When it comes to HR data, there is a wealth of it to be collected and analysed. Indeed, the saying “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” arguably holds true - how can you decide what to do to improve absence levels, and therefore sickness-related costs, for example, if you have no clue what those absence levels are? And yet, just because you can measure it, does not mean you should. This blog (the first of two) sets out what data you might gather and how you might interpret what you do.

A research consultant called. She needed to estimate the number of firms engaging workers abroad. Our own view at TimelessTime is that the number of foreign workers contracted is huge – though embraced more by some sectors than others. Here's our estimate. But paying people abroad is easy. Managing them to compliance, let alone excellence, is another ball game.

The crux of an article in The Guardian is that the woman author, a journalist, has found out that a man who reports to her and whose work she manages, is paid £20k a year more than her. She feels that she has been treated unfairly and that she should have held out for more when she negotiated her salary. And she describes how her emotional response has transitioned through the five stages of grief. Here we discuss the issues and ask, "Is £20k difference discrimination or just reasonable?"

Sometimes, the scenarios that our clients ask us to work with are straightforward – a revised pay structure, a manpower plan or a restructure of existing activities. But occasionally they present something that takes a little more to understand, is more complex and takes more time to develop solutions for. Here’s an example of one such complexity involving complex work patters, pay and tax.

Writing a job advert is a test of communications brilliance - or communications stupidity. Yet, many managers believe that by asking for passion or enthusiasm or by describing the boredom of a job, great candidates are going to apply. So just what is the role of the job advert and what should a job advert contain.

At some stage it will be right for those who start the firm to stop, close it or transfer it to someone else. It will be time to Turn! Turn! Turn! But how should this be done and over what timescale? The answer to this conundrum is to develop an exit plan, and the sooner the better after start-up. At least if a plan exists, it can be revised year by year.