Employing graduates: Easy as 1,2,3?
A continuing high level of unemployment among graduates, where 10% of the total graduate population failed to find any form of work last year, provokes the question: are universities adequately equipping students with the transferable skills required for the workplace? ‘Traditional degrees’ have been under fire for not properly preparing young people for the world […]
The importance of networking for HR
Judith Germain explains why it’s just as important for the HR function to network as it is for any other department. To most internal HR professionals the term ‘networking’ is assumed to relate to the activity of external consultants who need to network to find work. It isn’t something that ‘internals’ think they do or […]
Getting staff to pull in the same direction for the good of the organisation
In today’s economic environment, where reducing costs and improving productivity of employees is top of the agenda, how can we get staff to pull in the same direction in every aspect of the business to achieve the business goals? Individual behaviour, attitude and motivation, team working and alignment to objectives and values – and compliance […]
Radical immigration cap will mean major skills problems
Because training workers to plug the UK skills gap is a lengthy task, the abrupt introduction of a “radical” immigration cap would generate major skills problems for employers and lead to more offshoring. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) issued the stark warning after the Office of National Statistics’ Migration Statistics Quarterly Report […]
Hey good-lookin’ – want a job?
Just over two thirds of employers would be more inclined to hire good-looking candidates, with a scary 9% admitting that they had in the past recruited someone purely because of their appearance. According to a poll of 1,256 bosses undertaken by recruitment agency review web site HireScores.com, 67% admitted that, all being equal in terms […]
What impact will abolishing the compulsory retirement age have?
"What you have to know about this session is that I am me and I am not going to change". That was the opening line of a coaching session I recently undertook. I was sitting in front of a Swiss-German senior vice president with whom I had spent the previous two and a half days […]
The new retirement age – implications for employers and employees
A radical shake up of the state pensions announced by the coalition government will involve an acceleration of the plans to raise the retirement age in order to help reduce the budget deficit and a plan to scrap the default retirement age of 65 from 1 October 2011. These controversial announcements have received some mixed […]
‘Cafe culture’ learning needed, says skills minister
Skills Minister John Hayes has called on UK business to promote informal learning at work, following pledges by 64 large brands to boost workers’ skills as part of a so-called ‘Cafe Culture’ campaign. The initiative was launched last year by membership organisation Business in the Community (BiC) on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation […]
Not enough jobs suitable for lone parents
A dearth of ‘family friendly jobs’ could throw the coalition government’s plans to get more single parents back to work into disarray, according to research. In its emergency budget, the government said that 100,000 lone parents whose youngest child was aged five – rather than the former age of 10 – would be required to […]
Greg Secker asks: Are you still having fun?
Greg Secker is founder of the multi-million pound trader coaching company Knowledge to Action. The sessions teach the basics of FOREX trading and open attendees’ eyes to the world of Foreign exchange. In the past seven years, more than 55,000 people have attended Knowledge to Action seminars in the UK and Australasia. Work is a […]
HR campaigning hard for top talent
Looking for the X Factor: the number of HR departments employing specialist mangers to run brand-boosting initiatives in a bid to recruit top talent has jumped threefold over the last four years. Research undertaken among 104 companies across the world by brand consultancy People in Business revealed that the number of brand and talent managers […]
Older workforce will present new health challenges for employers
Occupational health professionals have warned that employers could face challenges in managing the needs of the more than 50% of workers who either do not expect to retire or are unsure when they can afford to do so. An online poll among 1,478 UK workers undertaken by ICM Research on behalf of Baring Asset Management […]
A letter to L&D: HR is your BFF
Nigel Paine explains why trainers need to recognise HR as their best friend in order to achieve their aims in this letter to L&D. It is almost exactly five years since ‘Fast Company’ – the US-based business magazine – published its seminal article by Keith Hammonds, its deputy editor, called: ‘Why we hate HR.’ He […]
Over 2/3 of organisations fail to evaluate training
In order to boost the performance of their coaching initiatives, organisations need to introduce well-thought through programmes and evaluation processes that are aligned with business strategy. According to the ‘2010 Learning and Development’ survey undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), however, more than two thirds of organisations currently fail to evaluate […]
Ask the experts: we’re asking you
As we approach 10 years, we’re looking for your ideas on how to improve the site to deliver what you see as the future of HRzone. HRzone.co.uk will be 10 years old this year, and we’ve seen a lot of changes to human resources, the HR community and even the site itself over the decade. […]
Ask the expert: Restrictive covenants
This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith, advise on whether restrictive covenants can be enforced. The question: Restrictive covenants I have a three-month notice period in my contract and the usual restrictive covenants that you would expect of a middle manager, however after six months into my 1.5 years with the company […]
Overseas labour still in demand to fill skills gap despite jobless Britons
Despite high levels of domestic unemployment, organisations are turning to both migrant workers and offshore outsourcers in a bid to plug UK skills gaps as the economy starts to recover. According to the quarterly ‘Labour Market Outlook’ survey published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and management consultancy KPMG, some 45% of […]
NHS needs funding to ‘even out’ training
Sufficient funding must be put in place if the NHS is to redress current imbalances in the number of specialist medical trainees working in different areas of England, according to the Royal College of Physicians. Dr Andrew Goddard, director of the Medical Workforce Unit at the Royal College broadly welcomed the findings of a new […]
BBC HR exec quits over move north
The head of HR at BBC North who was hired to sell the case to 1,500 staff about relocating from London to Manchester has quit his job because he did not wish to live there himself. Paul Gaskin took on his £190,000 a year post with the broadcaster less than two months ago after leaving […]
Undercover Boss: Will new Crown Relocations FD Narin Ganesh pack it up – or in?
Undercover Boss is coming to an end tonight but it’s going out with a bang – or hopefully not actually, as we go undercover with Narin Ganesh, the FD charged with the financial workings of international relocations company, Crown Worldwide Group. The company literally packs up the belongings of people and moves them anywhere – […]
