HR tip: Bad attitude at work?
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: One of our employees has a poor attitude to work. He makes mistakes and is frequently critical of management, especially in meetings. He has done nothing seriously wrong, so what can we […]
The fine line between managers and HR
Where is the line drawn between direct line managers and HR – and where can a balance between the two functions be found? Jo Radford investigates. A common issue for HR functions is how to ‘up-skill’ line managers to perform their role as people managers. In most cases, this translates into skills programmes focused on […]
Would you pass the leadership test?
Paul Kennedy, HR Director at sportswear company New Balance explains the test leaders should set themselves, and why it’s important to be honest when looking in the mirror… Since 1990 we have operated with a calm economy, successful organisations, low unemployment and generally a good warm feeling about everything that we do. In the last […]
Employing agency workers? Know their rights
Paul McQuade, senior solicitor in the employment team at Brodies LLP, explores the proposed new regulations and their ramifications. After a decade of deliberation in the EU, the 2008 Directive on Temporary Agency Work is due to be introduced as law into the United Kingdom. New rights for agency workers will be established before […]
Jobpartners launches mid-range ActiveRecruiter Business Edition
Recruitment and talent management software developer Jobpartners has released a new version of its ActiveRecruiter system. Designed as a web-based “on demand” application, the Business Edition of ActiveRecruiter handles every step of the recruitment process from defining a position and posting the vacancy to online job boards to hiring the candidate and managing their development. […]
Ask the expert: Office relocation
Does an employee qualify for redundancy pay even if they’re on a fixed-term contract? Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise. The question: Our UK office may close and shift to a new city. It is just far enough away that two of the three staff may not want to shift. There is no issue […]
HR tip: Can we withdraw notice?
We gave a worker his notice, but would now like to continue his employment. Can we take back the notice? Withdrawing notice Because our order book has dried up a bit, we recently gave notice to three of our short-serving employees but we now find that we want to keep one of them after all. […]
Equal pay: Slow burning issue of the century?
Equal pay legislation has been around for 40 years – so why are we still struggling with it, asks Ian Milton. For most HR professionals, equal pay is a topic that seems to rear its head every few years, cause a degree of concern and then quietly go on the backburner. The legislation is been […]
On the case: Can you investigate a sick person?
Continuing her regular column, senior associate Layla Bunni gives insight and advice on real life legal cases. This month, a grievance has been raised against a manager who disappears, claiming stress. How should the investigation be handled? The dilemma:An employee (Ms E) has raised a formal grievance against her line manager (Ms M). She has […]
Are we entering the pensions dark ages?
State pension provision in the UK lags behind its G7 counterparts and needs to be reformed in order to avoid today’s workers living in ‘pensioner poverty’, research from AXA has revealed. In the UK, the state pension is worth just 31 percent of the nation’s average earnings – less than half that of the Italians […]
The critical dimensions of leadership
When it comes to leadership, do you know how to set objective criteria? Christian Hasenoehrl provides insight on avoiding the pitfalls of common perception. Leadership selection through promotion or recruitment, boards and senior executives routinely focus on certain skills, experiences or traits that at least appear, intuitively, to be important. Often they look for team […]
Leadership culture: Stephen Covey speaks
Changing an ingrained culture isn’t easy, but leadership expert Stephen Covey has made it his life’s work to empower employees and improve performance. He told LeadershipZone how organisations can bring the change they wish to see. As someone who has dedicated his life to demonstrating how anybody – at any level – can […]
Meeting great expectatations
With the transformation of many HR functions to play a more strategic role, Jan Hills asks: what are the essential technical skills needed to meet business expectations? In 2007 the CIPD report ‘The Changing HR Function’ found that 53% of organisations had restructured their HR function in the previous year and 81% had done […]
Putting HR on Cloud 9
HR people really count, no matter what other bits of the organisation might think. So declared Jay Larson, SuccessFactors senior vice president, Enterprise, on day one of the Cloud business execution software vendor’s European user conference in Barcelona. Larson was a last minute substitute for the missing SuccessFactors CEO Lars Dalgaard whose last minute absence […]
Ask the expert: Does a fixed contract negate redundancy?
Does an employee qualify for redundancy pay even if they’re on a fixed-term contract? Matthew Whelan and Esther Smith advise. The question: If a three-year fixed-term contract is not renewed and the employee dismissed in the absence of other work, do they qualify for a redundancy payment? Legal advice: Matthew Whelan, solicitor, Speechly Bircham The […]
The importance of hope
Chris Howe explores the damage a feeling of hopelessness can do to a workforce and how you can inspire your employees with hope. If people lack hope, they simply give up. In the workplace this means that people stop trying, they lose creativity and will potentially leave the organisation. This is the very […]
Bonus question – what is the answer?
With the news this week that RBS, the failed bank at the heart of the banking crisis, is to be heavily reinvested in by the Government to the tune of £39m, there remains much speculation over the future of bonuses. Stephen Overell of The Work Foundation spoke to Charlie Duff about the situation. Money has […]
Defining an engaging leader
Andy Lowe provides an exploration of the kind of qualities HR need to cultivate to harvest a crop of great leaders of the future. When it comes to leadership, there are so many questions to be answered. Test yourself: what criteria do you use to decide how to you invest in tomorrow’s leaders? Do you […]
HR tip: Dishonest academic claims on CV
These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Question: We took on a woman recently who said that she had a degree in marketing but we have since discovered that she merely did a correspondence course in the subject and has […]
Colborn’s Corner: What do you believe?
This month Quentin Colborn turns his attention to two recent law cases which highlight the dilemma faced when work and personal morals clash. This week has seen two newsworthy employment law cases in the press. Both relate to the legislation that protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of a deeply held religious or philosophical […]
