Editors Blog

Coalition should have given date to scrap the default retirement age

2010-07-08T09:42:07Z

Of the many measures announced in last month's Emergency Budget to concern employers, perhaps the least surprising was the confirmation the coalition government plans to scrap the default retirement age (DRA) of 65.

The government revealed it would "quickly phase out" the DRA from April next year - although offering no timescale for this process - and consult with employers on how best to do so. What again?

]]> one consultation on the future of the DRA, held by the previous Labour government, which ended in February. The findings and evidence from that remain unpublished.

So do we really need to hold another consultation on the same topic less than six months later?

Age campaigners want the government to announce in April 2011 that it will be abolishing the DRA in October of the same year - rather than phasing it out in stages - giving employers a definitive date to work towards.

Influential business groups such as the CBI and EEF would rather the retirement age remain in place, but if not, want as much time as possible for their members to prepare and adapt their policies and practices.

My view is that the government has swerved making a clear decision in favour of holding yet another time consuming consultation. Ministers are shuffling towards ending this legal anomaly and the culture of forced retirement.

The government should have analysed the evidence submitted from the previous consultation and committed to date to scrap the DRA and then worked with groups like the Employers Forum on Age to produce meaningful, practical guidance.

Does public sector HR have the steel to cut pay?

2010-06-11T10:00:23Z

Desperate times call for desperate measures it seems. With the economy remaining in such a fragile state and deep and painful spending cuts looming large, should the UK follow Spain's example and cut the pay of public sector staff?

A measure that would have previously been inconceivable to public sector HR directors should now been considered, according to some. It's a strategy several private sector employers have been forced to implement as a way of cutting costs and limiting job losses.

A fair way of doing it would be for directors to take a larger hit on their salaries, with a sliding scale for managers and employees. The lowest paid - those earning less than £18,000 - should be unaffected.

This move - no matter how abhorrent in may sound to the trade unions - would only be a temporary measure; when the financial climate improves pay can be reinstated to previous levels.

But will HR directors have the steel to go through with it? Will they have a choice? It may be that an across-the-board pay cut is imposed by chancellor George Osborne in the emergency Budget.

Public sector HR must brace itself

2010-05-14T14:25:40Z

Now the political wrangling has subsided and the new coalition government is in place, HR professionals working in the public sector might be advised to adopt the brace position.

Billions of pounds in spending cuts, the details of which will emerge fully in the coming weeks, are set to provide the toughest challenge for public sector HR teams in decades.

Pay freezes, job cuts, deteriorating industrial relations, falling employee engagement, further outsourcing and organisational redesign are just some of the big issues on the agenda in the years ahead.

Put simply, HR, in the words of John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, is "in for a bit of a shock". A fair proportion of the 500,000 job cuts Philpott has predicted over the next five years will come from HR.

]]> Public Sector People Managers' Association, to tackle these challenges head on. They must ensure HR is right at the centre of the service delivery transformation required, leading from the front and demonstrating real innovation. Even if that does mean they are, to some extent, becoming masters of their own downfall.

Undoubtedly the skills exist in the sector to achieve this, there are some really talented senior HR people working in local government, the NHS, Civil Service and wider organisations. But a new reality is about to dawn and those skills are going to be stretched to the absolute limit.

Volcano disruption: Asda will pay stranded staff

2010-04-23T15:14:20Z

As the dust (or should that be ash?) finally settles on the huge travel disruption caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland, it's good to see one of the UK's largest employers adopting a policy that puts the concerns of its workforce centre stage.

Asda is seemingly bucking the trend and pledging to pay staff who were stranded abroad and unable to get back home - or to work - when flights were grounded because of the ash cloud.

Employers are under no obligation to pay staff who are absent from work - regardless of whether it's through no fault of their own - so hearing Asda commit to investing a six-figure sum to cover pay for affected employees is welcome news.

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The disruption caused by the volcanic eruption certainly required HR teams to be creative and flexible in their approach, and follows the chaos caused by snow and the big freeze at the start of the year.

You could forgive many in the profession for wondering what Mother Nature will throw at us next.

HR and social media: Time to get serious

2010-04-19T10:26:47Z

The phrase 'social media' would previously had many in HR reaching for the employee handbook checking their organisation's policy on internet use or Facebook activity was up to date.

But all that is changing. Personnel Today's Social Media Week - with content running in the magazine and on our website - is recognition of the rapid change that is taking place in this area.

An increasing number of employers are using social media to gain a competitive advantage, moving away from compliance and restrictions on staff access, to capturing their own employees' (and potential recruits') enthusiasm for all things Web 2.0.

Another, more tangible, sign of the pace of change is number of people attending a recent HR tweet-up (for Twitter users interested in HR) in London. And we are seeing more HR professionals engaging with the blogosphere.

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Respected blogger Jon Ingham has written a series of exclusive articles about HR and the use of social media - you can read them throughout the week at www.personneltoday.com/socialmedia2010

The most striking comment for me is when Ingham says: "Just as with human capital, this focus on social media... moves HR to the heart of business strategy and competitiveness. The opportunity is there for HR teams that wish to take it."

See you online - twitter.com/mrmikeberry

Equality Act | HR will reject positive action in recruitment

2010-04-12T09:30:45Z

Employers' bodies have welcomed the Equality Act, passed by parliament last week, for simplifying the UK's over-complex law in this area, while acknowledging that the legislation will create work for employers, and particularly HR professionals.
One of the more problematic ideas in the new law is positive action in recruitment.
The option to select someone from an under-represented group will only be lawful if the job candidates are "as qualified". The problem is that it is extremely difficult to determine whether candidates are as qualified as each other and recruiters are going to be reluctant to make a choice on this basis when an unsuccessful candidate might bring a claim of discrimination.
Where there are specific technical requirements or qualifications it may be possible to apply positive action but this is unlikely to apply to senior roles, and an important goal of equality law is to improve the proportion of under-represented groups in senior positions.
What employers need to do is to use broader criteria to assess candidates' experience and capabilities. This is better achieved by a holistic review of organisational culture and recruitment processes than through positive action.

Enter the Personnel Today Awards

It is that time of year again. This week we launch the biggest celebration of HR excellence in the calendar, the invitation to enter the competition for a Personnel Today Award. Previous winners of the prizes now known simply as "the Awards" know what a lift it gives an HR team to go back to colleagues with official recognition that you are doing a great job. Turn to page 14 for more details.

Budget 2010: HR must lead on public sector cuts

2010-03-29T10:48:45Z

Whoever wins the General Election there will be a meltdown in public finances and the £11bn cuts to public services announced in last week's budget is the tip of the iceberg.
Public sector HR chiefs need to get to grips with this issue now, and that was the message at last week's meeting up public sector HR group the PPMA.
The evidence is that public sector organisations are becoming less efficient. Statistics from the Office of National Statistics show productivity has fallen since Labour came to power in 1997.
One way to improve efficiency is to remodel how the HR service is delivered. The Local Government Association (LGA) last week urged councils to expand of HR shared services to boost efficiency and cut costs, and there are examples of HR teams taking a lead on this.
But HR must go beyond reforming HR service delivery and take a leading role in the root and branch reform of budgets and services inevitable during the next three years.
The profession must develop credible performance measures on absence and productivity, and share good practice on leadership and organisational design. They must link pay to performance in unionised environments while battle fronts are opening over redundancy terms and job cuts.
It isn't going to be easy but there is no alternative.

Religious discrimination | Vegans win Equality Bill protection

2010-03-11T17:21:00Z

The government's attempts to outlaw religious discrimination in the workplace turned into farce last week when a draft code of practice was published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The code aims to help employers interpret the Equality Bill, but eyebrows were raised in the HR community at the revelation that not only will established religions be covered but also vegans, members of Cults and people with no beliefs at all.
The government tried to distance itself with a statement that opinions based on scientific or political theories were not akin to religious or philosophical beliefs and therefore not covered.
But in practice both employers and tribunals may find it difficult to judge what is an opinion and what is a belief. This was the case in November 2009 when a former manager at residential landlord group Grainger was given the go-ahead to take his employer to a tribunal for allegedly making him redundant because of his views on climate change.
The draft code says atheists will be covered by the Bill. But what if an atheist believes only things that can be scientifically proven? As such opinions are not covered atheists presumably will be protected from discrimination only when their beliefs are based on blind ignorance of the facts.
The serious concern is that extending the law to cover groups such as vegans will damage the hard-won credibility of workplace equality among employers. The Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on 23 March. Let us hope they can inject some common sense before it is too late.

How will the World Cup 2010 affect your organisation?

2010-03-04T13:37:16Z

With the Football World Cup less than 100 days away, what plans has your organisation put in place to allow employees follow their national team?

Take part in our poll and it will link you to the latest IRS survey which investigates the steps that organisations can take to integrate this and other major sporting events with day-to-day running of their businesses.

Taking part in the complete IRS survey guarantees that you will receive a complimentary copy of the report once it is completed.

Poll from Snap Survey Software

CIPD must investigate behaviour of Christine Pratt

2010-02-26T13:55:59Z

The long-term consequences to the anti-bullying movement of Christine Pratt's decision to go public with claims that Downing Street staff had contacted the National Bullying Helpline will be hard to quantify.

Pratt says she spoke out after denials by ministers that bullying took place, and that no employer should issue such a denial until investigating the allegations. Experts have been quick to warn that her actions in breaching the confidentiality of callers could have a serious knock-on effect on the usage of bullying helplines or employee assistance programmes.

It's now incumbent on HR to act quickly to reassure employees they can raise concerns about unacceptable behaviour at work in a safe environment.

Pratt clearly trades off the fact she is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - the CIPD's name is plastered all over the charity's website and promotes services to employers run by chartered members.

The Charity Commission is probing practices at the helpline - now is the time for the CIPD to investigate Pratt's behaviour.

The institute's code of professional conduct states members are required to exercise "appropriate behaviour in all their business, professional and related personal activities". Clause 4.1.7 goes on to say members "must respect legitimate needs and requirements for confidentiality".

The silence from institute bosses on this whole debacle has been deafening so far. The CIPD claims to care about professional standards in HR but - for some reason - doesn't see its role as upholding them. It should think again.

Public sector HR at a tipping point

2010-02-05T12:41:48Z

Dealing with forthcoming spending cuts is the big challenge facing public sector HR professionals over coming years. But are they up to it? The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) doesn't think so; its report warned of a 'people management crisis' that threatened effective public service delivery as we move into more austere times.

The report states: "There are serious question marks over the public sector's people management capability to emulate the best of the private sector response to adversity. While there are excellent managers and examples of great performance in the public sector... [it] is in urgent need of improvement."

]]> Many in the HR community will be tired of hearing the line that private sector equals good, public sector equals bad. While it's true there is room for improvement, the same can definitely be said of some private sector employers. Our feature 'Public sector HR: tough times ahead', provides a real feeling that HR will not be found wanting when spending cuts bite.

Change is coming though, and public sector HR leaders will have to make sure they are at the centre of discussions on new service delivery models and how the function operates in the future.

There is certainly acknowledgement by some that the HR profession in the public sector is at a tipping point and things will look very different in, say, 10 years' time. It looks like we're set for an interesting - but bumpy - ride.

EHRC plans on gender reporting will have little effect

2010-01-22T12:00:14Z

The proposals on gender pay reporting by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) received a decidedly mixed welcome from some HR directors and employers' groups.

The commission's promise of two-year immunity from investigation for those firms that go public with their pay gaps, designed to make the tough medicine a little sweeter, is also likely to make little difference. The CBI has already said the proposals risk backfiring and has withdrawn its support for them.

The new regulations will undoubtedly be felt hardest by firms in the financial services sector, where the watchdog's own figures have shown women in some organisations receiving up to 80% less in performance-related pay than their male colleagues. But, as one employment lawyer warned last week, transparency on pay is an admirable concept, but elusive to achieve in practice.

Publishing pay statistics might indeed grant employers immunity from investigation, but that data will be poured over by employees, job applicants, as well as competitors - and may lead to some particularly negative publicity. Legal experts have even raised the possibility of female staff being targeted by no win, no fee lawyers looking to encourage them to bring equal pay and/or sex discrimination claims.

Underpinning this is the reserve power contained in the Equality Bill which could lead to mandatory reporting of pay gaps by 2013. So it seems the case that when weighing up the risks of volunteering this information, many employers will feel damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Cold snap continues for HR and national minimum wage

2010-01-08T11:41:39Z

The big freeze continues to dominate the headlines, with snow and ice causing havoc for employers and their staff across the UK.

Our story on the Personnel Today website gives a snapshot of how some HR directors in the worst affected areas coped with the extreme conditions. Once again it demonstrates the resourcefulness and quick-thinking of HR teams to keep organisations up and running and provide services for some of the most vulnerable in society.

From one freeze to another; the CIPD's call for a freeze in the national minimum wage for young workers. The institute argues that the recession has had a far greater impact on young people than other age groups - the unemployment figures bear this out - and it is important to avoid making this group of workers less attractive to employers.

]]> Low Pay Commission, which advises ministers on rates for the coming year, will make its recommendations on changes for 2010 at the end of next month. These would then come into force from 1 October, by which time the economy will hopefully have seen some consistent growth.

The move seems unlikely, perhaps a more realistic prospect is a NMW freeze for all age groups to try and stimulate employment and support employers in keeping staff.
Whatever happens, youth unemployment will be one of the tough challenges for the next government to tackle following the forthcoming general election. Employers will be looking on with interest.

Facebook and social networking should be embraced by L&D professionals

2009-11-18T14:57:07Z

Learning and development professionals should embrace Facebook, blogging and Web 2.0 technologies as powerful tools within their organisations, according to Nick Shackleton-Jones of the BBC Academy.

Delegates at the CIPD's annual conference in Manchester, as in Harrogate last year, always seem keen to expose themselves to as much Web 2.0-related content and this afternoon's well-attended session, "Harnessing the Power of Social Media in the Workplace", was no exception.

Nick's presentation was an interesting one. It wasn't technical in any way. It relied more on his training as a psychologist than as some kind of iPhone-toting, blogging geek, something he could not be described as.

"It's not all about technology," he explained "It's about a window into that personal dimension."

His message was simple. People learn better from one another, and social media can facilitate that in ways previous technologies could not.

The BBC Academy's philosophy: "It's not about getting the info across; it's about making people care enough to change their behaviour"

His presentation covered topics as diverse as successful internal communication through blogging, to employees uploading videos of key learning that can then be discussed an consumed by others. Key to it all is enabling authentic communication. Blogging allows that.

He cited as an example the poorly-read internal comms emails that director-general Mark Thompson used to send out, compared to a well-read blog penned by another (excellently paid, of course) BBC exec. The latter had an authenticity that the first could not, partly by allowing comments back.

We don't remember and engage with data unless it is somehow encased in emotion, was another aspect of his presentation.

In e-learning he decribed how the BBC encouraged its staff to share their ideas and learning through video clips posted to a forum. Participation was encouraged through a competition prize to get a programme made on BBC3 (I thought they only showed that "Two pints..." show!).

He explained how social media can break down heirarchies, refering to a "reverse mentoring" programme at Nokia where more senior, Gen X and baby boomer executives could learn from Gen Y staff.

Similarly blogs can be used by thought leaders (regardless of seniority) to communicate and 300-400 blogs at the BBC - "an open organisation" demonstrated this.

He gave an example of an HR Director delivering bad news about a car policy and how that would be more effective as a blog than an impersonal email. It's authentic, includes emotional content about how it was difficult decision and it allows comments.

But he warned organisations to take care: "If you try to [just] introduce a social network to your organisation it will fail," he explained. "You have to drive it artificially in the first stages... People lurk, they don't post."

The organisation has to demonstrate its legitimacy to avoid the employee thinking: "Will I be thanked or spanked?" Until employees see that part of their role is to spread learning, they're going to see it as illegitimate.

L&D professionals, concluded Nick, need to stop thinking of themselves as experts and instead curators who pool good content. An extremely interesting presentation, delivering a very human side to a topic some might discuss as geeky.

'Greenism' belief ruling adds to burden on employers

2009-11-06T11:55:17Z

The ruling that an individual's view on climate change is capable of being a philosophical belief akin to religion is most unwelcome for employers.

Unfortunately this was a mess waiting to happen following the poorly drafted 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations. The ambiguity in the law means that employers don't know who - or what - is protected from discrimination.

This ruling opens the door for abuse of the law and, regardless of whether the tribunal case is won or lost, raises the spectre of 'greenism' in the workplace.

Can an employee with strongly-held eco-beliefs refuse to fly on business, refuse to operate energy-guzzling equipment and expect abundant recycling facilities at work? And if the employer is not meeting his expectations does that amount to discrimination? It's one thing to ask not to be persecuted for your views, but quite another to rush to court when you feel they are not being taken seriously enough.

Taken to its fullest conclusion, the ruling may also mean that firms now have to think about environmental issues and sustainability in a different way, as to not risk 'upsetting' certain individuals. That would be a backward step.

And where does it stop? As one commentator pointed out, people live their lives in all kinds of ways that, at a push, could be argued to be a 'philosophical belief'. How long before we see claims for veganism, pacifism or socialism?

The weight of discrimination law is already a heavy burden on employers, this latest ruling makes that burden increasingly intolerable.