News: Former Olympus CEO gets £10m unfair dismissal payoff
Former Olympus chief executive, Michael Woodford, who was sacked for blowing the whistle on a £1.7 billion fraud scandal, will receive a payoff of £10 million. Woodford, who left the Japanese consumer and medical camera manufacturer after only two weeks, will receive the pay-out following his agreement to an out-of-court settlement last week. He […]
News: Police shared service move could see 1,100 jobs outsourced
Local press reports suggest that around 1,100 posts across the three police forces of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire could be outsourced along with back office services, which include HR. Later this month, the three forces plan to publish proposals for private companies to supply HR, finance and IT services to their respective police authorities. […]
News: Income tax and national insurance integration hits delays
The government has delayed a consultation on possible options for integrating the operation of income tax and National Insurance Contributions. The consultation was originally due to start after the March Budget, following discussions with employers and other groups. But due to the technical challenges involved in the move – and the potential disruption […]
Ask the Expert: Is being rude to a colleague’s mum grounds for a disciplinary?
The question An external agent, a non-employee, has raised a grievance against a colleague of mine, a first line manager, claiming that she was unsympathetic and cold during a telephone conversation, in which the external agent had asked if her son could leave site immediately to attend a funeral (his grandfather’s). My colleague had […]
Blog: Tips on how to create a powerful employer brand
We recently held an employer branding event held at The Sanctum Soho Hotel with some great insights from brands such ITV and TMP Worldwide who outlined their own employer branding journeys. What became clear is that with the right resources – and of course budget – employer branding messages can be very powerful. But how […]
Blog: Are you paying enough attention to staff health and well-being?
A couple of month’s ago the nation’s hearts sank at the sight of Bolton’s Midfielder Fabrice Muamba being resuscitated after collapsing at the FA Cup Quarter final due to a sudden cardiac arrest. The 24 yr old football star took 78 minutes to regain breathing and has bought new awareness to Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome this […]
Performance psychology in action
A goodly number of businesses and public authorities are now starting to adopt performance psychology techniques as a means of trying to enhance how their employees operate on a day-to-day basis. Performance psychology combines business, sports and positive psychology, with the aim of enabling individuals, teams and groups to flourish and become the best that […]
News: Case for no-fault dismissals unproven, say experts
Experts from all areas of business have agreed that, while the benefits case for introducing compensated no-fault dismissal is unproven, there is a strong risk that it could damage employment relations. The coalition government’s request for evidence on the controversial measure, which was put forward by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft earlier this year, is due […]
News: BA cabin crew sue for loss of travel discounts during strike
A number of cabin crew living outside of England are seeking compensation from British Airways for indirect racial discrimination over its withdrawal of travel concessions during strikes two years ago. According to the Guardian, the claims are being heard at an employment tribunal this week, where five air stewards are looking for redress of up […]
Video Interview: SynGro’s Ken Scott on how best to exploit staff feedback
At a recent European Customer Experience World event, our sister website, MyCustomer.com, spoke to Ken Scott, director of delivery at SynGro, which develops customer insight programmes, about why ‘Voice of the Employee’ feedback isn’t being better used within organisations.
Blog: Punk rock HR – How to make learning worthwhile
Someone does not measure up to your expectations? What do you do? Fire them? Fire yourself for not hiring them properly in the first place? Well, the time-honoured HR solution to the capability problem is to train them. Nothing wrong with that at all, I hear you say? No, except there are some faulty […]
Blog: How to wear someone down when applying for your job vacancy
In the last post, we described how jobs are often reserved for someone who is a friend of an executive. In the case described, the post of communications chief was reserved for a crony of the Mayor of London. Some of you might have qualms about this. You might feel it’s wrong to waste […]
In a Nutshell: Five top tips for staying stress-free
Stress is now the leading cause of long-term sickness absence in the workplace. A survey published recently by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and private health insurance company, Simplyhealth, revealed that nearly two-fifths of the 592 UK employers questioned had seen an increase in stress-related absence among their employees over the last year. […]
Heathrow: Ensuring staff actions line up with corporate values
I think it was Napoleon who said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers. It’s certainly true that we know a thing or two about queuing – it’s pretty much a national past time. So it seems strange that we could get it so wrong at Heathrow Airport. It’s not as if it’s something […]
News: Senior execs lead by example in adopting social media tools
Senior executives use social media more frequently than any other more junior members of staff, including ‘Generation Y’, new research has revealed. A European survey, which involved talking to 2,700 professionals across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, found that 71% of senior executives use social tools at least once a […]
News: HMRC workers vote for strike action
More than half of HM Revenue & Customs staff polled have voted for industrial action in a dispute over jobs and privatisation, which is expected to affect a range of services from tax advice to call centre support. The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents 55,000 HMRC members, said in a statement that an […]
News: Govt dismisses ‘exploitation’ of unpaid Jubilee stewards as “one off”
Downing Street has dismissed accusations about “exploiting cheap labour” during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, following claims that a security firm asked unpaid jobseekers who acted as stewards to sleep under London Bridge. Former deputy prime minister, Lord Prescott, wrote to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, after the incident came to light yesterday, saying that […]
Talking Point: How professionalised is the HR profession?
As the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development prepares to mark its centenary next year, the event raises an inevitable question: how has the HR profession changed over the last 100 years and where is it at in professionalisation terms today? Compared to some of the newer professions such as information technology or facilities management, […]
Blog: Lessons from The Pitch: 9 steps to building a top notch team
How is your pitch being developed? Are you ready for your pitch? This past weekend I became fascinated with the TV show The Pitch on AMC Channel. The Pitch gives an inside view of advertising agencies. Each week, two agencies compete to win a new client by giving a presentation called the Pitch. It gives a close-up […]
TV Review: The Apprentice Finale – Objectivity and gut feel are a winning combination
Most of us will have spent the majority of Sunday’s final of The Apprentice in stitches. My notes for writing this blog really don’t go beyond the moment of hiccups and bloopers of absolute comedy gold. And I’ve got a slight problem with that. Crucially, these “outtake” moments weren’t contributing factors to the final […]