The new Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) conference, Social Media in HR, will help to demonstrate how HR professionals can incorporate social media across a wide range of HR activities. The conference will reveal first-hand examples of how HR can use social media to improve the way they deliver services, plan manpower, engage employees, execute strategy and policy, build an employer brand and recruit and manage talent pipelines.

HR professionals can gain insight into developing a workable approach to using social media in the workplace. Expert case studies will present innovative solutions to their communications challenges. For example, The Big Lottery will be talking about the development of its internal intranet, which has improved collaboration and communication internally. Another feature of the conference is the ‘Social Media Surgery’, which will give delegates the opportunity to ask key questions and get advice from speakers and fellow delegates on social media challenges.

Highlight sessions:

• Organisational approaches to the use of social media internally – what will work best in your organisation? Panellists include: Neil Morrison, Random House, and Alison Chisnell, Informa
• Approaches to developing bespoke social tools: delivering business benefits – developing solutions linked to business objectives and delivering results. Speakers include: Hayley Brown, Big Lottery, Sam Hackett, Save the Children, and Christine Bamford, National Leadership and Innovation Agency for Healthcare
• Social Media and the Impact on HR – what will the impact of a more ‘boundary-less’ and transparent business be? Panellists include: Jose Franca, Subsea 7, Gareth Jones, BrubakerHR, and Michael Silverman, Unilever.

For further details visit:  www.cipd.co.uk/cande/social-media-in-hr

Della Garmory will lead the HR and Development Teams across Fusion’s UK sites in Peterborough, Coventry and Sunderland. A key part of Della’s remit will be to develop further the HR and training strategy to ensure that Fusion, which now totals more than 1483 employees, has capable and motivated employees who will make a difference to its growth and success. The strategy will include embedding the company’s comprehensive ‘Wellbeing’ offering, developing appropriate recruitment and retention mechanisms as well as reviewing talent and succession across all sites.

David Thompson, managing director of Fusion, said, “Fusion has been through a tremendous period of employee growth over the last year and Della will play a key role in ensuring that our HR strategy continues to be seamless. So many of our employees join Fusion with the view to making it a long-term career and Della will help to ensure that the opportunities available to our staff continue to expand.”

Della Garmory, new associate director for HR, added: “As an employer Fusion has a very positive reputation in the local areas that it operates in. The learning and development opportunities available to staff are fantastic and I am looking forward to helping drive the success of these programmes even further.”

As part of the launch, BGL will employ six people in their new Microsoft .Net IT Academy, which will involve successful applicants spending 12 weeks in classroom-based training, before formally beginning their new roles as Trainee Web Developers.

More than 360 people work in IT across the BGL Group, and the new recruits will be involved in building and developing web applications on behalf of a number of leading household name insurance brands. Other recent BGL IT Academy schemes have successfully trained 21 people in other technologies, including Microsoft SharePoint and IBM System i programming, which are also used by BGL in the development of a wide range of IT solutions to meet constantly growing business requirements.

Ian Leech, chief financial officer of the BGL Group said, “IT delivers real business advantage through innovative services and solutions and is pivotal to the ongoing success of the BGL Group. Continued investment in initiatives such as the new .Net IT Academy will help position us for future growth. Skills in .Net are in great demand within the company – with all of our websites and customer journeys moving to .Net platforms – so to have in-house, highly trained employees in this area is becoming increasingly important.”

Jo Addington, senior HR manager, said, “The IT Academy is a unique opportunity for people with a passion for a career in IT who are either just starting out or are looking for a completely new career path. Previous IT experience is not necessarily required, however successful trainees will have a natural aptitude for logical thinking as well as a keen desire to work towards a career in IT. Working in IT can be extremely rewarding but does involve a commitment to life long learning – with technology constantly evolving.”

The annual event, which attracts around 200 of the city’s HR professionals, focuses on new legislation and its likely impact on businesses in the Greater Peterborough area.

Regular speaker Martin Bloom, employment partner at Hegarty’s, will be discussing the two new strands of discrimination introduced by the Equality Act 2010 – that of associative and perceptive discrimination. His colleague Emma Carter will be talking about the key legal and practical considerations when managing and dismissing sick and disabled employees. Completing the presentations will be partner Tim Thompson who will be looking at examples of recent case law.

Anne Corder said, “It is vital that HR professionals keep up to date with new legislation. Our seminars address those issues and help translate them into real life scenarios. We are delighted to be working with the experts at Hegarty’s to provide that kind of help to businesses in the area once more.”

The seminar is taking place at the East of England Showground in Peterborough on Tuesday, September 20th. Attendance is free and includes breakfast but places are limited. Please call 01733 319888 or email info@annecorder.co.uk to book your place.

On the agenda of the breakfast seminar on June 9 is the likely impact of the Agency Workers Regulations, coming into force in October.

Hegarty LLP Solicitor’s partner and employment law expert Martin Bloom will be covering in detail the points in the Regulations which businesses need to be aware of and providing tips on how internal processes can be altered to ensure all requirements are met.

Delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions during the event.

“We have been working closely with our industry body the REC for more than two years to ensure we are perfectly placed to advise our clients on preparing for the introduction of the regulations,” said Anne Corder. “There is only a small window left for businesses to ensure compliancy and we are hoping the seminar will give people the push they need to put those final measures in place.”

For more information about the seminar please contact ACR on info@annecorder.co.uk or telephone 01733 319888.

The qualification is an ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) Level 3 Award in coaching for team leaders/supervisors and potential leaders in the fresh food sector. The course will be delivered in May 2011 in Lincolnshire.

Charlotte Wolfe (left), a leading UK coach and coaching teacher who will lead the course, said, “The qualification will help individuals and organisations develop their management styles away from a dictatorial management style to a more coaching and mentoring approach.”

For more information see the attached flyer by right-clicking the link below.

GrowYourOwnCoach – food sector

Laura Burke

Lisa Jinks

Employment law experts Laura Burke and Lisa Jinks explain the confusion around changes to the law affecting retirement age

PROBABLY the most significant employment law development in 2011 is the removal of the default retirement age (DRA) later this year. Up to now, employers have been allowed to retire employees at a DRA (normally 65) by following a statutory procedure, giving between six and 12 months’ notice of intended retirement. However, the proposed removal of the DRA has not been a straightforward process and there is still much confusion surrounding the issue, particularly as a result of the recently published transitional provisions.

Life after the DRA

In January 2011, the coalition government confirmed, following further consultation, that from October 1 2011 the DRA would be scrapped and that, after this time, no further valid retirement dismissals could be effected

The government stated that from October 1 2011 businesses will have two choices: either to have no normal retirement age or to have an employer justified retirement age (EJRA).

Under the first option, employers will have to consider each employee on a case by case basis and ensure that any dismissal is for a fair reason and follows a fair procedure (e.g. for ill health, performance or redundancy).

Clearly, employers will want to know what their employees’ future plans are in order to facilitate workforce planning, and new ACAS guidance has been issued to assist employers deal with this new regime. Employers may want to hold workplace discussions with employees to seek their views on, e.g., their performance, developmental or training needs and future aims and aspirations. However, it is important not to single out older workers, and so annual appraisals might be an opportune time to raise these sorts of discussions with all staff.

The second option is for employers to have an EJRA and to continue to retire employees at a set age – either across the workforce as a whole or a group of employees. However, this option is risky. An employer would have to show that it had a ‘legitimate aim’ in choosing that particular age and also, that it acted ‘proportionately’ in relation to its aim. Legitimate aims might include promoting retention and recruitment by ensuring a clear career path for younger workers, facilitating long term employment planning etc. However, the real test would be for the employer to demonstrate that it had acted ‘proportionately’, i.e. showing that there was not a less discriminatory way of trying to achieve its aims. Both the government and ACAS have indicated that it is likely to be very difficult for employers to justify an EJRA, except in specific sectors such as air traffic controllers, for example.

Confusion continues…

Earlier this year, the government confirmed that transitional provisions would allow employers to continue to issue notices of intended retirement up to and including April 5 2011 for employees who were 65 on or before 30 September 2011. This meant that employers would have to give the six months’ notice by no later thanMarch 30 2011 or else risk claims of compensation from employees.

Last week, confusion spread amongst HR practitioners with the release of the transitional provisions. First, it now appears that employers can in fact give up to 12 months’ notice of retirement on or before 5 April 2011 (meaning that retirement dismissals could still be being effected up to April 5 2012). More confusingly however, it appears that the transitional provisions only apply to those employees who turn 65 between April 6 2011 and September 30 2011 inclusive.

Employment lawyers are now querying this with the government in the hope that this is just a drafting error which will be rectified. However, there now remains a lot of confusion for employers as to whether notices of retirement already issued will become invalid for those employees who will already have turned 65 by April 6 2011.

Lisa Jinks is an associate and Laura Burke is a solicitor with Greenwoods Solicitors LLP’s employment and employee benefits team.

His articles will provide readers with useful advice and information about staff training and HR matters.

Mr Martin is owner and MD of Toojays Training & HR Consultancy Ltd was established in 2003 by owner and MD Lee Martin. Based in Peterborough, the company delivers leadership, management and team development solutions to a range of international clients.

Click to download CV and Interview course info

Click to download the Building Relationships course info

You can read Lee Martin’s first advice column on the value of customer service here.

Download coaching programme flyer from this link

Keith Nelson, managing director at Your Total Coach, (left) told Peterboroughbusiness.co.uk, “Organisations that use coaching as an effective tool and strategy build high performance teams and achieve better results.”

Mr Nelson said that when taking coaching into your business, you should consider the three stage benefits of increased skills and productivity:

1. Short term: performance enhancement
2. Medium term: job development and skills enhancement
3. Longer term: career management, succession planning, professional growth

“Coaching is the single most effective tool for raising performance,” said Mr Nelson. “There is clear evidence of raised performance and efficiencies, higher morale and loyalty, empowered teams taking on more responsibility and a better motivated and committed workforce.”

The Your Total Coach Advanced Coaching Programme starts on April 19 and 20 and leads to a nationally recognised qualification.  

To find out more about the Advanced Coaching Programme leading to the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring, please contact Your Total Coach on 01733 314012 or email info@yourtotalcoach.co.uk.

Download coaching programme flyer from this link