How to beat a counter job offer
Against a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, top talent at all levels is becoming increasingly hard to find and land. Competition for candidates is increasing as companies start to ramp up their hiring efforts after the downturn. This has given rise to more challenging candidate management and the infamous counter offer. Recent research by […]
Blog: What HR can learn from alien abductions
As an Investors In People assessor, I frequently ask staff what would happen if they were abducted by aliens tomorrow. Not because I’m interested in probes and things (although I’m sure that would be quite fascinating.) What I’m interested in is whether staff would be conspicuous by their absence. Would critical work not get […]
Blog: How to hold on to good employees – Part 3
You now know the reasons why employees leave your company, and last week I described two of the five top strategies that will help you keep them: creating and maintaining an attractive and nourishing working environment, and developing effective employee relationship strategies. To complete the picture, here are strategies 3, 4 and 5: 3. Employee […]
News: KPMG HR blunder #3: Failing to pay staff salaries
If HM Revenue & Customs didn’t have such a knack for mishaps, KPMG’s embarrassment might be more acute after it was revealed that the Big Four firm failed to pay its staff as expected on Friday 29 April. KPMG staffers are usually paid on the 29th of each month, and if that date falls on […]
Analysis: Oracle – Why we bought Taleo
The cloud human capital management application wars are set to be one of the prevailing technology topics of 2012 and beyond. SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors, Oracle’s purchase of talent management and recruitment firm Taleo, which completed last month, and Workday’s forthcoming stock market flotation all bear testimony to the importance of the HR marketplace to […]
CEO Insight: Sinead Hasson on Hasson Associates’ CSR programme
The arrival of 2012 brought with it the news that there are still 2.65 million people out of work in the UK. Widespread redundancies, salary freezes or even cuts as well as the increasing loss of employee benefits are not only hitting employers hard, but also causing employees to question their job security. And […]
Blog: Why you should dump ’employee of the month’
Recognise This! – Employee of the Month programmes create competition and resentfulness, not appreciative work environments. Compensation pros – when you think of base pay in today’s organisation, do you think in terms of guaranteed annual increases or in some form of pay for performance? Most realise the former is the method a century […]
Blog: Company culture according to GE’s Jack Welch
Recognise This! — Jack Welch puts company culture ahead of results. Do you? When you hear the name “Jack Welch,” what do you think of first? “Neutron Jack,” famous for an (often misunderstood) employee differentiation method that resulted in the bottom 10% of performers being let go annually? A powerhouse industry captain who helmed […]
Ask the Expert: Should car allowances be included in sick pay?
The question I have a case of someone who is taking long-term sickness absence (eight months). They were paid a combination of statutory sick pay and company sick pay for the first six months, which included their monthly car allowance in full. Their manager has now decided to stop paying the car allowance, saying […]
Blog: Most employers spend more on office cleaning than staff motivation
Does having a clean office improve your profits and where am I going with this? Most HR professionals recognise that happy employees are more effective, hence our performance equation mantra, happy employees = happy customers = happy profits. Motivated employees are by default happier and many studies prove that employers with highly motivated workforces outperform […]
Living Leader Learnings: Why saying ‘well done’ just isn’t enough
The challenge A sales team leader at a mobile technology company asks: “I am constantly telling people at work that they have done a good job. I say ‘well done’ all the time, but it doesn’t really seem to make a difference. I do sometimes feel a bit like a broken record. How can […]
Ask the Expert: How legal are contract clauses to work overtime for no pay?
The question I’ve just downloaded an Employment Contract T&C’s template from an online provider and it contains the following condition: 5. Hours of work Your normal hours of work are between [TIME] and [TIME], [Mondays] to [Fridays] inclusive, with a lunch break of one hour. You may be required to work such additional hours […]
Blog: Are annual performance reviews strictly necessary?
Recognise This! – Yes, getting rid of the annual review can be done successfully. Do we really need annual performance reviews? I’ve written before that there is a balance between ongoing feedback from multiple sources and annual feedback from one source. I’ve also written about what it would look like if you scrap the […]
Blog: Attendance bonus schemes – money wasted or money well spent?
For small and medium size companies workforce costs are one of the largest expenditures. It’s no wonder why, in the current challenging economic climate, so many business owners get increasingly frustrated if the attendance of their employees is poor. Employee absenteeism costs UK businesses £32 billion per year and therefore forward-thinking companies are proactively […]
Blog: Do you recognise your “plumbers” as well as your “poets”?
Recognise This! – Your star performers can’t shine without the daily efforts of your middle tier. Who gets recognised in your organisation? Just the superstars – the top 10% high performers? Or do you acknowledge those who grind out the work day after day – the middle 80% who make it possible for your […]
Blog: Crappy performance management rule 2 – Never attempt to motivate staff
In my previous blog I articulated rule 1 of crappy performance management: Don’t tell anyone about the vision. In this article we step up a gear and think about the 2nd most important of rules when designing a ‘wet lettuce’ performance management mindset. Crappy Performance Management Rule 2: Never attempt to motivate staff – […]
HP gives contractors a 5% pay cut ultimatum
High tech giant HP is reportedly offering IT contractors at its Enterprise Security Services division a stark choice in pay terms: either take a 5% rate cut next month or lose your post. That 5% is a minimum, by the way – it could be bigger in some cases. (One slice of the workforce, the ones […]
Public sector employers not liable for asbestos claims, rules Supreme Court
Public sector employers no longer risk having to shell out hundreds of thousands of pounds for asbestos-related claims after the Supreme Court finally settled a long-running dispute between insurers over liability. The ruling in the landmark case centred on the question of who was responsible for paying compensation for claims relating to invariably fatal asbestos-induced […]
Blog: Four steps to take on finishing your staff engagement survey
Recognise This! — Strategic recognition is a powerful tool to align employees with your goals and take appropriate action after your engagement survey is done. Like 80% of the people on our “My Engagement Survey Is Done, Now What?” webinar yesterday (recasts available here), do you conduct an employee engagement survey? Though we didn’t […]
Blog: Are you wasting 35% of your payroll costs on disengaged staff?
Recognise This! – Lack of employee engagement costs you 35% of your payroll, or up to $17.5 Million annually in a 1,000 person organisation. Like organisation culture, employee engagement is a frequent topic of mine. Indeed, creating a culture of recognition is a foundational element to creating an environment in which employees choose to engage. […]