‘Recession stress’ costs employers £26 billion
Stress and depression cost employers £26 billion last year as staff felt compelled to work longer hours and compete against each other to keep their jobs as a result of the recession. According to a study undertaken among 2,050 workers by Populus on behalf of mental health charity Mind, this situation resulted in one in […]
Jobs up but wages fall, claims job index
Although the number of posts being advertised may be on the up, wages are continuing to drop – unless you happen to be a senior HR director in Whitehall. According to the latest Reed Job Index, which is based on data from reed.co.uk, the UK’s largest jobs board, demand among employers for new staff increased […]
1/4 of employees want to leave
The days of staff staying with their employer due to economic uncertainty are coming to an end, with about one in four workers currently disengaged and planning to leave. According to a survey of more than 4,000 employees undertaken by market research company GfK NOP, about 13% of workers intend to leave their organisation as […]
BA union launches new strike ballot bid
Unite, the union representing British Airways’ cabin crew, is expected to announce plans for a new strike ballot today, leaving passengers facing a summer of chaos. Tony Woodley, Unite’s joint general secretary, will announce at the union’s first policy conference in Manchester that a ballot could take place as early as next week due […]
It’s the way I tell ’em: keep up the benefit conversation
Pay and benefits… Frank Carson… bear with me, I can explain. (For those of you who are now asking yourself or a colleague "who on earth is Frank Carson?" you’ll have to doodle it on your i-berry). It is pretty much universally accepted by employers of today that you need to offer your employees a […]
The new age of ethical recruitment
Mark Roberts looks at how the recession has created a new wave of ethical recruitment and explains how it works in practice. As we emerge from recession, the recruitment industry is a very different beast to the one that enjoyed the boom times of the late 1990s and early 2000s. In those hectic, sales-focused, days […]
Ask the expert: Diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights do I have?
A worker is diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights to preferred shifts do they have? Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise. The question: Diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights do I have? Upon a change of shift patterns within the company I opted to swap my preferred shift with my […]
Understanding leadership styles to navigate the leader maze
It hardly needs saying that effective teamwork and motivated team members increase the likelihood of optimising business outcomes. If good business results aren't achieved the buck stops with the team leader for it is the team leader who is responsible for ensuring that the team is motivated to achieve results and effectively deployed to do […]
Females feel ‘unsupported’ by smaller businesses
Female workers are nearly twice as likely to experience sex discrimination in small companies rather than large and almost half of all women in the UK feel that their employer does not give them enough support to attain a reasonable work-life balance. These are the sobering findings of two reports looking at the plight of […]
CIPD: For fewer on benefits, address job and skill problems
While government proposals to tackle welfare dependency make sense in theory, addressing structural problems such as poor management, lack of skills investment and too many low-paid and insecure jobs will be vital to make the dream a reality. According to John Philpott, chief economic advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the […]
Controversial HR outsourcing leads to NHS resignation
The head of an NHS membership body has resigned after the organisation was criticised for its handling of a project to provide outsourced HR services to the health service. Steve Barnett, chief executive of the NHS Confederation since February last year and former NHS deputy director of HR, quit following a critical report of its […]
Sleep: the elephant slumped in the corner of the room
If the proverbial elephant is like many employees in the UK it’s tired, exhausted and unable to perform at its peak, hence the slumping. Tiredness and fatigue is an increasing epidemic so much so that Professor Russell Foster of Oxford University recently described Britain as a “Zombie Nation.” The main cause of tiredness and fatigue […]
Extraordinary energy – the ultimate reward
How often to do we hear the phrase ‘there are just not enough hours in the day?’ A common complaint in the world we live in with ever more increasing demands on our time, focus, roles and commitments. How much time and investment do organisations place into time management programmes, effective delegation, work life balance […]
Will World Cup Fever affect performance?
Managers are worried that next month’s World Cup Finals in South Africa will lead to network challenges and a dip in employee performance. A survey by networking firm Blue Coat Systems has found as many as half of the IT managers contacted believe staff should be banned from streaming matches to their desktops in office […]
Loreal creates virtual reality for recruits
Cosmetics giant L’Oreal is piloting an online virtual reality game to help it with graduate recruitment and instil it with the ‘cool’ factor at the same time. The new game called Reveal requires students and graduates to assume the guise of avatars. Their aim is to work on virtual projects and undertake problem-solving tasks across […]
BT prepares for strike ballot
Telecoms giant BT is preparing itself for its first period of industrial unrest in 25 years as the Communications Workers Union readies plans for a strike ballot over pay. According to an internal email seen by the BBC, managers are being asked to provide details of their broader skills, even if rusty, by Wednesday 26 […]
Training talk but no action leaves business at risk
While employers recognise the importance of training to help them achieve strategic investment, the number taking action fell last year in a move that could put economic recovery at risk, warns a specialist. According to business lobby group the CBI, nearly two thirds of the 694 organisations questioned for its ‘Ready to grow: business priorities […]
Changes to paternity leave – will they work?
The new government will face significant challenges in implementing its flexible parental leave proposals given employers’ lukewarm response to existing paternity leave measures today, a leading HR body has warned. The coalition government is keen for fathers to be able to take six months of paternity leave while their partners return to work. But the […]
Government budget cuts will have negative effect on private sector
The government's proposed £6bn in budget cuts, which includes a civil service recruitment freeze, will have negative knock-on effects on the private sector, leading to rising levels of unemployment, a leading HR body has warned. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) believes that the recruitment freeze, which is expected to save £170m, combined with […]
Ask the expert: Is that a TUPE?
If we win this contract, will we need to TUPE? Matthew Whelan and Esther Smith advise. The question: I am tendering against another company for the contract to run the canteen in a local factory – does this mean I will have to TUPE the employees of the other catering firm should I will […]