Negativity costs bosses
Sour-faced bosses are damaging the bottom line with negative working atmospheres.This is according to global management consultancy the Hay Group, that says the problem is becoming rife and, in the financial services sector alone, it is costing a whopping £8.5 billion in reduced profits.The study, based on research of over 2,800 business leaders across the […]
Choctastic Easter competition: The winners
Just before Easter, HRZone.co.uk ran a competition to win a box of delicious Chateau Vert fair trade Belgium chocolates. We were inundated with entries – we never knew you all loved chocolate so much! But we could only pick five winners, and here they are: Shirley Hopkinson Donna Sims Suzanne Marke Rebecca Hall Jesse Partington […]
Employability recognised with new qualification
A level two certificate in employability skills has been launched and will be available from April 2008.The new qualification has been developed by Education Development International (EDI) and is aimed at both current employees and those wishing to enter the labour market.The qualification aims to help learners gain a better understanding of the skills required […]
Changing demographics drains talent pool
A decline in graduate levels is likely to have an effect on business, according to a new report.A moderate fall in the number of 18 to 20-year-olds from today until 2019 is predicted across the UK. It’s an overall decline that equates to 70,000 full-time undergraduate places over the next 10 years, although the dip […]
Attracting great talent
Alyson Pellowe offers advice on how to ensure the best talent wants to work for you – and not your competitors. Attracting great talent can be a difficult task at the moment. Because of the well-documented skills shortage, the best candidates can afford to be selective. Many employers find that the employee is in the […]
Talent management: Finding a cost-effective solution
Sue Lingard explains how employers can invest in cost-effective talent management solutions that allow HR more time to manage people rather than paper. The changing labour landscapeToday, talent management is fast becoming the top of everyone’s agenda. All companies face the challenges of an increasingly competitive labour market. For many, job opportunities are the click […]
Workers sacrifice dream job for shorter commute
Commuting to work has got so bad that two thirds of workers would choose a shorter journey to the office over the perfect job.This is according to a survey by recruiters Unity Personnel, which quizzed workers in Leeds, and found that only 37 per cent of people would commute for over an hour to travel […]
Kitted out for maternity leave
Just because you’ve had a baby, it doesn’t mean you want to ditch work completely. Louise Druce looks at how KIT days can help mothers stay connected with the office. Not all women want to sever ties with the company while on maternity leave, which is why ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days have proved a […]
Prove we are valued….please
Should HR professionals stop worrying about their value to an organisation and concentrate on other issues? Not at all, says Andrew Mayo. There is always a certain amount of paranoia present in the HR function that its importance and contribution are not sufficiently valued. If it is any comfort, I observe the same in marketing […]
Legislation update: Employer’s reliance on expired disciplinary warnings
Richard White, specialist employment solicitor at Withy King, considers a case that looks at whether employers can rely on expired disciplinary warnings when deciding whether or not to dismiss an employee. Are employers entitled to take expired disciplinary warnings into account when deciding whether to dismiss an employee? Not according to the Employment Appeal Tribunal […]
Generation Y requires a ‘viral’ approach to recruitment
Diverse, tech-savvy and socially aware, the current generation of school leavers and graduates present a recruitment challenge for employers, explains Colin Tenwick. The new generation of school leavers is causing recruiters headaches when it comes to attracting, engaging and retaining promising employees. The Stepstone Total Talent Report 2008, which surveyed global business leaders on talent […]
HR tip: Proof of drunkenness
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:"Our night shift manager sent a man home because he said he was too drunk to work safely. We called the employee in for interview to decide whether disciplinary action was called for, […]
Green candidates scoop jobs
A new study claims a third of employers would turn down an applicant on the basis of their green credentials failing to meet the required level.According to online recruiter fish4jobs, there is a growing trend for employers to evaluate candidates’ carbon footprints as much as their previous job experience. As many as one in 10 […]
Orme takes up £300k-a-year post as CIPD’s chief executive
Jackie Orme has started her new job this week as chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The post is reported to carry a £300,000-a-year salary. Orme succeeds Geoff Armstrong, who retires in June. Commenting on Orme’s arrival, Vicky Wright, CIPD president, said: “This is an exciting moment for the CIPD. We’re […]
Demand for interims soars
The numbers of interim managers will rocket by more than 20% during the next six months.Sectors such as financial services, manufacturing and technology are leading the demand, according to the Hitchenor Wakeford’s Interim Management Index.John Wakeford, managing director of Hitchenor Wakeford, said: “The booming use of interim managers looks set to continue in 2008. The […]
Passion sparked by meaning and fairness
Meaning and fairness are amongst the key drivers of employee passion for work.The Blanchard study, Employee Passion – The New Rules of Engagement reveals eight key factors that influence employee passion:1. Meaningful work – people feel their work is worthwhile and connected to a larger purpose.2. Collaboration – an environment where motivation and inspiration are […]
Input and Output Measures.
The difference between input and output measures is often a source of confusion when discussing performance measures. This illustration may help to explain this difference.The Arch Metropolitan Theodrakis Christodoulou was for many years the much loved pastor of his flock in his sprawling See in rural Greece. His family were of simple farming stock and […]
Can the Management Gurus’ lead us to Nirvana?
A Guru was once cynically described as an expert who had reached the age of 50 without being found out.However we live today in the age of the Guru, with management Gurus being quoted not just by managers but by politicians and the media and being viewed as a celebrity sub species in their own […]
Outsourcing or Ouch-sourcing?
Outsourcing has been described as company’s giving away their brains and the major consequence of doing this is it is very difficult to get your brains back in the future! However, in the U.K. both Private Enterprise and the Public Sector seem to have acquired a worrying addiction to frontal lobotomy!The trend towards Outsourcing and […]
New managers: In at the deep end?
Why do we throw new managers in at the deep end, without teaching them to swim first? Management consultant John Pope has some answers. Replacing a managerEvery so often we need to replace a manager and find that there is no-one who has been developed to fit the job. We look round at the possible […]