Be prepared with our guide to the Agency Workers Regulations
The Agency Workers’ Regulations (AWR), due to come into force in 2011, will be one of the most significant and highly-debated pieces of employment legislation in the last decade. Be prepared with this guide and stay up to date with any changes on HRzone.co.uk. The new legislation will mean businesses will have to make […]
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 […]
Bonus backlash: Setting the record straight
With ‘bonuses’ out of fashion in the tabloids, how do you communicate and justify using bonuses as rewards in your organisation? Engagement has a part to play, says Dona Roche-Tarry. Whilst it may be some consolation to recession-struck workers that new research shows that overall boardroom pay across the FTSE 350 has fallen "significantly from […]
Who owns engagement?
The importance of employee engagement is a proven factor to having a positive impact on the bottom line. For an organisational strategy to really embrace employee engagement it needs buy-in from the highest echelons in order to be a success, as well as buy-in and commitment from those on the ground too. Traditional views of […]
Beat the recession: be a great place to work
Companies ranked among the top 100 best places to work in Europe beat the recession last year, seeing revenues, productivity and recruitment activity all increase at above average levels despite the down economy. Sales among such organisations grew by about 15%, while productivity rose by 13%. They also experienced low levels of staff turnover at […]
Employers beware: Social network comments can be used in court
Employers would be advised to introduce policies that prohibit the posting of work-related content on social networking sites (SNS) following a landmark ruling in the US courts indicating that such material is fair game for discovery. The situation came to light during a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the US Equal Opportunity Commission on behalf […]
Exploring the engagement and retention relationship
With resignation on the increase it makes good business sense to focus on retaining the talent you already have. Recent research from Oxfordshire-based management consulting firm, The Focus Group finds that 60% of the 950 executives polled will be looking to jump ship on the economic upturn, thus creating a major void in 450 organisations. […]
Generation Y – why engaging them is different
We know that Generation Y – people born between 1979 – 1991 – are our leaders of the future, but too many businesses and organisations are still failing to recruit, engage and retain them. A clash in attitudes and outlook between older (the Generation Xs and Baby Boomers) and upcoming generations has created a divide […]
Highest level of adults engaged in learning for a decade
The proportion of adults who are currently in some form of education or training or have been over the last 36 months is at its highest level for 10 years due to the difficult economic climate. According to a UK-wide survey of 4,964 adults undertaken by TNS Omnibus and sponsored by the Local Government Association […]
Employer branding and total reward
In a volatile business environment, it is important that firms are able to harness the value of a defined employer brand to remain competitive. An employer brand is how an organisation markets what it has to offer to existing and potential employees. An effective employer brand can help ensure that an employer’s workforce is not […]
Only 40% of employees say their business is ethical
While employers that adhere to corporate social responsibility and environmentally-friendly business practices show better rates of employee engagement and retention, only two out of five UK staff believe that the organisation they work for behaves ethically. These are the findings of a survey undertaken among 1,000 personnel by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a subsidiary […]
Wellbeing – the crucial engagement factor
Do not underestimate the power of wellbeing when it comes to engagement and business performance, explains Ian Jameson. According to Best Companies’ survey of over 250,000 employees, almost 90% of employees who felt strongly negative towards the wellbeing aspects of their workplace said they would leave tomorrow if they had another job. Not a great […]
Are you sitting comfortably?
Most employees asked these days would probably answer yes: companies invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in high quality adjustable chairs with ergonomic desks all complying to the latest legislation, so why are muscular skeletal problems still the biggest cause of sickness absence in the UK today and on the rise? The modern day workstation […]
Cheers! How a global brewery engaged their employees
Employee engagement has never been more discussed than it is currently. But how often do companies plan and implement engagement strategies with a very clear business goal? Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Ltd, the global family brewer, has just completed the first phase of a major new people engagement programme designed to do just […]
Why bother engaging?
Engagement might be widely backed up by research but how can you know what motivates your employees if you don’t know the level of engagement of your employees? “A happy worker is a productive worker.” We all know the saying, and it is backed up by mountains of research which proves that an engaged workforce […]
Don’t drop the ball now – engage for recovery
Change and upheaval has been a feature of the past year. However as we look to the future, engagement will be a key differentiator. Is your organisation engaged and ready to play the game? We all know an engaged workforce is essential to an organisations health and wealth, particularly as we move out of the […]
Top tips: Employee engagement
The most practical definition of engagement is whatever it takes to convince someone that their job is worth doing, so that they enjoy doing it and want to do it well. Here are some top tips on working with employees to release motivation. We must never lose sight of the fact that research has shown […]
Europeans ‘least engaged’
European employers have the least engaged workforces in the world by far, with a massive two thirds of staff saying they are less than fully committed to their current employer, according to a new study. The figure contrasts with employees in both North America and Asia Pacific, of whom some 52% and 47% respectively claim […]
Engaging for success with Eric Peacock
Eric Peacock is a serial entrepreneur. His first buy was BabyGro which he purchased from its American owners. He currently chairs eight businesses. When asked about employee engagement, Eric says he makes sure it is present in every organisation. He was involved in shaping the engaging for success guidance as a business advocate for the […]
Engagement’s time has come: The MacLeod guidelines are launched
David McLeod, Nita Clarke and Lord Young today joined forces with business leaders, including small business champion Eric Peacock and Sainsbury’s Justin King to launch the guidelines from the MacLeod report, delivered last year. The new guidance – published on www.businesslink.gov.uk/employeeengagement – is designed to help employers reap the benefits of effective engagement. These include […]
