Monthly Archives: March 2007

Multi-tasking? Looks more like slacking to me

Is your office full of those annoying twenty-somethings who sit there listening to their iPods, texting and pretending to work at the same time? If anyone has the temerity to challenge them about it, they will insist that it is … Continue reading

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“Hire on attitude, not on skill,” says Asda’s top HR man

Human Resources magazine reports on a speech given by Asda’s People Director (what?!) David Smith last week. He says that to add value, HR needs to remove poor performing staff, set a framework for management and measure the results. According to Smith, … Continue reading

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What would you do with £22m?

Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays’ investment banking division, must really love his job. If someone gave me £22 million, that’s it, I’d be off before you could blink. With that sort of money I’d have enough to live on … Continue reading

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RBS threatens disciplinary action over staff bank accounts

A number of newspapers report that RBS is threatening to discipline employees who refuse to set up accounts with the bank for payment of their salaries. It is standard practice for banks to refuse to pay salaries into accounts held … Continue reading

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Who Moved My BlackBerry?

I’ve just finished reading ‘Who Moved My BlackBerry?’,  Lucy Kellaway’s acutely observed piss-take of corporate life. If you have worked in the corporate world, the bits of the book that don’t make you laugh will leave you squirming with embarrassment.  The story … Continue reading

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Reverse Robin Hood

My first reaction to yesterday’s budget was that Gordon Brown plans to rob the very poor to give to those who are a bit better off.  Getting rid of the 10% tax rate will hit the low paid hardest. Having said that, … Continue reading

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Survivor Resentment

Research by University College London has found that the survivors of corporate downsizing are almost as likely to need treatment for stress as their colleagues who have been made redundant. The authors of the research put this down to survivor guilt … Continue reading

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What have you nicked from work today?

Personnel Today reports on a survey by risk management consultants Protiviti which found that almost one in five workers in London were guilty of corporate crime.  The research showed that: The majority of this crime was straightforward theft, but a significant amount … Continue reading

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Blogger feud – or maybe not…

The political blogosphere has seen a number of bitter feuds. Now it seems that the HR bloggers have one of their own. Guru, of Personnel Today, has fallen out with recruitment blogger Peter Gold.   This feud has none of the bitterness of, say, Tim Ireland versus Guido … Continue reading

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Pay cuts in the public sector – and a pig just flew over City Hall

The newspapers have finally woken up to the impact of the equal pay claims on public sector organisations. Most local authorities have known for years that they are potentially at risk from equal pay claims but hoped to gradually close the gap … Continue reading

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