Welcome to DOHR
The multi award-winning HR practice that actually does HR for business owners who care about their people, makes the workplace a better place to be AND saves employers time, money & stress.
Experience teaches us that a lot of SMEs don’t take HR seriously. Which is fine, as long as you’ve never had an issue with your staff, and you’re 100% confident that you never will.
Hands up if that describes you?
Thought as much!
You see, the reality is that if you’ve got staff or you’re planning to take staff on anytime soon, HR isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.
At least it is if you’re serious about protecting everything you’ve worked hard to achieve and you’re quite keen on staying out of employment tribunals.
For over 14 years, we’ve focused on enabling businesses to thrive whilst remaining compliant with employment law and we’ve helped countless UK business owners to do just that.
And we can help you too. Our clients have told us that these are the key reasons they use us:
- I wasn’t sure I was doing things right when it came to managing my people
- I felt like I was being told what to do and prevented from running my business the way I wanted to
- I wasn’t 100% sure that I was protected when it came to our HR practices
- I was fed up with reactive support and a call centre environment
- I wanted to be treated as an adult, informed about the risks and enabled to make my own decisions
- I needed an extra helping hand, as I lacked the knowledge, skills and time our team deserved
- The business had grown and we needed to professionalise our people management
If any of the above sounds like you, we should talk.
Give us a call on 01923 866040 now for a free, no-obligation chat about your business, alternatively you can email us at [email protected]
We DO HR, but we’re a little bit different…
You’re probably sitting there thinking, ‘Yeah, how different can HR be, it’s all the same old boring stuff’, and don’t worry – we get it.
HR can be boring. Especially when it’s the same old ‘policy, processes, procedures’ and all that jazz. The thing is, HR is important. It can be the difference between the life and death of an organisation, the difference between success and failure.
The trouble with most HR consultancies is that they’re too ‘by the book’. Now, don’t for a second take that to mean that we don’t do what’s necessary to keep businesses protected and legal. What we mean is that most HR consultancies simply can’t be bothered to put in the time and effort to find bespoke, business focused, solutions for their clients.
With DOHR, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. We take the time to get to know your business, and by doing this, we understand which solution is right for you, and the work that needs to be done to arrive at that solution.
Where we’ve come from
DOHR was established in 2007 by managing director Donna Obstfeld. Donna has over 25 years of experience in HR and management and has worked with a variety of small and medium businesses as well as large companies like TK Maxx, Hewitt Associates and Securicor.
After a career in the corporate world, Donna realised that although there were plenty of ‘HR consultancies’ out there; precious few of them actually listened to what their clients’ businesses needed and built bespoke solutions to meet those needs. So she decided to do just that.
Now, DOHR is a established multi-award-winning one-stop-shop HR practice with a fantastic reputation – click here to read what our clients think of us.
Where we’re going
We’re on a mission. A mission to make the lives of our clients more stress free and enjoyable. It’s a weighty task, but we’re fully committed to it. From the moment you pick up the phone to us, to the minute we finish completing a task for you, our mantra will always be the same – we’ll be trying to make your workplace a better place to be.
Call us now on 01923 866040 to find out how we can make your life that little bit easier. alternatively you can email us at [email protected]
or visit our get a quote page.
How we do what we do
Your business is our priority, so we allocate an HR advisor who gets to know your business and your managers. In most cases you will speak to your HR advisor for all your day to day queries. If they are not available, one of the team will be able to help.
In addition, we are able to resource projects or assignments based on the best person for the task. If you need an HR administrator – you’ve got it! If you need a heavy hitter – you’ve got it! You want some training – we give you a trainer! You want some recruitment – we give you a recruiter.
We don’t outsource your support, unless it is very specialist i.e. fire warden training, mental health first aid training or occupational health.
We ask a lot of questions!
How can we possibly advise you if we don’t understand your specific situation? We do not provide you with an off the shelf solution, everything is customised specifically for your business. This might be based on your sector or industry norms, but it might be based on your company aims, objectives, culture and values. Other factors we will take into consideration is what your policies and procedures say (you don’t want to be in breach of your own rules), what the legislation or best practice suggest, what your desired outcome is and what your attitude to risk is.
We are not led by an insurance policy, we are led by you and your business needs.
Who we do it for
We support employers; people who care about their people.
Employers who want to do the right thing, but need some help doing it.
Employment legislation is the same regardless of your sector or company size, but it is what you do from there which makes you different. It is your culture, your ethos, your values and your leadership which makes your business different and special and enables you to attract, recruit and retain the talent your business needs.
We help you to become and remain compliant, but we also help you to become an employer of choice.
The Changing Face of Human Resources
HR has gone through many guises over the years. Dating back to the social reformers of the nineteenth century such as Lord Shaftesbury and Robert Owen, the need was identified for a more caring workplace which moved away from the concepts of ‘the survival of the fittest’ and the mass exploitation of workers for the benefit of business owners. Change was slowly forced upon the factory owners when society began to shift and criticisms were levelled at those getting rich off the back of the misery of their employees. The first welfare functions were set up within businesses but their battle was uphill and hard.
There are some very famous examples of early welfare led businesses such as Cadbury, Rowntree and Lever Brothers where the Christian ethos of these Quaker families was heavily filtered into business life. Subsidised housing, sick pay and unemployment benefit was all part of the progressive packages these companies offered their staff.
The Institute of Welfare Officers was first established in 1913. Known today as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, it is a worldwide organisation, supporting 160,000 members and is the only awarding body for chartered Learning, Development and Human Resources (HR) professionals.
All of our team are CIPD qualified and ensure that our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is updated on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.
Over the last two years, HR has changed dramatically. This is in part due to covid, but also due to Brexit, societal changes and the Millennials entering the workplace with a much greater expectation of their rights, corporate social responsibility, environment and culture.
Still not sure exactly what HR is?
They say a picture paints a thousand words and therefore:
Many of these elements are discussed in our 52 top tips for employers videos which can be found here.
So now you need to figure out if you actually need HR for your business.
The short answer to this is: If you employ staff, you need some sort of HR.
How you get that support will vary based on your expertise, capacity and budget.
Your options are:
- Buy it in – Outsource
- Bring it in – Recruit
- Do it yourself – DIY
Here’s one of our FAQ’s which might help you decide.
Call us now on 01923 866040 to find out how we can make your life that little bit easier. alternatively you can email us at [email protected] or visit our get a quote page.
