Good looks scoop dream job
A new survey shows that attractive job applicants may have more success at the interview stage than other jobseekers.Shockingly, nearly 90% of employers in the poll by employment law service Peninsula have admitted to choosing the most attractive candidate for a job opening at least once.It’s a finding that is backed up by Online Recruitment […]
Mills-McCartney divorce highlights plight of low paid workers
The high profile divorce award of £24.3 million to Heather Mills for her four-year marriage to Sir Paul McCartney has highlighted the issue over low pay.According to experts, it would take an average McDonald’s worker 1771 years to earn that amount.Recruitment outfit Adecco compared the monthly earnings of Heather Mills, based on the length of […]
Unite opposes Northern Rock redundancy plan
The trade union Unite is opposing plans by the publicly-owned bank, Northern Rock, to make compulsory redundancies.The union is seeking assurances that the workforce will be reduced through voluntary means only. Graham Goddard, Unite deputy general secretary, said that the announcement would cause “further anxiety” for the workforce: “The union will be working to mitigate […]
Budget brings ‘breathing space’ for bosses
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has welcomed the budget, saying “no news is good news” for HR.Commenting on the Chancellor’s budget announcement, the CIPD said that employers would welcome the “breathing space” and the additional resources for skills.Gerwyn Davies, CIPD public policy adviser, said: “While we endorse the additional resources allocated to […]
Workers prepared to pack their bags for the right job
Location is not an issue if the right job is at stake, with as many as 77% of people prepared to relocate to a different city for work.This is according to a new survey by recruitment powerhouse Kelly Services, which found that 66% would go as far as moving abroad for the dream job whilst […]
LSC faces the chop
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is under threat of closure.The government made the proposals in a White Paper, which details the transfer of £7 billion to local authorities to help colleges and sixth forms deliver the reforms needed to raise the education and training leaving age to 18. A new agency will be formed, […]
Rising stars: Looking for the ‘x-factor’
A feeding frenzy for the best staff is being triggered by a war for talent that is testing even the most skilled talent management professionals. Annie Hayes discovers how to spot and keep talent. Managing talent is the most crucial challenge facing HR, according to a survey across 17 EU countries by the Boston Consulting […]
Don’t you forget about change
Jan Hills looks at the reasons why people can be resistant to change, and discusses how to work around this to complete a successful change project. Whoever first claimed that ‘starting is half the job done’ has probably never had to guide a business through a change process. Change processes have a habit of going […]
Ask the expert: Disciplinary action and illness disclosure
An employer has started disciplinary proceedings against a disruptive employee. The employee has now disclosed a medical condition which could affect the proceedings. Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question:I have started disciplinary proceedings against an employee, after it was disclosed they were pursuing personal […]
Is employer brand an HR responsibility?
The employer brand defines what is unique about working for an organisation. But is it HR’s responsibility to promote a brand that can attract and retain employees? Bettina Pickering and Janet Windeatt discuss. While the concept of an employer brand has risen in prominence in recent years, every organisation, no matter whether it chooses to […]
Equal Opportunities
What is peoples views of the equalities minister Harriet Harman’s suggestion that legislation should be introduced that if two candidates were equally qualified for a position, employers would be able to reject the white person or the man in favour of a black person or a woman.Personally I belief that this is blatant racism and […]
Sick Britain costs £100 billion a year
The findings of the first ever review into the health of the work age population shows that ill health is costing Britain a huge £100 billion ever year.The cost is more than the entire annual budget of the NHS and is equivalent to the entire gross domestic product of Portugal.Dame Carol Black, the director for […]
Mums ‘start again’ after maternity leave
Taking time out to have a baby is costing working women their position on the career ladder.Tanya Hine, president of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, called it an “ongoing” difficulty: “It always has been a problem that once you have children you’re normally back at the bottom of the ladder and have to work […]
Nine to five slog saps workers’ energy
UK workers only work at their optimum levels for five hours a day, according to recent research. A study by high street chemist Boots had shown that the average employee loses over 150 minutes a day due to being tired and, if working the usual nine to five, they are only fully awake for up […]
The dawn of a new age
There are conflicting reports as to how effective age discrimination laws have really been, but it’s clear there is still plenty of work to be done to encourage more older workers into the workplace. Louise Druce looks at the issues. Depending on which statistics you believe, it seems the number of older workers is on […]
Give more and get more back
Most organisations want more out of their employees. But what will it take to get staff to go that extra mile and release their discretionary effort? Chris Legge has some answers. Research suggests that within a typical organisation, 20% of employees give everything, 60% would give more if there was something in it for them […]
Adding value through interim management
Raj Tulsiani discusses five things you should know about interim management but perhaps never considered, to help add real value to the business. The growth of interim management over the last three decades has been such that industry best practice has been fighting a losing battle to keep up with the movement of the […]
Colborn’s Corner: A nanny state?
In the news this week, it has been suggested that employers make financial guidance available in the workplace to offer staff general advice on personal finance. Quentin Colborn considers this view from an HR perspective. Insurance chief Otto Thoresen has been appointed by the economic secretary to the treasury to carry out a review examining […]
HR tip: Time off for funerals
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:"How much time should we allow off for funerals?" HR tip:The law allows employees time off work to deal with family emergencies such as bereavement but does not say how much. You need […]
Extra funding for UK skills
In his first budget speech on Wednesday, Alistair Darling announced that an extra £60m will be spent on improving skills levels of the country’s workforce.The speech was scant on detail as to how this would be spent in practice, however he said the government wanted to ensure that every UK adult had the opportunity to […]
