Books
About the Author
Donna Obstfeld graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with a joint honours degree in Business and Psychology. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and an accredited mediator.
Donna now writes on Human Resources issues for a number of publications and provides expert commentary on HR and business issues on the radio.
Donna was voted among the top 10 business mums in the ‘Expert in their field’ category of the mums club’s The Business Mum Awards 2012.
In February 2015 Donna’s HR practice was named HR Consultancy of the year by the HR community at the HR Distinction awards and in 2017, Donna was recognised by Sage as one of the UK’s top 100 Global Business Influencers.
Donna does not use the term HR Consultant or HR Manager when describing herself; she is a businesswoman first and foremost and her specialisation happens to be human resources – the management of people within a business and for the success of that business. As many of Donna’s clients have discovered, this expertise and approach brings their business significant added value.
The Elephant in the Room: Practical Solutions to 26 HR Dilemmas
For many people hiring staff is one of the scariest elements to growing a business, but there is a universal fact: you can’t grow a business without staff. The problem is, of course, that people do odd stuff.
Things you’d never think of: smoking a joint when operating a fork lift. Meeting each other in intimate ways in the executive toilet. Taking advantage of the takings. And yet, they can also make a business: sharing your passion for the company. Wanting your customers to see the best of you or becoming company stars.
The tightrope you walk in getting staff to act more like the latter group and less like the former group is held in these pages.
The elephant in the room is the things that no one talks about. Here are the solutions to many of the elephants that you’ll ever have to deal with.
The Complete Employer's Guide to Annual Leave
Many business owners will say to me that having staff away on annual leave is a pain as it leaves them struggling to cover work. While that may be true, having the right policies and procedures in place can help mitigate some of the issues. Having the confidence to enforce your policies and procedures is your next battle and being willing to lose staff who won’t play by your rules is your third battle.
With this guide, you will have the right policies and procedures in place, the rest is then up to you and the type of leader you are.
