Blog: Developing a customer-service mindset in HR
“We hire happy people and teach them to make sandwiches.” ”To maintain a connection between the front lines and the back office, every manager is required to spend four days a year on the shop floor.” (Pret a Manager). “We hire ‘customer service people’ and teach them all about coffee.” (Starbucks). This week, I ordered […]
Blog: On-boarding as a first step to cutting staff attrition rates
Companies work so hard at recruiting the best talent, rolling out the red carpet, increasing original offers, offering bonuses and other perks to attract the right candidates. But once you’ve signed on the dotted line kiss the best behaviors goodbye. The process is similar to dating where the early stages of the chase and initial […]
Top mandarin’s pay link to PM’s salary “crude” and “arbitrary”
The perceived link between senior public servant’s pay and the Prime Minister’s £142,500 salary has been criticised by an influential Commons Committee as "arbitrary" and "too crude" to be meaningful. In a report published today, the Public Administration Select Committee said that, while there was an acknowledged need for civil service pay restraint in the […]
Talent Spot: Denise Keating, head of the Employers’ Network for Equality and Inclusion
There isn’t much in either an HR or business setting that Denise Keating hasn’t tried and mastered. As well as systematically working to make herself an expert in every aspect of HR, along the way she has also picked up experience of areas such as IT and clinical governance. “I never lost jobs, just gained […]
Blog: Is social media a legal nightmare or a boon?
As an HR director, are you worried about what effect social media is having on the business, and in particular your employees’ use of it? Have you had problems with employees posting inappropriate or even damaging comments on social networking sites? Most businesses are aware of the positive benefits of social media in promoting their […]
‘Humanising’ HR through social media
Traditionally, HR’s main involvement with social media has been to police employees’ online activities and ensure that they are not breaching company policies if using social networking sites within working hours. But the function is also gradually starting to see the benefits of employing the channel more widely itself. A recent survey conducted by SysComm […]
Blog: It’s time for HR and recruiting to kiss and make up
Recently I read a great book called In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the whaleship Essex. It tells the true life story of a whaling ship from Nantucket in the 1820’s which was sunk by a rogue sperm whale. Herman Melville based his famed novel Moby Dick on this tragedy. The […]
Building much-needed business savvy
Learning and talent development professionals are used to expanding the skills of others in the business. Customer service has to improve and technical skills must be upgraded. Staff need to acquire knowledge of new technologies and leadership capabilities should be refreshed and strengthened. But a key development area that will also pay real dividends […]
Gloucester Council’s shared service centre to save local jobs
Gloucester City Council’s move to a shared services model for revenues, benefits and welfare rights-based services will safeguard local jobs and should even create more as other authorities sign up to the arrangement, it has claimed. The Council has outsourced the delivery of the services to outsourcing company Civica in a bid to make annual […]
Talent Spot: Jez Langhorn, McDonalds’ VP of people for Northern Europe
Although ‘persistence’ and ‘staying the course’ may not be the sexiest of qualities, they are important ingredients to business and HR success and should not be underestimated, says Jez Langhorn, McDonalds’ vice president of people for the UK and Northern Europe. And in fact, such doughty terms could also be applied to his own working […]
Blog: TK Maxx – when collaboration pays off
Having heard Penny Illston, HR Director at TK Maxx UK & Ireland, speak at our HR Conference recently, I was delighted to see their hard work pay off following a recent visit to one of their stores. It was relatively quiet in the store and only one person serving at the cash register. With no-one else in […]
Location, location, location – and what it means for shared services
The creation of an HR shared services centre can lead to savings of between 20% and 40% depending on location, with the majority coming from reduced labour costs. According to Josefien Glaudemans, marketing director at specialist location services consultancy Buck Consultants International, the workforce generally accounts for 80% of any organisations’ expenditure alongside other factors […]
How to nip unfair dismissal claims in the bud
Each year in the UK, there are approximately 50,000 unfair dismissal cases – the equivalent of just under 1,000 per week – that end up being taken to an employment tribunal. That’s a headline measure of just how big an issue this is for the UK economy. Unfair dismissal has been the largest single matter […]
Legal Insight: How to tackle a Tevez
These days, it seems that footballer Carlos Tevez is never far from the latest controversy. During a recent Champion’s League match against Bayern Munich, the Manchester City player apparently refused to come on as a substitute, ignoring his manager’s request to do so (although he put it down to a misunderstanding). While his antics […]
Stress now most common cause of sickness absence at work
Stress is now the biggest cause of long-term absence among UK workers across all sectors, overtaking cancer as the main reason for taking time off due to sickness. But according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and private health insurance provider, Simplyhealth, staff absence in the public sector have rocketed […]
Blog: Strategies for dealing with a workplace bully
Imagine you’re attending your first meeting at your new job. The senior manager in the room begins by pointing out the failure of a particular department to reach a goal. He looks at the department chief, who appears ready to crawl under the table, and asks how he can face his family when he goes […]
How to cope with empowering line managers
A hundred years or more after its inception, it’s fair to say that HR has finally reached a crossroads. And thanks to the uncertain development of the profession to date, it’s now unsure of which way to turn. In many companies, the HR function has evolved over recent years to offer more of a […]
Double dip fears fuelling freelance frenzy
Businesses facing the prospect of a double dip recession are turning to freelancers to cut costs, according to new research from PeoplePerHour.com. The site reports a 94 percent increase in the number of UK businesses signing up to outsource work to freelance consultants in the last 12 months. There was a particularly […]
Talent Spot: Dean Hunter – HRD turned MD at Hunter Adams
Becoming a bobby on the beat may not be the most obvious first step on the career ladder to becoming an HR director, but for Dean Hunter, it was all part of the master plan. After university, he joined the police with the specific aim of specialising in HR and recruitment for the force. Full […]
Case Study: LV= focuses on feedback to become destination employer
LV= has introduced a survey process for new joiners and leavers with the aim of gathering staff feedback as part of its bid to become a destination employer. The organisation, which sells mutual insurance, retirement and investment schemes, is investing heavily in trying to increase the engagement and retention of its 4,500 staff. David […]
