Welfare benefits ‘subsidise family break-up’
The level of public subsidy to households with children has doubled since 1997, and now stands at £22bn a year, but the price of parenthood is too high for many ordinary families, according to a report published today by the Centre for Policy Studies. Jill Kirby’s ‘The Price of Parenthood’ concludes that the “financial penalties” […]
The Couch?! gets grumpy
January is already quite a grumpy month as we struggle to adjust to work after the Christmas break.It’s understandable we all feel a bit down in the dumps as we realise just how much money we spent over the festive period. We are also facing up to the failed diets and the realisation that all […]
Three million plug into Home Computing Schemes
The Home Computing Initiative (HCI) Alliance says that HCI schemes have became the fastest-growing employee benefit in the UK. Enabled by the Government’s tax exemption on loaned computers, HCI schemes allow employers to loan computing equipment to their employees for personal use at home as a tax-free benefit. More than 380 companies, employing over 3.6 […]
Editor’s Comment: Bricks and mortar trap workers
By Annie Hayes, HRZone EditorOfficial statistics out this week show that movement in the labour market has reached its lowest ebb – employment is high but the number of unfilled vacancies is up; Editor’s Comment examines how the nation’s obsession with home-ownership is restricting the passage of skills and workers. Two thirds of us are […]
Linguists are key to global success
The ability to speak more than one language is critical if businesses are to succeed overseas.The survey by executive recruiters Korn/Ferry International reveals that 85% of recruiters in Europe, 88% in Asia and 95% in Latin America agree that being at least bilingual is critical to succeed in today’s business environment. Among recruiters in North […]
TUC call for equal pay ‘reality’
Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady will today tell delegates at an equality law conference that progress in equal pay must be speeded up.Calling for ‘real commitments in party manifestos’ O’Grady will say that ‘time is of the essence’ if pay parity is to become a reality.It is 35 years since the Equal […]
Revenue targets eBay traders
Workers who supplement their income by buying and selling goods via the online auction site eBay have been warned not to neglect their tax liabilities. Saffery Champness warned that the Inland Revenue is very aware of eBay and its inspectors have been targeting serial eBay users. Tax partner Ronnie Ludwig noted that with some 25m […]
Mid-sized firms dominate HR outsourcing
According to analysts Datamonitor, medium-sized businesses will lead the way in HR outsourcing deals this year.Michel Janssen, President of outsourcing advisory firm, Everest Group commented that last year and for the first time, mid-to-large versus the large-to very large businesses dominated human resources outsourcing.“2005 will be the year that BPO goes mainstream, and it will […]
Labour market buckles under weight of contradictions
Labour market statistics present a mixed picture. Official figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the trend in the employment rate is increasing. Working numbers increased by 99,000 over the quarter and by 271,000 over the year, to reach 28.49 million. This is the highest level since comparable records began in 1971. Despite […]
Call centre training achieves top grade
Contact Centre Professional (CCP), which trains unemployed adults to handle telephone enquiries in call centres, has been awarded a grade 1 “outstanding” by the government’s Adult Learning Inspectorate. The Newcastle-based firm was awarded the highest grade – achieved only by a handful of training organisations in the country – for its retailing, customer service and […]
Cold baths ‘antidote to working stress’
The old-fashioned recipe of tough outdoors training & cold baths really is character-building, according to latest research.Dr Peter Clough from Hull University conducted research among a group of university students to study ways of increasing mental toughness. He took one group up a mountain in Derbyshire and made them put their hands in a bucket […]
HR Zone Briefing #226 – Rights for temps at 6 weeks rocks industry
================================================================ HR Briefing Issue 226 20 January 2005 http://www.hrzone.co.uk ================================================================ SITE HIGHLIGHTS **** SITE HIGHLIGHTS **** SITE HIGHLIGHTS **** 1. How Did I Get Here? Sandra Nixon, Head of Training at QVC 2. Opinion: Judge people on their merits & profit from doing so 3. Payroll Tip: Maternity suspension 4. Businesses quake under threat of […]
Feature: Internal communications – mind the gap
By Alastair Barber, internal communications specialist with marketing consultancy Omobono. Responsibility for internal communications on HR projects is often shifted from one function to another, shared out between them or just fudged; yet the success of projects – of making people understand, learn and engage is dependent on communication, Alastair Barber looks at the issues. […]
Risk-takers reap financial rewards
Researchers at Cranfield School of Management claim to have revealed the link between risk taking and the financial performance of their business, finding that risk-takers are likely to achieve the highest sales growth, but that over-confidence can also lead to poor profit performance by owner-managers. The research, carried out among UK-based SMEs over three years […]
Workers get a life
Nearly two thirds of employees are now satisfied with their levels of work/life balance, compared with just over half in 2001.These are the latest findings from a data drawn from ORC International’s database ORC Perspectives, which represents the opinions of some 1.4 million employees.Key findings include: 60% of employees are satisfied with the amount of […]
Businesses quake under threat of six-week ‘temp’ rights
Euro MPS are close to voting on the EU Agency Workers Directive which could give temporary staff the same rights as permanent workers after only six weeks in employment; the CIPD told HRZone the directive would ‘seriously damage’ the temping market.Recruitment outfit beRecruitment claim the new directive would be bad for business.Carole Fossey, MD of […]
Public sector recruitment reaches lowest ebb
The quarterly survey of HR trends and indicators from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that recruitment difficulties will continue in this first quarter of the year with recruitment intentions in the public sector reaching their lowest levels.Attempts to reduce levels of administrative and central government staff in the aftermath of the […]
Review: The Situational Mentor
Title: The Situational Mentor – An International Review of Competences and Capabilities in MentoringEditors: David Clutterbuck and Gill LanePublisher: GowerISBN: 0-566-08543-7Price: £55.00Reviewer: Angela Busby Authors/editors Clutterbuck and Lane have done something that is not always easy to do – they have brought together diverse perspectives from leading academics and practitioners and presented the reader with […]
How Did I Get Here? Sandra Nixon, Head of Training at QVC
All the previous career profiles can also be seen on the How Did I Get Here? page. Sandra Nixon is head of training at QVC.How did you come to work in training?I was working as a team leader in QVC’s call centre in Knowsley when a training position was advertised. As I had already been […]
Experience is rated over natural ability
A Chartered Management Institute (CMI) report reveals that for the first time since the start of the survey in 1996, job experience is rated more highly than natural ability when it comes to performing well at work. The CMI claim that the belief that “leaders are born, not made” has been eclipsed. Research based on […]
