From ‘ready now’ to ‘ready in a lifetime’ – the baby boomers are here to stay
Just when we thought the Baby Boomers were off to lower their handicaps, the fickle hand of legislation has again changed the rules. The Baby Boomers were going to retire. That would have reduced the payroll. And, those starting their careers (who now have lower pay expectations because of the recession) would at last have […]
Supporting senior leaders with mental health issues
This article was written by Mandy Rutter, Senior Clinical Business Manager at Validium. From the end of April, employers will no longer be able to legally remove company directors who have mental health problems. The success of the Mental Health Discrimination Bill is part of an important shift in attitudes towards mental illness: that people […]
Blog: Doing that Pope thing!
When I got in my car the other morning, the news flash that came through was that Pope Benedict XVI had resigned. This was big news since apparently a pontiff has not resigned in the past 600 years. That is quite a record since the last resignation was by Gregory XII in 1415. As […]
Are you ready for people to walk out?
HR departments carry the vast majority of the administrative burden when employees decide to leave. But beyond the usual P45 paperwork, how else do HR departments need to prepare themselves and ensure the necessary processes exist for departing colleagues, while ensuring that company property is returned and regulations are adhered to? Leaver Exit Forms […]
News: Top 10 talent trends for 2013
From the continued impact of the difficult global economic situation on HR departments to a growing focus on workforce diversity, 2013 looks set to be a dynamic and exciting year. Recruitment consultancy Futurestep, a Korn/Ferry company, outlines the top 10 trends that it expects to see in the talent management arena: 1. To outsource […]
That was the HR year that was
If it were possible to sum up a year in a single word, that word in 2012 might be ‘austerity’ – a word that means many things to many people, but which basically amounts to hard times for great swathes of the population. In economic terms, austerity refers to a policy of lowering expenditure by […]
The emerging discipline of workforce planning
The job of managing the workforce is growing in complexity. At one end of the spectrum, demanding Millennials are now entering the world of employment for the first time, while at the other, growing numbers of employees are choosing to work past the age of 65. In between these two extremes, however, you will […]
News: Gen Y will lead to workforce management shake-up
The growing presence of Generation Y in the labour force will lead to new ways of working, generating radical change in the way that employers handle everything from staff retention and talent management to succession planning. According to a global survey of 2,900 managers and graduates as well as 100 in-depth interviews conducted by the […]
Three considerations for effective succession planning
In the wake of the crisis that engulfed the BBC following the Jimmy Savile scandal, the broadcaster’s director general, George Entwistle, was forced to resign after only 54 days in the job. But less than a fortnight later, the BBC Trust was able to announce his replacement. Lord Tony Hall of Birkenhead, chief executive […]
Blog: The HR lessons to be learned from the BBC crisis
After the recent scandals at the BBC, director-general George Entwistle was forced to resign last week, after only 54 days in the role. As a result, trustees of The BBC’s governing body met on Saturday to finalise plans to appoint a new director-general. Not only does this highlight the importance of having a succession […]
News: NHS “sleepwalking” into workforce crisis within 3 years
The NHS is “sleepwalking” into a "workforce crisis" within three years due to cuts to existing staff numbers and the axing of thousands of nurse training posts, the government has been warned. The coalition had pledged to protect frontline staff from such cuts even as it demanded £20 billion in efficiency savings. But a […]
Blog: Workforce planning – The answer to train operators’ prayers?
There have been ongoing announcements lately from London Midland trains about substantial cancellations of its train services on the Northampton to Birmingham line. This is due to a lack of qualified drivers caused by several factors. It takes on average twelve months to train a driver but driver retention is poor due to crippling […]
Blog: Do you undertake workforce planning?
The economic outlook for the UK may still be flat lining but companies appear to be staying resilient and retaining staff, which is reassuring. Our recent survey of 900 companies throughout the country reveals that 81 per cent will be making ‘no redundancies at all’ in the next six months and just 4 per cent […]
News: UK employers do little to tackle poor internal management skills
Even though the vast majority of UK businesses believe that their performance is at risk of being held back by a shortage of skilled managers, all too few are doing anything much about it. According to a survey conducted among 750 managers with responsibility for talent management by the Institute of Leadership & Management, the […]
Let the Games commence – But make sure you plan for them
Love them or loathe them, with the Olympics bang on our doorstep, the Games can’t be ignored. Travel disruption and staffing issues will all play havoc with normal working days, particularly for those organisations and workers in and around the capital and other Olympic venues. Demand for holiday leave and increased absenteeism will affect […]
Barclays and the value of succession planning
The Libor rate-rigging scandal has resulted in the men at the top of Barclays, chairman, Marcus Agius, and chief executive, Bob Diamond, falling on their respective swords. But inevitably any changes to the senior management team have a direct impact on the business, potentially leaving it feeling rudderless and having a negative effect on staff […]
Blog: The followers guide to what your leaders want
Today, a search on Amazon.com showed 98,516 results for “leadership”. A further search for “followship” came back with a mere 39 results. I searched again for “team player” and received over 101,000 results, although “team player” wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I know sometimes part of great leadership is setting out what […]
Blog: When laying off staff, remember – people are watching
“In the end, I want to know that the next paycheck is coming. Everything else is secondary.” I thought of that statement from an employee who was afraid that they could be laid off. When I read about Hewlett-Packard’s impending layoff of 27,000 plus employees, I had a flash back. The subtitle of this announcement […]
News: 60% of workers plan to watch Olympics – with or without consent
More than half of employers plan to enable their staff to work more flexibly during the Olympics – which is just as well as nearly three out of five employees intend to watch Games, with or without consent. According to the initial findings of a joint survey undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and […]
Six steps for succession planning success
The identification and development of future management candidates – otherwise known as succession planning or talent management – was recently identified as one of the top three immediate HR issues that needed to be dealt with (Bersin and Associates, 2011). Over 50% of the employers surveyed struggled to fill key positions and believed that their […]
