Lack of Equal Opportunities Training Leaves Employers Vulnerable
Only 37% of employers actively train new recruits in their equal opportunities policy, leaving companies open to compensation claims, according to a new survey.The poll of 100 employers, by employment law specialist Thomas Mansfield LLP, looked at sexual harassment at work and found that of those who did cover equal opportunities at the induction stage, […]
Merseyside Force Scoops CIPD Award
A Police force has won the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) People Management Award for a managment training programme.The Liverpool North Area leadership accreditation scheme, ‘Prepared to Lead’, focused on developing its performance culture and understanding staff needs, with training line managers an essential part of the scheme. Chief superintendent Mike Langdon said: […]
Acas Launches Free Consultation Training Guide
A free, web based good practice advice and training package for organisations wanting to know more about new information and consultation (I&C) regulations is available from Acas.The material – available at the Acas website – aims to help employers, employees and their representatives reach agreements under the regulations coming into force on 6 April 2005. […]
Workers Quit After Induction Nightmares
Workers are quitting their jobs after bad inductions, according to research by recruitment site reed.co.ukIn a survey of 5,700 workers, one in 25 had quit after a bad induction, with employees in the media and public sector being the most likely to quit – one in 17. While nearly all – 93% – respondents said […]
Online Bank Launches HCI
Online savings bank ING Direct has become the latest company to sign up for the Home Computer Initiative.The bank is rolling out Futuremedia’s Learning For All on-line learning programme with an internal marketing campaign and a series of road shows.The HCI scheme gives employees access to a computer at home at a subsidised rate.Jennie Monon, […]
Multi-Million Project to Help Refugees Plug Skills Gap
A £4m project has been launched to help refugees into work and plug the widening UK skills gap.Headed by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) the Progress-GB Partnership will involve work place learning for those already in employment, and help employers meet skills shortages by recruiting skilled staff from refugee communities. Sue Waddington, […]
Employers Using Training to Retain Talent
Employers are investing in learning and development rather than wages to hang on to talent in the current tight labour market, according to a report by the CIPD.The latest Human Resources Quarterly Trends and Indicators Survey found that more than half (52%) of employers plan to increase their number of employees by the end of […]
Union Call for Skills Investment
Unions are calling on government to help employers invest more in skills to help the UK compete against low-cost economies.Speaking after Royal & Sun Alliance announced its plans to transfer 1,100 jobs to India, Amicus and Unifi warned that offshoring posed “an unprecedented threat” to the UK economy.Amicus national secretary David Fleming, said that over […]
Learning the Corporate Way
Business strategy consultants SDL conducted in-depth interviews with 30 major UK companies about their attitudes to training. Here Frank Proud of SDL gives his analysis of what those companies said and what it means for the future of training. Training has often suffered from being perceived by others in senior management as a ‘Cinderella’ in […]
Three-Quarters of Charities Face Skills Shortfall
Seventy-five per cent of charities see staffing and skills shortages as a risk, while just half invest in training to deal with shortfalls, according to a new report.According to the latest Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG) report the skills shortage is seen as worst at senior management level, with half of charities feeling this is […]
Phone Group Launches Training Academy
Mobile phone retailer Phones 4U is to launch a training academy to deliver learning and development for its 3,500 employees. Chief executive John Caudwell has pledged a £5m investment in the new facility, to be based in the Midlands.Bill Tolmie, formerly head of training at Singlepoint , has been appointed to head the academy. In […]
Training Award for Capita
Capita has won the National Customer Service Award for Customer Service Training Team of the Year 2004 for its contact centres in Darwen, Lancashire and Bristol. The contact centres deal with TV Licensing customer enquiries and transactions on behalf of the BBC. The award recognised Capita’s high standard and wide choice of staff training methods. […]
Development on Agenda for New IoD Director
New director general of the Institute of Directors Miles Templeton has voiced his commitment to developing professional standards and training on his first day in post.Mr Templeman, who has over 30 years business experience, said that as a serving non-executive director he understood that board members need training as much as other employees.Setting out his […]
Warning for SMEs Over New Disability Regulations
As the new Disability Discrimination Act amendments come into force there are fears that many small businesses are still unaware of what it will mean for them.As of today, October 1, the law states that employers with less than 15 staff are no longer exempt from legislation that protects employees with a disability.Richard Smith, HR […]
Managers Need Conflict Training
Managers need greater training in dealing with workplace disputes, a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has concluded.The CIPD surveyed 1,200 employers and found that managing conflict at work costs the average employer nearly 450 days of management time every year – equivalent to two full-time managers. The survey also revealed a […]
Winning the War for Talent
Professor Simon Roodhouse, chief executive of the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) explains why the right sort of professional development programme can help organisations attract the best candidates – and keep them. As we all know, there are professional development programmes and there are professional development programmes. But, without having experienced one at first hand, […]
CIPD Says ‘Train Ex-Offenders to Plug Skills Gaps’
Ex-offenders need targeted training to help them plug the UK’s skills gaps, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The paper “Employers and Offenders” states that low unemployment and high demand for skills meant that businesses that don’t employ ex-offenders – who make up 20% of the population as a […]
Billionaire’s Academy to Boost Business Skills
Billionaire businessman Philip Green has set out plans for a £10m retail academy to develop the next generation of business leaders.The owner of the Arcadia Group, which includes the high-street store BhS, said the academy’s 200 students would be aged 16 to 18 and be trained in “every aspect” of retail including marketing, design and […]
Apprenticeships Campaign Targets Big Five
Five industries – media, hospitality, health, business services and retail – are being targeted in the latest apprenticeships campaign.The first phase of the campaign, received 11,000 employer responses over four months, yet only six per cent of these were from hospitality employers – compared with engineering and manufacturing which both accounted for 34 per cent […]
Entrepreneurs Learn the American Way
English entrepreneurs are being given a competitive edge by learning the American way of starting and running a new business. Twenty people, selected from some of the most deprived parts of England, have been sent to Babson College in the US, one of the world’s foremost colleges for budding entrepreneurs. The New Entrepreneur Transatlantic Scholarship […]
