TV Review: World’s maddest job interview
According to the mental health charity Mind, one in four people suffer from some form of mental health issue. This means that almost all of us, either directly, indirectly or by proxy, will experience psychological illness within our lifetimes. The problem is, however, that of those who choose to disclose mental ill-health to their […]
Blog: Lessons from Olympians – How to compete and cooperate at the same time
Recognise This! – The Olympics offer us lessons to apply in the workplace on how to achieve both individual and organisation success. How competitive is your workplace? Is it a good type of competition or one that breeds dissension, disharmony and, ultimately, disengagement? A recent survey reported by NBC shows 96% of senior managers […]
The HRZone Interview: Dr Cary Cooper on well-being at work
Dr Cary Cooper is professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School and author of more than 150 books on topics ranging from occupational stress and women at work to organisational psychology. He is also a regular contributor to TV, radio and the press and, in 2001, was awarded a CBE for […]
News: Blacklisted construction workers lodge claim against Sir Robert McAlpine
The campaign by blacklisted construction workers has stepped up a gear, after a High Court claim was lodged against Sir Robert McAlpine which has been branded the worst offender. The legal action follows an official complaint lodged earlier this month with the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development by the Blacklist Support Group against five […]
Ask the Expert: What to do with someone whose role has mostly been offshored?
The question We are a company with five permanent staff. One role has ‘lost’ much of its workload after the work was moved offshore. The person fulfilling that role is now left trying to find enough things to do much of the time. What are my options here? Can I legally redefine the role […]
Blog: The crucial role of line managers in beating employee stress
Stress is a big problem within the workplace in the UK and it is not being tackled effectively. Many people are concerned about their jobs and many organisations have to take measures to reduce costs; stress needs to be tackled from the boardroom to ensure that it is a priority. So often it is […]
News: FTSE 100 firms to be ranked on staff wellness and engagement
FTSE 100 firms will soon be ranked on how well they report on staff engagement and wellbeing after research revealed a “critical link” between effective HR management and organisational performance. Charity Business in the Community intends to launch its Workwell pilot project this autumn, following a study that found FTSE 100 companies with robust processes […]
Blog: The 10 most effective ways to lose your team’s respect
Sometimes the best way to eliminate bad habits in leadership is to see them parodied. So in that spirit, here are the ten quickest ways to ensure your team are demotivated and your leadership is always in question: 1. Always over react, rather than not react So something has gone wrong and you’re not […]
Blog: Lessons from Olympians – Boosting staff productivity
It’s the start of the Olympic Games. The world’s finest athletes are set to do battle. They will train hard. Competition will be intense. Extra effort is required to get over the line. Athletes need to be at the top of their game to succeed. Those that aren’t will falter. There are a number […]
How to administer pay cuts in times of austerity
Last week, Reuters reported that the Spanish royal family, surrounded by high unemployment and scenes of public workers striking, had offered to take a pay cut. The move is intended to reduce the €8.3 million annual cost to Spanish taxpayers of keeping them by some €100,000. Leading the way is the Spanish King, Juan […]
Analysis: Holiday pay for long-term sick ruling could prove “costly”
A landmark case over holiday pay for the long-term sick could not only prove costly for employers but also raises as many questions as it answers, according to legal experts. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal ruled that Janet Larner, a part-time clerical worker at NHS Leeds, was entitled to paid leave for the financial […]
Christina’s Counsel: Managing attitude problems remotely
The challenge An HR client recently asked me for advice about how to tackle a situation that may become more commonplace as managing staff remotely increasingly becomes the norm. A manager raised concerns about a team member who worked some 75 miles away in a satellite office. Until recently, the office had been manned […]
News: Employers to be paid £2,000 to hire young disabled people
Employers will be paid more than £2,000 to take on severely disabled young people following the government’s decision to close two thirds of Remploy factories, leading to UK-wide industrial action today. Under a three-year government scheme entitled ‘Work Choice’, financial incentives of up to £2,275 for each employee working 30 or more hours per week […]
Blog: Four survival tips for when the company loses its CEO
Recognise This! – Build a strong culture based on core values that mean something to individual employees. We’ve all read the stories of the new CEO stepping into a strong company culture. The good CEOs express various concerns around wanting to preserve what is strong in the culture and company, etc. Now think how […]
Blog: Babies in the office – Will it work?
The BBC series ‘Babies in the Office’ has been an interesting insight into the prospect of parents bringing their babies and toddlers right into their workspace. As an experiment the program is brilliant, but for me the long term potential of this concept seems limited. I suppose that they chose a call centre […]
Going for gold with former Olympians
In sport terms, 30 years of age is probably the equivalent of 50 for everyone else. By 35, most sports people are nudging retirement. But what do they do after that? For a significant number of ex-Olympians and other sporting legends, the next move is into training and consultancy, sharing the secrets of their […]
News: Govt launches 3-step mental health plan to save employers £10bn
Ministers have called on employers to take three steps to boost the mental health of their workers in a bid to save the UK economy £30 billion per year in lost productivity. Mental ill health such as depression and anxiety costs UK business more than £1,000 per employee each year, mainly in lost production as […]
News: Border Agency strike on eve of Games called off
Industrial action by Border Agency staff has been called off at the eleventh hour following union claims that the Home Office now intends to create 1,100 new jobs. The move came only an hour before the government was due to launch a high court challenge against a planned one-day strike by members of the Public […]
Blog: The power of story-telling
“Once upon a time …” You say those words to any child and they visually go into a trance. These were the words that were always used to tell a story. When my children were small, my wife would give them their bath and I was the story teller. I would come into the […]
Talent Spot: Philippe Ferrie, head of HR at Vallourec
When a global company has a decentralised culture, it can be hard to persuade people to accept standardisation that is handed down from head office, even if it makes their work lives easier. This was the situation that Philippe Ferrie, worldwide employee relations coordinator at Vallourec, found himself in when the company chose to implement […]