For a "virtual" workforce to succeed, managers need new skills to lead their teams, provide flexibility and ensure consistent communication, according to Unisys Asia Pacific's Petra Buchanan.
Tension and conflict at work can reduce productivity and morale, so every employer should have guidelines to manage it. Kelly Services managing director, James Bowmer outlines a process HR managers can use to resolve workplace conflicts.
A $100,000-plus damages payout is a wake-up call for employers who fail to keep records of pre-employment discussions, according to Deacons partner Sally Woodward.
Employers forced to cut staff levels must ensure that remaining workers are equipped with the skills to deal with abusive customers, or risk exposure to litigation from distressed employees, a workplace lawyer warns.
"Gardening leave" clauses in employment contracts can be an effective means to keep company secrets out of competitors' hands and prevent departing employees from disrupting the workplace, providing they are not enforced for an "unreasonable" length of time, according to a senior employment lawyer.
HR managers should put in place strategies to encourage "passively engaged" or "flight risk" employees to share in the company's visions and goals, rather than investing in the small proportion of workers who don't want to be there at all, Westpac's strategy and metrics manager says.
Replacing employee commissions with team bonuses and implementing "Ten Commandments" has pushed employee engagement through the roof at online learning company Learning Seat, says its chief executive officer.
Employees with children will for the first time have a legislated right to request flexibility in their work arrangements, while employers will have a countervailing right to refuse requests on "reasonable business grounds", if the federal government's new industrial relations bill becomes law.
Employers hoping to minimise their exposure to litigation at work Christmas parties and other social functions would be wise to adopt responsible-service-of-alcohol principles, according to workplace relations lawyer David Cross.
All employers should consider putting in place a workplace s-xual harassment prevention plan, even though such plans are only expressly prescribed in one jurisdiction, according to a risk management expert.
Recent events have shone a spotlight on whistleblowing, placing employers firmly on notice that their response to a protected disclosure could be subject to intense scrutiny. Watch this webcast to understand the role HR plays in this challenging space.
