News: Employment situation ‘at worst for two decades’, warns CIPD
A small drop in joblessness driven by a rise in underemployed part-time workers combined with stagnant pay growth, means that the underlying employment situation is ‘worse than at any point in at least the past two decades”. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, UK unemployment fell by 45,000 to 2.63 million in […]
News: CIPD’s new CEO appointed to further its global ambitions
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has appointed Peter Cheese as its new chief executive in a bid to further its global ambitions. Cheese, who is currently chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management, will take up the new position on Monday, 2 July. He is taking over from Sue Upton, who […]
Blog: Dealing with the leadership ‘reality gap’
When someone gets ideas above their station and too big for their boots, it generally pays dividends to bring them back down to earth in the most diplomatic way possible. It’s not always easy, but when it’s a close friend or family member you can afford to be frank. At work it tends to […]
In a Nutshell: Five tips for a smooth office move
Moving house is considered to be one of the most stressful things that we can put ourselves through. Although moving office (hopefully) is not likely to be quite as fraught, it does require not only a huge amount of organisation, but also sensitivity in the way that the change is explained to employees. The […]
What does it take 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, […]
Blog: What impact does office politics have on people’s work lives?
Ask most people in businesses today if they think that manipulation and office politics affect their working lives and they’ll say yes. But ask them to quantify the impact on the business and that’s a much more difficult question to answer. In 2011, Revelation Consulting Ltd set out to answer that question, and we […]
Talent Spot: Fiona Lawlor, HR director at Jack Morton Worldwide
During Fiona Lawlor’s time at Jack Morton Worldwide, she has seen the HR function develop from being a lowly back-room admin operation to become a strategic partner of the business. Today, Lawlor is HR director and a senior vice president of the brand experience agency, but when she joined 18 years ago, it had no […]
News: Work days lost to sickness fall again as presenteeism rises
Only days after the Foreign Secretary told Britons that they should work harder, official figures revealed that more employees were going to work when sick due to growing concerns over job security. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, William Hague warned the coalition government’s business critics that there was “only one growth strategy: work […]
News: Female Network Rail staff to fight for equal pay
Network Rail bosses were accused today of treating women like “second class citizens” after research revealed that they were being paid on average £4,500 per year less than their male colleagues. The findings of the survey of more than 2,000 workers will result in some 34 female middle managers launching an initial claim for […]
Blog: How to promote workplace safety
Engaging employees in workplace safety can be a formidable challenge. Many employees view training sessions as a distraction, and they won’t pay attention if they find the materials boring or largely repetitive. At the same time, creating a safe work environment can mean the difference between a productive and profitable business and one that […]
Blog: CVs – To fib or not to fib….
CVs – to fib or not to fib? That may be the question, but to my mind it would only be worth £100 on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, since it’s a bit of a no-brainer really. Yet it still seems to be asked a lot, usually alongside the bold assertion “Well, everyone […]
CEO Insight: Briggs Equipment’s Richard Close on how to work effectively with unions
Disputes between trade unions and employers have flooded the news in recent weeks, not least due to the threat of a tanker driver strike that would have had a severe impact across the country. Strike action is often seen as a last resort by employees when negotiating with their employers, but it is nonetheless likely […]
State of the nation: The HR recruitment market
Without doubt, the overall HR recruitment market has been going through an ‘interesting’ 2012 to date. In general terms, the increased demand for interim hires is currently driving the market while continued economic uncertainty has a sustained impact upon permanent hiring at all levels. Financial services, for so long one of the key markets […]
A typical HRD: Part 1 – Financial services
HR directors with a global or Europe, Middle East and Africa remit who occupy senior positions within the financial services sector will ordinarily have enjoyed a successful first career elsewhere, before moving across and starting their ‘second’ one. As the strategic importance of HR – and all of its constituent parts, which includes talent attraction, […]
News: Calls for ‘competency card’ after employer convicted of manslaughter
Health and safety experts have called for a mandatory proof-of-competence card to be introduced for agriculture workers after a pig farm became among the first organisations to be convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter Act. JMW Farms was fined a record £187,000 plus £13,000 in costs at Belfast Crown Court last Tuesday, following the death of […]
Blog: Workforce career development survey – Initial findings
Thanks to all who have taken part in our career development survey so far. Some 24 employers and 53 employees had participated when we took this cut of data. We’re keeping the survey open and numbers continue to grow – here is the link to the employer survey, and here is the link to […]
Blog: What makes a star performer?
We might like to think that two people doing the same job will produce similar levels of output, but in practice there can be significant differences. Certain people are twice as productive, sometimes even five times as productive, as others. In these challenging times, being able to identify, recruit and develop these rare performers […]
News: Employers ‘must collaborate to stem falling adult learner numbers’
A national body has called on employers, policy-makers, unions, providers and charities to work more effectively together in a bid to stem the dwindling numbers of adults involved in learning. An annual survey among 5,237 people undertaken by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education to mark Adult Learners’ Week, which started on 12 May, […]
Green Office Week: How to promote workplace change
This week sees the start of the fourth ‘Green Office Week’, which is intended to encourage workers across the country to implement simple, practical, step-by-step changes in order to help make their workplaces more environmentally-friendly. Our aim in launching the event was to champion a ‘bottom-up’ approach to encouraging behavioural change by using it as […]
Why local government’s approach to temporary labour may be in trouble
Local government’s attempt to reduce spend on temporary labour is being hit by the Agency Worker Regulations. Our analysis shows that the use of temporary workers across 79 of our longest-term local authorities and public body customers – which collectively spend over £300 million a year on short-term help – has dropped by 15% over […]