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The Elephant in the Room: The Smelly Employee – Weed
Some people will recognise the smell of weed a mile off. Others will never have come into contact with people smoking weed, but they are aware of a strange smell. Weed is cannabis. It is a drug. Also known as marijuana, pot, grass and dope, weed is illegal in the UK. As an employer, you…
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The Elephant in the Room: Smelly Employees – Alcohol
Most companies have a policy which states that you must not attend work under the influence of alcohol, and some will clearly state that alcohol is not permitted during working hours, including business lunches, networking events and formal dinners. However, in some sectors, drinking (alcohol) at work is part of the job, it’s expected. The…
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The Elephant in the Room: The Smelly Employee – Cigarettes
In my opinion, there is nothing worse than a colleague who comes into a meeting stinking of cigarettes! I remember a time when people used to smoke in offices, it was completely normal. Just like smoking on an aeroplane – smokers on the left, non-smokers on the right‼! Something my kids cannot believe was ever…
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121 Review meetings
These can be held as frequently as the manager and employee feel necessary, often weekly or bi-weekly. They can all be formal, or a mixture of formal (structured with forms and notes) and informal (verbal, no notes). At some points notes should be kept on file reflecting discussions, concerns, action plans, commitments and support required.…
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Probation Reviews
The Employee should recieve regular feedback during their probation period. This can be done informally, but if there are any concerns, these should be documented with an action plan. At a minimum, the employee should recieve a formal written review after 3 months and again at about 5 1/2 months. Failing someone in their final…
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Probation Period
This is a trial period at the start of someone’s employment. A 6 month probation period is ideal as it gives the employee time to learn the role and the employer time to assess performance and to provide feedback, making corrections to performance or attitude if required. If the new member of staff does not…
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Family Friendly Policies
A full set of policies around maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay need to be developed so that employees feel valued and their skills are not lost from the business, but so that they business is able to function effectively with short and long term absences as a result of the prospective and actual…
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Mediocre Managers
Mediocre Managers – how much damage could they do? If a Manager is mediocre, surely that’s better than completely useless? Let’s think about that…… What skills and attributes does a Manager need? Looking at this from four points of view: The Business An Employee The HR Department or Senior Management The Customer Google ‘Manager’ and…