Leadership potential quashed
Most UK workers feel that they are under-valued and not reaching their full potential at work, according to a new survey.The Transferable Leadership Skills Survey, conducted by the Territorial Army (TA) and the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), asked workers whether they felt they had any of six leadership skills and over 90% responded […]
Bosses flout holiday law
Problem-solving charity Citizens Advice have released a report which shows that tens of thousands of workers are being denied their legal entitlement of at least four weeks’ paid holiday a year.Currently bosses are obliged to offer workers twenty days leave a year but this can include bank holidays. At the Labour Party conference in September, […]
Feature: HR predictions – 2005
HR consultant Quentin Colborn presents his thoughts on what 2005 will bring to the HR environment. I suspect we will see the year dominated by a number of issues including:Election – all the pundits are predicting a 2005 May election. What impact will this have on people-related issues? Family matters appear to be rising quickly […]
City workers plan post-bonus exodus
Sixty-one per cent of City workers claim they will seek a new job after their bonuses are paid.Workers intentions were tested in a recent Morgan McKinley survey.One in five respondents are optimistic that their annual bonus payment will be at least double that of last year which is good news for the 57% who were […]
Workplace misconduct is rife
Nearly half of workers in London have witnessed wrong-doing by a manager or colleague but only 15% would report it.These are the findings from a recent survey by KMPG.The research reveals that over half of employees in the capital have some doubts over the integrity of their bosses.When asked whether they believed that the management […]
Employees put themselves first
Tomorrow’s employees will be less loyal and more demanding, according to new research from recruitment and HR consultancy Hudson. The findings reveal the rise of a new ‘Me Generation’ of employees who are putting themselves and their own quality of life first and their employer second. Nearly half of the 2500 surveyed (42%) claimed to […]
BCC ‘rubbish’ health proposals
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has described new health proposals that allow workers to recover hospital costs in personal injury cases as ‘ludicrous’.BCC Director General, David Frost warned that insurance companies are predicting that firms’ liability premiums will soar by anything from 8-10% as a result of the proposed legislation. Frost referred to the […]
Editor’s Comment: Ditch the bah humbug!
By Annie Hayes, HRZone EditorAbandon the mistletoe was amongst this year’s warnings from the TUC and RoSPA who advise that sexual harassment claims could be queuing up for bosses who dare to party without precautions; Editor’s Comment ponders whether it has all gone just too far. Party protocol guides repeatedly warn us that partying can […]
Army gets fast-tracked CMI membership
The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has opened its doors to automatic membership for British army soldiers and officers, retired and serving.The CMI say that the training and experience army personnel gain in service can be directly mapped across to membership levels offered by the Institute.Major Di Langford of the Army’s Directorate of Educational and Training […]
CIPD predict a ‘difficult’ 2005 for employers
Latest figures which show that jobless numbers are sliding as the labour market continues to stabilize is cause for concern, say the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 29,000 between August and October to 1.39 million.According to John Philpott, Chief Economist at the […]
Education gets the female touch
David Blunkett’s departure sees Ruth Kelly fill Charles Clarke’s shoes as Education Secretary.The Cabinet reshuffle instigated by the revelations that Blunkett fast-tracked a visa for his former lover’s nanny has paved the way for Kelly’s meteoric rise up the political ranks.She enters Downing Street as the youngest female cabinet member (aged 36) in history, an […]
Recruitment expected to rise in New Year
Employers in the UK are expressing their strongest New Year hiring intentions since records began, according to the latest Manpower recruitment survey.Across the UK, eight of the nine industry sectors surveyed by Manpower are planning to take on staff next quarter, with agriculture being the only one to expect cutbacks.Finance and business services, transport and […]
Staff would swap jobs to secure training
Three-quarters of employees say they would consider moving jobs if they did not feel they were receiving the right development opportunities, according to a new poll.A survey by Media Logic found that despite the fact the majority of employees have only undertaken one or two business courses a year, 50% of staff still perceive training […]
Relief as crime against business falls
A recent survey says that the “recent dramatic increase” in crime against businesses may have hit a plateau. The AXA Business Crime Index findings suggest that the frequency of crimes against businesses in the third quarter of this year fell by 15.8% compared to the second quarter of 2004 resulting in a 7.4% fall in […]
Labour market tightens
Official statistics show that jobless numbers are sliding as the labour market continues to stabilize.More people are in employment and fewer numbers have suffered redundancy while the unemployment rate is once again lower.The employment rate for people of working age was 74.7% for the three months ending in October 2004. This is up slightly from […]
Search on for Britain’s meanest boss
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has launched a campaign to find today’s equivalent of Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge, the boss who made his clerk Bob Cratchit work late nights up until Christmas Eve.The TUC’s top ten Scrooge-like traits include: 1. Making staff work on Christmas bank holidays or lose pay: Contrary to popular opinion, there’s no […]
Feature: Tax rewards at Christmas
There is no excuse for Scrooge-like bosses this Christmas as there are plenty of ways to award staff a bonus and many won’t cost the business a penny, says tax expert Roy Maugham at accountants UHY Hacker Young. Mobile phonesEmployers can provide a phone for an employee and pay the bills. The cost of the […]
Review: Tolley’s National Insurance Contributions 2004-05
Title: Tolley’s National Insurance Contributions 2004-05Editor: Jon GoldingConsulting Editor: Peter ArrowsmithPublisher: LexisNexis UKISBN: 0754525465Price: £77.95Reviewer:Rebecca CaveTaxwriter Ltdwww.taxwriter.co.uk National insurance is one of those neglected taxes that practitioners either view as incredibly boring, or ignore in the belief that as a marginal tax the sums due don’t add up to much. Neither assumption is true, as […]
Feature: Reward – the holistic approach
By Arthur Kendall, managing director of FinanCityWith debt hitting the trillion pound mark and more credit cards than people in the UK, it’s not surprising that many are struggling with their finances; between the furore over the pensions’ crisis and people not saving enough for their retirement, we have become a society of financial ostriches […]
Tube staff to get 52 days holiday
Voted in by a massive majority, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT’s) London Underground staff members have said yes to a deal which gives them 52 days holiday a year.The new deal will deliver a 35-hour week.Station workers previously threatened with the axe can also rest easy. The RMT say that as many as […]
