UK - How can employment lawyers help headhunters place candidates more swiftly?

Picture the scenario: an ideal candidate for a role is found, the candidate can't wait to start and your client is eager to announce his joining. Then the candidate mentions in passing that he has a 12 month garden leave clause and post-termination restrictive covenant in his contract which prevent him from working for a competitor. Sound familiar?

How can employment lawyers help headhunters place candidates more swiftly?

Online employee scheduling

Unlike Excel, this software is designed with a single job in mind, helping you allocate your human resources effectively. More at:

Online Employee Scheduling - Take a Break from Excel

USA - Health and Safety

Most executives will turn to financial figures when speaking with investors about the value of their company and how it's growing and improving. When the new CEO of Alcoa, Paul O'Neil, spoke to his investors for the first time, he informed them about the improvements in health and safety for employees. The men at the meeting were confused; a CEO had never referred to the company's employees as its strongest investment, and O'Neil declared that Alcoa's priority and goal was to become a zero-injury work environment.

More at: Protect Your Most Valuable Investment, You: Health and Safety in the Workplace

Australia - Risks of Work-Related Social Events

Work-related social events can be enjoyable and are a way of developing better
working relationships. By being aware of, and being prepared for the potential unintended consequences, many of the risks associated with these events can be reduced or removed.

Risks of Work-Related Social Events

UK- Women on the Board

Greater transparency of board make-up analysed by gender is intended to put pressure on companies to increase the number of women occupying senior roles. Clearly this will have a consequential impact on recruitment.

One, two, three, four? How many women are on your board?

Turning recruiters on - and off

A survey by online recruiting software company Bullhorn defined five key candidate behaviors that turn recruiters off and have negative impacts on their chances of landing a job.

Turning recruiters on - and off

USA - Feedback and Performance Management

Informal feedback is critical to success said 93% of IT Professionals in a recent survey but fewer than half felt that feedback in their organization could be rated as good or excellent.

Performance Management - Key Practices

UK - How to fire for poor performance

Much has been said recently by the Government about how its current package of intended employment law reforms will help create a climate in which it will be easier for employers to dismiss under-performing staff. The Government argues that this will give businesses - especially small businesses - the confidence to take on more staff, thereby aiding growth and economic recovery. But how difficult is it, in fact, to fire under-performing staff and will any of the intended reforms actually make a difference?

How to fire for poor performance

UK - TUPE (the retention of employment model)

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) give domestic effect to the EC Acquired Rights Directive (ARD) on "the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event
of transfer of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or business."

TUPE - What businesses need to know about the retention of employment model

UK - Job Satisfaction

The business case for job satisfaction is clear: satisfied employees make for a more engaged workforce that will be committed and advocate the business. What's more it'll make for a more productive and profitable business.

Why the work-life balance is now more important than ever

UK - The Hidden Cost of Sick Leave

Although the holiday season has ended the holiday pain has not for those employing individuals on long term sick leave.

The Hidden Cost of Sick Leave

UK - Absenteeism Survey

The latest CIPD Absence Survey shows a drop from an average of 7.7 to 6.8 days per employee.

Absence Levels

UK - Motivating staff and the changing workplace culture

The current economic climate is still having a significant impact on the way organisations operate. The pressure to cut costs and reduce expenditure has led to a fall in innovation and has also made it harder to motivate and engage employees on an on-going basis.

Motivating staff and the changing workplace culture

UK - Employment Tribunal Changes

The annual statistics for claims in employment tribunals (ETs) for 2011/2012 have just been published. The statistics show a 15% reduction in ET claims being presented and an increase in costs awards by ETs, where over 80% have been made against claimants. Despite this, the Government is intent on its employment law reform programme under the auspices of promoting growth - especially for small businesses.

The Future is Bright for Employers - the Future is Blue and Gold!

UK - Professional Exit

Your role as a member of an LLP in a professional or financial services firm has been identified as at risk. What should you do as a prudent member who has been asked to pack their bag before heading for the departure gate?

LLP departure lounge - getting ready to board the exit flight

UK - Why choose video to communicate?

Whilst the idea of using video is by no means a new concept, corporations have only recently started to embrace it and taken note of internal and external stakeholder's need to engage with businesses through this channel.

Why choose video to communicate?

Canada - Workplace romance

Canada seems to be the place to study workplace romance. According to a survey of 32 countries by Randstad Canada seems to be very tolerant of office romances. CareerBuilder.ca does an annual survey and this year's findings (published in February) were typical with 30% saying they had dated a co-worker and almost as many (28%) saying they had married a fellow employee.

Randstad's Global Workmonitor survey, published in July, found that 59% of Canadian respondents confirmed that romantic relationship between colleagues happened in their organizations and two thirds (66%) didn't see a problem.

Your office or mine: love in the workplace

UK/UAE - How we isolate talent

Organizations seek the best talent. We target individuals that stand out and assume they bring with them the talent shown in previous posts. If they fail to perform at the level we anticipate, HR managers and the board are left wondering what went wrong.

How we isolate talent

UK - Can Partners in Professional Partnerships claim Employment Status?

For businesses operating as a partnership, promotion and ownership of the business can be controlled by means of operating different levels of partnership, for example a salaried partner, fixed term partner or equity partner.

Can Partners in Professional Partnerships claim Employment Status?

UK - Sickness during annual leave - it's not as bad as it seems!

In a timely case - given that the holiday season is upon us - the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in ANGED v FASGA and others has decided that workers who fall sick during their annual leave must be permitted to reschedule the time affected by illness. What does this case mean for employers faced with workers returning from their holiday, claiming they were affected by sickness, and how much impact is the case likely to have in reality?

Sickness during annual leave - it's not as bad as it seems!

USA - Work and Sleep

Research from the University of Iowa has shown that police officers sleeping less than six hours per night are more susceptible to chronic fatigue and health problems.

Work And Sleep

UK - Corporate Scandals Eroding Trust

A survey of more than 2000 UK employees commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that only 36 per cent of employees trust senior managers.


Employees and Employers: corporate scandals eroding trust

UK - Employability and Student Choice

As students we are not only studying for a degree - we are also developing our own personal brands and turning ourselves into marketable products.

Employability and Student Choice

UK - Employee Performance and the Law

The abolition of the default retirement age in April 2011 and the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes have focused attention on the issue of performance management. These recent developments highlight the increasing importance of having proper performance management processes in place.

The importance of managing employee performance before problems arise

USA/UK - Personal Branding

Anyone trying to find a job in today's climate knows how hard it is to get your CV noticed amongst the piles stacked on HR directors' desks. For many seeking to enter fast-paced fields, the simple CV is no longer enough. You need to stand out, to prove your mettle.

How One Job-Seeker Turned His Personal Brand Into Fame and Opportunity

Australia/NZ - Accountants heading abroad

No fewer than six in ten Australia and New Zealand accountants will be job hunting within the next 6 to 12 months, according to global research.


Australian and New Zealand accountants heading abroad

NZ - Strong Growth in New Zealand Employment

An analysis of 42,000 jobs listed in the last quarter on Trade Me Jobs shows that the New Zealand job market remains positive, with listings up by 8.2 per cent on the same period in 2011.

Strong Growth in New Zealand Employment

UK - Protected Conversations

The idea of the 'protected conversation' is that employers can talk to their employees about possible termination deals or severance packages without having to worry about those conversations being referred to in subsequent Employment Tribunal cases if the discussions come to nothing and the employees then say they have been unfairly dismissed.

Protected Conversations: an exciting new initiative or counter-productive for employers?

UK - Letting a banker go - pitfalls for the unwary

One might be forgiven for wondering whether a number of bankers may soon be "let go" by their employers as the banks' trials and tribulations following the LIBOR fixing scandal unfold. Given the rates of remuneration they tend to enjoy, making most of
us appear by comparison to be journeyman labourers, this could be an expensive time.

Letting a banker go - pitfalls for the unwary

Canada - Dealing with tough interview questions

Good preparation is the key to answering the toughest interview questions with confidence according to staffing, recruitment and HR Services company Randstad Canada.

Prepare for work: dealing with tough interview questions

Canada - Healthy Workplaces

Six key elements of extraordinary organizations around the world were identified recently by the The Health Work & Wellness Group.

Healthy Workplaces

Anger at work

What makes people angry at work and what they do about it?

Anger at work

Men and women react differently to stress.

Men and women react differently to stress.

Danger of the desk

UK - Technology extends the working day

Replying to emails and answering work calls at home means that the average UK employee is putting in an extra three weeks a year in overtime.

Technology extends the working day

USA - E-mail: the Way to Gossip

It has been estimated that the average corporate email user sends 112 messages a day - and one in seven of those messages can be described as gossip.

E-mail: the Way to Gossip

Belgium - Learning environment at work

As the government tells us that we need to work harder for longer in order to pay for retirement, it is clear that we must be even more ready to adapt and change our skills and knowledge throughout our working lives.

Building a learning environment at work

NL - The escape from the 'boring cage' of talent development

It is essential for organizations that want to 'survive' or even play a leading role in their niche to engage and fascinate the right employees.

The escape from the 'boring cage' of talent development

UK - Culture and Inequality

The term culture refers to the system of assumptions, beliefs and perspectives, many of them unconscious and taken for granted, which members of a group have in common.

There is often a lot of confusion and massive assumptions about what culture means. Some organisations talk about working towards being one culture, because they want to achieve consistency in customer care, leadership and management styles, and ensure all employees demonstrate behaviours, which are professional, considered, and do not wittingly or unwittingly discriminate.

Is There Inequality in the Workplace Because of a Lack of Understanding About Culture?

NZ Employers confident on hiring

A survey of 650 New Zealand employers by Manpower shows that employment confidence is relatively high with 25% expecting to take on staff while only 9% are contemplating reducing payroll numbers.

NZ Employers confident on hiring

Offshoring from Australia to New Zealand

With an 18% drop in earnings forecast by Fairfax Media, the publishing group has confirmed that cost-cutting includes moving jobs from Australia to New Zealand.

Offshoring Australian editing jobs to New Zealand

UK - Leadership and Creativity

What kind of leadership roles do you have in your organization? Customer Services Director, Business Development Manager, Vice President of Sales? That's great, but how about Meaning Maker, Storyteller, Talent Scout, Innovation Seeker? How different would things be if job titles reflected what we wanted managers to do and be like rather than what they are responsible for?

Leaders - ten ways you can be more creative

Australia - How HR Can Become Strategic

For many years, HR professionals have been trying to justify their right to a seat at the executive table. Executives rightfully have been scratching their heads trying to understand just exactly how HR drives business value.

How HR Can Become Strategic

USA - Male Leaders Judged More Harshly

Male leaders who make mistakes in what is perceived as a man's world are also judged more critically than a female leader.

Male Leaders Judged More Harshly

UK - Laughter at Work

Creating an environment where humour - and laughter - is viewed positively will create a place of enjoyment.

The Importance Of Not Being Ernest

USA - High-Potential Entrepreneurs

Stanford Graduate School of Business has reported that its graduates are much more likely to become entrepreneurs than ever before. 16% of the class of 2011 have already started their own businesses compared to a mere 5% in the early 1990s and 10-year trend data is suggesting that there is a generational shift toward entrepreneurship.

High-Potential Entrepreneurs

NL - Please don't blame the crisis

No, it's really not the fault of the crisis - you yourself are to blame. If turnover is lower, it is because business is not good. But why hasn't business dropped for every company - what is the difference between you and your competitor? And why do things that go easy go even easier for one entrepreneur than another? Does the difference lay in the fact that some work harder, possess more skills or may have more insight?

Please don't blame the crisis

UK - Age Regulations

This is a very difficult area of the law for employers. On the one hand employers do not want to be accused of age discrimination, but on the other hand they have to act in the best interests of the business, even when this means replacing older workers with a younger, fresher work force. However, before rushing into any decisions, employers must consider all the options available to them as any rash decisions could cause more harm than good.

The ticking time bomb of older workers

Should You Be Sharing That?

Improvements in systems technology mean that global HR systems are possible for any size organisation. This opens up many possibilities from a shared service perspective and for many global companies there are attractive cost savings to be made from the consolidation of their IT operations in this way. However, along with the possibilities that today’s global HR IT systems present there are also many challenges that need to be met.  Not least is the requirement that the data stored on each employee is accessible to those that need it to perform their roles, whilst remaining private to everyone else and compliant with relevant data privacy legislation.

Should You Be Sharing That?

UK - The Transformational Power of HR Software

HR software has for many years been revolutionising the processes and procedures of HR departments. But the growing power of intuitive technologies means the opportunities for forward-thinking HR professionals are ever-increasing.
Keen to develop a greater understanding of organisations’ evolving HR goals, client services director at Cascade HR Heather Vitty recently surveyed her varied customer base. Here she shares her findings...

The Transformational Power of HR Software

Canada - Saskatchewan immigration program changes

The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) has been changed to reflect current needs in the province's job market.


Saskatchewan immigration program changes

UK - A book for entrepreneurs

It's All About You is specifically for you, the entrepreneur, the lone adventurer, who is relentlessly driving forward business, focusing more on achieving business objectives, but possibly to the detriment of your personal wellbeing and basic health. It's All About You

USA - Engagement and Onboarding

Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are actively doing something at all times and if you don’t want that something to be aimlessly browsing or looking at online job boards, engagement at work is key. It’s All About Engagement

USA - Surface Diversity: Subverted by some employees

There is evidence to suggest that organizations are only achieving 'surface diversity' while key customer-facing staff such as servers are behaving in a racist way towards customers. Surface Diversity: Some Employees Subvert Diversity Programs

UK- How to help staff going through divorce

Often at times being caught up in all the distractions of HR, many people don't make the time to create a crisis or advice centre for struggling employees and this is SO needed within the workplace.

How to Help Your Staff Going Through Divorce

Intuition in Recruitment and Selection

Richard van der Lee argues that we need to use a bit more intuition to find talent

Use more intuition during the Recruitment & Selection process

Learning Management Systems

A LMS is a tool used for documenting, tracking and reporting on training programs in a bid to increase employee efficiency and productivity.

The Advantages and Drawbacks of Learning Management Systems

Student HR - Revised Employee Resourcing Pages

Employee Resourcing

Recruitment

Researching candidates

Employee Selection

Interviewing

Psychometric tests

Other Selection Methods

Student HR - Revised Strategic HRM Pages

People Strategies

Change Strategies

Forming HR strategies

Translating strategy into action

Drastic and Incremental Change

Strategic Alliances and Behavioural Transformation

UK - HR and Spotting Fraud

It’s surprisingly easy to take on someone who isn’t who they say they are, especially when your focus is on can they do the job in question, not who they say they might be.

HR and Spotting Fraud

Australia - Free HR Downloads

Six Pitfalls of Workforce Planning
Free download: Know the pitfalls that companies can fall into when doing strategic workforce planning.


Measuring and Addressing Competency Gaps
Free download: Learn how to find and fill competency gaps in your organization before they affect you.


Driving Business Execution Through Integrated Talent Management
Free download: Discover how you can leverage talent management processes to drive business execution.

UK - Minimum Wage Increases

The adult minimum wage rate will increase from £6.08 to £6.19 an hour on October 1 2012.

National Minimum Wage Increases

UK - HR as a Business Partner

The term 'business partner' is often highlighted as an important aspect in discussions about the role of the human resource manager but being a 'business partner' needs wide business knowledge. According to a new report released by the CIPD three fifths of HR practitioners feel that the profession needs to be 'business savvy' with improved understanding of business issues. But the CIPD acknowledges that this can be easier said than done. The CIPD report shows that a common trait among the people they interviewed was curiosity about the organization in which they worked and the wider context in which they operated.

HR as a Business Partner

UK - Resolving Unwitting Discrimination

In this article, we look at how employers might seek to resolve the problem of discrimination against disabled participants in personality tests and the pitfalls associated with trying to make reasonable adjustments.

'Computer says no': Are you unwittingly discriminating with personality testing? (Part 2)

Multiple Internet Identities: Keeping Track

A growing number of internet users have split themselves into multiple personalities (albeit web-based) to conduct day-to-day business.


Multiple Internet Identities: Keeping Track

USA - Employee Engagement

Employees need to feel like they are progressing. If you think about a time when you did something extraordinary at work, most likely you accomplished a difficult goal that was important to the organization.


Employee Engagement

UK - Healthy Eating

It has been claimed that one in three office employees skips a proper lunch, and instead snacks on unhealthy options, which can lead to lethargy, irritability and decreased productivity.

Healthy Eating Key to Workplace Productivity

Vision on Talent

The concepts of 'Vision' and 'Individual talent development' currently cause a lot of confusion and discussion. Many organizations have 'long term' thinking and are actively developing and realizing a vision in this field. Yet there are many organizations which, for various reasons, do not put much energy into developing a 'Vision on talent'.


Vision on Talent, a 'must' for organizations

Updating Hofstede´s research on national cultural dimensions

This article presents data that for the first time examines the collaboration and power structure dimensions of management.

Power Collaboration Profile blurs Hofstede´s research on national cultural dimensions

UK - Unemployment Blackspots

An analysis of UK local authority areas by claimant to vacancies ratio in January 2012 shows that a number of Scottish areas have passed the inner London boroughs to become the UK's worst employment blackspots.


Scotland overtakes London as worst region in the UK for unemployment

UK - Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is a key indicator for defining staff rewards and benefits and
over 70% of businesses have taken steps to monitor it.

Monitoring Job Satisfaction

Canada - Management Training

Companies large and small have a very important decision to make when seeking out management training programs for their employees. Do they task an outside company with the training of their charges, or do they do it themselves? Each option comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what these are, and being able to weigh them against each other should allow a company to choose the one that suits them best.

Management Training Programs - In-House or External?

Canada - Workforce Analytics

Complexity in today’s workforce, new technology investments, economic pressures, talent as a competitive edge, aligning the people strategy with the business strategy and many other reasons are driving a change in HR to be more information-savvy. This has turned workforce analytics into the hottest topic in the HR technology arena.


Top 5 Best Practices for Successful Workforce Analytics

UK - Technology Matters

Hyland Software director, Mark Greatorex, explores how combining strategy with technology can help maximise HR capability and contribution.

Technology Matters

UK - Unwitting Discrimination

There are strong, well-rehearsed arguments both for and against the use of
personality testing, but we have identified a particular, and thus far potentially overlooked, risk of discrimination against disabled participants.

'Computer says no': Are you unwittingly discriminating with personality testing? (Part 1)

Global - Limited Thinking in HRD

Richard van der Lee asks if the way organizations deal with these methodologies can lead to the right moves.

'Limited thinking': an obstruction for employees and organizations!

Canada - Ideas for job hunting

Some Do's and Don'ts for job hunting

How do you find that dream job?