The Government obsession with employee rights and the subsequent flood of
legislation is now taking its toll.
HR is understandably critical of the Government’s complex employment laws and
the straitjacket they find themselves in. But the profession ought to accept
some responsibility for this – after all, the HR community did have a say in
the consultation process in the early days of drafting this legislation.
Legions of employment lawyers and a wealth of resources are available as
guidance, but too many employers are reluctant to change traditional working
practices, and are making heavy weather of the new legal framework.
And left to their own devices, much of British industry would struggle to
conform to modern management practices, despite the weight of evidence that
it’s good for the bottom line.
Participation pays off
Reader interaction is vital to us at Personnel Today and last week our efforts
in this area were recognised by experts looking for editorial excellence in the
publishing industry. Personneltoday.com, was awarded Interactive Business
Magazine of the Year by the Periodical Publishers Association, beating six
other websites to this prestigious prize.
Such an accolade could not have been achieved without the fantastic support
and involvement of magazine readers and users of our site. At times, we have
been overwhelmed by your enthusiasm to participate in our surveys and competitions,
write letters for publication, attend conferences, enter the Personnel Today
Awards and to have a go at our regular self test quizzes.
More than 600 senior executives have joined our HR Directors Club in a bid
to find business inspiration and make the most of the peer to peer networking.
We suspect there are lots of other groups of readers out there who would like
similar opportunities to meet and share experiences at live events.
The levels of interactivity achieved so far reflect the dynamic nature of
the HR community and the desire to learn and change. It also supports our view
that delivering information to business audiences should not be a dry and
passive experience. Key to all this is a commitment to stay close to our
audience needs and respond accordingly. So a big thank you to everyone for your
interaction and for helping us develop this strategy.
By Jane King, editor
