Newsletter October 2019
NEW! – Funding for Leadership and Management Development
As HR practitioners we are typically transferring our knowledge to our clients when coaching or advising how they might approach people management scenarios such as improving performance of themselves or those within their span of control, identifying development needs or improving employee engagement.
We are now an approved provider on the NBSL register and because we are transferring knowledge when working with our clients this means we could facilitate up to 40% funding towards the cost of our services whether that be towards the cost of retained services or on-site support in the form of a team development day for example.
There is always a need to further develop leadership and management capability within your business so let’s create an opportunity to talk about what approaches we could take to develop that capability and what we need to do to secure funding prior to any work commencing.
The ‘B’ word …
We have avoided talking about the ‘B’ word – we mean Brexit of course but we have recently attended an employment law update where Brexit was touched upon by Ed Duffield, Womble Bond Dickinson. As employers the main focus is on ensuring that you know who your EU, EEA or Swiss workers are and whether they wish to continue to live and work in the UK beyond 30 June 2021. If they do wish to continue to work and live and work in the UK then they need to being making applications to the EU Settlement Scheme before the end of December (this year – as it is looking more and more like there will be a no deal exit from the EU).
If you have anyone within your workforce who is affected by Brexit and they wish to obtain legal advice as individuals then Louise Edwards at Edwards Immigration Services will be able to offer legal advice.
Positive Psychology
We spend a large proportion of our week in our place of work with colleagues, direct reports and managers. It won’t have gone unnoticed that the prevalence of mental ill health is on the rise and you may think that as an employer this is outside the span of your control but the opposite is true. There are a number of ways that you as an employer can contribute to the physical and mental well-being of your workforce. Here are a number of small ways that you can improve the well-being of your workforce:
1. Consider the environment that enables people to thrive. Example: One of our clients has a relatively large space divided into three main areas. The first area has a handful of staff in, it’s quiet and facilitates independent working. The second space is slightly busier, more people and the radio on low volume in the background. The third and final area is a hive of activity, lots of people, visuals on the wall and the music is turned up. Which space would be your choice and why? Which space would drain your energy levels rapidly?
2. Facilitate as much as you can for people in your team to work to their strengths. This isn’t always possible but where you can, enable this to happen. People accessing their strengths regularly at work are more likely to experience being in the “flow” at work, which as the saying goes “time flies when you are having fun”.
3. Carve out time to get to know your team members or colleagues a little more. 30 minutes out of your day for coffee with someone you don’t feel you know very well or with someone who you have made an observation of can go a long way to strengthening trust in the workplace. Listen to the Ted talk that we reference further on and if the idea of a coffee break above and beyond the statutory minimum rest breaks makes you shudder … then think of it as “Collective Restoration”.
Employment Law – Case Updates
Over the last few months there have been a number of race discrimination and racial harassment cases that have been upheld by the relevant employment tribunals.
1. A car dealership tried to argue that making racial jokes, gestures and accents when speaking to or near one of their Asian colleagues was simply “banter”. There was an additional example of colleagues nicknaming the same colleague ‘Apu’ (a character from the Simpsons) although this was not substantiated due to a lack of witnesses.
2. A manager stating to a member of staff from Poland the following: “If you do not like it, pack yourself and your family up and go back to Poland.”, “You should go back to your own country.”
3. A white, heterosexual employee was subjected to racial and homophobic abuse by his employer who tried to argue that the comments were “banter”. The owner of the firm began to refer to the employee in racially offensive terms and made references to an assumed sexual orientation that was not accurate. This permeated out into the wider workforce with other colleagues believing the behaviour he was being subject to by the owner was therefore “ok” and they in effect joined in creating that offensive and intimidating environment.
Be aware of what sort of “banter” exists within your workplace and be cautious around tolerance levels (known or assumed); everyone has different characteristics or topics that might be sensitive to them (some of which are protected by the Equality Act 2010) and in order to create a safe workplace any “banter” that is disrespectful to another person or group of people should be nipped in the bud.
Video Link – TED Talk
This talk by Margaret Heffernan is all about “superchickens” … it raises valid points about traditional hierarchies, high performance and touches on elements of Positive Psychology at work
