Five effective ways to build a strong workforce

You may have numerous employment opportunities available within your organisation at present. It is a fact that employees who are developed drive greater value into a business than those who are simply passing through your organisation. Engaged employees are a common denominator among great companies, but assembling and sustaining such a team is sometimes easier said than done.

Many business owners fail to fully leverage the economic value of their employees, or get a measurable ROI for the time and effort spent to attract, develop, and retain them. The untapped potential of an employees efforts can be unleashed when business owners help employees understand the company's mission and make it easy to adapt to changes in the business.

Potential investors are more attracted to businesses that have empowered their employees and engaged them to go above and beyond to satisfy customers and ensure the company's success. Highly engaged employees boost company value.

There are five important activities you need to do to build a strong workforce:

1. Recruitment is where it all begins. Hire carefully -- this is an essential step in building a successful workforce. Assembling a robust interview team with a coordinated process and proven methods for finding desirable attributes like self-motivation, resiliency, integrity, and work ethic will increase the odds of a well-chosen hire. By recruiting the right employees, your company can better motivate, retain, and engage your entire workforce.

2. Competitive advantage should be a conscious part of your business growth strategy. It gives your company an edge in recruiting the most-talented candidates and keeping them. An appealing working environment, along with flexible work arrangements, also attracts and builds a solid workforce. Of course, offering competitive compensation and benefits is key as well.

3. Engagement is vital in the area of employee satisfaction. The emotional commitment an employee has to an organisation and its goals results in greater expenditure of discretionary effort. Engagement is all about connecting and understanding your workforce. Positive, two-way communication across all levels of management also encourages engagement.

4. Regular performance evaluations should be used to provide feedback and confirm employees are accomplishing goals and making a valuable contribution. When evaluations have clear, achievable objectives that measure individual, team, and organisational performance, employees tend to register higher levels of engagement in their work. Measuring performance allows employees to be challenged, and those metrics can be tied back to retention. Employee performance evaluations serve as an effective tool to help management align workforce performance with company goals while also building meaningful career paths for employees.

5. Line of sight as to how employee efforts impact the needs of customers creates purpose within an organisation. The right motivation encourages people to work smarter as employees discover greater purpose in the execution of their jobs. Clearly communicating your business mission and jointly outlining a clear path for job advancement within that mission can mean the difference between a job and a career for employees.

Hiring and developing talent is one of the most valuable investments a business owner can make at every stage in the life cycle of a business. Set the appropriate leadership foundation for your business by developing a well-trained workforce that is aligned with company goals and objectives. Knowing what drives employee motivation and productivity will help you create a team that more easily connects the dots between actions and outcomes, and yields a workforce that will want to stay and grow with the business.

If your business is growing and you are considering hiring people or you have recently hired team members, please do get in touch for further recruitment strategy assistance - polly@rathbonehrsolutions.co.uk

2.8% fall in 'real wages' as pay fails to keep up with inflation

UK wages in May 2022 continued to be eradicated by rising inflation, with the value of employees’ regular pay falling by 2.8% despite employers awarding strong pay increases.

(Statistics based on May 2022 ONS figures)

The latest labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that employees’ average total pay including bonuses grew 6.2% and pay excluding bonuses increased 4.3% in March to May 2022.

Alarmingly, when adjusted for inflation, which hit 9.1% at the consumer prices index measure in May 2022, pay including bonuses fell by 0.9% and regular pay by 2.8% compared with the same period last year.

• The consumer prices index including owner-occupiers’ housing costs, which the ONS offsets its pay estimates against, rose to 7.9% in the 12 months to May 2022, up from 7.8% in April.

• Average total pay growth for the private sector was 7.2% in March to May 2022, and for the public sector it was 1.5%. The finance and business services sector and construction sector showed the largest growth rates at 8.2% and 8.1%, respectively, partly because of strong bonus payments.

The Centre for Ageing Better highlighted the fact that 26.8% of all people of aged 50-64 are economically inactive, up from 25.4% before the start of the pandemic, and urged the next prime minister to make getting these people back into the workforce a priority.

CIPD labour market economist Jonathan Boys has reportedly said employers have a a role in helping staff through the cost of living crisis but acknowledged that many will not be able to afford pay awards that are in- line with or above inflation.

“Striking a balance between a fair pay award and addressing cost pressures will be a prominent theme for many employers this year,” he said. “CIPD research suggests that better use of existing benefits can have a similar effect to pay as it can make people materially better off. Certain fringe benefits can offset household costs like housing, travel, and childcare.”

Creating a vision for your organisation

Creating a strong shared vision can inspire and energise your people to accomplish great things! Defining values and connecting them to goals will help people to focus on how they contribute and what is important. It can also develop a common language for your organisation, which will help to create to a sense of belonging and community within the workforce.
Here are some practical steps for leaders creating a vision with their team:  

• Involve your team. Your team is more likely to accept and embrace the vision if they are part of creating it

• Core values. Describe beliefs, values, expectations and how things will be done. These will feed into the team purpose and mission.

• Purpose. Define why the team exists and the impact of the team

• Mission. Describe what the team is trying to achieve.

• Strategy.  Define how the team plans to realize the mission. 

• Goals. Create goals to break down the strategy into shorter-term, achievable objectives

• Moving forward. Develop a mechanism to reflect, review and measure success so that you can make tweaks and improvements for the future.

Effectively communicating the vision is also an important step and the team should be reminded of the vision on a regular basis. 

Pride Month - How to create an inclusive and diverse environment at work

Pride month is celebrated in June and you may be considering how you can recognise the importance of this month in your workplace. 

Creating an inclusive environment at work can improve relations with staff, help you to attract and retain people and avoid legal risk. However, the CIPD warns that employers should avoid tokenism, and instead consider meaningful activities.  

Here are 5 ways you can create a more supportive and inclusive environment at work:

• Learn about LGBTIQ+ and ensure you understand your obligations under the Equality Act 2010, which is in place to protect people from discrimination.

• Review your workplace policies to make sure there are no inclusion barriers. Make sure they're inclusive of all gender identities and sexualities.

• You should also have an Equal Opportunities statement, which outline; your attitude towards equality and diversity, the work environment that you want to create and that discrimination will not be tolerated.

• Review the language and communication used everyday at work to ensure it is inclusive. 

• Provide diversity training, which can help employees be more aware of their own assumptions and biases 

Small changes such as these can help to develop a work culture where every team member feels appreciated regardless of gender orientation.

5 tips to attract and retain staff in the 'Great Resignation'

Employers are struggling to increase pay any further in a bid to attract talent, the CIPD has warned, as nearly half of organisations say they are struggling to fill vacancies.

The pandemic has caused people to reassess what they are looking for in their jobs and the difficulty of attracting and retaining employees has been recently well documented. What can employers do to prevent people leaving jobs and make themselves more attractive as an employer?

Some organisations have been raising salaries in order to attract and retain talent but latest reports suggest that employers are struggling to increase salaries further.

Here are some suggestions and tips to boost your attraction and retention strategy.

1. Think about your workplace culture. What can you do to create a real sense of belonging and community among your team?

2. Look at the total employment offer. Reviewing your employee wellbeing initiatives, benefits and offering financial wellbeing support could make the difference.

3. Ensure a diverse group of people have access to your job opportunities.

4. Offer flexible working options. Give people the freedom to organise their work around their individual circumstances and commitments.

5. Have regular one-to-one's with team members and discuss longer term vision and career aspirations. You may gain some useful feedback that will help you to retain valuable members of staff.

What are the HR basics for a new employer?

If you’re considering employing somebody for the first time or have recently employed someone then it may be that your business is expanding and you have an increased workload to cover. This is an exciting time for you and your business! CONGRATULATIONS!

We’ve rounded up some integral legal obligations and practical considerations, which will help you to be legally compliant and manage employees effectively.

- Contract of employment. New employees must be provided with a written statement setting out the main terms of their employment.
- Pay - The national minimum wage (NMW) applies to all workers and is paid at different rates according to age. There is a separate rate for apprentices, and a National Living Wage (NLW) applies to workers aged 25 and over. The minimum wage rates are reviewed annually, usually in April.

- Eligibility to work - To determine whether or not a candidate has the right to work in the UK, you should ask them to produce original documents showing they have the right to work in the UK, check that the documents do relate to them and keep a copy.

- Employers’ liability insurance - You need employers’ liability insurance as soon as you become an employer from an authorised insurer.
- HMRC - Register as an employer with HM Revenue and Customs.
- Pension auto enrolment – Employers have an obligation to automatically enrol employees into a pension scheme, subject to eligibility criteria.
- Health and Safety - An employer owes a duty of reasonable care to its employees, which includes a duty to provide employees with adequate materials and resources for the work, and to operate a safe system of work.
- Employment policies - Disciplinary and grievance policies are required at the least.

If your business is growing and you are considering hiring people or you have recently hired team members, please do get in touch for further assistance - polly@rathbonehrsolutions.co.uk

Top tips for switching off after work hours

For the first time for many of us, our homes have now become our everything; our workspaces, dining space, relaxation space and much more. This means that when we’ve finished work, trying to switch off without a change in scenery can be difficult.

We’ve listed a few of our top tips below that can help you to switch off when working from home full time or on a hybrid basis.

Have a routine

One of the most important things that you can do is build a routine and stick to it. This means waking up, starting and finishing your work and taking your lunch at the same time. If you can, try not to start work early or finish late, just to get on top of things.

Bookend your day

Try to get into a rhythm of doing an activity before and after you finish work. This will help you to know when you’re at work and when you aren’t. If possible try to bookend your day with the same activity to help create a sense of routine. For example, you could use your time for exercise after work and take a stroll around the block as your ‘commute’ home.

Define your desk 

It is important that we maintain the boundaries between our work and personal space. If you can, keep your work in an area that doesn’t intrude into the rest of the house. This means when you start work you are at work and when you are finished, you can move into a different space to relax and unwind.

If you are tight on space, try and tidy everything away at the end of the day so that you don’t have visual reminders of your work or your to-do list. You could also have other cues to signal to you when your work is over, like drinking from a different mug.

Switch off your work phone

Try to not answer your emails outside of your designated working hours. When your working day finishes, put your work phone away and try not to check your work emails if you have them on your personal phone. One of the best ways that you can do this is to put your phone out of reach, such as on the other side of the room.

Enjoy your evenings

It is important to try and clear your head in the evening. Try to do something each evening that you can lose yourself in and forget about the working day. Whether it’s catching up with a friend on the phone or video chat, cooking your favourite meal, spending time on a hobby, or learning something entirely new. The most important thing is to enjoy getting lost in the moment and forget about the working day.

Find another purpose

Having a sense of purpose that is separate to your work can help you switch off by focusing your attentions onto other things. Why not look into volunteering in the evening, to help give you something to focus on outside of work? There will likely be lots of volunteering options available within you local community that you can explore.

We will inevitably have times when we think about work outside of our working hours, and that is okay too. Don’t be hard on yourself if you are struggling to switch off – it takes time to adjust.

This is an opportunity to try out different strategies on how to switch off, see what works best for you, and take these with you into the future.

Is your business promoting sustainability?

Promoting sustainability can be beneficial in many ways for your business; it can help you to stay ahead of incoming regulations, build your reputation and trust with customers and business partners, increase employee retention and motivation amongst staff and can give your organisation a competitive advantage.

Here are some sustainable business practices your company can implement to help you create a greener, more eco-conscious workspace.

• Develop sustainable work policies and procedures

• Incorporate sustainability practices into corporate strategies

• Engage employees in sustainable practices by sharing what action you are taking

• Source goods and services that are produced and supplied in a sustainable fashion - sourcing from local suppliers rather than those located far away is a good place to start.

• Purchase energy efficient products

• Encourage greener commute options such as lift-sharing, walking, cycling or taking public transport to work

• Encourage virtual meetings using video conferencing

• Encourage digital storage of documentation and save on printing

• Review procurement policies and make sure purchased goods are manufactured in a sustainable fashion, are made from renewable materials, do not use excessive packaging and are designed to be repairable or recyclable.

What Trends are HR Leaders Focusing on in 2022?

Many HR leaders have identified the following areas as key trends and main areas of focus for the 2022 business year.;-

• Building critical skills and competencies

• Organisational design and change management

• Current and future leadership

• Future of work

• Diversity, equality and inclusion

• Environmental, climate issues & sustainability

These priorities for the human resources function are key to enabling success for businesses as a whole. Most HR leaders say that improving operational excellence will be critical in 2022, more so than in prior years reporting that business transformation will be a major focus.

For many HR professionals, this transformation will focus heavily on creating a truly hybrid environment — deploying a workforce model in which employees split their time between on-site and remote work and have more flexibility in where and when they do their jobs.

What are the key HR trends for 2022?

Many top HR priorities for 2022 reflect an urgent response to its identified HR trends, which are forcing organisations to change their workforce and workplace strategies. This, in turn, means HR leaders are having to evolve the way they identify, attract and retain critical skills and redesign work to enhance the employee value proposition (EVP) and drive business performance.

This moment gives us a unique opportunity for HR leaders to shape the future of work in ways not previously considered a possible win-win for both employees and employers.

Trend 1: Hybrid work is leading business transformation

A large majority of HR leaders expect that at least some of their employees will work remotely after the pandemic. This shift to hybrid work will be a massive driver of transformation, and HR leaders must be prepared to show their support for both the business and its employees.

Trend 2: More and new skills are needed

The total number of skills required for a single job is increasing, and new skills are replacing old ones. Many of the skills that were present in an average job posting in 2018 will be obsolete today.

Trend 3: Employee health must be improved

Employee performance stayed high during the pandemic, but disruptions have already made long-term and hard-to-reverse impacts on workforce health — that is, the health of employees, the state of trust between individuals, teams and leadership, and the work environment (e.g., feelings of inclusion). Ineffective approaches to hybrid work will only exacerbate these impacts.

Trend 4: Employees want to feel heard and valued

HR leaders need to build a more human employer-employee relationship and employment agreements to meet employees’ requests that need to be heard and valued. All HR leaders across HR sub functions have a role to play in ensuring the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) holistically centers employees as people.

Trend 5: Diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace is vital

Along with expectations of greater empathy and a more human work environment, there is increasing pressure to improve equality and inclusion within organisations. In particular, there is mounting pressure from all of HR’s stakeholders — internally and externally — to make real progress on diversifying leadership.

If you’re a HR or other business leader who would like to learn more about the above trends or any other HR matter, please do get in touch - Contact us

Sickness and absence in the workplace because of long COVID

For some people, coronavirus (COVID-19) can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection, often referred to as 'long-tail COVID' or 'long COVID'.

Long COVID symptoms could affect someone's ability to work or cause them to take sickness absence.

What the employer should do

Employers should be aware that the effects of long COVID can come and go. On some days the person might seem well, but on others their symptoms can be worse, and they might need to be off work again.

If someone is off sick, they might feel isolated or need support to return to work. Employers should:

·       agree how and when to make contact during any absence

·       make sure their work is covered and shared out appropriately while they’re off

·       talk about ways to support employees as they return to work, where and when possible

When the employee feels able to return to work

The employer should talk with the employee about any support they may need. They could discuss:

·       getting an occupational health assessment

·       making changes to the workplace or to how the employee works, such as different working hours

·       a phased return to work

·       what they want to tell others at work about their illness

Find out more about returning to work after absence

If an employee is struggling to do their job

If an employer feels the employee is not able to do their work or is taking a lot of absence, they should see if they can do anything to help. For example, a further occupational health assessment to find out if more support is needed.

They should make sure they have done everything they can before considering a capability procedure. If an employer dismisses an employee without first carrying out a full and fair disciplinary or capability procedure, the employee could make a claim of unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal.

If you require any further information on the topic of long-covid or would like any support with implementing long-covid procedures in your workplace, then please do get in touch – polly@rathbonehrsolutions.co.uk

Diversity and Inclusion Opportunities in the Workplace - Post-Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered an exciting opportunity to employers to access a vastly increased talent pool. It has showed us that remote working is not only an acceptable alternative to working in the office, but can be a highly productive strategy for business success.

Many HR professionals and business leaders are now considering ‘people to work, or work to people’ scenarios.

With the right technology in place, the physical office is no longer the only place to engage with and inspire employees, immersing them in corporate culture and providing them with the tools to work effectively and efficiently. Organisations that were already using Cloud-based business management systems and investing in other technologies that supported remote learning were well-prepared when almost overnight, the pandemic changed the way we access our work.

Others, stuck with premise-based systems and culture , were left behind, struggling to adapt to the challenge of employees working from home without the appropriate tools to support them and enable them to perform their daily tasks.

Diversity and Inclusion is at the top of the agenda for many HR professionals, sometimes viewed only as a challenge or as a separate issue. This may be the first time for some organisations that D&I fits seamlessly into its normal recruitment processes.

New Opportunities

After months of working from home, sharing data on Cloud-based systems, following workflows and catching up in virtual meetings, we can now fully appreciate the potential of working with people who were out of reach before.

People who for geographical, social or physical reasons couldn’t have been part of the old office team can now be fully integrated into it. Those living in other cities or countries; parents with young children at home; people with mobility-limiting issues, physical or otherwise; and many more. The rapid uptake of digital solutions has enabled and empowered a rich talent pool with experiences and skills that will make valuable contributions to their employers.

Organisations that can identify the individuals producing quality output will be the ones creating the our leaders of tomorrow. Promoting diversity and inclusion within the workplace is not just the right, caring and human thing to do, but it is also at last being widely recognised as a strategy that makes sound, long-term business sense.

Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can support you to integrate strong D&I opportunities into your overall recruitment and retention strategy.

Plan B Coronavirus Restrictions Ending in England - What does this mean for your business?

With Plan B measures set to end in England on 27th January, including work from home guidance, we cannot ignore that the uncertainty of COVID is still looming over us all, with difficulties still being faced by HR and business leaders on the topic of bringing people back to the workplace.

Transitioning between fully remote and hybrid working will take thought, and businesses need to be mindful to avoid an extreme shift between all home working and all office working.

The option of choice and flexibility could form part of an overall mental health, employee engagement and wellbeing strategy for many organisations, it’s important that leaders do not enforce rigid working boundaries at this point, and instead take a whole-organisation, fluid approach to workplace wellbeing. Instead, it is recommended that businesses utilise this opportunity to make it a priority to create safe spaces for those who may be anxious about coming back.

Leaders could try implementing initiatives such as wellbeing opportunities that not only support individuals with their physical and mental health but also create a common, non-work-related context for employees to interact around.

Legally enforced self-isolation for people with coronavirus is also appearing likely to end on 24th March, which may alleviate some of the challenges businesses have been having with staff supply.

Restrictions in Scotland will also be eased from 24 January, removing limits on the number of people who can meet indoors, and reopening nightclubs, but keeping use of COVID passes for entry to larger events. Face masks will still be required on public transport and in shops, hospitality, and leisure venues.

Similarly, Wales will also keep the use of COVID passes for entry into certain venues. Work from home guidance will be lifted and the nation will move to a three-week review on restrictions.

Northern Ireland still has many restrictions in place, and COVID passes are required for most indoor venues.

We are here to help – If you require any help or support with your businesses return to work strategy, please get in touch – polly@rathbonehrsolutions.co.uk

Employee Appreciation Ideas Your Staff Will Love

As we steamroller towards Christmas, you may be thinking of ways to show appreciation for your staff, particularly at the end of what has been a challenging year for many businesses.

Feeling appreciated is the top motivator for many employees to do great work. Giving your team proper recognition can create a more motivated workforce, helping you retain talent and increase employee engagement.

So what are some ways to show your employees appreciation? We’ve listed 15 ideas below for you to consider:

1. Plan to recognise your staff.

The first way to show how much you appreciate your staff is to create a viable plan for what you’re going to do and when you’ll be doing it.

You don’t have to implement all the suggestions but pick out a handful that you could manage to do well and that would carry sincere meaning for your staff. Some are easier to implement than others, but they all carry their own results. With these ideas, you could also consider creating a recognition program in the new year so that your team can consistently show appreciation.

2. Cheers from peers.

Make it easy for your staff to show appreciation for each other. Co-workers can recognise the “unseen” efforts that go into day-to-day activities. Give them a chance to call out the positive things people are doing so they come to your attention, as well as everyone else’s attention.

3. Ask your employees what they would like.

Survey your staff. Ask them what they’d like from you as far as how you show you appreciate them. You may be surprised at the results, and you can feel confident that you’re rewarding your team with something they will value. 

4. Encourage mentoring.

Mentoring is a wonderful two-way street. If done right, mentoring programs afford experience staff a place of importance and authority, and new staff a sense of caring and security.

When done correctly and is a cyclical program where the mentored someday become the mentors, it’s a way of showing your staff you trust and appreciate them.

5. Go very public with your appreciation.

Show you appreciate your staff by extending it beyond in-house recognition. Let your customers know through your website or via your social media channels. Take a photo, talk about how much you appreciate what your staff do, and how they earned this award.

6. Reward your staff based on individual interests.

You know what says “I appreciate you” well? Showing that appreciation in a manner that is unique to each person. Sure, a standard blanket reward works (and is necessary) in some situations, but if you want to show how much you appreciate an individual, the best way to do it is to find out what they really like, what they’re interests, or hobbies are or what they like the most.

7. Thank you notes are not dead.

An actual piece of paper thanking a staff member for their work can go a long way in a digital world. Whether it’s as simple as a quick post-it note or an actual card or a certificate, try cracking out the age-old practice of thank you notes.

8. Give employees real choice and real voice.

Appreciation isn’t just a game and reward system. It should be built into your culture. One way to do that is to give your employees real choices and actual voices.

Do your staff get to choose the projects they work on ever, or are they always assigned tasks? Do you listen to their ideas or concerns and act on them, or do you listen but forget about or dismiss what you’ve heard and continue on with business as usual?

Genuine appreciation is foundational. You can give a staff member a gift card on their birthday, but if they’ve come to you repeatedly with concerns and you’ve never made any real attempt to do anything about it, that gift card can seem empty.

9. Treats, just because.

Who doesn’t like a surprise treat that no one expected? Have a pizza lunch. Grab bagels or muffins and leave them in the staff room. Treat your staff, just because you appreciate them.

10. Choose creative rewards.

Food, time-off, a bonus, a promotion—these are all good but typical rewards. Be creative and think about how you can make your reward different enough that it stands out as a part of your culture. Some start-ups and businesses have portraits painted of staff members who have achieved a certain number of years, letting the staff have fun with how they are depicted. Others bring in caricaturists.

11. Personal Development rewards that are career-based.

A career-based reward is great for employees and will benefit your business as well. You can send employees to leadership training or let them choose an online class they would like to take. Even if it’s not directly related to their current job, you can show your employees you’re invested in them and their career. 

12. Encourage continuing education.

Whether you help pay for education events or are lenient with time off so that staff can attend education events, show you appreciate them so much that you want them to continue to grow in their career. And, as a staff member increases their qualifications, promote them. Few things are as frustrating as working hard to be the best possible only to have a boss who locks you into a dead-end job.

13. Create memorable small moments.

What words come out of your mouth? What do your actions say?

Again, moments of reward don’t make up for months of action and words that show very little appreciation. Do you have an employee who is going above and beyond to make sure the office functions? Are they cleaning up after other employees because someone needs to? Are they a kind of de facto manager because employees seem to come to them with questions?

When you have staff that are naturally desiring to do good work especially when it’s outside their job description, acknowledging that goes a long way.

Sometimes it’s as simple as calling a staff member into your office to say “I’ve noticed what you’re doing around here, and I appreciate it so much.” For some people, that’s enough, to know that someone has noticed.

14. Make it easy to volunteer and help.

You want people who are civic minded, who care about others, on your staff. So, when you have staff so inclined, make it easy for them to help others. Whether you help them start a food drive at the office, bring kids to work to learn about the business, or take a week off to build houses, encourage them. Show them you appreciate their concern about the world around you.

Bonus? You can talk about what your business and your staff are doing and let your customers know that doing business with you has a positive impact on the community.

If you have food trucks in your area, why not give them a call and have them regularly park near your business? Whether you help cover the cost for the meals in full or through reward coupons, it’s a fun perk that breaks up the usual brown paper bag lunch.

15. Last but not least: Say “thank you”!

When is the last time you simply said thank you?

Some owners take for granted that employees are there to do the work tasked to them, and think that because it is expected, there is no need for a thank you.

A thank you, whether the work is required or not, is such a simple way to show appreciation. You might not think it matters, but there is a noticeable attitude difference between a staff whose boss genuinely thanks them periodically compared to one where the staff never hears it. While not everyone needs a “thank you” to do a good job, many do. It won’t hurt those who don’t need to hear it, but it will mean much to those who do.

It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and obvious methods of staff appreciation, but the one method that you can start right now, that will register immediately, that will make a change in a person’s day…is to say thank you.

Employee appreciation shouldn’t be reserved for one day but should be integral to your company culture and be an all-around attitude that management adopts. Your employees are your most precious asset, yet some businesses show more care and concern to maintaining equipment than letting their staff know that they are valued and appreciated!

Hybrid Leadership - A unique opportunity to grow and develop?

Since COVID, we have learnt that leaders sometimes require significant support to be able to adapt to leading hybrid teams, compared with in-person, which they are more used to.

Employees sometimes talk about how a lack of leadership confidence has led to managers trying to grab greater control, such as by micro-managing employees even more strongly, rather than trusting them to get the work done.

The effect of increased control and reduced trust can cause more stress and anxiety among those employees, leading to increased distraction and reduced performance which creates a perfectly reinforcing loop back to managers not trusting their people in the first place.

The wider context is that the rapid move towards more hybrid working is just another part of the ongoing huge volatility in the world, with seismic change just around the corner at any given moment, and the ability for global changes that seem remote, to affect us all. This means there is a greater need than ever for employees to be resilient, self-confident, able to handle change, and mentally and physically well. The need to up our leadership game has become extremely urgent.

• Effective leaders of hybrid teams provide structure and direction about the future, as far as they are able to. No one can truly know the future, but they can avoid leaving people guessing where this is unnecessary. At the same time, they ensure that others are involved in shaping how an organisation or team should respond to the planned future – whether the overarching vision or a new target or goal. They involve them, consult with them and work to build a shared vision of how to get there.

• They distribute leadership, coaching and supporting their team members to take on more responsibility, and to have greater oversight of activities and decision-making. Then they let go and trust them to succeed. At the same time they provide appropriate levels of supervision and are proactive in ensuring their team is clear about the nature of their own and each other’s roles and responsibilities. They show appreciation for what their team members generate.

• They encourage and facilitate collaboration between team members. They help to ensure that who is in the office when has a degree of coordination to it, so that the experience can be valuable, rather than a waste of time or a disheartening experience. While providing support to team members themselves, successful leaders also encourage a culture of social support towards each other in the team.

• They make sure that the team is a psychologically safe environment in which people can share ideas and admit when they don’t know how to do something, without fear of ridicule or shame. They do this through role-modelling their own infallibility, but also taking a tough stance on inappropriate and unsupportive or disrespectful behaviour within the team towards others.

• Finally, and something often less attended to, but which has been found in research, is that the leaders of teams that successfully work remotely demonstrate a genuine belief in hybrid working as the way things should be. Doing this or not doing this can make a significant difference to team members’ job satisfaction.

These principles are largely the same as the ones we already knew about from years of learning about in-person teams. Nonetheless, the greatest contribution that the move to hybrid working has made is the exposure of sub-standard leadership that we have been putting up with in organisations for far too long.

Now that the cracks and chasms have finally become unavoidable, it’s time to harness this burning platform, maximise whatever resources we can get hold of and finally create organisations that thrive because their people do.  

Should employers stop asking employees about salary history?

A campaign group is urging UK employers to stop asking jobseekers about their previous salaries - The Fawcett Society says asking about previous pay when recruiting contributes to the gender pay gap, by keeping women on lower wages.

The campaign group warned that asking prospective candidates about their salary history meant companies could end up replicating gender pay gaps from other organisations.

• The survey also found that 58% of women and 54% of men felt salary history questions meant they were offered a lower wage than they might otherwise have been paid.

• Only a quarter of people feel that pay should be based on past salaries, compared to 80% of respondents, who felt that their pay should be based on their skill and responsibilities.

• The campaign group also found that 77% of people felt their salaries should reflect the value of the work they do.

The report added that the pace of change to close the gender pay gap was "glacial".

The Fawcett Society stressed that more needed to be done by the government and employers to tackle its causes, such as stamping out discrimination.

It is a proven fact that disadvantaged groups see higher pay offers when employers don’t use salary history information. Simply put, that information gives employers a bargaining advantage. Knowing that a job applicant is currently underpaid, employers can offer a bit more than their current pay level, confident that the applicant will accept. But the applicant may still be paid less than they are worth. Studies show that when access to salary histories is limited, job applicants generally benefit from a more level playing field.

There appears to be a growing trend towards including a salary range in job advertisements which suggests that many employers have voluntarily decided to stop asking about salary histories. This will likely be deemed as a welcome trend, and more employers are expected to follow suit for the sake of reducing pay disparities.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic, please get in touch should you have any questions or if you would like to share your points of view.

Bath HR Network flexible and hybrid working event - Thursday 25th November

The Bath HR Network is holding a mini-conference for HR professionals in collaboration with employment law specialists, Mitchell Law!

About the event

We have joined forces with local employment law firm, Mitchell Law to organise a morning of inspiring speakers on the hot HR topic of flexible and hybrid working, culminating in a panel discussion and of course there will be opportunities to network.

We are very excited to hold this event in-person in partnership with innovative people analytics business Cognisess, at their premises in central Bath.

This promises to be a fascinating morning so we recommend you act quickly and book tickets so avoid disappointment.

Numbers have been restricted and ventilation and distancing will also in place to help people to stay safe at this event.

Find out more and book your place here

Final day of Furlough - 1 million people in limbo as thousands of employees face further redundancies

Uncertainty looms for the future of almost one million furloughed employees as the government’s £70bn support programme ends today, after helping out millions of workers across the UK over the last 18 months.

Economists have warned that although many may find work in recovering sectors such as hospitality and travel, there is also likely to be a rise in unemployment due to new redundancies.

The end of furlough also comes amid record UK vacancy figures, with the latest Office for National Statistics data for August reporting more than one million available jobs for the first time on record.

On a more positive note, there have been significant hiring sprees amid labour shortages for HGV drivers, warehouse staff and food production workers.

There appears to be grave “doubts” as to whether broader consumer demand will have jumped enough by October to re-employ all staff who remain on furlough - only time will tell how this situation will unfold.

Should you require any help with supporting your employees through the redundancy process, post furlough or would like some help and guidance with re-onboarding your employees after furlough, please get in touch with us.

Government confirms plans to improve flexible working and carers' rights

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has confirmed its intentions to give ALL UK workers the right to request flexible working from day one of their employment, as well as other plans aiming to improve workers' work/life balance.

Announced on 23rd September 2021, the government proposal to extend current flexible work rights include:

• Introducing the day-one right to one week’s unpaid leave per year for working carers

• Potentially cutting the three-month period employers currently have to consider flexible work requests

• Considering whether limiting an employee’s application for flexible working to one per year continues to represent the best balance between individual and business needs.

• Allowing all job applicants to know they can ask for flexible work before they apply, therefore making sure employers know whether they can offer flexible work before advertising

• Encouraging employers to consider alternatives, such as flexibility on certain days, if they cannot accommodate a request

The consultation looks at a range of flexible working methods such as job-sharing, flexitime, compressed, annualised and staggered hours, as well as phased retirement – not just working from home. It would allow employees to balance their work and home life, including helping people who are managing childcare commitments or other caring responsibilities as well as ensuring that people who are under-represented in Britain’s workforce, such as new parents or disabled people, have access to more opportunities.

Realising there are some circumstances where businesses will not be able to offer flexible working, it also stated that requests can still be rejected on the basis of sound business reasons and, changes will respect freedom of contract.

To find out more about this consultation, please visit gov.uk or get in touch with Polly who will be delighted assist.

Final days of Furlough - When does it end?

The Furlough scheme was launched in the early days of the pandemic as a way of ensuring that people could keep their jobs, and a portion of their income, even when the economy closed down.

It was intended to support those that were unable to work from home, the scheme would pay them up to 80% of their salaries. Since launching 18 months ago, close to 12 million jobs have been furloughed. The Government has paid a total of £68.5 billion to furloughed employees.

As the income support scheme now enters into its final days, it has been reported that the over-65s are now the most likely to be on furlough, with 8% of those eligible in the age group still on the scheme.

• Around 1.6 million people were still furloughed at the end of July, as the scheme started to wrap up, data shows.

• HM Revenue and Customs said that around 340,000 people moved off furlough during the month of July meaning fewer people are furloughed than at any point since the pandemic started.

• July was the first month that employers had to pay 10% of the salaries of their furloughed workers, giving them an incentive to bring staff back, or end their employment.

• Around 121,600 people between the ages of 18 and 34 were taken off the furlough scheme in June and July, the data showed.

The Furlough Scheme will come to a complete end on the final day of this month (30th September).

"No jab, no job"

The “No jab, No job” topic has sparked debate again after multiple large corporations such as Facebook and Google have said they will be restricting office access to any employees who have not been vaccinated in the US. 

UK ministers are feeling the pressure with the “no jab, no job” policies that companies are implementing after concerns of legal action being taken for discriminative reasons. 

So what can you do as an employer to protect your staff and customers whilst being mindful to not discriminate against individuals?

• Don’t take a blanket approach. Everyone will have different views on this sensitive topic.

• Encourage the vaccine and provide information for employees rather than mandate it.

• Talk about the importance and benefits of the vaccine as a form of encouragement.

• Be mindful of peoples beliefs and reasons for not getting the vaccine.

• Show that you are listening and understanding these reasons as they may be linked to personal reasons such as religious beliefs and health complications.