How to: Manage performance
The issuePerformance management is a strategic development tool that enables managers and staff to set targets, measure and review performance and re-define goals. It is an activity that provides a clear indication of whether the work undertaken is achieving the key objectives of the organisation. There is often a difference between the current level of […]
Editor’s Comment: Why is HR always the first to go?
The BBC, Asda and HP have recently shed or announced cut backs within their HR departments; Editor’s Comment looks at the long suffering of HR and ponders why they are always the first to go. Earlier this year the BBC shed hundreds of HR jobs. Other victims include HP, the IT giant, who recently announced […]
News in Brief: The week in HR
Catch up on the week in HR with our at-a-glance news round up including why workers just can’t get enough of the office, how flexible working is helping lure talent and who’s got the top job at the HSE. W/C 1/08/05Workers find it difficult to switch offOne in six workers will make contact with their […]
The Couch?! Life’s a Beach
Summertime and the living is easy… Ah the Couch?! team loves this time of year. Long sunny days, warm sultry evenings and best of all the prospect of a bucket shop flight somewhere altogether more exotic than commutersville and the concrete jungle we flit between the rest of the year 'round. A fortnight without meetings, […]
What’s the answer? Golden handshakes
This week Nicholas Snowden, Senior Solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson present their ideas on the framework surrounding golden handshakes. The question:“I have been asked to look into the issue of golden handshakes in the public sector. If anyone has any experience of this, I would welcome your help.”NickyThe […]
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Playing safe?
New recruit, Roy has a gambling addiction which forces Sue Kingston to take hard action this week while elsewhere our HR Practitioner admits Charles is readily becoming her Darcy. W/C 25 July 2005Shark infested waters!My client (Jack) called me this week with a new dilemma. His new finance starter (Roy) of only two weeks had […]
CPD: The ‘why’ and ‘how’
With an ever-changing labour market, new rules of engagement and a growing red tape burden HR professionals need more than ever to be up to speed with latest developments. In the latest article on this subject, we looked at the concept of continuing professional development (CPD) as a continuous personal development process pursued by a […]
Opinion: Leadership – taking the brakes off
One in three HR professionals can’t be wrong; they believe that leadership development in UK plc is ineffective so what are the qualities that make a good leader great and what can HR do to help senior executives get there? Leadership is a crucial issue for organisations in any industry. According to the Training and […]
Can self-coaching really help your bottom line?
Quite apart from the stresses and strains of current business life, like pensions’ crises, ageism, work-life balance, increasing bureaucracy and rising absenteeism, most people hunger to find meaning in their lives. The other day I found myself watching one of those ubiquitous makeover programmes. The presenter’s brief was to transform an entire street. In her […]
Review:The naked truth: A working woman’s manifesto on business
Title: The Naked Truth: A Working woman’s Manifesto on Business and What Really MattersAuthor: Margaret HeffernanPublisher: Jossey-BassISBN: 0-7879-7143-XPrice: £16.99Reviewer: Jo Lamb-White The book, written by a successful business woman, maintains its objective is to share and face some of the truths (mostly unpleasant) about executive life for women within corporations in the UK and US […]
Payroll Tip: Reservist training and paid time off
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: Is there an obligation on employers to allow paid time off for reservists to attend annual camp? A: Reservists are part-time members of the Armed Forces, or ex-members of the Regular Forces with […]
Hard(y) Law Talk: Deregulation better than re-regulation?
European lawmakers have recently declared that the Working Time Directive opt-out should be abolished. Or was that restricted? Or, even weakened? Typical of all matters European another simple issue has been made subject to a morass of confusion and complexity. Since 1993, all HR practitioners EU-wide have been ensuring that they manage a 48 hour […]
How Did I Get Here? Sharon Cooper, HR Director EMEA
A stint in the army taught Sharon Cooper the valuable lesson that it’s not rank that earns respect; read her story and find out why Margaret Thatcher would be on her lunch ‘wish’ list. 1. How strategic is your current role and what does it involve?I am Director of Human Resources EMEA at IPC Information […]
The Couch?! Living the dream
Was HR professional on your list of ‘dream’ jobs when you were a child or did you actually want to be an astronaut or a nurse? This week the Couch?! finds out how you ended up in HR. A survey has revealed a big gap in what we thought we’d be when we grew up […]
Editor’s Comment: The new rules of engagement
If it’s cheap labour you’re after then look no further than www.jobdumping.de a German jobs website which trades in salary bids rather than skills and experience; Editor’s Comment looks at why we’ve become as transient as our customers loyalty. Reported in the Times, the website looks innocent enough at first glance; you look at the […]
London 2012 – The HR Olympic Challenge
The Olympic Games present a huge opportunity and challenge for the HR community; 34,000 permanent positions are expected to be created together with 15,000 jobs in the construction phase and this is only in Stratford. The decision of the IOC to award the 2012 Olympic Games to London was greeted with much euphoria in Trafalgar […]
What’s the answer? Holiday Pay and the WTD
This week Nicholas Snowden, Senior Solicitor at Clarkslegal LLP and Helen Badger, employment law expert, Browne Jacobson present their ideas on the rules governing holiday pay and the Working Time Directive. The question:“If a contract stipulates that accrued holiday pay is lost if someone is dismissed for gross misconduct, is this an illegal deduction from […]
Colborn’s Corner – Compensation culture or fair treatment?
Sometimes following the HR rule book is not always the right approach. Quentin Colborn explores the value of knowing when a pragmatic line is more appropriate. A recent posting on ‘Any Answers’ posed a situation in which a lady on maternity leave contacted her employer to make arrangements for her return to work only to […]
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Striking a balance
There’s more to work-life balance than simply minding children; this week Sue Kingston reflects on the importance of an understanding employer in a domestic emergency and finds herself mopping the brow of a hot date. W/C 18 JulyMy Saturday morning lie in was wonderful to a point, but then a spot of dentistry got in […]
Coaching: The rough guide
Jeremy Lazarus, Life and Business Coach and NLP Practitioner explodes the myths of executive coaching and finds out what we can learn from our friends across the pond. It is happening in America, and it will surely happen over here. Shareholders are expecting directors and senior managers to have business coaches. And why shouldn’t they? […]
