Mediation: Part Two – How to find the right provider
The mediation industry has no single regulatory body. The Civil Mediation Council runs a workplace mediation provider registration scheme, which provides a register of mediation suppliers. Although this is a positive step forward, as yet there is no single code of good practice for workplace mediators and the scheme relies on self-certification. As a result, […]
Getting women on the board is not about quick fixes
The newspapers have been awash lately with damning surveys suggesting that large companies still have a long way to go to balance up their boardrooms and create working environments that support women’s career progression as much as they do men’s. So it came as no surprise that Lord Davies’ Review has so far yielded minimal […]
Unions mount legal challenge to Government pension changes
A new front will open up tomorrow in the ongoing battle over public sector pensions between unions and the Coalition Government when a judicial review hearing kicks off in the High Court. The aim of the legal challenge, which has been mounted by the UK’s six largest public sector unions, is to question the lawfulness […]
Blog: How to take the pay issue off the table
Recognise This! – Recognition and rewards cannot replace compensation – it’s an entirely different “currency.” Fellow blogger and Compensation Café founder Ann Bares recently ran a survey looking into what level of pay (or pay increase) would be needed to “take the issue of pay off the table.” This is a highly complex but […]
Brain drain from 50p tax rate underestimated, warns Diageo chief
The 50 pence income tax rate is resulting in a trickle of high earners starting to leave the UK, while inhibiting others from coming here, Diageo boss Paul Walsh has claimed. Walsh, who has run one of the world’s largest drinks manufacturers for the last 11 years, told the Sunday Telegraph that the impact of […]
Tesco temp agencies ask workers to waive EU employment rights
Thousands of temps working for Tesco have been asked to sign contracts waiving their new employment rights under the Agency Worker Regulations in a scenario that is becoming increasingly widespread across the UK. According to the Sunday Telegraph, many of the recruitment agencies for the country’s largest supermarket chain have introduced a get-out clause, which […]
The HR Headmistress: Coping with ET1 tribunal claim documents
Unless you’re a solicitor, the arrival of an ET1 employment tribunal claim document does tend to cast a gloom over the morning. Such claims have risen considerably in recent years and, in the current economic climate, contractual changes and redundancy dismissals are commonplace. In an ideal world, we should be ensuring compliant, timely and […]
Ask the Expert: How long do I need to keep emails for?
The question I am trying to find out if any legislation or guidelines have been issued that provide advice on the number of years that emails must be retained. Does it differ depending on the type of email? This is part of my research to find a suitable e-mail archive solution. The legal […]
Stone Roses’ ticket scramble hits staff productivity hard
A rush to snap up tickets for the Stones Roses reunion concert this morning resulted in a huge dip in employee productivity, but should not be allowed to set a precedent, an employment lawyer has warned. The cult Manchester band’s three nights of gigs at the city’s Heaton Park sold out in just 68 minutes, […]
Staff education and training are critical to corporate security
Earlier this year, a security firm called RSA was embarrassed by a major breach that led to information about its user authentication token technology leaking out. The company not only faced a huge bill to physically replace its offerings, which were now useless, but also attracted unwanted column inches from press around the world. Just […]
Blog: Developing a customer-service mindset in HR
“We hire happy people and teach them to make sandwiches.” ”To maintain a connection between the front lines and the back office, every manager is required to spend four days a year on the shop floor.” (Pret a Manager). “We hire ‘customer service people’ and teach them all about coffee.” (Starbucks). This week, I ordered […]
IT outsourcing cuts costs, but fails to improve quality, warn HRDs
The majority of public sector HR directors believe that, while outsourcing their IT could contribute to cutting costs, it will not help to deliver better quality services. According to a survey among 100 HRDs working in central government departments, local authorities, NHS Trusts and police forces by jobs website TotalJobs.com, almost two-thirds believed that outsourcing […]
Pay awards to increase only marginally in 2012
Private sector pay awards will increase only marginally in 2012 when compared to this year, with the most common influences on settlements likely to be company performance and simply the ability to finance them. Research on the intentions of 286 firms employing a total of 800,000 workers revealed that the median award for the year […]
Video Interview: How Oracle is creating a socially-connected workplace
In the video below, Jon Ingham, HR consultant, author and co-founder of the Connecting HR social community, interviews David Christopher, Oracle‘s social business and collaboration leader in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The two discuss how Oracle is attempting to create a socially-connected environment in order to enable the software giant’s 22,000 employees in […]
CEO Insight: Company Shortcuts’ Lara Morgan on staff retention
Getting the staff on board is one thing, keeping them is another. Loyalty is important to me. I wanted to create an environment where people wanted to work, would thrive and progress. In the early days, we worked in an open plan office (my front room), we often ate lunch together (in my kitchen) and over these […]
Blog: On-boarding as a first step to cutting staff attrition rates
Companies work so hard at recruiting the best talent, rolling out the red carpet, increasing original offers, offering bonuses and other perks to attract the right candidates. But once you’ve signed on the dotted line kiss the best behaviors goodbye. The process is similar to dating where the early stages of the chase and initial […]
SAP appoints new head of HR for UK and Ireland
SAP UK and Ireland has appointed a new HR director in order to help the application software provider achieve its global aim of doubling the size of its business. Laura Burton replaces former head of HR, Terri Ellison, and has been brought in to manage a team that looks after recruitment, contracts, training, rewards and […]
Leadership development is top L&D priority over next 12 months
Leadership development will be the top priority for workplace learning professionals over the next 12 months. A survey conducted among 417 learning and development specialists by Video Arts revealed that 61% intended to provide leadership development training over the year ahead. Other priorities were people management, coaching, teamwork, customer service, time and change management. […]
Outlook improving but still uncertain for interim HR managers
If you’ve been an HR interim manager for more than three years, congratulations are in order. It’s been a tough period, but you’ve survived it. The good news is that there are credible indicators that the tough times could finally be over. At the macro level, the industry’s barometer is the annual Institute of […]
Software Satisfaction Awards 2011: The winners revealed
More than 300 people gathered at the Marriott in London’s Grosvenor Square on Tuesday to celebrate the Software Satisfaction Awards. Sift Media, our publisher, partnered with technology association Intellect to host the awards, which were presented by former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell. Entertaining the audience with his sentiments on the recent RIM/Blackberry crisis […]