News: Junior IT technician blamed for RBS debacle

A junior IT technician who was hired after RBS laid off more than 20,000 UK staff and outsourced their work to India was to blame for the bank’s massive computer failure last week, it is being claimed. According to a source at tech website, The Register, the “inexperienced operative” who is understood to be part […]

Blog: How can you make performance management more social?

The workplace today has changed beyond recognition; new technology is continuously bringing efficiencies to our way of working.  However, one thing remains constant – the performance appraisal process. Now, consider Generation Y for a moment, will they be content to wait for their annual or bi-annual review to find out how they’re doing? Probably not!  […]

Ensuring collaboration works

With new and updated HR legislation coming into effect all the time, HR departments need to stay on the ball to remain compliant. Mistakes in this area can have serious consequences and a negative impact in both a regulatory and employee well-being sense.   As a result, it can help if HR executives put their […]

Social Media Guide Part 3: How to use twitter lists and hashtags

Twitter is an invaluable online tool and has become the de facto way of spreading news and disseminating information to people across all walks of life.  It has also become an important gauge by which public opinion is measured and has been used to predict all sorts of results, from stock market ups and downs […]

Talent Spot: Joris Luijke, Atlassian’s vice president of HR

Joris Luijke, vice president of talent and HR at fast-growing Australian software company, Atlassian, has followed in his father’s footsteps by choosing HR as a career. “When I was young, my father tried to convince me not to do HR. So just to annoy him, I went to work in HR!” he laughs. Luijke did […]

Five steps to help staff cope with digital distractions

You’re writing a report when your smartphone rings. Before you’ve had the chance to say hello, another five emails drop into your inbox – all asking you to do something, now.   And on top of that, there are text messages, tweets and instant messages, all waiting for you a response. Sound familiar?   Well, […]

Analysis: A Rypple effect – Spotify goes social

Music subscription service, Spotify, has gone social in a bid to ensure that its workforce around the world can collaborate more effectively. To this end, the firm has rolled out Rypple, Salesforce.com’s HR system, which it acquired late last year as a first step into the human capital management applications space.   Johan Persson, Spotify’s […]

News: Three police forces adopt shared HR services for first time

The three police forces of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are set to become the first in the UK to share HR services under a collaborative agreement with outsourcing provider, Capita. The shared system called Origin will be provided by Capita’s secure resource solutions business under a contract worth £2.3 million over five years and, over […]

News: Unions call for urgent talks with HP to save UK jobs

Unions have called for urgent talks with high tech supplier HP in a bid to try and safeguard up to 1,600 jobs under threat at its UK operations. HP has confirmed plans to cut 8%, or the equivalent of 27,000 jobs, across the globe by the end of 2014.   But Unite, which has about […]

Analysis: SAP outlines its cloud-based HCM apps strategy

HR has been a core component of SAP’s Business Suite for some time. But, while David Ludlow, its group vice president of HCM solutions, is the first to admit that the functionality has been under-marketed in the past, it seems that is all about to change.   At an event held with the firm’s SuccessFactors’ […]

Blog: Four managerial traits to ensure flexible working works

Earlier this year telecoms giant O2 announced that the vast majority of their employees (88%) were just as productive when working flexibly than when they are present in the workplace. Meanwhile a Stanford University study showed that one travel company noted a 12% rise in productivity when staff worked from home.   The evidence would […]

In a Nutshell: Five suggestions to make your meetings more effective

We all spend a good deal of valuable time in meetings. But while there will always be a need to get together with others to discuss problems, share information, exchange ideas and come to decisions, for many people, the prospect of going to a meeting makes their hearts sink. Studies have shown that 49% of […]

News: Youth locked out of jobs due to employers’ changing needs

The education system’s failure to adapt to employers’ requirements for soft skills rather than technical expertise among entry-level job candidates means that many young people are underequipped for today’s world of work. According to a report from the Work Foundation entitled ‘Lost in Transition’, more than 450,000 under-25 year olds have no experience of sustained […]

In a Nutshell: Five tips when rolling out HR software

In January, Jack Morton Worldwide completed a global roll-out of a new performance management system from SAP’s Software-as-a-Service acquisition, SuccessFactors. The system replaced bespoke applications so the brand experience agency was determined to reapply the lessons learned from its first implementation in order to ensure that its second one went as smoothly as possible. HR […]

Talking Point: Recruitment – The only way is digital?

One of the hottest hiring topics at the moment is the shift from reactive recruitment to talent marketing – a process that has largely been supported by the use of emerging technologies such as video job boards, social media and mobile channels. So, what are these new technologies and how can HR directors make sure […]

News: Two out of five civil servants to home-work during Olympics

Up to 40% of Whitehall staff will be asked to work from home to help ease congestion on London’s transport network during the seven weeks of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. According to the Telegraph, other employees may also be asked to change their working times or take annual leave from 21 July […]

Blog: Why you should beware of video CVs

Following attendance at a recent recruitment industry event, it seems that the idea of using video CVs as a recruitment tool may be coming back into ‘vogue’ – certainly if the number of companies extolling the benefits and trying to sell their systems and software to me are anything to go by. I first encountered video CVs as a concept […]

Analysis: Oracle’s future product roadmap for Taleo

In part one of this two-part news analysis, Oracle’s senior executives explained the shifting nature of the human capital management applications marketplace and the vendor’s rationale for acquiring Software-as-a-Service-based recruitment and talent management systems supplier, Taleo. In part two, Jason Blessing, the man in charge of Taleo’s product line, explains what the merger is likely […]

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 […]

In a Nutshell: Six steps to becoming a goal-driven organisation

If you really want to ensure that your business performs, ensure that individual and corporate goals are managed effectively. Becoming a goal-driven organisation doesn’t have to be onerous. Start with these six simple steps:   Establish clear goals for everyone: That means from the chief executive to the most junior person in your organisation. These goals […]