News roundup: Unemployment and unlocking growth

20 January 2012

In a week which saw unemployment figures rise, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced that employee share ownership is the “key to unlocking growth”.

Unemployment figures released this week show a rise by 118,000 in the three months to November 2011, bringing the total figure to 2.685 million, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS figures show that in the three months to November, 18,000 people gained work, but this was greatly outweighed by the 118,000 who lost their jobs over the same period.

The figures made a startling backdrop to Nick Clegg’s announcements about share ownership this week. “John Lewis economy will boost productivity”, said Clegg, talking at an event hosted by the City of London Corporation and Centre Forum think-tank. The Deputy Prime Minister told the assembled audience that giving individuals a stake in their companies and promoting a “John Lewis economy” would lower absenteeism, staff turnover and production costs. “They weathered the economic downturn better than other companies," he said.

Speaking at Mansion House, London, Clegg said: “We don't believe our problem is too much capitalism – we think it’s that too few people have capital. We need more individuals to have a real stake in their firms; more of a John Lewis economy, if you like.”

And finally, Charlie Gibbs’ review of Calculating Success: How the New Workplace Analytics Will Revitalize Your Organisation by Carl Hoffman, Eric Lesser & Tim Ringo caught our eye this week. Gibbs had been in “a froth of anticipation about this book”, but found his hopes for helpful new tools were not met, according to the review.

His review ended on a slightly downbeat note: “Ultimately this book does not shed new light on the subject of workplace analytics. However I do see it as a good primer for someone who is coming across the subject for the first time, as it neatly encapsulates a number of different approaches. The caveat for me is that, at a cover price of $35 it does not present good value for money – so perhaps a trip to the library is in order.”

If the library seems too far and you simply want to read something online, we can also recommend our White Paper on the use of analytics in HR: “2012 – A Golden Age for HR”.