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Business Continuity – Plan for the Unplanned

02 Feb
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Business Continuity, Employees, HR Consultancy, HR Policy, Human Resources   |  1 Comments

Business continuity, disaster recovery, whatever you call it, it has to happen. 2011 saw many disruptions to businesses both here in the UK and abroad. How prepared were the businesses, how did they recover and could you do the same?

Do you take the view that it will never happen to us and then bury your head in the sand, or keep your fingers crossed that it never does? Or do you sit around the table with your manager(s) and plan for all eventualities. There is no point always being an optimist if it puts your business at risk. You need to develop a list of possible scenarios, precautions and solutions to ensure no matter what the weather, terrorists or the Olympics throw at you, you know your responses, have the policies and procedures you need and the contact numbers of your key staff, IT support company and other key emergency response people.

Several years ago, I had first had experience of disaster recovery and the need for preparation. I worked for a company based in Hemel Hempstead when there was a massive explosion at Buncefield. Fortunately the explosion was in the early hours of the morning and there were minimal numbers of people on site. The building was absolutely out of action. The glass atrium collapsed and windows all over the building were shattered. Many other businesses were affected with sprinkler systems causing more damage than the actual explosion in several cases.

The priority was business as usual. With another local facility, staff who could worked from home or the London office on laptops, call centre staff from Hemel Hempstead were moved to St Albans and IT had back up systems running in less than 24 hours.

It is the people, information and customers which are valuable, not buildings and furniture. Ensure that your people have the ability to work from anywhere as the needs of your business dictate. You can’t avoid snow, floods or incidents, but you can plan for the worse and give yourself a competitive advantage if you can get back up quicker and better than others.

Your people are the key to your business continuity planning.

Do you have a plan for the unplanned?

Have you had an incident where Business Continuity Planning saved the day?

Share your thoughts and experiences.

Bribery – Have you protected your business?

27 Jan
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Blog, Bribery, Compliance, employent law, Employment Legislation, Hertfordshire, Policies and Procedures, training   |  Comments Off

I was in a room with 20 different employers this week and asked a simple question….

How many of you have a policy on bribery and have trained your staff in the application of that policy?

Despite the Bribery Act 2010 having come into force in July 2011, 90% of the businesses represented did not have a policy and had not trained their staff in relation to their duties under the Bribery Act. The first case has now been brought under this legislation and a court official was found guilty of being bribed to make a speeding offence disappear.

The previous bribery legislation was mixed and confusing, some of it being over 100 years old.

For those of you who are not clear, bribery is defined as ‘the giving or taking of a reward in return for acting dishonestly and/or in breach of the law’. There are four offences under the Act:

  1. Bribing another person
  2. Being bribed
  3. Bribing a foreign public official
  4. Failure to prevent bribery

It is the last of these which employers need to be especially wary of. There is an absolute obligation for employers, even those with one employee, to have a policy which ensures that employees know that bribery is not acceptable. There is also an absolute obligation for employers to brief / train their staff in relation to the law, their policy and its application to their business environment.

So what counts as bribery? Is it…..

  1. Tipping your postman for Christmas deliveries
  2. Taking clients out for dinner
  3. Taking potential clients our for an afternoon at Wimbledon
  4. Sending clothing samples to a fashion reviewer for their children
  5. Giving a FIFA official an amount of money to secure their vote in deciding the location of the 2022 World Cup? – This news broke the week the legislation came into force!!!

To find out more about The Bribery Act 2010, it’s implications for your business and how to protect your business from prosecution,  join us at the Business Essentials Conference on 29th February 2012 where you will be able to discuss the Act in the context of your business and walk away with a policy, training guidelines and some standard forms and letters. This would normally cost approximately £500 + VAT but the one day conference will cost you just £120. For more information and to book visit www.businessessentialsconference.co.uk or call us on 01923 504100.

Recruiting Blind

18 Jan
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Blog, Discrimination, HR Policy, HR Support, Human Resources, Policies and Procedures, Race Discrimination, Recruitment, war for talent   |  3 Comments

Would you? Could you?
Over 100 UK businesses have pledged to recruit blind as a way of increasing social mobility and reducing the risk of discrimination candidates with submit their applications on standard company from without a name or school.

As an HR professional, I’m not sure how I feel about this.

15 years ago I developed application forms with tear off flaps for equal opportunity monitoring. The forms were all numbered sequentially and the applicant tracked through the system by number so we monitored age, gender and ethnicity. It actually made no difference to our employee demographics. It did however take time and resources to manage and continually monitor the applicants through recruitment, selection and promotion within the company. Even at the time, removing date of birth from the application form seemed odd – you just needed to look at when someone was at school or entered the workplace to be able to estimate their age.

So now we are removing name and school as well. Will it really make a difference? Will this prevent ‘the old boys network’ from blocking social mobility?

Companies signing up to the Compact have also agreed to use schools and other public forums to advertise work experience / intern opportunities rather than offering the places to informal contacts.

Thinking about your business, would you prefer to advertise for a junior in your local schools or take the son / daughter of an existing employee or a friend?

Is this the end of the saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”?

I can’t afford to give pay increases!!

04 Jan
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Annual Leave, Benefits, Blog, pay, Reward, Total Reward, Voluntary Benefits   |  Comments Off

As I speak to my clients, I pick up on general trends. Sometimes it is based on stuff they have heard in the news, sometimes it is the fear of forthcoming legislation; but recently there is one trend which is repeated by almost all of my clients – pay increases! Staff are asking for them because the cost of living is on the increase, but companies can’t afford to give them as the economic future is so uncertain.

Going back five and even ten years, pay increases were generally given by small companies at about 5% and by large companies at 5 – 10% depending on the industry, company and individual performance. In these instances, the pay increase was above inflation and employees generally felt valued.

Today, with RPI at 5.4% and CPI at 5% these sorts of pay increases, if even possible, are barely covering Cost of Living increases. In many cases employees really do understand the pressure their management is under and would prefer to have a job with a low pay rather than no job at all, should the company go out of business. However, employees still need to be able to live: feed and cloth their families, put their children in childcare to enable them to work and to provide an adequate standard of living. As inflation increases and pay rises are not achievable, employers are having to look to alternative ways of motivating staff, ensuring they feel valued and remain engaged in the company, helping it to achieve its aims and objectives.

So, how are companies doing this? The answers vary based on size, industry and performance, but here are some ideas which can be adopted.
Communication and expectation setting
Talk to your staff. Be open and honest with them. If company performance is good, tell them, if it is bad – tell them. If you have to make changes to their compensation packages, tell them why and tell them when you will review the situation and what changes you need to see to provide a platform for restoration of their package. If there are decisions you are making to save costs, consult with staff – they may have useful insights and ideas. Try to put bad news with good news messages, but don’t lie and don’t ‘spin’ – you will loose their trust.
Other Rewards
Good performance does not mean you have to give pay increases. If the performance is due to a one off successful sale or project, providing a one off bonus to show your appreciation is an ideal way to demonstrate how much you value staff. It won’t add to the long term fixed financial commitments of the company, but will enable a set amount of money to be shared among employees.
Access to voluntary benefits is another way of showing staff that you are thinking of them, even in these stretched times. The employer usually pays a small amount per person and this enables the employees to access all sorts of discounts making their existing pay packet go a bit further. Choosing the right benefits programme is important, but it can be a very cost effective way of rewarding staff.
Time off
Providing staff with extra time off can be another cost effective way of rewarding them. This may not work for every business and certainly won’t work if you have a workforce who are too busy to take the annual leave they normally have, but for many extra time off goes a long way.

Getting reward right is hard at the best of times. Getting it right in the current economic climate is even harder.
What has your experience been with recent pay reviews? What alternative approaches have you adopted?

Strike Day – Business Continuity

28 Nov
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Blog   |  Comments Off

As business owners we should all have a business continuity plan, but talking to my small business clients, I wonder how many of us do?

What happens if we are ill? What happens to our business when we go away? What happens if our Internet access goes down? What happens if our staff can’t get to work?

Loosing a day’s work as a result of the strike is a real problem for many businesses, especially as it is still unclear how we will be affected. Will the trains be running, will the airports be open, will staff have Childcare if their child’s school closes? Will there be gridlock on the roads? The disruptions are endless and not something our generation have really had to deal with. I certainly remember the teachers strikes of the mid 80′s and the impact that had on my schooling, but I didn’t have the realities of running a business to contend with.

As many of my readers know I have one employee, she can work from home, but can she work with a six year old running around? Should she work from the office and bring him in? According to David Cameron, it would appear so. But what if we worked in a shop, or a factory? Would it be appropriate or safe for her to being her child to work?

If she takes the day off, should it be paid or unpaid? Could she perhaps use her holiday time? Well she could if she had time left, but as we are nearly at the end of the year, most employees should have used up their annual leave or have some booked off for the Christmas period. So what can an employer do? Technically if an employee has no leave left to use, you could either give them the extra day, or insist they take it unpaid. If you offer an annual leave scheme above statutory, i.e. provide more than 28 days, you could
‘borrow’ a day from next year. Be aware you can’t use this option if you only provide the statutory minimum as the law requires employees to have their full statutory entitlement in a year.

So, what should you do?

  • Think about how your business will be affected
  • Think about the culture of your business and the message you want to give out.
  • Discuss the options with your staff
  • Make a decision and communicate it to everyone, so there are no surprises

If in doubt, seek advise, but make sure you stay legal and safe.

Share your thoughts and let us know how your business will continue during the strike on Wednesday. If you are reading this post after the strike, do let us know how you got on and the issues you encountered.

Look the part, play the part, be the part.

13 Sep
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Blog   |  Comments Off

I’m not sure if anyone famous has ever said this or if it genuinely came out of my head this week, but while interpreting some 360 degree feedback for a client as part of a management development programme, I wrote this phrase and I have decided that I really like it!

The issue identified was related to personal presentation. Several of the managers were rated as below expectation and development needs under the personal presentation criteria.

Employees want to be able to look up to their manager and respect them; they usually expect their manager to look the part. Now I’m not saying the manager needs to be in a suit and it may not be appropriate for them to be so, but this manager’s feedback was ‘need to improve personal presentation.’

So, what is personal presentation? Years ago, I was taken aside by my senior line manager and told my soft tailored suits were not professional enough and that wearing my hair in a ponytail made me look like a school girl. Only a matter of weeks later, the HR Director made me stand up in the open plan office, while she lectured two of my colleagues about how messy their hair was and how they needed to have it, ‘neat, tidy and tied back, just like Donna’s.’ I glanced at my manager who went bright red and could not look at me. Personal presentation is important, but what is acceptable does vary.

As a situational introvert, when I used to exhibit at the milk rounds I was so self conscious that I used to put on a full face of make up before each one. It was the only time I really wore makeup, but it made me feel like I was playing a role and therefore it became easier for me to adopt the role, to be confident, to get our recruitment message across and to achieve the level and quality of applications which we needed.

I looked the part, it was therefore easier to play the part and, gradually, my confidence grew and I could become the part – with or without the makeup. There is a reason people power dress – it is a route to confidence and communication. Managers would do well to remember that how they look as well as what they say affects the people around them.

Are you guilty of bribery and corruption? Are you sure?

21 Jul
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Bribery, Corruption, HR, News of the World   |  Comments Off

It’s everywhere …… every newspaper, every news bulletin, every conversation down the pub. How could they not have known? Who knew what? Are they telling the truth? Will Cameron go next?

Have you taken a step back and looked at your own business? When you ask someone experienced, someone you have known for 5+ years, someone who always delivers on time and within budget to do a job for you, do you ask them how they are going to do it? Do you look over their shoulder and make sure they are doing it legally? Do you ‘know’ that they are within the law?

What if the law changes? What if everything you have done previously is now illegal? What if taking a potential customer out for a drink or a meal is seen as bribery? Who is responsible? Who will hold the employee to account? Who would go to jail for breaking the law?

Although the News of the World scandal has thrown bribery and corruption into the spotlight, July 1st saw the long awaited introduction of the Bribery Act. The timing ……. merely a co-incidence, but the impact is huge and bought into startling reality by the claims of hacking, failure to carry out proper checks, failure to properly investigate claims and the acceptance of bribes.

As a business owner or manager, there is now a legal duty for you to ensure that your employees know the law, are trained and understand what is acceptable and what is not, are monitored to ensure compliance and undertake risk assessments to identify potential opportunities for breaches. ALL companies need a documented and communicated policy on bribery and corruption. Don’t expose yourself or your business to the risk. Make sure you protect your business, yourself and your family.

British Jobs for British Workers?

07 Jul
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in British, Employment, EU, jobs, Work Permits   |  Comments Off
When recruiting for your business, who do you prefer to hire and why?
  • British workers
  • European workers
  • Non EU workers
What is your experience?

While working for an organisation a few years back, we needed to 20 year background check staff.

Some of the applicants came from Darfur and Baghdad. It was impossible to background check these people and unfortunately we could not offer them jobs. But should we have been interviewing them in the first place?

With the number of people of working age in the UK, why are there not people willing to take on the full range of jobs our society needs to function.

Is it better to work and earn than to claim benefits?

Should people who are ‘fussy’ about what job they take be allowed to claim benefits?                 

Are you LinkedIn to your next job?

09 Jun
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in Facebook, HR, Human Resources, LinkedIn, Recruitment   |  Comments Off

Although not confirmed by LinkedIn a new service is to be offered which would make it even easier to apply for jobs. Employers will be able to include a plug-in on their website which will prompt a redirection to LinkedIn, a selection of details to be sent and possible questions to be answered.Employers will be able to ask their own questions such as eligibility to work in the USA, willingness to relocate and the addition of a cover letter.People Management claim that 43% of LinkedIn’s revenue comes from its “Hiring Solutions”, and this would look to grow that element.A smart move considering 40% of Fortune 100 companies were already using LinkedIn to source and hire candidates as early as 2009.

Possible results of this include the cutting out of job boards and possibly even CVs as LinkedIn have their own resume builder and a reported 100 million users according to People Management with 5 million of those in the UK.Yet opinion is rightly split on the issue of whether the plug-in will have a meaningful effect on recruitment or not.The real area to look at for its impact will be with young people, with around a quarter of the 2.48 million people unemployed being aged 16-24.This age group has never known life without the internet, and social media may help them connect to employers.

However LinkedIn faces competition from Facebook on this front. Despite Facebook being more personal than its counterpart, it is in fact the largest form of social media boasting 500 million users.It also has a search tool that finds pages, groups and even jobs.Applications such as Easy-CV can be added to a profile giving a summary of that person to an employer or recruiter.

Total Reward

07 Jun
by Donna Obstfeld, posted in pay, Reward, Total Reward   |  Comments Off

At a time when Companies are still struggling to provide pay increases for employees, what are the alternatives to ensure engagement and retention of talent within the business.

For many people, choosing an employer, going to work and performing at the highest possible standards is not just about how much they get paid. Pay is important, and certainly people need to feel they are earning a fair and sufficient wage, but increasingly it is the total reward package which is being taken into consideration.

When considering total reward, it is not only the typical transactional elements such as pay, bonus and pension which are taken into consideration, but the relational rewards such as the culture and ethos of the organisation, the learning and development opportunities available and the flexibility of work design i.e. the ability to work from home, work part time or work 10 days in 9.

Employees want to feel valued; they want to be recognised when they have done a good job rather than being scorned for something that has gone wrong. They appreciate and value access to new opportunities, but don’t want to feel they have been taken advantage of. Employees want to be able to contribute in a positive way and feel their opinions are valued and carefully considered when changes are being made.

As the economy starts to recover, employers need to recognise that the most attractive of their staff are the top talent and there is a risk of losing these people if they are not getting what they want and need from your organisation.

Every employee has different motivational drivers. It is vital that organisations understand what each individual needs and what the business must do to recognise, incentivise and reward each employee. Line managers have a vital role to play throughout the organisation. From recruitment to retention, line managers need to engage with their staff, understand their ability to contribute, empower them to do so and ensure that reward and recognition is appropriate.

For companies who need to compete for and retain top talent, creating a culture of Total Reward is essential to the long term success of the business.

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