Mandelson: Business leaders ‘tricked’ by Tories
Lord Mandelson has claimed the Conservatives ‘tricked’ some of the UK’s biggest business names into signing a letter backing the Tory plan for National Insurance if they come to power. The Labour plans involve a 1% rise on NI for employers, sparking claims of a Labour ‘tax on jobs’, which the Tories say they would […]
Cheers! How a global brewery engaged their employees
Employee engagement has never been more discussed than it is currently. But how often do companies plan and implement engagement strategies with a very clear business goal? Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Ltd, the global family brewer, has just completed the first phase of a major new people engagement programme designed to do just […]
Easter egg hunt – Winner announced
This Easter you could win a delicious alternative Easter egg from Demijohn – an olive oil and fruit vinegar set, perfect for foodies. Just find the Easter egg on HRzone.co.uk! **********THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED************** The lucky winner is Beverley.kilbyfox.co.uk – congratulations and well done on finding the Easter egg! If you didn’t win […]
Fit notes – do they fit the bill?
Companies with an existing focus on health and wellbeing could reap the benefits of the change, says Rory Murphy, external affairs manager for Water Wellpoint. From 6 April 2010, the sick note will be replaced by the ‘fit note’ in a bid to reduce sickness absence across the UK. The Department for Work and […]
The fit note – friend or foe?
Rob Woollen from Rightway Employee Wellbeing Solutions examines the new Med-3. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months you will be aware that the new Med-3 form comes into play next week. Or does it? Some GPs are saying that whilst they have already ordered pads of the new […]
Essential HR skills (part 2): 12 things every HR programme manager should know
Starting a new project or programme can be exciting and challenging, but after the initial excitement it’s important to keep the momentum going. Keep these tips handy and stay on the straight and narrow! Develop a common vision of the goal/outcome of the programme – and makes sure everyone buys into it. The vision for […]
Tribunal ‘fast track’ scheme announced
The Ministry of Justice is implementing a new Employment Tribunal Fast Track Scheme in an attempt to clamp down on the huge four out of ten rogue employers that fail to pay staff awards. Research published by the MoJ last year indicated that some 39% of people granted awards by tribunals had not been paid […]
Government takes on long term unemployment
The government is guaranteeing to provide jobs or work placements for people on Jobseekers Allowance who have not worked for more than two years in a bid to prevent long-term unemployment from soaring. Under Labour’s new so-called “something for something” approach, however, claimants will be required to take up such positions or risk losing their […]
Manifesto for employment – what do you want to see?
After the UK election, any incoming government should focus on workforce flexibility rather than employee job security and on ensuring that further education is aligned with commercial requirements rather than promoting education for education’s sake. These are the key demands laid out in the UK’s largest recruitment consultants Hays’ new ‘Manifesto for Employment’, which calls […]
Graduates: Less is more
An HR body has called on the government to review its “over-promotion” of university education and to focus more on providing vocationally-based diplomas at a time when nearly six out of ten graduates are unable to find suitable employment. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned that government targets desiring 75% of […]
Why bother engaging?
Engagement might be widely backed up by research but how can you know what motivates your employees if you don’t know the level of engagement of your employees? “A happy worker is a productive worker.” We all know the saying, and it is backed up by mountains of research which proves that an engaged workforce […]
Survey: HR in the digital workplace
Understanding HR’s role in shaping the Digital Workplace. The proliferation of mobile devices and wireless internet access is creating the ‘always-on’ society. But is it affecting your business? Do you have workplace policies to deal with IT and social media usage? Take our anonymous survey. For organisations, the challenges are not just about which hardware […]
Ask the expert: Sickness in an SME
One of our employees has been off sick 22 times in the past year. Now she claims she has an underlying health condition. How should we handle it? Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise. The question: Sickness in an SME We are a very small company (two full time and one part time), and […]
Don’t drop the ball now – engage for recovery
Change and upheaval has been a feature of the past year. However as we look to the future, engagement will be a key differentiator. Is your organisation engaged and ready to play the game? We all know an engaged workforce is essential to an organisations health and wealth, particularly as we move out of the […]
Top tips: Employee engagement
The most practical definition of engagement is whatever it takes to convince someone that their job is worth doing, so that they enjoy doing it and want to do it well. Here are some top tips on working with employees to release motivation. We must never lose sight of the fact that research has shown […]
HR professionals: We need your input!
Take part in our survey, designed to help organisations benchmark their talent practices against industry norms and best-in-class companies, and get a copy of the results plus a complimentary report. The study examines the maturity and effectiveness of talent processes, including recruiting, performance management, compensation, leadership development, and succession management. The research also explores the […]
Super trusts to the rescue of pensioners?
A pensions industry body has called for the creation of ‘Super-Trusts’ or low-cost schemes joined by large numbers of employers to supplement the government’s National Employment Savings Trust due to be launched in 2012. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), which represents the interests of 1,200 UK pension providers, hopes to further reshape the […]
Unpaid interns ‘may be illegal’
Employers may be breaking the law by not paying as many as one in three interns the national minimum wage even though they qualify for it, according to the TUC. The union umbrella organisation warned that any intern who is not simply observing and shadowing paid employees but is instead undertaking work-related tasks with set […]
Join us for a learning and development special event
Our sister site, TrainingZone, is hosting a very special and exciting live event for L&D professionals, consultants and HR practitioners. Join us there for all the buzz on training. The event has been developed based on feedback from TrainingZone community, and will consist of two days where delegate will immerse themselves in […]
Europeans ‘least engaged’
European employers have the least engaged workforces in the world by far, with a massive two thirds of staff saying they are less than fully committed to their current employer, according to a new study. The figure contrasts with employees in both North America and Asia Pacific, of whom some 52% and 47% respectively claim […]