How Did I Get Here? Alison Clarke, Quantica
Recruitment Consultant at Quantica, Alison Clarke, spills the beans on her career to date. All the previous career profiles can also be seen in the special How Did I Get Here?page. Current job titleRecruitment Consultant – A specialist in HR appointments Describe your initial training within the professionI joined the recruitment industry having already qualified […]
Disability Awareness DVD
Trainers can get a free copy of a new DVD looking at the needs of disabled students.The DVD, called Learners’ Experiences, was produced by the Learning and Skills Development Agency and aims to help those working with disabled students to understand their needs more clearly in the light of the new statutory requirements in the […]
UK tied up in red tape
Red tape is still tying down UK business according to a major new survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) released today. Petty rules and regulations, incompetence and misplaced ‘assistance’ continue to hinder business expansion and job creation, members of the IoD reveal in a series of candid case studies. For the first time, 45 […]
Making the Business Case for E-Learning
Robin Hoyle Chief Learning Architect at EBC explains why identifying the problem is as important as designing the solution when persuading senior managers to fund training. Having recently worked with a range of learning champions I was struck once again by how difficult trainers and learning and development professionals find making a business case for […]
Share option warning for employees
When an employee obtain shares by reason of his employment, and he pays less than market value for those shares, it is very likely that there will be a charge to Income Tax. The relevant legislation which imposes the charge is found in ITEPA Part 7.Berg Kaprow Lewis LLP notes that when an employee comes […]
Economic upturn fuels recruitment growth
According to a survey published by Reed Executive plc a greater number of U.K. employers are seeking to recruit staff and fewer are looking to cut jobs. Over one thousand respondents revealed recruitment demand overall has risen 10 percentage points compared to the last quarter, with 88 per cent of organisations planning to recruit in […]
CIPD Survey Shows Acute Skills Shortages
The CIPD said it expects skills shortages and tough recruitment conditions to continue despite the recent rise in unemployment figures.The comments come as the CIPD’s own survey showed that 40% of employers claim to find it hard to find staff with the specialist skills they needed.John Philpott, Chief Economist at the CIPD called the 30,000 […]
The Way I See It… How E-Learning Can Spare the Blushes
Claudine Mclean of Structured Training explains the benefits of e-learning for a manager’s skills and ego. Senior or expert employees are often reluctant to publicly admit their need for skills input in areas where they feel they ‘should’ know everything already. Having reached a responsible management position on merit, it can be tough for high-ranking […]
Recruiting new staff – is there a right way?
A recent article in some business journals highlighted the fears of UK businesses in relation to recruitment. Two of the most frequently quoted barriers to effective recruitment by business owners are the lack of time and quality candidates!Debbie Taylor, HR specialist at training providers, Mercia Group says a clear and objective process combined with sound […]
Unemployment figures surprise increase
UK unemployment levels rose in May, according to official figures released yesterday. Around 6,000 more people were seeking employment in the three months to May compared to the previous period, to 1.43 million, although the jobless rate remains at 4.8%. The last rise was in June to September last year.However, employment levels also fell by […]
Case Study: Diversity Training at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Trust has run a series of diversity action-planning sessions for its Board/management executive and for over 100 senior managers, clinicians and professional staff from its 11 directorates. “In the past, diversity had been HR-led and we wanted to mainstream it throughout the organisation,” said Carolyn Norgate, the Trust’s Head of […]
HR Tip – Probation periods
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: All our new employees start on a six month probation period and, if satisfactory, we keep them on. Does this probation period count as part of their service? A: Yes, their service counts […]
New Asylum and Immigration Rules
Emma Burrows, employment law specialist at Trowers & Hamlins Solicitors, takes a look at the employment of overseas workers. The Government has introduced new measures to tackle illegal working. These measures are in addition to existing requirements for the employment of overseas workers, and place more onerous obligation on employers in terms of the checks […]
Civil service slashed in spending review
Gordon Brown has outlined plans to axe more than 100,000 civil service jobs across the UK. His spending review – which covers the period 2005/06 to 2007/08 – sets the priorities for Labour’s general election manifesto.Spending is up – to £301.9bn next year, £340.5bn the following year and the same again the year after. As […]
Successful Bidders for learndirect Contracts
Ufi has announced the successful bidders for the planning and delivery of learndirect services in England and Wales for nine industry sectors over the next two years.The six organisations responsible for the delivery of learndirect and the nine sectors they will cover are:* ASSA Training and Learning LtdAutomotive components; automotive skills; science and engineering; audio […]
The Future for E-Learning
Steve Dineen, CEO of fuel Group, predicts that mobile technology will revolutionise the way we are e-learning.Although mobile technology may have dramatically transformed in a remarkably short time the way we communicate and live, I think it has had comparatively little significant impact on the way we learn.But that is all about to change. The […]
Business Partners and Control Groups
One subject that often comes up under the heading of ‘evaluation’ is the use of control groups. What is a control group? Well, if you were training 10 teams of salespeople you could choose not to train (or provide less training for) one of the teams. This team would be the control group. You would […]
Government Report Says UK is Closing Skills Gap
Britain is closing the skills gap with its major competitors, according to a government report.Analysis of changes in skills levels in the UK, USA, France, Germany and Singapore between 1994 and 2003, shows that of all these countries the UK had the highest growth rate for qualifications at level 2 (equivalent to 5 GSCEs grades […]
Work-Related Stress
Emma Burrows, employment law specialist at Trowers & Hamlins Solicitors, takes a look at recent research undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive regarding work related stress. According to recent research undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive, up to five million people in the UK feel “very” or “extremely” stressed by their work, with […]
Age diversity – How prepared is your organisation?
Research carried out by The Equal Opportunities Review has revealed that almost half of employers do not have an age diversity/age discrimination policy despite impending changes in legislation. All changes in legislation must be implemented by December 2006 and in order to comply with the measures, employers will have to review all of their employment […]
