Volvo drives forward with e-learning
A car manufacturer has abandoned third party face-to-face training in favour of tailored in-house classroom and e-learning programmes based on digital video content. Volvo Cars is now incorporating video clips from 25 digital training films produced by Video Arts into its existing classroom and e-learning courses on topics ranging from customer service to communications and […]
Employment law takeaways: August
Employment law takeaways: our bitesize legal updates for busy HR professionals, provided by Suzanne Horne of Morrison and Foerster. This month, retirement caps, misunderstandings and badly-worded letters. 1. Kraft Foods UK Limited v Hastie – Retirement linked redundancy cap not age discrimination2. Worrall v Wilmott Dixon Partnership Limited – Transferred collective agreements are changed by […]
Training success: Spot the signs
On our sister site, TrainingZone.co.uk, a member asked how best to measure success of a training session for the delegates themselves and was looking for tips on things to try, things to avoid. Here’s what the community said. Observe – don’t test Both Paul Kearns and ‘Nkellingley’ suggest setting baselines prior to training and then […]
No NMW ‘loophole’ for interns
Employers are breaking the law by taking on unpaid interns and the practice should be banned in the political arena in order to set an example, according to policy researchers. A report published by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) and social enterprise organisation Internocracy revealed that too many employers, particularly in fields […]
L&D split over train to gain and apprenticeships
The skills industry is split over whether the coalition government’s plans to divert funding from a vocational training scheme in order to create extra apprenticeship places would be a positive move or not. According to a survey undertaken by the World of Learning Conference & Exhibition (WLCE) organisation in June, 50.9% of respondents do not […]
10 ways to better assessment
Suzana Lopes, Pearson VUE EMEA VP Sales and Marketing, presents ten expert tips for HR professionals on how to get the most from testing your workforce. In the old days, HR professionals would place plenty of emphasis on training their staff, but relatively little on testing them afterwards. In the past, questionnaires, a show of […]
Working hours culture changed by recession
Working patterns have changed as a result of the recession, with staff moving to a “mixed hours” rather than a “long hours” culture and older workers changing career in order to stay in employment. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the loss of nearly one million full-time jobs and a […]
Unions may coordinate action against cuts
The prospect of a general strike moved a step closer yesterday after the RMT union tabled a motion calling for co-ordinated industrial action in protest at the coalition government’s proposed public sector jobs and pension cuts. The transport union’s motion will be heard at umbrella organisation the TUC’s Congress, which takes place from 13 to […]
Ask the expert: Change to rate of bank holiday pay
This week the experts, Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise on how to change a rate of pay. The question: Change to rate of bank holiday pay I am thinking of reducing the premium we pay to staff for working on a bank holiday from double time to time and a half. We have […]
Align training with business objectives
Kick-starting our training and HR focus for August, Donald Taylor reflects on the changes in training affecting L&D – does training need to get more professional? For a long time – possibly for too long – training was something that took place in the background of daily operations. It was something organisations felt […]
Coalition plans to simplify PAYE
The coalition government is proposing a revamp of the current pay-as-you-earn tax system in a bid to make it easier for both employers and HM Revenue & Customs to administer. HMRC has just launched a consultation document entitled ‘Improving the Operation of Pay As You Earn’ on whether to introduce a single computerised tax account […]
The end of team bonding down the boozer?
Although nearly three out of five managers take staff to the pub for team-building purposes, just over half of employees are unenthusiastic about going out with their colleagues and one in five actively dislike it. These are the findings of study entitled ‘Health of the Workplace’ undertaken by insurance firm Aviva. The research also revealed […]
Managing remotely: Hands on, but hands on what? (Part 2)
Robert Terry brings us the second half of his piece on managing remotely. If you missed the first article, catch up here. This section addresses social media and cultural sensitivity. The rise of ‘social media – many of which can be implemented or mimicked over internets or extranets to make them available only to a […]
UK skills rating sliding
The UK is living on “past glories” and its economy risks sliding down the international rankings unless the skills of 10 million workers are improved, according to experts. In response to the coalition government’s launch of its ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ consultation document last week, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills has released a […]
20% claim they are bullied by boss
In somewhat of an indictment of UK business leadership, just over one in five UK workers claim to be bullied by their boss, while almost a third believe their manager is incompetent. A study among 1,298 staff commissioned by HR consultancy Reabur.com also revealed that a further 22% of respondents felt their manager was ‘under-qualified’ […]
Unite union prepares for court battles
Unite is to sue British Airways under European human rights legislation for withdrawing travel perks from cabin crew who took part in strike action earlier this year at the same time as it prepares for legal action against Ford. The union believes that the move by BA was taken without proper disciplinary procedures being followed. […]
April ‘too soon’ for retirement age scrapping
The CBI has warned that the coalition government’s proposals to phase out the Default Retirement Age from April next year are too swift and will make workforce planning “next to impossible”. The government’s consultation document, which was released today, suggests that the DRA should be officially scrapped on 1 October 2011. It also proposes that […]
Leadership matters: Disruptive team member
This column answers your questions on leadership, talent management, performance improvement and the employee behavioural issues that can cause even the best leadership techniques to go awry. This time a disruptive team member is causing a management headache for a team leader. The dilemma A team leader in a government organisation has inherited a new […]
Eye care: What you need to know
Eye watering statistics from a recent survey reveal that a large number of British employers are failing to comply with laws obliging them to care for the eyesight of their computer using employees. Here we present a definitive guide to what you need to provide to employees and what their rights in this area are. […]
Business to be consulted on public spending
Skills Minister John Hayes has launched a couple of public consultations, with the aim of understanding how scarce public resources should be used to best effect to meet employers’ requirements. The ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ document outlines the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ view on skills’ priorities and how they should be delivered, while […]