Insight: Energising internal communications
Tom Harvey, communications manager at Nationwide Building Society, explains why Powerpoint presentations no longer cut it in the communications field. There is more to communication than providing information. Understanding something doesn’t mean you care and it can fall a long way short of being inspiring and motivating. The enemy of internal communication is not so […]
HR Briefing Issue 282: Employment law – can you fire for personal reasons?
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 282 – 9 February 2006 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ Editor’s note ============= In a new series, getting to the heart of employment law we look at the realities of what can and cannot be achieved within the employment relationship. Kick-starting it off is Mark Hunt, head of employment at Reed Smith who reports […]
Briefing: Protecting against violence in the workplace
Front line staff are particularly exposed to violence and crime; this briefing looks at how to manage attacks and protect staff from avoidable situations. The British Retail Crime Survey of 2004/2005 reports that violence against staff is of increasing concern for retailers and off license staff. Verbal abuse has increased by 35% and violent attack […]
What can HR learn from: The theatre?
Ian Jessup, co-founder and senior partner of Interact, the UK’s leading exponent of the use of theatre-skills in training, development and communications, explains why simply delivering a message is not enough. One of the biggest challenges facing HR professionals today is delivering messages to employees in a way that is understandable, relevant and, most importantly, […]
Case Study: Barclays engages call centre staff with IIP
Barclays runs Gadbrook Park in Cheshire as a call centre operation specifically serving business customers; after achieving the Investors in People Standard in June 2004, the company participated in a pilot scheme to revise the award. The challenge:Call centres are almost expected to have a high staff turnover and, two years ago, Gadbrook Park was […]
Payroll Tip: Childcare vouchers provided by the employer
HRD & Payroll Solutions continues to bring HR Zone members a range of HR and payroll tips in 2006. A market leader in the provision of HR and Payroll training and nationally recognised professional qualifications, HRD & Payroll Solutions are highly experienced in teaching about common HR and payroll problems. A wide selection of tips, […]
Mobile working: Taking the workplace with you
The growing range of devices that allow users to access information on the move is opening the flood gates for business to work just about anywhere. Increasingly staff can choose where they work, when they work and how they work. However, for many companies, the vast options available can be a daunting prospect. Often the […]
Off the record: Can I dismiss an employee no one gets on with?
Kick-starting a new series that cuts the jargon and gets to the heart of employment law is Mark Hunt, head of employment at Reed Smith who looks at the legalities of giving an employee the boot for reasons other than performance. The bottom line is that all employees in the UK have rights. They have […]
Life Coach at Large: The graduate
Emma Ranson Bellamy reflects on what she has learnt in the journey from ‘fledgling’ life coach to ‘graduate’ while confessing to her own concerns about public speaking and revealing her tricks for overcoming the fear. It’s been a long hard slog but I’ve done it. I’ve completed the diploma in Life Coaching with Coaching and […]
Emp law briefing: Rolled-up holiday pay
The Advocate General of the European Union has recently given his opinion to the European Court of Justice regarding the lawfulness of ‘rolled-up’ holiday pay arrangements; read on for your employment law briefing on this point of law. Such arrangements between an employer and a worker provide that a specific part of the worker’s wages […]
How Did I Get Here? Director of Resources, Forum for the Future
Patti Whaley reveals the subtle differences of life in HR within the charity sector and talks about the fulfilment of the third way, while explaining her passion for cooking by numbers. 1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?I’m the Director of Resources at the Forum for the Future, so my […]
Editor’s Comment: Is HR in need of some counselling?
HR’s own self-loathing has caught the imagination of other professions and its critics alike; so what can be done? Should HR take a good long look at itself and commit to a few sessions on the couch to rid itself of those pesky demons? The life-coaching industry would not have permeated normal life if levels […]
News in Brief: The Week in HR – HR fails in quest to add value
Catch up on the week in HR with our latest news round-up including revelations on how non-HR professionals view the function, more absence woes, why the TUC are putting kids first and temps have the last laugh. W/C 30/1/06 HR fails in quest to add valueOnly 17% of non-HR professionals believe that HR adds value […]
The Couch?! Asks: Is your boss a seagull?
The Couch?! is amused to hear that bosses haven’t evolved as much as is commonly believed from our roots in primitive ancestry – indeed when we look at the David Brents of the world it can be believed. Recruitment outfit Office Angels quizzed 1,500 office workers and revealed that 93% of UK managers can be […]
Comment: What do we need to change?
Peter A Hunter, author of Breaking the Mould looks at the concept of ownership and argues his case for why change the British Airways way doesn’t always fly. In order to create a performance improvement we have to do something different. If we don’t how can we possibly expect to make a change?So our problem […]
Colborn’s Corner: Who’s a big bully?
Celebrity Big Brother highlighted some interesting personality traits of the so-called famous and it was interesting to watch the talents or otherwise of politician George Galloway come to the fore not least for his Oscar winning cat impersonation but also for his policy of tactical bullying so what can HR glean from these playground antics? […]
What’s the answer? Returning to work on lighter duties
Maria Ryan gets legal guidance this week from Helen Badger, employment law expert at Browne Jacobson and Chris Syder, head of employment at Clarkslegal LLP London branch on the considerations of offering alternative work where normal duties are no longer safe. The question:One of our employees, a mechanical fitter, has taken extensive absence following a […]
Sick of absence? Investing for wellbeing
Paul Avis of Employ-Mend kick-starts a month long look at employee benefits by investigating what kind of return can be expected for a £250 investment into healthcare. It is a fact that employers put more cash into pensions than they do into healthcare, a phenomenon and tradition that is poorly understood. Employees take the employer’s […]
Opinion: Trends in e-learning
E-learning has moved leagues away from the generic, electronic page turning that was typical in the late 1990s, but what next? Dr Jo Cheesman of Academee makes some predictions for an e-learning evolution in 2006. Trends in e-learning will continue to be driven by improved hardware technology in terms of size (smaller), cost (cheaper) and […]
Case Study: Carphone Warehouse takes recruitment online
Mobile phone giant the Carphone Warehouse requires top quality talent to maintain its market position and in order to attract the best staff it decided to move its recruitment online; find out what happened.The challenge:Carphone Warehouse aims to treat potential candidates with the same commitment to excellence as it provides its external customers. This makes […]
