• High Heels and a Noose Around the Neck

    What makes my line of work fascinating …. People! What drives me to destruction …. People! There is an old saying ….. “there’s none so queer as folk” and in my line of work I never cease to be amazed by what I see, what I hear and how far people (both employers and employees)…

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  • Bullying is prevalent in UK workplaces… and it’s on the rise

    It’s National Anti-Bullying Week, and shockingly, Acas have reported that over the past year they received around 20,000 calls about harassment and bullying at work. Some callers even reported that workplace bullying caused them to self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. Bullying is defined as any unwanted behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or…

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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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  • Bribery – Have you protected your business?

    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…

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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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  • Strike Day – Business Continuity

    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…

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  • Does your sick pay policy have a purpose?

    Do employers pay sick pay because: a) They have tob) They feel it is the right thing to doc) They want staff to feel supported and valuedd) They want employees back to work quickly The answer is that each employer will make sick pay payments for different reasons depending on the culture of the business,…

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  • BNI – 60 Seconds – 16th November

    As some of you may know I used to be a Scout Leader. Our motto is “Be Prepared”. I am anxious that employers live by this motto. By having good HR Policies and Procedures in place, employers are able to attract, recruit, develop and retain the right staff with the right skills and motivation to…

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