Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Letters

by Personnel Today 4 Sep 2001
by Personnel Today 4 Sep 2001

This week’s letters

Letter of the week
Evolution of the English language

Lyn Ferguson of Schuh asks when someone is going to champion the teaching of
correct grammar (Letters, 21 August). Perhaps that is the wrong question.

Current standards of English owe as much to environment as to education. At
my company we work with American-English computer software before going home to
surround ourselves with US television programmes, books and magazines. We eat
foods from many parts of the world and we have the good fortune to live in a
multi-racial and multi-lingual society. We allow consultants to rename
companies with artificial words such as Arriva, Kwik-fit or, dare I say it,
Schuh.

No wonder 21st century Britain is confused about correct English usage.

Perhaps we should follow the example of our forebears and accept that
English is, and always will be, a developing and evolving language. Let’s
develop and evolve with it.

David Dodds
Area HR operations manager,
Safeway Stores

Government role in cheap housing

I found the article "Skilled Staff Squeezed out of the South East"
(Analysis, 21 August) interesting and informative. For those companies that
have, or are considering implementing, a flexible benefits package, the forms of
subsidy or assistance with housing are worth considering.

From a corporate viewpoint, anything that helps to attract and retain staff
must be considered. From a macro-economic point of view, however, surely such
practices, should they become common, would fuel spiralling house prices still
further, thus exacerbating the North-South divide and, in the longer term,
making matters worse.

Surely the Government has a role to play here, by encouraging the building
of affordable housing and the movement of employment out of the South East.

I take issue with the comment from John Adsett regarding extending such
schemes to other areas with staff shortages. If a group of companies does not
have equitable policies throughout its various sites, staff dissent is invited.
If you do introduce a policy, do it globally. Take-up may well vary, especially
if it is as an alternative to another benefit, such as pensions contributions,
but you do not want to cause a benefit gap within your own corporation.

Ian Stain
HR consultant, Industry and Employee Services, Coventry

Scots’ water is a public concern

Readers in Scotland might have been confused by the frequent references to
"the company" in the Best Practice feature on East of Scotland Water
Authority (Personnel Today, 7 August).

ESW is a public water authority accountable to the Scottish Executive. It is
not a "company". Water and sewerage services in Scotland were saved
from privatisation thanks to the overwhelming support of the Scottish people.

Although we may differ over many aspects of the changes facing the industry,
staff and the public overwhelmingly share the Scottish Executive’s vision that
Scotland’s water should remain under public control.

Dave Watson
Scottish organiser (Utilities), Unison Scotland

Agencies have a function – to sell

I am constantly surprised by the lack of understanding of roles and
organisational emphasis shown by HR people.

Recent letters to Personnel Today complaining that neither HR departments
nor recruitment agencies "cared" about applicants for roles that they
were advertising or otherwise indicates, to me, a reason for not employing the
authors. They haven’t a clue about either the job they are applying for or the
role of one of their key groups of suppliers.

HR departments do perhaps "care", but the care they should exhibit
is for their employees, not for passing strangers who might want a job. I
suggest that applicants who want "care" should write to the marketing
department – it cares about customers.

As for recruitment agencies, their role is to sell. They are under constant
pressure to make more sales, not spend their time caring about the unemployed.
If you want care from a recruitment consultant make yourself highly saleable.

Get yourself a good qualification (or two), gain experience in some good
organisations, write it up well on a good CV showing your achievements and
stand back as they fight to sell you to their clients.

Les Simpson
Via e-mail

Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Companies do more ‘bullying’ harm than individuals, study finds
next post
Firms lack policies on flexible working

You may also like

Employees going into office just 1.5 days a...

15 Aug 2022

Barrister wins gender critical belief discrimination claim

27 Jul 2022

‘Patchy’ mental health services failing ethnic minority communities

11 Jul 2022

Global study highlights hypertension treatment failings

8 Jul 2022

NICE sets out new guideline on managing depression

8 Jul 2022

Half of employees struggle to switch off on...

8 Jul 2022

Five steps for organisations across the globe to...

8 Jun 2022

The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls

24 May 2022

Grants scheme set up to support women’s health...

16 May 2022

How music can help to ease anxiety at...

9 May 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+