UnPlugged

I define a High Performance organisation as follows: ‘A High Performance organisation is an organisation that achieves financial and non-financial results that are exceedingly better than those of its peer group over a period of time of five years or more, by focusing in a disciplined way on that what really matters to the organisation’.

Some businesses have spent considerable amounts of money consulting external advisors in a bid to identify ways to be more efficient and to generate more profit when the best resource, the workforce, is right under their nose. Similarly, human resource departments can spend countless hours cultivating a happy workforce. Management and HR could, however, team up and create ‘employee idea sharing schemes’. The benefits are twofold; the ideas will make a business more efficient while the process engages the employees, raising morale and encouraging loyalty.

Dismissing people without fear of an unfair dismissal claim just became easier. Employees now need two years’ continuous employment before they qualify to make a claim. So, a huge collective sigh in the business world; no need to worry about pay outs; no need to follow a pesky process which takes time; no need to carry out investigations; no time consuming preparations for tribunals; firm decision making by bold , incisive management and move on. Is it really that simple? Perhaps not, as a little knowledge can be dangerous.

It’s over a year since the publication of Lord Davies’ report on gender diversity in UK boardrooms, and although some progress has been made, a lot more can be achieved. The number of women reaching the top is still very small – significantly less than 20% are getting into board positions globally. Ashridge research, Understanding Women’s Careers, looked at what is blocking women’s path to the top and which factors help to build careers. It showed that despite policies and practices in place to support women, organisational attitudes are still hampering career progress. However, there is plenty that HR can do on a practical and cultural level so that women get their seat at the top table.

Divorce, unlike death, is seen as a failure. The level of compassion and understanding regarding divorce isn’t always as apparent compared to someone who’s in mourning. However, divorce is one of those ‘crises’ that can completely knock an employee down. This is where you, as an HR professional, come in.

Video games have changed the way we play; they’re now set to change working life as well. If you don’t already know what a strong hold games have on contemporary culture, it’s time to find out. Here’s one measure: video games are now bigger than Hollywood.

In a recent speech Nick Clegg said that the government wanted to examine the option of extending flexible working beyond mums and dads. He talked about extending flexible leave to grandparents or close family friends in order to make it ‘much more common – a cultural norm’.

An inadequate or unfairly conducted investigation can taint the whole disciplinary process and render a dismissal unfair. It could even encourage an employment tribunal to draw an inference of discrimination in some circumstances.

The Pensions Bill has passed its way through Parliament, resulting in the State Pension age now moving closer to beyond 65 years of age. But, despite a greater likelihood of a more experienced workforce, research has shown that older workers are often not being used to their full potential when it comes to passing on knowledge, experience and training to their younger colleagues.

The tax and NIC savings of salary sacrifice have grown in popularity over the last few years. The January 2012 decision of the First Tier Tribunal in Reed Employment plc v HMRC has highlighted the need for salary sacrifice arrangements to be effective in the eyes of HMRC if they are to deliver the intended tax and National Insurance (NIC) savings.

When business representative organisations, such as IoD and CBI, claim there is too much bureaucracy the most often quoted example is employment legislation; their frustration, at needing to treat people fairly and take care when seeking to make them unemployed, is evident.

Today, more than ever, companies are looking at new ways of improving employee retention levels. One area where companies lose female staff is when they take maternity leave. So how do companies ensure they support and retain women through this career crunch point?