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As the biggest variable overhead and largest controllable expense, labour costs are increasingly analysed as a source of potential savings. When it comes to managing labour costs, many companies are realising the benefits an automated Time & Attendance / Flexitime solution can bring…

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Employers are failing to manage women's family ambitions

High-earning, high-flying women workers are leaving the workforce in droves because employers aren't managing their family ambitions. Virginia Matthews reports.

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Many businesses fail to realise the amount of time it takes to get a new employee fully trained. It can take anywhere between 1 and 6 months to train a new member of staff. It can also take the same amount of time to find out if they are suitable for the job in the first place!

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Long commutes, increased stress and more competition than ever before for quality graduates, means there is no shortage of opportunity. But what makes one company a better place to work than another?

One of the major issues workers face in the new millennium is getting the work-life balance right, however it is not just an issue for workers, managers also need to take note.

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Human Resource Management is no longer just about Hiring and Firing.

The biggest issue facing Human Resource professionals in today is the shortage of skilled employees. The current recruitment crisis has put human resource management at centre stage in many companies with a new emphasis on recruitment, training and flexible working arrangements.

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Popular media has for several years had a severe case of Homer Simpson syndrome portraying males as bumbling and socially inept figures while women are the stronger, more purposeful gender.

Studies have shown that young males feel insecure about their roles in society and their future in the workplace. Many are putting their careers on hold to stay at home and in the past five years the number of so called 'house husbands' has risen from 44,000 to 99,000 (Source: The Office for National Statistics).

All this would suggest that we are witnessing a reversal of the traditional role of male as primary breadwinner. But the question that we need to ask ourselves is, do women feel more empowered? And more importantly, are they making inroads onto the male dominated echelons of upper management and onto company boards?

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One of the most common ways to measure employee engagement is through a satisfaction survey. Here's how to get the best out of your investment.

We are surrounded by research. In fact, some organisations conduct more surveys than they can reasonably absorb. This may be good news for research companies, but less constructive for the organisations concerned.

There are many good reasons to commission employee research - many organisations, for example, run studies in line with Investors in People and ISO 9000 management standards.

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By Fergal Dowling, Pay Magazine

As plans for this year’s bonus schemes are laid, this article is your guide through the maze..

The New Year is the time when employers review their previous year’s performance and develop policies to implement improvements in the forthcoming year. Bonus arrangements are no exception.

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A recent survey carried out for the Industrial Relation Services in England, found that almost half of personnel managers have recently dealt with cases involving sexual or racial harassment or other forms of bullying.

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The government’s pension’s bill will bring big changes in the way we save for retirement. In this article we look at the implications for HR and Payroll.

Pensions are a much-misunderstood aspect of reward, often apparently shrouded in mystery and provoking confusion among employers and employees alike. Individuals, particularly the lower-paid, are often ignorant of how, if at all, they are going to be able to fund their lifestyles after retirement and many adopt an ostrich-like approach to the subject.

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By Niall Crowley, Running Your Business

Employers must focus on issues that are important to economic success, business performance and well-being.

Anti racist workplace week takes place every November and is an annual initative of the Small Firms Association, IBEC, Congress, the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, the Construction Industry Federation, the IFA, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Equality Authority.

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By Eugenie Houston

Active polices and procedures are an essential first step in combating racism in the workplace. These should ideally be part of a wider equality programme, taking into account the full equality agenda on the nine grounds specified by law: gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.

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By Shiera O'Brien, Executive Coach and Corporate Trainer, Zenith Training and Development

Our country has changed. With the arrival of different nationalities into our work place, they bring with them a whole new approach, culture and work ethic. These differences invite with them the opportunity for us all to learn about diversity and allow the new comers to contribute in positive ways to organizations. The challenge that lies ahead is: how does a company build a cultural awareness programme into it’s HR policy and training initiatives - to help the different groups understand and appreciate their differences and grow together. Ultimately, the key words are education and communication.

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With 20% or more of the workforce suffering from chemical dependency, their habit not only affects themselves but also impacts on the lives of countless others including co-workers and employers.

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We ask whether a ban on lunchtime drinking is the right way to tackle alcohol’s effect on business…

The lunchtime pint in ingrained in and Irish working cultures and while no company would tolerate employees starting their working day under the influence, most have turned a blind eye to the odd drink. However, this is beginning to change, with some companies instituting a total ban on drinking within working hours.

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Implementation of health promotion programmes in the workplace will only progress when employers and trade unions begin to recognize the long-term economic and social benefits associated with a "healthy workforce", i.e. reduced absenteeism and job turnover and improved productivity.

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The challenges facing organizations have never been greater. Issues coming on the radar of a HR Manager today are diverse; from micro level issues where an individual employee needs hand holding to the macro issues pertaining to a global workforce and virtual teams. HR Managers are expected to offer instant solutions for these issues and strategies.

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Retention has long been a critical issue for Irish firms particularly in the financial services sector. Long hours, competitive salaries and highly pressurised environments have all contributed to high staff turnover. Given figures released this week highlighting the increasing numbers of vacancies in the Irish marketplace employers can no longer turn a blind eye to staff turnover and must up their game in order to retain existing talent.

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Recruitment and Retention of staff is a key strategy for successful organisations within a changing business landscape. Although organisations seem to be too focused on gaining the most talented individuals externally, would it be a more strategic approach to develop individuals from within?

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HR technology has changed almost beyond recognition over the last five years.

Most people are now familiar with the idea of employee and manager self-service. Over the last 5-10 years, the web-enablement of HR software has allowed organisations to make HR administrative processes such as holiday and sickness notification, training administration and expense claims available to anyone with internet access.

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Surveys can provide an accurate view of employee engagement – but only if you ask the right questions

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In relation to job sharing, it is important to recognise that there is a significantly higher take up and availability of such arrangements in the public service, compared to the commercial sector. Currently 5% of private sector companies offer job-sharing, with an estimated 5,300 employees job sharing in this sector. In contrast 8,000 people job share in the public service.

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The current generation of first-time job seekers and those in the early stages of the journey up the career ladder have it better than their predecessors. Opportunities for promising careers seem to be abundant in a wide variety of sectors and the flash cars filling university car parks are evidence that many graduates will have no problem getting enough money together for their first interview suit.

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A HR strategy that invests in staff will ultimately pay dividends for companies. A little extra human resources investment in employees can increase productivity worth an average of E50,000 per employee per year according to research in some of ’s top 1,000 companies undertaken by the University of Limerick.

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