Virtual teams bring real benefits
Using technology to bring geographically separated teams together brings big benefits through reduced expenses and more effective use of workers time. But use it with some thought.Nortel Networks, the giant US network engineering group, uses a massive video and voice network to enable its employees to improve its collaborative working. It means that through the […]
Shares may not encourage managers
Recent research suggesting that performance-related share schemes for top managers may increase their pay but do little to increase shareholder value. This week’s FTdynamo column looks at the imperfect use of PRP-share schemes.Recent research suggesting that performance-related share schemes for top managers may increase their pay but do little to increase shareholder value should come […]
The Case for Stakeholder Dialogue
This feature article discusses stakeholder dialogue and the importance of listening to your employees and other stakeholders when building an employer brand. It is written by Jane Fiona CummingA kind of democracy is suddenly rife in the corporate corridors of some of the world’s leading companies. What should we do about human rights? Ask the […]
TUC and CBI welcome government moves on flexibility
Commenting on the news that a second Labour term would see the establishment of a task force to look at issues concerning flexibility and working parents, TUC General Secretary John Monks said: “This most welcome announcement offers an advance in workplace rights that the TUC has been advocating for some time. Greater flexibility at work […]
The land of learning: Industrial Society Manifesto
“The central issue of work and the quality of work has failed to register on the radar screens during this election campaign. Over half the population goes to work and, on average, workers spend a third of their waking hours at work. It follows that work, should be considered, alongside education, health, crime and transport, […]
Oh Big Brother! Penny’s peepshow puts job in peril
Lisa Ellis, is an English teacher at the Sarah Bonell School in Stratford, East London, but is probably better known as one of the contestants in Channel 4’s Big Brother programme.Lisa, better known in the house as ‘Penny’, is apparently landing herself in hot water after twice being filmed in shower scenes with towels that […]
Happy Mondays
Do you enjoy getting back to work after the weekend? Does work provide that je ne sais quoi that other parts of your life don’t fulfil? This week’s FTdynamo column maybe raises more questions than it answers about what we get out of our world of work.Enjoy your job? Bounce into the office every morning? […]
Student Internet Use: The difference in spin
Last week the Telegraph reported that US students spend so long surfing the net and e-mailing friends that their college work suffers. A similar survey produced by NUA however appears to present the news that US students are the most wired in the world.So why the difference in spin? Well, OK, the results stem from […]
Will £60,000 attract the top graduates?
Mobile phone retailer Phones4U is planning to offer starting salaries of up to £60,000 to high-flying graduates. Owned by the Caudwell Group and based in Stoke-on-Trent, Phones4U has been struggling to recruit in a tight labour market.Launching the recruitment drive for graduate high-flyers, John Caudwell, multi-millionaire founder and chairman of the group, said: “We are […]
College lecturers strike causes day of chaos
Tuesday’s national strike of college lecturers, members of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (Natfhe), is believed to have affected some 290 further education colleges in England and Wales.Some 30,000 lecturers are believed to have taken part in the action which resulted in classes being cancelled and thousands of students staying […]
Directors’ pay increase doubles thanks to bonuses
Company directors’ earnings rose by 12.9% last year helped by large bounus payments, doubling last years increases, according to survey results from the Institute of Management.The two years of increases follow a fall in directors pay of 1.2% in 1998/9.Average bonuses rose £7,215 from £20,856 to £28,071 during the year 2000, representing an increase of […]
Npower receives shock from disabled customer
A disabled woman has won compensation after a major utility company, npower, insisted that she wasn’t capable of signing a contract. Valerie Dexter, from Bedfordshire, decided to change her gas and electricity supplier when an npower sales rep called at her door. She signed the contract but was later shocked to find out that her […]
Retaining High-Flyers
Economic prosperity, as many HR professionals will attest, has its downside. It creates tight labour markets and shifts the balance of power in the employer:employee relationship.In years gone by it was the employer who dictated the recruitment process. But with the concept of the job for life consigned to the history books, organisations can no […]
Surviving redundancy
Whether we are about to enter a recession or what ministers prefer to call a period of economic slowdown, the end-result is the same: businesses tightening their belts and preparing to shed employees.Over the past few weeks, telecoms giants Motorola and Cable & Wireless have announced 7,000 job cuts between them. But job losses are […]
FE Colleges face biggest strike in a decade
Tuesday will see the biggest strike experienced in Further Education colleges for over a decade as lecturers begin industrial action over pay. For a Labour government in the throws of election campaigning and whose battle cry as it began its first term was, 'Education, education, education' the timing cannot be seen as helpful. No doubt […]
Discrimination awareness – use of Videos
We currently use a video called A Class Divided to illustrate the ease with which we can be influenced to behave in a discriminatory way. The video is quite old now and covers training sessions run in the 60’s where a Teacher separated a class into blue eyed and brown eyed children in order to […]
CBI rejects TUC claim over EU redundancy protection
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has rejected claims from the Trades Union Congress (TUC)that a proposed EU directive would improve consultation over redundancies. John Cridland, Deputy Director-General, said, "Companies need and want to consult staff over redundancies. What's more, they have to under British law or they face stiff penalties. "The proposed EU directive […]
Charles Handy: Humane Management
Charles Handy is one of the most respected, if not the most respected business thinker of modern times. This week sees Charles Handy interviewed by FTdynamo for HR Zone. Charles Handy has long been regarded as Europe's pre-eminent business thinker, a position confirmed in January by the first-ever global ranking of business gurus. Now […]
Please help me find new “exciting” icebreakers/energisers
Help !! can anyone let me have details of icebreakers or energisers to use at the start of or during training programmes/courses.Any ideas even on appropriate web sites where these can be found glenda martin
50,000 in workplace training revolution
In the past year 2,000 TUC-trained trade union learning reps have been involved in a 'quiet revolution' at work, encouraging almost 50,000 of their colleagues to take up some kind of work-based training, according to a new report published by the TUC and the Campaign for Learning today (Thursday) to coincide with Learning at Work […]
