Vince Cable unveils plans to curb excessive executive pay

Business Secretary Vince Cable has unveiled government plans to curb executive pay and address what he described as “a clear market failing”. In a speech to MPs this week, Cable focused on matters of transparency, shareholder power, diversity and good practice, saying that. although it was “not government’s role to micro-manage company pay”, there were […]

Blog: ReServe – A new way of working for the over-55s

A recent article in the New York Times featured the work of ReServe, an innovative non-profit organisation that links people over 55 with meaningful second careers. As a model for what is needed to address the nature of later life careers for a sector of the UK population ReServe appears to have much to offer. […]

HRD Summit: The art of becoming a ‘leader’ rather than a ‘manager’

To become effective leaders, HR directors must look at how they think as well as understand both the nature of responsibility and the impact of their communications. But, according to Penny Ferguson, managing partner at The Living Leader, during her keynote speech at the HR Directors’ Summit in Birmingham today, the majority of HR bosses […]

Book Review: Executive coaching – A psychodynamic approach by Catherine Sandler

Catherine Sandler is a trained psychologist with her own flourishing practice as a coach to senior executives.  If I understand it correctly, her view is that in order to coach people successfully, it is essential to help each individual understand their own personality, their implicit underlying values, the experiences that have shaped their character and […]

Talent Spot: Dan Grant, head of HR at Dell UK

There’s a saying within Dell: ‘It’s not just what you do that’s important, but how you do it…’ It’s a maxim that Dell’s head of HR, Dan Grant, strives to live by. If you’re honest in the way you deal with people and keep your promises, then you can’t go far wrong, he believes.   […]

HRD Summit: BT develops own internal Olympics legacy

BT is already working on the internal legacy of being an Olympics sponsor, with plans to introduce a redeployment initiative for project staff as well as a community scheme to enhance the overall working environment. The telco, which is the official communication services provider for both the Olympics and Paralympic Games, explained its rationale during […]

HRD Summit: ‘HR must hive off strategic activities to be truly effective’

To effectively take that much coveted seat at the top table, HR must follow the example of other functions and separate out strategic activities from transaction-based, operational tasks. But while departments such as IT, marketing and finance have already made the move, it is politically still not considered the right thing to say in the […]

Legal Insight: Coulson and the compromise agreement issue

The News of the World debacle and the subsequent Leveson Inquiry have raised all manner of issues about all manner of things. But one matter that has not been talked about much so far is the issue of compromise agreements.   If you have ever dealt with a compromise agreement in relation to an employee, […]

Blog: Managing change during an office move

Moving office doesn’t happen every day. In fact, it’s a big milestone in the life of a business and a change in working environment can bring about many benefits.  It presents an ideal opportunity to embrace a new corporate image, implement new processes and team restructuring; all of which can have a positive impact on staff […]

Trends 2012: Modern life skills

The demands and challenges that HR professionals face at the moment are becoming increasingly complex.  Stress-related illness and mental health problems have a huge impact on staff morale, not to mention their effect on productivity and, therefore, business success.   The cost of absenteeism is huge and the issues surrounding presenteeism are both time-consuming and […]

Fujitsu workers agree to end long-running dispute

A long-running dispute over pensions, pay and overtime between Unite and Fujitsu has ended after union members accepted a new offer from the IT services supplier. The UK’s largest union called off its industrial action on Friday, 20 January, after members welcomed the agreement, ending a long running dispute that has affected sites in Crewe […]

Survey reveals UK employers of choice

Google, Apple and John Lewis are perceived to be the best three employers in the UK, with the ability to create a good working environment considered the key criteria in desirability terms. According to a survey among 2,133 adults undertaken by pollster YouGov on behalf of workplace services provider, Croner, Google was nominated 81 time, […]

Regional mediation pilots for SMEs unveiled

Two regional mediation pilot projects have been launched in a bid to help resolve workplace disputes in small-to-medium-sized companies before they reach the employment tribunal stage. Cambridge and Manchester will be the first areas to create mediation networks, which will each consist of 24 SMEs that will be selected later in the year. The Department […]

Blog: Is there a place for QR codes in recruitment?

As digital technology continues to engrain itself in our day to day lives, we’ve been increasingly looking at how we can reach our candidates through these new channels. It seems that as quickly as organisations get comfortable with one communications channel, another one springs up!   As specialist online recruiters, it’s our job to help […]

Is homophobia still an issue in the workplace?

When discrimination at work against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people was finally outlawed in the UK in 2003, few predicted how rapidly full LGBT rights would come to be seen as the norm. Even in 2007 when discrimination outside the workplace was likewise banned, homophobia and transphobia still seemed very live issues.   This […]

Microsoft backs same-sex marriage to help it compete for talent

Microsoft has joined with five other companies to officially support the legalisation of same-sex marriage because it believes that discrimination of any kind is counter-productive in the war for talent. Washington State in the US, where the high tech giant is based, is scheduled to hear two bills today (Pacific Daylight Time) which, if passed, […]

Three out of five HR professionals happy in their job

Nearly three out of five HR professionals are happy in their job, with only 5% hating where they work, according to a study. But although HR personnel are working longer hours than ever, this situation is not their biggest bugbear.   Instead IT issues such as PCs and printers crashing for no apparent reason cause […]

Trends 2012: Employment law

With so many new legislative proposals around at the moment, this summary sets out details of what is coming into force and when in order to help you plan for the changes over the year ahead and beyond. 1 February 2012   The annual increase to Employment Tribunal limits will take place. The maximum compensatory […]

Analysis: What is ‘fair’? Co-operatives, bonuses and the living wage issue

A new Bill to make it easier for employees to set up their own co-operatives is to be put before Parliament in a bid to make the UK economy more “fair and worthwhile”. In a speech in London yesterday, the Prime Minister said that employee-owned organisations already provided the country with nearly £1 billion-worth of […]

Blog: Forget employee surveys – Social ‘sentiment’ is where it’s at

At the beginning of June I attended the Inspire Conference, London, a great event organised by a the very smart and thoroughly charming Adil Mohammed, whom I have the pleasure of working with of late.   It was a great day that lived up to its name. There were many great presentations but one that stood out […]