Human Resources Blog

Pay awards have risen 1.2% in the 3 months to October, use the following link to find more:

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2009/11/20/53084/pay-awards-rose-to-1.2-in-october.html

Employers need to be mindful of possible discrimination claims if closing the workplace over Christmas. Use the following link to find out more:

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2009/11/23/53111/christmas-closures-could-lead-to-discrimination-claims.html

Traditionally graduates have flocked to the city for the promise of high flying careers and salaries to match. Due to the recent financial crises, it appears that the retail sector is now attracting a record number of graduates. With one supermarket offering a graduate salary of £40,000 it can be seen why this might be an attractive area to work. To find out more, use the following link:

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2009/08/graduates-choose-retail-over-the-city.htm 

How much do you know about your employees rights to take a Bank Holiday off work? For example, do your employees have a statutory right to take a Bank Holiday off work? For the answer to this question and other related issues, please follow the link: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2009/08/25/51870/bank-holidays-five-things-employers-need-to-know.html

The return to work interview can cause anxiety for line managers and employees alike. Get it right and it can be a major tool in reducing employee absence, get it right and employees can be alienated. Recent research within the Royal Mail has helped to develop a new tool to help line managers in this area. Use the following link to find out more:

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2009/07/23/51524/royal-mail-delivers-insight-into-back-to-work-interview.html

Worried about swine flu? It’s important that your organisation makes plans for coping with Swine Flu. Correct preparation will mean that it will be business as usual rather than a potential meltdown with staff absence. Use the following link to find out more:

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2009/07/hr-departments-take-lead-on-pandemic-preparations.htm

The Independent newspaper today highlights the ever growing popularity of flexible student learning and in particular MOL’s CIPD programmes. The published article can be found at 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/further/the-joy-of-studying-without-moving-1707513.html

The challenge for most organisations is how to survive the recession.  Organisations are looking at retaining their talent so rather than making people redundant they are looking at other options.  W

We have seen car and general manufacturing closing down their plants for a period of weeks or months and other organisations asking their employees to take a pay cut.  Recently British Airways have asked thousands of staff to work for nothing for up to one month, to help them survive.  They emailed an appeal to over 30,000 workers in the
UK, asking them to volunteer for between one week and one month’s unpaid leave.  For news on BA http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8102862.stm

We all know how costly it can be for an organisation to loose key staff. Google have developed a formula taking in to consideration employee reviews and appraisals that can help them identify potential leavers before they jump ship. Find out more on the following link:http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.com/news/907643/Google-uses-maths-improve-employee-retention/ 

Do you Twitter and Blog?

If the answer is yes you will be joining many employees who use Web2 technologies to network and communicate at work. Social networking sites are viewed by many as essential tools in the workplace. In fact BT is rolling out an online learning portal that brings together blogs, discussion forums and podcasts. To find out more use the following link:

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2009/05/embrace-online-learning-hr-urged.htm