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. […]
CIPD Event Blog: Getting more social
I was a participant and speaker at the CIPD Social Media in HR conference last week. My overall impression of the event was *thumbs up*. I met some interesting people, heard some interesting speakers and as a speaker, everything I needed to deliver to the best of my abilities was taken care of. It’s been said before […]
Case Study: Rentokil Initial introduces “cohesion” by integrating HR processes
Rentokil Initial has automated and integrated its HR processes in a bid to make them more cohesive as part of a broader company-wide initiative to standardise administrative and operational procedures. The pest control and cleaning specialist is a £2.5 billion global organisation that employs an international workforce of 66,000. But, according to group HR operations […]
Cloud TV: SuccessFactors’ Paul Roberts on HCM and the cloud
At this year’s Business Cloud Summit, Neil Davey, editor of HRZone’s sister site, myCustomer.com, sat down to mull over cloud computing, HCM and business execution with Paul Roberts, Software-as-a-Service vendor SuccessFactors’ country manager for the UK and Ireland.
Four-year central government HR framework deal goes to Logica
Responsibility for providing transactional HR, payroll and finance services to central government has been handed to Logica under a four-year framework contract valued at between £50m and £500m. Marie-Helene Durif, head of sourcing and category management at the Government Procurement Service, said: "The award of this contract is another milestone in the government’s strategy to […]
Talking Point: The wimpish manager problem
A recent survey that I saw looked at employees’ views on their managers. One of the horrifying findings of the study, which was published by ‘HR Directors Business Support’, was that 86% of workers believed that their managers had no integrity. And, unfortunately, I feel their views were soundly based. The workforce is, collectively, […]
Fashion houses face intern probes from next year
HM Revenue & Customs has warned fashion houses and designer labels against failing to pay the National Minimum Wage to interns. The government department wrote to London Fashion Week’s 102 exhibitors cautioning against using interns as employees as unpaid labour and cautioned that it would start compliance visits at the beginning of the New Year. […]
Lowering organisational stress levels
Pressure appears to be endemic in today’s society – and nowhere more so than in the workplace. Indeed, in many companies, it seems to be almost an ethos. As a result, pressure to meet targets, make money and even push for promotion is simply part of day-to-day life for hundreds of thousands of employees up […]
Blog: 12 tips for stress-free Christmas shopping
This can be a very stressful time for all of us – managers, employees, our relatives and friends. The main aim is to ensure that you are well organised and plan in plenty of time for a Stress free Christmas. Here are some suggestions to help or to think about: Make a list of all […]
Government must give gangmasters’ enforcement agency more teeth
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority risks becoming “emasculated” unless the Coalition Government provides it with enough teeth and funding to protect temp workers in the food industry properly, a recruitment consultancy has warned. Media reports in October had suggested that the enforcement agency was under threat of abolition as part of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge. […]
Ask the Expert: What rights do staff have during performance reviews?
The question I am a standalone HR Manager in medium-sized company and took over this year, after the previous HR Manager left. A few months after I started, I was informed by senior management that a member of staff, who has been with us for six years, was to be performance-managed out of the […]
Avoiding the hidden cost of Christmas perks
When it comes to indulging in the Christmas spirit, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs is not generally known for its generosity. Indeed, since the 2010 Bribery Act came into force, there have been strict rules and regulations on gift giving, which could see overly-magnanimous companies landed with a hefty tax bill. This means that, […]
Blog: Some strategic HR predictions for 2012
Recognise This! – Bersin’s predictions for 2012 are already beginning to come true. Are you ready? What can you expect in 2011 in Strategic HR and Talent Management? Bersin’s 14 predictions for the year seem largely on target to me. John Hollon, editor of TLNT, provides an excellent summary of all 14 predictions, but here […]
EU final salary pension proposals could cost employers £100bn
Proposed new European rules for final salary pension schemes would land employers with such a “huge bill” that they would be forced to close them for good, the Pensions Minister has warned. The European Commission is considering whether to introduce so-called ‘Solvency II’ regulations that would mean the 6,850 UK companies still operating such pension […]
