How Did I Get Here? Verity McVarish, Sift Media
Verity McVarish shares her experiences of working in HR to date, which includes working in the public sector in HR support roles to becoming HR Manager for a our very own SIft Media. What’s your current job role?HR Manager, Sift MediaWhat did you do before this job? HR support in a big public sector organisation […]
Britain – a nation of workaholics part 2
The CIPD questioned 1666 workers and found that the proportion of those who work more than forty eight hours a week has increased from one in 10 to one in four during the past five years. More than a quarter of long hours workers say that long hours have affected their sex lives and the […]
Career advice: Don’t ask your boss!
Key concerns raised at the Guidance Council annual meeting in London recently included lack of help from the boss and an absence of positive career progression within organisations.According to the gathering, most employees are unlikely to find their line managers much help when it comes to career progression. Employers are too frightened about losing key […]
Attracting the right people and keeping them
Colin Thompson, from CMTR takes a look at the process of recruiting. The ‘right’ People = Performance = Productivity = ProfitThe first step in the process is `Developing a System’. Staffing System: Few areas have more immediate and lasting impact on organisations than recruiting and selecting employees. If you do not get the right people […]
Coming soon to your office… random drug testing?
A recent survey carried out by Croner reveals that one in eight companies is already testing employees for drug abuse.Introducing random drug testing for staff has been investigated by almost half of all UK companies.Richard Smith, consultant for Croner says, “The general softening of society’s attitude towards consumption of certain illegal drugs has raised subsequent […]
Sven-Göran Eriksson to share his management secrets
England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson will be sharing his management secrets at this year’s CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition running from 22-24 October 2003 at the Harrogate International Exhibition Centre.Birmingham City Football Club managing director Karren Brady will also be at the conference to share her wisdom. Average gates have have almost quadrupled since Brady has […]
Restructuring for performance
When faced with a challenging economy, most organisations are tempted to downsize, consolidate, or focus on core markets in order to remain competitive and profitable. Despite the prevalence of restructuring across all industries, successful restructuring, that achieves what it sets out to do is rarely achieved. Louise Palmer, director of 7 days discusses the issues […]
Britain – a nation of workaholics
Croner Consulting, which questioned 13,679 HR professionals, found that employees are reluctant to take benefits fearing it may hinder their career prospects.Employees are spending more time commuting and the number of working parents is on the rise. However, respondents are worried about taking advantage of perks such as flexible working hours, duvet days and teleworking, […]
If London were hit by a terrorist attack, how would the SME cope?
Mark Reeve from Quattro Consulting discusses IT Disaster Recovery and Contingency Planning for all businesses With the massive increase in email use and companies’ reliance on electronic documents, forms and processes, even the smallest companies are now concerned about their vulnerability to a period without their IT Servers and infrastructure.Most small to medium businesses now […]
HR Tip – Translating rules
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: We have a large ethnic group in our workforce, some members of which have poor English and as a result fail to comply with rules such as sickness absence notification. Are we […]
How Did I Get Here? Rus Slater, Freelance
Rus Slater shares his experiences of working in HR to date, which includes working for a HR consultancy as a training consultant. What’s your current job role?Presently I am freelancing and working on a couple of contracts. My job was made redundant at the beginning of the year in a re think of strategy and […]
EOC demands new law to stamp out inequality in public services
Julie Mellor Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), recently highlighted to the government that the modernisation of the equality legislation must be addressed.The EOC’s vision for equality, published this month, sets out how a more equal society would improve everybody’s quality of life, increase prosperity, strengthen democracy, and improve public services. Ms Mellor, said: […]
Barriers to joined-up government can be overcome by training
Research by LogicaCMG has revealed that public sector professionals are now feeling positive about the move to joined-up government in terms of improved staff development and training. However, lack of communication between local and central government, fear of cultural differences and middle management bottlenecks are perceived to be inhibiting the successful roll out of this […]
Businesses must adapt premises under new Disability Discrimination Act laws
By October 2004 every business will need to be more user-friendly to Britain’s 8.6 million disabled people. New legislation introduced under the Disability Discrimination Act is estimated to affect over 2 million British businesses from the local shop to offices or public buildings. 70% of disabled people interviewed by the DRC are unhappy about the […]
UK’s most prestigious business accolade:The Queen’s Awards
The UK’s most prestigious business accolade is now available thanks to the encouragement of HRH The Duke of York and the creation of The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2004.His Royal Highness, who is British Trade International’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment said:“Apart from the prestige of earning the UK’s top business prize, the […]
Full employment rights denied to over-65s
A victory for the government was announced today regarding their appeal to prevent over-65s securing full employment rights. The government’s lawyers successfully appealed against a ruling that gave over-65s the right to claim unfair dismissal and redundancy pay. The new ruling will mean that an estimated 250,000 working men and women will be without any […]
‘Fit for purpose’ – Selecting an HR system
How do you navigate the suppliers and select the right system for your need? Mark Dorgan, a member of the Management Group at PA Consulting Group, and one of the guest speakers at the recent Softworld HR and Payroll event, offers advice. Selecting an HR system is as important as any other system selection – […]
HR Tip – Banning smoking at work
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: Are we entitled to introduce a smoking ban and, if so, how? Must we provide a smoking room or allow people to leave the premises for a smoke? Most of our employees […]
How Did I Get Here? Nikos Lambridis, Management Centre Europe
Nikos Lambridis of Management Centre Europe, shares his experiences of working in HR to date, which includes an 8-year HR and training career with Vodafone. What’s your current job role?My new role is two-dimensional: I am the Representative of MCE in Greece, a European provider of business training and development, with the primary focus to […]
Legal loophole allows genetic discrimination in the workplace
GeneWatch UK, the TUC and the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) are calling for changes to the law to prevent employers from refusing people jobs on the basis of genetic test results. A timely new report, 'Genetic Testing in the Workplace' [PDF] has been published, as the Human Genetics Commission (HGC) meets to consider the […]
