Review: On Staffing
Title: On Staffing: Advice and Perspectives from HR LeadersEditors: Nicholas C. Burkholder, Preston J Edwards Snr, Libby SartainPublisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ ISBN: 0-471-41069-1Price: £34.95On Staffing focuses on how to get, induct, develop and retain great people. It’s a timely publication. Now that the skills shortage is starting to look like ‘the […]
Employee benefits – free guide for HR Zone members
TaxZone, part of HR Zone’s sister site Accounting Web, is currently offering HR Zone members a free guide on childcare benefits, part of Ray Chidell’s popular Employee Benefits guide series. Developing the right benefits for your employees ensures a motivated workforce that will remain loyal and produce higher productivity for the business.Ray Chidell’s popular guides […]
Russell Martin, HR Director Prudential, on flexible benefits
HR Zone quizzed Russell Martin, HR Director at Prudential, on why his HR team implemented a flexible benefits scheme, how the scheme works and the benefits realised since implementation. Why did you decide to implement a flexible benefits scheme?‘You Choose’ forms part of an integrated package of employee benefits and was launched to coincide with […]
Total reward statements may improve retention
Providing employees with online total reward statements could help to improve staff recruitment and retention, according to a new survey.Over two-thirds of HR and compensation and benefits professionals surveyed by Mercer Human Resource Consulting think individual, web-based statements incorporating pay and all benefits – such as pensions, healthcare, share plans and life insurance – would […]
3 million workers would ask for bogus sick notes
Nearly three million workers across the country admit they’d consider asking their GP for a bogus sick-note – with twice as many men than women saying they’d cheat the system, according to a new report.Norwich Union Healthcare’s latest ‘Health of the Nation Index’ found that doctors think almost a quarter of the 577 requests for […]
HR Tip – Changed terms of employment
HRD & Payroll Solutions continues to bring HR Zone members a range of HR tips. This week’s tip looks at changed terms of employment. Q: Some of our employees have agreed to changes to their hours of work and to their holiday arrangements. Do we have to issue new contracts? A: No. All that you […]
Graduates seek public sector jobs for work-life balance
Public sector jobs offer a healthier work/life balance and are seen as more attractive to people who don’t want to sacrifice their social life to climb the career ladder, according to the latest survey of over 2000 undergraduate students. The research, Graduates go public?, conducted by GTI Specialist Publishers reveals that the sector is considered […]
Implementing flexible benefits at Prudential
In the first of a two-part feature on implementing a flexible benefits scheme, Russell Martin, HR Director at Prudential talks about how HR communicated its scheme to employees. The scheme won an award for Communications Strategy of the Year, among others. Thursday’s HR Zone Briefing will feature an interview with Russell with details about the […]
Review: Strategic Compensation
Title: Strategic Compensation – A Human Resource Management Approach (third edition)Author: Joseph J MartocchioPublisher: Pearson Prentice HallISBN: 0-13-182476-7Review by: Kay Maddox has worked in both the public and the private sector where she has held HR roles with BAE SYSTEMS, Alstom Transport and Pirelli Cables. She currently holds the post of Management and Diversity Development […]
Age Positive launch national awards to find Britain’s age crusaders
The search is on for employers and individuals who are challenging ageism in employment. Age Positive, the Department for Work and Pensions campaign aimed at stamping out age discrimination, is encouraging individuals and employers to enter the 2004 Age Positive Awards. The Awards, held across England, Scotland and Wales, will recognise and reward individuals and […]
Freedom of speech or harassment?
Debbie Taylor at Mercia Group Limited warns of the dangers of insensitive or unsolicited comments made in the workplace. A thought-provoking headline filled the newspapers recently about a well-known football commentator who resigned following a racist comment he made about a player when he thought he was off air. Certainly an end to his career […]
Enhancing employee productivity by improving your office
Improving your office environment can be a simple and cost-effective method of positively impacting staff performance. Justin Palmer, managing director at Principio, argues that HR managers may therefore benefit from a more direct role in workplace design and space management. Given that we invest huge amounts of time and money on our own home […]
CIPD pushes for extension of flexible working rights
In response to the announcement that the Government plans to extend flexible working rights to carers, the CIPD is urging the Government to consider extending the right to all workers when it reviews the legislation three years after its introduction.“This is further evidence that the Government is considering extending the right to request flexible working. […]
Carers to be given flexible working rights
Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to extend the right to request flexible working to carers of elderly and sick relatives. At a meeting in Downing Street to discuss work-life balance issues, the Prime Minister promised to extend to carers the same rights as those introduced for parents in the workplace. Currently carers can only […]
HR Tip – Transferred business
HRD & Payroll Solutions continues to bring HR Zone members a range of HR tips. This week’s tip looks at Transferred business. Q: The family firm I have worked for for ten years is being sold to a larger organisation. I don’t want to work for the new firm because I feel it will be […]
HR Managers Say Training Spend is Too Low
Eighty-five per cent of employers are not spending enough on training, according to a survey of HR managers.The poll, conducted by business information and support consultancy Croner, found that only 14% believed that businesses had got their training budgets “about right”, and just 1% said the amount spent was too high.According to the Croner research, […]
Negotiating the “negotiation differential”
The team at Credos share their views on why they believe women continue to be underpaid and offer some tips for HR on how to cater for the “negotiation differential” between the sexes. Fact: Women continue to be underpaid, undervalued and under represented in the upper echelons of companies. Linda Babcock and Sarah Laschever’s book […]
Review: The Employment Relationship – Key challenges for HR
Author: Paul R. Sparrow & Cary L. CooperPublisher: Butterworth-HeinemannISBN 0 7506 4941 0Price: Not StatedReview by:John Pope MBE TD MA FIMC CMC Management Consultant This is an important book on the changes which are taking place in the world of work. The authors have reflected on the many changes taking place in business and society. […]
How Did I Get Here? Fiona Knight, KPMG
Currently the Lead HR Manager at KPMG, Fiona Knight 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 titleLead HR ManagerDescribe your initial training within the professionIPD studies via Westminster University, followed later by repeating through […]
Training Spend Set to Rise
Training budgets are predicted to rise as skills shortages fuel recruitment difficulties, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The CIPD’s Training and Development Survey 2004 found:* A third of private sector training managers expect their training budget increase this year.* 81% of organisations have a training budget – indicating […]
