HR Policy and Practice

Key issues for 2008

Six Key HR topics, 39 company case studies – all in one book

• Absence Management – Tackling absence is not always straightforward and much of it is unavoidable. Employers have to make sense of its many different forms, durations and causes to develop a range of proportionate responses. There is no single 'right' way of going about it. But the basic principle of treating employees fairly and consistently must underpin any initiatives that are taken.

• HR Intranets – HR intranets are playing an important part in shifting the HR focus away from administrative tasks and towards more strategic objectives. At their best, they act as a portal to an authoritative source of HR policy and guidance and to a suite of online self-service applications.

  HR intranets often provide links to self-service applications. These enable employees and managers to carry out, or at least initiate, basic HR transactions online thereby relieving the administrative burden on HR. This Study looks in detail at the range of HR processes that are being moved online and the levels of functionality that are incorporated into self-service tools.

• Internet and e-mail polices – The Internet and e-mail are now key business tools and employers have had to address the challenge of ensuring proper and effective use of these facilities. Policies set out the parameters of acceptable use, while also ensuring robust security procedures are followed to protect expensive systems and networks.

  Unfocused use of Internet and e-mail can waste valuable time with little business benefit. At worst, staff may visit inappropriate or undesirable websites, download and circulate material that can cause considerable offence to colleagues or import viruses that can infect the network.

• Leadership development – Leadership is vital in any organisation to provide direction, set strategy and to get the best out of employees. Different goals require different types of leaders and an increasing number of employers now use teams of leaders rather than individual figureheads to benefit from a broad range of skills and abilities at the top of an organisation. As the demands on leaders continue to grow, so the need for leadership development programmes becomes more important.

• Managing stress – Stress is the largest single cause of long-term absence among white-collar workers in the UK. Considerable efforts are being made to reduce its impact in the workplace. Employers also have a legal duty to conduct risk assessments and take action whenever employees are known to be experiencing stress. Once the main sources of stress have been identified, the most effective results are normally achieved through an approach combining organisational interventions to raise awareness and provide support with initiatives at a team level. Managers also have a key role in protecting team members from excessive pressure and helping employees who show signs of stress. Many employers seek to prevent stress from arising in the first place – by promoting good mental health through wider-ranging health initiatives.

• Maternity and parental leave – Reviews the new statutory framework set out by the Work and Families Act 2006 Focuses on ways in which employers offer better-than-statutory maternity rights. The study looks at how employers enhance other family-friendly provisions, including paternity, adoption and parental leave, and considers their approaches to flexible working

  The Work and Families Act 2006, which came into force on 1 April 2007, increases the rights of working mothers and seeks to improve communication between employer and employee during maternity leave. It also contains powers to enable parents to share additional leave. Many organisations have long recognised the business benefits of offering flexibility, choice and support to their workforce through better-than-statutory arrangements.

This new publication from IDS brings together six of the most popular titles that have appeared in the authoritative HR Studies series. It should prove invaluable as you prepare your HR agenda for the year ahead. Using detailed company case studies, all the titles focus on named examples of best practice and innovation.