This blog takes five HRM tools and links them through one key idea – competence. Competence theory is a way of looking at how management can measure staff contribution to the business. And once measured, management can use the five tools to optimise engagement.

A cyber-security practitioner ended a presentation by giving five very practical recommendations. All were technical. They covered authentication, pass-phrases and other features that assumed that the threat was from outside the system. This assumption is dominating current information technology thinking. This bad cyber security assumption threatens firms. Here's why.

Restrictive covenants (clauses) are used in employment contracts as a means of protecting the employer when an employee leaves. In order to be valid they must only protect assets that are key to the firm.

There are some occasions when the firm has a legal obligation to pay for eye tests and possibly glasses. Firms may also opt to pay for, or contribute, to the cost of glasses for general use. Find out when you should pay for employee eye tests and glasses.

Employing staff can be daunting. But it can also be very rewarding as you see your business grow.

There are seven key points to be considered. And each needs you to take specific action.

The biggest issue in setting objectives is measurement of the resulting performance. Using marketing staff as an example we explore effective objective setting.