Look after your employees and they will look after you
How can organisations utilise the employee benefits they provide to help reduce sickness absence? Colin Micklewright discusses the options. In recent years, there are very few issues that have developed with such enormous impact upon both top and bottom line performance as the spiralling trend of sickness absence. Employers are well aware of the effect […]
Playing to strengths? The brighter side of performance management
Smiley faces, can-do attitudes, happy bunnies – can positive psychology raise performance and give everyone a ‘great day’? Annie Hayes reports. The ‘what’ and ‘why’A mad professor wearing a white lab coat with a cheeky grin – the imagery is just too tempting. But beyond the starch and perky exterior is there any substance to […]
HR tip: Does raising standards require new contract?
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:"We recruited a supervisor who left after six months' service. We now discover that the standards of both behaviour and productivity dropped during the period he ran his section. We need to bring […]
Web conferencing: A helping hand
Stephane Guiblin provides some top tips on web conferencing adoption for HR professionals. HR teams are focused on creating positive working environments filled with motivated and productive staff. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s disparate and complex business environment where HR professionals simply do not have enough time, resources or budget to meet […]
HR in the real world
Anyone who’s ever been responsible for hiring and developing people or managing teams can tell you that HR can be a real challenge. Alyson Pellowe discusses what the rest of the business needs to know about HR. If business worked in reality the way it works in an ideal world, then HR policies and processes […]
Skills Q&A: Ensuring a competitive edge
Glenn Robinson outlines the advantages of a better-skilled workforce to bring about a more motivated and productive workforce, as well as benefits to the bottom line. The question:I run a specialised food manufacturing business in the north of England. We have a strong and competent workforce with over 100 dedicated employees. We’ve always had a […]
‘Deadly’ cultures are destroying organisations
Organisations are ‘destroying’ themselves by appointing the wrong leaders and creating a culture which actively discourages engagement.This is what Professor Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe, chief executive of the Real World Group, told delegates at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) annual HRD conference in London this week. Alimo-Metcalfe, who was involved in a three-year research […]
Coaching a ‘challenge’ for organisations
Knowing how to best implement coaching within organisations is a challenge for learning and development professionals, according to new research.This is despite the fact that 71% of UK employers currently use coaching within their organisation, found the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) Developing Coaching Capability in Organisations report.The research also showed that many […]
Job figures defy gloom
Official figures show employment levels rising, fewer redundancies and a fall in the jobless count, yet experts warn of tough times ahead.Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a rise in employment of 152,000 over the quarter reaching 29.51 million. The highest figure since comparable records began in 1971.The jobless count has also […]
Tax blow for low-paid workers triggers union call for help
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on the government to introduce new measures to help millions of low paid workers that it says, have lost out through the abolition of the 10p tax rate.TUC general secretary Brendan Barber made the call in a speech to the north west TUC annual conference in Liverpool. The […]
Supermarket giant launches degree
Tesco is launching a foundation degree in retail management.The foundation degree – awarded by the University of the Arts, London and Manchester Metropolitan University – is delivered through a combination of workshops, work-based learning and online tutorials. The first Tesco students to start the degree began their studies in September 2007 at both universities. “The […]
Can equal treatment be temporary?
As the battle rages on over legislation for the equal treatment of temporary and agency staff, Matt Henkes has a look at the issue and what it could mean for employees. The progress of Labour MP Andrew Miller’s private members bill for the equal treatment of agency and temporary workers has reignited a long running […]
Olympics minister fails to raise the skills game
Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister has been criticised for missing the mark on skills shortages.Jowell’s calls for a recruitment revolution will not bring about social change, or help transform the position of women in the construction industry in the build up to the 2012 Olympics, a leading supplier of talent to the construction industry has […]
Redundancy: Getting it right
When organisational change can lead to redundancy, how can HR best support employers? Denise Taylor has some answers. The most important step in the redundancy process is communication, keeping people informed right from the start. Rumours will spread so best to provide as much information as you can. Keep people informed through regular briefings and […]
Resigned or dismissed? How the law sees it
When there is confusion as to whether an employee has resigned or been dismissed, how is it seen in the eyes of the law? Barrister Charles Price explains. It is often not clear whether an employee has resigned or was dismissed, and it has been held in law that where an employee is told […]
Ask the expert: Flexible working requests
Can an employer refuse a request for flexible working if it is likely to cause disgruntlement amongst other employees? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question:I have an employee who’s come up with a quite creative way of solving some of his childcare problems. He […]
Caption competition
This picture was taken on Westminster Bridge, London, in 1968, and the man in the photo is certainly implementing a novel way of commuting to work. One to suggest to your employees, maybe?The winner of this caption competition was Rebecca Hewett, an HR officer at Comic Relief. Congratulations Rebecca, a bottle of Beaujolais Red (Chiroubles […]
Credit crunch doom ignored by jobseekers
Candidates are positive about job prospects despite the reports of a labour market slowdown.This is according to a new quarterly survey, by The Hotonline Network, which found that 84% of the 1,685 candidates questioned feel that they are more likely, or just as likely to, find a job in 2008 as they were in 2007. […]
Sleepless Sunday fuelled by work worries
A tired 84% of people have trouble sleeping on Sundays because they are worried about the week ahead.This is according to a new poll by online recruiters, Monster. Of that number, over half experience this every week. Globally the UK, Hungary and the US are topping the charts for sleepless nights triggered by stress at […]
Diversity programmes ‘super-sized’ in reaction to globalisation
The impact of globalisation has broadened diversity efforts, according to 2,500 HR and training executives in the US and Canada.The survey by Novations Group, a consulting firm based in Boston, showed that over 40% of organisations have already expanded the scope of their diversity and inclusion programming, up from just 15% in 2005, the last […]