Three ways to make the most of your older workers
Employers must adapt workforce strategies as older workers comprise a larger cohort and can work longer without mandatory retirement age limits. Three key approaches include evaluating performance management systems, accommodating flexible work arrangements, and facilitating knowledge transfer from experienced staff.
Employee engagement = good customer service
Research shows that 62% of customer complaints stem from staff attitude and competence, highlighting how engaged employees directly impact business success. HR plays a critical role by advocating engagement, developing managers, implementing recognition systems, and investing in employee training to drive better customer service outcomes.
Information security: The role of HR
HR plays a critical role in information security across the employment lifecycle. From pre-employment screening to post-employment activities, HR implements security policies and controls that protect organizational information assets. Clear policy communication and proper implementation, as highlighted by the Royal Bank of Scotland case, are essential to avoid costly legal disputes and maintain security effectiveness.
Living Leader Learnings: How can I get my team to trust me?
Building team trust requires consistent actions rather than words. Focus on listening genuinely, following through on commitments, and being authentic by sharing concerns and involving your team in problem-solving rather than just presenting answers.
Blog: Why are annual performance appraisals so stressful?
Annual performance appraisals create significant stress because managers avoid them, employees dread them, and once-yearly feedback fails to improve performance. Social recognition and crowdsourced feedback can replace traditional reviews with continuous, constructive input that reduces anxiety and drives better results.
Four easy steps to plan for career change
Planning a career change requires self-reflection before jumping into job hunting. This four-step guide helps you clarify your values, strengths, and passions through written exercises, then narrow down to three realistic career options that align with your goals.
Three key trends in the world of work (and how to deal with them)
Discover three key European workplace trends reshaping how organizations work: fostering product innovation through flexible work environments, managing aging workforces proactively, and enhancing customer experience. Learn how companies are adapting work practices to boost performance and efficiency during challenging times.
Talent management in a post-recession world
Employers face workforce instability as economic recovery strengthens, with a third of HR professionals concerned about talent retention. Effective talent management strategies, including training, development, and innovative reward packages, are essential to keep talented staff from leaving.
In a Nutshell: Four considerations when holding a tricky conversation
HR professionals can handle sensitive conversations more effectively by setting the right tone, presenting issues with evidence, listening to employee explanations, and agreeing on clear next steps. Following these four key considerations helps prevent conversations from damaging team dynamics and actually resolves underlying problems.
News: Top 10 talent trends for 2013
Discover the top 10 talent management trends reshaping HR in 2013, from workforce outsourcing decisions and global talent planning to employer branding and emerging recruitment battlefields amid economic challenges.
Blog: Five ways to fire up your team for 2013
Help your team start 2013 energized with these five manager engagement strategies. From team bonding activities to inspiring vision-sharing conversations, learn how to reconnect staff after the holidays and keep them motivated through January.
Employee engagement – and how to get it
The McLeod Review found UK employee engagement levels disappointingly low due to managerial oversight. Despite widespread recognition of engagement’s importance for productivity and profitability, recent surveys show minimal improvement, with only 43% of workers reporting positive staff-manager relationships.
Talent Spot: Lynne Graham, HR director at WSH
Lynne Graham, HR director at Westbury Street Holdings, believes employee engagement must be deeply embedded in company values rather than treated as a peripheral exercise. Her approach to people management was shaped by early experiences at Clarks, where she discovered her passion for training and developing staff.
News: EU pension change proposals to cost UK employers £350bn
Proposed EU pension changes could cost UK employers £350 billion in additional costs, the CBI warns, potentially reducing GDP by 1.5% annually and eliminating 180,000 jobs by the mid-2020s. The new funding regime would require final salary pension schemes to hold catastrophic reserve levels similar to insurance firms, which the CBI calls “completely unnecessary.”
That was the HR year that was
2012 was marked by austerity measures that squeezed middle-income families as wages failed to keep pace with inflation. Despite economic hardship, employers focused on cost-cutting while maintaining key personnel, though rising employee disengagement emerged as a critical HR challenge requiring improved manager-colleague relations and communication.
Blog: Workers to burn out unless something gives soon…
Employee burnout is a growing crisis as workers face prolonged job insecurity and excessive workloads. A Global Workforce Study reveals over one-third of UK employees experience excessive pressure, with more than half working extended hours for three years. HR professionals must help staff manage stress and prevent productivity decline before burnout becomes unavoidable.
Talent Spot: Community blogger, John Sylvester
John Sylvester is an executive director at motivation and performance improvement agency P&MM and a community blogger specializing in employee engagement. Once described by his sons as a “spy” due to the complexity of explaining his work, Sylvester has spent over 24 years helping organizations design and implement effective motivation programs that benefit both business and employees.
Employee engagement continues to rise up the HR agenda
Employee engagement is rising on HR agendas amid pay freezes, redundancies, and reduced learning opportunities. Success requires organizations to follow key principles including creating a strategic narrative, giving employees a voice, engaging managers, and demonstrating organizational integrity—with line managers playing a critical role in implementation.
News: Disclosure & Barring Service to offer “one-stop-shop” criminal record checks
The Disclosure & Barring Service has been created through a merger of the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority to streamline criminal records checks for employers. The new organization will introduce portable checks, an online update service, and an independent right of review for individuals to challenge disclosed information.
Blog: Engaging for Success in the words of ITV’s Archie Norman
ITV chairman Archie Norman discusses how employee engagement is shifting workplace dynamics, emphasizing that engagement stems from leadership living shared values rather than surveys. He argues hierarchy is obsolete, knowledge workers require development, and authentic human connections drive both employee and customer satisfaction.
