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e-Learning and In-house Training on the Increase - Says a New Survey
Increased use of e-learning and more in-house training (both cited by 40 per cent of respondents) are the primary changes in learning and development (L&D) strategy and methodology in response to the recession, according to a survey of L&D professionals conducted by the World of Learning 2009, the UK’s key conference and exhibition for business learning.

HR Software - A Better Approach to Absence Management Holds the Key
“Sick staff cost UK businesses an average of £692 a year, per employee. A typical organisation of 500 employees could save over £46,000 if they were able to reduce absenteeism by just one day per staff member. Absence management systems help you do that – and the options just got better!” argues Chris Berry, managing director of Computers in Personnel.
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Employee Engagement - New Research Shows that Managers Fail to Engage with Staff
New research shows that managers are not engaging with their staff, in an economic climate where employees are increasingly asking for time to be heard. Workers perceived their managers to be least effective in understanding the needs of others and taking time to listen - two key drivers in employee engagement.
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UK Bosses Give Candidates a Dressing Down as They Reveal the Differences Between Clothes that Will Get You Hired or Fired
Seventy six per cent of British bosses would decide against a job candidate because of their clothes, reveals a study of 500 senior executives released recently. The survey has found that bosses currently facing hundreds of interviews will make the decision to hire or fire based on the candidates’ clothes with 37% declaring that they have recently decided against hiring a candidate because of the way they dressed.
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Recession Makes Recruitment Checks More Stringent
A specialist candidate verification service recently revealed that the volume of recruitment background checks carried out in the first quarter of 2009 has increased by three per cent, despite the sharp drop in recruitment levels owing to the recession^[1]. The increase, measured against the same period in 2008 (January to March), demonstrates a tightening of recruitment practices across all sectors and company sizes.
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HR Professionals Are Optimistic that Workforces Will Have Increased by 2010
The findings of a survey by a UK business management and information systems provider has revealed that 51% of senior human resource professionals intend to increase the overall size of their workforces by the end of 2010.
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Employers Warned to Be Alert as Downturn Sparks 22% Rise in Unfair Dismissal Claims
Data released recently by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) reveals that the economic downturn has led to a significant rise in unfair dismissal claims. The agency has seen a 22% increase in unfair dismissal conciliation cases over the last year, compared to a decrease in the number of these cases over the last two years. In total, Acas received 55,000 cases which involved a claim for unfair dismissal this year, a rise of almost 12,000.
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Absence Is the Most Sought-After Feature of HR Software, According to Recent Visitors to a Comparison Website
“The site is throwing up some fascinating insights into what HR and Payroll practitioners are asking for from their next software, derived from analysis of their selection tool responses.” HR professionals log on to the site and take an easy-to-follow questionnaire aimed at fine-tuning software to meet their exact needs.

E-Learning in Isolation Proves Ineffective for 65% of Learners
Only a third of learners are being offered blended learning solutions, according to a survey released recently. Having access to a blended learning solution with a supportive coach was cited as a crucial criterion by respondents, if e-learning was to realise its potential as a training medium.
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Encouraging Language Learning Could Save the UK Economy - An Opinion Piece
We’re in a recession but the UK economy is losing out because of our lack of language skills. That was the message from the European Award for Languages 2009.

Tube Staff Avert Holiday Disaster
Every day hundreds of passengers leave a variety of objects on the Tube – last year 66,588 – but for most people it is just annoying that they have left an umbrella on the train. For one Sri Lankan woman and her two grown up children it could have proved devastating. On their trip of a lifetime to England they left a bag containing all their holiday money, passports, tickets and credit cards on a Northern line Tube train. When 57-year-old Mrs Suranganie Joseph realised she had lost the bag, distraught and frantic with worry she asked a member of Tube staff at Leicester Square Tube station if there was any way they could help her try and get it back.