Comment: Eight ways to continue learning

Kick-starting a month long look at career management is David Krueger, CEO of MentorPath, an executive coaching practice with his piece on how to continue professional development after the last exam has been taken. When I coach executives and human relations specialists to develop their success skills, they come to know themselves and others better. […]
Opinion: The ubiquitous mediocrity of learning evaluation

Godfrey Parkin explains why trainers can’t get away with smile sheets and the occasional ROI calculation. I have just returned from Dallas (howdy y’all), where I made two presentations on evaluation strategy at the annual conference of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). ISPI conferences are very different from the big American training conferences […]
Member’s tip: Are job descriptions legally binding?

Employment law specialist Kam Bains explains the legal weight of job descriptions, and the implications for an employer who breaches these rules. Job descriptions do carry some legal weight in that their content is indicative of the duties and objectives required of an employee. In the absence of one, the range of duties would have […]
How Did I Get Here? Amanda Shaw, Head of Human Resources, Cottrills … continued

8. What’s the worst thing about working in HR and the best?Managing the difficult decisions such as redundancy and redeployment, whilst knowing people personally – that’s always hard. The best is seeing positive outcomes from these situations and observing people as they flourish in their roles around the business.9. What are the key issues preventing […]
How Did I Get Here? Amanda Shaw, Head of Human Resources, Cottrills

Amanda Shaw explains why she believes HR is all about fostering a positive culture and why donning an ambassador’s hat is part and parcel of the job. 1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?My current role is a new step for the business and covers broad HR across three business […]
HR Tip: Moonlighting

These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications. Q: “One of our employees works for us full-time during the day but also has a part-time job in the evenings. Is this a problem for us? Should we do something about it?” […]
What happened next? Personality clashes… continued. By Sarah Fletcher

Keep reading to find out how HR Zone member Kirsa Edwards dealt with warring employees. What would you have done differently with hindsight?Either spoken directly to the line manager as I’m sure he would have been appalled to think things had gone so far, or got all parties concerned around a table to try to […]
What happened next? Conflict resolution. By Sarah Fletcher

Setting up a boxing ring in the office may seem a good way to resolve employee in-fighting, but what’s the solution when a short sharp smack can’t resolve the dispute? Find out What Happened Next when HR Zone member Kirsa Edwards sought advice from the Any Answers forum about problematic staff squabbles. By Sarah Fletcher […]
How to: Find an HR supplier

Finding the right HR supplier is not only time-consuming it can also be incredibly confusing and difficult; see this expert guide on how find that needle in a haystack. The sourcing of the correct suppliers has been the key role and also headache since time immemorial for personnel managers and those with responsibility for the […]
Humour: Confessions of a suspicious sickie

Caught drunken, disorderly and in possession of a fast food uniform, our members reveal their horror stories about when sickies go wrong. Their cautionary tales could just make you ill… Wine, women and … burgers"This is why I've never pulled a sickie in my life after the first! "I was working for a nameless burger […]
News in Brief: Sack underperformers, says Microsoft CEO … continued

Paedophile fears hit teaching skills poolNorthern Ireland is facing a shortage of male teachers because they fear being labelled as paedophiles, a union claims. The Ulster Teachers Union says that almost 90% of students on one primary teaching course were female. The body has called upon Education Minister Angela Smith to address the risk to […]
News in Brief: Sack underperformers, says Microsoft CEO

Catch up on the week in HR including migrant workers ‘keep interest rates down’, profits squeeze forces factory job cuts, bosses ignore perils of the office romance and employees go ‘green’. W/C 24/4/06 Sack underperformers, says Microsoft CEOBritish bosses should aim to sack as many underperforming employees as possible, the Microsoft chief executive has urged. […]
How to: Foster a coaching culture

David Clutterbuck an acclaimed author on mentoring and organisational learning, a member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council and head of Clutterbuck Associates and David Megginson, Professor of HRD at Sheffield Hallam University share, exclusively with HR Zone the secrets of coaching success. It’s a sad fact that a large proportion of the money […]
HR Zone Briefing #293 – Off the Record: Employment Law Explained

================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 293 – 27 April 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ *********************** Featured Sponsors ********************** Just how important is talent management? – Free paper download http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/oracle12a.html Time off for sporting events? http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/croneri7a.html Building a rewarding business case with Benefex http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/benefex1a.html Putting the great into integration http://www.hrzone.co.uk/redirects/frontier2a.html **************************************************************** Editor’s Note ============= We’ve got some complex employment […]
Colborn’s Corner: Green HR?

With campaigning for the local elections hotting up, Colborn’s Corner addresses one of the issues that appears to be coming to the fore – the environment. It’s strange to think that with the current debate on the Health Service, Iraq and so on the key issues emerging for the local elections seems to be that […]
What’s the answer? Maternity leave and redundancy… continued

Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne JacobsonThere is no specified period for which an employee has to work for her employer after maternity leave before an employer can dismiss on the grounds of redundancy. However, an employee on maternity leave or due to return from maternity leave does have some additional protection over and above […]
What’s the answer? Maternity leave and redundancy

An HR Zone member gets legal guidance this week from Vanessa Di Cuffa, Solicitor at Mills & Reeve and Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson on whether it is legal to make an employee redundant whilst on maternity leave. The question:“We have a marketing administrator going on maternity leave at the end of May. […]
Sickness absence and disability: Time for new thinking?

Paul Avis questions the way that sickness, absence and disability management is being de-medicalised and asks what this means for traditional and more innovative Occupational Health programmes. To start this article I will attempt to appease the clinicians in the membership. I will never run a sickness absence and disability management programme without routine referral […]
Negotiation: The skill you can’t afford to neglect

As reality TV show The Apprentice has painfully shown, whilst sales people may think they are natural born negotiators, many fail to get the best deal when under pressure. Few people are willing to acknowledge, however, that negotiation affects not just sales but every facet of a business, from the shop floor to the boardroom. […]
Sickness absence and disability: Time for new thinking? … continued

Widening the context:Whilst this model has been our justification for the management style we adopt, the academic OH community has also been active about the need to engage stakeholders. In the OH guidelines for the management of lower back pain (LBP) (Waddell & Burton, 2000) the report was clear in determining that clinical interventions were […]