How important is industry background when taking on a new HR hire?

“Every star has that certain something that stands out and compels us to notice them.”  Maureen O’Hara When Maureen O’Hara was originally quoted, she was doubtlessly referring to the dazzling world of Hollywood’s Golden Age, but it applies to all of us, in all of our professional lives.   When you are recruiting, you are […]

News: Greencore workers win temporary pay cut claim

More than 400 workers at a Hull factory are expected to receive up to £1.2 million after their employer refused to revert back to premium pay rates and enhanced holiday pay following a temporary suspension. According to Unite, the staff at Greencore had agreed to the temporary suspension from June 2010 to October 2011 “in […]

News: British workers on verge of ‘burn-out’

Two separate studies have revealed that UK workers are coming to the end of their respective tethers and feel that they can’t handle the stress of their jobs much longer. A survey among 32,000 employees across the world conducted by professional services firm, Towers Watson, indicated that just over one in three UK staff are […]

Blog: Employed or self-employed? How to get it right legally

HR professionals at the BBC have had a busy few weeks. The director general, George Entwistle, resigned and was controversially paid a year’s salary (twice his notice period, apparently).   The director of news and her deputy were asked to “step aside” pending the outcome of an internal review into the handling of the Jimmy […]

Book Review: The high engagement work culture – Balancing me and we

I read the sleeve notes of this book with interest: “The financial Crash of 2008 was not just about government regulation or lack thereof; the low tide of the Crash also revealed just how vulnerable our societies are to those organizations which focus so much on their own self-serving goals, that they ignore the damage […]

Legal Insight: The implications of sacking a BNP member

In the summer of 2006, the Court of Appeal confirmed that Serco had acted lawfully in dismissing one of its mini-bus drivers, Arthur Redfearn, following his election onto the local council on behalf of the British National Party. But Redfearn subsequently took his case to the European Court of Human Rights.   He argued that […]

News: Christian demoted for gay marriage opposition wins breach of contract case

A Christian man who was demoted at work for posting his opposition to gay church weddings on Facebook has won a breach of contract lawsuit against his employer. Adrian Smith found himself in trouble with the Trafford Housing Trust after linking an article on the BBC News website entitled ‘Gay church marriages get go ahead’ […]

News: Sainsbury’s to pay £10,000 for wrongfully dismissing coffee drinker

Sainsbury's will have to pay out around £10,000 in lost earnings and severance pay to a worker whom it sacked after leaving the store for just two minutes to find money for a coffee. According to the Daily Mail, Steven Tyler, who had worked as a baker at the supermarket for 11 years before being […]

Living Leader Learnings: How can I stay true to myself at work?

The challenge A sales executive at a telecommunications company says:   "I’m doing well in my job, achieving and exceeding my targets regularly, which should leave me feeling good. But lately, I’m becoming more and more troubled by the fact that I seem to be two different people – one at home and one at […]

Blog: Why do we nearly always misread what motivates others?

Recognize This! – Money does not motivate. It compensates. What motivates us at work is ultimately a very personal and individual topic, though generalities do apply.   That’s why I get a chuckle out of research study after research study showing we nearly always guess incorrectly what would motivate others. Case in point, research out […]

Lembit Opik: How to navigate office politics

I’ll let you into a bit of a secret, off the record, as they say: office politics exists.   In fact, it’s everywhere. I once asked my friend and former boss at Procter & Gamble, Graham Cowley, what the smallest organisation to be influenced by politics was.     He replied without a moment’s hesitation: ‘A marriage.’ Was […]

News: Employers unaware of fitness-to-drive responsibilities

A worrying number of employers are unaware that they have a shared responsibility to ensure that employees are fit to drive if doing so in the course of their work. According to a survey conducted among more than 200 employers by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, however, 57% believe that responsibility for ensuring that their eyesight is […]

News: Fit note system fails to cut sickness absence rates

HR professionals are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the ‘fit note’ system as many believe that it has not helped them to cut sickness absence rates within their organisation. According to a survey of 212 practitioners undertaken by online HR services provider, XpertHR, a key problem is that GPs are failing to use the sick leave […]

Ask the Expert: What holiday pay are staff entitled to if off sick?

The question I was looking through our sickness policy the other day and saw it stated that "when sickness absence is over four weeks, holiday pay will cease to accrue".   Further along, it also said that "if you fall sick during a time that has been booked for holiday, you will not be able […]

Blog: Work-life balance is a bottom line issue

"You are a great model of work-life balance, Ron. Thanks for showing me.” Last week I linked to an article titled Why the Work-Life Balance is Now More Important Than Ever.   It was a UK-based article on work-life balance and it cited five countries and how each of them approaches it. The comment was based on […]

In a Nutshell: Five ways to get the most out of your team

Emma Littmoden, as a partner at leadership programme provider, The Living Leader, helps HR directors and other senior managers to find ways of encouraging members of their teams to take individual responsibility and innovate. Here she shares five tips to ensure that you get the most out of both yourself and your staff: 1. Appreciate […]

US presidential election – The power of empathy

It’s official (again) that being able to show empathy is a critical quality desirable in any leader. For instance, in an exit poll during the recent US presidential election published by the Washington Post on Tuesday 6 November, ‘caring about people like me’ was shown to be the most important leadership trait among 20% of […]

News: Mixed response to EC’s watering down of gender quota proposals

The European Commission’s decision to significantly water down plans for legally-binding quotas in order to boost the number of women on company boards has met with a mixed response. The original aim had been to impose strict 40% quotas on both executive and non-executive board positions within public companies.   Under the new proposals, however, […]

News: Institute launched in bid to improve UK employee relations

A membership body has just been set up in the UK to undertake research, offer training and provide expert advice to employers in the area of employee and workplace relations. The Employee Relations Institute’s board comprises representatives from 17 employers, employer bodies and trade unions and has appointed Jan Parkinson, former director of the Local […]

Blog: How best to protect your staff when travelling abroad

Having offices in multiple countries, our employees travel between countries with relative frequency. It got me thinking about the importance of having a good system in place for sending employees abroad.   So I asked Dan Skilken of Trip Insurance to offer some advice on the business of… well, business travel. This is what he […]