The war for talent: Fiercer now than before?
The recession is an ideal opportunity to revisit your talent management strategies, but how should organisations be fighting the war on talent in this climate? Becky Midgley speaks to the CIPD’s Claire McCartney to find out. There isn’t one business out there at the moment that isn’t having to change the way it does […]
Danone scoops top spot in UK’s best place to work list
Great Place to Work Institute, the global research and management consultancy, today crowned dairy company Danone UK as the winner of the Best UK Workplaces Programme 2009. One of 50 companies to be ranked, Danone UK beat Cadbury, British Gas and Coca Cola UK and Ireland to the top post, while recruitment company, Total Jobs […]
Success in a recession: Elbow grease and hard slog
Organisations with employees who work very hard are usually the ones which succeed. However, in a recession, how do you get people to put in the long hours without losing their commitment and loyalty? Blaire Palmer explains how to communicate the need for hard work effectively. In the last 20 years, the number of people working […]
Managing virtual teams in a recession
Travel bans induced by the credit crunch mean that virtual teams may find it increasingly tough to meet in person. Pradip Gajjar considers two important strategies to help HR to support virtual teams during these turbulent times. A real scenario: A team leader approaches HR for support. She wants to run a team-building programme and wants to […]
Facebook dismissals: Misuse of IT in the workplace
Nick Hobden and Ben Stepney discuss some steps that can be taken to prevent misuse of IT in the workplace, focusing on social networking sites, blogs and the regulation of workers use of the internet. In February, a 16-year-old from Essex was dismissed three weeks into her job after she described it as "boring" on […]
HR tip: Reporting sexual harassment
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 told that a couple of women in my section are being sexually harassed but are reluctant to report the matter to me, a male, as I will not take […]
Ask the expert: Employee given a prison sentence
An employee has been given a custodial sentence. Esther Smith and Martin Brewer advise on whether the employer should deal with this as a frustration of contract or not. The question: One of our employees has just been given a six-month custodial sentence. I am wondering how to deal with his employment. I see that […]
Tomorrow’s workforce: Right people, right place, right skills?
The constant changing nature of today’s workforce presents many challenges for HR. Paul Lambert explains why effective workforce planning can give organisations a strategic advantage in a knowledge-based economy. The changing workforce – a business challenge for HR A skilled workforce is the key ingredient in delivering high quality services and great products for […]
Views on HR news: Metrics and measures
Jon Ingham trawls the net to provide his round-up of the great and the good of HR thought and opinion found on the web, so you don’t have to. This week, he discusses his continuing interest in HR metrics. My interest in metrics was raised through a couple of posts on this month’s HR […]
Take part in the Customer Experience State of the Nation survey
HRzone.co.uk’s sister site, MyCustomer.com, has teamed up with ClickTools to present the2009 Customer Experience State of the Nation survey, an annual poll that identifies the current issues and key trends in customer experience across a range of industries. To make this the most comprehensive survey ever, MyCustomer.com wants to hear your thoughts on what improvements your […]
Case study: Handling large-scale redundancies
Countless organisations have had to make job cuts in the last few months, making HR’s job a particularly tough one. Nick Golding talks to Buckinghamshire County Council to find out how they are handling their large-scale redundancy process. Back in January this year, the 14,000-strong workforce at Buckinghamshire County Council was confronted with the news […]
HCM: Using analytics to help organisations fight back
Peter Howes highlights how the use of eight metrics, that have specifically been identified for use in a downturn, can lead to greater workforce insight, improving efficiency and driving cost savings. With the recession in full swing, rapid changes within the global business environment have left many HR directors reeling. Until recently most were […]
Celebrating National Work from Home Day
To coincide with National Work from Home Day, Mick Hegarty discusses new research on remote working and highlights why home working is helping both employees and UK businesses. On National Work from Home Day, it is safe to say that the uptake of remote working practices has rocketed over recent times. In the last year, a growing number […]
Could the recession be tarnishing your employer brand?
How can organisations ensure they maintain their employer brand in a recession? Tim Holden explains how to keep brand values visible throughout any change process, and how HR can ensure the brand is protected during a redundancy process. What is an employer brand? According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD), employer […]
HR blunder of the month: Fired worker reinstated due to printer malfunction
You have probably had to repeat this HR mantra to managers and supervisors many times: Document, document, document. Here’s yet another example of what can go wrong when documentation is missing. A hearing officer has ruled that an employee from Denver, USA should get to keep his job after failing a breathalyzer test because […]
HR tip: Reducing wages
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: "Because times are hard we would like to reduce the wages of our employees. Can we do this?" Answer: You cannot do this unilaterally since it would constitute breach of contract. You […]
The drive towards equality in the workplace
Cases involving discrimination on the grounds of age, religion and belief or sexual orientation are on the increase. Pam Loch discusses the opinion as to whether some equality rights are more equal than others. Since 1975 and the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act, there have been many challenges in tribunals and courts which have clarified […]
Ten top tips on rewarding in a recession
Mark Eaton outlines some of the simple steps you can take to ensure you are ready to keep rewarding in a recession. It’s realistic that employers need to be prudent and take some tough decisions in the current recession and ongoing economic uncertainty. Yet, there’s much employers can do to galvanise their people and use […]
Can the private life of an employee affect their employment?
Widespread use of the internet and social networking sites have made the ‘personal’ potentially ‘public’, and this blurring of the boundaries can present HR professionals with some tricky situations, says Steven Thomas. Only last month, an insurance worker was dismissed after surfing Facebook while off sick. Not such a bad thing, you may think, until […]
Mergers and acquisitions: Creating a stronger HR function
Jan Hills and Stefania Cappello offer practical advice on how merging HR functions can be implemented, and how it should be seen as less of a daunting task and more of an opportunity for a stronger HR function. Most advice on mergers and acquisitions is about HR helping the business. The challenge for HR […]