The Couch?! Presents not the usual suspects
The Couch?! team skips mainstream role models like Richard Branson to celebrate unconventional teachers instead, from David Brent’s questionable management style to Sir Humphrey Appleby’s political cunning. They invite readers to share their own fictional and real-world role models in the comments.
What’s the answer? When does retirement officially start?
When an employee reaches 65, their retirement start date depends on employment contracts, company handbooks, and established workplace practices. If no formal policy exists, employers and employees can mutually agree on the final working day, whether that’s the actual birthday or the day before.
Is the UK suffering from an under-management epidemic?
UK organisations may be suffering from an under-management epidemic, with cost-cutting measures removing management layers and impacting productivity and staff morale. Poor manager-employee relationships, lack of management training, and excessive manager workload are key factors contributing to underperformance and low retention rates.
Review: Outdoor management development
This critical introduction to outdoor management development explores experiential learning theory, program design, and effective practices in using outdoor activities for professional development. Reviewer Mike Taylor praises author Willem G Krouwel for delivering substantial insights in a concise, well-written format that challenges superficial approaches to the subject.
Putting the ‘needs’ into TNA
Effective training needs analysis requires separating wants from real requirements by establishing performance benchmarks and measuring the gap. Organizations should identify whether they need to improve attitudes, knowledge, or skills, then match appropriate development solutions like training, coaching, or mentoring.
Case Study: Out of sight out of mind? Managing remote workers
Remote teams offer flexibility and cost savings but present management challenges including isolation, communication barriers, and trust issues. Effective remote management requires managers to develop specific skills in communication, fairness, and understanding remote worker dynamics to maintain team cohesion and business success.
If pensions are no longer tax-efficient what’s the future of rewards?
Tax relief on pension contributions remains available at employees’ marginal rates after April 2006, but new legislation creates complications that may encourage deferral strategies and increase interest in alternative investment vehicles like ISAs and employer share schemes.
HR Zone Members Newswire #124 HR happy-ometer swings; attendance rewards
HR Zone Members Newswire #124 covers employee engagement trends, including discussions on attendance-based reward schemes and their moral implications, alongside workplace diversity initiatives and payroll solutions for HR professionals.
Forward features list 2006
HR Zone’s 2006 forward features list covers key topics including employee benefits and productivity, employment legislation updates, career management for HR professionals, and change management strategies with case studies examining business impact.
Logging onto coaching: The pros and cons
E-coaching uses technology like email and chat to deliver personalized coaching between coaches and learners. While it offers convenient human support and deeper learning, e-coaching faces challenges with communication delays and managing student expectations.
HR Tip: Redundancy and “bumping”
When redundancy doesn’t eliminate a specific job, employers can make a person redundant through “bumping”—reassigning work and dismissing a shorter-service employee based on fair, objective selection criteria rather than just retaining the longest-service worker.
Extracts of a Life Coach: The glorification of age?
A life coach explores whether age and life experience are essential qualifications for effective coaching. She questions her own belief that younger people cannot be good coaches, drawing parallels to how technical skill differs from lived wisdom and emotional depth.
Disability: Thought you knew everything there was to know?
Explore how disability discrimination laws protect workers and challenge myths about disabled employees’ job capabilities. Learn about the Disability Discrimination Act 1995’s evolution from outdated registration systems to modern employment protections covering recruitment and retention.
Human Capital: Sharpening the tool to prove HR’s worth
HR departments struggle to justify significant transformation investments without demonstrating quantifiable business benefits. Human capital—the practical skills and knowledge employees bring to their roles—offers a framework to prove HR’s value, but organizations must establish clear metrics to measure how human capital investments drive corporate performance.
News in Brief: The week in HR – HR happy-ometer swings
A CIPD survey shows 81% of HR professionals enjoy their jobs and would choose the same career again, challenging industry stereotypes. The week’s HR news also highlights that work provides meaning for many employees, while face-to-face communication remains most effective for workplace briefings.
The Couch?! Has a good old moan
A German IT company has banned workplace moaning with a “two complaints and you’re out” policy, allowing only grievances paired with constructive solutions. This article celebrates office complaints before such restrictions spread, listing ten common workplace moans from weather to annoying coworkers.
Review: Managing successful projects with PRINCE2
This official PRINCE2 guide demystifies the project management method for managers and team members across all project types. Well-structured with clear processes, components, and techniques, it serves as both an examination study companion and practical workplace reference.
What’s the answer? Cost of living increase
Two employment law experts explain whether companies can exclude employees with less than one year’s service from cost of living increases. The answer depends on what’s stated in employment contracts and handbooks—if silent on pay rises, employers generally have discretion, but previous pay practices may create implied contractual terms.
Colborn’s Corner: How am I doing?
Performance appraisals help organizations align individual contributions with goals while providing employee feedback, but annual or semi-annual reviews may not keep pace with rapidly changing business environments. This article explores modernizing appraisal systems through quarterly objective reviews and employee involvement in performance measurement.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Chicken lickin’ good?
Sue Kingston tackles workforce theft at a food processing manufacturer while helping develop business strategy, and explores a new HR consulting opportunity with a law firm specializing in organizational structure and project management.
