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HR News Room – September 2022

Do you know how inclusive your workplace really is?

It’s not a trick question.

You see, while you may have a diverse workplace, employing people of different ages, races, sexual orientations, etc., that doesn’t mean that your business is inclusive.

Inclusion is where everyone, regardless of their circumstance or background, feels accepted and valued within a business, and has the same opportunities for career growth and development, too.

It’s important that your business looks at how inclusive it really is for a number of reasons. Importantly, when your people feel included, they’re more likely to be happy and motivated in their role. That means they’re more productive and more loyal to you as well.

But also, a diverse and inclusive business will attract the best talent when the time comes to expand your team. It goes a long way towards giving your business an excellent brand reputation, and that means that people will be really keen to work for you when a position becomes available.

So, what can you do to make sure your business is as inclusive as it can be? First, you need to find out what your employees’ experience of the company is. And you do this by asking them! There are lots of different ways you can gain their feedback and insight.

When you know how people are feeling, you can start to look at where improvements need to be made. New policies and initiatives might be a solution, or it may be a case of training and workshops for everyone in the company to make sure people are treating everyone the right way.

It’s not always a simple solution, but once you’ve taken the right steps, it should be relatively easy to maintain your inclusive business as you move forward.

I’ve written a new guide that explains in detail some of the best things you can do to find out how well your business is currently doing, and the types of initiatives you could introduce to really make some positive changes.

Would you like me to email you a copy?

Just email info@hausofhr.com today!

Happy Birthday Haus of HR

We turned 1 this week! Check out how we decided to celebrate and thank everyone that has supported our business over the last 12 months. READ MORE HERE

LATEST NEWS

International Week of Happiness at Work is 19 – 25 September

We spend a lot of time at work, so it’s really important that we’re all happy in what we do. And, when we’re happy at work, it makes us happier in other areas of our lives too.

As a business owner or manager, it’s important that you take the happiness of your people seriously. If it’s not something you’d thought too much about before, this week is the perfect opportunity to see where you can make some valuable changes.

Invite feedback from your employees about things that make them happy at work. Organise some activities, plan after work drinks, or order in pizzas for a treat one lunchtime. Something that shows your people they’re appreciated – it can go a really long way!

Do your employees want more flexibility?

According to a new poll, yes. In fact, a huge 60% of UK workers would like more flexibility over when they work, including moving to a 4-day working week model.

A staggering 40% said they’d even take a pay cut if it meant they had total flexibility over when they worked.

Is it time to look at how flexible your business is, and how making a few simple changes could positively affect staff engagement and motivation?

A third of UK employees are living pay day to pay day, making the cost of living crisis even harder to deal with. It’s also leading to an increase in anxiety and loneliness. Does your business offer financial wellbeing packages?

Workforce disputes are at an all time high – what does it mean for your business?

Over the past few months, you’ve probably listened to news stories about industrial disputes with a level of concern. And whilst it’s big industries that are being impacted at the moment, it reflects a feeling that isn’t uncommon in businesses up and down the country right now.

As a business owner you need to pay particular attention to this, and look at the things you can do within your own company to not only make sure your people are happy and have no reason for dispute, but also to protect yourself. Disputes have the potential to get legal, and if you don’t have the right policies and strategies in place, you’re opening yourself up to danger.

You may also find yourself in a position where you have employees walk out or leave at short notice, which can leave you struggling to maintain your business function, or relying on agency workers. In a small business that isn’t ideal.

It’s a good time to look at your HR documents and update anything that needs it. Employment law changes quickly, and if you still have out of date policies in place you risk legal action should you face an issue with an employee and your documents don’t back up your stance.

You might also consider when you last held pay reviews with your people. Many of the industrial disputes revolve around pay, so if helping your employees in this way is something you can do, get your team working towards goals to reach a pay increase.

If you’re not in a position to hand out pay rises right now, look at other ways you can reward your people for doing a great job. Perks can go just as far as more money. Help with things like vouchers towards shopping, or even subsidised gym memberships. They can go a long way to helping people reduce everyday expenses.

Take the time to speak to your employees regularly. Find out what’s going well for them and ask them about the things they feel aren’t going so well. This can give you a great insight into the things that you wouldn’t necessarily see as a business owner or manager, and gives you the opportunity to put things right or make changes before a small issue becomes a big problem.

As with most things, communication really is the key to success when it comes to creating and maintaining a happy and motivated workforce. It’s not always easy to begin the process without help, but if you feel you need a hand, we’d love to assist. Just give us a call!

Q&A

Can I dismiss an employee for a one-off act of poor performance?

Employers should not normally dismiss an employee for a one-off act of poor performance. In most cases, for a poor performance dismissal to be reasonable, the employer will need to have issued warnings previously, particularly as incapability is usually assessed over a period. The Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures recommends that employers give at least two warnings before they dismiss for poor performance.

Can an employee retract their resignation?

Employees can resign at any time by giving proper notice under their contract of employment. Once a resignation has been given it cannot be withdrawn other than with the employer’s express permission, or where it was given in the heat of the moment and then speedily retracted. Although there is no legal requirement for a resignation to be in writing, to avoid any confusion over whether or not an employee has resigned, it may be beneficial for an employer to include a clause in employees’ contracts of employment stating that resignations must be in writing.

Should I deal with all types of unauthorised absence in the same way?

No. Unauthorised absence may take various forms. It can take the form of an isolated unplanned absence for a good reason (for example to care for a dependant in the event of an emergency) or a persistent pattern of unauthorised absences (for example “Monday morning syndrome”). Alternatively, an employee may “go AWOL”, taking an extended period of unauthorised absence. The length of, and reason for, the absence should determine how the employer deals with it.

Let’s talk on the phone

Here are two questions for you:

  • Do you currently have a HR consultant?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you with them?
  • If the answer isn’t “I’m so delighted I could print 1,000 flyers to spread the word about them”, let’s jump on a video call

This pandemic is teaching businesses just how important it is to get proactive, responsive HR support. That’s what I do. And we’re now taking on new clients again.

Set up a FREE 30 minute discovery call at: https://calendly.com/rachelhr

CHO Corner

We need your vote!

There is cause for celebration again at Haus of HR HQ – our Founder, Rachel Collar has just been announced as a finalist in the 2022 Women’s Business Awards in the Startup of the Year category. We would really appreciate your support as the voting is now open for you to cast your vote. Just hit the button below!

VOTE HERE

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