Survey: Do you engage in training and if not, why not?

Just under two thirds of practitioners regularly or occasionally undertake training, work towards qualifications or carry out any form of continuing professional development, according to a recent poll by The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals. But while the figure appears promising, the Insitute, which is focusing on CPD this year due to the introduction of […]

Accord Energy Solutions: Becoming an employee-owned company

If your organisation has ambitious plans for the future and wants to employ the most talented and productive people, then making the transition to employee-ownership could be for you. In 2010, we set up Accord Energy Solutions, an independent hydrocarbon accounting company to provide services to the international oil and gas industry.   The aim […]

NHS spends £7m on management training after axing 2,000 bosses

NHS London has reportedly paid consultants as much as £7 million to train GPs in management skills after losing up to 2,000 bosses during 2010/11 as part of a Government-backed drive to axe managerial positions. The Guardian said it had seen an internal NHS London document, which showed that, as of 28 November 2011, contracts […]

How many of your workforce would you hire again?

A couple of years ago, we asked a number of FTSE 250 HR directors the question: "Given the option, would you rehire your workforce or would you start again?"  While the response to the survey wasn’t huge, it was sufficient to draw a few conclusions – not least because a huge 68% of respondents said […]

Blog: 7 guidelines for employee engagement – lessons from Stryker

Recognise This! – A desire to increase employee engagement is useless without commitment and follow-through. Gallup issued a brilliant case study of Stryker, a global medical devices company. Focussing on just one unit in New Jersey, the case study highlights several key tenets of success for an employee engagement or strategic employee recognition programme. 1. […]

Blog: The UK’s first HRD-only networking event launches

The first in a new quarterly series of exclusive HRD networking events took place in London last week centred on the latest thinking in measuring talent from guest speaker and Danish human capital management expert, Morten Kamp Andersen. The debate held by participants in the HRD Network focused on three areas: Why measure HR and […]

Half of UK managers expect redundancies in 2012

Nearly half of managers expect their organisations to cut more jobs in 2012, with more than a third feeling insecure about their own employment prospects. These are the key findings of a survey among 800 bosses in UK companies undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute. The study also revealed that more than half of those […]

Lowering organisational stress levels

Pressure appears to be endemic in today’s society – and nowhere more so than in the workplace.  Indeed, in many companies, it seems to be almost an ethos. As a result, pressure to meet targets, make money and even push for promotion is simply part of day-to-day life for hundreds of thousands of employees up […]

The growth of learning and development in 2011 – and what lies ahead in 2012

It has been a difficult year for British businesses. Rising unemployment and the growing skills shortage have gripped the nation, once again raising learning and development to the top of boardroom agendas around the country. But the future of the UK workforce lies in having skilled people, ready and able to take jobs in fields […]

Blog: The golden thread – aligning HR and business strategy

I once worked with an organisation that had introduced a Value Chain methodology. So far so good.  But they had made the critical error of trying to pigeonhole HR into one of the ‘links’ in the chain, instead of realising that HR is a support function that, by definition, underpins everything that the company does. […]

HMRC slammed for lack of strategy on £96m skills spend

The National Audit Office has slammed HM Revenue & Customs for lacking in skills and having no idea of either how much it spends on skills development or where the money goes. Evidence from a customer survey and external stakeholders, which was cited in the auditor’s report, suggested that the government department did not have […]

Blog: Are your hiring managers trained in how to interview?

When you interview people for a job you are asked to make a judgment call on whether the people you interview are good enough and suitable for your company. But what makes you think you are good enough to do the interview and represent your company? Are you suitably trained to conduct a proper interview […]

Staff engagement: Systems versus the human factor

It is only natural that HR professionals are interested in better ways of managing the workforce.  As a result, scarcely a week goes by without an advertisement or article on the topic of retention, engagement, motivation and/or talent management appearing somewhere.   Systems are recommended to HR departments to help them understand, measure and generate […]

Are we ready for an older workforce?

Up until the middle of the last century, when a worker retired, the expectation was that they would not live for long afterwards. Sadly, this situation is still true in a minority of cases, although most have much longer to enjoy their retirement than in the past.   In 2011, people born in 1946 will […]

Blog: Top tips for presenting with panache

Many of us are called upon to present in the modern workplace, whether it’s a formal presentation to hundreds, a business briefing to your department or simply at a small meeting around a table. Presenting and presentations can take many forms. Being a good presenter in front of your staff  builds your status and garners […]

Extra holiday or training offer acceptable alternative to pay rise, says study

For those employers that cannot afford to give workers a pay rise this year, an extra day’s holiday or a bit of further training might be a possible alternative.   According to an online poll among 2,002 adults undertaken by ICM Research on behalf of the People 1st Training Company, which operates in the hospitality, […]

Blog: Four tips to help staff keep calm in the face of change

Change is inevitable and necessary, but it is also a major cause of stress and anxiety. As many organisations face up to big cultural and financial changes, it is important to have some simple techniques up your sleeve to help people handle the uncertainty.   Even the smallest of changes can have a big impact, […]

New investment for 10,000 more volunteer business mentors

The Coalition Government is investing £1.2 million in order to recruit and train 10,000 new mentors in a bid to boost support for entrepreneurs and stimulate the economy. The money will be used to support the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative‘s new ‘Get Mentoring’ scheme for volunteers from small-to-medium businesses who may not otherwise be […]

Talent Spot: Gemma Aird, head of HR at Anesco

When Gemma Aird took on the top HR role at Anesco six months ago, she didn’t just have to revamp the energy efficiency services firm’s HR processes. She had to create them from scratch. This is because, although Anesco is a new company that was set up only a year ago, it is already expanding […]

Legal Insight: How to tackle bullying in the workplace

Former England Rugby Union international, Ben Cohen, has called for people to make a stand against bullying in general and homphobia in particular. To this end, his Foundation is calling for the creation of an annual ‘Standup Day’ to take place on 14 November each year. Although the aim of the Day is to encourage […]