News: NHS “sleepwalking” into workforce crisis within 3 years

The NHS is “sleepwalking” into a "workforce crisis" within three years due to cuts to existing staff numbers and the axing of thousands of nurse training posts, the government has been warned. The coalition had pledged to protect frontline staff from such cuts even as it demanded £20 billion in efficiency savings.   But a […]

News: Flexible parental leave branded an “administrative nightmare”

Government plans to introduce flexible parental leave have been variously described as “disappointing” and an “administrative nightmare” for employers. The legislation, which is due to come into force in England, Scotland and Wales in 2015, will enable parents to share up to a year’s leave in order to look after their new-born children.   New […]

Blog: US election – The need for charismatic leaders during times of austerity

“I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.” My Vision by Barack Obama.   In Chicago last week a rejuvenated and […]

News: Impact of flexible working extension will be “limited”, says lawyer

Government plans to extend flexible working rights to all employees in a bid to stop women being “locked out of the workplace” and boost GDP may have a “more limited” impact than expected, a lawyer has warned. The government estimates that the forthcoming changes will bring a net benefit of £222.5 million to employers as […]

News: CIPD 2012 – Engage for Success movement unveiled

On Monday 12 November, three years after the publication of the MacLeod Report on employee engagement, a series of events around the new ‘Engage for Success’ campaign will be launched in a bid to make the promise a reality. For example, about 30 chief executives have signed a letter that will be published in The […]

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 […]

News: CIPD 2012 – ‘Contingency risk-based approach key to Olympics success’

One of the key reasons for the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in HR terms was the decision to take a contingency risk-based approach, which involved planning for every eventuality. Jean Tomlin, HR director for the London 2012 Organising Committee who took part in the closing keynote panel discussion at the Chartered Institute […]

News: CIPD 2012 – Four ways to boost your board-level influence

Influence within the executive team is more valuable than a seat on the board as board members simply rubber stamp executive decisions anyway, believes Linda Kennedy, group HR director at Yell. During a presentation at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual conference in Manchester this week, she advised HR professionals to put anxiety […]

News: CIPD 2012 – ‘Employers must take more responsibility for skills development’

If the UK is to remain competitive globally, employers must take more responsibility for addressing structural employment and systemic skills issues among the next generation of workers, according to government representatives. Jo Swinson, a Liberal Democrat MP and current minister for employment and Michael Davis, chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, […]

News: CIPD 2012 – ‘HR must redefine itself’, says Peter Cheese

HR must redefine itself and its purpose in order to cope with the changing nature of work, the workforce and the workplace within the broader “context of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world”. This was the key message of Peter Cheese’s first address to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual conference in […]

News: Living Wage Week – Labour to offer employers financial incentives

The Labour Party intends to make the ‘living wage’ issue a core economic policy going into the next election and is currently evaluating what financial incentives might encourage employers to take it up voluntarily. According to an article in the Observer newspaper to coincide with the start of Living Wage Week (Sunday 4 to Saturday […]

News: Lift etiquette – What are your colleagues’ eight most annoying habits?

It’s the little things in life that can really get to you and lift etiquette at work appears to be one of those things. Here are the top eight most annoying habits of colleagues when using the lift, according to a poll of 400 UK workers conducted by online jobs board, www.CareerBuilder.co.uk. They comprise people: […]

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 […]

Blog: Living Wage Week – Take-home pay is just the start of it……

Next week (Sunday 4 to Saturday 10 November) is Living Wage Week when, from this year onwards, a figure will be published for the minimum hourly rate that staff should be paid in order for them to be able to meet the basic costs of living. It’s a voluntary scheme where ‘Living Wage employers’ who […]

Lembit Opik: Three HR lessons from my life in the Commons

Anyone who’s ever watched Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons will have an opinion on the style of behaviour that we see every Wednesday at noon: it’s a bear pit.  Grown adults show apparent contempt for each other in an effort to score points – as if it were the only way to […]

News: Smokers cost employers £1.4bn in absence and lost productivity

While smokers cost their employers £1.4 billion per year in sickness absence and lost productivity, a growing number of workers are also worried that they drink too much. According to a report in the journal ‘Addiction’, current smokers take on average 2.7 more days off sick than non-smoking colleagues and are 33% more likely to […]

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 […]

News: UK HR pros least likely in world to use social media

HR professionals in the UK are the least likely in the world to use social media in order to identify prospective job candidates or communicate with staff.  According to a new study of 1,500 hiring managers and HR professionals from around the globe entitled ‘2012 HR Beat‘, less than half (47%) of UK hiring managers use […]