HR: The easy solution to staff development?
Leaning towards a ‘David Brent’ style of staff development is not exactly a recipe for success, so how can HR ensure that line managers play out their part effectively? Annie Hayes reports. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) around two-fifths of organisations say that their line managers are not very effective […]
Age discrimination cases put on hold
The president of the employment tribunals service has announced that all cases relating to dismissal on grounds of retirement, under regulation 30 of the age discrimination laws, must be ‘stayed’ pending the outcome of the Heyday case, expected sometime in 2009. The announcement is a direct repercussion of a recent employment appeal tribunal decision in […]
Engagement is not enough
Employee engagement is a high priority for most HR professionals, but Jeremy Starling, managing director of INVOLVE, explains why engagement is no longer good enough and shares some tips on getting employees involved. “Our people are our most valuable asset” is a sound bite uttered by many a corporate executive, but for businesses that aspire […]
Serving up performance management
Tony Hayward discusses how successful performance management can ensure staff motivation and retention is more inventive, thereby resulting in greater employee confidence and job satisfaction. Take a couple of minutes to think about your last interaction with a contact centre. Can you remember it, for reasons good or bad? Some of you will, but […]
Are you in touch with your clients?
Like most valuable ideas, the simple ones often produce the most impressive results. It’s agreed that HR business partners (HRBPs) need to know their business and their client to ensure they give valuable and sound strategic input. But how is this done and how much time is usually given to it? Jan Hills provides some […]
HR tip: References for redundant employees
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 give all redundant employees a good reference in order to help them get alternative employment. Is this safe?" HR Tip:No, this is dangerous. You must not mislead the reader of a reference […]
Growing businesses fail to support staff
Staff play a vital role in growing businesses yet receive inadequate support from senior management, according to a new survey.The research by the Forum Corporation reveals that at top-performing firms, 80 per cent of senior executives cite the importance of staff in bringing about growth, with two-thirds of top players saying the same at less […]
Childless should have flexible working rights too, says TUC
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling for an extension of flexible working rights for all, not just working parents.Speaking later today at a work-life balance conference, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will make the case for all workers to have the right to request a better balance between work and the rest of their […]
Crucifix wearer accuses BA of discrimination
A British Airways check-in worker, suspended for wearing a cross the size of a 5p piece around her neck, is accusing the airline of discrimination.Reported by The Times newspaper, Nadia Eweida was put on unpaid leave from her post at Heathrow in September after refusing to conceal the cross. The suspension followed a written warning […]
Estranged by change?
Change is one of the only certainties on today’s fast moving business highway. But mismanage it, and you could be speeding towards a multi-lane pileup. Matt Henkes looks at how HR can mitigate the risks. One of the fundamental truths of modern business is that the flat-footed will flounder. It is only those firms that […]
Office parties: Are you headed for crisis?
It’s that time of year again, when HR must set about organising the good old Christmas shindig, but how can you ensure everyone is kept happy, religious pitfalls are avoided and all goes smoothly? Sarah Fletcher talks to some festive HR Zone members. Every Christmas the same warnings are dealt out to HR professionals: Plan […]
Bosses go on hiring spree despite ‘credit crunch’ gloom
Eighty-six per cent of employers intend to recruit staff this autumn in a sign that caution is not being heeded in the wake of the ‘credit crunch’. The latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook survey finds a surprising degree of optimism amongst employers about short and medium employment prospects. Just under half of respondents plan […]
Succession planning: Where are your future leaders?
How do you select future leaders in your organisation without giving false expectations or unfulfilled promises? If you say nothing, the potential leader may leave. If you make the promise, what if the person fails to deliver? Mike Shreeve and Neil Kirby provide some answers. Succession planning is a dilemma for many organisations. Many centuries […]
How to retain and develop graduates
Consultant John Pope has some helpful advice on how to attract, develop and retain high-calibre graduates in your organisation. How are the graduates you recruited over the last two or three years? You bought the best you could find, at a price you could afford. It was probably expensive and difficult to get the ones […]
Ask the expert: Changing working patterns
Two part-time employees both work mornings and their employer wants to change the rota so there is cover in the afternoons; but both employees refuse to change their hours. Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner at Mills & Reeve, advise on whether this is a redundancy situation. The question:I have started […]
Compensation for worker sacked for being ‘too young’
In the first case of its kind, a 20-year-old woman has won a discrimination case for being too young.Reported by The Times newspaper, the case involves a young woman, Megan Thomas, who told the tribunal that she was sacked from her job as a membership secretary at London club Eight, after being told that she […]
UK ‘lacking entrepreneurial ambition’
The number of adults with ambitions to grow their own successful business lags behind that in countries such as the US, New Zealand and Iceland, a major new study has revealed.According to an examination of high-expectation entrepreneurship (HEE) – the term used to describe wannabe entrepreneurs or existing start-up owners expecting to employ at least […]
People planning triggers biggest headache
Getting people strategy right is the hardest business challenge.This is according to a new survey by Barclays Commercial Bank which reveals that people strategy beats off marketing and sales, financial forecasts, risk management and environmental and corporate responsibility policy as the most difficult part of a business plan to get right. This challenge is compounded […]
Face-time – not Facebook – scores business
Business is most likely to be won as a result of a face-to-face meeting than any other method, including social networking.The research, by Vodafone UK, reveals that just over half (57 per cent) of business people win business via the traditional face-to-face method, dropping to just 34 per cent who have won business by email. […]
Boss idols applauded
Far from loathing bosses, 80 per cent of workers admire them, according to a new survey.Peninsula, an employment law service, quizzed 1,873 employees and 76 per cent said they had a great boss, whilst 62 per cent of respondents felt their boss is a good role model and someone that they would like to aspire […]
