The Couch?! Is afflicted by meetingitis
It’s was no great shock when the journal Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice revealed this week, what we’d known all along: managers spend most of their days in meetings, meetings are getting longer and more frequent.A test of 37 volunteers found that the more time they spent in meetings, the more tired and stressed […]
Pensions A-Day dawns
Notes that shed light on the implications of impending, April changes. The company pension scheme is sometimes seen as a purely financial and HR issue, and matters relating to the scheme are often handled by these two functions. Such a view may have been perfectly realistic, until regulations came into force on 6 April 2005. […]
Colborn’s Corner: What’s the point of HR?
The recent ‘Any Answers?’ situation posted by member Katie Dane regarding a manager’s tirade on the purpose of HR and their comment that there is, ‘no bl**dy point to HR’ provoked a huge response with 22 comments to boot; so what’s the truth of this? Quentin Colborn investigates. It’s always interesting to hear organisations talk […]
What’s the answer? E-bullying
Lucy Hibbert gets legal guidance this week from Stephanie Wootton, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson and Ceri Durham a solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP on how to deal with the content of a threatening email. The question:An employee has approached me in confidence and asked to speak to me “off the record”. They showed me […]
HR Briefing Issue 283 – Employee grievances
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 283 – 16 February 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ Editor’s note ============= You’ve told us that you’d like to hear how our members’ sticky HR situations are concluded. We’re delighted; therefore, to launch the first in the series of this new column completing the story and reflecting on key learning points. Find out […]
How to: Understand what your people really think
And what to do when you know; read on to find out what part employee surveys, feedback from the line and company councils play in the communications mix. Organisations spend a lot of time, effort and money trying to find out what their people are thinking. The notion is that if they can just get […]
Book review: Managing Innovation
Managing Innovation: Turning Ideas into ProfitTitle: Managing Innovation: Turning Ideas into ProfitAuthor: Edited by Tim ThornePublisher: Compton House Publishing LtdISBN: 0954951824Price: £12.75Reviewer: Rob SheffieldManaging Innovation is an audio tape aimed at explaining some of the principles and hard-won secrets behind successful innovation. It aims to clarify the characteristics of cultures and people that lead new […]
Reviewer profile: Rob Sheffield
Rob SheffieldRob Sheffield has over 17 years’ experience in team management. He has worked in the educational publishing, direct marketing and aerospace industries, before establishing his own training and coaching consultancy in 1999. He has a particular interest in how leaders can make the best use of the talent in their teams. Rob is skilled […]
Case Study: BUPA boosts employee relations with IIP
BUPA, the private healthcare company and employer of 24,000 UK-based staff achieved the Investors in People Standard in August 2000; read on to see which business benefits they reaped as a result. The challenge:Major change across the business made it necessary for BUPA to examine both its internal processes and its approach to training and […]
Reviewer profile: Desiree Cox
Désirée Cox is a freelance management development consultant with her own company, Praeceptor Consulting, established in 2002 and an ILM approved training centre. With eighteen years of experience working in the IT industry in a variety of roles in both London and Paris, she now concentrates on providing consultancy, training and facilitation. Throughout her career, […]
Tax Feature: Preparing for PAYE online filing 2006
We are now less than two months away from the end of the PAYE year, and employers thoughts should be turning to online filing, and preparations necessary for this year’s filing process. More employers are required to file online this year. The rules now include employers with more than 49 employees as at the count […]
HR Radar: How do you foster an improved work/life balance?
Our new column, the HR Radar reports on how HR professionals manage legislation, deal with HR issues and apply latest thinking. In this latest edition, we ask three HR Directors which initiatives they use to improve work/life balance. Steve Thompson, HR Director, Camelot GroupAt Camelot we have created a culture based on high levels of […]
HR Tip: Contractual Changes
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: We have agreed a change in overtime arrangements and thus a change in terms and conditions. Should we issue new contracts? A: No, there is no need to issue new contracts unless […]
How Did I Get Here, HR Director, Swizzels-Matlow
Nici Matlow, HR Director at confectionery company Swizzels-Matlow explains why the business’s sound culture and family element really makes life sweet!1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?As Head of HR, I oversee most aspects of the “people strategy”: Training – together with the Training Manager, I look at how we […]
What happened next? Should a grievance be lodged? By Sarah Fletcher
A bullying boss can make life a misery; in this new series looking at what happened next we report on the outcome and learning points of this exact situation experienced by a member who sought solace in the Any Answers forum. By Sarah Fletcher What do you do if you feel your boss is persecuting […]
Case Study: BT promotes HR to centre stage
Traditionally an outsourcer of HR activities, the decision to bring it under its own control was a bold move for BT who decided this was the only way it could obtain a stronger hold over employee issues; read on to find out if it was a success. BT Group is one of Europe’s leading providers […]
News in Brief: The Week in HR – Fair reward pays
Catch up on the week in HR with our latest news round-up including why fair reward pays, more on the accountant that got burnt during a motivational firewalking stunt, pension rules could threaten one in five companies and revelations that half of employees would ‘bed’ their boss. W/C 6/2/06 Be fair, or lose out, says […]
The Couch?! Is hit by cupid’s arrow
If you’re brushing up on those lurvvvve skills in preparation for the big V-day then don’t miss this week’s Couch with hot tips on how to be romantic and loving with those that know you best – your work colleagues.According to a nationwide survey of 1,000 employees we’re in love with being in love – […]
Employee benefits and productivity: Why I drank a beetroot this morning!
Actually, to be precise, I drank a beetroot, a carrot, a celery stick, some cucumber and a small piece of ginger; find out why Dudley Lusted, head of corporate healthcare development at AXA PPP healthcare, a self-confessed ‘fat man’ has, after sixty years finally recognised the link between health and productivity. It all went through […]
What’s the answer? Sickness and maternity
Fiona Fritz gets legal guidance this week from Helen Badger, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson and Nadia Hoosen, senior solicitor, Clarkslegal LLP on the considerations of managing a return to work request from an employee suffering with post natal depression. The question:”I have a member of staff due to return to work after six […]
