Colborn’s Corner: Budgeting for success? … continued
HR teams should proactively review employee benefits annually to ensure they align with business needs and maximize their value. Rather than waiting for management questions, scheduling a dedicated HR budget review helps identify which benefits deserve continued investment and how to communicate them effectively to employees.
Colborn’s Corner: Budgeting for success?
Gordon Brown’s recent budget reveals lessons for HR teams managing employee benefits. Tax-dependent benefits strategies risk vulnerability when tax regimes change, making it crucial to evaluate whether benefits provide genuine value beyond tax relief, while annual benefit reviews can help organizations identify which offerings truly support workforce priorities.
HRD 2006: Why go?
HRD 2006 is the largest and most influential learning and development conference, featuring keynote speakers like Sir Bob Geldof and expert sessions on coaching, leadership, and training trends. The event brings together professionals from across sectors to explore how organizations are evolving their approach to people development.
The Changing Role of the Trainer
Modern trainers must evolve from classroom instructors to collaborative learning facilitators who support knowledge development across the organization. Success now requires building relationships, influencing skills, and understanding business needs rather than relying solely on traditional training delivery methods.
Linking Training to Business Needs: The Secrets of HMRC Revealed…continued
Learn how HMRC aligns staff training with business strategy and manages learning transfer in the workplace. Discover key insights on upskilling employees during organizational change and supporting continuous development through manager-led coaching.
Linking Training to Business Needs: The Secrets of HMRC Revealed. By Sarah Fletcher
HMRC’s Head of Learning explains how the organization aligns its training strategy directly with business needs, measures training success through performance indicators, and tackles challenges from departmental mergers and changing service delivery requirements.
Modelling Excellence: With NLP
NLP modelling reveals how high achievers manage their thinking and attention to achieve excellence. By observing successful people’s mental strategies—rather than asking them to explain—we can discover and replicate their winning approaches in sports, professional life, and relationships.
HR Tip: Re-engagement following redundancy
When re-employing a redundant employee, you cannot recover their previous redundancy payment and must treat them as a new hire. Their continuity of service restarts from the date of re-employment, not their original start date.
Member’s Tip: Open recruitment obligations
When publicly funded posts are advertised, organizations must conduct open recruitment where existing staff apply competitively. While minimal advertising may technically satisfy requirements, writing job descriptions to protect a specific employee raises ethical and legal concerns about hiring the most suitable candidate.
Action Learning: The Linklaters Way
Action learning integrates real-world business challenges with structured development, enabling employees to learn by doing meaningful work rather than attending traditional courses. Linklaters uses this approach to develop lawyers in practice, cross boundaries, and support global operations while maintaining consistent service quality worldwide.
Immigration: A brave new world? … continued
The UK’s new immigration scheme faces significant implementation challenges, with full operation delayed until 2008 and unclear provisions for various employment categories, including entrepreneurs and multinational company transfers. Substantial IT, staffing, and operational issues remain unresolved.
Immigration: A brave new world?
The UK government introduced radical immigration reforms effective March 7, 2006, replacing work permits and other categories with a five-tier points-based system. The new framework awards points for qualifications, earnings, and age, requiring applicants to score sufficient points under one of five tiers and obtain employer sponsorship certificates for most work-related categories.
How Did I Get Here? Massimo Macarti, HR Director, Canon Europe…continued
Massimo Macarti, HR Director at Canon Europe, shares insights on HR’s future amid outsourcing, the critical skills HR professionals need, and what it takes to earn a board seat—credibility and business results through people management.
How Did I Get Here? Massimo Macarti, HR Director, Canon Europe
Massimo Macarti, HR Director of Canon Europe, discusses how strategic HR partnership drives business results and why credibility in both business expertise and personal leadership inspires employees across the organization.
News in Brief: Businesses bemoan pay hikes
Business groups have criticized new minimum wage increases, with the adult rate rising 6% from £5.05 to £5.35 per hour in October. Employers warn they cannot absorb these costs and may be forced to cut jobs, though the government says the changes benefit 1.3 million low-paid workers.
What’s the answer? Employee charged with a crime … continued
Employers should not dismiss employees solely for being charged with a crime, but may do so if the conduct adversely affects the business. A fair investigation, proper procedure, and consideration of the employee’s role and circumstances are essential before taking disciplinary action.
What’s the answer? Employee charged with a crime
An employer considering dismissing an employee charged with a crime must establish clear links between the offense and job performance or trust. Employment law experts explain that dismissal fairness depends on the specific crime, job role, and documented impact on work relationships.
HR Happy, HR Horror
Explore the highs and lows of recent HR news, from workplace napping initiatives and staff confidence levels to rising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, plus challenges in retaining HR assistants.
HR Zone Briefing #288 – Smoking, Gender Changes and Sabbaticals
HR Zone Briefing #288 covers workplace smoking policies, handling employee gender changes, and the importance of sabbaticals for staff development and personal wellbeing. The issue includes expert guidance on managing these sensitive HR matters effectively.
HR Radar: HR’s Reaction to the Budget
HR professionals weigh in on the 2006 Budget, with mixed reactions. While some welcomed commitments to education and support for working women, others questioned the lack of detail on pensions and expressed concern over debt-based spending policies.
