Vocational training wins SME backing
Vocational qualifications and apprenticeships are gaining popularity with smaller employers as a means of recruiting, training and retaining skilled employees and boosting business performance. A survey of 1,000 SMEs by a group of further education organisations found college leavers were better prepared for the workplace, with a better attitude and higher motivation than school […]
Executive deafness to employee voices creating lack of engagement
UK bosses need to start to to listen to the voice of employees as engagement between staff and their employers sinks to a record low. That’s one of the key findings of the latest CIPD Quarterly Employee Outlook survey which exposes a worrying deterioration in employees’ satisfaction with their ability to feed views upwards, particularly in […]
Legal: no mass sackings, but check your equality policies in the wake of gay marriage vote
With the gay marriage bill safely voted through the Commons with a massive majority, legal experts have dismissed the HR-centric scaremongering by opponents, but advise a re-examination of existing equality policies. MPs voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by 400 to 175, a majority of 225. Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday’s […]
News: employees still fear redundancy in 2013
Around one in 12 employers fear they may need to make redundancies in the next six months as the stalling economy fails to ignite growth. This 8% figure represents a marked slide in confidence from 2012 when just 2% of employers were unsure whether redundancies would be needed, according to a survey of 783 […]
Gay marriage: will a licence to marry really be a licence to sack?
Tonight MPs in the House of Commons will vote on whether or not to make same sex marriage legal. Despite vocal opposition from some elements in the Conservative party, the vote seems certain to be passed with Labour and Liberal Democrat support. The result will be a landmark one politically and socially. But what should […]
Social media powers bullying in the workplace
More than half of adults believe privacy in the workplace has been eroded with the proliferation of social media. According to a new study by AVG Technologies, mis-use of social media infiltrates the workplace with often negative effects on employees’ privacy, forcing many to switch off or limit their use of social networking sites. […]
Book Review: ‘Savvy: Dealing with People, Power and Politics at Work’
The term “savvy” is used frequently in the workplace to describe people and their behaviour; “savvy” seems to be a desirable trait to have, with lots of employers looking for this in potential recruits. Maybe you’ve been told that you need to be more “savvy”. But what is “savvy” and how to we get it? […]
Snow joke as workers lie about being trapped by the weather
Were you at work last week or were you ‘snowed in’? It seems a quarter of UK workers lied about being snowed-in to enjoy a sneaky day off from the office. It seems it wasn’t just school children who made the most of the blanket of snow that covered much of the UK over the […]
Ask the Expert: Can staff claim extra holiday under a TUPE transfer?
Question: Can staff claim extra holiday under a TUPE transfer? A group of people transferred to our business under TUPE last month. During the consultation period, we confirmed that we would honour their pre-booked annual leave for the rest of last year, which we have done. But one of the staff has come back to […]
News: Bad careers advice is harming next generation of workers
Poor careers advice and lack of understanding about the workplace mean young people are ill-prepared to enter the jobs market, warned the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). More than half (53%) of the employers surveyed by the CIPD believed youngsters careers advice was inadequate, while 63% said their young recruits lacked insight […]
News: Let’s sack the boss!
More than three quarters of workers would sack their boss if they had the chance, a global poll by job site Monster reveals. A confident one third (30%) of respondents said they could do a better job than their boss, a quarter said they would nominate another colleague, while one in five favoured a […]
Business meet HR, HR meet the Business – you’ve got a lot in common!
A failure to demonstrate strategic value is damaging HR’s reputation with business leaders, warns a new Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report. HR is perceived as implementing rather than devising strategy by business leaders, according to the CIPD survey of 369 business leaders and 107 senior HR professionals. This means […]
Ask the Expert: How can I stop being forced out after being bullied?
The question After a difficult start to 2012, I informed my managing director that I thought I was being bullied by three members of staff (I am the site manager). After showing some initial concern, no action was taken against the three individuals. Since then, they have submitted repeated grievances and complaints against me, […]
News: EU – Employers ‘must retrain or redeploy redundant staff’
European MPs have approved proposals for medium- and large employers to take responsibility for retraining or redeploying employees that they plan to make redundant. The European Parliament report, which was drawn up by Spanish socialist MEP, Alejandro Cercas, is calling for new regulations that would require organisations employing more than 100 staff in a single […]
News: What to do when it snows?
After a wet Christmas and mild New Year, a cold snap is hitting the country once more, with temperatures predicted to reach as low as -10 and snow forecast to fall in most areas of the UK. Inevitably, this situation will result in travel disruption and employees who are unable, or unwilling, to get into […]
Three ways to make the most of your older workers
Times are changing and, henceforth, employers will need to be smarter. This is because a potentially explosive mixture of issues is starting to bubble under. Older workers now comprise a much bigger cohort than those coming up behind them. The imminent retirement of the Baby Boomer generation has been known about for years as […]
Information security: The role of HR
In 2004, Royal Bank of Scotland found itself and its email policy under scrutiny when an employment tribunal found in favour of an ex-employee. The individual concerned had been dismissed after an investigation into several staff members who had been using the company email system to send pornographic images. Around 30 employees were identified […]
News: Female solicitor warned off having relationship or babies, tribunal hears
A female solicitor has accused a former “bullying” boss of sacking her unfairly due to her gender after she began a relationship against his wishes. Kate Baker, who qualified as a solicitor in 2004 and had been earning £45,000 per year, attested that she had been warned both against having a relationship or having babies. […]
Talking Point: Lembit Opik – Do you know how to manage a maverick?
I suppose you could say that I was a ‘maverick.’ Of course, it all depends on the definition. Personally, I’d define a maverick as someone who follows their conscience and imagination rather than following the ‘norm’. But other people might define such people in a different way: for example, as an unpredictable, uncontrollable […]
News: Low income NHS staff “not paid properly” since transfer to outsourcer
Low income, non-medical staff at a hospital in Brighton have not been paid properly since they were transferred to a private outsourcing company, according to a union. The GMB told the BBC that the workers who include cleaners, porters and caterers at the Royal Sussex County Hospital have experienced payment problems since being taken on […]