This is where we like to add all the latest news and tips in HR and some of our musings and thinking out loud...
How The 2023 Budget Announcement Has Impacted UK SMEs
Chances are good that in the last few weeks, you’ve been inundated with content around the 2023 Budget Announcement and you may have already started making some changes to take advantage. Seems everyone is talking about the focus on addressing labour shortages in the UK economy following Brexit and the pandemic.
Flexible working and why you can’t afford not to embrace it
Cheney is a true believer in that flexible working practices are a key component to diverse work places.
Having launched in 2017, Cheney Hamilton founded Find Your Flex alongside her husband with a goal to help those in senior positions find flexible jobs.
In this episode of our Spotlight on a Startup Series, we talk to Cheney Hamilton about flexible work, being a working parent and finding top talent from thinking of the future of the workforce.
Covid-19: Free rapid testing available to all businesses in England.
Businesses of all sizes can now register to order lateral flow tests for their workers, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
The tests are free until 30 June, and companies can register until 31 March.
Rapid Covid-19 testing provides results in less than 30 minutes, helping people to "isolate immediately", DHSC said.
Here is a link to the Government application form for you to apply.
Furlough - the good, the bad and the ugly…..
Take your mind back 12 months and ask yourself if you’d heard of the term…. Furlough....
What did you think it was? Some sort of antiquated, blunt farming tool perhaps?! Or a secret WWII weapon?!
Well according to my research it’s a Dutch military term for leave of absence deriving from the 18th century meaning “lay off or suspend temporarily” so initial thoughts were not too far off but to be honest I didn’t have a clue. Most of us hadn’t or couldn’t place it but boy did we all find out about it!
Covid-19 Back to Work Checklist
With March 8th marking the official start of Lockdown being lifted, admittedly you might be excited but also aware of the prep work that will need to take place for a smooth transition.
We have developed a simple checklist for you to have some peace of mind that will help you to organise everything and put your "To-Do's" in the right order.
Government policy has been updated, so have a read to ensure that you are compliant.
Building a winning team needn't be as painful as you think
Once you step out of the day to day running of your busy HR team to obtain clarity of where you need to head and when you break down a simple path to get there, you are already most of the way there.
You then need to evaluate your people, to understand if you have the right team, with the right level of capabilities and expertise to deliver.
Assessing whether employees need to up-skill or re-train and the potential need to bring in outside expertise to quickly fill in any gaps in your team. Once you have the right skills, pulling your team together will soon get your People Plan accomplished.
Expedia Smashes Team Engagement Event with Your People Associates and Ping Pong Challenge Show
Expedia Group, global leader in online travel bookings, brought together their remote workforce in a fun, inclusive online team bonding event. The focus was to target wellbeing and inactivity, just two of the side effects from working at home during the pandemic.
Jyot Deol, Talent Acquisition Manager, EMEA Expedia Group commented “Ping Pong Fight Club’s Lockdown Challenge Show gave us lots of laughs and kept us all entertained. I would highly recommend the show to other businesses that want to introduce some fun to their teams in these not no-so-fun times.’”
When was the last time you checked the mood of your team?
Once you have that People Plan and a strong vision is in place, effectively communicating it to your teams is the first step to bring everyone on-board, feeling valued for their contribution. We might be inclined to think it’s best to broadcast our vision, we mustn't forget that we had weeks to process and plan why such decisions were made.
How the team reacts, and therefore, embraces this strategy, will very much depend on how they "feel" to start with and whether they are brought along on the journey.
Empowering Employees to Bring their Whole Self to Work by Putting Mental Health High on the Talent Agenda
Now, more than ever before, is the time to be keeping the conversation of mental health in the workplace going. Whether we struggle with mental health personally, or know someone who does, we have to address the topic, because the stigma is still very much there. That’s why we spoke with the founder of Everymind at Work, Paul McGregor, to discuss the importance of Mental Health in the Workplace.
Tune in to listen to Paul share his story and his work through his Every Mind at Work app.
Why your 2021 People Plan must be Agile
In 2021 HR leaders are planning for more of the unexpected. In the last 12 months we have seen that traditional planning has failed to deliver growth, whereas companies that have been able to flex and pivot have grown and even thrived through this pandemic. Deliveroo for example grew by 62% during this time (FT.com). So how is agility achieved?
Why wellbeing at work is now more important than ever, and why prevention is the key to success
Over the course of the past year, the world has seen significant change. A global pandemic has impacted the way we live, and consequently, the way we work. Learn more about how for every £1 employers invest in mental health and wellbeing initiatives for their employees, they will, on average, get a £5 return on investment in terms of reduced absence and staff turnover (Deloitte, 2021).
21 Surefire Tips to Get Your People Strategy On-point for 2021
Learn the key elements to high performing teams that will see you succeed through this year of great change . Download this ebook to get the latest insight on how to: "Attract, Hire, Engage, Retain and Grow".