ASR Comes to the Aid of Comic Relief with New HR and Workflow System
Leading UK charity Comic Relief is implementing a human resource (HR) system from ASR Computers Ltd., a COA Solutions company. The HR Pro system with an integrated .NET Workflow module is ‘going-live’ in August 2008.With HR Pro and .NET Workflow in place, manually-intensive administration tasks will be replaced with automated processes, freeing-up staff time which […]
COA Solutions Reports Strong Profitable Growth and Record Level of New Orders
UK business applications software provider, COA Solutions Ltd., has today reported strong profitable growth for the year ending March 31, 2008. Turnover has increased by 10.3% to £55.7m with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increasing by 24% to £12.4m. COA Solutions also reports a record level of new orders with an order […]
In the line of fire: Dealing with difficult situations
We all fall out with our colleagues from time to time but if the situation gets out of hand, Louise Druce examines how HR can help resolve office conflicts and deal with the aftermath. The odd spat between colleagues is nothing unusual in a busy office, but if it starts to get out of hand, […]
Incentive schemes: Is it time to have a rethink?
There have been several examples recently where an organisation has performed badly, yet the head of it has still received a substantial bonus, easily perceived as a reward for failure. It may be time we looked again at the idea of linking reward to performance, says John Pope. Linking reward to performance is likely to […]
Consultation begins on flexible working
The government is to investigate ways to help employers deal with flexible working requests more easily, as part of its consultation published today (26 August).The consultation forms part of the Walsh Review, undertaken by Sainsbury’s HR director Imelda Walsh, which recommended that the right to request flexible working was extended to parents with children who […]
Ask the expert: Notification of job adverts during maternity
Is it a legal requirement to inform employees on maternity leave of any vacancies in the company? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question: Do we legally have to inform employees on maternity leave of vacancies? Also, is there a […]
Motivating temporary staff
The popularity of reward and recognition schemes are increasing each year, but do you extend the programme to your temporary and contract staff? Derrick Hardman outlines the benefits of implementing motivation schemes for this group of workers. As 2008 marches on and the effects of the credit squeeze on staff loyalty and retention become apparent, […]
Working out: The benefits shape-up
Despite the downturn, more employers are offering health and wellbeing benefits than ever before. But does a brief flirtation with a never-ending supply of Golden Delicious and some Nicorette patch slapping benefit the boss? Annie Hayes reports. Wellbeing benefits on offerSubsidised gym membership no longer pre-empts an ‘oh wow’ response. It’s about as expected as […]
Embracing innovation
In these hard economic times, Neil Davidson urges employers to focus on innovation – or risk diminished growth and serious losses within the business. Sometimes, when I use the word innovate, I tend to notice a certain glazing over of eyes, and my listeners slowly appear to retreat into themselves. And I understand why; the […]
Achieving a successful 360-degree appraisal
Using 360-degree appraisals is a very effective means of improving management and team performance. To succeed, they have to be carefully planned and well executed, says Valerie Heritage. Planning your approachFirstly, you need to understand how the proposed 360-degree appraisal process fits with your current performance appraisal and people management processes. This will help you […]
HR confident business leaders can do it
Leaders in the UK are rated most highly, with almost half of HR professionals confident in their ability, a global leadership report shows.This is according to the 5th Global Leadership Forecast 2008/2009 by business leadership consultancy DDI, which reports that 44% of respondents rank UK leaders as very good or excellent compared to 37% globally. […]
A deal’s a deal: Personalising your employee value proposition
Bettina Pickering, Fiona Quarrie and Janet Windeatt explore how to improve retention by matching the expectations and promises set at the recruitment stage with the actual employee value proposition. As the cost of sourcing talent increases and filling positions with the right staff gets harder, it is increasingly important that new recruits and existing employees […]
HR tip: Implied contractual terms
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: "What are implied terms?" HR tip: Express terms are those that have been explained to the employee, for example by being set out in the offer letter, contractual statement or employee handbook. […]
Fury at Marks & Spencer as retailer plans to slash redundancy benefit
Retailer M&S is facing furious staff over its plans to cut its redundancy payout by up to 25%.According to a story reported in The Times newspaper, M&S wants to cut the maximum payout that employees can receive in relation to their length of service from 70 weeks to 52 weeks. An employee due £35,000 under […]
Who’s going to win? Software Satisfaction 2008 HR & training nominees
More than 700 votes were cast in the HR and training categories in this year’s Software Satisfaction Awards, which see some of the larger, established software suppliers lined up against newer arrivals. John Stokdyk reports.ASR (now part of COA Solutions) and SAP will contest the enterprise HR category against Vizual’s HR.net and Softscape Apex. ASR […]
Productivity probe exposes 40-day loss
A staggering 40 days every year are wasted by the average person, according to a new survey.The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) revealed the findings as part of a campaign to counteract the perception that people don’t have time to learn.A total of 1,658 people were quizzed as part of the survey, which found that […]
Pay for what you get: Compensation for performance
The Egyptian pyramid builders could have probably showed us a thing or two about performance management; back in those days the threat of death was all that was needed to get a stone block dragged up a hill. However, now there are laws against that kind of practice, Matt Henkes takes a look at how […]
How to ensure a fair redundancy
With unemployment predicted to rise over the next couple of years, and fears of a recession on its way, Charles Price offers his advice on how to ensure employers follow a fair redundancy process. The British Chamber of Commerce predicts UK unemployment will rise by between 250,000 and 300,000 in the next 18 months to […]
When is a GCSE not a GCSE?
Candidates are eagerly awaiting their GCSE results this Thursday, which will be important for students, universities and employers alike. Yet, GCSEs are now run in many different ways, which can be confusing when it comes to recruiting. Mike Morrison explains what the different qualifications mean on a CV. Today, employers take note of qualifications, especially […]
HR workers love the job despite rising workloads
A whopping 94% of HR workers say they are happy in their role even though workloads are rising as the credit crunch bites.This is according to recruitment outfit Badenoch & Clark’s ‘Happiness at Work Index’. The findings show that, of those surveyed, HR workers reported the highest increase in their workload since the start of […]