Communicating effectively presents a problem for businesses of all shapes and sizes, from a tiny office with a handful of people to an international corporation with employees in the tens of thousands.

The effects of poor communication can affect every element of the businesses, with potentially disastrous results. At the very least, the resulting mistakes and misunderstandings will slow an operation down, and a particularly bad break in communication can be incredibly costly.

But alongside the more obvious problems relating directly to work operations, communication issues can cause a raft of other problems that, while more subtle and harder to detect, can be just as dangerous.

Poor communication can leave staff feeling neglected and isolated, creating a negative environment for the workforce and damaging morale. Sickness, absenteeism, low productivity and high staff turnover are recognised symptoms of disaffected staff. Worse still, the effect only grows more pronounced and harder to address as a company gets bigger. How can large organisations avoid this problem and effectively communicate when they may have hundreds or even thousands of employees spread across multiple locations?

Over 40 years ago, United Biscuits recognised the solution and developed its own live radio station for the factory floor, with astounding success.

UBN leads the way

Launched in 1970, United Biscuits Network (UBN) was a radio station broadcast for staff and hosted by professional DJs on-premises, including a young Dale Winton and Roger Scott among many others. In place of the advertising content on a normal radio show, the service played short information and training pieces about procedure and safety. Instead of the dull, utilitarian messages you might expect, these info pieces were usually full of jokes and riffs on popular culture and music, and proved to be popular enough that staff would even request their favourites.

Interactivity also played a key part in the show, and the factory employees were encouraged to get in touch with their song requests and messages such as birthdays, important announcements, and jokes, helping to build a stronger sense of community in the workplace.

The UBN radio station proved to be a huge success for the company and eventually expanded from two factories in London to other United Biscuits factories in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. The station is credited with drastically reducing staff turnover during its nine-year run.

While playing music and talk sections to keep staff motivated and entertained during their day definitely has its benefits, it is in the potential for interaction and communication that in-store media really shines. It is here that the value of creating a unique station like UBN over piping in an existing station becomes apparent.

Bridging the communication gap

A strong sense of teamwork and company loyalty can be even more important for staff’s morale than the work itself. A common barrier to achieving this is the “us and them” school of thought where staff members feel alienated from a particular group within the company, usually the management. This can be a serious problem anywhere, whether it’s a small shop, an industrial factory or a corporate office.

Leadership and corporate development specialist Brigitte Jaquillard also recognises the importance of interactive staff radio to motivate the workforce, which is exactly why we recently appointed her as an advisor on bringing interactive radio to large business workforces.

“Interactive staff radio is a great opportunity for breaking down walls and building bridges between staff and management, but it absolutely depends on how the management wants to play. It’s a chance for them to humanise themselves in the eyes of their employees, and the best way to achieve this is with a sense of humour,” explains Jaquillard.

“It’s very much what we’ve seen with the British Royal Family in recent months. As Prince Harry has travelled the world to strengthen diplomatic relations, he’s displayed an easy sense of fun and the ability to laugh at himself. He’s helped the family to climb down off their pedestal and communicate with real people, and there is a lot to be learned from the example.”

To refer back to the example of UBN, station manager Adrian Love has said they always aimed to be more like court jesters than the “voice of doom” traditionally associated with an official message from the company.

Alongside humanising them, it lets the company connect in a really up-to-date way that staff will be familiar with and more aligned to. Better yet it’s a fairly inexpensive approach, especially compared to publishing company bulletins, posters or magazines, which are much more likely to be ignored by staff in any case.The cost of poor communication although hidden, is high.

Perhaps most importantly of all however, it shows workers that the company is actually listening to them and taking their needs on-board.

Instead of talking at their staff they can communicate with them fully because the radio broadcast is two-way: it listens and responds to requests. It discusses topics that are relevant and from an inclusive perspective.

A lack of communication is one of the most commonly cited reasons for poor morale, and there are few greater opportunities to combat this than being able to speak directly to staff and encouraging them to communicate back. Further this approach scales up perfectly, allowing for better communication and connection across multiple work sites and even across the world.

I believe any company that takes staff morale seriously should be following the 40-year-old example of UBN and implementing their own interactive staff radio stations. With such a valuable morale and communication-boosting tool available, it would be a colossal waste to ignore it.

Bruno Brookes, CEO of Immedia Group PLC

As business becomes increasingly global, relocation and mobility are high on the agenda for many organisations. The winners of the annual Re:locate Awards, which recognise the specialist contribution of companies and individuals involved in relocation, were announced and presented with their trophies on Thursday 10 May 2012 at a champagne reception and gala dinner held at London’s Institute of Directors. Among the awards presented were Best Relocation Strategy/Policy and Inspirational HR Team of the Year.

In what was the best year yet for entries, all the available dinner tickets were sold well in advance, and there was a buzz of excitement as guests from across the relocation spectrum – including both HR professionals and suppliers – networked the night away and awaited the announcement of the winners. They were entertained and inspired by this year’s celebrity host and guest speaker, broadcaster and travel presenter Adrian Mills.

Speaking before the gala dinner, Fiona Murchie, managing editor of Re:locate, the magazine for HR professionals, global managers and relocation specialists, who established the Re:locate Awards in 2007, said, “This year’s record number of entries and huge increase in dinner bookings demonstrate that, as we had hoped, these awards have become the ultimate recognition of excellence in all aspects of relocation, both here in the UK and internationally. We had to make extra places available in order to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the gala dinner, but it was well worth it.”

The standard of entries has continued to rise. Explained Fiona Murchie, “As the judges said, there have been some stunningly impressive entries this year. It’s clear that, when compiling their submissions, entrants took inspiration from the judges’ comments on previous years’ winners. This is resulting in a year-on-year rise in standards, which means that the awards are truly promoting best practice.”

The winners

Between them, this year’s ten Re:locate Awards recognised individuals, teams, policy and innovation, with a choice of categories for HR and service providers. Entries were subjected to rigorous scrutiny by a team of independent judges.

The shortlist, which included companies and individuals from the UK and overseas, reflected the many different types of organisation involved in relocation, from HR people to specialist support providers of various kinds, including serviced apartment companies, removals experts and relocation management companies, all of which contribute a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Large companies like Crown Relocations, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cartus and Interdean were side by side with smaller ones.

Pricoa Relocation UK (now Brookfield Relocation Services) took the award for Best Relocation Strategy/Policy. The judges praised the company for its strategic approach to addressing the challenges presented to relocation by one of the biggest events in UK history, the London 2012 Olympic Games, and described its clear emphasis on cost control and non-profiteering as “helping to show the UK in a positive light”. As one judge said, “Pricoa appears to be setting industry standards here.”

Said Pricoa’s David Brady, “The Olympics are a great opportunity for Pricoa, and for London. Our win is all about teamwork: clients and suppliers, as well as our people, all pulling together.”

The award for Inspirational HR Team of the Yearwent to retailer John Lewis for its commitment to best practice in mobility across John Lewis and Waitrose, and, in particular, for its Branch of the Future change initiative,

which affected 3,300 employees. The judges called this “an inspirational example of how some of the most challenging of HR change management activities involving large-scale restructuring can be led and managed effectively, and a valuable message to others.”

Accepting the award on behalf of John Lewis, Claire Herbert said, “We try to do our best for our partners and the communities in which we trade. Thank you for this welcome recognition.”

It was not only larger organisations that tasted success. The Excellence in Employee & Family Support award, for example, went (for the second year running) to London-based FOCUS, whose small but dedicated team supports expatriates and their families living in the South East. Receiving the award, FOCUS’s Alessandra Gnudi commented, “The whole team is delighted to have won this award, particularly for the second time. We thank Re:locate for introducing a category that recognises the importance of the partner and family to a successful relocation.”

The award for Relocation Service Provider or Team of the Year was won by Interdean Relocation Services, while PricewaterhouseCoopers triumphed in the Technological Innovation in Relocation category for its TravelWatch system, which provides a comprehensive solution to the issue of business traveller tracking. The highlight of the evening was the announcement of Relocation Personality of the Year. To reflect the increasingly international scope of the Re:locate Awards and the exceptional calibre of the shortlist, the judges made two presentations. Joseph Morabito, of Paragon Global Resources, was named International Relocation Personality of the Year, while Margaret Moes, of Clearview Relocation, became UK Relocation Personality of the Year.

The Re:locate Awards 2011/12 were sponsored by Cartus, Interdean International Relocation, MoveAssist International, NatWest Global Employee Banking, Pro-Link GLOBAL, SIRVA Relocation and Weichert Relocation Resources. Beswick Relocation Services, Paragon Relocation, Pricoa Relocation and TEAM Relocations were Supporters, and the Association of Relocation Professionals (ARP), the British Association of Removers (BAR), the European Relocation Association (EuRA), FIDI Global Alliance, FOCUS and the Relocation Users Group (RUG) provided professional endorsements.

The Summer 2012 issue of Re:locate, to be published in June, will feature full details of the winners, with case studies.

Employee morale is undoubtedly a topic that peaks intense interest across a number of stakeholders: employees, HR professionals, management and potential recruits. Attracting and retaining top talent offers a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace; not to mention that it makes the work day all the more efficient, enjoyable and satisfying – no matter if your workplace is a factory, a warehouse, an office or your front sitting room.

Ensuring the morale of each of the individual employees within a firm is no mean feat. This is why it is important to place a key focus on ensuring that HR and, specifically, employee engagement is a core part of our strategy.

For anyone responsible for ensuring excellence in the workplace, it’s imperative to establish a meaningful employee engagement initiative to drive a business forward. But making sure that you get employee buy-in is essential when it comes to implementing these strategies. For any employee to engage with, rather than simply understand your company ethos a crucial next step is to hand responsibility back to your employees – empowering them to consider how they can carry code of conduct through their work.

Engaging team members with a multi-layered approach should involve communication and input that forms a two way street. It is a priority to inform, reinforce and reward actions that ensure every customer experience is outstanding. For any company this means viewing colleagues as valued customers who are deserving of the highest calibre of service. Certainly, our employees embrace the mantra – “People-Service-Profit” which is a philosophy designed to work as a continuous cycle. Each link upholds the next and is in turn supported by previous. Treat your people well and a better service will ensue. Consequently profit will follow and so the cycle continues. These three points are all integral to a company’s smooth running and will help define commercial aims – it has certainly played a part in our success.

Gaining employee feedback is also important, and by allowing team members to offer their suggestions as to how we can improve our customers experiences not only helps engage employees, but also improves the company service. All suggestions should be reviewed and assessed and is why we ensure that the dialogue between the assessor and the individual always remains open and visible. It’s important to offer multiple and diverse ways for any employee to engage with your business and allows them to make the most of their strengths and skill sets and make their mark on the company’s strategic direction.

Employers need to understand that team members hold a wide range of interests that extend beyond their job duties. Creating communities, both virtual and physical, enables teams to collaborate and share those interests with others in the organisation. This is especially important in a large company as it enables employees to build strong colleague relationships, which in turn enhances their job satisfaction – key for ensuring excellence in their day-to-day job.

Importantly, any channel, forum, training session, committee grouping and volunteer activity that become part of any HR and Employee Engagement plan must present team members with meaningful opportunities to expand their skill set, talent and passion.

Regardless of the size of a business, it’s vital that each and every employee feels valued and empowered to make positive contributions to the workplace and corporate culture remains at the very bedrock of a company’s success – shielding it from risks, elevating it to new levels of innovation and success and bolstering a productive workforce well aligned to achieving corporate excellence.
In short, employee productivity, skills, and attitude can make or break a company. If you hire the right employees, train them well, listen to what they have to say, good service will follow. By rewarding their productivity, your company will be on the way to building a successful business, and a more motivated one at that. ‘People-Service-Profit – that is what we all must remember.

Author

William Martin, Managing Director UK Operations, FedEx Express.

Apprenticeships are succeeding in improving the workplace inclusion of young people, a new survey suggests.

A poll of 5,000 apprentices found that almost nine in ten (89 per cent) were satisfied with their experience, rising to 92 per cent amongst those who stayed in the apprenticeship until its completion.

More importantly, apprenticeships appear to be helping young people to develop the skills they need to succeed in the workplace and climb the career ladder.

One third of those who had finished their apprenticeship had received a promotion, the survey revealed, and of those in work, three quarters reported taking on more responsibility in their job.

Eight out of ten apprentices polled said that the experience had improved their ability to do their job, provided them with sector-relevant skills and knowledge, and improved their career prospects.

The government’s skills minister John Hayes said the survey showed the value of offering high quality apprenticeship opportunities to young people.

“We are succeeding in making apprenticeships a gold standard option for ambitious young people and sending a crystal clear message that technical excellence is as essential and highly valued as academic prowess,” he commented.

Meanwhile, a second survey revealed that apprenticeships are similarly popular among employers.

Nine in ten (88 per cent) said they were satisfied with the apprenticeship scheme, while 85 per cent were satisfied with the quality of the training provided by their provider.

Nearly half (47 per cent) of employers had already recommended apprenticeships to other organisations.

David Way, chief executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, commented: “We are very pleased to see high levels of satisfaction amongst employers and apprentices in these surveys.

“These findings will inform our work as we continue to raise standards and focus on ensuring that all apprenticeships offer a good experience as well as encouraging more young people and employers of all sizes and sectors to engage.”

Laws requiring employers to protect staff from harassment by third parties could be removed from the Equality Act under government proposals.

The move forms part of plans to simplify laws governing equality in the workplace, which ministers claim will help to remove the burden of red tape on businesses.

Currently, under the Equality Act 2010, employers can be held liable if a third party harasses one of their employees and the organisation has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.

But in a public consultation launched this week, the government is proposing removing the third party harassment law from the Act, alongside proposals to streamline the employment tribunal process and reform the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Home secretary and minister for women and equalities Theresa May commented: “Bureaucracy and prescription are not routes to equality. Over-burdening businesses benefits no one, and real change doesn’t come from telling people what to do.

“Today’s announcement strikes the right balance between protecting people from discrimination and letting businesses get on with the job.”

However, Bar Huberman, employment law editor at XpertHR, warned that employers will still need to put in place measures to prevent third-party harassment even if the law is scrapped.

Speaking to Personnel Today, he commented: “While the government’s proposals to repeal the third-party harassment provisions under the Equality Act 2010 may be welcomed by some employers, there is still potential for employers to be liable where an employee is harassed by a third party, for example where the employer has control over the third party or the employee makes a personal injury claim.”

Other reforms being proposed by the government include the much-anticipated repealing of ‘socio-economic duty’ legislation, which requires public bodies to consider the affect policies would have on income inequality.

The government also plans to significantly slash the budget and workforce of the EHRC.

“Since its creation the Equality and Human Rights Commission has struggled to deliver across its remit and has not demonstrated good value for money,” said equalities minister Lynne Featherstone.

“Our reforms will provide it with a stronger focus and make it more accountable, helping it become the valued and respected national institution it was always intended to be.”

Unemployment fell by 45,000 over the three months to March, according to the latest labour market statistics. Youth unemployment went down by 18,000 while there was a second consecutive fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance – after 16 consecutive monthly rises.

However, the headline drop is said to reflect an increase in part-time working and some areas, such as North East and North West, continue to experience rising unemployment. There are said to be 1.4m people working part-time but want a full-time job, more than at any time since records began in 1992.

Tony Dolphin, chief economist at the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, said the figures reflected a labour market that was improving, albeit at a very modest pace.

“The fall in unemployment in the first three months of this year, compared to the last three months of 2011, is very welcome news. It suggests the current recession in the UK is likely to be a very mild one,” he said.

“However, there is still evidence of weakness in the labour market. The 105,000 increase in employment in the latest quarter was more than accounted for by part-time workers. The number in full-time employment fell by 13,000. There are now 1,418,000 people working part-time who say that they want a full-time job.”

Dolphin added: “Long-term unemployment increased again – to 887,000 – and is now at its highest level since 1996. More than a quarter of a million (265,000) young people (aged under 25) have been without a job for more than 12 months.”

Ian Brinkley, director at The Work Foundation, said that the latest figures were surprising but very welcome. He added that demands for further deregulation of the labour market to stimulate job generation had been shown to be unjustified, with private sector employers clearly feeling confident enough to hire in large numbers over the three months to March.

But he conceded that the overall numbers disguised some underlying weaknesses.

“The economy is still shedding full-time jobs, with all the increase accounted for by part-time work,” he said. “The latest figures confirm that underemployment is emerging as a significant problem in the UK labour market, with the number of people in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job up by 33 per cent over the past two years.”

Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said the figures raised half a cheer for the economy.

“Both headline unemployment measures are down, which is obviously good news,” he said, “but there’s bad news in the average earnings figures. Average earnings growth including bonuses has collapsed from 1.3 per cent to just 0.1 per cent. Excluding bonuses, average earnings growth stands at 2 per cent, which is way behind inflation. This means the real squeeze in household incomes continues to act as a dragging anchor on consumption and high street spending.”

Liam Byrne, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said that while any increase in employment was welcome, it was “really worrying” to see the number of long-term unemployed “surge” towards 1m.

“Long term youth unemployment is twice the level of last year and the overall claimant count is 100,000 higher than last year,” he said. “More worrying for the outlook is that the number of redundancies has surged to 50,000 more than last year and the number of vacancies is down by over 10,000. People in Britain are fighting through and this government is failing to lift a finger to help.”

The latest unemployment figures by region are:
North East: 148,000 (+ 6,000) 11.5 per cent
London: 426,000 (-1,000) 10.1 per cent
North West: 329,000 (+ 11,000) 9.6 per cent
Yorkshire / Humber: 241,000 (- 24,000) 9 per cent
Wales: 132,000 (- 1,000) 9 per cent
West Midlands: 228,000 (- 19,000) 8.5 per cent
Scotland: 221,000 (- 10,000) 8.2 per cent
East Midlands: 182,000 (- 6,000) 7.8 per cent
East: 207,000 (- 6,000) 6.7 per cent
N Ireland: 57,000 (- 5,000) 6.7 per cent
South West: 175,000 (+ 10,000) 6.5 per cent
South East: 279,000 (+ 1,000) 6.2 per cent

Sickness absence rates in 2011 were 26% less than in 1993, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, which also revealed that 131 million days were lost due to sickness absences in the UK in 2011, down from 178 million days in 1993.

The figures, which include employees and self-employed, aged 16+, revealed the number of days lost through sickness absences remained constant through the 1990s until 2003 and has fallen since then.

It shows that, in 1993, around 7.2 days were lost (or around a week-and-a-half based on a five-day week), which by 2011 had fallen to less than a week (or 4.5 days).

The most common reason given for sickness in 2011 was minor illnesses such as coughs, colds and flu, with the greatest number of days lost due to musculoskeletal problems. This accounted for just over a quarter of all days lost or 34.4 million days. Around 27.5 million days were lost due to minor illnesses and 13.1 million days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety.

Women have consistently higher sickness absence rates than men but both sexes have seen a fall over the past 20 years. Men have gone from losing around 2.5% of their hours due to sickness in 1993 to around 1.5% in 2011. Over the same period women have seen a reduction from 3.3% to 2.3%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, sickness absence rates are shown to increase with age. For workers aged between 16 and 34 around 1.5% of hours were lost to sickness in 2011 compared with around 2.5% of hours lost for workers aged 50 to 64.

Commenting on the report, Diane Buckley, Managing Director of Legal & General Group Protection, said:

“It is encouraging that the number of working days lost due to sickness is decreasing. A big part of that will be employers taking action early to ensure that the right support is there to help their employees back to work”.

However, TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said the figures underlie a growing trend of presenteeism with workers coming into work even when they are ill.

He said:

“Presenteeism can multiply problems by making someone ill for longer and spreading germs around the workplace.

“Today’s figures also show that the biggest causes of long-term sickness absence are musculoskeletal disorders and stress. Both of these are often as a result of a person’s work.

“Employers need to look at their working practices and see whether they can be changed to prevent ill health, rather than try to blame workers for falling sick, which serves no good to anyone.”

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has today announced a new initiative that supports women and men looking to return to work after time away to care for their family. Individuals who have been absent from the workplace for three or more years are being offered the opportunity to benefit from BofA Merrill’s ‘Returning Talent’ programme.

Michelle Fullerton, head of Diversity and Inclusion for Europe and Emerging Markets (ex-Asia) at BofA Merrill, who is spearheading the initiative, says, “As an employer of choice and recognised as one of The Times’ Top 50 Employers for Women, we are keen to ensure we attract, retain and develop talented individuals. We recognise that choosing to have a family is a very important stage in a person’s life, and that some decide to take time away from work to focus completely on caring for their family.”

During the inaugural year of the programme, 20 places are available for individuals to participate in three, one day workshops (scheduled around childcare), executive coaching and access to employees and experts from BofA Merrill. At the end of the programme, it is anticipated that participants will feel better prepared and confident to re-enter the world of work, either at BofA Merrill or at another organisation.

‘Returning Talent’ is being delivered in partnership with the Executive Coaching Consultancy – the company that currently delivers maternity coaching workshops and individual coaching sessions to the bank’s employees and their managers – and the Mumsnet Family Friendly programme which develops and promotes family-friendly practices in business. The workshops will take place in June at the bank’s London offices. Interested parties are asked to complete an application form which can be accessed here. Successful applicants will be notified by 6 June.

Fullerton concluded, “Above all, our company is about people. A philosophy of inclusion drives us every day and helps us all to succeed in a diverse, global marketplace. Through ‘Returning Talent’, we are demonstrating that Bank of America Merrill Lynch is an attractive organisation for prospective employees and clients – a place where people want to work.”

NorthgateArinso (NGA) today announced two major new partnerships to further enhance the job aggregation and CV parsing capabilities of its award-winning HR SaaS solution, euHReka. The partnerships will allow euHReka customers to directly publish job opportunities on thousands of job boards connected via Data Frenzy, and to import CVs in a structured format into euHReka, using Daxtra technology. Both partnerships are facilitated through euHReka’s Inclusion Framework – NGA’s Cloud Services Broker solution, which provides a standard, reliable gateway to critical HR resources and content by simplifying and accelerating collaboration and integration.

California-based Data Frenzy joins the euHReka Inclusion Framework to provide specialist tools in terms of job aggregation, managing and promoting opportunities across job boards globally. Current clients include the world’s largest staffing firms.

Keith Duarte, CEO of Data Frenzy states: “The greatest value of the Data Frenzy service is realized when integrated with the software platform that hosts job requisitions and candidates. The integration with euHReka offers clients the opportunity to connect their internal systems with external applicant sources. The euHReka Inclusion Framework was designed using the newest in technologies, providing the ability to connect with external applicant sources in real-time, which helps to decrease time to hire. With this partnership, Data Frenzy hopes to incorporate our platform into the native euHReka platform of all clients and drive efficiencies in staffing and recruiting.”

UK-based Daxtra brings extensive experience in CV parsing, converting free-form CV text into structured information suitable for storage, reporting and analyzing using a computer. Headquartered in the UK with offices in Edinburgh, London, Richmond VA and Hong Kong, its products are used by thousands of recruiters worldwide every day to help refine candidate searches.

“Daxtra is delighted to bring our multilingual CV parsing technology to the euHReka user base. The service is designed to reduce administrative overhead by eliminating manual data-entry during the applicant registration process, while providing rich, structured information from CVs written in various languages”, said Sergei Makhmodov, Commercial Director at Daxtra Technologies. “Partnering with NorthgateArinso will serve as a great vehicle to further promote both our companies’ solutions across multiple global territories.”

Eric Delafortrie from NGA said, “The value of the euHReka platform is not just in the industry-leading HR SaaS platform it provides but as a Cloud Services Broker (CSB) for critical HR resources and services – whether it’s across one, two or fifty countries. Both Data Frenzy and Daxtra have proven track records for expertise within their own specialist areas, and their inclusion will allow businesses tap into some of the most exciting, transformational HR tools in the industry.”

NGA will continue to develop partnerships with other leading solutions providers to manage a range of complementary HR services as part of the Inclusion Framework. Services from the new partners on the euHReka Inclusion framework will be activated into service to new and existing euHReka users and customers starting May 15, 2012.

Hargreaves Lansdown Corporate Solutions, the workplace savings provider and adviser, announces a new strategic alliance with Staffcare, the employee benefits software company.

Hargreaves Lansdown has licensed Staffcare’s software to enhance its Corporate Wrap proposition and functionality and provide total reward statements, flexible benefits and auto-enrolment administration facilities. The result will be the UK’s first fully integrated corporate wrap and flexible benefits solution.

Alex Davies, Managing Director of Hargreaves Lansdown Corporate and Pensions, says: Our Corporate Wrap offers employees an alternative to traditional company pensions and is gaining considerable traction in the market. 39 companies are now live. The additional functionality we can now deliver as a result of licensing Staffcare’s software gives it even more of a competitive edge.”

Hargreaves Lansdown has hired people into its corporate team with extensive experience, including Jeff Fox and Steve Briggs, both of whom have previously used Staffcare’s software and implemented some of the largest reward communication and flexible benefit schemes in the UK.

Alex Davies goes on to say “After an extensive review of the benefit platforms available, we believe Staffcare is the clear leader. Its continually developed software and its new auto-enrolment service in particular will be a core part of our workplace savings proposition.”

“We are delighted to be working with Hargreaves Lansdown”, says Phil Hollingdale, Staffcare Founder and CEO. “Their platform is a clear leader in the market and having worked closely with the team at Hargreaves Lansdown for some time I have every confidence they will quickly position themselves as a dominant player in the corporate space. They have great software themselves and we believe working together we will secure significant market share. Platforms will become a necessity to support new auto-enrolment regulation and to satisfy the demand of internet savvy users in the workplace who want an engaging online experience.”

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has urged managers to use Learning at Work Day, tomorrow (17 May), as a spur to accelerate their professional development.

Petra Wilton, Director of Policy and Research, says: “Our latest research shows that on-the-job learning is the most common form of management development, but it is not always as effective as it could be. Fifty-two per cent of managers say they have undertaken on-the-job learning in the last three years – yet fewer than half of those rate it as one of the most effective development routes.

“This is the perfect time for managers to think about how they can make more out their learning at work. One practical step is to make time during the week to reflect on new experiences. Thinking back over a key meeting can help you better understand the experience and make you better prepared for the next one. What worked well, or not so well? Why?

“Our research shows that many CEOs and senior managers wish they had access to coaching earlier in their careers. So another valuable step might be to find a coach to help you develop in a particular area, such as improving your strategic thinking.”

Employers also have an important role. Wilton adds: “Employers have to encourage a culture of learning and support it with resources such as e-learning, professional memberships, or forums to facilitate knowledge sharing, collaboration and debate. They can build coaching capability with ‘leader as coach’ programmes and accreditation. Employers can also encourage managers to participate in external networks such as professional bodies or trade associations.”

New visual tools leverage crowdsourced recognition for actionable insight on employee performance and culture

Globoforce, the world’s leading provider of employee recognition solutions, today announced Talent Maps, the industry’s first and only solution that connects employee recognition data with employee performance data. The new tool helps HR and business leaders more effectively manage their talent and culture by leveraging crowdsourced recognition and feedback. With this new level of insight, managers finally have the ongoing data to fill the void in traditional performance reviews.

Annual performance reviews have long come under criticism for their infrequency and single viewpoint about employee performance. With Talent Maps, business and HR leaders now have an easier, more effective way to evaluate their global talent. Through data populated by peer-to-peer recognition across the company, HR and business leaders can see firsthand who the top performers and influencers are within teams, departments, and the company. This knowledge and data can be used to identify high potential, high performance individuals for succession planning, flight risk assessment, and leadership development. In addition, managers gain actionable data for more effective day-to-day team management and individual performance assessment.

“Social recognition is the next big disruptor within HR,” said Grant Beckett, vice president of product for Globoforce. “Its high levels of adoption across an entire workforce make it the ideal way to evaluate employee performance and influence. With Talent Maps, we take this crowdsourced feedback data and plot it against performance appraisal ratings. Combining these two data points delivers a level of insight about a company’s talent that has never been available in an HR system before.”

According to Gartner’s recent report, 2012 Strategic Road Map for Employee Performance Management, social recognition programmes can help improve performance while decreasing reliance solely on manager and executive feedback. In the report, Gartner Managing Vice President Jim Holincheck writes that “Leading organisations will start to move toward more bottom-up feedback, recognition and rewards.” Managers can see the level of frequency of recognition and performance feedback for individual employees. As a result, “Senior executives can use this data to see if manager performance decisions align with what co-workers indicate through their actions.”

“Our recognition programme with Globoforce is one of the critical programmes we use to drive employee engagement and elevate business performance,” said Amy Montefinese, vice president, global total rewards and human resources operations at Premier Farnell. “Now, we will have a way to translate our recognition awards into actionable data to ensure our top performers and high potential employees are being recognised. By aligning recognition awards against performance review ratings, we will also be able to ensure our pay for performance philosophy is consistently executed across our global business.”

With Globoforce’s Talent Maps, HR and business leaders can also:
• Assess company and individual department alignment to company values, showing how “everyday” behaviours impact business and cultural goals
• Provide managers with an easy-to-use tool that visually maps out individual and team performance while highlighting hidden talent
• Leverage the data from ongoing social recognition programmes to show which employees are driving the business forward

Below is a sample of commentary from the HR analyst community about this launch:

“HR leaders have long needed a better way to understand the true performance of individual employees and teams. Globoforce addresses this need with its latest release. Through its social DNA, intuitive reporting, and performance alignment, peer recognition can play a significant role in talent and performance management. The next couple of years will be fun to watch as social recognition fully enters the stage of must-have HR technologies.”

- Jason Averbook, CEO and co-founder, Knowledge Infusion

“Performance management is only as good as its data. With this release, Globoforce uses recognition as the central data component for performance and potential indicators. The result is a useful, compelling data set of organisational relationships and performance assessments that are created in the context of getting work done. By further leveraging this data into performance reviews, business and HR leaders will be able to align ratings with the performance and behaviours that everyone across the organisation recognises on a daily basis.”

- Yvette Cameron, vice president and principal analyst, Constellation Research

“Social recognition is offering a new vantage point on employee engagement and workforce performance. As companies strive to identify high-potential, high-performance individuals, recognition data offers one of the most compelling use cases I’ve seen in HR. This is a burgeoning new technology development that will reshape performance management over the next three to five years, giving HR leaders the insight about their talent they have long sought.”

- Jim Holincheck, managing vice president, Gartner Inc.

“Organisations are hungry for the data that will help them make better decisions about every aspect of their business, and employee performance management is mission critical. Globoforce’s Talent Maps not only provides multiple streams of actionable data to manage individual performance, it also provides the organisation with a cultural diagnostic that gives visibility into engagement, goal alignment, and the informal networks that drive organisational change and results.”

- Mollie Lombardi, research director, HCM, Aberdeen Group

About Globoforce

Founded in 1999, Globoforce is the world’s leading provider of employee recognition solutions. Through its social, mobile, and global technology, Globoforce helps HR and business leaders elevate employee engagement, increase employee retention, manage company culture, and discover actionable insight about their talent. Today, employees across the world are living their company values and achieving peak performance through the SaaS-based Globoforce platform. A private corporation, Globoforce is co-headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland.

Sodexo Motivation Solutions, a leading provider of employee benefits and childcare vouchers, is calling on the Government to extend childcare vouchers to self-employed parents in order to help self-employed and start-up businesses. With the Government looking to entrepreneurs to pave the way towards revitalizing the economy, Sodexo Motivation Solutions believes that this tax free salary sacrifice scheme should be available to all working parents, including the self-employed.

The childcare voucher schemes that are currently available through most employers allow parents to save significant amounts of money each year on childcare for children up to the age of 15. The vouchers can be used to pay for all or part of the costs of any registered childcare provider that the parents choose to use, as well as holiday camps and after school clubs. If both working parents participate in the scheme, they can save up to approximately £1,866 a year.

Sodexo Motivation Solutions’ managing director, Iain McMath said:
“It is a pity that the Government has made no indication that it will be making this tremendously helpful scheme available to all working parents. There are more new startups during this recession than at any other time. Based on official statistics, in the spring of 2010 self-employment was higher than at the start of the recession in 2008 and by the autumn of 2011 had reached a record level of 4.14 million (14.2% of total employment).

With the rising costs of childcare hitting families hard the Government needs to be supporting this group, which it views as central to economic recovery, with as much help as possible. Offering childcare vouchers would be a relatively small investment, yet has the potential of making a huge difference. “

The Government has claimed that the latest jobless figures that show a rise in employment is a welcome step in the right direction, but employment experts argue it in fact underlies an employment situation that is worse than at any point in at least the past two decades.

According to the Office for National Statistics employment is up 105,000 to 29.23 million, complemented by another fall in unemployment, down by 45,000 on the quarter, to 2.63 million.

There has also been a fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, down 13,700 between March and April 2012. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds who have left full-time education and are seeking work is now 707,000, down 24,000 on the quarter. The number of full-time students looking for a job is 314,000. This comes at the same time as the Department for Work and Pensions releases figures showing almost 50,000 18 to 24 year olds have undertaken a work experience placement since January 2011.

Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, said:

“These figures are a welcome step in the right direction. For a number of months now employment has been growing and this is starting to feed through into improving unemployment figures. However, we still face significant international uncertainty so we need to hold firm on our current economic strategy and continue to do everything we can to ensure unemployment continues to fall.”

However, according to Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), these “odd figures” are explained by a surge in part-time odd jobbing.

He said:

“While optimists might conclude that this casts doubt on the reliability of the most recent official GDP growth figures, a more sober assessment is that a very weak economy is managing to keep unemployment in check only by maintaining a severe squeeze on the size of pay packets and creating enough low productivity work to allow people to avoid the dole by doing the odd part-time job here and there, either as employees or on a casual self-employed basis.

“While a weak double dip labour market might be able to sustain enough odd jobbing to prevent unemployment hitting the three million mark, the combination of a growing army of underemployed odd jobbers, 2.63 million people unemployed and pay rises still lagging well behind price inflation suggests that the underlying employment situation is worse than at any point in at least the past two decades.”

Added Gagandeep Prasad, Associate at Charles Russell LLP:

“It is important to remember that this is a small decrease in a relatively large unemployment figure and that certain sections of society, such as the young and those working in the public sector (many of whom are women), still face a challenging employment environment. It is hoped by some that the planned changes to parental leave announced in the Queen’s Speech last week (that both parents may share parenting responsibility and balance work and family commitments) will help to address this. However, it remains to be seen whether, in reality, fathers will actually take shared parental leave and risk being seen to be less committed to work in the current climate.”

As the university year draws to a close, a promising new survey, from CareerBuilder.co.uk, shows university graduates can expect up to 20% higher starting salaries than they did in 2011. Finding that dream role could be less demanding too with 17% of employers saying they are planning to recruit more graduates this year than last.

Six in ten employers are planning to hire new graduates this year and more than half (53% ) plan to hire up to 10 graduates while 29% are planning on taking on 11 to 50.

“It is encouraging to see that the majority of employers plan to add recent university graduates to their companies this year,” said Tony Roy, President of CareerBuilder EMEA.

“Employers across the UK are placing a strong emphasis on recruiting fresh talent for positions designed to drive revenue – and in certain areas — they’re willing to pay more for high-skill, educated labour.”

The online job site surveyed 100 employers across the UK and companies that are particularly keen to recruit recent university graduates include Information Technology (37%), Sales (28%), Business Development (27%) and Marketing (25%).

Employers are looking for a variety of skills from recent university graduates but strong written and verbal communications top the list with 65% of employers looking for these followed by technical skills (42%) and Math skills(40%).

Tony Roy has some top tips to share with new graduates:

• You may have more experience than you realise – While recent university grads are likely to highlight internships and part-time jobs on their CVs, they may not know that many employers will consider course work (43 %), managing activities in university clubs and societies (42%), volunteer work (40%) and part-time work in another area or field (40%) as relevant experience.

• Make social media your friend, not foe – One in ten employers (13%) would also consider social media (personal or school-related blogs, social networking pages) to qualify as relevant experience. However, before you start to apply for positions, remove any photos, content and links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes.

• Be respectful of the interviewer’s time – More than half of employers (57%) reported that the recent university graduate acted bored during the interview while nearly half (48%) said the graduate came to the interview with no questions about the company. Forty-two per cent of employers reported a recent university graduate did not turn his/her mobile phone off during a job interview. It’s important to show enthusiasm for the job, arrive prepared and leave the mobile phone at home.

A new Code of Conduct on the charges made on workplace pensions could help employers choose the best pension for their staff, a wide-ranging group said today.

The group is developing an industry-wide Code which ensures all charges on ‘defined contribution’ pensions are clearly and accurately stated in writing before an employer picks a pension scheme.

The new Code could help employers who are new to pensions to secure the best deal when they start complying with rules to automatically enrol their staff into a pension.

Today the group, which was formed by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), launched a public consultation seeking views on the parameters of the Code. Feedback will help generate the final Code of Conduct, to be launched in late summer.

There are currently big gaps in regulation and practice which make it difficult for employers to compare charges between pension schemes and to assess value for money.

Joanne Segars, Chief Executive of the NAPF, said:

“We need to boost faith in pensions, but charges are a big concern for many people and often the information on offer is unclear. People need to see what is being charged and why, and in a language they understand. This Code could really flush out the detail on charges by making sure that the fine print gets magnified.
“Auto-enrolment is just around the corner and many businesses will be looking at pensions for the first time. This Code will help employers make the right pension choice for their staff. Greater clarity will make it much more likely people will stick with their new workplace pension if their employer has banked them the best deal possible.”

The working group that launched the consultation is made up of employer representatives, pension industry leaders, union and consumer groups, major employers, and pension providers.

Steve Gay, Director of Life, Savings and Protection at the ABI (Association of British Insurers), said:
“We are a nation of under-savers and this must change. We must do more to help people understand the importance of financial planning to secure a decent income in later life. Making pension charges more transparent is a building block in helping customers make the right decisions about their future.
“Employers choosing a pension for the first time need support and guidance to understand the impact of charges on their employees’ pension pots, especially where they don’t have professional advice. A Code could help to achieve this. This consultation will help us test the practicability of the proposals with our members and employers.”

Jamie Fiveash, Director of Customer Solutions at B&CE, said:
“Charges across pension schemes are horrendously complicated and diverse. There’re no consistent regulations which govern annual management charges (AMCs), which are often quoted as the scheme or sole charge, but can just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of total charges suffered. Schemes having a mixture of percentage AMCs, initial charges and flat rate administration charges means it’s extremely difficult for consumers to make comparisons and understand what they’re being charged. B&CE fully supports the new code that aims to ensure consistency of disclosure and communication, to aid employers with comparison and increase consumer confidence in pensions at this critical time with auto-enrolment on the horizon.”

Pierre Williams, spokesman for the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) said:
“Confidence in private sector pensions has plummeted in recent years despite the growing need for all of us to save more for retirement. A great deal of that loss of confidence stems from the often opaque charges levied on pension holders. Ensuring these charges are not only fair and reasonable but also clearly defined in plain English, is vital to restore lost confidence.”

Jonathan Lipkin, Head of Research and Pensions at the IMA (Investment Management Association) said:
“We’re pleased that the different parts of the pensions industry have come together to discuss how to help employers understand the nature of the scheme choices available, and the associated costs. Charges are of considerable importance, but so too is the nature of what is on offer for any given price. Employers need to feel confident that they have secured the best overall scheme arrangement for their employees. Once finalised, we hope that this Code will facilitate the process.”

Helen Dean, Managing Director, Scheme Development at NEST said:
“NEST welcomes and supports the aims of the consultation into pension charges.
“Pension charges should be transparent and explained in ways that both employers and consumers can understand. It is important to employers that their workers can understand what they’re being charged, why, and the potential impact on their final pot, particularly when these workers are being automatically enrolled.
“It should be easy for consumers, and their employers, to compare the charges of different schemes.”

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, said:
“This is an important contribution to opening up the mysterious world of pensions charging. Selling pensions to employers for auto-enrolment is about the only unregulated pension sale allowed, and anything that can help employees and employers work out whether they are getting a good deal is a step forward.”

Richard Lloyd, Executive Director of Which?, said:
“All automatic enrolment pension schemes must offer good value for money. It is important that employers can compare like with like and be able to easily identify the best value scheme for their employees.
“Alongside greater transparency, we want clearly defined minimum standards to protect consumers from being automatically enrolled into poor value schemes.”

Current regulation requires contract-based defined contribution pension schemes to offer information to members about charges, but the same requirements do not apply at the point employers pick pension schemes for their employees.

EnergiseYou, the leading expert in employee wellbeing, has launched a new online health & energy check. The short questionnaire is free for employees to fill in and has been designed in order to give them an energy health check so that they can maximise their energy and performance.

To access the new energiseYou energy check the website. Everyone who completes the questionnaire will receive immediate feedback on areas they need to work on to increase their energy and improve performance.

The energy check focuses on the energiseYou seven habits for health, energy, happiness and performance. It is based on a simple approach to mind management and resilience, nutrition, exercise, sleep, re-energising staff, smart computer use and work-life balance

Oliver Gray, Managing Director of energiseYou, says, “We know from our work with thousands of employees that individuals with high energy perform better, are happier, achieve more and they are more successful. They are also much sharper, quicker and creative. However, very few of us manage to achieve high energy all of the time.

“Increasingly companies find their employees are working longer and more intense hours, this eventually becomes unsustainable and leads to poor performance, and an increase in staff absence and turnover. The energiseYou energy check will enable employees to identify areas they need to work on to increase their energy and improve performance.”

Global Action Plan found out that 69% of businesses in the capital believe that the games will cause significant or medium travel disruption and have published a ten-point plan to help businesses improve efficiency, save money and reduce environmental impact.

The reasearch showed that 69% of businesses in the capital believe that the games will cause significant or medium travel disruption, yet fewer businesses have a plan for how to respond. Global Action Plan has published a ten-point plan to help businesses improve efficiency, save money and reduce environmental impact.

Global Action Plan researchers found out that 41% of research respondents do not have a strategic approach to cutting travel costs and emissions. With the games set to impose difficulties in staff getting to and from work, delivering supplies and meeting with clients, the event presents a golden opportunity to change travel behaviour, even after the games.

The capital and businesses will have to deal with unprecedented travel demand: 5.3 million expected visitors will likely create 855,000 games-related trips . Yet businesses face barriers in creating better travel plans, which include inadequate technology and lack of senior leadership. Global Action Plan’s report, the result of nine months of research, shows that through innovative approaches to travel, businesses have the opportunity to change people’s work and travel patterns, improving their bottom line and helping them cut carbon emissions.

The Global Action Plan report reveals that
• 66% of companies are assessing the option of flexible working; however only 25% are looking to ensure IT systems are prepped for this challenge
• Only 17% of companies in London indicated that they would use the games as an opportunity to change employee travel habits
• Very few organisations have tried to actively engage their employees to reduce travel: 76% have never tried using incentives and 80% have never tried carbon budgets
• Among large organisations, only 13% are significantly collaborating with suppliers to reduce travel
• Only 57% of organisations provide time and carbon comparisons to their employees, which would enable them to make informed travel choices
Global Action Plan CEO Trewin Restorick said:
“UK businesses spend £17.5 billion per year on business travel , and that’s escalating all the time. Yet 76% of companies have never tried even simple incentives to reduce travel. Improving travel efficiency will save businesses money and increase competitiveness. The Olympics are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to encourage employees to travel differently.”

… or risk losing out when the job market improves.

Financial services firms need to adopt a different approach to their graduates’ careers or risk the sector’s current talent shortage growing further. This is according to a new PwC survey of graduates working in financial services, which revealed a significant gap between what graduates currently working in the sector expect from their careers and employers and their actual experience.

The research found that over half (55%) of the respondents made compromises when accepting a job during the downturn, which is likely to mean that as job opportunities increase with economic recovery, many graduates will be assessing whether their employers are acting on their promises. Worryingly for the insurance sector, 45% of those surveyed who were working in the sector said their decision to take their current role was primarily down to their pressing need for a job.

Employers who fail to invest in this group and adapt their recruitment, retention and development programmes accordingly are likely to see less loyalty. The research shows that nearly half (48%) of millennials working in financial services (the group of graduates born between 1980 and 2000) are already actively looking for new opportunities and 42% are open to offers. Only 10% of those surveyed said they were planning to stay in their current role for the long term. This means financial services companies will have to work harder than ever to retain the talent needed for their future growth plans.

Jon Terry, partner, PwC, said:
“Financial services companies are already finding it hard to keep younger workers and this is likely to become even tougher as the job market starts to improve. This generation of graduates demand a different approach to recruitment, retention, management and development, which organisations simply can’t afford to ignore. If companies fail to invest in trying to understand what drives this group, they face the real risk of losing large numbers of them to other companies when the job market picks up.

“Carrying on with the same approach to recruitment and retention is no longer an option. Millennials want more than ‘just a job’. They expect a varied and interesting career, constant feedback and the opportunity to progress quickly. Their high expectations mean that companies might find it harder than ever to keep their best talent if they don’t adapt their approaches to their development appropriately.”

A shortage of talent is becoming a major business issue – according to recent PwC research among 368 financial services CEOs, around a quarter (25%) said they had to cancel or delay a key strategic initiative over the past 12 months because the right people weren’t available to execute it. With 40% of the CEOs surveyed saying they think it will only get harder to hire good people in the future, due to the limited supply of appropriate talent, this underlines the need for firms to focus hard on appropriate approaches to the millennial group.

The reputation of financial services has suffered due to the financial crisis, with 21% of respondents saying they would rather not work in the sector. The millennial generation are extremely conscious of a company’s reputation, with 61% of respondents saying they actively seek out employers whose corporate social responsibility values reflect their own. People working in the insurance sector seem to be particularly reputation-conscious, with 76% saying they would leave an employer whose behaviour no longer met their standards.

Jon Terry, partner, PwC, said:
“Financial services companies might have a tougher time competing against other industries for the reputation-conscious millennial generation, whose experience and expectations have been marred by the financial crisis. This generation of graduates actively seek out employers whose values reflect their own, so the sector’s ability to restore trust and re-engage with society will be critical in attracting the best talent from current and future graduates.”

Leading IT resourcing company Metaskil today reveals that 1 in 2 senior IT roles are secured via a word of mouth recommendation. The findings, from the firm’s recent survey of over 100 of its registered high calibre IT candidates, also revealed that 27% of those surveyed usually rely on a job board application to obtain their next role and 19% rely solely on a recruitment agency to source roles.

The survey aimed to identify how candidates look for their next interim position, what job boards they use and the impact of social media in looking for their next role. Just over 90% of respondents had set up a LinkedIn account, but surprisingly only 3% cited LinkedIn as their preferred method of sourcing their next job.

When questioned about candidates’ use of job boards, Jobserve proved the most popular with almost one third of candidates (31%) confirming it is their first port of call when looking for roles on-line. CW Jobs and Jobsite were the second most popular, both with 13%, with Monster.co.uk the preferred option for 8% closely followed by IT Job Board on 7%.

Richard Smith resourcing manager at Metaskil says:
“It is unsurprising that for many high calibre candidates personal recommendations are the way that most secure their next role in IT. Our candidates are of the highest quality and therefore are likely to have a network of individuals already within the sector willing to vouch for their capabilities. However, one thing all our respondents have in common is that they are combining this network with our own by registering with us to help them to find work. Clearly good old word of mouth and the recruitment consultant still play a major part when people are looking for work and the most sensible candidates use a variety of sources both new and old to try and secure the best role for them.”

Smith continues:
“Whilst Social Media plays a big part in everyone’s life these days, it is interesting to see that a significant number of jobseekers have a LinkedIn account, but a very small minority utilise this when looking for their next job. Although relied upon by a minority at the moment social media still has a part to play for those searching for jobs in high-level IT and it will be interesting to see if this channel develops in years to come.”