All’s fair in love and HR
It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air – but should it be in the HR department? Sarah Fletcher investigates. “The course of true love never did run smooth,” said Shakespeare; and anyone who has witnessed a workplace romance can testify that, 400 years later, nothing has changed. Whether floating around on a cloud […]
Dispute resolution: Finding the middle ground
Workplace disputes are not only an emotive issue for companies, they are a costly one as well, with millions spent fighting claims every year. Now the new Employment Bill is coming to shake up current dispute resolution and grievance procedures, Verity Gough investigates whether it’s time for HR to mediate. We’re all used to the […]
Corporate manslaughter: Transforming how businesses operate
Matthew Judge discusses how the new Corporate Manslaughter Act is due to transform business travel and advises on the role HR departments must play when staff travel on company business. Do your employees travel on domestic or international business? Do you know where they are at each step of their journey, their trains, flights, and […]
TNA and evaluation: Spot the difference
Martin Schmalenbach examines the links between training needs analysis and evaluation. After all, he says, they're two sides of the same business coin. Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the process of identifying training needs for an individual or group of people. Its outcome is a clear set of training objectives to be met by […]
HR tip: Alcohol on site
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:"Can we impose a complete alcohol ban across our company if, from time-to-time, our directors entertain important customers with wine at lunch?" HR tip:You may apply whatever restrictions you like provided you are […]
Corporate Provision of on-site Massage Services!
We are considering setting up on site massage facility across out UK offices.Has anyone done this? If so please could you help us with the below questions:How is this facility actually delivered to employees i.e. How does an employee ‘qualify’/take advantage of it? From the companies perspective, is this an initiative that is worthwhile and […]
Besotted workers ring up bills in quest for love
Loved up workers are costing businesses an astounding £10 billion a year.This is according to HR experts Croner, which found that 37 per cent of people use communication lines at work, including the telephone and email, to conduct their personal relationships.Office email systems were the most popular means of personal communication amongst the 1,198 British […]
Business is an accident waiting to happen
Less than 60 per cent of workers know where the first aid kit is kept.These are the worrying findings from the British Red Cross, leading providers of first aid products and first aid training for the workplace. By contrast, as many as 86 per cent of people know where their first aid kit is at […]
Confidence in HR dips as specific expertise becomes scarce
Combined technical and business expertise are hardest to find globally, with 67 per cent of chief executive officers reporting shortages; and in bad news for people managers, only 43 per cent of chiefs believe HR is equipped to deal with changes needed to compete for talent.The findings from a new survey by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers […]
Union busting spreads to UK
Union busting tactics that are plaguing trade union membership in the United States are spreading to the UK.A new report US Union Avoidance Consultants: A Threat to the Rights of British Workers, written for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) by Dr John Logan from the London School of Economics, says that union busting is a […]
Getting your just rewards? Investing in an individual solution
Cashing in on inventive and tailored reward solutions is paying dividends for some employers. Annie Hayes reports on reward schemes that applaud the individual. Looking at public sector pay, it might be fair to conclude that a one-size fits all approach to reward is a recipe for disaster. There has been a spate of industrial […]
My boss is bad: Organisations, CEOs, staff – they’re all victims
Chetan Dhruve continues with his series looking at issues with leadership, this time concluding that bosses, in the final analysis, are victims of the system too. Imagine you’re in hospital undergoing treatment for something serious. Understandably, you’re anxious. Above all else, you don’t want someone to make a mistake. And you have good reason to […]
National Trust staff go green with extra day off
The National Trust has awarded all staff an extra day off on 29 February as part of a campaign to encourage staff to go green.Staff are being given the opportunity of time to improve their environmental footprint – starting at home. The National Trust says that small steps by thousands of individuals are of infinitely […]
Alarms ring as gay Christian scoops £47k discrimination award
A gay man has been awarded £47,000 as the result of a successful discrimination claim on the grounds of sexual orientation.John Reaney, a 42-year-old from North Wales, was awarded the vast sum after an employment tribunal ruled his appointment to the role of youth worker was blocked by the Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev […]
Training scholarships up for grabs
Skillsmart Retail and Retail Trust are offering more training scholarships after gifted managers snapped up their previous awards.The two not-for-profit companies are calling for retail managers to apply for 10 bursaries, for a place at the Oxford Summer School in August.The summer school will take place at Keble College, Oxford from 16-22 August. It gives […]
Succession planning: 10 steps to success
Succession planning must be an ongoing and high business priority that requires significant planning and resourcing, advises Steve Passam. For many organisations succession planning is often an afterthought that is only ever considered when a key team member tenders their resignation or informally signals they are seeking a new role and challenge.Yet in today’s knowledge […]
Ask the expert: Rights of agency workers
Do temporary workers have the same employment rights as permanent employees, when it comes to disciplinary procedures? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise. The question:If someone is on a recruitment agency contract, do they have the same rights with regards to disciplinary and capability? My brother […]
Romance at work on the rise as Valentine’s Day looms
Half of workers have a secret crush on a colleague and a third admit they have exchanged flirtatious emails despite being in a relationship. These are the findings of recruitment outfit Reed, which quizzed 2,000 office workers. According to the research, 38 per cent have gone all the way and had an office romance with […]
Appraisal failure costs over £2 billion
Poorly planned and executed appraisals are costing the UK economy over £2 billion.This is according to Talent Q, a people assessment company that says just 58 per cent of the UK’s 29 million-strong workforce receive a formal appraisal.The research found that where good appraisals are conducted, followed by effective development planning, productivity rose by 2.7 […]
UK star of European coaching survey
A massive European-wide coaching survey has revealed that the UK and Germany are ahead of the coaching pack, with 70 per cent of all EU coaches working in these countries. The survey confirms what everyone is talking about – that coaching is in its ascendancy in this country.The European Coaching Survey 2007/2008, for the first […]
