Training needs analysis: What is the best approach?
A training needs analysis focused on desired outcomes rather than problems can help develop your entire team more effectively. By identifying what your best performers do well and building on those strengths, you enable broader progress toward future goals instead of just remedial skill-gap filling.
Colborn’s Corner: Diversity – it’s not down to HR
Trevor Philips argues that HR shouldn’t own diversity initiatives. Quentin Colborn explores where HR’s actual responsibility lies, suggesting diversity should be a business-wide issue led by organizational leaders, not treated as an HR department responsibility.
HR tip: Giving notice
When a job offer is accepted, a binding employment contract exists. If you withdraw an offer after acceptance, you must pay the agreed salary for the notice period, even if the employee never starts work.
Getting your just reward. By Louise Druce
Employers are increasingly using tailored reward schemes beyond basic pay to retain staff and boost motivation, with options ranging from flexible working and gym memberships to childcare support. Effective schemes require understanding employee needs and company culture rather than offering one-size-fits-all incentives.
Civil servants forced to break working time regs
One in 20 civil servants work over 49 hours weekly, breaking working time regulations due to excessive workloads. Nearly 40% work while ill and over half struggle with work-life balance, according to new research by Keele University and the PCS union.
Employees are sick of change
Rapid organizational change is driving up illness rates among employees, with 60% of managers reporting increased sickness over the past year. Meanwhile, 58% of workers experience reduced productivity at least weekly, while only 17% believe change has boosted productivity and profits.
Facebook ban bars half of workers
Half of workers face Facebook bans at their employers, with major companies like LloydsTSB, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs restricting access over productivity and security concerns. IT security experts warn that employees often expose personal and corporate data through careless Facebook use, risking identity theft and fraud.
Training conference moves to off-set carbon footprint
The World of Learning Conference is offsetting its carbon footprint by planting a tree for each delegate in a UK forest project. The November event will feature sessions on reducing training’s environmental impact and integrating corporate social responsibility into learning and development programs.
Business group proposes ‘golden carrot’ for science students
The Confederation of British Industry proposes a five-point plan to boost STEM student numbers, including £1,000 annual bursaries for science and engineering undergraduates, improved school labs, more specialist teachers, and enhanced careers guidance aimed at doubling the proportion of students pursuing these subjects.
Broadband v Benefit In Kind
Employers providing home-based staff with laptops, printers, and broadband face potential tax implications if personal use cannot be excluded. The Government Home Computing Scheme offers a tax-efficient alternative, though implementation requires clear contractual terms and staff communication.
Don’t forget apprenticeships, urges LSC
The Learning and Skills Council urges school leavers to consider apprenticeships, highlighting that over 130,000 businesses employ 250,000 apprentices in England. Apprenticeships offer paid training, transferable skills, and career advancement opportunities for those aged 16 and over.
Inside outsourcing. By Matt Henkes
HR outsourcing can deliver cost savings and efficiency gains, but success requires clear objectives, careful due diligence, and strong cultural fit with your provider. Companies typically outsource transactional processes or specialized functions like payroll and recruitment, depending on their specific business needs.
Soldiering on: Why reservists are good for business. By Lucie Benson
Employing reservists brings significant business benefits, including leadership skills and positive corporate social responsibility credentials. While reservists require time off for training or potential mobilisation, employing them need not be complicated and can enhance recruitment and retention.
Happiness is technology
A BT Business survey reveals that technology significantly boosts happiness and productivity in UK small businesses, with nearly half of employees reporting their jobs are more interesting due to IT improvements, and 71% saying technology helps them work faster.
Is your organisation serious about employee wellbeing?
Many organisations implement employee wellbeing policies by simply ticking boxes to meet regulations, missing the underlying principles needed to genuinely improve employee health and prevent costly stress-related claims and tribunals. True employee wellbeing requires understanding and embracing the intent behind policies, not just following rules rigidly.
Faster, better team decisions
Learn how RapidConsensus, a new facilitation approach, helps teams reach decisions faster by harnessing collective intelligence and ensuring everyone feels ownership of outcomes through structured decision-making techniques.
Three Rs could land bosses in the dock
Employers face legal risks from literacy tests following a landmark case recognizing mild dyslexia as a disability. The ruling requires companies to make reasonable adjustments for dyslexic employees, potentially including altering reading and writing assessments used in hiring and promotion decisions.
Ask the expert: Mandatory retirement
Legal experts advise employers to follow proper redundancy or capability procedures rather than mandatory retirement when terminating an employee at 65 due to health issues or lack of work, to avoid unfair dismissal and age discrimination claims.
Quarter forced to sack their holiday
One quarter of UK workers have been forced to cancel their holiday plans due to pressure from bosses, according to research by the Dignity at Work Partnership. Men are more likely to be asked to cancel leave than women, with the problem particularly acute in telecoms, manufacturing, engineering and finance sectors.
Software Satisfaction Award 2007 nominees announced
The 2007 Software Satisfaction Awards nominees have been announced, featuring nearly 2,000 user votes across 19 business software categories. The awards recognize both major brands like Microsoft and Oracle and smaller innovators, with winners determined by genuine software users rather than judges.
