National Science and Engineering Week: Plugging the specialist skills gap
It is unsurprising that the ongoing spectre of a double-dip recession and sovereign debt crisis continue to spook world markets. As such, one could be forgiven for thinking that Europe is something of a black hole when it comes to employment opportunities these days. To make matters worse, the European Union’s controversial Agency Worker […]
Ask the Expert: How do we deal with an alleged accident victim who is now in Brazil?
The question We have an employee that slipped and fell at work about a year ago, but we are not sure if the accident was staged or genuine. He was taken to hospital and discharged the same day. The staff member had booked two weeks of holiday prior to the accident, which was due […]
Abercrombie & Fitch staff made to do punishment press-ups, claims leaked email
Employees at an Abercrombie & Fitch store were made to do press-ups if they failed to greet customers correctly, according to a leaked email. An internal message to staff from a manager at the US fashion chain’s flagship Milan store, which was leaked to the Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper, reportedly said: “From today, every […]
500 KPMG staff informed of redundancy risk – by voicemail
Hundreds of staff at the accountancy arm of management consultancy, KPMG, have been informed that they are at risk of redundancy – by voicemail. The company has, somewhat ironically, been voted ‘one of the best companies to work for’ by its staff over six consecutive years. But five hundred employees were reportedly sent a […]
Blog: Do we encourage a dependency culture at work?
At just aged six, my son is already learning to be independent. He washes and dresses himself he can run his own bath get his own drinks, breakfast and little things like that. At the weekend I took in him for his swimming lesson, and afterwards I told him to have a shower which […]
Nine out of 10 staff unaware of employer’s Olympics workforce policies
Although a huge four out of five employers claim to have devised workforce policies to help them cope with Olympics-related business disruption, almost nine out of ten employees have no idea what they are. To make matters worse, a worrying 55% of organisations attest that they have communicated their plans to staff, who should be […]
HR software deployments: ‘Big bang’ or phased roll-out?
There are two possible approaches to introducing a new HR system – one is to go for a big bang, ‘all-in-one-go’ implementation, while the second is to phase in the deployment over time. And both approaches have their merits as was highlighted at software supplier Unit4’s customer conference in Birmingham last month. Construction consultancy, Cyril […]
Dealing with an Olympian event
Love them or loathe them, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are now mere months away. But worryingly, according to research by Olympic sponsor, BT, almost a third of organisations across the country have simply not made adequate enough preparations to cope, even though a huge 93% expect to be affected in some way – not […]
International Women’s Day: Only 19% of IT professionals are female
Despite years of IT industry initiatives to boost female representation, a mere 19% of technology professionals are currently women. A poll conducted among 2,000 respondents by recruitment website, The IT Job Board, to coincide with International Women’s Day, indicated that the figure had risen 3% on last year, but it also pointed out that half […]
Blog: Notes from the TLNT Transform conference – Welcome to the “new era of people”
I have been to the mountaintop. This past week, I was in Austin, Texas for TLNT Transform, which was billed as a new type HR conference. While not a presenter, I served as conference chair. This allowed me to not only sit in on all the presentations, but it gave me insight into all […]
HRD Insight: Leigh Lafever-Ayer on Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s women’s mentoring scheme
Many companies are grappling with how to help more women attain senior roles at the moment, especially since the Davies Review shone a spotlight on the shortage of women in the boardroom. Our approach to the issue at Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been to introduce a mentoring scheme in order to focus on helping women progress […]
International Women’s Day: Making gender diversity a workplace reality
The aim of International Women’s Day today is to inspire women, celebrate their achievements and find ways of creating brighter and more rewarding opportunities for future generations. But in terms of the workplace, just how far has gender diversity actually come? The media is full of reports about the need for greater female equality. […]
Employers getting more relaxed about staff social media usage
The number of large organisations planning to block employees’ access to social media is continuing to drop as corporate attitudes towards social networks become more relaxed, according to Gartner. New research by the analyst organisation indicated that less than 30% of large firms intend to prevent staff from accessing social network sites by 2014 compared […]
Cable reveals coalition horse-trading over scrapping 50p tax rate
Business secretary Vince Cable has confirmed that negotiations to replace the 50p income tax rate with some form of wealth tax, or “mansion tax”, are ongoing within the coalition ahead of the Budget. Cable added that the Liberal Democrats were not "ideologically wedded to the 50p tax rate" as the Chancellor comes under increasing pressure […]
HR too focused on cost when devising policy goals, warns report
HR functions are giving insufficient attention to the potential impact of external social and political influences when designing HR policy goals and are instead focusing too much on short-term issues such as cost. These are the key findings of a survey among 52 HR directors and board members working in large corporates across Europe conducted […]
Remploy factory closures risk jobs of 1,500 disabled workers
Remploy is to consult with unions over the proposed closure of 36 of its 54 factories due to government funding cuts, which could lead to compulsory redundancies among more than 1,500 disabled workers. Remploy factories were established 66 years ago as part of the creation of the welfare state in order to employ disabled […]
Blog: Creating a company culture post-M&A
Recognise This! – Merging cultures and is as critical as merging “the books.” Be sure to give it the attention it deserves. Earlier, I offered a review of the book Building a Magnetic Culture. Nowhere is that more difficult – or more necessary – than in an organisation that has just completed a merger or […]
Talent Spot: Community blogger, Ron Thomas
Ron Thomas, a principal at New York-based HR consultancy StrategyFocusedHR and favourite HRzone blogger, always knew that business was his calling, even if he didn’t know in exactly which branch he’d end up. “I knew I was going to major in business in college,” he says. “I was always intrigued by people who came to […]
Video Interview: Sharron Davies on what it takes to be a winner
Sharron Davies, Olympic silver medalist and winner of two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, talks to HRzone about what she believes it takes to be a winner and what set her off on her prestigious career path in the first place. Davies also shares her opinions on what constitutes effective leadership and what impact […]
Book Review: Happy Working Relationships by Simon Jones
From the very first paragraphs in the introduction, this book entitled ‘Happy Working Relationships – the small business guide to managing people and employment law’ caught my interest. It announces that its aim is to add to the selection of advisory books available for small businesses by including HR in the already well-covered list of […]