was one of three officials suspended in early October, after the government changed its […]

Blog: Engage for Success – A question of defining and measuring?

I was among a cast of hundreds invited to the QEII conference centre yesterday to bear witness to part of the launch of Engage for Success, the UK based movement centred on the phenomenon that has become known as employee engagement. It’s no secret that I’m not totally bought into employee engagement, whatever that might […]

Blog: How to deal with the pregnancy issue – legally

I have recently been contacted by several women who feel they have been unfairly treated by their employers because of pregnancy and maternity issues.  It seems that this is an area of employment law that many employers fall foul of, possibly unintentionally.    Pregnant employees or those on maternity leave have many key rights in […]

So you want to be…an interim HR manager?

Professional women are increasingly opting to work as interim managers these days.  In fact, the latest research from the Interim Management Association revealed that females were now undertaking 31% of all available assignments, up from only 24% in 2008.   So while the industry may still be a male-dominated one, it is clear that growing […]

Have you got what it takes to be an HR director?

Securing an HR director job is tough.  If you apply for an HRD role, you’ll be faced with strong competition from both inside and outside the organisation. There are some common factors that employers look for when hiring. Ideally, you’ll be someone who is currently a senior HR business partner or a head of HR, […]

News: Local hubs to help employers share under-utilised workers’ skills

A scheme that enables employers to share the skills of under-employed staff was launched today in Northern Ireland and will be rolled out across the UK over the next three years. Skill Exchange UK is a not-for-profit organisation set up by employers such as Royal Mail, Veolia and the Cabinet Office as well as the […]

News: Employers flout discrimination law for migraine sufferers

Employers may be flouting disability discrimination legislation by failing to make reasonable workplace adjustments for employees who suffer from migraines, a charity has warned. According to a survey conducted by the Migraine Trust, a worrying three out of sufferers who work said that their employer had not made any changes to try and ease their […]

Blog: Segmentation as a tool for employee engagement

 As we work towards the end of the year, one of Melcrum’s research team’s key priorities is to connect with our Strategic Communication Research Forum members to agree on the themes we should focus our research efforts on next year. One of the topics we’ve been discussing year on year is the constant changes around […]

Blog: How to get employee recognition programmes right

Recognize This! – Culture management continues to rise in importance to HR leaders as the ability to measure and analyze culture also improves through strategic employee recognition. A couple of weeks ago, in a broader post on how to get more value out of your core values, I alluded to the SHRM/Globoforce Fall 2012 Report. […]

Three considerations for effective succession planning

In the wake of the crisis that engulfed the BBC following the Jimmy Savile scandal, the broadcaster’s director general, George Entwistle, was forced to resign after only 54 days in the job. But less than a fortnight later, the BBC Trust was able to announce his replacement.   Lord Tony Hall of Birkenhead, chief executive […]

Ask the Expert: What benefits are included under a TUPE transfer?

The question  I am currently working on a TUPE project and need some help on issues relating to terms and conditions of employment.   Under TUPE law, I understand that an employee transfers under the terms and conditions of their employment. But my question is how do you determine what is contractual or not if, […]

News: MPs call for action over recruiters’ worker expenses schemes

A group of MPs stepped up pressure on the government today to crack down on the travel and subsistence expense schemes being imposed on temporary workers by some recruitment agencies in order to cut their tax bill. To this end, the five, who were led by Labour MP Michael Connarty, introduced an Early Day Motion […]

News: Public/private sector pay gap widens, gender pay gap eases

Public sector workers now earn on average £86 per week more than their private sector colleagues, with the pay gap continuing to widen. According to research by the Office for National Statistics, a typical full-time public servant is now paid £565 per week, while their private sector counterparts earn only £479, making the differential about […]

Blog: Making recruitment pinteresting

With the rise of social media, a 2-page formulaic CV is quickly becoming an old fashioned way of understanding what personality and talents a candidate has. Today, it’s all about their Twitter feeds, LinkedIn profile, Facebook, and increasingly, Pinterest.   In June this year, Pinterest recorded a staggering 10.4 million users, and 400% month-on-month growth, […]

Book Review: Effective time management in easy steps

The author’s credentials for sharing his insights into effective time management are good. John Carroll was a project management consultant who looked after initiatives for a wide range of clients in sectors ranging from government, finance and manufacturing to pharmaceutical, software development and the emergency services.   He also has experience of training other project […]