Talking Point: Why are there still so few women in the workplace?
Once upon a time, real work was for men and women were expected to stay at home and look after the wellbeing of their families. If anything, they were regarded as the ‘silent reserve’ of the labour market. In the 21st century, however, policy makers and businesses no longer need the devastating impact of the […]
Line manager training is key to flexible working success, advises O2
Although four weeks of “intense preparation” were the key to ensuring that O2’s flexible working pilot went off without a major hitch, providing training for line managers dealing with remote teams is now considered a priority. These are the main findings of a trial undertaken by the mobile phone operator in February. O2 asked […]
Best Practice: Five pointers to ensure flexible working works
A flexible working project at Wakefield Council has slashed costs and significantly boosted staff productivity since the first phase was introduced two years ago. The Council’s ‘Worksmart’ transformation programme is based on a property rationalisation initiative, introducing citizen-focused service guidelines and enabling all 2,500 employees to work more flexibly. Rationalising office space has saved […]
Ask the Expert: Do employers have to pay for post-natal time off?
The question A member of staff has just returned from maternity leave. She is still breast-feeding her child and needs to expel her milk at least twice a day. She works a 40-hour week, which is now being reduced by between 30 and 40 minutes each day due to this process. The employee […]
International Women’s Day: Making gender diversity a workplace reality
The aim of International Women’s Day today is to inspire women, celebrate their achievements and find ways of creating brighter and more rewarding opportunities for future generations. But in terms of the workplace, just how far has gender diversity actually come? The media is full of reports about the need for greater female equality. […]
HSBC guarantees parents part-time working options
HSBC has become the first UK corporate to guarantee all new parents returning from maternity or paternity leave a part-time working option in a bid to help them improve their work-life balance. The move comes as a charity called on the coalition government to reverse proposed changes to the Working Tax Credit, which it said […]
Anywhere Working Week: Helping employees switch off in an ‘always on’ world
Workplace change has never been as rapid as it is today. Globalisation and exponential increases in the use of technology have generated a 24/7 culture, where staff are often expected to work anytime and anywhere. Yet, as anyone working in HR knows, this ‘always-on’ situation is a double-edged sword. Employees today are generally […]
Blog: Why is staff engagement in decline globally?
Recognise This! – Employees worldwide are disengaging at work, leaving organisations at a competitive disadvantage. Recent research out of Kenexa is showing employee engagement on the decline globally. “EEI scores declined, not only in the aggregate of these economies, but in each individual country as well. The pattern of scores over time is fairly […]
Remote working: How to get started
Over the last ten years remote working has been steadily gaining a foothold in the UK workplace, changing the nature of work and the daily commute. For many businesses, it now also forms a key part of their contingency plans, enabling employees to carry on working should unexpected or even expected events such as the […]
London 2012: 02 staff pilot flexible working options
O2 has asked a quarter of its staff to work remotely today in order to test whether contingency plans intended to manage expected travel disruption during the Olympic Games will work. The mobile telephone operator has closed its Slough headquarters and provided 3,000 employees with access to the necessary technology and support to do their […]
London 2012: Planning for travel disruption
London is less than six months away from hosting the biggest sporting event in the world. During the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the country expects to play host to 90,000 athletes, media representatives and officials, along with hundreds of thousands of spectators who will attend venues across the capital from 27 July to 14 […]
London 2012: Civil servants ordered to work from home during Olympics
Staff across Whitehall will be forced to work from home during the Olympics and Paralympics Games in order to ease the pressure on London’s public transport network. Civil servants will be ordered not to commute to work for up to seven weeks to prevent the public transport network in the capital from becoming over-congested. Operation […]
Talent Spot: Dan Grant, head of HR at Dell UK
There’s a saying within Dell: ‘It’s not just what you do that’s important, but how you do it…’ It’s a maxim that Dell’s head of HR, Dan Grant, strives to live by. If you’re honest in the way you deal with people and keep your promises, then you can’t go far wrong, he believes. […]
HRD Insight: Dan Grant on Dell’s ‘Connected Workplace’ scheme
As job roles become increasingly global and Generation Y progressively enters the workforce, Dell’s aim in introducing its ‘Connected Workplace’ initiative was to continue being able to attract and retain staff. The initiative, which was initially piloted in the UK from November 2009 into early 2010, was rolled out across Europe, the Middle East and […]
Employers failing to make staff contingency plans due to Olympics antipathy
As youth unemployment passed the one million mark for the first time, just over a quarter of UK employers said the money being funnelled into the London Olympics would be better spent on training to help young people get jobs. A total three in five UK also wished that the money had been invested in […]
CIPD Conference Blog: Eight steps to enhance resilience at work
Recent reports that Lloyds Banking Group’s Chief Executive has been signed off with stress and ‘extreme fatigue’ re-enforce the need for a resilient workforce to face the challenges in the changing economic climate. At the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition this week resilience was a hot topic and two of our experts, Dan Hughes and […]
Blog: Five measures for creating an environmental impact
According to a report from Lancaster University’s management school, today the HR director forms part of the “golden triangle” in the boardroom, along with the CEO and the finance director. For the finance department, every move made will reflect the present state of the company, from releasing funds to hire more staff when business is […]
Blog: I was a vampire HR manager – does it matter?
A while ago I recorded some webinars for a training company, for their YouTube page. When they posted the videos, they told me that they were unable to use my name on the clips, because YouTube automatically puts related video clips on the same page. Why was this a problem? Well, mainly because the majority […]
Dress codes and uniforms: it’s all about presentation
I read an article about dress codes in the Times newspaper with great interest the other day. The Marylebone Cricket Club had received complaints from some members that its dress code was being ignored, which led to concern over falling standards. This snippet made me consider whether dress code standards were also slipping in UK […]
Nurses’ ‘do not disturb’ tabards send out ‘wrong message’
Patients’ campaign groups have criticised the growing use of ‘do not disturb’ tabards worn by nurses in a bid to cut medication errors during drug rounds as sending out the wrong message. The tabards are being used in a number of hospitals to try and reduce the risk of personnel being distracted by either patients […]
