Small shops beat superstores over staff benefits
Unlike their larger counterparts who reacted angrily to this week’s minimum wage rises, independent retailers are already willingly paying a premium to attract and retain staff, new research reveals.According to the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa), independent store owners have recognised that while they often cannot compete on price with supermarket chains, they are […]
HR services on offer by joint IBM and council venture
Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council have joined forces with global business services provider IBM to establish a new shared-services £400 million, 10-year deal.The new company Southwest One claims it will deliver services including customer services and access, workforce development and procurement to half a million residents in what it terms a ‘unique’ […]
Jobs to go as chocolate giant takes manufacturing overseas
Cadbury Trebor Bassett has announced the closure of its Keynsham factory in south-west England; the news is part of an efficiency drive which will see some operations move to Poland.A phased closure will see the factory wind down from 2009 to 2010; a move that will affect all 500 employees. A further 200 jobs will […]
Pay rises on the fall
The rate of wage growth fell last month as companies tightened their belts in the face of increasingly difficult trading conditions, according to figures released by the payment group VocaLink.The group’s monthly take home pay index for September showed a 0.5 per cent slowdown in UK wage growth, the most significant drop since May. It […]
Age discrimination: One year older, but are we wiser?
Legislation to outlaw age discrimination arrived with quite a fanfare in October 2006, but one year on, a number of HR professionals believe the new laws have done little to change attitudes towards age. Owen Warnock, employment law partner at Eversheds, looks at how employers and employees have fared in the new legal landscape. The […]
Writing skills: Mind the gap
A growing number of the workforce simply can't write well enough to do their job properly, says Robert Ashton, chief executive of business-writing specialists Emphasis. But what can HR professionals do to address it? From Fleet Street to Whitehall, Oxford University to the CBI, everyone is lamenting the sorry state of the nation's literacy skills. […]
Entrepreneurs ‘born not made’
There may have been an increase in the number of courses offering instruction in how to run a company but new research reveals that two-thirds of small business owners believe entrepreneurship cannot be taught.The poll, on HR Zone’s sister-site www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk, found just 33 per cent thought that the attributes of entrepreneurship can be learnt in […]
We have to stop meeting like this
With UK workers facing meeting overload, Bert van der Zwan, from WebEx, explains why cutting the number of face-to-face meetings can benefit both companies and their staff. How many meetings do you attend every month? For some of us it may only be one or two, but for others a meeting every day, or every […]
Colborn’s Corner: Online distractions at work
There has been much press comment over the past few weeks about employees’ online activities at work. Whether it be engaging in eBay trading or accessing Facebook during office hours, there have been plenty of opinions from both the specialist and mainstream press. Quentin Colborn addresses what online access means at work today. Given the […]
Royal Mail faces further protracted industrial action
The union representing postal workers has turned up the heat in its dispute with Royal Mail (RM), launching a series of strikes which are likely to disrupt the postal system for the foreseeable future. Talks between RM and the Community Workers Union (CWU) are ongoing, though the first 48-hour stoppage is set to begin when […]
HR tip: Age discrimination
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 are uncomfortable with age discrimination constraints. How can we ensure that a candidate has the appropriate length of experience for the job if we cannot ask for minimum periods of experience in […]
HR managers across Europe rate EAPs
Over half of HR managers across Europe have established, or are considering, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a study has revealed.The report, commisioned by the Employee Assistance European Forum (EAEF), highlights the perceptions of EAPs amongst HR managers in over 100 organisations in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.It found that 53 per cent of […]
Northern Rock pension scheme under threat
Past and present staff at the troubled Northern Rock bank could risk losing a wedge of their pension if the company goes into administration. The scheme, which was closed to new members in 1999, has a deficit of £21.7m, though industry experts have estimated that closing it down would cost between £50m and £100m. In […]
London’s professionals want coaching
A large percentage of London professionals believe that executive coaching would improve their performance at work, a study has concluded. Research by The School of Coaching found that over three quarters of the capital’s executives appreciate the virtues of coaching, and 57 per cent said they would feel jealous if a colleague at a similar […]
“Sloppy wording” in job ads breaches age discrimination laws
A survey of 200 job advertisements has found that 21 per cent were potentially ageist and 27 per cent could be viewed as containing some form of discrimination.The results of the research, by law firm DWF, come one year after the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations came into force. In terms of industry, the survey found […]
Political skills key to management success
Political know-how is becoming an increasingly important tool for successful career progression, an executive recruitment specialist has claimed. Professionals who can play a canny political game stand a better chance of getting ahead professionally, though politicking still carries negative connotations, said the Hitchenor Wakeford Group (HWG), and few professionals will openly claim to be skilled […]
Help available as holiday entitlement increases
A free online guide has been launched by employment relations service Acas, to help employers with the statutory holiday entitlement increase that came into effect on 1 October.The guide, Holidays and holiday pay, offers free advice on holiday rights for full and part-time workers and guidance on how to calculate pay. The changes to annual […]
Laying down the law. By Louise Druce
The 1 October saw a flurry of new employment legislation come into play that could have serious repercussions for businesses if not enforced correctly. So how can HR professionals stay on top of the legal paper mountain? Louise Druce finds out. Even for HR professionals who were well prepared for the raft of employment legislation […]
Diminishing strategic role boosts IT churn
Churn among top IT staff has hit new heights as the perceived strategic nature of their role diminishes, new research has found. A survey by recruitment firm Harvey Nash showed that 10 per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) and senior technology professionals felt that their job was becoming less strategic, while almost 60 per […]
Management and leadership skills: What’s the difference?
When furthering the skills of your managers and leaders, you must first define the difference between management and leadership. Mike Morrison says that many believe you can train management skills, but you develop leadership abilities, and he explores the options open to those responsible for the training and development of managers and leaders. As our […]