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On 8 February O2 closed its doors to its Slough base, not because it was shutting down but to ensure that a quarter of its workforce worked remotely for the day. The initiative sends a huge message about ‘pushing the boundaries’ of what is possible for flexible working. The company has highly ambitious targets for its flexible programme and the step to force remote working for a day gives a clear signal of the leadership sponsorship behind it. Continue reading
In a recent report entitled “Work in progress: meeting local needs with lower workforce costs”, the Local Government Association (LGA), with the Audit Commission, illustrated how local councils are reducing their workforce costs in response to the funding pressures that they face. Continue reading
‘Hiya pupils, please avoid slang, ta’. The Guardian’s headline writer clearly enjoyed the opportunity to put a title on this story even if the words may test my friend Pietro, who reads this blog to improve his English! Continue reading
The Olympics only come to a country once in a lifetime (unless you are exceptionally lucky or long-lived). As always, opportunities bring risk and the wise employer puts on his worst-grim-scenario black-tinted spectacles and thinks about identifying and managing the risks. This isn’t about being pessimistic: it’s about ensuring a well-managed stress-free provision of services throughout. Continue reading
A survey this week claimed that counter-offers – the practice of employers offering more money to persuade a resigning employee to stay – are becoming more common. Leaving aside the question of whether such offers are effective (the research found that most turn down the counter offer and even those that take it often leave shortly afterwards) it has always struck me that the psychology of such a tactic is a bit muddle-headed. Continue reading
I have delayed writing this blog about bonuses for two reasons. First, I am wary of venturing, inexperienced and ill equipped, into what is clearly a minefield and, secondly, I haven’t a clue what to do about the so-called bonus culture. But not knowing what I’m talking about, and not having a solution to offer, hasn’t stopped me before, so here goes. Continue reading
I attended a packed UCEA seminar for university HR chiefs last week; and what a fascinating day it was. The changing funding landscape in higher education is raising some fundamental challenges and questions regarding current HR practices, and about how we manage and motivate university staff in the future – questions that HR professionals in other sectors frequently ignore, in their quest to imitate supposedly ‘best’ market practice and implement ‘leading-edge’ but often context-inappropriate processes. Continue reading
2012 is already shaping up as a big year for HR, with reward, engagement, flexible working and resourcing being some of the key issues faced by organisations. So how should HR be positioning themselves in these debates, and what does the rest of the year have in store for our profession? Continue reading
£500. That is the current going-rate bonus for working on London’s transport network during this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics – and seemingly much easier to come by than Games tickets themselves. Continue reading
How should HR managers ensure business continuity during industrial action? If the demonstrations in Greece against austerity are an indicator, then there could be further industrial turmoil as the UK government’s cuts really begin to bite. And it is not only in the public sector that cuts are occurring. Shell recently announced the closure of its final-salary pension scheme to new employees making it the last organisation in the FTSE100 to do so, even though it has a pension fund surplus. And, at Unilever, employees are holding a series of one-day strikes in opposition to the ending of their final-salary pension. Continue reading
