Olympian Insight: Steve Backley and Roger Black on what HR can learn from sport
Olympic athletes Steve Backley and Roger Black share key leadership and team-building lessons for HR professionals, emphasizing clarity of vision, accountability, and alignment across teams—insights applicable to modern workplace challenges.
Employers must plan now for proposed tanker driver strike, warns lawyer
Employers must begin contingency planning for a potential UK fuel tanker driver strike, as union ballots show majority support for industrial action over pay, conditions, and safety concerns. The strike could cause widespread disruption, closing thousands of petrol stations and affecting employee commutes.
UK to be 450,000 technicians short by 2020
An 18-month review warns the UK faces a shortage of 450,000 skilled technicians by 2020 unless urgent action is taken. The Technician Council has launched eight recommendations to develop professional standards and create formal pathways for technical workers across engineering, science, and medicine.
Blog: The racing line for employee engagement
Effective employee engagement requires a customized approach tailored to each organization’s unique culture, similar to how racing teams optimize their approach for different tracks. While core engagement principles apply universally, the specific interventions and strategies must be designed based on understanding your organization’s current state and desired future state.
HRDs unconvinced by social recruitment – study
Most HR directors remain unconvinced about social media’s effectiveness for recruitment, with 70% uncertain or skeptical of its value. Only 3 in 10 UK HR directors use social networking to source or communicate with job candidates, according to a Robert Half survey.
Public sector jobs cull to lead to “tectonic shift” in UK labour market
Coalition government budget cuts will eliminate more than one in seven public sector jobs, reducing the workforce to record lows and triggering a “tectonic shift” in the UK labour market structure, according to the CIPD’s analysis of employment projections.
Blog: How to grow your brain in 30 days
Discover how to stimulate your brain’s growth in just 30 days through scientifically-backed habits like aerobic exercise, eating dark berries, reducing caffeine, and continuous learning. These simple changes trigger neurogenesis, helping you learn faster, retain information better, and protect against cognitive decline.
Legal Insight: Staff health and wellbeing – Your duty of care
Employers have a legal duty of care to support staff health and wellbeing through workplace initiatives, fair employment terms, stress management, and preventive programs. Comprehensive wellbeing strategies boost employee performance and retention while demonstrating organizational commitment to mental and physical health.
Employers can sack older workers to cut costs, rules Appeal Court
A Court of Appeal ruling has determined that an employer can dismiss an older worker to avoid costly pension payouts, even if age discrimination is involved, provided the dismissal serves a legitimate business purpose such as restructuring.
Best Practice: Five pointers to ensure flexible working works
Wakefield Council’s flexible working programme has cut costs by £1.4m and boosted staff productivity while reducing commuter miles by 225,000 annually. Five key success factors include eliminating paper-based processes, taking a holistic corporate approach, securing management buy-in, engaging employees through training, and ensuring robust technology infrastructure.
Blog: Five tips on how best to recruit Generation Y
Attract Millennials to your organization by leveraging social media, demonstrating digital literacy skills, showcasing company values, defining clear career paths, and providing instant feedback throughout the recruitment process.
Multi-national employers standardise HR policies to ‘create united culture’
Multinational employers are standardizing HR policies globally to foster unified company cultures and drive growth, though this approach conflicts with rising remote work preferences. HR experts highlight the need for balanced strategies amid economic pressures and the growing separation of operational and strategic HR functions.
Blog: What is constructive dismissal?
Constructive dismissal occurs when an employer commits a fundamental breach of contract causing a breakdown in trust, forcing an employee to resign. To succeed in a tribunal claim, employees must prove the breach was serious and led to their decision to terminate employment, and should pursue the grievance procedure first.
Ask the Expert: When does continuity of service start for a casual worker turned perm?
When a casual worker transitions to permanent employment, continuity of service typically runs from the original zero-hours contract date if mutual obligations existed—meaning the employer regularly offered work and the worker consistently accepted. However, employers can specify in the new permanent contract that previous casual service doesn’t count, though employees may still claim continuity for statutory rights purposes.
Rooting out the “cancer” of employee cynicism
Employee cynicism, driven by years of economic uncertainty and austerity measures, spreads through organizations like cancer, undermining customer engagement, sales performance, and bottom-line results. Cynical employees offer deeper discounts, avoid upselling, and fail to take ownership of problems, creating a paralysis that stifles innovation and productivity.
Bus driver appeals sacking – for eating a grape
A 66-year-old bus driver from Coventry has appealed his dismissal by National Express after being caught eating a grape while sitting in his stationary cab. Michael Shephard claims he ate the fruit to relieve dry mouth caused by post-heart-surgery medication, and says the rules were being applied too strictly.
Public sector jobs cull will jump to 730,000 by 2017, forecasts OBR
The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts 730,000 public sector job losses by 2017, up 20,000 from previous estimates. The cuts, driven by government budget constraints, are expected to accelerate initially before slowing through 2012-2017, prompting union warnings about wage cuts in economically deprived regions.
Blog: Lessons on dealing with the unions during times of change
An HR manager at a transport company shares strategies for successfully harmonizing shift patterns across teams while maintaining union relations. His consultation-based approach prioritized employee engagement and mutual agreement to minimize resistance and avoid workplace conflict during organizational change.
Video Interview: Aia worldwide’s Steven Ehrlich on driving engagement via social media
Steven Ehrlich from aia worldwide discusses strategies for driving employee engagement through social media, common organizational pitfalls, and the future of social media in recruitment.
TV Review: The Apprentice Week 1 – Honesty is the best policy
The Apprentice Week 1 features competing teams branding merchandise for sale. While the boys’ group bonded smoothly, the girls’ team struggled with internal conflict despite developing a stronger brand concept, highlighting how emotional investment can both help and hinder task performance.
