Free mentors for rooky female interims
A mentoring service for new female interim managers has been launched by business forum, InterimWomen.The free mentoring service aims to guide new interim managers through any issues they may have in their new careers and provide tips and advice on marketing and networking, as well as offering users invaluable insight into the mentors’ own experiences […]
Flexible Working Practices
This May, we’re hosting a really interesting online discussion in partnership with BT about the opportunities of working remotely, away from the office. Does this affect you and your business, or would you like to know more about the practicalities of flexible working, as well as the chance to network with peers, and benefit from […]
Workers look ahead with networking
As many as 75% of younger workers expect networking to feature heavily in the future.Research by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose suggests that 68% of people expect to be part of more networks in five years time; the figure moves to 75% for the 25-44 year age group. Confidence in networking as more than […]
Erecruitment blasts public sector hiring spend
Online recruitment could dramatically reduce the cost of public sector hiring.This is according to new research by the Cranfield School of Management, which suggests that erecruitment can provide a cost-effective and efficient solution for the public sector, enabling them to attract high quality and diverse candidates.The report suggests that erecruitment could cut the cost of […]
Science skills warning as funding crisis bites
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on the government to address a lack of funding in science over fears that physicists and chemists will take their skills elsewhere.The union’s new report,Hybrid Cars and Shooting Stars, urges ministers to make up the £80 million shortfall affecting the Science and Technologies Facilities Council. TUC general secretary […]
Harness the elearning explosion for organisational gain
Elearning has taken off over the past few years, fuelled by cheaper creative and collaborative ‘Web 2.0’ tools. Technology editor John Stokdyk traces the latest trends and explains how HR can play a more active role in implementing successful elearning programmes. Over the past couple of years, trainers have shaken off traditional attitudes and embraced […]
Spotlight: Alan Cairns, HR director, moneysupermarket.com
Alan Cairns’ diverse career has seen him work in various roles across a number of national and international companies, from GE and Alstom to Littlewoods and JCB. Here he tells Verity Gough how he’s finally found his niche. Vital stats: Company: moneysupermarket.com The aim: To maintain its position as ‘the price comparison site’. Number of […]
Acas web re-vamp promises to entice HR
Employment relations expert Acas has re-launched its website, promising to put customers first.New features for HR professionals, employers and employees, together with regional pages to provide businesses with details of training and services on offer in the local area, can now be found at www.acas.org.ukThe site, which claims to benefit the UK economy to the […]
Half of adults confess to inferior IT skills
Almost half of all adults feel their computers skills are in need of improvement, according to a new report by IT giant Microsoft.According to the report, almost a third of adults say they have poor or no computer skills and one in six workers feel they lack the IT skills needed to do their job […]
Ask the expert: Payments on redundancy
Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise on whether an employee, when made redundant, is owed a tax-free payment in lieu of notice. The question:We have just made one of our employees redundant. We terminated his contract and gave him pay in lieu of notice, plus holiday […]
The truth about diversity
Andrew Mayo carefully approaches the issue of why he is tired of today’s obsession with the ‘diversity agenda’, explaining that diversity is about the celebration of difference, not statistics. I am going to take a big risk in this article. I am going to come out into the open. I know I am not supposed […]
Questions asked as Skills Pledge commitment dips to 13%
Just 13% of employers have signed the Employer Skills Pledge, a voluntary commitment from companies to support all employees in the development of basic skills.A recent report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests that over half of organisations’ learning and development work has not been influenced by the skills agenda. In […]
Unions spearhead wellness campaign
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is behind a new campaign to offer improved occupational health assistance to the 2 million employees that fall ill because of work, every year.Together with unionlearn, the TUC is publishing a new guide to occupational health for union safety reps with the aim of training 15,000 of them to find […]
Worker sacked over ‘dead flowers’ accuses HR of being ‘petty’
A worker for supermarket chain the Co-op claims she was pushed out of her job over a row about a bunch of out-of-date flowers.Mary Whitner gave a bunch of wilting flowers to a customer when they failed to scan.According to the report by the BBC, Whitner was told to “resign or be sacked”, after 23 […]
‘F-ing and blinding’ is turn off for bosses
Too much swearing is putting bosses off with one in 10 admitting to sacking an employee for foul language.A poll by TheLadders.co.uk, as reported in Online Recruitment, shows that almost half of employers would fire an employee for using bad language.A foul mouth occupies the top and second place in a ranking of the worst […]
Digital era sparks growing cowardice
Sacking staff by text or delegating a difficult task by email are just some of the reasons social experts say we are becoming a nation of cowards.According to a new report out by the Post Office, 73% of people admit to delegating difficult tasks at work by email and text, whilst 52% use these forms […]
HR and finance professionals brought together at event
A joint event hosted by the HR Society and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) will uniquely bring HR and finance professionals together to challenge the mantra that people are our most valuable asset. The event will be hosted at Chartered Accountants Hall in London, where delegates will hear the views […]
Being polite is not the same as being nice
I wanted to share a quote with you that really made me think. In an article in the Daily Telegraph about customer service, Andrew McMillan, the customer service manager at John Lewis said: “…Up to a point you can take an intelligent person and train them to be polite. But you can’t train a person […]
Risking it all? Preventing accidents at work
Sticks and stones will break your bones … and so will slips, trips and falls. Annie Hayes looks at the very real costs of minor accidents at work and discovers that the ‘trivial’ can quickly spiral to the ‘serious and costly’. From ‘minor’ to ‘major’According to official figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), […]
Legislation update: ‘Young’ employee wins age discrimination claim
Employment solicitor Richard White considers a case where a younger worker brought a claim for age discrimination, and succeeded. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 protect both young and old from age discrimination, but most of the tribunal claims so far have been brought by older workers. The first fully contested decision involving a younger […]