The People Bulletin

From the Editor

11 August 2010

The sun might be shining but the economy is still looking somewhat shaky with significant public sector job losses looming. With organisational change on a vast scale being very much a common theme across all sectors (especially the public one); employers need to do all they can to manage anxiety levels and communicate a positive outlook to all levels of personnel.  And that means encouraging people to take a proper holiday without checking emails and worrying about what they will come home to. Welcome to The People Bulletin.  Clarissa Dann

14 July 2010
It’s official, the chicken came before the egg, and much the same could be said about relevant skills and training coming before economic growth.  With the prospect of public sector cuts casting an influx of unemployed civil servants into the job market, the recent fall to 1.46m jobseekers allowance claimants may be short-lived.  It will be down to the private sector to perk things up and that means getting the right people in the right jobs with appropriate training and development plans.   Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
29 June 2010
The Deloitte manufacturing survey highlighted international competitiveness as a key driver of future GDP recovery. Post-Budget, the government has the tricky task balancing fiscal deficit reduction with fostering innovation and ensuring the UK remains an attractive place to do business. So organisations need to ensure they have the best possible structure to attract and retain the talent they need – and to get it pulling together to deliver.  Which is rather like the problem the Football Association is staring at right now…Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
16 June 2010
Leadership continuity is back on the agenda.  With England’s survival beyond the group stage of the World Cup looking less than certain, Fabio Capello has confirmed he will stay in the job until Euro 2012. Sir Terry Leahy’s announcement he was stepping down, coinciding with Tesco’s worst quarter in five years will have done little to reassure shareholders.  As the government’s austerity measures start to bite, visible and engaged leaders are critical to the longer-term health of our economy – and that means making sure that a robust succession plan is in place when they do leave. Welcome to The People Bulletin!  Clarissa Dann
02 June 2010
Applications are already open for the seventh series of The Apprentice in 2011, with Lord Sugar looking for someone ‘drop dead shrewd…a leader with a wide range of skills, who is creative, sparky and bright.’ He’s not the only one taking a long-term view about tomorrow’s business leaders – attracting talent to top jobs was a key theme at the recent Economist talent management conference. This means businesses have to work much harder at their credibility and how they deploy their talent. They can’t really afford not to. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
19 May 2010
We now have a new Parliament which opened for business on 18 May and an emergency budget announced for 22 June. All eyes will be on how the Cameron/Clegg dream team will tackle unemployment levels of 2.5m (8% of the workforce); the highest since 1996. The LibDem ‘fair taxes for all’ is set to increase personal allowances, and the planned employer’s national insurance hike has been ditched. The general consensus is that a recovery is underway, but the new government will have its work cut out to ensure this is sustained – particularly as inflation jumped to 3.7% in April. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
05 May 2010
The 6th of May dawns at last and by Friday morning we will know whether it’s David, Nick or Gordon (or some unlikely alliance) tasked with reducing the UK debt burden, which is currently running at nearly 60% of GDP. With Greece running at a massive 135% and the country paralysed by strikes in protest of ‘austerity cuts’, we can only hope that the new government does not wreak similar havoc over here. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
21 April 2010
Although Britain can at last take to the skies again having been under the volcano at a cost of some £550m to the economy, the tricky issue of being unable to turn up for work because of a force majeure remains. As the economy starts to pick up, the labour market tightens up, so employers playing hardball about pay interruptions for days lost might not do too well in the engagement stakes when it comes to Best Company votes. Flexibility is the key. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
07 April 2010
So, Gordon Brown has named the day we all knew about anyway – 6 May 2010. With the number of vacancies in the three months to February 2010 at 480,000; up 39,000 over the quarter and increases in vacancies in most industrial sectors, all three political parties are understandably flying the ‘Britain back to work’ flag. Whatever administration is elected on polling day, there is no doubt that taxation, employment levels and business confidence will be central to reducing public borrowing and getting the economy moving again. If this actually comes off, employees are more at risk of moving on – job security being more of a recession-based retention tool. So now is a good time to look again at your retention policies. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
17 March 2010
Romance in the workplace is not the only relationship issue employers have to worry about now that industrial relations have hit another all time-low. The latest BA versus Unite the Union round is set to wreck Easter holiday plans in what is being widely termed a ‘spring of discontent’. Just as the economy is crawling out of recession, employers across all sectors still have to look hard at their staff costs identify efficiencies on headcount, pay and redundancy terms. But even if there is no recognised union in your organisation, it is expensive and destructive not to keep communication lines open when it comes to dealing with changes in pay and working conditions. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
03 March 2010
The fine line between ‘robust leadership’ and bullying has dominated the headlines as a result of the National Bullying Helpline’s confidentiality breaches. One of its former patrons, Professor Cary Cooper shares his reasons for resigning and highlights the need for a supportive working environment to achieve the best results. And talking of getting results, recent research indicates that remuneration committees have to find more ingenious methods of incentivising top executives now that bonuses are a dirty word…Welcome to our new-look edition of The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
18 February 2010
When a group of Tesco and Virgin Atlantic employees posted abusive comments about customers in Facebook groups, this highlighted the fine line between civil liberties and appropriate corporate behaviour. And how many of you have Googled an interview candidate to see what dark secrets about them might be lurking in cyberspace? Bill Gates wrote Business at the Speed of Light over ten years ago and the principles of an ‘efficient corporate nervous system’ remain. This includes keeping your data protection and social networking policies up-to-date! Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann
10 February 2010
In an age where a job ad for ‘reliable workers’ banned as ‘discrimination’ by Jobcentre Plus (for fear of litigation from ‘unreliable’ workers), employers will need to become a lot more ingenious about attracting the right candidates. So don’t miss Richard Boothman’s notion that your ‘green’ credentials can get you off to a good start. And although the recession is ‘officially’ behind us, HSE reminds us that increased economic activity can lead to more accidents at work if safety procedures are not watertight. On a happier note, we have found some very encouraging thank-you notes from enlightened CEOs. Welcome to The People Bulletin! Clarissa Dann