Blog: Starting out – HR’s new cost-per-hire standard
The American National Standards Institute has established the first industry-wide standard for calculating cost-per-hire, giving HR professionals a unified methodology recognized globally. This milestone allows HR teams to present standardized hiring metrics to CFOs, with additional standards planned for job descriptions, diversity, and performance management.
Ask the Expert: Do employers have to pay for post-natal time off?
Employers aren’t legally required to provide paid time off for breastfeeding or expressing milk, though they must supply suitable facilities like a private room and refrigerator. However, employers should accommodate nursing mothers while assessing workplace hazards that could affect breastfeeding workers.
How to build a positive corporate culture
Building a positive corporate culture requires moving beyond traditional hierarchical management to embrace trust, collaboration, and shared values. A strong culture engages employees, boosts performance, and helps organizations deliver on their brand promise by ensuring staff experience aligns with customer expectations.
Can Goldman Sachs’ CEO survive “toxic culture” claims?
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein faces increased scrutiny after a senior London manager publicly resigned via open letter to The New York Times, citing the bank’s “toxic” culture and moral decline. The executive’s departure and accusations of unethical behavior toward clients have renewed questions about leadership’s ability to survive mounting PR crises.
Government’s compensated no fault dismissal proposals garner mixed response
The UK government’s proposals to allow micro-businesses to dismiss employees without fault by paying compensation have received mixed responses. While business groups like the CBI support the measure as a hiring incentive, employment experts warn it could discourage recruitment and undermine employment rights without clear economic benefits.
Living Leader Learnings – How do I stop a valuable employee from dominating meetings?
A dominant high-performer can undermine team dynamics and create meeting challenges. Instead of managing behavior during meetings, invest in one-to-one conversations with quieter team members and reframe the top performer’s role as supporting colleagues’ success.
Blog: Lessons on empowering staff to win
A major retail chain empowered hourly employees to create their own work schedules, allowing them flexibility to balance personal responsibilities. This employee-centered approach resulted in significant workforce engagement and demonstrates how companies can win by trusting staff to take ownership of their work.
HR software deployments: ‘Big bang’ or phased roll-out? Part two
HR software implementation can follow different strategies: while some organizations opt for a ‘big bang’ approach, others prefer phased roll-outs. The University of Wolverhampton chose to deploy its new HR system gradually over multiple phases, allowing users to adapt to change more gradually and managing resource constraints effectively.
The Apprentice 2012: The candidates unmasked
The BBC has unveiled the candidates for The Apprentice 2012, starting March 21. The new series features ambitious contestants competing to win Lord Sugar’s investment, including a risk analyst, architect, business development manager, and food company co-founder from across the UK and Ireland.
One in five tech employers reject candidates due to their social media profile
One in five technology employers have rejected job candidates based on their social media profiles, according to new research. While most tech firms monitor candidates’ LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts, this is the first study showing hiring decisions are being actively made against applicants due to their online presence.
Salesforce.com to make HR “a weapon for transformation”
Salesforce.com launched Salesforce Rypple, a social performance management application, aiming to transform HR through real-time feedback and employee recognition instead of traditional annual reviews. The tool integrates social networking features and gaming elements to engage workers and enable collaboration.
Best Practice: Four tips to help HR become more business savvy
HR professionals must evolve beyond subject matter experts to become business leaders with people specialization. The CIPD identifies four key behaviors for business-savvy HR: understanding the business model, using data for insights, networking with purpose, and taking a proactive approach to collaboration across the organization.
Video Interview: RWE npower’s Adam Templeman on social recruitment
RWE npower’s head of resourcing discusses how the utility company incorporates social media into its recruitment strategy and shares advice on maximizing efficiency in social media recruitment efforts.
Blog: Two reasons why psychometric tests suck…
Psychometric tests like MBTI fail for two key reasons: they confirm what you already know about yourself and encourage you to ignore unflattering results. Most workplace personality assessments generate minimal genuine engagement or behavior change.
Legal Insight: Employee or consultant? Lessons from the Student Loans Co
The Student Loans Company case highlights the legal distinction between employees and consultants. While consultant arrangements can offer tax benefits, they lack employment protections like paid leave and redundancy rights. Courts and tax authorities examine whether individuals are genuinely self-employed or actually employees avoiding statutory obligations.
Four years of redundancies cost UK employers £28.6bn
Nearly 2.7 million UK workers have been made redundant in the past four years, costing employers £28.6 billion. Manufacturing and construction sectors accounted for about a third of job losses, while the cumulative loss of economic output amounts to between £87 billion and £135 billion.
Case Study: Herts Council’s ‘Transformation’ programme slashes sickness absence
Hertfordshire County Council reduced employee sickness absence from 9.3 to 7.8 days annually through its new Transformation wellbeing programme, with long-term absences dropping by two-thirds. The strategy emphasized senior leadership support, manager education, stakeholder engagement, and targeted interventions for at-risk groups.
National Science and Engineering Week: UK to be 2m engineers short by 2015
The UK faces a shortage of 2.2 million engineers and scientists by 2015, with only 125,000 students currently pursuing engineering careers. National Science and Engineering Week highlights this critical skills gap and aims to attract talent through events like The Big Bang Fair, which targets 30,000 visitors.
Blog: What makes you happy in your work?
Workplace happiness comes from meaningful work, team connection, and personal achievement rather than profit margins or management style. Creating a culture where employees feel proud of their contributions, laugh together, and see their impact can inspire and motivate entire teams, regardless of industry.
Talking Point: Will the Beecroft proposals really encourage employers to hire more staff?
The Beecroft proposals for “compensated no fault dismissal” aim to make it easier for employers to dismiss underperforming staff, potentially encouraging hiring. However, experts argue the real barriers to employment growth stem from poor management practices and employer reluctance to address performance issues, not legislation alone.
