All Opinion articles – Page 40

  • Ian-McKenna
    Opinion

    Ian McKenna: Gamified apps help employees engage with benefits

    2019-05-17T15:00:38Z

    Smartphones are embedded in the vast majority of consumers’ lives. This should make providing access to employee benefits and health interventions via an app a hygiene factor for any organisation, but is simply enabling an app enough to drive engagement?Phones are littered with applications that have been downloaded with enthusiasm ...

  • karen-archer-burton
    Opinion

    Karen Archer-Burton: The importance of aligning values with recognition

    2019-05-15T16:02:25Z

    At Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals, employees are the lifeblood of the organisation; to ensure we attract and retain the very best talent, it is vital that they are recognised and feel valued.That is why we are currently reviewing our employee engagement strategy as a whole. As part of that ...

  • Liza-Andersin-1
    Opinion

    Liza Andersin: The importance of boosting employee morale

    2019-05-15T15:31:45Z

    The way people work has changed dramatically over the last five to 10 years, and is predicted to continue shifting rapidly as we move into the future. Employers are having to compete to attract and retain the best talent in this ever-changing space, in addition to focusing on business outcomes. ...

  • Gurdeep Boparai
    Opinion

    Gurdeep Boparai: UK proposes to extend redundancy protection for new parents

    2019-05-14T14:00:57Z

    In January 2019, the government launched a consultation detailing plans to extend existing legal protections against redundancy for pregnant women and new parents upon their return to work.The consultation forms part of the government’s response to the Taylor Review and follows concerns raised by the Pregnancy and maternity discrimination report, ...

  • Charles cotton cipd
    Opinion

    Charles Cotton: Maximising value when investing in employee benefits

    2019-05-08T15:00:06Z

    The cost of some benefits is rising, driven in part by legislative changes. For instance, the minimum employer contribution to a workplace pension increased from 1% to 2% in April 2018, and to 3% a year later. While 3% may not seem much, for some employers, this rise, coupled ...

  • Yvonne Gallagher
    Opinion

    Yvonne Gallagher: Hermes is not making a concession for self-employed couriers

    2019-05-07T14:00:50Z

    Parcel delivery organisation Hermes and trade union GMB announced in February 2019 details of what has been described as a ‘groundbreaking deal’ relating to Hermes' self-employed courier workforce.In June 2018, a group of couriers contracting on a self-employed basis with Hermes were successful in their claim in the Employment Tribunal ...

  • Sheri-Hughes
    Opinion

    Sheri Hughes: Agile working is the key to empowering parents

    2019-05-02T12:08:02Z

    Bring Your Child to Work Day, typically held in April, is intended to give children an insight into the world of work and, as a one-off annual event, it can be a real tonic for employees across the board. At Michael Page, we make a day of it. In previous ...

  • Lisa-Wallis
    Opinion

    Lisa Wallis: Are redundancy protections part of the parenting puzzle?

    2019-04-30T14:00:20Z

    In January 2019, the government launched a consultation on extending protection from redundancy for mothers and new parents.Currently, those absent on maternity leave should receive preferential treatment in redundancy situations; for example, being offered a suitable alternative vacancy above those not on maternity leave. The consultation proposes to extend this ...

  • Diane Lightfoot
    Opinion

    Diane Lightfoot: Why talking about disability is vital for health and wellbeing strategies

    2019-04-29T15:00:02Z

    Often, when people think of disability, they imagine a wheelchair user, and consider it to be something present from birth. In reality, the majority of conditions are not immediately visible, and most are acquired.As the likelihood of acquiring a disability increases with age, an ageing workforce means that more people ...

  • Karen Holden
    Opinion

    Karen Holden: Tackling harassment of LGBT persons in the workplace

    2019-04-23T14:00:24Z

    The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is subjected to bullying and harassment in the workplace on a devastating scale. A survey of more than 5,000 LGBT people in the UK, published by Stonewell in April 2018, found that more than a third hid their sexuality for fear of ...

  • DR Rea Prouska
    Opinion

    Dr Rea Prouska: Non-financial strategies are viable alternatives to financial rewards

    2019-04-18T15:00:48Z

    Total reward strategies include all types of financial and non-financial, direct and indirect, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and play a crucial role in attracting new employees, eliciting strong performance and maintaining engagement. The application of such strategies contributes to employee wellbeing, satisfaction and productivity.However, economic turbulence, such as the global ...

  • nicholas-stretch
    Opinion

    Nicholas Stretch: Preparing for new reporting obligations on engagement and pay

    2019-04-16T14:00:54Z

    This year sees the implementation of several corporate governance developments which reward managers, among others, need to get to grips with. Although newspaper headlines continue to focus on executive pay levels, a number of other reward-related changes, which have received far less publicity, need to be considered.For 2019 onward, so ...

  • Nichola-Hawden
    Opinion

    Nichola Hawden: How will auto-enrolment increases impact reward?

    2019-04-15T15:00:43Z

    When auto-enrolment was first introduced in October 2012, the minimum total contribution rate for a workplace pension was a modest 2%, with employers contributing a minimum 1%. From 6 April 2018, the total minimum contribution rate increased to 5%, with 2% contributed by the employer, and from 6 April 2019, ...

  • Jenn Sutherland-Miller
    Opinion

    Jenn Sutherland-Miller: Staying connected is vital for remote organisations

    2019-04-10T15:00:55Z

    At Tortuga, 'on your terms' is not just a snappy, feel-good corporate slogan, it is a way of life. With a team of 10 fully remote employees across three countries, two continents, and four time-zones, staying connected is both challenging and vital. Tortuga’s culture is one of trust and outcome-based ...

  • evernote
    Opinion

    Brad O’Neil: Use the right communication technology to connect remote staff

    2019-04-10T15:00:42Z

    The rapid growth of remote working is a mark of the changing world of the current century; this is a trend that cannot be ignored by employers.Organisations are evolving to offer employees the benefits of working remotely, but are often left with concerns about how to keep these individuals engaged ...

  • Liza-Andersin-1
    Opinion

    Liza Andersin: Why employee wellness should be a priority

    2019-04-09T13:00:43Z

    Employee wellness should be a core focus for any employee management strategy. In the age of flexible and ever-changing employment options, it is becoming ever more apparent that organisations need to demonstrate a point of difference, and not just via a pay packet.Unfortunately, many businesses approach employee wellness from a ...

  • Lesley Alexander
    Opinion

    Lesley Alexander: The pensions employee experience

    2019-04-08T15:00:04Z

    At The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) conference this year, the key theme centred on engaging employees with their workplace pensions.Outside of the interested few, this can undoubtedly be an uphill struggle. However, if we do not address the under-saving culture in the UK, we will be faced with ...

  • Jane-Hannon
    Opinion

    Jane Hannon: Employers must be aware of new payslip requirements

    2019-04-04T12:00:12Z

    With the ever-increasing focus on Brexit, employers could be forgiven for losing track of some important domestic reforms to employment law, quickly looming on the horizon. One of these, a requirement to provide payslips to workers and not just employees, comes into force on 6 April 2019 and applies to ...

  • Jo Moffatt
    Opinion

    Jo Moffatt: Benefits packages need engaging communications to be a success

    2019-04-03T15:00:50Z

    Spending time and money setting up a great benefits package, designed with the needs of an employee audience in mind, is just the beginning. Fail to communicate it properly, and employers might as well not have bothered.Poor communications mean wasted money, wasted time, and not to mention a singularly wasted ...

  • Clare-Gregory
    Opinion

    Clare Gregory: 2019's gender pay gap reporting deadline approaches

    2019-04-02T14:00:57Z

    The requirement for large employers to publish information annually on their gender pay gap came into force in 2017, and the deadline for publishing the second round of reports, 5 April 2019, is now fast approaching.DLA Piper's analysis of organisations' gender pay gap reports submitted as at mid-February 2019 shows ...