What’s the answer? Bonus payments during maternity
Employers can reduce bonus payments on a pro rata basis for employees on maternity leave, excluding the two-week compulsory leave period. The same pro-rata adjustment applies to other absences like sick leave, though disability discrimination laws may require reasonable adjustments in specific circumstances.
HR Zone Briefing #287 – Smelly Staff; HR Buzzwords Explained
HR Zone Briefing #287 covers handling employee hygiene issues, HR’s reputation as a poor-performing business function, and confusing buzzwords cluttering the HR industry. The issue also examines the value of Sunday Times Best Companies rankings and features insights from HR leaders.
Colborn’s Corner: Who’s the best? … continued
Employee engagement research can reveal how staff truly perceive their managers and organization, often exposing uncomfortable truths that formal appraisals miss. HR leaders should regularly gather anonymous feedback and walk the floor to understand workplace dynamics before assessing external reputation.
Colborn’s Corner: Who’s the best?
Quentin Colborn questions the real value of rankings like the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For list, arguing that many excellent employers don’t feature on such lists. He suggests that employee satisfaction depends more on individual manager relationships and how valued employees feel than on organizational awards or industry recognition.
HR Jargon: Bothersome buzzwords. By Sarah Fletcher
HR professionals share their encounters with bewildering workplace jargon, from “Teflon-coated” managers to sports metaphors and pseudo-scientific phrases. Discover the strangest buzzwords cluttering business communication and why “thinking outside the box” might be exhausting everyone’s productivity.
From bad to worst: Can HR rise above the taunts? … continued
HR directors face unique workplace challenges, often blamed for unpopular decisions like redundancies while struggling for recognition of their strategic value. The profession must improve its communication and benchmarking to better demonstrate its contribution to organizational performance.
From bad to worst: Can HR rise above the taunts?
A recent survey ranked HR among the worst-performing business functions, even below IT. HR leaders face perception challenges as CEOs often view the department as an activity rather than strategic business discipline, despite improving salaries and educational standards in the field.
Executive failure: An unacceptable rate … continued
Executive failure often stems from poor onboarding decisions and misguided quick wins. New executives must thoroughly understand organizational culture, build broad coalitions across departments, and align short-term gains with long-term strategy to ensure sustainable success.
Executive failure: An unacceptable rate
Nearly half of all executives fail in new roles, with costs reaching up to 24 times their salary when accounting for lost opportunities. HR departments can significantly improve these outcomes by implementing structured transition processes and ensuring better alignment between executive profiles and actual business needs.
What happened next? Dealing with smelly staff! By Sarah Fletcher
An HR manager shares how she resolved a persistent employee hygiene issue by having a direct conversation, discovering the employee lacked shower facilities at home, and offering practical solutions. The honest discussion, combined with clear consequences, resulted in marked improvement.
What happened next? Dealing with smelly staff…continued. By Sarah Fletcher
Sarah Fletcher explores how to handle a sensitive workplace hygiene issue, sharing advice from HR professionals on balancing disciplinary action with understanding underlying causes like financial hardship or low self-esteem, while emphasizing the importance of direct communication and managerial responsibility.
Benchmarking: Carbon dioxide emissions from cars … continued
CO2 emissions from cars depend on fuel consumption, engine type, and fuel choice. Diesel engines generally produce lower emissions than equivalent petrol engines, though recent trends show increases in both due to stricter emission standards and driver preferences. Companies can benchmark fleet emissions against their own baseline data to measure the effectiveness of environmental initiatives.
Benchmarking: Carbon dioxide emissions from cars
Companies should benchmark carbon dioxide emissions from their vehicle fleets by starting with mileage data across all travel types, then measuring fuel usage per mile. These key metrics help organizations track environmental impact and identify opportunities to reduce emissions from company vehicles.
HR Tip: Qualifying for employment protection
Employees gain employment protection rights after one year of service regardless of hours worked. Dismissal requires a good reason and adherence to statutory procedures and ACAS Code of Practice guidelines.
Review: Religion and Belief – Respecting and accommodating religion and belief in the workplace
This training resource on religion and belief in the workplace comprises a video (available on VHS and DVD) and accompanying 51-page booklet designed to help organizations meet employment equality regulations. It covers understanding different faiths, required workplace accommodations, and includes scenarios for discussion to foster workplace respect and inclusive policies.
Reviewer profile: Tanya Cowin
Tanya Cowin is an HR and payroll specialist with over 40 years of experience across private and public sectors. A CIPD Fellow, she now helps organisations implement and optimize HR and payroll systems.
Comment: Working longer and portfolio careers … continued
Explore how embracing a portfolio career through independence, proactive learning, and openness to new possibilities can transform your working life. The author shares five key insights for building a dynamic career spanning multiple paid and unpaid activities aligned with your strengths and passions.
Comment: Working longer and portfolio careers
As pension schemes face underfunding and traditional employment shifts, portfolio careers offer a modern alternative to fixed retirement dates. Rather than retiring at a set age, many professionals now blend paid work with unpaid activities, allowing for greater flexibility and fulfillment in later years.
What is coaching? … continued
Business coaching combines hard skills like teaching and training for those without formal business education, alongside soft coaching skills like guidance and facilitation for experienced professionals. Effective coaches must build foundational knowledge before implementing one-on-one coaching relationships.
What is coaching?
Coaching in business lacks clear definition and measurable value, making it difficult to justify investment. While the sports coaching model—where a coach helps athletes reach their potential—translates somewhat to business leaders, it falls short for professionals promoted to management without formal training in leadership tools.
