HR bolt-ons
January 21, 2009
I’ve been thinking recently about the range of responsibilities HR departments need to cover in the service that they provide. It might be because I have always worked for either relatively small organisations, or in a small head office for a larger company, but it seems that a lot of extra things can be bolted onto the role of HR.
For example, facilities. I actually quite like the fact that one minute you’re thinking about developing key HR plans to support the business strategy, and the next minute you’re sending emails about keeping the kitchen clean or finding carpet cleaners in London because the new office needs cleaning up before the London team move in! Another regular bolt-on is Health and Safety, probably because it is about keeping people safe, and therefore can be linked to people management.
This versatility and the need to change hats from one minute to the next is often a key requirement for HR Managers. My manager in a previous role had a background in HR but ended up looking after administration, facilities, IT and Marketing in addition to HR, and her ability to switch between different functions and bring the whole thing together was a real strength of hers.
I believe that the seemingly small and insignificant parts of the HR person’s role are just as important as the top level stuff. Whilst I may need to prove to senior management the strategic value of the HR function, at the other end of the scale people need the everyday things like toilets to be an acceptable standard or the fire alarm to be tested regularly.
Do your responsibilities stretch beyond the realms of HR? How do you manage all the different areas you need to take care of and how do you feel about it?
HR’s credibility in organisations (2)
January 17, 2009
This post continues from yesterday’s article, HR’s credibility in organisations (1).
I think another thing that I have recently realised is that for HR to have credibility and to show value, it is necessary to find a tangible way of linking the performance of the function to the performance of the organisation. This might sound obvious coming from a HR professional who has been through the CIPD qualification, but until you see for yourself through experience what the drivers in the company are, it is sometimes easy to forget that you are here to do a ‘value-adding’ job, and that this does not just mean managing paperwork, recruiting people, ensuring the company acts legally etc. It means contributing to making the company succeed. In my organisation, as with most others, the most important indicator and driver is the bottom line. So it can seem difficult sometimes to demonstrate that you are contributing to this, when many of your activities come at a cost rather than a financial output. Areas in which you can directly look at achievements in a financial sense could include things like achieving recruitment targets under-budget, but there aren’t many of these areas.
I was chatting to my line manager today and we were discussing how you can show a link between what HR does and the outcomes for the company, without resorting to generalist observations such as ‘if employees are happy they will work harder’. We discussed using good, measurable key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs look at key areas of workforce performance such as productivity, work quality, customer complaints and feedback, budgets and timescales, whilst concurrently measuring things like employee satisfaction, to identify any correlations. This measurement could never completely accurately link changes in workforce measurements or KPIs to HR developments, because there are many other factors influencing changes in the workforce, for example in my organisation many new processes are currently being implemented which will make a difference both to performance output and employee feelings. However, starting with clear measurements and actually reviewing the outcomes of these is a good way to raise the credibility of the HR department, as this is a clear, strategic approach to using the ‘human resource’ in the organisation to secure its success.
HR’s credibility in organisations (1)
January 16, 2009
I was just having a browse through People Management Magazine (15 Jan 09) and noticed an article on a recent piece of research that found that less than a quarter of line managers believe their HR function adds value to their organisation. The research, entitled Management Agenda 2009, carried out by The Roffey Park Institute, surveyed 1,050 managers and highlighted some disappointing results.
Only 11 per cent of managers surveyed thought that their HR function was customer focussed, and more than half said the department was reactive rather than proactive. Even more worryingly, 44 per cent of 200 HR Managers that were also surveyed felt that the function was not adding value!
This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately, and whilst I think that in my organisation the HR function does add value in many areas, we could definitely do this at a more strategic level. Being supportive and proactive on a day to day level, through supporting line managers in people management is one thing, but really contributing to organisational success through strategic thinking and organisational development is quite something else, and in my opinion, quite difficult to achieve, especially if, like me, you are quite newly qualified and not hugely experienced.
I think the starting point for increasing value adding activities and building stronger credibility within the organisation is communicating with relevant stakeholders on developments that are needed. This might be in the form of employee consultation – but real, valuable consultation. The staff surveys that sit on a shelf in HR and collect dust for years but are not acted upon are one of the biggest credibility-crushers for a HR team. We’ve not been that successful at getting a response to staff surveys in the past so this year we have introduced a face to face meeting in which the employee discusses their responses with a member of HR; we are carrying out annual appraisals so it is easy to slot in the consultation meeting at the end of the review, (of course it is probably only possible for HR to carry out all the consultation meetings in small companies). HR might also look at customer feedback as a starting point for their strategic plan, or the operational plans for each organisational function to see where HR can support and drive the objectives aimed at throughout the coming period.
… post continues tomorrow.
Making sure data is secure
January 13, 2009
A friend of mine recently had a complete nightmare with lost information. The server that all the company information was stored on was stolen in a burglary and unfortunately the backup drive that was used to take backups of the data was still plugged into the server! All the company information was completely lost.
For my friend, who is a HR Officer, this meant that all staff information was gone; she had no idea of people’s holidays that they had taken, absence records, policy documents, staff correspondence, and the employee database had gone. It has taken a long time to try to re-create all the files that have been lost, and some information will never be replaced. Fortunately because a lot of HR paperwork needs to be signed, they had a lot of employees’ documents in hard copy in a filing cabinet, but the whole episode has been extremely difficult to deal with.
Data security is such an important matter for any business, and in HR the loss of information could have major repercussions, especially if the information lost could be needed for things like disciplinary and dismissal decisions. There is also the question of data protection and the fact that personal information is now somewhere outside the company.
Ensuring data is secure and regular backups are taken should be part of company policies and procedures, with responsibilities for day to day back ups for employees, and key requirements for server backups on job descriptions for relevant personnel, such as IT Managers.
Another option, rather than having in-house data backup systems, which is subject to human error, is to use online backup services from companies that manage your data security for you. These services can be described as disaster recovery (i.e. recovering all data after hardware is lost, e.g. in a fire or theft) or business continuity (which includes automatically saving changed documents as new versions so that you can keep a record of the progression/change history of a document).
These options are now being used by many companies that want to avoid the kind of problems that my friend experienced through a human mistake, which can happen to anyone, as we know from the countless episodes of lost Government data that happened last year.
What do you do with client gifts?
December 23, 2008
This time of year always poses a bit of a problem for HR professionals when some employees are sent gifts from clients or suppliers, but others are not. Whilst it isn’t ideal to become the Christmas Scrooge and nobody wants to deny staff from being thanked by their clients, receiving gifts from clients does pose ethical questions about the potential purpose of the gift or the future repercussions of having accepted something from a client.
One of the main reasons that gifts should not be accepted by individual employees is that it tends to be the client-facing employees that are sent the gifts, e.g. the sales or account management teams. However normally there are many different ‘behind the scenes’ employees that contribute to the products or services provided for customers, and it isn’t really fair for just a few members of staff to benefit.
Many companies include a section in their policies and procedures on employees accepting gifts from clients, stating that gifts of money should never be accepted, and that gifts such as promotional clothing, wine or food will become the property of the company and should be handed in. This is what I am doing in my company; we have collected all the gifts sent in and will be carrying out a raffle later today to fairly hand out the copious bottles of wine that have been sent. I think this is the fairest way to manage the issue of client gifts.
Happy parents make happy employees
December 15, 2008
Some family friendly processes have become part of general employment law and practice, such as parental rights to request flexible working and parental leave. Others are more ad hoc and individual companies implement a variety of ways of engaging employees that have family or parental commitments. It makes business sense to look at the different backgrounds, interests and outside commitments of both current and potential employees. Firstly, the more narrow the description of an ideal employee becomes, the more narrow the pool of potential candidates becomes as well, and you may find yourself competing in ever decreasing circles for the employees who seemingly have the right credentials and outside commitments (or lack of them) but may not have the best set of skills and experience for the job you are recruiting for. Having a diverse workforce, with employees from different backgrounds, age, family commitments etc brings with it a diverse range of previous experience that can add real value to the business.
An inexpensive scheme for parent employees is the childcare voucher scheme, which I wrote about a few months ago (‘help staff benefit from cheaper childcare’, April 17, 2008). This basically works through salary sacrifice whereby the cost of vouchers is deducted from an employee’s salary before tax and NI deductions are made, therefore the tax and NI paid on the remaining amount is reduced. Normally the cost to administer the scheme is offset by the NI savings that the employer makes on the reduced gross salary payment to the employee, so this is what makes it a winning scheme all round.
The childcare vouchers option has become very popular in recent years, but the affordability looks set to be challenged in the future following a High Court ruling that led to the benefit entitlements for women on maternity leave being changed on 5th October this year (‘New maternity rights from 5th October’, September 23, 2008). Now that women on maternity leave will be entitled to retain the same benefits throughout their leave, employers may end up having to pay for vouchers the employee may already be taking through the scheme, even though the vouchers are based on salary sacrifice and the employee will be entitled to less or no salary due to maternity leave. This issue is causing many employers to rethink the scheme if they already have it, or may cancel plans to introduce it in the future.
Some companies think quite creatively about what sort of incentives or benefits they offer to employees who are parents, from crèche facilities on site to annual events involving all employees and their families. Someone I know works at a large retailer, and employees who are parents in that company are given filled party bags for each of their children at Christmas each year, which I think is a great idea.
What does your company do for employees who are parents? Do you think you work for a family friendly employer? What do you think of the risk to the childcare voucher scheme following the changes to benefits on maternity leave? If you have any thoughts on this or any other article on the site, leave a comment.
Pressure and CRB checks
December 4, 2008
The horrific case of Baby P and the failures of Haringey Council’s social care services to identify the ongoing physical abuse that had been inflicted on him, leading to his death, has been an extremely prominent news item in the last few weeks. Three members of the council have been suspended, and there have been calls for senior social and care services personnel to resign.
Now, a report that was commissioned by Ed Balls, children’s commissioner and carried out by Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has found that the process of gaining CRB checks for staff working in social healthcare for the local authority is unclear, and described it as ‘not good practice’. It seems that some staff have been working before their CRB checks have been completed, possibly without supervision. The report also said that the fact that the council relies heavily on agency staff is a problem because children need continuity in the support they receive, which is not provided with different agency staff all the time.
The issue of gaining CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checks for staff can cause difficulties for some organisations. Many services, such as in social care, should not be provided without first gaining a check on a member of staff, but with major resourcing problems and the fact that a CRB can take weeks to come back, it’s no wonder some organisations feel as though they need to cut corners and let staff work before they are properly checked, because they simply have to provide staff to support the service users. In a previous role I worked for a provider of social care, and contracted employees were not allowed to start work before their CRB check was returned, as well as two satisfactory employment references. However this did cause issues with insufficient numbers of support workers, and this meant that the company was forced to rely heavily on agency workers on a constant basis.
I think the failures of Haringey Council in this case are appalling, but it’s important to remember that social services across country do a fantastic job the on the whole. I think the services are portrayed pretty badly in the media, with news stories always focussing on the negatives and characters on film and TV always portrayed in a really awful way. It’s a difficult job to provide a continuous and consistent service as well as keeping security and safety standards as high as are needed, and I think it would be a good start if the amount of time it takes for a CRB check to be returned could be reduced. Last time I applied for one it was at least three months before I received the paperwork.
Child protection is a constant job for providers of care and support services, and it is necessary for service providers to constantly review their processes and procedures, so that another horrendous case such as Baby P doesn’t happen again. However it needs to be recognised that this is a very difficult job, and more media attention should be given to the successes of support providers as well as the failures.
Dealing with survivor syndrome
December 2, 2008
With more and more large scale redundancies being announced each day, it’s clear what the main challenge for HR practitioners is at the moment and will be in the coming months. But whilst dealing with the redundancy process is hard enough, the challenge does not stop when this process has ended and the employees unfortunate enough to lose their jobs have left the company.
Dubbed ‘survivor guilt’, the main problem HR will have to deal with will be the loss of morale in remaining employees after a redundancy process has taken place. It is claimed by HR experts that this is a big contributor to productivity losses in a time when motivation and high productivity are needed most. Seeing close colleagues leave, and then staying in contact afterwards can leave existing employees emotionally damaged, especially if they know the ex-employee is struggling to find new employment. In addition, if the employer hasn’t been fully open in the time leading up to the redundancies, e.g. saying that no jobs will be lost when it must have been known that there would be, this can lead the survivors to lose trust in the employer going forward, which is another morale and productivity killer.
I was speaking to my GP the other day and he was saying that his workload has increased in recent months due to the increase in stress and depression related illnesses caused by the economic difficulties in the country. Recently experts have found that people who keep their jobs after redundancy processes have taken place are almost as likely to suffer from stress and depression as those who have been made redundant, so a lot needs to be done to protect the mental health of employees who remain in the company after redundancy and restructure exercises have taken place.
One of the key ways to avoid this problem is to approach any possible change processes, including redundancy and restructure, in a completely honest and open way. Whilst secrecy may seem like the appropriate approach initially to avoid panic and de-motivation, in the long run employees will appreciate being given the truth and the opportunity to comment and ask questions as early as possible. Another good idea is to organise coaching and counselling sessions with surviving employees after the redundancies have been made. It’s never going to be easy for anyone to just think ‘oh well’ and move on after the shock of losing a number of colleagues, and employers should not ignore this fact.
If you are going through this process at the moment or have done recently, I’d love to hear form you so leave a comment below.
Get ready for the new code
December 1, 2008
A few weeks ago Business Secretary Lord Mandelson approved the revised ACAS code of practice, which is to be brought in on 6th April 2009, to replace the current code and statutory dispute resolution procedures, which is being repealed next year.
The new code is aimed at being a more straightforward way of dealing with workplace disputes, and will hopefully reduce the amount of disputes reaching the Employment Tribunal, which was also the aim of the statutory procedures. Unfortunately the procedures, introduced in October 2004, have only made things worse by over-complicating the system and meaning that if the procedures aren’t followed to the letter, seemingly fair dismissals can actually be found to be unfair for procedural reasons.
The new code of practice won’t be statutory, but tribunals will use it to assess the process followed in handling a workplace dispute, and if an employer has unreasonably failed to comply with the code, the tribunal will be able to uplift any awards made by up to 25%.
Whilst this is a good move and I’m looking forward to being released from the stressful shackles of the statutory procedures, it’s going to be a big job to ensure everyone involved in workplace disputes is made aware of and trained on the new code of practice. The change in process and legal system will mean that the last four years of case law will be practically worthless and we’ll have to wait and see what new tribunal cases bring to shape and further develop the new code of practice. This is something all employers will need really good legal advice on, and I would strongly urge HR professionals to seek legal support and training in time for the changes in April next year.
The DDA – know your responsibilities
November 15, 2008
Yesterday’s post looked at the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the definition of a disability. The next question is ‘what is an employer expected to do under the DDA?’
The law is there to protect disabled workers from discrimination, and this can take many forms, including harassment, victimisation, prevention of opportunities such as promotion or choosing a candidate that does not have a disability over a candidate that does, when they are equally capable but one has a disability. An employer has the duty to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the workplace or working practices for a disabled employee – these are adjustments that are required to prevent a disabled employee from being at a disadvantage in comparison to a non-disabled employee, due to any practices or arrangements the employer puts in place. The word ’reasonable’ is important – employers are not expected to spend huge amounts of money or change the workplace significantly if it is not feasible to do so. The ‘reasonableness’ would be related to a number of things, including cost, the disruption that would be caused by the adjustment, the size of business and the available resources to make the adjustment (which would include things like government grants etc). So, the types of adjustments or considerations employers might make include:
- Ensuring available access for workers with mobility related disabilities (e.g. access for wheelchair, mobility scooter, disabled lift)
- Flexible working hours for the disabled worker
- Allowing time off for rehabilitation, medical appointments etc
- Providing alternative written documents (e.g. with large print for visually impaired employees)
- Providing additional or alternative support and supervision
There is so much case law on the DDA, and it is a very tricky subject to deal with as employers. However there are a lot of organisations that can offer help and advice, including ACAS, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the CIPD, and I would urge anyone with a disability related workplace query to contact one of these organisations or look on their websites.