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Pets at Home are lapping it up |
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Date: 23/09/2008 |
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Kaonix is delighted to announce a new two year agreement for the provision of online recruitment services to Pets at Home, one of the fastest growing retail businesses in Europe and the most successful pet care retailer in the world.
Ryan Cheyne, Head of HR at Pets at Home, says, "Having worked with Kaonix for the last couple of years, we have found web-cruit to be a very reliable, effective recruitment solution that offers great value for money".
www.petsathomejobs.com
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HR professionals earning more, but paying the price by working longer hours |
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Date: 19/09/2008 |
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HR professionals are earning higher salaries and working longer hours, according to the Annual Croner Reward and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) 2008 Reward Survey of more than 5,700 HR professionals.
Despite the economic slowdown, salaries in the HR profession increased by an average 3.25% in 2008. And there is a marked difference between the sectors: the private sector workers have experienced the highest increase with an average of 4% rise this year, followed by the voluntary sector with 3.25%. Public sector HR workers recorded the lowest rise with a 3% increase.
The survey shows that the profession is cautious about the year ahead, but still predicts a rise in HR earnings. Almost half (47%) forecast that they will expect a 3% pay rise in 2009, while only 19% of them foresee a 4% increase and 13% of them a 5%.
Bonuses also held up well this year. HR professionals received bonuses averaging 6.5% of their base salaries, compared to 6% in the 2007 survey.
The survey also reveals that HR professionals work longer hours than ever. Seventy-three per cent of the respondents work 40 hours a week or more, compared to 62% in 2007. And among the respondents in the 2008 survey who recorded working more than 40 hours, 44% worked between 41 and 45 hours a week.
This increase is reflected in all business sectors, with the majority of HR professionals in the private sector working 40 hours a week or more (80% compared to 68% last year). They are followed by the voluntary sector HR employees, 68% of whom work 40 hours or more (compared to 52% last year). In the Public sector, 61% of the respondents work more than 40 hours a week (compared to 49% last year).
Within job levels, Personnel Administrators are working harder than ever, with 65% of them working 40 hours a week or more, compared to 36% only in 2007. Personnel Directors showed a slight increase, with 84% of them working more than 40 hours compared to 82% in 2007.
www.cipd.com
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Kaonix is hiring |
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Date: 19/09/2008 |
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Kaonix is looking for a talented individual with creative flair to join our web design team. Click here for details.
jobs.kaonix.com
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Website rankings of 100 retailers |
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Date: 15/09/2008 |
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The July 2008 website rankings of 100 retailers has now been published by The Retail Bulletin.
The report can be accessed here.
www.theretailbulletin.com
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The battle of the sexes continues in the workplace |
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Date: 15/09/2008 |
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The Battle of the Sexes continues in the workplace according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.co.uk. Although employers are increasingly introducing programs to promote equality, 30% of female workers in the United Kingdom say they feel they are paid less than their counterparts of the opposite sex with the same skills and qualifications. 13% of men in the UK say they feel they are paid less than their female counterparts. The CareerBuilder.co.uk survey, "Workplace Equality," included more than 3,700 workers across seven European countries and also surveyed workers in the United States.
Overall, 38% of the female European workers surveyed, believe they experience pay discrimination when compared to their male counterparts with the same qualifications. Female workers in Germany (45%) were the most likely of those surveyed to report wage discrimination and women in the Netherlands (28%) were the least likely to report wage discrimination.
Percentage of women workers who say they are paid less than their male counterparts with the same skills and qualifications:
- Germany - 45%
- France - 43%
- Italy - 36%
- Sweden - 35%
- United Kingdom - 30%
- Spain - 30%
- Netherlands - 28%
- United States - 34%
- Europe Overall - 38%
www.careerbuilder.co.uk
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More than half the UK workforce would use a right to ask for training at work |
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Date: 05/09/2008 |
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Seven in ten (71 per cent) working people would like to see a new legal right to request paid time off for training and 53 per cent say they would be likely to use it, according to a new YouGov survey released by the TUC and unionlearn, its learning and skills organisation.
The poll shows that people aged 18-24 are the strongest supporters, with four out of five (82 per cent) agreeing that "employees should have a legal right to request paid time off for training". Three in five (59 per cent) agree that "if there was a legal right to request paid time off for training I would ask for more training".
The TUC/unionlearn polling follows the Government's announcement in June that it would introduce a new right for employees to ask for training at work.
Those earning less than £5,000 and those whose salaries are between £25,000 and £30,000 are most likely to be in favour of the right (at least 77 per cent) while those earning between £20,000 and £25,000 are most likely to say they would use the right (62 per cent).
People with no formal qualifications are also very supportive; 76 per cent support the right and 56 per cent say would be likely to use it. However, the TUC is concerned that despite this apparent enthusiasm to learn new skills, low skilled workers are the least likely to receive training at work. Just nine per cent of employees without formal qualifications participated in job-related training in the last three months, compared to 38 per cent of graduates, according to Government statistics released for 2007.
Women (75 per cent) are stronger supporters of the right to request training than men (67 per cent) although there is no significant difference in the likelihood of them using the right. Full and part-time workers are also similarly supportive.
The TUC and unionlearn are currently using their network of more than 20,000 union learning reps in workplaces across the UK to ensure that everyone has access to training at work.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "This polling shows that workers have a great zeal to learn new skills. The enthusiasm shown by people on low incomes, those with few or no qualifications and part-time workers shows that while those who most need training have the biggest appetite to learn, they receive the smallest share of the training pie.
"The Government must ensure that any new right to request training is strong enough to make a genuine difference. Otherwise, the one third of employers who refuse to train their staff will continue to shirk their responsibilities and overlook those that need training most. Meanwhile business groups will continue to moan about the lack of skills possessed by the UK workforce."
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Permanent placements fall at sharpest rate for eighty-one months in August |
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Date: 03/09/2008 |
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August's Report on Jobs, from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, signalled further weakening of the UK job market. Permanent placements fell at the sharpest rate since November 2001, while temp billings declined at a survey-record pace. Declining demand for staff and strongly rising candidate availability dampened pay pressures, with salary growth the weakest for over five years.
The Report on Jobs, published today by the REC and KPMG, provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.
Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC, comments:
"The deteriorating economy is now having the expected negative impact on the labour market. The demand for both permanent and temporary workers is weakening, although it must be remembered that this follows a period of unprecedented high demand for staff. A positive benefit for the economy is the muted pay growth that the increase in the supply of candidates is creating. Even in these uncertain times, recruitment consultancies are still seeing continued demand for flexible staffing to meet businesses fluctuating people requirements."
Alan Nolan, Director at KPMG comments:
"The slide in the UK economy continues to hit the jobs market hard – with yet another sharp drop in recruitment. UK employers are continuing to control payroll costs through redundancies - and by refusing to take advantage of a growing (but increasingly unused) pool of skilled labour. These workers are starting to drift abroad in search of employment – and there is a risk that (when the market turns) the UK will be left behind by a skills shortage.
"Employers have to meet their fiscal obligations to HM Revenue and Customs in full and on time with stringent penalties and interest for non-compliance. It may now be time for Government to consider kick-starting the jobs market by relaxing this legislation - enabling the possibility of tax payment deferrals or 'holidays'."
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Budding female "dragons" urged to leave lair |
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Date: 20/08/2008 |
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British women are trailing far behind their male counterparts when it comes to setting up in business. Despite an abundance of skills, academic prowess and the high profile of businesswomen like Dragon's Den's Deborah Meaden, the gulf between the numbers of male and female entrepreneurs is significant. If women matched men's start-up levels, an extra £32billion* could be added to the economy, so why the gulf?
Lack of confidence is one of the main barriers recognised by NatWest and RBS, whose pioneering Women in Business Service has been introduced to encourage greater levels of entrepreneurship amongst females. Women starting up in business are also much more likely to worry about debt then men. Of the fifth of women who think about starting a business only half that number actually does. The service is endorsed by the government, Everywoman and Prowess. It provides experienced business managers dedicated to the specific needs and wants of female entrepreneurs.
For more information visit: www.natwest.com/business
* Average turnover of female run businesses is £209,678. The extra 150,000 businesses that would be generated if females matched male startup rates would have a combined turnover of £32 Billion. Sector statistics sourced from BERR (Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform).
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Employment market still buoyant |
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Date: 20/08/2008 |
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Research from fish4jobs can confirm that although recruiters are being more cautious with their budget, there are still plenty of vacancies advertised in the UK. It appears that despite the credit crunch the employment market is still buoyant. When asked what methods recruiters have previously used to attract candidates over half (57%) of recruiters surveyed admitted to having used recruitment consultancies, the same amount (57%) used their own website and 54% used jobs boards.
According to the Monster Employment Index there was a further dip in Online Recruitment in the UK in July. The Monster Employment Index decreased by three points in July, following a four point drop in June, but the year-on-year growth rate was largely unchanged at 5%.
Source: www.recruitment-intl.com
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People metrics help HR show what it knows about business |
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Date: 06/08/2008 |
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New research released by the Institute for Employment Studies provides a detailed guide to raising the HR function's profile within organisations by closely aligning it with business strategy. The "Human Capital Measurement" report reveals the most effective ways to measure a business's people and skills.
Dilys Robinson, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies, says:
"Measuring the value people bring to a business can be tricky but is vital to monitoring the health of your organisation. HR plays a crucial role in making the links between things such as employee engagement, turnover and vacancy rates, and customer satisfaction, and measuring their impact."
Human Capital Measurement (HCM) is one of the terms used to describe the practice of measuring employees' contribution. However the Institute for Employment Studies' research showed that this term is rarely used in practice within organisations. More common terms were "workforce data" or "key people indicators". The research, based on action learning workshops involving 14 of the UK's top private and public sector organisations including the Royal Bank of Scotland, BBC, and the NHS, took place over the course of a year and showed robust people metrics can pay dividends, but organisations should beware of a "one size fits all" approach.
The workshops enabled participating organisations to share best practice and debate how to overcome common obstacles. They were supported by research findings.
Dilys Robinson says:
"Our participants all found great value in focusing their HCM strategy around how people ultimately were adding value to the organisation. This guide contains case studies of nine organisations that have successfully implemented measurement indicators. These have helped the organisation to understand the contribution people make to organisational performance. Although it may seem daunting, with the right planning and working closely with management, people metrics can do a lot to monitor business health."
The report with accompanying case studies can be accessed at the Institute for Employment Studies website.
Source: www.onrec.com
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It's official! Google Maps and postcode addressing is good for your applicant flow |
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Date: 31/07/2008 |
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On Monday 14th July Kaonix launched a new service exclusively for web-cruit customers as part of our talent sourcing strategy.
The premise is simply to aggregate vacancies from carefully selected web-cruit customers through our portal at www.jobs.co.uk and enable job seekers to search and apply directly via the customers' own career site.
In less than three weeks we can already see that customers who have implemented our Google Maps and postcode lookup service are receiving between 15 and 60 times more applicants than those who have not yet done so.
In addition, you may be interested in the following traffic statistics for jobs.co.uk:
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AURUM go for Gold! |
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Date: 28/07/2008 |
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Having used web-cruit for the past three years within Goldsmiths, AURUM Holdings Limited is now renewing for a futher three years and extending the service to cover the other main brands within the group, which includes Watches of Switzerland and Mappin and Webb. The existing career site is being completely redesigned as part of this new development and is due for release shortly.
AURUM Holdings is also extending usage of web-cruit to incorporate a range of other services including postcode search technology, google maps and artificial intelligence.
Karen Bates, Head of HR and Training, says, "We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Kaonix and very excited at the prospect of the new developments planned for the coming months."
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Survey finds average six week recruitment gap |
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Date: 24/07/2008 |
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New research has found that on average, there is a 30 day gap between an employee leaving an organisation and their replacement starting.
Personnel Today reports that the Adecco PayCheck Survey 2008 questioned 700 employers and discovered that the problem is worse with skilled managers, who typically take almost seven weeks to replace.
In some workplaces this has an impact on other members of staff: one in five respondents said staff worked longer hours in the interim period, while 36 per cent reported increased workloads before a replacement was found.
Overall, the survey revealed that that the average length of employment tenure in Britain is 5.6 years.
Commenting on the results, Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director for Adecco UK and Ireland, said: "With the average time to replace an employee at a skilled manager level at nearly seven weeks, companies need to consider a more efficient approach for sourcing the right employees."
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Jobs market continues to prop up UK economy |
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Date: 22/07/2008 |
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The latest official labour market statistics, published earlier today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that the UK jobs market continues to be in good health. It has shown another rise in the number of people in employment and only a modest increase in both the number of people unemployed and the economically inactive. The number of job vacancies has dropped by around five per cent in the previous quarter, but the overall job vacancy landscape remains positive by historical standards.
Pay pressures also remain subdued in spite of recent hikes in the rate of inflation. The measures for calculating average earnings show a slight fall compared with the previous month.
Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) comments, "Yet again, the jobs figures continue to defy the woes experienced by the rest of the economy, which will provide some comfort to the Government and reassure the Bank of England that pay rises still pose little threat to inflation. While there has been an increase in the claimant count, the numbers classified as economically inactive have risen less fast, and the number in employment has continued to rise."
Davies continues, "However, despite the apparent resilience of the labour market, a loud note of caution should be sounded given that these figures do not include the swathe of redundancies that have been announced in the past month or so. And with a number of employers poised to pull the redundancy trigger in the next six months, the Government will be hoping for some better economic news as the year progresses.
One reason that employment remains high is the ongoing struggle employers have to attract and retain talent. This is discouraging employers from rushing to make redundancies. But each further knock to confidence in the economy risks triggering an avalanche of job losses. We hope that the labour market can cling on - but the next few months could be a white knuckle ride.
Curbing pay rises is one of the obvious ways in which organisations can minimise redundancies, so it is encouraging to see that pay restraint is being shown.
However, if such restraint is not shown, particularly in the event of a possible interest rate rise, the risk of an avalanche of job losses becomes even greater."
Davies concludes, "It requires a leap of imagination to compare this situation with the previous downturns when unemployment was measured in millions and pay levels rocketed."
www.cipd.co.uk
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Debenhams are delighted! |
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Date: 21/07/2008 |
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Kaonix Solutions Limited is delighted to announce the signing of a new three year agreement to provide online recruitment services to Debenhams Retail plc. Debenhams was one of the first UK retailers to implement an online recruitment system in 2002 and continues to maintain their position as the employer of choice for many thousands of individuals in retail, retail management and Head Office roles.
Debenhams and Kaonix work together to ensure that Debenhams remains at the forefront of online recruitment excellence and to actively promote the Debenhams employer brand.
"We are all really pleased to still be working with the team at Kaonix."
Sajida Akhtar
Resourcing Manager
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Mummy, where do jobs come from? |
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Date: 02/07/2008 |
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Results of a study published today reveal that 68% of today's youngsters are in desperate need of advice on how to get a job, as over a fifth (21%) of British school leavers claimed to have received no career advice before leaving education. According to the research, from the UK's leading recruitment website, fish4jobs, 38% of those given guidance felt they did not know what to expect in the way of wages, opportunities and duties.
When it came to securing that first job, two thirds (69%) of candidates needed their parents' help to apply. In most cases, this involved the basics such as how to write a CV and cover letter - and even where to look for a job. Recruiters supported this, saying they are often sent applications from parents on their children's behalf and some had even received calls enquiring about vacancies. In most cases, this was because young job hunters were motivated to look for work but very nervous about approaching employers directly.
The study of recruiters, first jobbers and their parents by fish4jobs shows that those who dismiss the UK's school leavers as uninterested in getting a job are over-simplifying the issue. It reveals that although 52% of British teenagers had work experience whilst in education, they had been helped to secure positions by their school or college, and only 37% were given any advice on finding a job by themselves.
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