How to: Take control of absence
Chronic absence significantly impacts productivity and costs businesses billions annually. Implementing a positive workplace culture, clear absence policies, health promotion, flexible working options, and monitoring systems can effectively reduce absenteeism while supporting employee wellbeing.
How to: Give and receive employment references
Employment references are crucial for verifying candidate credentials and preventing hiring mistakes, as 71% of businesses report encountering CV fraud. This guide explains how to obtain meaningful references through written authorization, rapport-building with former employers, and asking specific, behavior-focused questions while maintaining confidentiality and legal protections.
HR Tip: Failure to attend a disciplinary hearing
When an employee fails to attend a disciplinary hearing, employers should document attempts to reschedule via formal written communication to their last known address. If the employee continues to miss meetings without valid reason, employers can proceed with the hearing in their absence and potentially dismiss for gross misconduct.
Pedalling towards healthier employee benefits
The Government’s Green Travel Plan includes a tax-efficient bike benefit allowing employers to provide bicycles to employees. This initiative offers significant health benefits, reduces workplace absenteeism, and cuts carbon emissions while enabling employees to purchase bikes at up to 50% discount through salary sacrifice schemes.
Jargon buster: Garden leave
Garden leave is a contractual arrangement where employers pay employees their full salary to stay away from work during their notice period, preventing them from joining competitors or accessing confidential information. However, employers need explicit garden leave clauses in contracts to enforce it, as courts treat enforcement similar to restrictive covenants.
Editor’s Comment: Silencing the Levi ‘luvvies’
Research shows that casual dress codes boost workplace productivity and employee confidence, with seven in ten bosses reporting positive impacts. However, critics argue that relaxed dress standards may undermine professionalism and trust in traditionally formal sectors like law and medicine.
News in Brief: The week in HR
This week in HR news covers London’s Olympic bid success, which promises job creation and transport improvements, plus strong UK employment figures showing over 65,000 jobs created in June across key industries, despite earlier economic concerns.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Desert to Oasis
Sue navigates a refreshing review process where managers at a 33-person company evaluate staff performance—and the CEO welcomes feedback from his team. This two-way exchange creates constructive dialogue rather than a blame session, potentially transforming leadership effectiveness and staff engagement.
What’s the answer? Dangerous sports & employment
Employers face legal and insurance considerations when employees are injured during dangerous recreational activities. This article explores what happens if a key employee participating in high-risk hobbies becomes seriously injured or dies, including implications for sick pay, employment, and death benefits insurance coverage.
And the winner is …
Sharon Cooper, Director of Human Resources EMEA at IPC Information Systems, won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Open Golf Championship, including accommodation in Edinburgh and corporate hospitality at this prestigious golf event.
Stone speaks: What drives women in the workplace?
Women change jobs seven times on average during their careers, with only 75% of the decision driven by salary. Professional challenges, work-life balance, recognition, and values alignment are key factors that motivate women in the workplace.
Feature: The three elements of successful team development
Successful team development requires balancing three key elements: individual member effectiveness, seven core team processes, and internal relationships. Effective teams operate across individual, unit, and organizational levels, with clear purpose as a fundamental foundation for overall effectiveness.
Opinion: Goals that hit target
Managers struggle to set effective team goals because few have personal experience setting and reviewing their own goals, argues Neil McCracken. Developing empathy through lived experience of goal-setting may be key to inspiring better performance in others.
HR Tip: Notice definitions
Notice periods can be defined as a calendar month, a fixed number of weeks, or time expiring at month-end. Employers should clearly specify their preferred definition in employment contracts and offer letters to avoid confusion.
Review: Vision, Leadership and the Creation of Management Consulting
This authorized biography of McKinsey founder Marvin Bower explores how his core values of integrity, trust, and respect shaped modern management consulting. Through nearly a century of life and 59 years at McKinsey, Bower demonstrated that leadership fundamentals—fact-based vision, principled decision-making, and respect for others—matter most in building successful organizations.
CSR and beyond: Is it a myth?
Corporate social responsibility activity is rising, but corporate donations to charities are actually falling, revealing a gap between CSR marketing and genuine philanthropic support for the third sector.
Member wire #106 – Member of the month; HR Diary – dress codes
HR Zone Members Newswire Issue 106 features member Emma Parrott as this month’s spotlight for her guidance on redundancy pay for part-timers. The newsletter also covers dress codes in the HR Practitioner’s Diary and highlights member discussions on restrictive covenants, redundancy alternatives, and maternity pay considerations.
The Couch?! Gets into the festival spirit
Festival season is here, and The Couch?! shares hilarious takes on the common frustrations of festival-going, from mud and endless queuing to forgotten essentials and questionable fashion choices. Whether you’re a seasoned festival-goer or reluctant attendee, discover relatable complaints and share your own amusing festival stories.
How Did I Get Here? Lisa Hodges, Human Resources Department Supervisor
Lisa Hodges, HR Supervisor, shares her career journey from aspiring teacher to training specialist, including a challenging moment when a delegate became upset during medical training. Learn what shaped her approach to supporting staff development in her current role.
Strategy: Bridging the skills gap
Bridging the skills gap requires organizations to link training directly to business goals and encourage employee ownership of development. A skills deficit costs medium-sized businesses over £150,000 annually, yet companies investing in staff training experience lower turnover and improved performance through targeted needs analysis and management capability development.
