Ask the expert: Employee’s wife harassing female staff
The wife of a male manager has been harassing two female employees. Can HR do anything to stop this from happening? Matthew Whelan and Esther Smith advise. The question Two female staff have complained that they have received nasty calls and texts from their male manager’s wife, accusing them of sleeping with […]
How to encourage employee creativity and innovation
Fire the imagination of your staff and they will become more engaged and motivated. Mocky Khan outlines five top tips on how to create an environment where staff can unleash their creativity. ‘Rinse and repeat’: the first shampoo manufacturer to add these three little words to the label doubled the company’s global sales […]
The paperless office: To fear or not to fear?
Technology correspondent Jon Wilcox takes a look at the ‘Holy Grail’ for offices and asks whether it will ever be realistically attained. The subject of the paperless office concept is almost as perennial as conversations about the weather. For the past 40 years since it was dreamt up, the notion of a paper-free […]
A summer of strikes?
The strike at the Lindsay Oil Refinery was a highly-publicised one. Since then, a number of other strikes have taken place with others being threatened. Pam Loch explains what HR professionals can do to avoid industrial action. The Lindsay dispute – the unofficial angle Unlike other disputes the Lindsay dispute was different in that it involved […]
Getting your outsourcing contract back on track
While we know outsourcing can offer real business benefits, new research shows there is a feeling of discontent among many businesses when it comes to outsourcing payroll, says Roger Fullilove. We recently undertook some research which revealed the key drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among UK companies that outsource their payroll. The results highlighted the five key issues […]
Video webcast: James Caan on turning your company into an ideas factory
How do you encourage innovation in your company? Does promoting open communication between employees at all levels work? Dragons' Den James Caan answered these questions and more in our web TV show. In association with the government's iawards, which celebrate British achievements in science, technology and innovation, leading entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star James Caan spoke […]
HR tip: Types of holiday – statutory, bank and public holidays
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: I have been looking through the contracts of employment of several of our employees and find reference to statutory, bank and public holidays. There appears to be no consistency. What exactly are […]
Information overload: Mind mapping software
Suffering from information overload? Chris Harman explains how mind mapping software can help individuals and organisations to work smarter and manage projects more efficiently. The phrase ‘participatory culture’ has been defined as a ‘new way of life that lets people create and circulate self-made content such as video, audio, text, and images’. The culture has been […]
Opinion: Let’s undermine HR
John Pope shares his opinion and thoughts on the dangers of senior management undermining HR policies and procedures, to the detriment of employee morale. Do organisations deliberately try to undermine the basis of HR? I had always thought that they wanted happy, engaged staff who were committed, to a reasonable extent, to the success […]
Ask the expert: Alternative positions after redundancy
Can an employer offer a more junior role to a potentially redundant employee and is it obligatory that it is offered? Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise. The question: We may make a role redundant within our organisation in order to reduce costs. A new position with a new focus will be created if we did […]
Managing absence: The critical role of technology
As the full scale of the absence problem becomes apparent in the UK, more and more organisations are looking to technology to help them tackle it cost-effectively, says Chris Berry. What happens when your employees are sick? Are they expected to call their line manager who should then record and monitor the absence? Do they […]
Caption competition: And the winner is…
Think of a true British summer and you probably think of rain and cancelled barbecues. But nobody could fail to be cheered up by Cliff Richard’s dulcet tones in the 1963 hit film, Summer Holiday. This month’s caption competition was designed to lift those spirits and reminisce about the good old days and hot summers gone by. […]
Software-as-a-service and talent management
Erik Finch questions whether software-as-a-service is the right choice for learning and talent development and examines the factors that employers should consider before adopting it. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model typically involves a vendor developing a web-native software application, and hosting and operating it on behalf of its customers (either independently or through […]
HR tip: Is ‘old boy’ discriminatory?
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: All my life, I have referred to other men to whom I am speaking as 'old boy'. I have been told that this is age discriminatory. Is it? Answer: Yes, it […]
A new era of collaboration technology
Hilary Backwell discusses the rise in collaboration technology, including social media, which in turn demands a new approach to web security. To be successful, today’s business needs to strike a balance between cost-efficiencies, keeping a productive workforce motivated and ensuring that they are mindful of corporate and legislative compliance. However, the way that organisations […]
HR in the future: The impact of technology
Joanne Christie examines how technology will shape the way HR departments operate over the next decade, and exactly what impact technology will have over the years to come. Like it or not, technology is advancing at an unstoppable rate, especially when it comes to information technology. While HR professionals can undoubtedly benefit from new software developments, […]
How to… manage redundancies
Announcing redundancies is a difficult task for any manager, but there are ways to cushion the blow and ensure that those exiting the business do so with dignity. It’s also important to take care of those who remain behind, says Richard Chiumento. It is clear that organisations and managers need to minimise the need for redundancies, […]
Real succession management
Lisette Howlett examines the broad scope of succession management, and points out the common mistakes that can be made and some of the key factors needed for an effective succession process. I have found that in practice within companies, the terms succession planning and succession management can be used to mean broadly the same thing. My choice […]
HR snooping: Facing up to Facebook
Paul Reeves outlines some of the issues involved with viewing employees’ online profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and how HR can manage the impact of this phenomenon. In a recent and high profile example of some of the issues associated with social networking sites, the wife of the […]
Ask the expert: Disciplinary procedure for probationers
Some employees, who are on probation, are not performing well and the employer wants to dismiss them. Matthew Whelan and Esther Smith advise on the correct procedure to follow. The question I have a couple of probationers who are not shaping up. They have been spoken to and one has not changed his […]
