HR tip: Lateness and absence caused by transport strike
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:"During a recent public transport strike, some of our employees failed to turn up for work and others arrived late. We feel that it is employees' responsibility to turn up for work regularly […]
Psychometrics don’t work – unless you choose the right supplier
With recruitment costs and the pressure to attract talent increasing, Jacqui van Loen outlines the benefits of psychometric testing and explains how to choose the right supplier for your organisation. According to a Daily Telegraph survey, 70% of British organisations use some sort of psychometric test as part of their recruitment procedure. The psychometric test […]
Happiness Index reveals secrets of job satisfaction
HR has been ranked 13th out of 20 professions in the fifth annual City & Guilds Happiness Index.According to the index, money is no longer the primary motivator. Instead, having an interest in what you do for a living is the number one factor for ensuring on-the-job contentment. Happiness levels remain constant regardless of salary. […]
Mobile working blamed for rising RSI complaints
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) cases have soared by more than 30% in the last year, at a cost to business of over £300 million. This is according to official research released by Microsoft, which links the rise to increased use of mobile working with office-based employees now working on the move for an average of […]
UK’s biggest employer gives £92 million to staff
Supermarket giant Tesco is awarding almost £92 million in free shares to its staff.The reward forms part of Tesco’s ‘Shares in Success’ scheme. Since the scheme began in 2003, Tesco has awarded more the £440 million in free shares to staff.Almost 193,000 staff will benefit from shares that equate to 3.6% of earnings, which means […]
The secret of my succession
Succession planning is getting sophisticated. High profile companies are receiving praise for smooth executive changeovers, while others are finding their reputations tarnished by indecision. Matt Henkes reports. Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin shocked many in the City last month by announcing that he would be stepping down as head of the communications giant. In many […]
Business benefits for firms that look beyond the ‘usual suspects’
Organisations that employ people on the basis of abilities alone and take steps to improve diversity, reap the most rewards, suggests a joint report by the CBI and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).The report, Talent not Tokenism, concludes that hiring regardless of sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion can benefit in many ways […]
CIPD joins forces to reduce stress
New research and guidance on the behaviours required by managers to prevent and reduce stress in the workplace is published this week.The research is jointly funded by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Investors in People (IiP).It is part of a three-year project to identify the […]
Quarter of HR don’t want payroll responsibility
New research has found that a quarter of finance professionals in charge of payroll would actually rather it was part of HR, yet almost the same number of their HR counterparts say they would rather it was part of finance.ADP Employer Services, the payroll service provider, surveyed over 750 HR and finance professionals in charge […]
Red Cross unveil iBrochure
The British Red Cross promises its new iBrochure will provide a user-friendly guide to health and safety regulations and help businesses ensure they are compliant with the law.Following the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Bill earlier this year, and the imminent announcement of changes to HSE guidelines on first aid training in the […]
Why is HR so hated?
Following on from his series of articles entitled, ‘My boss is bad’, Chetan Dhruve explores the perception that HR departments are deemed unpopular within organisations. “Human resources is a management term that should strike fear into the heart of every self-respecting entrepreneur. Of course, senior executives understand that HR is powerful – a bit like […]
HR transformation: Maintaining the balance
Tim Palmer and Bettina Pickering discuss transforming strategic HR alongside transactional HR. HR transformation projects involve the adoption of new service delivery models which reduce cost through the establishment of in-house shared services centres (SSCs), the streamlining of HR transactional processes or outsourcing part of or all of their transactional HR activity. As organisations make […]
Ensuring development continues beyond the event
Jan Hills discusses how HR can implement methods to clearly measure training effectiveness, while motivating people to follow through on their development to ensure the very best outcome. In last month’s article, I studied some of the pitfalls that HR can fall victim to that means that a training or development event is never fully […]
Ask the expert: Return to work after long-term sick
An employee wants to return to work after a long absence, but the employer is considering dismissal on the grounds of capability. Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise on whether the employer can go down this route. The question:We have an employee who has been off […]
Age regulations fail to clear up pension confusion
The age regulations continue to cause confusion in relation to pensions by their unclear wording and incomplete nature, according to a leading international law firm.Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has said that the cornerstone of the problem is that because pension schemes provided by employers broadly grant benefits depending on age and service, they consequently look inherently […]
Soaring fuel bills spark new calls for flexible working
Employers are being urged to be more flexible with employees, in a bid to ease the financial burden of the cost of travelling to and from work. With the average price of diesel edging towards £1.30 a litre, all workers with cars are likely to be scrutinising the financial cost of commuting to work.Croner, part […]
Graduate hiring still buoyant
Demand for graduates continues despite economic uncertainty.This is according to Elspeth Farrar, communications director at the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, who said that despite media reports to the contrary, the market for graduates is still buoyant. One reason for this, said Farrar, is that companies don’t want to face a ‘skills gap’ in […]
IT voted as key skill of the future
Technology skills are the key to the future, according to a new survey.Respondents voted IT as the most important skill to have by the year 2020 (27%) followed closely by communication skills at 23% and adaptability at 13%. The figures were compiled by lifelong learning charity, the Campaign for Learning, and Reed Learning, following national […]
Pregnant women face discrimination
As many as 70% of women complain of discrimination in the workplace because they are pregnant or already have a child.These are the shocking findings of online job portal TipTopJob.com, which surveyed over 1,000 women, and found that many have either experienced discrimination at work, or feel that they have missed out on a new […]
Bringing up baby: Putting time into paternity leave
The ideal of contemporary fatherhood is at odds with current legislation, which presents an unequal bias in favour of the mother staying at home. Annie Hayes examines whether proposals to change this imbalance can work. Rights of working parentsAspirations are changing and according to a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), many […]
