Employment Practice

The Challenge? A quote from the CIPD's report 'Impact of People Management Practices on Business Performance' neatly summarises the challenge for the Board: 'If managers wish to influence the performance of their companies the most important area they should emphasise is the management of people. This is ironic, given that our research demonstrates that emphasis on human resource management is one of the most neglected areas of managerial practice.' As American management guru, Stephen Covey, comments: 'management is about doing things right but leadership is about doing the right things'; whilst in his 'Seven habits for highly effective people' he suggests that: 'Management without leadership is like arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.' Practical Means of Retaining People If there is inspiring leadership once a team has been created its members are more likely to stay together since most people wish to be associated with success, and ma...

Reworking the phrase 'the best way to make more money is to stop losing it', the easiest way to ensure we have a good team working for us is to stop losing them. In the UK we have a shrinking working population, a growing skills shortage and a tendency on the part of many employers to assume they will always be able to fill vacancies. Competition for the above average or 'best' employees is likely to become increasingly fierce. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) 'Annual Labour Turnover Survey' discloses that over 50% of all recruits leave within 2 years and 75% leave within 6 years of joining.' The Hay Group's research in 'The Retention Dilemma' indicates that: employee turnover has increased by 25% since 1996; the main causes of voluntary termination of employment are a lack of leadership and a lack of a career path; and the cost of labour turnover can equate to 40% of an employer's annual profit. Many personne...

When it is necessary to conduct an interview to discover facts affecting an event concerning an employee (e.g. for the proposed application of DISCIPLINE , CAPABILITY, counselling etc.) it is safest before making any decision to ensure a proper and full investigation of the reasons is undertaken, in order to discover the background,. With most investigations the ultimate aim is to attempt to find a solution - to do this, information is essential, as is keeping any meeting as informal as possible. Suggested Checklist 1. Find as many facts as possible before the meeting, including as many personal details as possible. Knowing these may aid rapport and encourage a feeling that here is someone who understands and cares. 2. Although a one-to-one meeting is helpful, this may be impractical if the two parties are of different sexes and the subject matter is personal. The intervention of any third party should not, however, be forced on the subject who may resent it. If the subject is directly...