What is your boss really thinking?
Have you ever wondered how your boss interprets your actions? Chester Elton answers questions about what bosses really think when their employees exhibit typical workplace behaviours. What’s my boss thinking when I don’t speak up in a meeting, come in late with an excuse, volunteer to organise all the team private parties and events, or […]
Huge gender pay gap in City
Women working in the UK’s financial sector receive around 80% less in performance-related pay than men, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The commission’s Finance Sector Inquiry found that women employees earned an average of £2,875 in bonuses, compared to an average of £14,554 for men. The inquiry included a survey of […]
HR tip: Stopping swearing
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 consistently uses bad language in all his conversations. This is offensive to some people who hear it and even more so when it forms part of a complaint […]
Colborn’s Corner: The end of civil service redundancy cheques?
There are plans to cut generous redundancy payments for the 500,000 civil servants in Britain. Quentin Colborn examines the issue and questions what employers are trying to achieve by such payments. If one topic has been on the lips of HR people over the last year then ‘redundancy’ has to be close to being top of […]
Diversity at B&Q: The people business
Retail chain B&Q is well known for its success in employing a diverse workforce. So what is its secret? Lucie Mitchell speaks to the organisation’s diversity advisor to find out. Home improvement retailer B&Q is well known for its diversity policies. It has earned a reputation for employing older workers and has […]
Engaging all the generations in our workforce
Karen Frost explores the key differences between each of the four generations and explains how to overcome the challenge of Generation Y. If you stop and think about it, we currently have four generations of people in our workforce. This has always been the case, but the needs and aspirations of each […]
HR solutions for small and dispersed populations
In a globalised environment, how do organisations with small employee numbers and a wide geographical distribution make the case for HR technology investment or outsourcing? Rachel Anderson advises. The demands of a multi-national environment mean organisations often have sophisticated local HR requirements but with a small number of employees in each location, which often […]
Create a diverse workforce for business success
Equality and diversity must be seen as a business issue, despite the recession, because promoting a diverse workforce can bring many benefits to both employer and employee, says Sarah Williams Gardener. The total benefits to the UK economy of reducing the gender segregation of jobs and increasing women’s employment has been estimated as anything up […]
Is your HR department ready for the economic upturn?
The Institute of Chartered Accountants has predicted the UK economy will grow by 0.5% in the third quarter, sparking reports Britain is coming out of recession. Denis Barnard asks, is your HR department ready for the good times? According to the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which recently surveyed 1,000 chartered accountants across the UK, business […]
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 […]
