Talent Spot: Kath Austin, HR and Marketing Director, Pizza Hut
Kath Austin, HR and Marketing Director at Pizza Hut, built her career across major brands including British Airways, Barclays, and Lloyds TSB. Her passion for food and business strategy, combined with experience in HR and organizational transformation, positioned her to lead Pizza Hut’s UK brand turnaround.
News: UK jobs market remains in rude health
The UK jobs market is growing steadily with job opportunities up a third since 2010, defying recession warnings. New positions improved 3% monthly and 12% year-over-year, with social care, education, and health sectors leading growth across most regions.
Gay marriage: will a licence to marry really be a licence to sack?
The UK Parliament votes on legalizing same-sex marriage amid claims that opponents will face workplace discrimination. HR directors must navigate balancing equality legislation with concerns raised by religious organizations and traditionalist groups about potential employment consequences.
Ask the Expert: Does my job advert fall foul of age discrimination law?
Job adverts requiring a specific number of years’ experience can constitute indirect age discrimination by disadvantaging younger applicants. While employers may justify such requirements, they must demonstrate this is a proportionate way to achieve a legitimate business aim—and prescriptive experience requirements risk overlooking qualified candidates regardless of age.
Is that an auto-enrolment time bomb ticking?
Auto-enrolment pension rules could become a costly problem for mid-sized firms with 60-249 employees, warns a benefits expert. Companies lack resources to meet the April 2014 staging deadline, and complexity around employee eligibility and opt-out choices risks widespread compliance failures.
Social media powers bullying in the workplace
Social media misuse is eroding workplace privacy and enabling bullying, with over half of adults reporting privacy concerns. Many employees are limiting social media use or avoiding it entirely due to cyber-bullying, unwanted contact from colleagues, and lack of clear employer policies to prevent harassment.
News: UK firms turn to temporary staff
UK firms are increasingly hiring temporary staff, with overall vacancies rising 5.2% according to a survey by staffing firm Venn Group. However, trends vary significantly by region and industry, with London’s temporary employment dropping 34% due partly to Olympic preparations.
Why focus on engaging teams?
Research reveals six key behaviors that significantly boost team engagement: vision, recognition, trust, growth opportunities, support, and open communication. Focusing on these factors simultaneously helps teams achieve higher performance, cohesion, and stability based on evidence from a large-scale study of 15 million employees across 300+ companies.
Technology and the changing face of work
Technology continuously reshapes the workplace and the skills workers need to succeed. As job titles and roles evolve faster than ever, workers must adapt to emerging demands that barely existed decades ago, driven by automation, digitalization, and innovation.
News: Catholic Church threatens to sack teachers in gay marriages
The Catholic Church has warned that teachers in its schools who enter same-sex marriages or civil partnerships face dismissal, claiming such relationships contradict church teaching. However, UK employment law prohibits discrimination based on sexuality, creating a legal conflict over faith schools’ hiring practices.
News: why we’re all totally stressed out!!!
One in five UK workers skip lunch breaks due to heavy workloads, while nearly half report daily stress, according to a British Heart Foundation survey revealing widespread workplace health concerns and employer neglect of employee wellbeing.
I want to be alone – but it’s not good for business!
Nearly half of UK employees report their organisations don’t support effective teamwork, risking productivity losses. A survey reveals that 37% prefer working alone, while team leaders often fail to resolve conflicts and build trust, creating toxic workplace environments.
Blog: Employee engagement needs commitment from both sides
Employee engagement requires commitment from both employers and workers. While individual employees must choose to engage, companies must also create environments where employees want to bring their best. Strategic recognition and honest communication can help re-engage valued employees and improve customer relationships.
How to effectively set goals
Effective goal setting combines outcome, performance, and process goals while ensuring team involvement in the goal-creation process. Goals must align with individual skills and motivations to harness motivation rather than undermine it, with regular feedback and assessment to maintain focus on delivering optimal performance.
HRZone Interview: Andrew Kakabadse, Cranfield University School of Management
HR directors must think and act like CEOs to be effective board members, but most lack the strategic capabilities and boardroom credibility to do so, according to Andrew Kakabadse, Professor of International Management Development at Cranfield University. The challenge is that HR is often perceived as too transactional and disconnected from organizational strategy.
Book Review: ‘Savvy: Dealing with People, Power and Politics at Work’
Jane Clarke’s “Savvy” defines workplace savvy as the ability to understand and utilize organizational power dynamics to achieve objectives. The book provides practical strategies, quizzes, and case studies for navigating office politics, managing relationships, and handling common workplace conflicts effectively.
In a nutshell: core values communication
Nexenta Systems ensures core values communication worldwide through its performance management system by identifying ten competencies, defining them clearly, explaining their importance, maintaining transparency about how they’re measured, and having leadership demonstrate these values at all organizational levels.
Talent spot: Lorraine Makepeace, head of amazing at The Chemistry Group
Lorraine Makepeace holds the creative title “Head of Amazing” at The Chemistry Group, where she runs HR for the 21-person consultancy while serving as the CEO’s right hand. Her role involves recruiting talent, developing staff skills, and implementing her visionary leader’s strategic ideas across the organization.
Woman crack the boardroom, but not the pay gap
Women have increased their presence on European boards to 17% of director roles, but the gender pay gap has widened significantly, with male directors earning 9% more than female counterparts in 2012, according to a Hay Group report.
Snow joke as workers lie about being trapped by the weather
A quarter of UK workers admitted to lying about being snowed in to skip work during recent winter weather. A survey found that many exaggerated conditions or fabricated transport problems, with colleagues skeptical of their claims and the disruptions costing businesses millions in lost productivity.
