Another great HR update from Sandra Beale:
Managing a Disciplinary - Employer 5 top tips!
1. Ensure you undertake a thorough investigation leaving no stone unturned. Take comprehensive witness statements from all witnesses which are signed and dated. The investigator should be an independent manager.
2. Invite the employee to a disciplinary hearing giving plenty of notice and providing all written evidence against them. Provide the right to be accompanied.
3. Ensure the employee has adequate time to give their version of events at hearing. Adjourn to investigate new evidence if necessary and reconvene at a later date if appropriate. Ensure the process is documented by a note taker.
4. Ensure the decision from the hearing is appropriate. If in doubt do not dismiss!
5. Ensure the employee has the right to appeal and the hearing is chaired by an independent more senior manager.
Coalition document: Key implications for employers
Here are the key implications for employers from the new coalition document produced by the new liberal/conservative government:
Jobs and pensions
The government says it will scrap all existing welfare-to-work programmes and create a single welfare-to-work programme to help all unemployed people get back into work.
• It vows to ensure that Jobseekers' Allowance claimants facing the most significant barriers to work are referred to the new welfare-to-work programme immediately.
• The document outlines "support" for the national minimum wage, although there is no stated commitment to raising it.
• The government will commit to establishing an independent commission to review the long-term affordability of public sector pensions, while protecting accrued rights.
Retirement age
• The government will "phase out" the default retirement age of 65 and hold a review to set the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66, although it will not be sooner than 2016 for men and 2020 for women.
Immigration
• The two parties have agreed to the Conservative commitment to introduce an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work - despite the Liberal Democrats' strong opposition to the move. They will jointly consider the mechanism for implementing the limit.
Equality
This section has perhaps the clearest Liberal Democrat imprint, with the government vowing to promote equal pay and take a range of measures to end discrimination in the workplace, including:
• Extending the right to request flexible working to all employees, consulting with business on how best to do so
• Undertaking a fair pay review in the public sector to implement the proposed '20 times' pay multiple - ensuring that no public sector worker can earn over 20 times more than the lowest-paid person in their organisation
• Promoting gender equality on the boards of listed companies.
Legislation
• The document outlines the commitment to cutting red tape by introducing a 'one-in, one-out' rule whereby no new regulation is brought in without other regulation being cut by a greater amount.
• The government promises to review employment and workplace laws for employers and employees, to ensure they maximise flexibility for both parties while protecting fairness and providing the competitive environment required for enterprise to thrive.
• It also vows to reinstate an Operating and Financial Review to ensure that directors' social and environmental duties have to be covered in company reporting, and investigate further ways of improving corporate accountability and transparency.
• The coalition will seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership, while retaining the Post Office in public ownership.
There are also plans to undertake a wholesale review of employment law in the UK. An area which the Conservative's have previously considered ripe for reform is employment tribunal system. Their pre-election policy paper contained a commitment "to ensure the system offers fast, cheap and accessible justice which is fair to all sides" and to address perceived inconsistencies in the tribunal system and deter weak claims.
The National Minimum Wage is to be retained, the Government acknowledging the protection it gives low-income workers and the incentives to work it provides. It remains to be seen whether and by how much the rate will increase or whether the age bandings will be retained.
Longer term goals likely to be introduced reasonably early in the life of this government are "family friendly" changes including an extension to the right to request flexible working to all employees, steps to encourage shared parenting from the earliest stages of pregnancy – including the promotion of a system of flexible parental leave and support for the provision of free nursery care for pre-school children.
ACAS – Free Guide to Managing Performance
ACAS has published a new free guide on managing performance including dealing with potential problems, see http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2714&p=0
Free Occupational Health Advice
For free occupational health advice call the Health for Work Advice Line on 0800 0 7788 44. Run by the NHS this invaluable service can help employers get staff back to work quickly and fairly after sickness absence. Alternatively the service can help with disability issues and ill health terminations and retirements. For more details see http://www.health4work.nhs.uk/
The Fit Note – FREE HR Factsheet
Need to know more about the new fit note that replaced the old sick note from 6 April 2010? Sandra has prepared a comprehensive FREE fact sheet. This is available on her website on the useful hr articles page or you can email her for a copy.
Email: info@sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
Thanks Sandra!
Showing posts with label HR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HR. Show all posts
Monday, 7 June 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
A guide to 360
A brief introduction to 360 degree feedback systems and their potential uses, by David Cooper1. What is 360 degree feedback?
360 degree feedback (or multi source feedback) was first introduced in its current form in the 1970s and has its roots in executive management and leadership performance improvement.
The overall aim of the feedback exercise is to raise awareness of the participant to their known and unknown strengths and additionally to appropriate opportunities for development and continuous performance improvement.
The underpinning concept is to provide participants with the opportunity to see themselves as others see them. Quantitative and qualitative feedback about HOW the person does their job is collected from multiple sources (normally their manager[s], colleagues, direct reports and customers). A feedback report is then produced that allows the participant to compare their view of themselves with the feedback from others. The majority of programmes will allow this to be an anonymous process (so that comment can be honest).
2. What should you expect from the latest generation of 360 tools?
Early iterations consisted of internally driven, generic, paper based questionnaires that were manually processed and thus prone to error, sometimes causing those participating to distrust the process. Today, the best 360 degree feedback tools are:
Fully automated - They use a rigorously tested online system that guarantees the accuracy, quality and confidentiality of the whole process.
Proven Questionnaires – They use questions that are valid and have a sound theoretical foundation, measuring the things that differentiate high performing managers from the rest.
Flexible - Enabling all aspects of branding, process implementation, client support, design, development and questionnaire / report formats to be easily adjusted to meet the client's needs.
User friendly - Today's feedback reports must be easily interpreted yet comprehensive; no longer is it acceptable to provide reports containing cryptic data that appear confusing, overwhelming and require an analyst to decipher! Feedback reports should be clear, concise, understandable and easy to interpret.
3. Where can 360 degree feedback tools add value?
360s are viewed as critical components in a wide range of management development interventions. Below are some of the most common applications where 360s are used to add real value:
Performance Coaching - Used at the beginning of a coaching relationship, a 360 degree feedback report can be a powerful 'accelerator' and 'alignment' tool. By clustering and prioritising any undesirable feedback results the subject and coach can quickly gain a clear picture of where their coaching sessions should focus, ensuring key development issues are recognised and addressed. This approach to performance coaching ensures a needs driven focus based on valid, factual, accurate behavioural information.
Personal Development - Used as part of a 'life coaching' programme or as an annual development tool, 360 feedback can be used to provide genuine insight into an individual's working style across a spectrum of leadership and management behaviours and into how their 'personal brand' is perceived. The feedback report can be used to provide clarity of direction for future personal development and career planning. We are also starting to see a trend for using 360s to supplement and provide qualitative evidence in CVs!
Performance Management - A common trend is to use 360 feedback to provide an 'all round view' of performance as part of the appraisal process. The feedback is used by line managers to inform appraisal ratings and contribute to the development discussion. Used in this way, the tool can also act as a management strength benchmark, as well as highlighting individual personal strengths and problem areas.
Development Programmes - Used at the beginning of a leadership or management development programme, 360 degree feedback tools can be used to:
Inform (or determine) programme content - The feedback data from a group of people can be combined into a Group Summary Report that provides an aggregated view of the group's strengths and key development areas. Using 360s in this way enables programme designers to effectively tailor their programme content to meet specific identified needs.
Individual alignment - Providing programme participants with feedback against what is expected of them in their role and then supporting them to convert their lower ratings into a meaningful personal development plan for the programme is a great way of making the programme 'real' for them and ensuring that they start their development journey with a clear picture of what success from the programme will look like for them.
Talent Management - Whilst 360 degree feedback provides insight into a manager's past and current behaviour, when the framework of questions used includes those attributes and qualities needed to work at more senior levels they can also acts an an indicator of future performance and growth potential. 360 feedback can be a powerful component within a talent management programme and is often used to:
- Identify those individuals who have the potential to operate at the next level.
- Highlight how ability and potential can be developed.
- Act as a progress measure.
- Provide evidence based data for any prospective 'chessboard' talent management process.
Team Feedback - Just as an individual 360 provides a snapshot of how the participant is seen by those they work with, a team 360 feedback report collects feedback from groups of stakeholders from across the organisation. There are tailored survey that can provide excellent feedback for use in team development sessions and can be used to help teams gain clarity of purpose and direction, understanding the expectations of stakeholders and providing a clear picture of a team's strengths and weaknesses.
To find out more about how Lumus™ 360 Degree feedback tools can support your development intervention, visit the Complete Trainer 360 resources or for bespoke solutions email davidcooper@lumus.com
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Career Management Best Practice
Career Management: Best Practices in Organisations and the Implications for HR byAntoinette Oglethorpe
The Challenge
Career management is about the future of the organisation, and also about the effective deployment and development of all employees. Even so, keeping it on the business agenda is a struggle.
Career management is full of tensions and opportunities. Individuals want a career where there is scope for development and progression, together with opportunities to fully utilise their skills. Organisations need to ensure they have the right people in the right jobs and are building a talent pool for the future.
HR Practitioners therefore need to take into account the needs of both the organisation and the individuals within it, thinking about how to build and retain the talent they need, while satisfying employee career aspirations. However, the lack of integration between the organization’s needs and the individuals needs is clearly reflected in the terminology they use with individuals referring to it as “Career Management” and organisations referring to it as “Talent Management”.
This is consistent with the findings of the CIPD survey which show that for the most part, career management is still seen as an optional “nice to have” activity for employees, rather than an essential part of organisational resourcing. Proactive career management is generally aimed at the “high potential” few. Organisations are, for the most part, not embracing the needs of the whole workforce when they talk about career management. Only a quarter of the organisations have a formal written strategy covering the career management of all employees.
The Opportunity
Employers have repeatedly been warned that a number of problems await them in terms of future availability of skilled resources. A tough economy, significant skills shortages and a future “demographic time bomb” resulting in a shortage of young people entering the workforce are all problems already facing many organisations. However, the survey results indicate that, despite this, very little is being done to rethink how career management can help organisations grow and develop their existing resources and talent to counter these issues.
As Hirsh (2002) pointed out “keeping employees at a standstill, where they are in skill and job terms,, is not a realistic option”
Therefore, gaining the necessary support from the top is very challenging. Two key difficulties are:
1. Career development deals with the future and managers will always struggle to prioritise it above short-term operational issues.
2. Many managers worry that asking about career intentions will unsettle staff and open a Pandora‟s Box of pent-up problems and frustrations that are troubling them.
But the evidence shows that attending to career issues makes staff more committed to the organisation and more productive.
Research by Penna Sanders and Sidney entitled Itchy Feet, shows that four out of ten workers surveyed expect to have quit their job within a year and seven out of ten kept their CV polished in case a better offer came their way. With the job market picking up, combined with the demise of employee loyalty and the ever present war for talent, employers cannot afford to be lax in addressing employee satisfaction. However, employees polled in the „Itchy feet‟ report stressed that faced with an environment of internal promotion (46%), better training and development (41%) and recognition of their work (36%), they would stay put. Hence, an effective career management strategy can produce benefits of:
1. Commitment of individuals to stay and deliver
2. Capability to meet future demands
3. Talent magnets – employer of choice
4. Cost savings – reduced staff turnover
5. Competitive advantage
Get career management correctly aligned and individuals will feel connected to their work, valued for their contribution, engaged with the organisation, and motivated to contribute. Their willingness to apply and increase their capability will be enhanced. Manage careers well and the organisation’s capability to meet future demands will be enhanced by its ability to retain existing staff and to attract high quality applicants thereby unlocking the value chain which links personal success, business results and shareholder value. Get career management wrong, and organisational capability is driven down as individual capability exits to competitors.
Getting the environment right
The typical organisation responds to an identified issue with career management (employee attitude survey, increased attrition, reduced morale etc.) by looking for a tool or set of tools that will put things right. Current HR practice in the area of career management tends to concentrate on formal “processes” or “interventions” driven by the organisation to make career development happen. When they fail to do so, the organisation turns its attention away from career management until the next crisis arises.
Getting the alignment right however, is not led by applying the latest career management instrument or copying competitors. It is shaped by developing an environment and culture which is right for that organisation.
The CIPD Survey suggests that organisations who are effective at career management have addressed these three key areas:
1. Formal written career management strategy
2. Getting the communication right
3. Help & support for line managers
Formal written career management strategy
Organisations with effective career management seem to be using a dual strategy of both focused career management and wider career support. HR practitioners need to work hard to sell to their organisations the business case for a more inclusive approach to career management while at the same time recognising the practicalities and limitations of the organisation.
Every organisation has a culture in the way they manage people. Career management interventions and initiatives need to be designed in a way that recognises that culture, adapts to it where possible or manages any change that is necessary.
HR practitioners need to bear in mind that the nature of their organisation (sector, size etc.) will strongly influence the types of career management activities which will be appropriate in that environment. For example, it is not appropriate (or possible) for smaller organisations to offer some of the more sophisticated or formal career management activities that some large organisations are able to offer. But small businesses can still find informal ways of providing development opportunities and encouraging skills development, and they can still work to make sure that their HR practices are not unfairly disadvantaging certain employee groups.
Looking across the piece we see active career management for key groups plus a “core” offering for all staff of appraisal, a more open job market, informal advice (from the line and often HR) and perhaps some career information or tools.
The Achilles Heel of this prevalent pattern is that appraisal is really the only process directed at all employees which offers significant formal dialogue between employee and employer. Unfortunately, this approach seldom leads to what employees might see as “real” conversations about their careers. This is partly because an immediate boss is often not the best person to be talking to, and partly because a formal appraisal review is almost the worst place to tackle the complexities of someone’s future working life.
This may also explain why the most common career goals explored by line managers are short-term goals within the organization, promotion and project roles. These are relatively simple goals to be discussed indicating that managers may not feel they have the skills to talk about some of the more complicated types of career management issues like secondments, work-life balance or career changes.
A research project by the National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling (NICEC) showed that only a minority of useful career conversations took place in the context of formal HR or management processes such as appraisals. Most occurred naturally and were informal. These effective conversations were with a variety of people in the workplace. About a fifth were with the employee’s line manager, but far more were with other managers (including the boss’s boss). Mentors or a friendly, well-informed HR function were also valued sources of advice.
Informal career support is not about providing an “answer”. It often takes several conversations to help someone talk through their career issues. Even then they are still likely to need more information or advice. Sharing our networks and putting employers in touch with those who have access to wider information or know about another part of the organisation can be very useful.
So how can HR use informal discussions as part of a wider career development strategy? First, a strategy should include support from sources other than line managers, including career workshops, mentors or people in HR. Lloyds TSB is promoting this kind of “off-line” provision by training staff in its HR call centre, as well as volunteers from other functions, to act as career coaches. In addition, HR can encourage employees to seek less formal advice from a range of people.
Getting the Communication Right
Career management is often described in terms of the implementation of particular activities or processes. However, most researchers in this field also emphasise the messages – and implied promises – to staff which lie behind the strategy.
Whatever the type, organisations must make sure they are offering clear and honest messages to employees about career and development prospects.
The aspects of career development most likely to be promised to staff are opportunities to develop their skills, flexibility in aspects of their work, interesting work and reasonable levels of security. The “employability” angle is strong here.
The messages are clear and unsurprising. If employees want to get on they should seek qualifications and training, greater responsibility and varied work experiences. They should not work reduced hours, take career breaks, work from home or get ill. So “being there” in continuous full-time employment is a necessary, although not a sufficient, condition for career progression.
The CIPD Survey showed that, on balance, HR practitioners believe that organisations should be adopting a “partnership model” approach to career management. In this partnership deal, individuals should “own” their own careers – but employers should support them by offering advice, support and training. The reality however, seems to be that individuals are pushed towards fulfilling their side of the “deal”, taking ownership for their own career development, but most employers are not delivering their side of the deal.
This amounts to a difficult message to employees. The message about managing your career can easily be heard by employees as saying “you‟re on your own”, with the messages about career partnership and support being less audible. We also see that the career management activities undertaken offer information support to employees, but probably fall short of an active partnership. The message about the organisations need to develop certain groups of people can also seem at odds with the more universal messages about career support. This is not to say that the strategic thinking is flawed just that the communication challenge is considerable.
Help & support for line managers
The CIPD survey shows that getting involvement in career management from line managers is still an uphill struggle. Career management activities are mostly driven by the HR function and by individuals with the Board taking rather secondary responsibility. It seems that the line will play a part but need to be coaxed and cajoled by the HR function on the one hand and employees on the other.
HR practitioners need to devise ways of helping line managers support career development more effectively particularly since one of the major barriers to career management is reported as being a “lack of time”. Other research has shown that career education for employees can help them extract support from their bosses (Yarnall, 1998), so this should be a focus for practitioners.
Wendy Hirsh expresses a personal view that “career development needs stronger „hands on‟ HR input than many other areas of people management. Some of the reasons for this include: its future orientation which makes it slip down the business agenda; the need sometimes for expert and confidential career support; and the need to facilitate career moves across functional or business unit boundaries. These are not reasons to pull line managers out of their role in career management, but they do imply more proactive HR input alongside that of the line.”
If organisations were really serious about line managers taking the lead in supporting the career management of their staff, they would train them to do it. Not surprisingly, the survey shows only a minority of managers receive such training. This will reinforce the “optional extra” status which career management so often has in the line – nice if you have the time and interest, but not really all that important.
The CIPD survey results show that few managers appear to take career management seriously or are trained to provide effective career discussions to their team members. CIPD research indicated that, if delivered well, HR practices such as career development and training can contribute to producing highly committed, motivated employees (Purcell et al, 2003). This is where line managers have an important role to play. CIPD research “Understanding the people and performance link: Unlocking the black box”, also highlights the crucial role of line managers in delivering HR strategy and effective practices. If line managers are to be the main source of support for employees in terms of career support, organisations need to properly equip them with the training, guidance and information to perform their task effectively. Much needs to be done to make line managers understand why career management is important to future individual and organisational success.
Career Management Practices - Developing a “Career Partnership”
The duality of the objectives of career management – meeting the needs of the organisation and of the individual – have led to much debate about who “owns” career development. In reality of course individuals have always owned their own careers and certainly their own attitudes and aspirations.
There are three general strands of thinking about career ownership:
1. Individuals should take primary responsibility for their own careers, and be proactive in their own career development, particularly when in a rapidly changing organisation or when unemployed.
2. Employed individuals will manage their career‟s inside an organisation more effectively if they have information and support from their employer. To be most effective, a “career partnership” should be formed between employer and employee based on active dialogue and negotiation to meet the needs of both parties. Employees need advice, support and training in how to manage their careers.
3. Organisations have a vested interest in taking more initiative in planning for the careers of their most valued employees, typically senior managers and their potential successors.
The processes most commonly made available to “all” staff are online vacancy boards, an open internal job market, formal appraisal or development review, and career information/advice from staff in a learning centre. These processes can be seen to be relatively standard or straightforward activities, predominantly focused on providing information or forming part of another process such as appraisal.
Practices less likely to be aimed at all employees are succession planning, high potential development schemes, formal mentoring, graduate entry schemes, development or assessment schemes and external secondments.
In other words there are a number of widespread processes regularly implemented and aimed at “all” employees. However, these are often informal and not always considered to be effective e.g. appraisal. Certain groups of employees, such as senior management and graduates, do seem to be receiving more proactive career development, but this only affects a small proportion of the workforce.
The survey tells us what activities or processes HR people think are being deployed in their organisations, which employees they cover, and how effective they are felt to be.
Succession Planning is one of the more common processes, although it remains difficult to implement effectively. A high proportion of respondents reported their organisations had some career processes aimed at specific populations (such as high potential or graduate schemes). This links with the survey findings that the dominant objective for career management is developing future leaders. Other research would support this view (Gratton et al. 1999).
Appraisal is the only formal process applied to nearly all employees. The survey respondents who used this process found it only moderately effective. Other research has shown it is not very helpful for career dialogue (Hirsh et al. 2001)
An open internal job market is now very common (Hirsh et al, 2000) and available to the whole workforce, often supported by an online vacancy board. The survey shows the open job market is most used in organisations with lower proportions of managers and professionals. It is felt to be an effective process, at least by HR practitioners.
Over two-thirds of organisations offered some form of career support such as career information, career counselling, or workshops. With the exception of information (often now intranet-based), most of the initiatives are not offered to all staff. They are, however, less common than the targeted forms of career management for potential senior managers.
Informal career support is, as we would expect, very widespread. It is interesting, however, that over three-quarters of respondents felt that HR or training people in their organisation offered informal career support to employees.
The practices considered to be most effective are:
• An open internal job market
• Development or assessment centres
• Online vacancy boards
• Development Programmes
• Graduate entry schemes
Practices considered to be least effective are:
• Succession planning
• Career information/advice
• Informal support from managers
The implications for HR
The barriers to better career management appear to be practical rather than philosophical. The main barriers are seen as lack of time/resources; being seen as peripheral; and a lack of senior management commitment – all to do with getting it done rather than strategic intent.
Hence, two key activities for the HR function should be (a) working hard to involve senior management both in strategy and implementation and (b) training line managers much more thoroughly for the role they are expected to undertake.
HR need to develop a clear business case for career management. Career management should improve the deployment of skills and develop a stronger and more flexible skills base for the future, as well as supporting the attraction, motivation and retention of high-quality staff.
Career management in most organisations requires two strategies to work side by side. The first pillar of the strategy facilitates planned career development for selected groups of staff the organisation wants to bring on. The second pillar of the strategy offers information, advice and support to all employees who wish to develop their careers.
HR practitioners need to bear in mind that the nature of their organisation (sector, size etc.) will strongly influence the types of career management activities which will be appropriate in that environment. For example, it is not appropriate (or possible) for smaller organisations to offer some of the more sophisticated or formal career management activities that some large organisations are able to offer. But small businesses can still find informal ways of providing development opportunities and encouraging skills development, and they can still work to make sure that their HR practices are not unfairly disadvantaging certain employee groups.
Organisations expect all employees to manage their own careers; all managers to support other employees in their career development; and senior managers to take a strategic lead and provide positive role models. Employees at all levels need adequate training to equip them for their roles in career management.
In conclusion, the HR function needs to be an active player in career management and to allocate enough of its own resources to offering practical career support.
(C) 2010 Annette Oglethrope, Banana Park Consulting
Friday, 8 January 2010
Profile of the Month Lumus 360 Feedback
An interview with David Cooper of Lumus™ 360Established in 1999, Lumus are one of the UK’s leading suppliers of 360 Degree Feedback tools to trainers/ consultants and organisations. They specialise in providing fully managed online 360 degree feedback tools for individuals, medium and large organisations and development consultants.
About Lumus™
Carolyn (The Complete Trainer Ltd): Tell me a little about your company.
David: I’ve been with the company since we started. What is important to me, and to our clients, is that rather than being just a straightforward 360 service provider, our aim is to take the hassle out of designing, developing and delivering 360 degree feedback surveys. We also help with the strategic, project management and support to assist in implementation so that the surveys aren’t just done and forgotten, they become part of the organisation’s development framework.
Carolyn: What sort of clients use 360 feedback surveys? Is it just huge companies who use it to support manager development?
David: No, A good 360 feedback process works in any organisation. We have the privilege of managing feedback surveys for medium and larger organisations such as Dyson, Muller, DeBeers Diamonds, Greggs the bakers, Total, Local Authorities and NHS Trusts etc. We also provide bespoke 360 surveys to consultants/ trainers in support of manager and leadership development programmes/ interventions that they are delivering for their clients. When we work with a client, it’s not just sending them a link to a totally automated system (though that is part of it); it is about developing the relationship and making the 360 really count for something.
Carolyn: Where are you based and where do you tend to work mostly?
David: We’re based in Chepstow, South Wales but, because our products/ service are internet based - our clients come from all across the UK and Europe – we even have a client in Japan!
Carolyn: I’ve visited Chepstow, a lovely town and of course you have access to a great motorway network. Anyway, there are quite a few 360 providers out there (and indeed I know a few quite well), what do you think makes you stand out above the rest?
David: I would say, four key things:
Our team: Unlike many of our competitors, we are not just IT/ systems experts. The team comprises a web designer, technical programmer, data analyst/ report specialist, permanently dedicated administrative support and several OD consultants who provide a broad range of strategic and project management implementation support. This great mix of people ensures that we provide technical excellence and the consultancy and administrative support demanded by HR professionals and consultants.
The Lumus engine: all of our surveys are powered from an online web application that was specifically designed for the management of online 360 surveys. It’s fully automated and guarantees accurate, fast and confidential results. The system's built-in quality control mechanisms also ensures we get things right, first time
Customisation: No two organisations (or consultants) that we’ve ever worked with want the same thing – our platform lets us easily customise the number of questions, rating scale type, user interfaces, reports, email message content etc
The service: I know everyone would say this, but in our case, we really do ‘go the extra mile’ for our clients and always strive to provide an outstanding start to end service – we also provide briefing packs/ slide sets, internal communication plans, feedback coaching resources etc all for FREE
Carolyn: 360 Degree feedback is now well established and of acknowledged benefit – how do you see it further developing in the future?
David: For me, the future is not so much about technical process advances, but how the feedback collected can be better used – some of the projects we are working on include:
360 multi-level feedback surveys – we’re currently working on an innovative multi-level 360 feedback tool, specifically designed to underpin the development and deployment of senior talent within larger organisations. This alternative report approach differs from traditional feedback reports in that it provides feedback on each management competency area at four levels of performance, allowing people to get a clear picture of how they are doing on a sliding scale from mediocre to exceptional performance
Group summary reports – Using the feedback from a group of managers to produce TNA type reports - identifying population strengths and assessing group development needs which can subsequently be fed into management development programmes / strategies etc
360 team surveys – Just as an individual 360 provides a snapshot of how the participant is seen by those they work with, we’re now developing a team 360 feedback report based on how team members rate the team, against those skills needed for successful team working and functioning
Managers’ summary reports - This unique approach provides line managers with the headline news needed to start a meaningful action planning conversation, without them having to plough through 40 pages of data
180 degree training course workbook - As trainers and developers we all recognise that the pre - and post-course discussions between a course participant and their line manager are crucial in the process of making training stick and ensuring a real return on investment. These pre-course reports combine feedback from the line manager and course participant and are designed to facilitated those conversations and ensure participants start their course with a clear set of development objectives
Products/Links:
Here’s some tailored 360 degree feedback surveys we developed specifically for the Complete Trainer: http://www.completetrainer.co.uk/360_Degree_Feedback
You can find out more about our bespoke solutions on our website: http://www.lumus.co.uk/
and we also recommend that you research and understand 360 before embarking on a feedback process, so we’ve set up this site which gives unbiased information: http://www.everything360.org/
Testimonials
Lumus designed an excellent 360 instrument that provided feedback on a range of critical leadership behaviours which enabled the team to significantly improve both their personal capability and their desire and ability to help and support each other. Considerable and valuable help and support was provided throughout the project and I look forward to future opportunities to work with the Lumus team.
Peter Underwood - Training Consultant
Lumus continue to provide Greggs of Treforest with a flexible, adaptable and tailored approach that meets the changing needs of our business. They do what they say they will do, on time with no fuss.
John Eagle, Greggs
Contact
To contact David Cooper at Lumus, please visit the website http://www.lumus.co.uk/ or email davidooper@lumus.co.uk
Thursday, 3 December 2009
UK HR Update
Equal Pay Considerations
According to research done by The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men 85% of the public are in support of equal pay audits. Their website provides the following gruesome statistics:
• 30,000 women lose their jobs in the UK each year simply because they are pregnant
• Only 11% of FTSE 100 company directors are women
• Nearly 1 in 5 women who work in London earn less than the London Living Wage.
• Women in London earn 23% less than their male counterparts
Fewer than one in five (18%) of private companies measure their gender pay gaps, according to other research produced today by IPSOS Mori for CIPD/KPMG. Even in the public sector, where equal pay monitoring is a statutory requirement, the study finds only 43% complete audits, with many of these described as "ticking the bureaucratic box rather than as part of an underlying effort to advance gender equality. Under the provisions of the Equality Bill - due to be passed early next year - the government is considering forcing companies with more than 250 staff to report their gender pay gaps by 2013 if too few of them are doing it voluntarily.
Companies should investigate pay structures from the perspective of fairness and equality whether or not legislation is introduced. Leading businesses will examine their pay gaps not because of government, but because they understand the impact to their reputation and possible legal damage of not getting it right.
Companies who wish to gauge how vulnerable they are to an equal pay claim should ask the following:
1. Is equal pay a consideration in your company's HR policy?
2. Does your HR team understand the implications of current and future equal pay legislation?
3. Is equality of pay embedded in the recruitment, retention and engagement policies of your company, including monitoring starting salaries by gender?
4. Does your executive leadership understand and sponsor the concept and implications of equal pay?
5. Do your managers understand the concept and implications of equal pay?
6. Does your company have a job evaluation scheme?
7. Does your company believe that the job evaluation scheme can manage the issue of equal pay in your company?
8. Does your company provide guidelines to help managers in performance management discussions and in the allocation of pay increase and bonus awards?
9. If challenged, would your company be able to justify gaps in base pay and annual bonus between a male employee and a female employee who have the same role and responsibilities?
10. Does your company have a process to deal with an equal pay claim?
If the answer is no to any of these then an organization should take urgent action to address the issues or face the possible consequences of a lengthy and costly tribunal claim.
Rule Changes on Medical Reports Allows Employees’ Veto
Employers could find it harder to obtain independent medical assessments for employees with health problems following new guidance from the General Medical Council regarding confidentiality issues. The guidance, which took effect on 12 October 2009, places doctors under enhanced duties when acting as independent medical advisers preparing reports for employment purposes. The guidance, which applies to all doctors states that they must:
be satisfied that the employee is fully informed of the purposes and likely results of disclosing a report to the employer;
point out that relevant information cannot be concealed or withheld;
disclose only facts that are relevant to the employer’s request;
offer to show the employee any report on their condition before it is sent;
obtain the employee’s written consent before passing on the report.
Those who have actually treated the employees concerned are also subject to the provisions of the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. While independent or occupational health doctors who haven’t treated the employees aren’t covered by this act, they can no longer supply medical reports to employers without following the above steps. The guidance has been designed to increase trust between doctors and patients, and to prevent the unnecessary disclosure of personal details. Under the previous rules, independent or occupational health doctors not involved in treating the employee concerned could give the employer a report without running it past the individual first. The guidance does not oblige employers to change how they seek medical opinions. It is now, however, even more important that employers set out clearly in writing the issues they are seeking advice on. Then doctors will have more clarity on the relevant information they need to provide. Employees, then, are more likely to consent,however, the introduction of a sign-off procedure means that employers could face delays in receiving reports, which could in turn prolong the absence management process.
The guidance does not give employees the right to amend reports, but it’s likely that most doctors will be willing to correct factual inaccuracies. It is less clear whether employees will ask doctors to alter reports in more subtle ways. Doctors have been advised that it is unacceptable to make changes under pressure from either employees or employers. If consent is withheld the report cannot be disclosed. This change may have unintended and unwelcome consequences for employers and employees. Employers disputing medical information received, for example, from GPs, may face difficulties obtaining independent medical opinions now employees can refuse disclosure. Organisations with limited medical information will be less able to implement reasonable adjustments and may be more likely to dismiss employees for ill health.
How to Manage a Re-structure – 5 top tips!
1. Identify the main objectives for your business re-structure and plan the most appropriate people structure to make your business more effective.
2. Identify which key skills you wish to retain in the new structure and ring-fence key individuals to particular posts; if they only have 70% of the skills required develop a skills development plan for each.
3. Recruit to the remaining posts either from within (first) and then outside the business.
4. Identify which individuals are not required within the new structure as they do not have the new skills required and set a redundancy management programme in place bearing in mind consultation and dismissal legal requirements.
5. Manage performance of the individuals in the new structure carefully and develop training and development plans as appropriate to ensure business success.
If you need support with a re-structure contact Sandra Beale on 07762 771290 or visit her website at http://www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
According to research done by The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men 85% of the public are in support of equal pay audits. Their website provides the following gruesome statistics:
• 30,000 women lose their jobs in the UK each year simply because they are pregnant
• Only 11% of FTSE 100 company directors are women
• Nearly 1 in 5 women who work in London earn less than the London Living Wage.
• Women in London earn 23% less than their male counterparts
Fewer than one in five (18%) of private companies measure their gender pay gaps, according to other research produced today by IPSOS Mori for CIPD/KPMG. Even in the public sector, where equal pay monitoring is a statutory requirement, the study finds only 43% complete audits, with many of these described as "ticking the bureaucratic box rather than as part of an underlying effort to advance gender equality. Under the provisions of the Equality Bill - due to be passed early next year - the government is considering forcing companies with more than 250 staff to report their gender pay gaps by 2013 if too few of them are doing it voluntarily.
Companies should investigate pay structures from the perspective of fairness and equality whether or not legislation is introduced. Leading businesses will examine their pay gaps not because of government, but because they understand the impact to their reputation and possible legal damage of not getting it right.
Companies who wish to gauge how vulnerable they are to an equal pay claim should ask the following:
1. Is equal pay a consideration in your company's HR policy?
2. Does your HR team understand the implications of current and future equal pay legislation?
3. Is equality of pay embedded in the recruitment, retention and engagement policies of your company, including monitoring starting salaries by gender?
4. Does your executive leadership understand and sponsor the concept and implications of equal pay?
5. Do your managers understand the concept and implications of equal pay?
6. Does your company have a job evaluation scheme?
7. Does your company believe that the job evaluation scheme can manage the issue of equal pay in your company?
8. Does your company provide guidelines to help managers in performance management discussions and in the allocation of pay increase and bonus awards?
9. If challenged, would your company be able to justify gaps in base pay and annual bonus between a male employee and a female employee who have the same role and responsibilities?
10. Does your company have a process to deal with an equal pay claim?
If the answer is no to any of these then an organization should take urgent action to address the issues or face the possible consequences of a lengthy and costly tribunal claim.
Rule Changes on Medical Reports Allows Employees’ Veto
Employers could find it harder to obtain independent medical assessments for employees with health problems following new guidance from the General Medical Council regarding confidentiality issues. The guidance, which took effect on 12 October 2009, places doctors under enhanced duties when acting as independent medical advisers preparing reports for employment purposes. The guidance, which applies to all doctors states that they must:
be satisfied that the employee is fully informed of the purposes and likely results of disclosing a report to the employer;
point out that relevant information cannot be concealed or withheld;
disclose only facts that are relevant to the employer’s request;
offer to show the employee any report on their condition before it is sent;
obtain the employee’s written consent before passing on the report.
Those who have actually treated the employees concerned are also subject to the provisions of the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. While independent or occupational health doctors who haven’t treated the employees aren’t covered by this act, they can no longer supply medical reports to employers without following the above steps. The guidance has been designed to increase trust between doctors and patients, and to prevent the unnecessary disclosure of personal details. Under the previous rules, independent or occupational health doctors not involved in treating the employee concerned could give the employer a report without running it past the individual first. The guidance does not oblige employers to change how they seek medical opinions. It is now, however, even more important that employers set out clearly in writing the issues they are seeking advice on. Then doctors will have more clarity on the relevant information they need to provide. Employees, then, are more likely to consent,however, the introduction of a sign-off procedure means that employers could face delays in receiving reports, which could in turn prolong the absence management process.
The guidance does not give employees the right to amend reports, but it’s likely that most doctors will be willing to correct factual inaccuracies. It is less clear whether employees will ask doctors to alter reports in more subtle ways. Doctors have been advised that it is unacceptable to make changes under pressure from either employees or employers. If consent is withheld the report cannot be disclosed. This change may have unintended and unwelcome consequences for employers and employees. Employers disputing medical information received, for example, from GPs, may face difficulties obtaining independent medical opinions now employees can refuse disclosure. Organisations with limited medical information will be less able to implement reasonable adjustments and may be more likely to dismiss employees for ill health.
How to Manage a Re-structure – 5 top tips!
1. Identify the main objectives for your business re-structure and plan the most appropriate people structure to make your business more effective.
2. Identify which key skills you wish to retain in the new structure and ring-fence key individuals to particular posts; if they only have 70% of the skills required develop a skills development plan for each.
3. Recruit to the remaining posts either from within (first) and then outside the business.
4. Identify which individuals are not required within the new structure as they do not have the new skills required and set a redundancy management programme in place bearing in mind consultation and dismissal legal requirements.
5. Manage performance of the individuals in the new structure carefully and develop training and development plans as appropriate to ensure business success.
If you need support with a re-structure contact Sandra Beale on 07762 771290 or visit her website at http://www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Latest UK HR and Government Update
Taxes, returns & payroll
The Companies Act 2006 is changing the law for companies. Passed in 2006, the Act reaches the final stage of implementation on 1 October 2009. More information here
Directors' addresses: all companies will need to provide a service address for every director in their register of directors and keep a record of their directors' residential addresses separate from their register of directors.
Company and business names: measures will be introduced to enable the public to easily find a business name and prevent business names being misleading.
Memorandums and articles of association: where a business incorporates on or after 1 October 2009, it will be able to use - if it so chooses - model memorandum and articles of association. Check the Companies House website, for updates/templates.
Company particulars in correspondence: a company will have to include its name in all forms of business documentation, including electronic documents.
Place for keeping key company records: every company will be able to have a single alternative inspection location (SAIL) as an alternative to its registered office, at which it must make its key records available for public inspection. This site will have to be in the same part of the UK as its registered office. Companies will have to notify Companies House of their SAIL, the records they keep there and of any change in their SAIL's address.
Inspection of company records: a person wishing to inspect a private company's records will have to give advance notice of the date and time they wish to carry out the inspection. In addition, companies will not be able to prevent the person from copying all or part of a record they are entitled to inspect.
Providing copies of company records: if a person requests a hard copy of a company record, the company must provide a hard copy even if the record is held electronically. If a person requests an electronic copy, the company must do so if the record is held electronically.
Notification of particulars of share capital: in an application for a new company, the particular of share capital will be included in a new 'statement of capital', rather than being included in the memorandum. Any changes in capital will be notified to Companies House through a new statement of capital.
Reduction of share capital: as an alternative to the current process requiring court approval, private companies will be able to choose to reduce their capital by special resolution, supported by a solvency statement by each of the directors.
Overseas companies with a business establishment in the UK: there will be a single regime for the registration by overseas companies of the particulars of their UK establishments. There will also be a new regime for the registration of charges over property in the UK created by such companies.
Merger of Companies Registry in Northern Ireland with Companies House: there will be a single register of companies for the entire UK. As a result, companies incorporated in Northern Ireland wishing to establish a place of business elsewhere in the UK will no longer have to register as an overseas company. See our regulation update on the merger of Great Britain and Northern Ireland company registers.
Record-keeping requirements for limited liability partnerships (LLPs): new record-keeping requirements will be introduced for LLPs.
The above outlines key changes for the final implementation of the Companies Act 2006. Find detailed information about Companies Act changes on the Companies House website
Regulation of community interest companies (CICs): new provisions will enable a CIC to convert to the asset-locked form of a community benefit society and a Scottish charity to convert to a CIC. In addition, requirements relating to the appointment and removal of directors, alternate directors and casting votes will be removed and a reasonable-persons test will be added to the community aspect section of the community interest test.
Formation of limited partnerships: on registration, Companies House will officially confirm that a limited partnership has been formed. Limited partnerships will also have to include in their name an indication of their legal status.
Employing people
The national minimum wage (NMW): the NMW for eligible workers will increase. It will rise to £5.80 an hour for workers aged 22 and above and to £4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21. The rate for those under 18 but above compulsory school age rises to £3.57 an hour. See our regulation update on the increase in the national minimum wage rate.
Tips, service charges, etc and the NMW: bars, restaurants, hotels, etc will no longer be able to count service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges paid to a worker through the employer's payroll as part of the NMW.
Redundancy payments and certain employment tribunal awards: the limit on a week's pay for calculating statutory redundancy payments, and tribunal awards that use a week's pay as the basis for calculation, will increase from £350 to £380.
Source: (C) Businesslink
The Companies Act 2006 is changing the law for companies. Passed in 2006, the Act reaches the final stage of implementation on 1 October 2009. More information here
Directors' addresses: all companies will need to provide a service address for every director in their register of directors and keep a record of their directors' residential addresses separate from their register of directors.
Company and business names: measures will be introduced to enable the public to easily find a business name and prevent business names being misleading.
Memorandums and articles of association: where a business incorporates on or after 1 October 2009, it will be able to use - if it so chooses - model memorandum and articles of association. Check the Companies House website, for updates/templates.
Company particulars in correspondence: a company will have to include its name in all forms of business documentation, including electronic documents.
Place for keeping key company records: every company will be able to have a single alternative inspection location (SAIL) as an alternative to its registered office, at which it must make its key records available for public inspection. This site will have to be in the same part of the UK as its registered office. Companies will have to notify Companies House of their SAIL, the records they keep there and of any change in their SAIL's address.
Inspection of company records: a person wishing to inspect a private company's records will have to give advance notice of the date and time they wish to carry out the inspection. In addition, companies will not be able to prevent the person from copying all or part of a record they are entitled to inspect.
Providing copies of company records: if a person requests a hard copy of a company record, the company must provide a hard copy even if the record is held electronically. If a person requests an electronic copy, the company must do so if the record is held electronically.
Notification of particulars of share capital: in an application for a new company, the particular of share capital will be included in a new 'statement of capital', rather than being included in the memorandum. Any changes in capital will be notified to Companies House through a new statement of capital.
Reduction of share capital: as an alternative to the current process requiring court approval, private companies will be able to choose to reduce their capital by special resolution, supported by a solvency statement by each of the directors.
Overseas companies with a business establishment in the UK: there will be a single regime for the registration by overseas companies of the particulars of their UK establishments. There will also be a new regime for the registration of charges over property in the UK created by such companies.
Merger of Companies Registry in Northern Ireland with Companies House: there will be a single register of companies for the entire UK. As a result, companies incorporated in Northern Ireland wishing to establish a place of business elsewhere in the UK will no longer have to register as an overseas company. See our regulation update on the merger of Great Britain and Northern Ireland company registers.
Record-keeping requirements for limited liability partnerships (LLPs): new record-keeping requirements will be introduced for LLPs.
The above outlines key changes for the final implementation of the Companies Act 2006. Find detailed information about Companies Act changes on the Companies House website
Regulation of community interest companies (CICs): new provisions will enable a CIC to convert to the asset-locked form of a community benefit society and a Scottish charity to convert to a CIC. In addition, requirements relating to the appointment and removal of directors, alternate directors and casting votes will be removed and a reasonable-persons test will be added to the community aspect section of the community interest test.
Formation of limited partnerships: on registration, Companies House will officially confirm that a limited partnership has been formed. Limited partnerships will also have to include in their name an indication of their legal status.
Employing people
The national minimum wage (NMW): the NMW for eligible workers will increase. It will rise to £5.80 an hour for workers aged 22 and above and to £4.83 an hour to workers aged 18-21. The rate for those under 18 but above compulsory school age rises to £3.57 an hour. See our regulation update on the increase in the national minimum wage rate.
Tips, service charges, etc and the NMW: bars, restaurants, hotels, etc will no longer be able to count service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges paid to a worker through the employer's payroll as part of the NMW.
Redundancy payments and certain employment tribunal awards: the limit on a week's pay for calculating statutory redundancy payments, and tribunal awards that use a week's pay as the basis for calculation, will increase from £350 to £380.
Source: (C) Businesslink
Monday, 14 September 2009
UK HR Update
by Sandra Beale
Largest ever fine for data protection breach
The Financial Services Authority has fined the bank, HSBC, £3.2 million, the largest fine ever, for losing the personal details of thousands of customers. The FSA considered that HSBC had failed to put in place adequate systems and controls to protect customers' details from loss or theft. For example, unencrypted disks containing extensive personal details of policy holders had been sent by normal post and were lost. The FSA also criticised HSBC for being careless with customers' confidential information, leaving it on open shelves and disposing of it in regular waste collections. Given the increasing awareness of the issues around keeping personal data safe, all organisations, not just those regulated by the FSA, need to ensure they are doing everything they can to prevent the misuse of confidential and personal information this includes implementation of appropriate policies and training.
Health & Safety Executive’s Health & Safety Guides Offered Free of Charge
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is to scrap charges on 250 of its online health and safety guides from September in a bid to make workplaces safer. The comprehensive guides can be downloaded as PDFs from the HSE website
Growth in Young People’s Unemployment
Unemployment statistics show that one in three young people aged 16-18 are unemployed according to recently published figures. With one million young people aged 16-24 unemployed a whole generation of school leavers and university graduates who faced the prospect of no job for months to come. It does not bode well for this year's school leavers seeking their first ever job - they are not included in these latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics. Youth unemployment now costs the state £3.4 million per day in Jobseeker's Allowance. It can be just the start of a long and downward spiral, which all too often leads to crime, homelessness or worse. Only by stopping young people fall out of the system can lost potential be rescued and save the economy billions each year. Youth unemployment is a serious waste of talent which has to be bad for our future workforce and our current economy.
Lord Mandelson, has said the Government was encouraging businesses to offer greater work experience and internships to help youth unemployment. Businesses on the other hand are stating that schools, universities and the government are not doing enough to support new graduates’ entry into employment. Given that so few government schemes to get the young back into work seem to be effective, something has to be done, but it is difficult to say what.
With the wealth of young people applying for every vacancy it is difficult to recruit the best people and it is those with work experience who will fare better.
Strategies undertaken by some UK-based companies include maintaining student recruitment levels, opening a summer academy for first year undergraduates, implementing an online employability skills clinic, skills seminars and career showcases at schools (Pricewaterhouse Coopers) and recruiting trainees direct from school, offering internships and summer work experience placements (Grant Thornton).
The Forum of Private Business is encouraging small firms to implement apprenticeship schemes, internships and work experience programmes to help "creative and driven" young recruits learn what employers need from their staff. The members of this forum value young people who can bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the workplace and have said it is important that young people leave school, college of university with the skills and confidence they need to enter their first job and do well.
The government is keen to promote internships for students as part of a sandwich degree or a vacation placement. For unemployed graduates internships will be offered through the newly launched Graduate Talent Pool website (www.graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk) whereby SMEs can gain access to good talent. The aim is to match employers with the skills required for their business. As traditionally SMEs have not tapped into the graduate market this is a promising development. The average weekly wage offered as part of an internship is £300pw. With an internship young people can have access to valuable work experience so that when starting a jobsearch they have something to offer an employer.
Companies need to seriously consider investing in apprentices to build up the vocational skills of young people. Despite active government promotion, this is sadly a missed opportunity for many companies who view the investment as a cost too huge to bear. An apprentice need only cost £90 per week with government funding for training provided by Train to Gain. An apprentice is a low cost employee option with the chance to build skills for the future for long term company development.
Recruitment of young people can be difficult when many don’t have the demonstrable work experience that demonstrates capability. However, by being encouraged to gain skills, not just through paid work-related activities, but, for example, through volunteering, charity work, sport and relevant hobbies, young people can enhance their CV’s dramatically showing potential employers what they can offer.
Investing in young people could be the key to many companies being ably equipped in terms of skills to meet the economy upsurge head on when it eventually happens. In any case, they are the work force of the future.
Employment of Children
If you employ children and need guidance on working time and health and safety issues, etc the Department for Children Schools and Family has produced an excellent guide on employing children. If you would like a copy please email info@sjbealehrconsult.co.uk and they will send you the free guide.
Northants Business Expo 2009 – 18 November
See http://www.northantsbusinessexpo.co.uk/ - SJ Beale HR Consult is organising a business expo in Northampton incorporating a business exhibition, a networking lunch, speed networking session and free business seminars.
Largest ever fine for data protection breach
The Financial Services Authority has fined the bank, HSBC, £3.2 million, the largest fine ever, for losing the personal details of thousands of customers. The FSA considered that HSBC had failed to put in place adequate systems and controls to protect customers' details from loss or theft. For example, unencrypted disks containing extensive personal details of policy holders had been sent by normal post and were lost. The FSA also criticised HSBC for being careless with customers' confidential information, leaving it on open shelves and disposing of it in regular waste collections. Given the increasing awareness of the issues around keeping personal data safe, all organisations, not just those regulated by the FSA, need to ensure they are doing everything they can to prevent the misuse of confidential and personal information this includes implementation of appropriate policies and training.
Health & Safety Executive’s Health & Safety Guides Offered Free of Charge
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is to scrap charges on 250 of its online health and safety guides from September in a bid to make workplaces safer. The comprehensive guides can be downloaded as PDFs from the HSE website
Growth in Young People’s Unemployment
Unemployment statistics show that one in three young people aged 16-18 are unemployed according to recently published figures. With one million young people aged 16-24 unemployed a whole generation of school leavers and university graduates who faced the prospect of no job for months to come. It does not bode well for this year's school leavers seeking their first ever job - they are not included in these latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics. Youth unemployment now costs the state £3.4 million per day in Jobseeker's Allowance. It can be just the start of a long and downward spiral, which all too often leads to crime, homelessness or worse. Only by stopping young people fall out of the system can lost potential be rescued and save the economy billions each year. Youth unemployment is a serious waste of talent which has to be bad for our future workforce and our current economy.
Lord Mandelson, has said the Government was encouraging businesses to offer greater work experience and internships to help youth unemployment. Businesses on the other hand are stating that schools, universities and the government are not doing enough to support new graduates’ entry into employment. Given that so few government schemes to get the young back into work seem to be effective, something has to be done, but it is difficult to say what.
With the wealth of young people applying for every vacancy it is difficult to recruit the best people and it is those with work experience who will fare better.
Strategies undertaken by some UK-based companies include maintaining student recruitment levels, opening a summer academy for first year undergraduates, implementing an online employability skills clinic, skills seminars and career showcases at schools (Pricewaterhouse Coopers) and recruiting trainees direct from school, offering internships and summer work experience placements (Grant Thornton).
The Forum of Private Business is encouraging small firms to implement apprenticeship schemes, internships and work experience programmes to help "creative and driven" young recruits learn what employers need from their staff. The members of this forum value young people who can bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the workplace and have said it is important that young people leave school, college of university with the skills and confidence they need to enter their first job and do well.
The government is keen to promote internships for students as part of a sandwich degree or a vacation placement. For unemployed graduates internships will be offered through the newly launched Graduate Talent Pool website (www.graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk) whereby SMEs can gain access to good talent. The aim is to match employers with the skills required for their business. As traditionally SMEs have not tapped into the graduate market this is a promising development. The average weekly wage offered as part of an internship is £300pw. With an internship young people can have access to valuable work experience so that when starting a jobsearch they have something to offer an employer.
Companies need to seriously consider investing in apprentices to build up the vocational skills of young people. Despite active government promotion, this is sadly a missed opportunity for many companies who view the investment as a cost too huge to bear. An apprentice need only cost £90 per week with government funding for training provided by Train to Gain. An apprentice is a low cost employee option with the chance to build skills for the future for long term company development.
Recruitment of young people can be difficult when many don’t have the demonstrable work experience that demonstrates capability. However, by being encouraged to gain skills, not just through paid work-related activities, but, for example, through volunteering, charity work, sport and relevant hobbies, young people can enhance their CV’s dramatically showing potential employers what they can offer.
Investing in young people could be the key to many companies being ably equipped in terms of skills to meet the economy upsurge head on when it eventually happens. In any case, they are the work force of the future.
Employment of Children
If you employ children and need guidance on working time and health and safety issues, etc the Department for Children Schools and Family has produced an excellent guide on employing children. If you would like a copy please email info@sjbealehrconsult.co.uk and they will send you the free guide.
Northants Business Expo 2009 – 18 November
See http://www.northantsbusinessexpo.co.uk/ - SJ Beale HR Consult is organising a business expo in Northampton incorporating a business exhibition, a networking lunch, speed networking session and free business seminars.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Dealing with problem employees
Turnaround or Terminate?How to Deal with "Problem" Employees
Do you struggle with a "problem" employee? If so, join the crowd! Many of my coaching clients - businesses owners or managers - tear their hair out over one or more toxic employees. In our business environment, we tend to recreate the dynamics of the family we grew up, so no wonder problems develop.
It's amazing often a business owner or manager will endure a "problem" employee, unable to help the employee make positive changes and unable to fire them when necessary. Tolerating a problem employee is like walking around with a sliver in your foot - highly irritating, but you can kind of get used to it. Then, when you finally pull it out, you can't believe the relief! That relief generally comes in one of two ways: either you and your employee are able to make some mutual improvements, or you part ways.
I recommend a two step approach to this issue. First, you do whatever can be done to turn the situation around. Very often, you may have made a few half-hearted attempts to resolve the situation, but feel lost at sea about what else can be done. You must address the issues directly, calmly and clearly with the employee. Expectations must be set, problems and solutions explored. Check in regularly with the employee to monitor progress.
On a more powerful level, the turnaround can result when you learn your own and your employee's behavioral style. I like to use the Platinum Rule assessment, developed by Dr. Tony Alessandra. It's inexpensive ($30 - $50), easy to understand and extremely powerful in helping us understand our own and others' behavior. Your style and this employee's style probably differ. (For more information on the Platinum Rule, visit: www.authentic-alternatives.com/platinumrule.htm )
The Golden Rule advises you to treat others as you would like to be treated. The Platinum Rule advances this to the next level and suggests that you treat others as you would like to be treated. Your "problem" employee may be - and probably is - a different style than you. The Platinum Rule shows us four core behavioral styles (Relater, Socializer, Thinker and Director) and gives us many concrete tactics of how we can flex to meet the other person's style. I have seen near miracles occur - the proverbial light bulbs go off - when my clients use this assessment to better understand themselves and their employees and co-workers.
The second step of the two-step approach: suppose you've fully implemented the first step (turnaround) and the situation remains unacceptable. Now it's firing time, and because I bet you care about other people, you know that it's one of the most unwanted and difficult tasks an owner or manager faces. I encourage my clients to remember that a business or organization cannot afford to carry an unproductive and toxic employee. An employee person unwilling or unable to make the necessary improvements must be sent to find an employment situation that fits them better. This does not make you an evil or uncompassionate human being.
So pull out "the sliver" and create a positive, unstoppable team. The number one key to professional success is the quality of the people you surround yourself with - employees, colleagues, spouse, friends. Life speeds by, so remove the rocks from your river and let it flow forward, full force. If you can't turn around a problem employee, you must let them go. It's not your fault and if you want your business to flourish, and you will at times find you have to terminate.
Anne Alexander provides authentic (real) alternatives (choices) to business owners and helps them stop spinning their wheels and move forward with substantial, profitable business growth, personal satisfaction and bottom line control. To receive Anne's free 49 page report, 3 Master Marketing Strategies That Will Dramatically Multiply Your Sales & Profits, send a blank email to business100@aweber.com or visit http://www.authentic-alternatives.com
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Tribunal Support
Growing Demand for Tribunal Support & Representation by Sandra Beale FCIPD
According to the ACAS annual report 2008-09, over the past year the conciliation service has received 55,000 unfair dismissal cases - an increase of almost 12,000 from the previous year equating to a 22% rise. Dismissals can arise from conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory restriction or some other substantial reason. This alarming statistic shows that many companies may not be following due process before reducing headcount. The economic downturn has, no doubt, contributed with companies making redundancies without following a fair and reasonable process. However, dismissed staff, faced with a possible lengthy period of unemployment, may also consider trying their chances at tribunal to secure compensation.
There is nothing to stop an ex-employee taking their ex-employer to court, however, there are steps a company can take to ensure that costly compensation is not the outcome.
Having robust policies and procedures in place which are well communicated and followed to the letter are key. Training for managers in operating the policies is essential particularly if they are operating without “hands on” HR support. The policies should, ideally cover, all areas of employment particularly grievance and discipline, absence, redundancy, capability, performance management and code of conduct. The policies should be sufficiently detailed to provide clear guidelines to managers and employees alike.
The grievance and discipline policies should follow the ACAS Code of Practice and accompanying guidelines introduced in April 2009 alongside the Employment Act 2008. The restrictive procedures dictated by the dispute resolution regulations, introduced with the Employment Act 2002 were abolished, however, companies need to follow a fair and reasonable procedure in order to successfully defend a tribunal case. A robust investigation into any issue that may lead to dismissal is essential, leaving no stone unturned to uncover the facts, before deciding to proceed to a fair hearing, if required, with adequate time spent allowing all the facts from all parties to be heard.
With redundancy following a few simple principles is essential whether making just one person redundant or one hundred. Consultation is paramount before proceeding to dismissal including trying to identify ways to avoid compulsory redundancy. Providing outplacement services to include CV writing and interview skills training can go a long way to appeasing unhappy staff who will lose their jobs.
For those companies that unfortunately end up receiving an ET1 from an ex-employee it is the start of an often stressful process that can last for months due to the increasing workload of the tribunal courts. There are several options for support.
The use of an in-house HR Manager with experience of tribunal defence is the most cost effective solution. However, HR Managers with this kind of experience are very thin on the ground. Many companies immediately hand the case over to an employment lawyer who may then instruct a barrister to take the case into court. This can be a hugely expensive option as there are often many hidden “run away” costs leading to an astronomical final bill which can run into thousands. This can be compounded by the increasing amounts of compensation as tribunal panels take into account the anticipation of lengthy periods of unemployment. The Ministry of Justice has plans to examine and regulate the offering by lawyers many of whom offer a lack of clarity and clear explanation of fee arrangements to their clients. The provision of clear and transparent information on total costs will be the aim.
The use of an experienced HR consultant with a track record of successful tribunal defence with transparent costings can be another more cost-effective option.
For more information, please contact Sandra directly:
SJ Beale HR Consult Ltd
According to the ACAS annual report 2008-09, over the past year the conciliation service has received 55,000 unfair dismissal cases - an increase of almost 12,000 from the previous year equating to a 22% rise. Dismissals can arise from conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory restriction or some other substantial reason. This alarming statistic shows that many companies may not be following due process before reducing headcount. The economic downturn has, no doubt, contributed with companies making redundancies without following a fair and reasonable process. However, dismissed staff, faced with a possible lengthy period of unemployment, may also consider trying their chances at tribunal to secure compensation.
There is nothing to stop an ex-employee taking their ex-employer to court, however, there are steps a company can take to ensure that costly compensation is not the outcome.
Having robust policies and procedures in place which are well communicated and followed to the letter are key. Training for managers in operating the policies is essential particularly if they are operating without “hands on” HR support. The policies should, ideally cover, all areas of employment particularly grievance and discipline, absence, redundancy, capability, performance management and code of conduct. The policies should be sufficiently detailed to provide clear guidelines to managers and employees alike.
The grievance and discipline policies should follow the ACAS Code of Practice and accompanying guidelines introduced in April 2009 alongside the Employment Act 2008. The restrictive procedures dictated by the dispute resolution regulations, introduced with the Employment Act 2002 were abolished, however, companies need to follow a fair and reasonable procedure in order to successfully defend a tribunal case. A robust investigation into any issue that may lead to dismissal is essential, leaving no stone unturned to uncover the facts, before deciding to proceed to a fair hearing, if required, with adequate time spent allowing all the facts from all parties to be heard.
With redundancy following a few simple principles is essential whether making just one person redundant or one hundred. Consultation is paramount before proceeding to dismissal including trying to identify ways to avoid compulsory redundancy. Providing outplacement services to include CV writing and interview skills training can go a long way to appeasing unhappy staff who will lose their jobs.
For those companies that unfortunately end up receiving an ET1 from an ex-employee it is the start of an often stressful process that can last for months due to the increasing workload of the tribunal courts. There are several options for support.
The use of an in-house HR Manager with experience of tribunal defence is the most cost effective solution. However, HR Managers with this kind of experience are very thin on the ground. Many companies immediately hand the case over to an employment lawyer who may then instruct a barrister to take the case into court. This can be a hugely expensive option as there are often many hidden “run away” costs leading to an astronomical final bill which can run into thousands. This can be compounded by the increasing amounts of compensation as tribunal panels take into account the anticipation of lengthy periods of unemployment. The Ministry of Justice has plans to examine and regulate the offering by lawyers many of whom offer a lack of clarity and clear explanation of fee arrangements to their clients. The provision of clear and transparent information on total costs will be the aim.
The use of an experienced HR consultant with a track record of successful tribunal defence with transparent costings can be another more cost-effective option.
For more information, please contact Sandra directly:
SJ Beale HR Consult Ltd
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Behavioural Analysis
Trainingzone have published Carolyn's article on Behavioural profiling. Visit or you can read more here:
For the last four years I have regularly used DISC profiles which give you a snapshot of your ‘behaviours’ in a work environment. DISC is an acronym:
D = Dominance-Challenge: How you respond to problems or challenges.
I = Influence-Contacts – How you influence others to your point of view.
S = Steadiness-Consistency – How you respond to the pace of the environment.
C = Compliance-Constraints – How you respond to rules and procedures set by others.
The concept of DISC profiling is based on the work of Dr. William Moulton Marston who, in 1928, published ‘The Emotions of Normal People’. This book described the theory which is applied to nearly all the versions of DISC profiling available today. The profile is a behavioral assessment designed to accurately measure the four dimensions of normal behavior.
A few years back I completed a Level 3 ILM management qualification and I chose Communications as my main project. For this I mapped all the preferences for the office staff using their DISC profiles and created a ‘how best to communicate with xx’ chart. It was used for many years, indicating communication preferences and styles. It was a very simple and effective way to implement the results of our profiles and use them practically. Nothing more personal than communication preference was shared.
DISC profiles were used for recruitment and appraisal and with clients. The reports, which are created by answering very simple ‘most like’ and ‘least like’ questions, give a comprehensive summary of behavioural preferences. They are used by line managers, trainers, HR, recruitment and outplacement consultants.
The value of using these profiling tools is not just in ‘input and output’ – you put in your answers and get your report – but what happens next. Many people will be open minded enough to accept the validity of the report, feel happy to internally challenge areas which they do not feel accurately match their perceptions, and even perhaps accept the areas which may indicate a need for self-improvement.
I recently took a different profile from the one I’d done for the last four years – this one was from The Trusted Adviser and followed a similar DISC format so it was not unfamiliar. The resulting report, however, was superior to those I’d taken before. The depth of information was far greater – the profile included more aspects and gave a greater analysis of my behaviours and preferences. Though every assessment is affected by variables (hence taking them annually), this one was definitely the most accurate I had ever taken.
Most importantly the language it used was more accessible – though probably still generated by an American English language programme, the terms and language used were easier to understand and I found much less to challenge than in previous reports. My next stage, importantly, is to go through the report with my coach.
The real power and value of behavioural assessments is how they are used to develop individual performance. The ideal scenario is that the report is not just given directly to the respondent but is reviewed by an appropriately qualified coach or manager who can then spend time going through the report with the individual and build a positive action plan.
There are many ways in which assessments can be applied:
Recruitment: does the report reflect the right personality for the role they are being considered for?
Job hunting: the report may produce some excellent wording and highlight skills and strengths that the respondent can use in their CV or job applications
Appraisal: the line manager and respondent can work together (both may have their profiles completed) and improve working process and performance
Team building: pick members of a team who have the right mix of skills or who you know will work best together
In fact behaviour assessments can be used in many ways, for leadership development, trouble shooting, team development, sales skills, benchmarking; with the right training and understanding of the psychology behind how these reports are generated, they can become an extremely powerful tool for trainers, managers and the individual respondents.
Finally, the most important question - do they work? From personal experience, yes; impartially, one assessor I know performs over one million assessments per year – that’s just one provider! I think the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Carolyn Sheppard is director of The Complete Trainer, a training resources ecommerce company. She has been in marketing for over 30 years and directly in learning and development for over five years.
For the last four years I have regularly used DISC profiles which give you a snapshot of your ‘behaviours’ in a work environment. DISC is an acronym:
D = Dominance-Challenge: How you respond to problems or challenges.
I = Influence-Contacts – How you influence others to your point of view.
S = Steadiness-Consistency – How you respond to the pace of the environment.
C = Compliance-Constraints – How you respond to rules and procedures set by others.
The concept of DISC profiling is based on the work of Dr. William Moulton Marston who, in 1928, published ‘The Emotions of Normal People’. This book described the theory which is applied to nearly all the versions of DISC profiling available today. The profile is a behavioral assessment designed to accurately measure the four dimensions of normal behavior.
A few years back I completed a Level 3 ILM management qualification and I chose Communications as my main project. For this I mapped all the preferences for the office staff using their DISC profiles and created a ‘how best to communicate with xx’ chart. It was used for many years, indicating communication preferences and styles. It was a very simple and effective way to implement the results of our profiles and use them practically. Nothing more personal than communication preference was shared.
DISC profiles were used for recruitment and appraisal and with clients. The reports, which are created by answering very simple ‘most like’ and ‘least like’ questions, give a comprehensive summary of behavioural preferences. They are used by line managers, trainers, HR, recruitment and outplacement consultants.
The value of using these profiling tools is not just in ‘input and output’ – you put in your answers and get your report – but what happens next. Many people will be open minded enough to accept the validity of the report, feel happy to internally challenge areas which they do not feel accurately match their perceptions, and even perhaps accept the areas which may indicate a need for self-improvement.
I recently took a different profile from the one I’d done for the last four years – this one was from The Trusted Adviser and followed a similar DISC format so it was not unfamiliar. The resulting report, however, was superior to those I’d taken before. The depth of information was far greater – the profile included more aspects and gave a greater analysis of my behaviours and preferences. Though every assessment is affected by variables (hence taking them annually), this one was definitely the most accurate I had ever taken.
Most importantly the language it used was more accessible – though probably still generated by an American English language programme, the terms and language used were easier to understand and I found much less to challenge than in previous reports. My next stage, importantly, is to go through the report with my coach.
The real power and value of behavioural assessments is how they are used to develop individual performance. The ideal scenario is that the report is not just given directly to the respondent but is reviewed by an appropriately qualified coach or manager who can then spend time going through the report with the individual and build a positive action plan.
There are many ways in which assessments can be applied:
Recruitment: does the report reflect the right personality for the role they are being considered for?
Job hunting: the report may produce some excellent wording and highlight skills and strengths that the respondent can use in their CV or job applications
Appraisal: the line manager and respondent can work together (both may have their profiles completed) and improve working process and performance
Team building: pick members of a team who have the right mix of skills or who you know will work best together
In fact behaviour assessments can be used in many ways, for leadership development, trouble shooting, team development, sales skills, benchmarking; with the right training and understanding of the psychology behind how these reports are generated, they can become an extremely powerful tool for trainers, managers and the individual respondents.
Finally, the most important question - do they work? From personal experience, yes; impartially, one assessor I know performs over one million assessments per year – that’s just one provider! I think the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Carolyn Sheppard is director of The Complete Trainer, a training resources ecommerce company. She has been in marketing for over 30 years and directly in learning and development for over five years.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Delivering Bad News
by Susan Heaton Wright
Last week I received some bad news about a future speaking opportunity. The lady that called me was fantastic in ‘softening the blow’ so that my expertise and time was still valued. In fact she immediately booked me for future engagements that were very exciting.
Delivering bad news can be a real challenge. We will all be faced with the unpleasant role of delivering bad news at some point in our lives. Here are the top 5 communication strategies that compassionate leaders have used:
Tell the truth. Give as much information as you can to put the situation into perspective. We tend to fear what we don’t understand. Don’t speculate and try to squash rumours by addressing the best and worst possible scenarios.
Put yourself in their shoes. Empathise with their situation. Give them all the facts. They will be worried about how the situation will affect them, and it is unfair to leave them guessing. It is unfair and useless to tell the other person not to worry.
Acknowledge their feelings. Don’t devalue their feelings by telling them to ‘Cheer up’. Let them vent and express their emotions. Negative emotions must be expressed and dealt with before they can be replaced with a positive plan of action.
Take charge. Lead a discussion or outline a specific plan of action for the future. Do not express your own specific fears to others. You need to assume the role of leader.
Keep the group unified. Facing a crisis alone can be terrifying. Encourage the group to pull together, support each other and share ideas about how to find a solution. Conclude the meeting on a positive, optimistic note by reemphasising the commitment to overcome the present challenge.
And just a couple of notes on the delivery; if you are delivering bad news over the telephone, check that the listener has the time for the call, and suggest they go into a quiet room.
If you are meeting someone face to face, consider the environment of the meeting. Try to be on a level with the other person – both sitting down, and a private room rather than an open plan office, so that the other person has an opportunity to let off steam.
Copyright 2009 Susan Heaton Wright of Executive Voice
Last week I received some bad news about a future speaking opportunity. The lady that called me was fantastic in ‘softening the blow’ so that my expertise and time was still valued. In fact she immediately booked me for future engagements that were very exciting.
Delivering bad news can be a real challenge. We will all be faced with the unpleasant role of delivering bad news at some point in our lives. Here are the top 5 communication strategies that compassionate leaders have used:
Tell the truth. Give as much information as you can to put the situation into perspective. We tend to fear what we don’t understand. Don’t speculate and try to squash rumours by addressing the best and worst possible scenarios.
Put yourself in their shoes. Empathise with their situation. Give them all the facts. They will be worried about how the situation will affect them, and it is unfair to leave them guessing. It is unfair and useless to tell the other person not to worry.
Acknowledge their feelings. Don’t devalue their feelings by telling them to ‘Cheer up’. Let them vent and express their emotions. Negative emotions must be expressed and dealt with before they can be replaced with a positive plan of action.
Take charge. Lead a discussion or outline a specific plan of action for the future. Do not express your own specific fears to others. You need to assume the role of leader.
Keep the group unified. Facing a crisis alone can be terrifying. Encourage the group to pull together, support each other and share ideas about how to find a solution. Conclude the meeting on a positive, optimistic note by reemphasising the commitment to overcome the present challenge.
And just a couple of notes on the delivery; if you are delivering bad news over the telephone, check that the listener has the time for the call, and suggest they go into a quiet room.
If you are meeting someone face to face, consider the environment of the meeting. Try to be on a level with the other person – both sitting down, and a private room rather than an open plan office, so that the other person has an opportunity to let off steam.
Copyright 2009 Susan Heaton Wright of Executive Voice
Monday, 8 June 2009
UK HR Update
HR Update by Sandra Beale
While the recent media reporting of swine flu has dwelt on the obvious health and safety issues, the threat of a pandemic, whether now or in the next few months, also raises some practical challenges for companies across the country.
Companies should consider taking proactive measures such as:
Research done by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has highlighted five main trends related to the rise in alcohol abuse:
According to the government’s Know Your Limits survey, England’s biggest drinkers are media workers, consuming more than 10 units above the NHS recommended weekly average limit. Workers in the media, publishing or entertainment industry drink an average of 44 units a week, with the recommended average limit being 28 units a week for men and 21 units for women. IT workers are the
second heaviest drinkers (34 units a week), followed by service-sector workers (33 units) and people in finance, insurance and real estate (29 units). An office drinking culture could be partly responsible, as many workers felt pressured to drink by colleagues. One in 10 drinkers felt their alcohol consumption affected their work.
Teachers were found to consume less overall but the survey found they are among the most prone to rely on booze to unwind after a stressful day, along with journalists, builders, bankers and estate agents.
The main issue for an employer is how can the symptoms of serious alcohol abuse be recognized and how can they be dealt with as there are potentially moral and ethical obligations to fulfil. A starting point would be the implementation of a drugs and alcohol policy which manages alcohol misuse making it clear to employees that drinking to a level negatively affects performance, attendance or behaviour at work and is unacceptable. The policy should spell out the health risks of excessive drinking and make it clear about available support.
Health & Safety Poster Change
All businesses are required by law to display a health and safety poster. From 6 April 2009 following the implementation of the Employment Act 2008 there has been change to the format of these posters. The new poster clarifies your responsibility as an employer and those of the employee. Best practice states you should display this poster at the entrance to your building.
Other health and safety products required in by law in the workplace are an accident book, a first aid kit and no smoking signs at the entrance to your building.
National Minimum Wage Increases
NMW hourly rates that will apply from 1 October 2009:
While the recent media reporting of swine flu has dwelt on the obvious health and safety issues, the threat of a pandemic, whether now or in the next few months, also raises some practical challenges for companies across the country.
Companies should consider taking proactive measures such as:
- providing employees with access to the latest government information and advice via emails, posters, etc.
- advising unwell employees to seek medical advice and to stay away from work
- restating absence reporting procedures to ensure that employees report their illness at the earliest opportunity
- postponing face to face meetings and training courses or replacing them with teleconferencing; cancelling unnecessary travel and social events.
- how the organisation could continue to function with a skeleton staff
- whether and how to train more employees in essential business-critical knowledge and skills, to ensure the organisation can continue to operate
- how to manage working hours and overtime where employees agree to cover absent employees
- how and when employees will be permitted to work from home to avoid workplace infection
- whether the employer has the right to require employees to submit to a medical examination
- how to deal with employees who are well but who are refusing to attend work to avoid the risk of general infection
- whether and how normal absence recording will include quarantine time, working from home to avoid infection and falling ill with swine flu (one risk being that employees are ‘penalised’ for reporting symptoms)
Research done by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has highlighted five main trends related to the rise in alcohol abuse:
- An increase in drinking among women
- An increase in drinking among middle age and older groups
- A recent decrease in drinking 16-24 year olds
- Increase in alcohol consumption among children
- An increase in drinking in Northern Ireland compared with rest of UK
According to the government’s Know Your Limits survey, England’s biggest drinkers are media workers, consuming more than 10 units above the NHS recommended weekly average limit. Workers in the media, publishing or entertainment industry drink an average of 44 units a week, with the recommended average limit being 28 units a week for men and 21 units for women. IT workers are the
second heaviest drinkers (34 units a week), followed by service-sector workers (33 units) and people in finance, insurance and real estate (29 units). An office drinking culture could be partly responsible, as many workers felt pressured to drink by colleagues. One in 10 drinkers felt their alcohol consumption affected their work.Teachers were found to consume less overall but the survey found they are among the most prone to rely on booze to unwind after a stressful day, along with journalists, builders, bankers and estate agents.
The main issue for an employer is how can the symptoms of serious alcohol abuse be recognized and how can they be dealt with as there are potentially moral and ethical obligations to fulfil. A starting point would be the implementation of a drugs and alcohol policy which manages alcohol misuse making it clear to employees that drinking to a level negatively affects performance, attendance or behaviour at work and is unacceptable. The policy should spell out the health risks of excessive drinking and make it clear about available support.
Health & Safety Poster Change
All businesses are required by law to display a health and safety poster. From 6 April 2009 following the implementation of the Employment Act 2008 there has been change to the format of these posters. The new poster clarifies your responsibility as an employer and those of the employee. Best practice states you should display this poster at the entrance to your building.
Other health and safety products required in by law in the workplace are an accident book, a first aid kit and no smoking signs at the entrance to your building.
National Minimum Wage Increases
NMW hourly rates that will apply from 1 October 2009:
- workers aged 22 and over: £5.80 (up from the current £5.73 per hour)
- workers aged 18-21: £4.83 (an increase on the present rate of £4.77 per hour)
- workers aged 16 and 17 (provided they are above compulsory school age): £3.57 (up from the current £3.53).
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Disability – Is it a problem for your company?
By Susan Patrick
For many companies, it is a real problem when they have to deal with disabled people, but it doesn’t have to be.
Knowing how to approach people who are disabled, irrespective of their disability, may be the start of a “beautiful” love affair, because if the service offered is right, disabled people (and those who are non-disabled) will return again and again to buy your products, services, goods, and/or use your facilities.
Service in this day and age is extremely important if you want to increase your bottom line (or even maintain it)! People want to be treated as if they are your one and only customer and that you and your staff are there for them and them alone. Staff training is where it starts. If you don’t spend sufficient time with your staff, either when they are inducted or with continuing or ongoing training, standards slip. Once they slip below an acceptable standard, you will lose customers. Training of staff in how to handle disabled people is extremely important. Get it right for them and you will get it right for others. For instance, if someone were to come into your premises that had a large strawberry birthmark on their face or someone like Simon Weston who was seriously burnt during the Falklands War, the normal reaction by someone when they first see that person is to drop their jaw! What you should try to do is to control your own natural reaction, look them in the eye, and smile a warm welcoming smile. This will immediately help to put the individual at ease and they will be less likely to feel embarrassed at the way they look.
Another example is when you first meet someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, the natural reaction is to shout. How many of you have done that in the past? Be honest. I would think that everyone has done that at one time or another – but these people are not stupid, they haven’t lost their marbles, they just have a disability that may cause communication barriers if not treated in the right way. If you face them so that any light falls on your face (even if you can’t sign – and it may not be their first language) they will have the opportunity to lip read. They may also have a companion with them who does sign, so again don’t block that person however inadvertently, from being seen by the person who is deaf.
I could go on further and in more detail, but I recommend you read my newsletters each month. Go to my website http://www.smpconsultancy.com/ and sign up to the newsletters - whilst you are there have a look round the site. I hope you will find it interesting.
Susan Pattrick
Director SMP Consultancy Ltd
For many companies, it is a real problem when they have to deal with disabled people, but it doesn’t have to be.
Knowing how to approach people who are disabled, irrespective of their disability, may be the start of a “beautiful” love affair, because if the service offered is right, disabled people (and those who are non-disabled) will return again and again to buy your products, services, goods, and/or use your facilities.
Service in this day and age is extremely important if you want to increase your bottom line (or even maintain it)! People want to be treated as if they are your one and only customer and that you and your staff are there for them and them alone. Staff training is where it starts. If you don’t spend sufficient time with your staff, either when they are inducted or with continuing or ongoing training, standards slip. Once they slip below an acceptable standard, you will lose customers. Training of staff in how to handle disabled people is extremely important. Get it right for them and you will get it right for others. For instance, if someone were to come into your premises that had a large strawberry birthmark on their face or someone like Simon Weston who was seriously burnt during the Falklands War, the normal reaction by someone when they first see that person is to drop their jaw! What you should try to do is to control your own natural reaction, look them in the eye, and smile a warm welcoming smile. This will immediately help to put the individual at ease and they will be less likely to feel embarrassed at the way they look.
Another example is when you first meet someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, the natural reaction is to shout. How many of you have done that in the past? Be honest. I would think that everyone has done that at one time or another – but these people are not stupid, they haven’t lost their marbles, they just have a disability that may cause communication barriers if not treated in the right way. If you face them so that any light falls on your face (even if you can’t sign – and it may not be their first language) they will have the opportunity to lip read. They may also have a companion with them who does sign, so again don’t block that person however inadvertently, from being seen by the person who is deaf.
I could go on further and in more detail, but I recommend you read my newsletters each month. Go to my website http://www.smpconsultancy.com/ and sign up to the newsletters - whilst you are there have a look round the site. I hope you will find it interesting.
Susan Pattrick
Director SMP Consultancy Ltd
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Redundancy and Equality
by Sandra Beale
This year's Budget announcement raised the limit on weekly pay for statutory redundancy pay purposes from £350 to £380. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) is saying that the change will be effective from 1st October 2009. However, there is yet to be official confirmation of this date and whether it also includes an identical increase to the statutory basic award. For those employers planning large-scale redundancies, the timing of this change is a factor to be taken into account.
All well and good cutting employee numbers to reduce costs, but employers must still pay attention to those left behind, as these employees could struggle to cope with new workloads. Levels of stress tend to rise among survivors post-redundancy, as well as levels of anxiety. Not only do these employees worry that they are the next to go, but there is also the added workload because the level of work has not dropped and the number of people has.
The increased pressure on survivors can have a direct impact on the amount of hours staff spend in the workplace, and often serves only to fuel a 'long hours culture' where even though employees spend more time in the workplace, their productivity levels drop due to tiredness and stress.
Increasingly, people are becoming workaholics, work is their life and relationships with family and friends away from work fall apart. Such an environment is far from ideal for organisations trying to weather the economic storm; and to resist productivity and motivation levels dropping among remaining workers. Those who are left behind need to be managed efficiently, and so too are the hours they are allocated to work.
It is really valuable to ensure that staff are fully briefed on the progress of the company, so good communication from top to bottom is crucial to keep employees' stress and anxiety levels to a minimum. It is the not knowing what is going to happen next which impacts on stress levels.
Top tips: Supporting redundancy survivors
√ If making redundancies, employers should pay careful attention to staff members who are left behind, as an increased workload can cause stress, anxiety and lead to a 'long hours culture'.
√ The 'long hours culture' should be easy to identify as employees will be anxious that they are soon to lose their job and will put in the extra hours to complete tasks. However, tiredness and stress often sets in, and productivity will level out or decrease.
√ Effective communication from top to bottom is important, and line managers should be used to ensure that messages about the company's situation get to staff. This can ease help worries about redundancy and let staff get on with their work.
Publication of Equality Bill
The Equality Bill was laid before parliament during April and published on 24 April 2009. When it becomes law, probably in 2010, it seeks to consolidate existing discrimination and equal pay legislation to make it easier to understand and comply with. Measures to be introduced is an outlawing of pay secrecy clauses in contracts and employers can take steps to recruit under-represented groups in their workforce. Currently in the UK a woman is paid on average 23% less than a man and this latest equality legislation seeks to address this. As equal pay is top of the list of tribunal claims (see below), companies may want to consider undertaking an equal pay audit and/or a job evaluation exercise to check the tribunal risk factor and take steps to address this.
Publication of Tribunal Statistics 2007-08
The latest tribunal statistics have been published and make illuminating reading. The top three claims made were related to Equal Pay, the Working Time Directive, and unfair dismissal. The statistics show there has been a dramatic growth in the use of lawyers to help defend a tribunal claim.
Sandra Beale FCIPD
www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
This year's Budget announcement raised the limit on weekly pay for statutory redundancy pay purposes from £350 to £380. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) is saying that the change will be effective from 1st October 2009. However, there is yet to be official confirmation of this date and whether it also includes an identical increase to the statutory basic award. For those employers planning large-scale redundancies, the timing of this change is a factor to be taken into account.
All well and good cutting employee numbers to reduce costs, but employers must still pay attention to those left behind, as these employees could struggle to cope with new workloads. Levels of stress tend to rise among survivors post-redundancy, as well as levels of anxiety. Not only do these employees worry that they are the next to go, but there is also the added workload because the level of work has not dropped and the number of people has.
The increased pressure on survivors can have a direct impact on the amount of hours staff spend in the workplace, and often serves only to fuel a 'long hours culture' where even though employees spend more time in the workplace, their productivity levels drop due to tiredness and stress.
Increasingly, people are becoming workaholics, work is their life and relationships with family and friends away from work fall apart. Such an environment is far from ideal for organisations trying to weather the economic storm; and to resist productivity and motivation levels dropping among remaining workers. Those who are left behind need to be managed efficiently, and so too are the hours they are allocated to work.
It is really valuable to ensure that staff are fully briefed on the progress of the company, so good communication from top to bottom is crucial to keep employees' stress and anxiety levels to a minimum. It is the not knowing what is going to happen next which impacts on stress levels.
Top tips: Supporting redundancy survivors
√ If making redundancies, employers should pay careful attention to staff members who are left behind, as an increased workload can cause stress, anxiety and lead to a 'long hours culture'.
√ The 'long hours culture' should be easy to identify as employees will be anxious that they are soon to lose their job and will put in the extra hours to complete tasks. However, tiredness and stress often sets in, and productivity will level out or decrease.
√ Effective communication from top to bottom is important, and line managers should be used to ensure that messages about the company's situation get to staff. This can ease help worries about redundancy and let staff get on with their work.
Publication of Equality Bill
The Equality Bill was laid before parliament during April and published on 24 April 2009. When it becomes law, probably in 2010, it seeks to consolidate existing discrimination and equal pay legislation to make it easier to understand and comply with. Measures to be introduced is an outlawing of pay secrecy clauses in contracts and employers can take steps to recruit under-represented groups in their workforce. Currently in the UK a woman is paid on average 23% less than a man and this latest equality legislation seeks to address this. As equal pay is top of the list of tribunal claims (see below), companies may want to consider undertaking an equal pay audit and/or a job evaluation exercise to check the tribunal risk factor and take steps to address this.
Publication of Tribunal Statistics 2007-08
The latest tribunal statistics have been published and make illuminating reading. The top three claims made were related to Equal Pay, the Working Time Directive, and unfair dismissal. The statistics show there has been a dramatic growth in the use of lawyers to help defend a tribunal claim.
Sandra Beale FCIPD
www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
New Discipline & Grievance Procedures
I received this newsletter from Sandra and she kindly said I could mention it here. It's always difficult to keep abreast of legislation changes; there's some really useful information in here:
2009 Key Changes and Actions to Take
Key Changes
On 6 April 2009 the Employment Bill 2008 repeals the Statutory Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004, abolishing the three step statutory grievance and discipline procedures. However, some form of procedure will have to be followed otherwise the tribunal can award compensation increased or decreased by 25%.
Failure to follow the statutory procedures will no longer result in automatic unfair dismissal. An employee may lodge an ET1 without submitting a grievance to the employer first, but compensation may be affected if their case is successful at tribunal. Mediation will be the key to resolving disputes early. Emphasis will need to be on resolving issues informallay as much as possible.
The new rules are designed to be less prescriptive, simpler and more flexible. Timescales will be less rigid and the statutory modified procedures are abolished. The rules will not apply to redundancies or the ending of fixed term contracts, however.
Collective grievances will not be covered by the code and companies should follow their collective grievance procedure. To support the legislation a new ACAS Code of Practice will be implemented and companies need to review their procedures in line with this at it will be closely consulted by tribunal panels when assessing cases and the actions taken.
ACAS to be much more involved, particularly early on in any disputes and there will be a statutory duty for conciliation. ACAS will offer more help especially in offering pre-claim conciliation whereby having been notified by either employer or employee of potential cases heading for the tribunal courts (but no ET1 having been submitted) will attempt to work with both parties to come to an amicable resolution.
This process has been in existence for some time although perhaps, to date, not particularly well publicised. However, current statistics show that 2/3 of cases reach settlement through pre-claim conciliation with 60% being settled within 14 days. The benefits of pre-claim conciliation are saving time and money, minimising stress, offering a quick solution and providing a win-win outcome without total breakdown of the relationship. The opening hours of ACAS will be extended (8am to 8pm Mon-Fri and 9am to 1pm Saturday).
There are transitional arrangements for the introduction of the new procedures, however, which need to be considered. In a disciplinary or dismissal case, if an employer commences disciplinary proceedings against an employee before 6 April 2009, the statutory dispute resolution regulations 2004 apply; this means having sent a disciplinary hearing invite letter or held a disciplinary hearing. However, if proceedings are held off until after 6 April, the new legislation applies.
In a grievance case, if an employee has sent a grievance letter waited 28 days and submitted an ET1 before 6 April 2009 the statutory grievance procedure will continue to apply. However, for acts which began before 6th April 2009 but continue after that date the following applies:
- for almost all types of claim, the old statutory grievance procedure applies if the employee sends a grievance letter, or presents an ET1, by 4th July 2009. If that date passes without a letter or ET1 being sent, then the new regime applies and the statutory grievance procedure will not engage.
- for equal pay, redundancy payments and some industrial action claims, the same applies except the changeover date is 4th October rather than 4th July.
Actions To Take
• Review employment contracts and employee handbooks in line with the ACAS Code of Practice
• Include an explanation of the mediation process in policies
• Provide clear guidance on submitting grievances
• Communicate policy changes to employees
• Provide training in the new procedures
• Consider providing soft skills training for managers
• Consider training internal mediators or identifying an external mediation company
For more information contact Sandra Beale FCIPD on 07762 771290 or email
info@sjbealehrconsult.co.uk
Website: http://www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk/
Thank you Sandra! If you have an article you think might be of interest, please contact us.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Political correctness
I have worked in a number of organisations during my career, including a very small building firm, a UK FMCG company, one of the most famous Universities in the UK (happy 800th!), in private health and with a multi-national corporation. One thing that I never particularly thought about (especially in the early days) was political correctness, probably because it never occurred to anyone to be anything other than polite, accepting and professional with colleagues.
I remember back in the 80's, working for a huge international computer company, that the only issue that ever arose (and this was whilst working with people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations and cultures) was that one of the girls was holding prayer meetings - in the corridor (big open plan offices). All that was done was that she was asked to book a meeting room instead.
No matter how individuals feel about 'political correctness', promoting equality and diversity and ensuring all your employees feel valued is vital in the modern workplace. It makes good business sense too, as workers who feel valued are usually more productive and less likely to leave your employment.
There is a great resource available on the ACAS website which gives you some helpful tools and free downloads.
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1440
Training in diversity is important, because not all companies are like that computer giant I worked for. People are all different, as different in their prejudices as their choices in life. Supporting your people in understanding diversity could be extremely important and even save embarassing and damaging litigation. What one person sees as 'just being funny' may be someone else's harassment.
I remember back in the 80's, working for a huge international computer company, that the only issue that ever arose (and this was whilst working with people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations and cultures) was that one of the girls was holding prayer meetings - in the corridor (big open plan offices). All that was done was that she was asked to book a meeting room instead.
No matter how individuals feel about 'political correctness', promoting equality and diversity and ensuring all your employees feel valued is vital in the modern workplace. It makes good business sense too, as workers who feel valued are usually more productive and less likely to leave your employment.
There is a great resource available on the ACAS website which gives you some helpful tools and free downloads.
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1440
Training in diversity is important, because not all companies are like that computer giant I worked for. People are all different, as different in their prejudices as their choices in life. Supporting your people in understanding diversity could be extremely important and even save embarassing and damaging litigation. What one person sees as 'just being funny' may be someone else's harassment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
