Use social networking to drive communication
October 30, 2008
Yesterday I read a news item on the BBC about a Demos study that has advised employers to embrace social networking sites such as facebook and myspace in the workplace, rather than enforcing blanket bans and dismissing staff who spend time on the sites as ‘time-wasters’.
The report suggests that social networking sites can help the way staff communicate, and can have a positive effect on communication and creativity, if implemented in the correct way. Peter Bradwell, the report’s author said:
“Banning Facebook and the like goes against the grain of how people want to interact. Often people are friends with colleagues through these networks and it is how some develop their relationships.”
However the report did warn that employers need to ensure the use of social networking sites in work can be linked to the achievement of business goals, and that staff who are abusing their rights on the internet should still be managed and disciplined if necessary. This poses the question of how to monitor the use of social networking sites when there may be legitimate reasons for staff to spend time on them. How would you identify an unreasonable amount of time on facebook?
Another issue is that the positive use of social networking assumes that all staff are motivated and excited about their work and will therefore use their social networking rights for communicative and innovative means. However we all know that many employees who spend a lot of time on facebook at work are doing so because they are bored, disinterested in their work or de-motivated in some way. I personally would urge caution in simply allowing all staff to visit sites of their choice at any time of the day, without a clear plan of how the company is going to tap into the benefits of the social networking culture.
One good way to use the concept of social networking in the workplace without the possibility of abuse, is to build a company version of a social networking site, perhaps through the company intranet. A while back I reported about how McDonalds were using an internal blogging scheme in the US, and Orange is currently building an in-house social networking platform for its staff. I think this is a great idea and, if implemented effectively, will help companies to move forward and succeed by using new cultural ways of communicating.
Up to my neck in paperwork!
October 29, 2008
Is it me or do HR departments handle a ridiculous amount of paperwork? Having refilled the ink toner on our printer three times in the past week, I’m starting to think we’re going a bit overboard on our printing, which is in complete conflict with the environmental policy we’re currently developing!
The problem with HR is that many bits of paperwork need to be signed by the company and employee, such as contracts of employment, forms and other agreements. Most of the time we print two copies so that the employee can keep one. Then, when we have copies of forms on file, for example appraisal paperwork, we print off another copy when someone needs to look at the forms, rather than getting the original signed copy out of the file in case it gets lost and we subsequently need it! (e.g. in a disciplinary process)
There’s a bit of a conflict in HR between keeping accurate and full records, and reducing the amount of paper used. It seems a bit hypocritical putting an environmental policy in place that asks for care in using too much paper and reducing the amount of printing, when I bet HR is one of the worst offenders!
What’s the answer to this? If you have any tips on reducing paper usage for a HR department then leave a comment!
Government announces benefits reforms
October 27, 2008
A while back I commented on the relationship between statistics of people on unemployment benefit and incapacity benefit (‘unemployment drops, but where are the figures shifting to?’ March 19). This post received a very informative comment by a HR Girl reader that said that the whole argument for helping people come off incapacity benefit is just a media numbers game to help the government show what they are doing towards the benefit claimant statistics. If you haven’t already seen this comment – have a look, it’s definitely food for thought.
Today brings news of reforms to the benefits system, aiming to make it harder for sick and disabled people to claim benefits, and will involve a ‘tough test’ to identify work that the individual should be able to do. Claimants will then have to show that they are trying to gain employment through applying for jobs and attending interviews. The government says this move aims to help around a million people on benefits due to ill health or disability to go back to work, and claims that the majority of these people want to do just that. However, campaigners argue that this move is just going to offer less support for many sick and disabled people, as they will find it harder to claim benefits but will be in no better position to find work – which will be made even harder with the rising unemployment the country is facing due to the economic downturn.
It does seem to me that the news today is focussing more on reducing numbers of people on benefits, and not on the ways in which people will be supported back to work, and as a spokesman for the charity The Disability Allowance said to the BBC: “The need for personalised, tailored, employment support that actively assists disabled people to overcome barriers to work will be key”. I await with interest the developments in this area to see exactly how claimants will be supported back to work.
What do you think? Is this a good move from the government or just another load of media spin to make the public think that the government is taking important action to reduce wastage of tax payers’ money?
Versatility – a key need for HR
October 24, 2008
I was having a swift drink in my local last night, and chatting to a girl I went to school with who works behind the bar. She was telling me about all the training she’s had to attend recently, and it got me thinking about the huge range of skills and knowledge that HR professionals require to be able to work in different working environments. I’ve always worked in an office environment, so if I were to move to a pub or restaurant chain there would be different challenges facing me as a provider of HR support.
Firstly, there are a wealth of regulations to understand and implement, from the recent smoking legislation, to health and safety issues that are more in depth than the needs of an office worker, such as personal safety, food hygiene and long hours/shift work. Employees working with alcohol and food need to gain certain qualifications, so employers in the hospitality industry need to provide training such as NCPLH courses, which is the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders, and is required for anyone working in a job role that requires them to authorise retail sales of alcohol, such as managers or assistant managers.
Another difference from the organisations I have previously worked in would be the recruitment and retention aspect. I have mainly recruited for permanent positions, and the idea is generally to keep workers for as long as possible. However in the hospitality industry work is often seasonal, with students working only in term time or holiday time, and extra staffing needed for busy seasons such as Christmas. This kind of work also involves managing shift patterns and working time issues, another difference from the majority of office based working environments.
Whilst I’ll probably never work in a HR capacity within the hospitality industry, it just goes to show that there are so many different needs from HR in different organisations and industries. This shows how versatile and able to adapt to different needs and challenges HR professionals need to be.
Personal mobile phone policies
October 22, 2008
We’ve had a couple of issues recently with employees using their personal mobile phones in work time, and it’s given us reason to review the way the current policy is communicated, implemented and monitored. The subject of personal mobile phones in work is likely to continue to grow, because of the continuing evolution of mobile technology and the increasing emphasis on the need to be able to communicate with anyone at any time. I’m going to sound really old now, but I remember (shock horror!) not actually owning a mobile phone, and I also remember the days before text messaging existed, yet now I’m as obsessed with checking my phone every 5 minutes as the next person. I haven’t kept up with the latest nifty applications mobile phones can offer, but with exciting new phones like the Apple iphone or Nokia 6500 Slide, it’s certain that mobile phones are a big part of everyday life, and therefore an employment issue that organisations can not ignore.
The company employee handbook in my organisation states “employees must ensure personal mobile telephones are switched off at all times during working hours”. However some managers within the company don’t mind their staff taking or making important personal calls in work time as they wish to trust their staff and feel that as long as they are not ‘taking the mick’ by spending an excessive amount of time on the phone, then there is no need to ban calls altogether. This is fine, except when you get to the situation where the manager feels that one member of staff in the team has started to take the mick, and it’s hard to address this because the individual could argue that everyone is doing the same thing, so where’s the difference? It’s not easy to determine an acceptable level of personal calls, so the most straightforward way that’s least likely to cause issues later on is to stick to the policy and ask employees to make personal calls in breaks and at lunch time.
If the company does operate a scheme such as this, there need to be a way that family members can contact the employee in the case of an emergency, so that they can still be contacted if their phone is switched off in work time. This could be part of a new employee’s induction; when the mobile phone policy is explained to the employee, ensure they are told to give the work number to their next of kin, but that this is to be used only for emergencies and not just to phone up for a chat!
If you have had any issues with employees making excessive personal calls at work, let me know.
Managing absence – the return to work interview
October 21, 2008
I’ve recently been asked for advice on managing sickness absence, as there seems to have been an increase in the number of days employees are taking off ill in an organisation that I provide HR support to. This is probably partly caused by the change in weather, and the fact that there are a lot of horrible bugs around at the moment, but in addition I think that the major financial turmoil many organisations are currently facing will have an effect on employee absence levels, especially in relation to ‘sickies’, i.e. those days that are taken as sick leave for less-than-genuine reasons. Apparently, of the 172 million working days lost to sick leave last year, around one in ten were caused by ‘sickies’, and I think that if we add issues with morale caused by the current difficulties and stress within organisations, as well as big changes such as large scale redundancies, this figure could be set to increase even further.
Sickness absence management has many different aspects, but one of the strongest tools for tackling it is the return to work interview. Here’s some top tips on carrying out a return to work interview:
- The approach of the interviewer should be supportive and non-judgemental. Whilst the return to work interview may help to discourage frequent ‘sickie’ takers, don’t forget that the majority of sickness absence is genuine and therefore the purpose of the interview is not to catch them out, but to ensure they are supported in returning to work.
- Collate details of all recent absences before the return to work interview, so that you can assess whether there is an ongoing issue or if the absence is a one off.
- Hold the meeting in a quiet, confidential room, where the employee can feel comfortable discussing their illness.
- Ensure the employee is informed that they have been missed, and explain any developments or actions that have taken place whilst they have been away.
- Try to conduct the interview in a positive way, with positive language. For example, asking ‘how are you feeling now?’ may be more constructive than ‘what’s been wrong with you?’
- Use open questions to gain further information and insight. Try to avoid leading questions such as ‘so you couldn’t come to work because you were being sick?’
- Find out if there are any ongoing support needs as a result of the absence, and put together an action plan to enable this to take place. If necessary, plan a further meeting to review any actions or support needs.
I think that a return to work interview should take place after every episode of absence, no matter how small. Sometimes very short periods of absence can be due to a significant ongoing problem for an employee such as underlying issues with stress or depression, and only by inviting an open conversation in a safe environment will the employer be able to find out and tackle these issues that may go unnoticed if the company has a policy of only dealing formally with longer episodes of absence.
Flexible working right might not be extended
October 20, 2008
Remember the outcome of the review of the right to request flexible working that was carried out by Immelda Walsh? It was decided that the right would be extended to parents of children up to the age of 16, and was due to come into effect from April next year. Well, today’s news has cast doubt over whether this change will actually take place.
It has been reported that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is looking into all legislative changes that are due to come into force, to review whether any of these will have a further detrimental effect on the economic problems the country is facing.
At the time of the review and the recommendation to extend the request, many small business owners and managers criticised the change as it was seen as potentially damaging to companies as they try to cope with an increase in requests. With the impending ‘recession’, this argument could be seen as even more critical as small businesses will be worst affected by the financial crisis.
However, the credit crisis doesn’t just affect businesses – workers are also going to be hit by the financial problems, so by taking a step back from the agreement to increase the right to request flexible working, the government will be seen as taking sides with the business community rather than the everyday worker – i.e. the voter. This is why I can’t see the change to the regulations being withdrawn. Also, as Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC pointed out, the right is to request flexible working and not a right to flexible working, so “if such a request harms the business, the owner can say no”.
Clearly there is a need to find ways to support UK businesses through the hard times ahead, but I can’t see a change of heart over the right to request flexible working being one of them.
The heat is (still) on!
October 16, 2008
You’d think given the financial climate and all the worries we’re all dealing with at the moment, the small day to day concerns in the workplace wouldn’t be seen as too important. Well think again. Just because we’re on the brink of economic meltdown, it doesn’t mean that employers can discard the smaller issues that have an effect on individuals whilst they’re at work.
For example, a while back I wrote about an employee request for air conditioning to be installed for a very hot server room. This has not been sorted out yet, and now of course there’s an issue because as with all companies, there is a big focus on cost cutting at the moment, and air conditioning installations can be very expensive. However the fact remains that failing to provide air conditioning or some sort of cooling equipment in a hot environment could pose a risk to the health and safety of any employee that is required to spend a long time in the room as part of their job. As I’ve said before, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 gives employers the responsibility to provide a safe workplace for all employees, so although there is no legislation relating to the maximum temperature an employee can work at, the effects of a hot environment should still be considered as part of the general duty of care that an employer has.
This is just a small example of how day to day issues in the workplace do not go away, even when there are major issues happening at the top or in the external environment. HR teams have a wide-reaching role of contributing to the way the organisation deals with external constraints and developments, whilst at the same time continuing to manage small workplace situations and keep the company operating as usual.
How can you help to fight poverty?
October 15, 2008
Today is blog action day, which means that bloggers around the world unite to write about a current issue. This year blog action day is about poverty, and at the point of writing nearly 10,000 bloggers have participated in the event, raising awareness on the subject through writing personal opinions, ideas, suggestions and the bare facts of poverty throughout the world. Worldwide poverty is a huge global issue and I won’t pretend that I understand all the politics and reasons behind it, because I don’t. As my site is HR-related I thought I’d look instead at a couple of ways in which employers and employees can get involved in the fight against poverty:
- Organise company events to raise awareness and money to help towards specified charities or organisations that fight poverty. There’s loads of links to such organisations on the blog action day site.
- Some companies have implemented schemes where employees are able to donate money to charity through their salary before tax is taken. Whilst the individual employee may not be able to make a large contribution to the wider debate about poverty, regular donations to charities and awareness-raising groups gives these organisations the resources to continue their vital work in the continual battle against poverty. Search ‘payroll giving’ to find providers.
- Apply to sit on the board of trustees for an organisation that works to reduce and eradicate poverty. This could be a really small organisation that concentrates on one small area of the country, or a more national establishment. Either way, these organisations need experienced leadership and governance, and giving your time and experience to an organisation that fights against poverty can be a really effective contribution.
If you have a blog and want to join in blog action day, go to the site and register now!
Managing change through good communication
October 14, 2008
A recent survey conducted by YouGov for Investors in People has found that all too often managers are not handling change effectively. The survey was carried out on 2,500 people, and more than half of the respondents said that they found out about change through gossip and the behaviour of senior staff, such as hushed conversations. The most popular way of receiving information about change was through one to one meetings with the line manager, rather than company wide announcements or group meetings.
Change is such a major part of business now, with mergers and acquisitions, large scale restructures or redundancies, or even day to day changes such as new products or services. All UK workers will experience some sort of change in their careers, and the consequences of communicating change badly can be huge. Change often be seen as the role of the very top level of management or HR to deal with, but as this survey suggests, line managers, as with so many aspects of employment, actually have the biggest role to play in communicating change, reassuring employees, listening to valuable feedback and then doing something with it. However it’s likely that in some organisations, even the line managers aren’t completely aware of what’s happening, so would find it very difficult to communicate effectively with their staff on the changes.
Managing change and communicating effectively are two very key skills for anyone with people management responsibilities, yet I wonder how many organisations deliver training on these areas for their line managers? This is something we have not done so far in my organisation, but something that is certainly needed.
Does your organisation provide any training for managers relating to change management or communication? Or have you been through a major change that was handled very well or very badly?