All Opinion articles – Page 85
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Credit rating impacts on Pensions Protection Fund levy
Article in fullFor those involved in pensions, this year will invariably mean preparation for the next raft of pensions legislation. While considerable focus has been given to the administrative burden facing sponsors, less comment has been made about the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy, which is required to finance the ...
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OpinionGuest opinion: The importance of financial advice
Recognising that employees are different, and creating a package which contains at least one thing to appeal to everyone, is a key role for the reward function. Today’s employees are often offered a wide choice of benefits. Typically, these include: pension schemes, share schemes such as sharesave, share incentive and ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Accessible flexible working is worth the challenge
In today's economy, flexible working has particular currency for employers and employees alike. Legislation introduced in April 2003 increased the pressure on organisations to provide flexibility to employees. The key question is: how are organisations making increased flexibility work for both their business and employees? Roffey Park has undertaken research ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Scrapping the Operating and Financial Review (OFR)
Guess who said this: “Human capital is the 21st century equivalent of the 19th century dependence on natural resources. Modern wealth creation depends upon the development of people.” It was, in fact, Tony Blair, just before the general election in April last year. Therefore, the early Christmas present that Chancellor ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: The value of communicating your flex scheme
Well, you’ve done a flexible benefits feasibility study, secured the business case with the board, designed a fantastic scheme and developed a website to be proud of. You’ve worked fanatically on the behind the scenes admin and you get to a go live date. You are proud, pleased, nay ecstatic ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: Graham Drewett, compensation and benefits manager UK at LogicaCMG. Topic; Motivation
You know that feeling. The phone rings. Mr Crisis is calling. Turnover is up, morale is down. We need some ideas by lunch time. Oh, and they need to be self financing. The reward team delivers as always, heroes of the hour, pausing only to tick another box on their ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: Malcolm Higgs, director of the leadership, change and HR school and director of research, Henley Management College. Topic: Becoming an employer of choice
The phrases “employer of choice” and “employment brand” are being increasingly used in the HR world. Are these serious and significant concepts or just new rhetoric? A look at those organisations in this year’s Sunday Times’ Top 100 Companies to Work For suggests that there is something more fundamental than ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: Nick Foster, vice president of human resources, Oracle UK, ROI, SA. Topic: Mergers and the benefits package
The merger between Boots and Alliance UniChem, as well as NTL’s long-awaited takeover of Telewest, are a sure sign that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are back on the business agenda. Takeovers can spell good news for customers, board directors and shareholders, but the reality of an M&A is, for many ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Recognition strategy
As HR and compensation professionals, we spend a significant amount of our time developing strategies, plans and processes to motivate our employees. The plans are usually costly and, depending on the total payroll, can run into millions of pounds. So why is it that many organisations, public, private and not-for-profit ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Stephen Tiley, pensions and risk manager, Thomson Directories.
Following the latest benefits fad can often come at a premium and if you really believe that bolstering motivation among teams needn’t cost the earth, then look to traditional offeringsArticle in fullBenefit packages have become more and more complicated with ever-sophisticated tweaks and more choice. A good thing, of course, ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: Duncan Brown, assistant director general CIPD on bonuses
Duncan Brown from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development talks about bonusesArticle in fullUK average earnings growth resembles a cardiogram: steady flat periods followed by regular, short jumps. The upsurge each spring is explained by bonus payments, which accounted for 0.6% of the 4.6% earnings increase last year.Some 52% ...
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Opinion
Guest opinion: The best way to invest in staff motivation
Dr Reinhard Sprenger, author of Trust: the best way to manage and of The motivation myth says organisations often squander money on motivation problems instead of investing in managers' leadership.Managers who perceive that something is wrong with their teams are often quick to invest in the latest motivation course, seminar ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: Serco Metrolink
When it comes to striking a deal with unions, benefits often take a backseat to pay. Yet perks can prove to be a powerful bargaining tool.At Serco Metrolink, we have a single union agreement and do all of our negotiations through the Transport and General Workers’ Union (T&G). In recent ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: The provision of childcare vouchers
The decision to provide employee childcare vouchers would appear to be a no-brainer especially with the government allowing scheme members National Insurance contribution reductions against the cost of childcare provision. Potentially, offering vouchers is an all-round win, because as an employer we can tap into that pool of parents who ...
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Opinion
Guest Opinion: Duncan Brown, CIPD
Duncan Brown, assistant director general of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), says that government action is way behind even the most commonplace examples of HR best practiceOn Monday, one of our new parents at the CIPD came to work with bagged eyes and the telltale stain of ...
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Opinion
Sonia Astill, retail HR manager at Argos: opinion
Argos, like many other retailers, faces a specific challenge over Christmas with around one-third of our turnover occurring in a 12-week-period. This means that well before even the most zealous of Christmas revellers starts looking for the mistletoe, we are already working hard to ensure that we are geared up ...