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 […]
Skills gap worst in leadership, management and technical roles
While the UK is suffering from wider skills gaps than ever, it is a particular problem among those in leadership, management and technical roles because investment in training is not being targeted correctly – or simply not being made available at all. A report, which was commissioned by the government and has just been published by […]
What does service excellence look like for HR?
One key question on every HR Director’s mind recently is how to get their HR teams delivering a truly excellent service to the business. So how do you? With constant pressure to cut costs while enhancing value, HR functions in both the public and private sectors in the UK, across Europe and globally are trying […]
Take five – communicate better (part two)
Continuing our two part series on improving communication in your organisation, Michael Richards adds a further five tips to help you communicate better. 6. Keeping the brand at arm’s lengthHow you communicate internally should always reflect your brand. So it’s a wonder that so many organisations keep the brand at a distance from employees – […]
Layla Bunni’s On the case: Get to grips with DDA
In this month’s On the case, Layla Bunni explores how to deal with a possible disability discrimination case and provides some tips on avoiding DDA claims. A catering company is recruiting for a number of vacancies for kitchen support staff. Mr X attends an interview and is offered one of the vacancies. He receives a […]
Want engaged employees? Engage with the wellbeing of your employees
In times of financial uncertainty it can be difficult to motivate a workforce, and even harder to motivate and engage with individual members of staff. For an employee, feeling that their boss cares about them is one important aspect of engagement. However, ‘showing you care’ in a genuine and effective way can prove difficult. Showing […]
Tories unveil plan to ‘get Britain working’
If elected to power, the Conservatives have pledged to set up a ‘Service Academy’ that they claim would create up to 50,000 training places and work placements for the unemployed in partnership with business. Eleven employers in the hospitality, leisure and tourism sector have already signed up to the scheme, which forms part of […]
Fathers want employers to be flexible friends
While less than one in five men would be prepared to take all of their proposed new six month-long paternity leave entitlement, nearly eight out of 10 would be keen to go for a flexible working arrangement if their employer encouraged it. These are the findings of a recent poll undertaken by YouGov and commissioned […]
HR 2.0 – how you’re using social media
HR professionals now routinely use social media not only to stay up-to-date and network with peers but also to build up their personal brand. These are the findings of a poll undertaken among 925 HR executives from across the world this January by online knowledge sharing communities platform, Toolbox.com, and advertising and marketing agency, PJA. The […]
Workers should not be held back by lack of part time work
A campaigning charity has joined the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in calling for the creation of more part-time and job-share positions in order to give women and carers a fairer chance of employment. But the call came as a study revealed that one in three UK workers were being forced to take […]