Worksucks

  With the days heating up and workplaces cooling down, it is a sunny forecast for staff crossing off the weeks until their annual leave. Leave, is something to look forward to and the earlier you start the clock, the less you have to be concerned about the daily irritations. You just have to survive until your leave [...]

On any given day, HR is making an offer to a (hopefully talented) candidate for a position. Line management are breathing down their neck, the position was supposed to be filled last month. (Something about the manager angrily dismissing the previous employee under circumstances that HR will have to defend at the CCMA). I digress. [...]

Social Media A lot can happen in 24 hours. Fly to Dubai. Advertise a dozen vacancies for free. File your tax return. Manage a HR team. Chat with old friends. Deliver a EE report. Update your performance agreement. Share your holiday pictures with others. Play a game. Go home. Unless you are already at home, [...]

  Cost of Living 2011 When I received yet another email from a disengaged employee, working in a different company about their pay, I decided that it deserved some consideration. The economy is posting better numbers and many companies have a healthier bottom line (small miracles after “resizing” their operations and workforce last year). Government [...]

TALENT I wrote this column three times. Not because I enjoy writing, editing, deleting and rewriting. Rather this month, I had so many cages to rattle, that I didn’t want to give up one for another. I’m fortunate to work in a country, where there is so much drama competing for coverage, from the latest [...]

  Property Boom Remember the property boom from 2000 to early 2008? The paint may have long dried, but in those golden days, almost any “location, location, location” was better than cash in the bank. Let me refresh your memory: First time home owners, supported by the banks, signed up for the maximum bond.  Why [...]

    Recruitment  Quick, think of a law firm that is funky, cool and hip to work for. I wouldn’t blame you for writing all law firms off that list, whether you spent five minutes or five hours on it. Traditionally, the legal profession is well, still traditional and professional (if you exclude the vulture [...]

  Money buys happiness For many years, consultants, especially those in the reward profession, have contended that there is more to attracting and retaining talent, than money. While that assertion may be valid for those occupying the seven figure levels of the organisation or those paid to do nothing, the masses would disagree. Money is the [...]