The value of employee pension education
Auto-enrolment begins next October, with the aim of increasing the retirement income of a large proportion of the 14 million UK employees who do not currently save in a workplace pension scheme. An estimated nine million people will join the Government-sponsored National Employment Savings Trust, but millions more could opt straight out of the system […]
Blog: A two-minute guide to employer branding
So, you’re an employer. You have a Staff Handbook and have made sure that you are complying with basic employment law. You think that you’re an OK employer, and provide an OK place to work. But is OK enough? Why not be a great employer? If you’ve got the basics in place, don’t stop there […]
HR headaches ahead as 6 million plan to delay retirement
One in five people in their 50s plan to work for at least 10 years longer than the current state retirement age, creating yet more planning headaches for hard-pressed HR departments. A survey of 1,500 over 50s undertaken by insurance and pensions company LV= revealed that 6.1 million or 28% of the entire age group […]
Creating a sunny workplace ‘climate’
It is widely accepted that effective leaders are critical to organisational success. But in times of economic uncertainty, when confidence is low and even short-term predictions are impossible, a good leader comes into their own. Right now, all across Europe, organisations are depending on their managers to ensure that they continue to perform in the […]
HR vacancies rise, but salaries remain flat
The number of permanent HR vacancies, particularly for global and public sector posts, is on the rise, even though pay continues to remain relatively flat month-on-month, a report has revealed. According to October’s Talent Spotlight from recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark, the amount of permanent HR positions available increased by 1.3% last month compared with […]
Blog: Why you should stop motivating staff
Recognise This! – Factors that serve to demotivate employees are stronger than those that motivate them. For decades, “good” managers have concerned themselves with how to motivate employees – how to encourage their employees to give their best. New research from Jim Collins, co-author of Good to Great and Great by Choice, offers a […]
Blog: The value of early intervention
Mary is an established member of her team, with good social and professional relationships with her co-workers. Her boss has managed the unit with a fair degree of success (neither perfect nor imperfect), and everyone knows where the boundaries are and what is expected of them. Boss moves on with fond farewells. New boss […]
ADT awarded for ‘inspirational’ staff engagement initiatives
ADT Fire & Security has been received an ‘Inspiration in HR’ award for its attempts to boost staff engagement over the last 18 months. The firm, which is owned by US multinational Tyco and sells burglar alarms, security systems and fire detection systems, employs 3,843 personnel across the UK, who were experiencing morale issues. This […]
Blog: Five truths about millennials in the workplace
Recognise This! – All people, of every generation, are individuals. Stereotyping behaviours based on birth date only serves to ignore true issues in the workplace. The generational divide, in one form or another, kept hitting my screen time and again in the last week or two. A few that struck me the most: […]
CIPD Conference: Developing business savvy
Because HR’s fundamental role is to support sustainable organisational performance, being able to demonstrate business, contextual and organisational savvy is vital – and becoming more so as companies become increasingly complex. This is the key finding of a panel discussion entitled ‘Giving HR the Business Edge: how HR can drive impact and influence’, which took […]
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 […]
CIPD Conference: ‘No one-size-fits-all for leadership practices’
Despite the abundance of formulas to identify what makes a good leader, the problem is that each one has different competencies and, therefore, leads in quite different ways. This means, said Marcus Buckingham in his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual conference in Manchester this week, that trying to transfer […]
The future of work: what the world will look like in 2025
Even with three decades of research into work under my belt, I still find the future of work incredibly difficult to predict. That’s why I created a research consortium designed to tap into ideas and knowledge from across the world. Each year, my research team and I begin by identifying the five forces that will […]
CIPD Conference: People management key to Tesco’s success, says Leahy
Tesco’s success has been based on good people management and the simple act of giving workers what they want, believes Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive of the supermarket chain. In his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in Manchester this week, he said that employees fundamentally desired four key things: […]
Case Study: Lancaster Landmark Hotels focuses on attitude to boost retention
The Lancaster Landmark Hotel Group has boosted both staff retention and customer service levels by focusing on recruiting and developing personnel who it believes have the right attitude and behaviour. The organisation operates three high-end London hotels, each of which is managed independently and caters to different types of customers, which made it difficult to […]
Talent Spot: David Smith, HR director at LV=
When David Smith, HR and communications director at LV=, first joined the UK’s largest friendly society he was faced with the ultimate challenge: a blank sheet of paper. At that point, in 2008, the company had outsourced its entire HR function. Smith’s first job was to bring HR back in-house. It was a time of […]
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 […]
CIPD Conference: “HR must become business leaders and strategists”
If HR professionals are to take up their rightful mantle as agents of change, they must become “first and foremost business leaders and strategists driving performance and change through people”. Gill Rider, president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, warned in her keynote speech to open the organisation’s annual conference in Manchester today […]
Blog: Three lessons for measuring HR success
Recognise This! – What you measure and how you report the results is critical to proving the HR value proposition. In a recent article in TLNT, Lance Haun did an exceptional job highlighting recent research showing HR reports the most important measures for gauging HR’s value to the organisation are retention and employee satisfaction. […]
Seven secrets to staff engagement
The fundamental role of HR is to motivate the right people to do the right things at the right time. This situation puts the spotlight on how to boost employee engagement and ensure that workers are committed to the organisation. If you want staff to perform effectively, what are you going to give them in […]
