Blog: The UK’s first HRD-only networking event launches
The first in a new quarterly series of exclusive HRD networking events took place in London last week centred on the latest thinking in measuring talent from guest speaker and Danish human capital management expert, Morten Kamp Andersen. The debate held by participants in the HRD Network focused on three areas: Why measure HR and […]
3m jobs rely on UK being at Europe’s heart, warn businessmen
More than three million jobs will be put at risk unless the UK maintains its place at the heart of Europe, a group of 20 British businessmen have warned. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph that was co-ordinated by lobby group Business for New Europe, the businessmen argued that the European Union was vital […]
SWiTch HR shared service to save councils £2.2m in two years
One of the largest public sector shared services centres in the UK will handle the HR and payroll records of more than 30,000 employees and is intended to generate efficiency savings of £2.2 million in its first two years of operation. The initaitive, called SWiTch, is being undertaken in Greater Manchester. Local partners Trafford, Stockport […]
Self-efficacy: Limiting the damage of redundancy
Christmas is a time for giving. But some presents are less popular than others – and that includes the dubious gift of redundancy. Sadly, however, Christmas is a depressingly common time for workers to be handed their notice – Virgin Megastores went into receivership on Christmas Eve, 2008; Woolworths closed the last of its stores […]
Blog: Quiet optimism for 2012 HR budgets
The economic world remains in a state of flux as we watch and wait for a resolution to the debt crisis. And, after using our veto, the UK is very much a spectator in this process. The uncertainty surrounding the Euro and a flat economy suggests a tough year ahead. But I was buoyed to […]
Only a third of employers handle staff mental health issues well
Although about a quarter of employees have experienced mental health problems while in employment, only just over a third believe that their employer is supportive of such issues. An online poll of 2,068 UK workers undertaken by YouGov on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development revealed that a worrying one in five […]
Public sector staff must disclose private emails under FoI law
Under Freedom of Information legislation, public sector workers must hand over private communications to their employer if the messages contain any information relating to official business. The Information Commissioner’s Office has published six-pages worth of guidance in order to clarify that FoI laws cover any pertinent business data “recorded in any form” ranging from email […]
CEO Insight: Stinkyink.com’s John Sollars on recruiting for start-ups
One of the most difficult and exciting decisions any new business owner must make is when to take on staff, and even more importantly, in what role, John Sollars, managing director and founder of Stinkyink.com tells our sister publication, www.BusinessZone.co.uk. The key issue is deciding at what point you actually need somebody else to help. […]
Salesforce.com follows SAP into Cloud HCM market
Following on from last week’s SAP acquisition of SuccessFactors, customer management specialist Salesforce.com has also gone Christmas shopping, and with what looks like a similar idea in mind. Its target is Toronto-based Rypple, which like SuccessFactors is a player in the HCM sector. Unlike SuccessFactors, however, Rypple is a 2008 start up business with just […]
Gamification: How to play ball with staff engagement
Engaged employees are more effective and innovative because they are showing their true selves at work. Involvement is key to engagement and games have always epitomised that. So it stands to reason that an effective route to employee engagement is to encourage people to play games. In our recent international executive survey, which explored […]
Blog: Doing the festive season on a shoestring
With the recession still in force, many organisations this year will be cost-saving by cutting back on the Christmas celebrations. Asking people to pay for the staff party, or even cancelling it altogether; not putting up a decorated tree; cutting back on Christmas bonuses; these are all difficult decisions facing cash-strapped companies at the moment. […]
Half of UK managers expect redundancies in 2012
Nearly half of managers expect their organisations to cut more jobs in 2012, with more than a third feeling insecure about their own employment prospects. These are the key findings of a survey among 800 bosses in UK companies undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute. The study also revealed that more than half of those […]
Update: Lloyds boss to return in January with reduced workload
The boss of Lloyds Banking Group is set to return from his stress-related sick leave in January, albeit with reduced management responsibilities, the bank has revealed. Antonio Horta-Osorio, who joined the organisation in March to restructure it, has been absent from work since the end of October when he was signed off by doctors for […]
Blog: New Year memo to self – boost employee health and wellbeing
Christmas is coming fast and with it that annual angel/demon where you are already forgiving yourself for indulging two sizes in the wrong direction with the promise that starting Jan 1st you really honestly will do something about your health. Of course, businesses do this too. They get to the end of the year, worked […]
Health and wellbeing programmes: Engagement is key
Many organisations are beginning to understand that employee wellbeing plays an important role in personal happiness and productivity which, in turn, has a positive impact on corporate performance. But one of the biggest challenges is simply engaging staff sufficiently to actually take part in the wellbeing programmes intended for their benefit. High levels of such […]
Unemployment so bad ‘even Santa’s elves feel insecure’
The official pre-Christmas job figures are so bad that even Santa’s elves should be worrying about their positions, experts have warned. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the number of unemployed jumped by 128,000 to 2.64 million for the three months to October – the highest figure since 1994. The overall joblessness […]
Blog: The changing role of reservists in the workplace
Employer support is vital for Reserve Forces to be able to balance their civilian and military roles in society successfully. But the Reserve Forces are changing as a result of the recently published Reserve Forces Review 2020 (FR20) and, since July, the Ministry of Defence has been working on how to implement the recommendations in […]
Talent Spot: Emma Blaney, group HR director at Informa
Emma Blaney may have fallen into HR by chance, but it is no accident that she has risen to group HR director at Informa. It’s taken dedication and hard work. Today, Blaney works in Switzerland at the international publishing and conferencing company’s head office, reporting directly to the group chief executive and having responsibility for […]
Busiest expenses day of the year piles pressure on accounts staff
Yesterday was the busiest expenses day of the year, with finance teams facing a 139% rise in the number of claims submitted. According to claims management software provider Concur, staff rushing to recover the coming cost of Christmas placed huge pressure on finance teams to complete last-minute submissions before the break. The expenses rush added even […]
The secrets to HR outsourcing success
Outsourcing can work and be good for the business. But, time and time again, we hear reports of dissatisfaction and things going wrong. So what are the secrets to success and what do HR directors need to consider here? A good starting place is to ask yourself why you want to outsource at all. […]