Five minutes with… Doug Shaw

On HRzone.co.uk we want to get up close and personal for five minutes with a member each month. Doug Shaw is an active blogger and songwriter on site and has in the past been voted blogger of the month. So, take a community coffee break and find out something you didn’t know about this month’s […]

Career management for retention and engagement

It might seem a bit out of place for an employer to get involved in career managing its employees – after all, isn’t a career a personal thing? However that’s no longer the case. Despite economic pessimism, there is still demand for talent and the skills gap means there will always be demand for those […]

Institute of Directors slates Time to Train

‘Spectacularly bad’ ‘Time to Train’ regulations, which are unnecessary, poorly thought-through and shoddily designed, should be scrapped before they cause any further harm, the Institute of Directors has warned.   The warning came only days after a five-week consultation, launched by Skills Minister John Hayes last month over the future of the legislation, closed. The […]

Organising the chaos in HR

John McGuire from the Center for Creative Leadership, who is currently in attendance at the NG HR US Summit, spoke about ‘transforming your leadership culture’. He believes that too many changes with management initiatives can prove detrimental to morale.   “Our work with clients around the world has shown that there is a hierarchy of […]

Is there really time to train?

Christopher Fisher examines the scope and impact of the recently introduced right to request time off for training.   On 6 April 2010, new regulations came into force giving employees the right to request time off for training. Currently, the right applies only to businesses with 250 or more employees, but from April 2011, it […]

Making your business a lean, mean, people machine

In shaky economic times organisations naturally look for ways to stabilise and recently there’s been a strong resurgence in ‘lean’ business management. But, argues Alethea McIntosh, principal consultant at Berkshire Consultancy, the ultimate success of this efficiency-driven model depends not on standardising process but in understanding people, and more specifically diversity. In business, ‘technical’ issues […]

The importance of networking for HR

Judith Germain explains why it’s just as important for the HR function to network as it is for any other department. To most internal HR professionals the term ‘networking’ is assumed to relate to the activity of external consultants who need to network to find work. It isn’t something that ‘internals’ think they do or […]

Ask the expert: Poorly performing line manager

This week the experts, Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise on how to handle a poorly performing manager.   The question: I have inherited a poor performing line manager in my team, the issues are: There is no team motivation in his department He is not spending anytime training & developing his new team members […]

Volvo drives forward with e-learning

A car manufacturer has abandoned third party face-to-face training in favour of tailored in-house classroom and e-learning programmes based on digital video content.  Volvo Cars is now incorporating video clips from 25 digital training films produced by Video Arts into its existing classroom and e-learning courses on topics ranging from customer service to communications and […]

L&D split over train to gain and apprenticeships

The skills industry is split over whether the coalition government’s plans to divert funding from a vocational training scheme in order to create extra apprenticeship places would be a positive move or not.  According to a survey undertaken by the World of Learning Conference & Exhibition (WLCE) organisation in June, 50.9% of respondents do not […]

Leadership matters: Disruptive team member

This column answers your questions on leadership, talent management, performance improvement and the employee behavioural issues that can cause even the best leadership techniques to go awry. This time a disruptive team member is causing a management headache for a team leader. The dilemma A team leader in a government organisation has inherited a new […]

Vocational experience valued more higly than academic qualifications

Three out of five employers value vocational qualifications and work experience more highly than graduate status because they believe that personnel with a less academic background are more equipped to contribute to the business from day one.  Just over two fifths of bosses that do not currently employ staff with vocational qualifications also said that […]

Making time for talent management

In the wake of the recession, the need for effective talent management is more important than ever for UK businesses. With a growing pool of emerging graduates year on year, businesses might assume that they are in a better position than ever to bag the best talent. However, the case isn’t quite so clear cut. […]

UK loves flexible working – but not managing productivity

UK businesses are embracing flexible working policies, yet are risking the bottom line due to a lack of time and attendance systems to effectively manage productivity, says a survey. A survey of 50 HR professionals carried out by Amano UK found that 98% of respondents were in favour of their business adopting flexible working practices. […]

Leadership Matters: Affair between director and her direct report

This column answers your questions on leadership, talent management, performance improvement  and the employee behavioural issues that can cause even the best leadership techniques to go awry. This time an affair between a director and a person reporting to them is making life awkward. The dilemma My manager (a director) has been having an affair […]

The agile employer: helping employees fit the job

Employers regularly complain they can’t find the right people for the roles they have: however, there is rarely a ‘perfect’ candidate. So what’s the solution to make a person ‘fit’? The most recent unemployment figures from the Office for National Statistics is a stark reality of recession. The number of unemployed people has increased by […]

Employees would choose training over free time

The majority of personnel would be willing to give up their free time to undertake training in a bid to boost their salaries and help them fulfil their potential, according to new research.  A study undertaken among 2,200 employees in the UK, France, Spain and Germany by learning and development provider Cegos found that 76% […]

An introduction to social recruitment with Bill Boorman

Social recruiting – myths, legends and a take on reality from Bill Boorman, social recruiter and TRU Events unconference organiser. You’ve probably heard a lot of noise about social recruiting. From the champions to the naysayers, everyone has a view. With so much written about theory, and what ‘social’ could do, and so few real […]

Ask the expert: Diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights do I have?

A worker is diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights to preferred shifts do they have? Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise.       The question: Diagnosed with bowel cancer – what rights do I have? Upon a change of shift patterns within the company I opted to swap my preferred shift with my […]

Ask the expert: Can we promote a worker above their supervisor?

Can we promote a worker above their supervisor? Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise.       The question: Can we promote a worker above their supervisor? We have a factory Manager who is responsible for all issues within the factory. He has not been undertaking his duties correctly and during his reviews has said […]