Relationship building – The power of feedback
Everyone has issues with people at work that make them angry, dissatisfied, annoyed or distracted such as a boss that doesn’t provide clear expectations or appreciation. Work can be a nightmare when relationships are in trouble. Equally, there are pleasant teams where people are kind, respectful and cheerfully collude with ideas that are ultimately […]
News: CIPD 2012 – Four ways to ensure positive industrial relations
Even with just a threat of industrial action, the stakes are high because people are forced to take sides, which is damaging for employee engagement and the credibility of the organisation and its managers. This was just one of the insights provided by Darren Hockaday, HR director for London Overground, at the Chartered Institute of […]
Redundancies and how to reduce the risk of insider fraud
Last week, UBS announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs. This week, companies as diverse as Ericsson, ING and steel group, Kloeckner, have also announced big job losses. But managing large-scale redundancies clearly presents a number of challenges for HR, not least the increased likelihood of staff fraud taking place. In fact, the latest figures […]
News: National Stress Awareness Day – 1 in 3 take “stress day” since recession
A third of the population has called in sick due to stress in their working life, with money, work and relationships the biggest causes of anxiety, according to research published to coincide with National Stress Awareness Day. Nearly half of UK workers have felt more stressed since the onset of the financial crisis, finds the […]
News: Office romances cost British business millions
Office-based romances could be costing British businesses millions and inflicting untold damage to their reputations. Over a thousand individuals responded to the ‘Are Office Romances a good idea’ survey and over 200 businesses to the ‘Impact of Office Romances on UK Businesses’ survey, both commissioned by website IllicitEncounters.com last month. Three quarters of individuals said […]
Age audit tool unwrapped: How ageist is your organisation?
In the blink of an eye, the default retirement age made employees go from being seen as important contributors to society to a perceived ‘burden’. The recent end of the DRA is just one element of a broader shift towards recognising the changing role, and value, of older workers. Enabling more people to defer […]
News: ER role shifts in line with changing nature of industrial conflict
The changing nature of industrial action means that the focus of employee relations practitioners is shifting increasingly towards preventing rather than managing conflict, according to the CIPD. In its ‘Managing Employee Relations in difficult times’ report, the HR membership body revealed that the average number of days lost each year to industrial action had plummeted […]
News: Low employer awareness hampering Work Programme, warns CIPD
The government must boost awareness and understanding of its Work Programme among employers if the scheme is to succeed in its aims of getting the long-term unemployed back into work, the CIPD has warned. But rather than expect the system to churn out work-ready individuals, employers also need to play their part by putting more […]
News: BBC to investigate harassment claims after journalist’s suicide
The BBC has appointed a third party to investigate whether complaints about sexual harassment by a journalist who later committed suicide were handled properly. The family of Russell Joslin has accused the broadcaster of failing to act on the complaints of sexual harassment from a female colleague made by the reporter for BBC Coventry and […]
News: UBS bankers head to pub after being turned away at door
In what would appear a classic example of how not to do it, UBS bankers only discovered that they could be out of a job after having their passes refused on entry to the office yesterday. According to the Daily Telegraph, scores of London traders were denied access to the Swiss bank’s City headquarters and […]
Five tips for becoming a successful interim
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and work as an interim. When starting out, the three main elements to consider are: Whether to be self-employed (sole trader) or to form a limited company (personal services company). You are likely to find that most agencies expect you to be the latter and in fact this […]
Blog: The dangers of pulling rank – ‘Do you know who I am?’
There have been a couple of well-publicised incidents recently in which well known figures have allegedly pulled rank – whether it be Andrew Mitchell and his altercation with a policeman or George Osborne using a first class seat with a standard class ticket asking the ticket inspector ‘do you know who I am?’ (according to […]
Talking Point: Isn’t it time HR focused on solutions rather than problems?
HR professionals often find themselves carrying out administrative and operational tasks that are the responsibility of line managers. They also end up being dragged into other people’s problems, which is both time-wasting and exhausting. How many times have you found yourself doing something that was somebody else’s responsibility, getting bogged down in negativity and […]
Blog: What are the benefits of hiring a recovering alcoholic or drug user?
DrugScope’s London Drug and Alcohol Network, a membership body for drug and alcohol services in the capital, is entering the second phase of a Trust for London-funded project to improve access to employment for people recovering from substance misuse problems. In our last blog, we discussed the barriers that can hold people back. So are […]
HRD Insight: Allianz’s Philip Gennoy on aligning HR and business goals
For Allianz Insurance’s HR director, Philip Gennoy, the key to ensuring that HR strategy and business goals knit tightly together is to keep a close eye on both the day-to-day nitty-gritty as well as the bigger, more long-term picture. The idea is that by breaking strategy down into bite-sized tactical pieces, it becomes possible to […]
How to recognise workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is definitely on the rise, not least because of the ample opportunities for cyber-bullying in our increasingly high tech work environments. The situation is also not helped by the tough economic climate, which tends to have an impact on management behaviour and can lead to increased levels of stress throughout the organisation, not […]
Talking Point: Isn’t there a better way to make redundancies?
A huge 2.7 million people in the UK have been made redundant over the last three years. But as shocking as that statistic is, even more shocking is the fact that the current model for making such redundancies isn’t mandated by law, is unnecessary, and is as harmful for those taking such action (organisations, HR […]
News: UK’s most satisfying HR software revealed at Harrods
Some of the software industry’s most innovative small companies saw off competition from global giants in the UK’s biggest awards event that is based on the views of genuine business users. In the competitive corporate HR and human capital management category, online absence management software provider, TeamSeer, fought off challenges from Advanced Business Solutions‘ HCM […]
Ask the Expert: How do we deal with a post-work event rape allegation?
The question What is an appropriate disciplinary charge for an incident that has led to a criminal investigation outside of work, allegedly involving another member of staff following a work event? Here is an outline of the situation: Following a corporate event, a group of people went back to an employee’s home and continued […]
News: Repeal of equality legislation will “let bad bosses off the hook”
The government’s decision to repeal sections of the Equality Act less than two years after their introduction has been branded by unions as an attempt to “let bad bosses off the hook”. Provisions in the Equality Act 2010 that make employers liable for the harassment of their staff by third parties such as customers or […]
