Improving effectiveness using HR IT
HR IT systems improve business effectiveness by providing managers with real-time labor metrics and data-driven insights. Compass Group UK implemented a new system delivering weekly labor analytics on turnover, costs, and productivity, enabling unit and area managers to make informed decisions and control expenses across 8,500 locations.
Get the most out of your visit to HR Software
Explore over 70 HR software solutions at the CIPD’s annual HR Software Show. Discover practical technology innovations, attend Learning Lab sessions with the Inland Revenue and CIPD, and compare solutions across performance management, payroll, communications, and more to meet your organization’s needs.
Calculating the true cost of HR Software
Learn how to calculate the true cost of HR software beyond initial license fees. This guide breaks down upfront, ongoing, and hidden costs to help you build a business case that gains executive approval and ensures your HRMS investment delivers real value.
How systems can support your HR objectives
HR systems work best when designed with intuitive interfaces that serve the entire business, not just HR departments. Alignment between business objectives, HR goals, and system implementation ensures maximum impact and user adoption across organizations.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: Looking for Darcy
An HR practitioner shares insights on managing organizational change across multiple subsidiaries, emphasizing how open communication and clear explanation of strategic changes help overcome employee resistance and build effective teams.
Work-life balance: Banishing the Cinderella syndrome
Peer resentment remains the biggest barrier to successful flexible working arrangements. Rather than individual negotiations with management, adopting team-based approaches where colleagues collectively decide how to work and deliver results can overcome resentment and boost productivity beyond traditional long-hours practices.
What’s the answer? Flexible benefits
Introducing flexible benefits requires careful consideration of legal, tax, and payroll implications. Experts recommend establishing core benefits like pension and death-in-service cover, then offering optional perks such as extra life cover, critical illness, dental, and private medical insurance. Key steps include aligning benefits with business strategy, understanding employee preferences, and ensuring compliance with age discrimination laws.
Member wire #102 – Competition – WIN tickets to the Open Golf Championship
HR Zone members can win a pair of tickets to the final day of the Open Golf Championship on 17 July. Enter the exclusive competition for your chance to attend this prestigious golfing event.
HR tees off at the Open Golf Championship
Win tickets to the Open Golf Championship final day on July 17th with accommodation in Edinburgh and full corporate hospitality including a three-course lunch and open bar. Enter by referring a friend to HRZone.
Why HR Directors get fired
HR Directors often get fired or marginalized for failing to demonstrate strategic business value and shape organizational strategy rather than just execute it. Success requires balancing routine HR functions with strategic foresight, understanding business operations, and aligning HR services with actual client priorities.
HR Tip: Dealing with CV liars
Discover how to handle CV dishonesty in the workplace. Learn whether misrepresented qualifications warrant dismissal and when to take disciplinary action based on actual job performance rather than application inaccuracies.
Vox Pop: Meeting of minds – the future of web-conferencing
Web-conferencing enables productive remote meetings that reduce travel time, lower costs, and improve employee contributions. Experts discuss how synchronous conferencing supports decision-making while asynchronous methods enhance deeper learning, transforming business communication and environmental impact.
Feature: Training Evaluation Part 3 – When and how to evaluate
Determine when to evaluate training interventions in part three of this series. Learn about critical evaluation scenarios including political necessity, client requirements, resource allocation decisions, and client relations, plus when evaluation may not be necessary despite best practices.
How Did I Get Here? Mary Canavan, HR Director, British Library
Mary Canavan, HR Director at the British Library, shares her strategic career path from local government trainee to executive leadership. She discusses developing a people strategy to support the library’s 21st-century vision, key challenges in building a customer-focused HR team, and how operational experience prepared her for senior roles.
News in Brief: The week in HR – 03/06/05
This week’s HR news covers Britain’s fight to preserve its 48-hour working week opt-out amid EU pressure, potential National Insurance contribution increases to address pension shortfalls, HR departments’ underutilization of technology systems, and widespread worker burnout affecting UK business productivity and staff retention.
Editor’s Comment: Plastic – fantastic?
A quarter of women in business would consider cosmetic surgery to advance their careers, according to research by the Aziz Corporation. The survey reveals that 28% would try Botox and 26% would consider facelifts, alongside higher percentages willing to adopt less invasive measures like dieting and teeth whitening.
Colborn’s Corner – Disciplinary dilemmas divulged
Explore two challenging disciplinary cases that reveal the complexity of workplace management: one involving an employee’s hygiene issues resolved through formal warning, and another highlighting data protection breaches and managerial discretion lapses.
HR Zone Briefing #248 – HR Diary – Holiday calculation revealed
This HR Zone briefing features a practical formula for calculating annual leave entitlements, plus insights from an HR practitioner navigating workplace challenges and strategies for managing diversity in the workplace.
HR Practitioner’s Diary: ‘Daniel’ meets his match
HR consultant Sue Kingston uncovers dangerous gaps in Daniel’s HR practices after discovering significant inconsistencies in job descriptions across his 15-person workforce. Through individual staff interviews, she identifies critical communication failures around Health and Safety responsibilities that could pose serious risks during regulatory audits.
How to: Prepare for the worst
Learn crisis management strategies to protect your business and employees during emergencies. Discover three-tier support frameworks, preparation guidelines, and how managers can prioritize staff welfare while maintaining business continuity after traumatic incidents.
