Start from scratch: Teambuilding
Effective teambuilding starts with managers taking ownership and creating opportunities for team members to analyze their performance and improve collaboration. By facilitating discussions, rotating roles, and observing team dynamics, managers can strengthen relationships, boost commitment, and develop individual talents.
Paternity leave – the good, the bad and the ugly
New government regulations will allow mothers to transfer up to six months of maternity leave to fathers, offering more flexibility for parents caring for newborns. However, workplace culture and fear of discrimination remain barriers preventing fathers from actually taking paternity leave, despite legal protections.
FAQ: Long-term sickness absence
Learn how employers should handle long-term and frequent sickness absence, including when to initiate procedures, how to distinguish between disciplinary and health issues, and what steps to take before considering dismissal.
Let’s hear it for HR’s unsung heroes
HR’s most visible voices and award winners often lack real-world experience driving organizational change. The article argues that frontline HR managers who solve problems with limited resources deserve greater recognition than high-profile commentators and academics disconnected from workplace realities.
SEO magic: Make your vacancy stand out
Discover five essential strategies to boost your job vacancy visibility in search results. Learn how to combine SEO and PPC advertising, research high-volume keywords, use negative terms, bid on specific job derivatives, and optimize landing pages to attract more qualified candidates.
Recession continues: Don’t forget your workforce
Economic contraction continues despite optimism about recovery, with business leaders warning that workforce retention and morale are critical as companies emerge from recession. Employee satisfaction has declined significantly, and experts stress the importance of recognizing staff contributions through pay increases and recognition.
HR Tip: Using solicitor in Employment Tribunal
When facing an Employment Tribunal claim, hiring an employment law solicitor is recommended unless your unfair dismissal case is straightforward. Employment Tribunals, while designed for self-representation, operate with legalistic procedures that benefit from professional expertise.
Size acceptance – hard to stomach?
The Size Acceptance Movement recently demonstrated against workplace discrimination based on weight and appearance, but current UK employment law doesn’t specifically protect against size-ism or look-ism. While some cases may succeed using existing sex or age discrimination laws, experts say dedicated legal protections are unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Is the war for talent now flooded with recruits?
Job applications have surged dramatically due to economic uncertainty, with 70% of candidates now willing to accept roles outside their ideal fit. Organizations must balance managing high application volumes with maintaining quality candidate experience and timely feedback.
Redundancy: sink or swim
Determining the correct employee selection pool is crucial when carrying out redundancy dismissals to avoid legal challenges. Employers must ensure their pool selection and dismissal criteria are objective, reasonable, and non-discriminatory, with sound business judgment documented throughout the process.
When opposites frustrate – don’t give up!
Diverse teams can drive innovation and better performance, but unmanaged differences in styles and expertise can damage cooperation and results. Learn how to harness opposing perspectives as strengths rather than sources of conflict.
Ask the expert: NI contributions for older employees
Employers face higher National Insurance contributions for workers over state pension age in contracted-out occupational pension schemes, but not in personal or stakeholder pension schemes. Legal experts explain the reasons behind this distinction and its implications for hiring older employees.
Fostering innovation
Innovation requires more than R&D budgets—it demands a specific organizational culture, process, and mindset. Lisette Howlett explains how HR departments can foster innovation from within by engaging the whole organization, establishing supportive infrastructure, and creating space for new ideas and collaborative thinking.
Legislation update: deferring holiday until after sick leave
When workers become sick during scheduled annual leave, they may have the legal right to defer their vacation to a later date. A European Court of Justice ruling established that employees are entitled to take paid leave separately from sick leave, as these serve different purposes.
Is there any life in LIFO?
LIFO (Last In First Out) was once a standard redundancy selection method, but is now considered too crude on its own. While length of service alone can be discriminatory under age discrimination law, recent Court of Appeal rulings confirm it may still be included as one factor within a broader redundancy selection matrix.
Saving the endangered business partner
The HR business partner model, popularized by Dave Ulrich, remains relevant but execution has fallen short. Success depends on finding capable business partners with strong business acumen, strategic thinking, and the credibility to drive organizational change and capability building.
HR tip: Making rules work
Effective workplace rules require manager buy-in and clear communication. To improve compliance, review and rewrite rules with supervisors and employees, provide management support for discipline, and encourage supervisors to personalize rules by claiming ownership rather than citing company policy.
Tesco picking up pieces of ‘woeful’ education system
Tesco’s chief executive has criticized the education system as having “woefully low” standards, claiming employers must compensate by providing their own training and development programs. He called on the government to improve schooling quality and simplify the structure of education to better prepare the future workforce.
Views on HR News: HR’s Role in the Social Business
Explore HR’s emerging role in the social business movement, which emphasizes employee autonomy and customer trust over traditional hierarchical management. This roundup examines how HR leaders can support organizational transformation through enterprise 2.0 technology and collaborative business practices.
Autumn fall in recruitment
Recruitment opportunities declined in September with year-on-year hirings down a third, driven by public sector cuts and IT job losses. However, economists suggest the dip reflects seasonal adjustment rather than economic deterioration, with modest signs of private sector recovery emerging.
