Search Results for: recruitment

February 6, 2018

HR teams are not sufficiently prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolution

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

Most people who work in HR now recognise how essential technology is for delivering more strategic value to their organisation, but a new report suggests that HR teams are not prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolution. A survey from ADP and IDC across eight countries in Europe found that over a fifth (22 percent) of Human Capital Management (HCM) processes are still inputted manually. Equally alarming, was the lack of communication between HR teams and IT departments, with 28 percent of respondents claiming that IT is only somewhat involved in HCM solution decisions, and 3 percent claiming it plays no role at all. Yet despite a significant number of respondents revealing that IT departments are not closely aligned with HR, the research pointed towards a shift in the attitudes of HR experts. When asked which new technologies they find increasingly important, 68 percent said end-to-end integration of all HR and talent systems and 64 percent said HR dashboard and analytics were very or extremely important. What’s more, 56 percent said social or collaborative features were also very important.

February 1, 2018

Rent falls due to Brexit and concerns about oversupply of serviced offices in London

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

There have been 18 months of faltering net effective rents within the commercial office market in the Capital since the Brexit referendum, with ten of the 18 Central London office submarkets monitored in Cluttons’ latest London Office Market Outlook report registering rent falls in the final quarter of 2017, buoyed by additional incentives such as contributions to fit out costs and even delayed completions becoming commonplace in many locations. The report also raises concerns about the potential for an oversupply of serviced offices within the Capital. However, despite this and a perception that Central London offices are currently fully prices or possibly over-priced, by both occupiers and domestic investors, London remains a resilient city, continuing to attract high volumes of overseas capital. Employment growth is of course expected to be influenced by both the levels of GDP growth during 2018 and the Brexit divorce proceedings, which in turn will affect rental values. But says the report, aside from concerns over Brexit, there is no evidence from recruitment agencies to suggest a current, or planned exodus of finance and banking professionals from the City.

January 25, 2018

Gender discrimination is rife across the workplace says management body

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Gender discrimination is rife across the workplace says management body

More than four in five (85 percent) of women and 80 percent of men report that they have witnessed gender-discriminatory acts at work suggests the results of new research by the Chartered Management Institute. The CMI’s latest report ‘A Blueprint for Balance: time to fix the broken windows’ looks into gender diversity best practices, and found patchy results. Despite some leading exemplars, the majority of organisations are still struggling to make a meaningful difference to achieving a gender balanced workplace. According to the report’s survey of 856 managers, just one in four (25 percent) say that their peers and senior leaders ‘actively and visibly champion gender initiatives’. The lack of action cascades down the ranks, with only 19 percent of junior and middle managers believing their senior leaders are committed to the target of gender balance in their organisations. This is in spite of a recent study by management consultants McKinsey that found globally the most gender diverse businesses are 21 percent more likely to financially over-perform than their peers.

January 24, 2018

Business in the community aims to improve the quality of work for lowest-paid staff

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Financial concerns are increasingly affecting the performance of workers across the UK, with one in eight UK workers (3.7 million) now living in poverty. According to the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, a quarter of the UK workforce are, to some extent, experiencing financial insecurity. One in five employees (21 percent) report that they are just about managing financially, while a further 5 percent say they are finding things difficult. Aside from the undue stress this causes families, this can also have significant repercussions for employers, in terms of recruitment, retention and productivity. This has prompted Business in the Community, (BITC) with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to make the case for all employers to improve the quality of work for their lowest-paid staff. Its new campaign, Good Work for All draws on best practice from forward-thinking organisations including Starbucks, Royal Mail and Sodexo, and over a third of BITC members have reported taking company-wide action on low-paid work with successful outcomes.

January 8, 2018

Employee engagement tops poll as biggest human resources challenge for 2018

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A study commissioned by Cascade HR claims to reveal the topics most likely to keep Human Resources professionals awake at night in 2018. Employee engagement topped the list of upcoming challenges for 44 percent of the 447 participants, followed by staff retention (36 percent). Absence management and recruitment came in as the joint third biggest worry for 33 percent of respondents, with succession planning in fifth place (26 percent). And it appears the same themes have posed the biggest headache for HR in 2017. When asked to reflect on their toughest encounters from the past 12 months, professionals ranked recruitment as the clear front-runner (52 percent), followed by absence management, (43 percent), employee engagement (39 percent), and retention (37 percent), with learning and development the only difference(20 percent).

December 22, 2017

Five employment law milestones from the past year we need to remember in 2018

by Lucy Gordon • Comment, Workplace

The past twelve months have been an eventful period for employment law; from the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the rights of EU Nationals working in the UK, to the mounting attention on employee data protection as the GDPR edges ever closer. Issues of Employment Tribunal fees, holiday pay and the gig economy have similarly captivated headlines, and these significant milestones from the past 12 months are set to have a big impact on the challenges facing the sector into 2018. More →

December 19, 2017

Employers want to grow workforce next year, but concerned about Brexit impact

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Just over half (51 percent) of firms across the UK will grow their workforce in the year ahead, with confidence highest amongst small and mid-sized firms (58 percent) according to the latest CBI/Pertemps Network Group Employment Trends Survey. But the survey warns that delivering further jobs growth depends on businesses being confident they can remain competitive if they choose to base staff in the UK. Nearly two thirds (63 percent) currently believe that changes in the UK labour market will contribute to Britain becoming a less attractive place to invest and do business over the next five years – up from 50 percent last year and 25 percent in 2015. Skills gaps were the single most prominent worry facing firms, with nearly four in five (79 percent) respondents highlighting this as a worry – up from 64 percent in 2016. Access to overseas workers is a big contributor to this, with nearly half of respondents (49 percent) identifying uncertain access to labour supply – up from 35 percent in 2016 as a concern.

December 14, 2017

Soft skills are vital for organisational success, say business leaders

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

A majority of business leaders see a positive impact on revenues following soft skills training investment as Apprenticeship Levy gathers pace, new research claims. Almost two-thirds (60 percent) of senior decision-makers said training employees in communication, leadership and sales skills leads to business growth. The findings suggest the new government-funded apprenticeship schemes introduced in April will improve companies’ bottom-lines, with 63 percent of respondents already seeing an increase in revenue from an investment in staff training. ‘Hard’ skills such as technical abilities were more of a focus under old apprenticeship schemes, but the data reveals business leaders want to invest in less quantifiable skills such as communication, leadership and customer service since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.

December 13, 2017

Returnship programmes offer parents route back into work, yet only 4 percent of employers offer them

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A totaljobs study of 2,600 jobseekers and nearly 100 employers claims that while a ‘returnship’ initiative can offer a valuable route back into the workforce for anyone taking a break in their career, their success is hindered by a lack of awareness, rather than a lack of interest. The study found that 85 percent of employers are not aware of returnship programmes despite the fact that two thirds of recruiters believe they would offer returnships if they were incentivised by the government and 72 percent of employees would consider a returnship programme if they’d taken a break from the workforce.

December 12, 2017

Employer bias is undermining business innovation and potential says OU

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Over a quarter of senior managers hire people just like them, and this bias is still rife in some organisations, according to new market research commissioned by The Open University. The study amongst business leaders and employees finds that three in 10 (29 percent) senior managers admit they hire people just like them, and warns employers may be overlooking candidates from different social and educational backgrounds, impacting access to talent, and hindering business innovation and performance as a result. Employers place significant importance on educational attainment (86 percent), cultural fit (77 percent), tastes and leisure pursuits (65 percent), and even social background (61 percent). Considering the typical social make up of managers, this raises concerns about diversity, a key driver of innovation, and hints at a glass ceiling for those from less privileged backgrounds, with the re-enforcement of the historical class system. The issue is prevalent in both recruitment and employment, with bias creating a ‘degree premium’, particularly at entry level.

December 12, 2017

Third of applicants turn down jobs due to lack of flexible work options

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

With employment at record levels and the labour market the fiercest it’s been for years, candidates have more choice about where they work than ever before. This is putting substantial pressures on companies to impress talented individuals through the entire recruitment and onboarding process if they want to keep them for the long term. But new research suggests that nearly half (45 percent) of job candidates have turned down a position because they weren’t impressed by the company during the interview process. According to the research by NGA Human Resources other common reasons for declining a position include having a better offer from another company (56 percent), lower than expected salary offer (49 percent) and finding out the role was not as originally described (44 percent). Modern job seekers are now looking for more than just a decent salary. In fact, 33 percent of candidates have declined a position because they didn’t have flexible work options, 29 percent due to the lack of a good benefits package and 27 percent because they didn’t feel they would fit in with their new colleagues.

November 28, 2017

Employers holding back on publishing gender pay for fear of standing out

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Most employers have already calculated their pay gap, but research by XpertHR suggests they’re holding back on reporting their findings for fear of standing out if they publish early. Organisations with 250 or more employees have to publish their gender pay and bonus gaps by April 2018 in order to comply with Regulations that came into effect this year. However, with less than six months to go, only 6 percent of the estimated 4,000 employers covered by the new law have complied. Despite the low reporting rate to date, more than one in four ( 26.5 percent) mid-sized companies (those with 250-999 employees) and more than half (51.5 percent ) of larger companies (with 1,000+ employees) have already calculated their pay gaps. Anecdotally, some have told researchers that they are waiting to see what other companies in their sector do before publishing – or that they want there to be a large number of reports in the public domain before they release their own figures.