Welcome
Welcome to People Talk, the new newsletter from DOHR. This is the first in what we are hoping will be a regular update. Our aim is to provide you with information about our company, our partners and our clients; and to educate you about the world of HR, employing people and your responsibilities as an employer.
We hope that by reading these brief updates you will think about some of your own HR practices, potential improvements and how you can manage your employees more effectively.
In each newsletter you will also find a ‘dates for your diary’ section which will provide information about some forthcoming public, bank and religious holidays and also some future legislation changes to watch out for. There will also be links and articles from partner organisations as well as useful links to additional HR resources.
In this first issue, we are going to introduce our three core services and explain how they can add real value to your business.
In future newsletters we will pick up on key HR topics and provide you with an overview of topics you should consider as an employer.
If you have any feedback or suggestions or topics you would like to see covered, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]
HR Audit
You take your car for an MOT, you may even take yourself for a medical check up, you call your financial auditors in to review your books, but when was the last time you took a truly holistic view of the way in which you manage your people?
The HR audit is an MOT for your people management practices. Through a combination of interactive methods, we produce an easy to read traffic light report on the way in which people in your organisation are managed.
Any items which require immediate attention, are colour coded red. These might be areas where your current practices mean that you are in breach of the law or your business is very exposed to an unnecessary risk.
Amber represents aspects of your policies, procedures or practices which can be improved to make the business more effective, reduce risk and potentially save the business money.
A green rating indicates you are doing just fine in this area, keep an eye on it, improve it, but there is no significant hurry to change it.
HR Support
How much time does your Managing Director, Finance Director or one of their secretaries spend searching the internet for a relevant bit of advice on how to deal with a people 
management situation? How many books, websites, training course and bits of friendly advice have you used? Should your precious time be spent focussed on your core business product or service, or should it be spent researching specialist information.
With our HR support service we offer clients telephone and email support, onsite attendance for more complex issues and reduced rates for additional support.
To enable us to deliver a truly personal service and to work proactively with our clients, we hold regular people focussed business reviews. We endeavour to understand what the key business challenges are, how employees fit into this and ensure that the policies and practises adopted are not only legal, but tightly aligned to the needs and success of the business.
HR Consultancy
Usually avoiding the word consultancy because of all the negative connotations often associated with it, there are times when ‘consultancy’ best describes the work which we do. Clients come to us with a problem or an objective which they are trying to achieve. For a number of reasons they do not have the expertise, time or resources to dedicate to developing a solution and therefore we are consulted by the clients and work with them to 
develop and implement an appropriate solution. We tend to provide consultancy on policies and procedures, employee relations, redundancy, TUPE, job evaluation, reward frameworks and salary structures. Examples of this work include the introduction of voluntary benefits for 10,000 employees at High Street retailer, a new set of pay scales based on job evaluation for a professional body and the introduction of performance related pay within an educational institute.
All consultancy assignments are project managed with regular reviews and milestones. Our solutions are inclusive and practical so that clients end up with a solution which they have helped to shape, that they are keen to implement and that will be accepted by employees. In most cases DOHR not only delivers a solution, but works with clients to implement it in the most effective way.
What’s the point in giving clients the solution according to DOHR which has no relevance or practical validity within their business?
Did you know?
- If you employ more than 5 people, you must provide them with access to a pension scheme, but until 2012, you are not obliged to make company contributions.
Quote
“The secret to managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five guys who are undecided.” Casey Stengel
Dates for the Diary – Diversity
July 2009
7th Asalha Puja Day (Dharma Day) – Buddhist
9th Martyrdom of the Bab – Bahá’í
11th St Benedict Day – Catholic Christian
13th Ulambana (Obon) – Buddhist
Bank Holiday (Battle of the Boyne in lieu of 12th, NI)
15th St Swithin’s Day – Christian
20th Lailat al Miraj – Islam
23rd Haile Selassi birthday – Rastafari
30th Tisha B’Av – Jewish
Dates for the Diary – Legislation
August 2009
- Increase in weekly earnings for Apprentices
October 2009
- New National Minimum Wage being implemented
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 being implemented
Unknown dates – we will keep you updated as more information becomes available
- Apprentices, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
- Equality Bill
- Welfare Reform Bill
Useful Links
Direct Gov – Employment information from the government for employers and employees
