With the Olympics getting underway, some employers are going to great lengths to support athletes and volunteers who are involved.

As some of the City's unfortunate bankers are now discovering, cash-strapped organisations often attempt to save money by getting rid of employees - but this isn't always the case. In many circumstances it can pay to hang on to staff.

The latest IRS staff absence and turnover survey (subscription required) revealed that the median voluntary resignation rate in the UK was 13.8% of the workforce in 2007. That's one in every seven employees deciding to walk out on an organisation on their own accord. Replacing these people costs time and money that many organisations would rather not spend on recruitment and training.

Our recent survey (subscription required) looking at line managers’ role in people management shows that employee engagement is a growing part of a line manager’s function.

But, as our survey also shows, one in five HR practitioners responding felt that this was a role that line managers struggle to perform well.

I attended a seminar recently, given by international employee opinion survey ORC (external link), exploring this very topic. Kate Pritchard, ORC director of employee research, discussed practical steps organisations can take to keep engagement levels high among employees. This should help employees to remain committed to the organisation, and be prepared to “go that extra mile” – as outlined by ORC's model of engagement: ‘Say, stay, and strive’.

One thing was clear from the seminar: achieving and sustaining an engaged workforce requires effort, and conducting an employee opinion survey can be no more than a starting point.

US blogger Evil HR Lady posted an account of her typical working day yesterday, beginning with an office breakfast of fresh bagels and cream cheese provided by a grateful finance department and ending promptly as usual at 5pm. Presumably the date of the post is of some significance.

HR has been busy making changes to the way new employees are recruited and selected. IRS's latest survey (subscription required) of changes and trends in recruitment and selection has identified one clear winner: the internet.

Our three-part report is based on the experience of 133 organisations - covering a combined workforce of more than 1 million people - and shows that employers are now using the internet in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.

We looked at changes and trends in three areas: candidate attraction; the application process; and, assessment and selection. In each of these key areas, the internet has grown in use and coverage.

Is yours one of the “Best Companies to Work For”? Not in a literal sense, but in the Sunday Times’ annual ratings sense.

Well, if you are, and your organisation has been labelled extraordinary, outstanding or first class, then no doubt you’ve made the big announcement to your employees and are basking in the kudos of having a “Best Company” logo on your letterheads.

European HR departments – and that includes those in the UK – are facing renewed criticism for their alleged failure to take as active a role in workforce management issues as their counterparts in Asia and the Americas.

According to computer giant IBM, the HR function in Europe takes an advisory role in business transformation efforts rather than working as a proactive contributor of time and resources. It says HR on this side of the Atlantic remains a supporter rather than a driver of change, with decisions often based on relationships rather than hard facts.

Alongside the Budget, the Treasury also published Enterprise: Unlocking the UK’s talent, which focuses on entrepreneurial culture, business growth and skills.

A timely reminder that XpertHR offers handy content for those those dealing with the workplace impact of today's stormy weather.

The repercussions of the government's loss of child benefit data discs continue to reverberate around Whitehall.

Employers across Europe are missing out on potential talent because line managers fail to engage poorer performing employees, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt.

The research, which covers 175 companies and 5,500 employees, finds that managers are far too preoccupied with top performers and fail to communicate effectively with those that show less promise. As a result, those that need to have their skills or motivation boosted are left high and dry.

What does it cost to run an HR department? For the first time this year, IRS research into the roles and responsibilities of the HR function has tried to get serious data on the amounts UK employers spend.

If you have moved to a new job in human resources over the past couple of years, the chances are that it is with a company in the services sector.

New IRS research published this week on XpertHR shows that banks, retailers, transport firms and communication companies have invested in a big way in HR as they have taken on more workers and the HR workload has increased.

There is a big new survey on work-life balance and flexible working out today from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The press release accompanying the full report stresses that 92% of workplaces offer some form of flexible working to at least some employees, and highlights a growing trend for men to request flexible working.

Barely a week goes by without dire warnings about the impact on the workplace of websites such as Facebook and MySpace, including news that over two-thirds of employers have banned their use during working hours (on The Daily Telegraph website). But, as our new model policy on social networking websites [subscription required] shows, employers need to do more than just block employees from using them at work.

Just when you thought you'd got to grips with terrorism, flooding and the outside chance that a giant meteorite might wipe out humanity, along comes yet another threat to your business continuity plan.

While the words ‘more principles-based regulation’ may strike fear into the hearts of otherwise brave HR professionals in the City, a breakfast seminar hosted this morning by the authors of XpertHR’s financial services chapters, Field Fisher Waterhouse, helped attendees demystify the changes to FSA regulation taking place on 1 November.

Two in three employers believe that return-to-work interviews have cut absence rates, our latest IRS survey (subscription required) shows.

Our survey of 182 employers, covering 705,000 employees, shows that return-to-work interviews are highly effective in recording and managing absence.

But employers are growing increasingly frustrated with line managers' lack of commitment to using return-to-work interviews to manage absence.

If you’re wondering how the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), the FSA's Better Regulation Initiative and changes to the FSA rulebook will impact your HR department, don’t panic, join us for a free breakfast seminar on Friday 12 October in London.

TUPE, navigating the age regulations when retiring staff and change management are some of the issues keeping HR people awake at night, according to those visiting the XpertHR Suite in Harrogate this week.

When asked what are the most important issues in their organisation attendees provided the following list:

"Implementing changes to the HR function in the public sector is like turning the QE2 around, it takes a long time. Other issues include TUPE and managing different terms and conditions, particularly when staff members are on different pay scales. Attendance management is an ongoing issue and always will be. Public sector

The owners of social networking site Facebook would have to have very deep pockets indeed to buy the volume of publicity they have been enjoying in the press of late. But has all the furore got just a little out of hand?

Talent management is a hot issue for HR practitioners as new business models, changing labour market demographics and international competition make the task of recruiting, developing and retaining key employees all the more difficult.

I would just like to say well done and congratulate the Iraqi national football team for winning the Asia Cup on Sunday. In a country torn apart by war, where going without electricity and water for weeks on end and facing the dangers of suicide bombers and mass warfare are a normal occurrence, the players pulled together and defeated Australia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, among others, to a fairytale ending by lifting the Asia Cup.