National minimum wage rises as Ed Miliband commits to ‘living wage’
Ed Miliband has alarmed business groups by committing to the introduction of a “living wage”, after government figures indicated that changes to the existing national minimum wage would already cost organisations £48 million. As of today, Friday 1 October, the minimum wage will apply to low-paid workers aged 21 rather than over 22 for the […]
Leadership matters: A general manager problem
The general manager of our organisation seems to have completely changed her personality. Judith Germain advises on how to cope with this strange situation. The dilemma The General Manager of our organisation has five senior managers and over the last year this general manager seems to have completely changed her personality to the point where […]
Poor training retention costs UK millions
Regulated UK firms are wasting millions of pounds on statutory risk training by failing to ensure that workers put into practice what they have learned in the classroom. Jane Massy, UK partner at the Return on Investment Institute and chief executive of training evaluation consultancy abdi, warned that many companies operating in regulated sectors ranging […]
Share schemes – the basics
Jonathan Oxley explains the basics HR needs to know to differentiate between share schemes in the second of our videos on using shares as a benefit. See the first video from Jonathan here.
Business transparency: Converse, collaborate, illuminate
Transparency and trust are critical to getting the best out of employees – and new collaboration technologies can enable this, says Marc Benioff, CEO of Cloud Computing company Salesforce.com. Best known for its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Cloud service, Salesforce.com last year fleshed out its portfolio with a collaboration offering called Chatter. Chatter is a […]
HR confused over agency worker regulations
Only 19% of HR professionals have a clear understanding of the forthcoming Agency Worker Regulations, while a worrying four out of five have no idea what the consequences of non-compliance would be. According to a survey of 100 HR decision-makers in UK companies who regularly use temporary staff, three out of five did not even […]
UK must address management skills gap
If the UK is to close the productivity gap with international competitors, the coalition government must focus expenditure on improving the country’s poor quality of management skills, an HR body has warned. In response to its ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ consultation, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) urged the government to develop a […]
Social media useful but still a security risk
While employers acknowledge that Web 2.0 technology can boost staff productivity, enhance marketing strategies and generate new revenue streams, seven out of 10 suffered average losses of $2 million due to related security incidents last year. As a result, 81% are restricting the use of at least one tool, whether that be social media, micro-blogging, […]
Ed Miliband needs to ‘reconnect’ business with Labour party
The British Chambers of Commerce has warned Ed Miliband that he must make reconnecting the Labour Party with business a key priority for his early months in office. According to a survey of Labour back-benchers undertaken by polling organisation ComRes on behalf of the BCC, while small-to-medium businesses are keen to see a reduction in […]
The next generation of talent management
As we come out of the recession, companies are cautiously planning their next moves with one key goal in mind: re-igniting growth. In previous eras, business leaders have focused on driving growth through innovation, R&D, and customer centricity. Talent management was rarely high on the agenda. However, this time around, businesses are recognising that a […]
Career management for retention and engagement
It might seem a bit out of place for an employer to get involved in career managing its employees – after all, isn’t a career a personal thing? However that’s no longer the case. Despite economic pessimism, there is still demand for talent and the skills gap means there will always be demand for those […]
Motivating employees – are shares an option for you?
Trying to be creative with benefits and renumeration? Jonathan Oxley has noticed a trend in requests for guidance on what share options work for employers and different companies. In this short video he explains that HR professionals don't need to know a huge amount about share schemes to be able to use them as a […]
Tackling inequality may require quotas
The European Commission has hinted that it may introduce quotas to boost the number of women at board level at the same time as a report indicated that the employment gap for ethnic minorities is only set to widen. The Commission has just unveiled a new five year strategy in a bid to tackle gender […]
DRA should be kept to protect SMEs
Not only will coalition government proposals to abolish the Default Retirement Age have a negative impact on small businesses’ employment practices, but pension auto-enrolment will also add significantly to their costs. A new paper by the Institute of Directors argues that the government should scrap plans to abolish the DRA and instead raise it progressively […]
Ask the expert: Sickness and holiday pay
The experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on working out holiday leave for a sick employee. The question: Sickness and holiday pay Situation: Employee off on sick leave for 7.5 months. Received Full pay for 6 months, half pay for the remaining 1.5 months. Company policy) Returned to work on a fit note […]
Milkround still valued by graduates
Graduate recruiters should not dismiss the value of the traditional ‘milk round’ as two thirds of final year students intend to use the experience to help make up their minds as to which employer to go for. According to a survey among 915 students that are about to graduate undertaken by recruitment outsourcers TMP Worldwide, […]
UK employees too embarrassed to work up a sweat
One in three UK employees avoid taking exercise during the working day because they are embarrassed about being hot and sweaty in front of colleagues. But 55% spend more than half of their day sitting or standing still and a huge four out of five fail to take the recommended amount of exercise each week. […]
Employers need to get real about what motivates employees
Employers’ failure to understand what motivates staff to stay with them means that almost a quarter of personnel would be willing to move elsewhere if a more interesting opportunity came up. While employers believe that the key factors behind employee retention relate to the company’s brand, culture and benefits package, in fact, workers are more […]
There is no graduate oversupply, claims Work Foundation
Contrary to popular belief, the UK does not have too many graduates to underpin future economic growth – just the wrong type, according to a report from the Work Foundation. While the recession has exacerbated the number of job losses among manual, administrative and unskilled workers, the country still required expertise in managerial, professional, associate […]
Study finds UK organisations need to modernise their approach to talent management
With a glimpse of economic recovery ahead, organisations are taking stock of their talent. In many companies, restructuring and downsizing have led to low employee morale, putting top talent at risk, jeopardizing employee productivity, and compromising engagement. Companies need to take the time to review their career planning, succession management, development, and rewards programmes to […]