Budget reveals funding for skills
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s decision to earmark £2.5 billion in this year’s Budget to boost skills and innovation among small businesses has been branded “vital” in helping the UK to recover from recession. The one-off growth package is intended to encourage employers to invest in developing key skills such as literacy and numeracy among their workforces […]
A charitable view of learning technologies
More than six out of 10 charities intend to up their investment in learning technologies over the year ahead, with the focus being on improving learning delivery and its impact rather than simply cutting costs. These are the findings of a benchmark study among more than 80 charities employing over 50,000 staff and volunteers […]
Lessons to be learned from Facebook sacking
For a lesson in how not to do it, HR professionals could do worse than look at the case of a teenage cafe worker whose employer sacked her using Facebook. In what is believed to be the first such incident in the UK, 16 year old schoolgirl Chelsea Taylor found a mis-spelt dismissal letter littered with […]
Top things an HR professional should consider when moving to the Cloud
Tom Fisher, VP of CLoud Computing at SuccessFactors, clears the fog surrounding the Cloud and gives his guide on how to move towards Cloud Computing as a HR leader. So you’ve decided to go to the Cloud! Essentially, you, as the HR leader, are delegating the application and its critical service levels – uptime and […]
Essential HR skills: Project management (part one)
Today it is essential HR managers are not only good people managers, skilled negotiators, great listeners and business minded, but also have a healthy set of project management skills. A project is a process of delivering a defined change, usually to a fixed timescale and budget with defined quality standards. Several projects may form part […]
Engaging for success with Eric Peacock
Eric Peacock is a serial entrepreneur. His first buy was BabyGro which he purchased from its American owners. He currently chairs eight businesses. When asked about employee engagement, Eric says he makes sure it is present in every organisation. He was involved in shaping the engaging for success guidance as a business advocate for the […]
Budget 2010: our forecast
So what did Alistair Darling have to offer employers and employees in his 2010 budget? Here’s a light hearted forecast at how the budget will affect you at work. Unemployment – be grateful, but not too gratefulMr Darling was quick to remind us that the unemployment rate is lower than it was during the recessions […]
Female students rule out career in finance due to perceived discrimination
While the UK’s top female students are ruling out careers in the City seeing it as unethical and rife with discrimination, two thirds of healthcare workers are enthusiastic about their jobs, with nine out of ten feeling that they really make a difference. According to a survey of 450 female undergraduates at Oxford University undertaken by […]
Not enough UK firms are reaping the benefits of flexible working
Although nine out of ten staff would welcome the ability to work more flexibly, only 21% are currently doing so, despite the fact that a third have some form of caring responsibility. A survey among 20,000 office-based employees from 40 large enterprises in 14 industry sectors undertaken by management consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates, revealed that the […]
Engagement’s time has come: The MacLeod guidelines are launched
David McLeod, Nita Clarke and Lord Young today joined forces with business leaders, including small business champion Eric Peacock and Sainsbury’s Justin King to launch the guidelines from the MacLeod report, delivered last year. The new guidance – published on www.businesslink.gov.uk/employeeengagement – is designed to help employers reap the benefits of effective engagement. These include […]
Ask the expert: Withholding pay
Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise on whether you can withhold an employee’s pay while you decide if an absence was unauthorised. Withholding pay We have an employee who was employed on a fixed-term contract. They suffered an injury and were absent from work for three weeks in total. The first week was self certified […]
Active rest and recovery for competitive advantage at work
If you are searching for competitive advantage and sometimes wonder “how do I achieve more?” then part of the answer could well be counter-intuitive. Keith Hatter explains why we should protect our sleep. In both the corporate and sporting arenas, an important part of the recipe for achieving consistent, intense and sustained high performance is […]
The graduate talent pool: A guide to internships
Internships are often a good way for individuals to gain experience in business and for the business community to benefit from talent. In most cases, internships are intended to be short periods of work experience, usually for students or graduates. Recently, the Government launched the Graduate Talent Pool, which is intended to match employers with […]
Free resource – Survey helps recruit engaged employees
FindingPotential has launched a free psychometric questionnaire which helps organisations to recruit candidates who will be highly engaged in their job. The 10-minute online questionnaire, Engage, creates an instant feedback report, showing the relative importance to the individual of 14 aspects of work that underpin employee engagement and commitment. "Different people want different things from […]
Survey reveals dissatisfaction with recruitment agencies
Nearly three quarters of employers find it difficult to find good recruitment agencies, while a huge nine out of ten believe that recruitment processes take too long. These are the findings of a survey among 250 UK business owners and HR professionals undertaken by research firm Vanson Bourne and commissioned by TalentPuzzle, an online marketplace, […]
UK political figures lack leadership qualities – study
While Virgin boss Richard Branson has topped a poll for apparently possessing the most impressive leadership qualities, the heads of the UK’s three main political parties all languished at the bottom. Prime Minister Gordon Brown came last with a score of 4.5, followed by Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, at 5.2. David Cameron, […]
Recession continues to strain employee-employer relations
The number of monthly calls being made to the conciliation service Acas’ helpline has doubled since September last year as the impact of the recession continues to put increasing amounts of strain on employer-employee relations. By the end of February, Acas had referred 8,034 pre-claim conciliation cases to its early conciliation service since launching its […]
Workforce poaching: it’s happening
In a case that highlights the legal risks involved in poaching staff from rivals in a concerted fashion, one bonds dealer was yesterday found guilty of unlawful conspiracy for raiding the workforce of another. Tullett Prebon, the world’s second largest bond dealer, which last week said it was involved in takeover talks with an unspecified […]
HR director raises £40,000 for local charity
HR inspires: Paul Kennedy, HR Director of New Balance inspired a team to walk 140 miles with him to raise £40,000 for Cumbria flood victims. Amid scenes of great euphoria and the popping of champagne corks, as the finishing tape was broken, the ‘Pound for Cumbria’ fundraising walk, which started from Warrington, New Balance’s European […]
Five more skills academies to target priority areas
The UK government has unveiled plans to set up five new National Skills Academies in priority industry sectors and has set up a £50 million Joint Investment Programme to match employer funding levels. Some 13 other Academies have already been set up as part of the government’s ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ strategy, but all have […]