• Can you turn back time?

    MP rescinds her resignation Scouring the BBC website looking for interesting HR stories and blog inspiration, I came across the news that Sarah Champion MP had rescinded her resignation from the front bench and asked Jeremy Corbyn for her job back. It appears that he has agreed and that she may be the first of…

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  • When Social Media Goes Wrong

    Having to give an employee their notice is never a pleasant experience for either party. If the situation does arise, the best outcome is that both you and the member of staff in question can leave the relationship amicably with the right contracts and paperwork to back you up… However, that’s not always the case.…

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  • A Medical Certificate Instead of a Tie!

    I had to dish out some fairly unexpected advice this week that I thought I’d share, it had all of us laughing and debating a rather interesting point. I have a very successful client who owns an Estate Agent and as most of his staff are client-facing, the dress-code in his workplace is ‘business smart’.…

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  • We Do HR – Making the Workplace a Better Place to be

    I am on a mission….. Our strapline is “Making the workplace a better place to be” – but what does that mean? Over the years, the management of people within a business has had many different names; the most familiar used today are “personnel” and “Human Resources (HR)”.  Whatever you choose to call it, staff…

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  • The Dreaded Appraisal

    This time of year, we find many of our clients want to take the opportunity to appraise staff. Of course there is no hard and fast rule as to when to do this and some companies will link appraisals to the financial year end, the end of the calendar year or the employee’s anniversary with…

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  • Business Continuity – Plan for the Unplanned

    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…

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  • Recruiting Blind

    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…

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  • “Yes you can” vs “No you can’t”

    Is your business a “Yes you can” or do you suffer from “No you can’t”? As an HR support specialist, I never know what is going to happen when I pick up the phone. In the past week, we have had three potential clients contact us for support with HR issues: Employee in probation period, not…

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  • Mum vs. Dad

    We all know that mum is entitled to maternity leave and pay, and that (if we are truthful with ourselves) in the past potential employers have chosen male over female applicants so as to avoid having to cope with maternity rights. Now the game changes. New Dads are entitled to up to six months paternity leave…

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  • Can I fire a poor performer?

    I have had several calls recently from potential clients looking for help managing poor performers. One of my first questions is always “Do you have a documented policy”? “Have you ever told the person they are not performing to the standards you expect”? In most cases, managers deal with poor performance in one of two…

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