HR Management

  • An Email Policy for Your Employees

    More and more businesses are using email to improve their communications. It can be a quick, convenient and effective way of contacting both customers and other members of your team, without the disruptive effect of a phone call. But if...

  • An Internet Policy for Your Employees

    The Internet is a powerful tool for improving your business’ efficiency. But it can also be a great way for employees to waste time, damage the security of your IT system and give you legal headaches. If you do not already have an...

  • Assertiveness

    Greater assertiveness can be the key to getting the best out of your people — increased sales, better customer service, higher productivity and more ideas for improvement. It encourages those who are shy or short of confidence to...

  • Communicating with Employees

    Poor communication is one of the most common criticisms employees have about the businesses they work for. Employees complain that managers give poor instructions, they feel uninformed about what is happening within the company and often feel that their views...

  • Company Pension Schemes

    Companies are not obliged to set up their own company (or occupational) pension schemes, but the Government has said it intends to encourage company schemes as the best way of providing pensions for employees. Changes in legislation, as...

  • Discipline and Grievance Issues

    Recent changes in legislation make it absolutely vital that you now follow the correct procedures in disciplinary and grievance matters. If you fail to do so, you could find yourself judged to have dismissed someone automatically unfairly. ...

  • Discrimination

    Discrimination against employees on any grounds other than their ability to do the job is a bad idea — and could also be illegal. If an employee or potential employee brings a discrimination case against your business, you could be tied up in costly and...

  • Dismissing Employees

    Contrary to popular wisdom, fair-minded employers have little to fear from employment-protection legislation. The issues are fairly straightforward and most problems can be avoided by following a few simple rules. This briefing outlines:...

  • Employees Who Work from Home

    New technologies and social change make working from home — sometimes called teleworking — an increasingly cost-effective and attractive option both for individuals and the organisations they work for. This briefing outlines:...

  • Employment Contracts

    A contract of employment exists as soon as an applicant accepts your offer of employment. A clear, reasonable contract helps you to ensure that the employee understands what is expected, and to minimise the risk of disputes. At the same time, you need to...

  • Employment Tribunals

    Although some employees and employers can now choose to follow an alternative dispute resolution procedure, most employee complaints are still heard at an employment tribunal. You need to take tribunals seriously. If you have well-thought-out procedures, and...

  • Everyday Workplace Policies

    Managing people takes time and resources. You can save yourself a lot of effort simply by having a clear policy on many everyday issues. Employees need to know where they stand, especially when starting a new job. Problems quickly arise...

  • Executive Pensions

    Owner-managers, directors and senior managers have a wide choice of pension options to provide for retirement. From April 2006 the choice has become wider, as previous tax rules have been sept away. They have been replaced with a much simpler tax regime with...

  • Graduate Recruitment

    Most businesses would like to benefit from an influx of talent, enthusiasm and fresh ideas. The challenge is to achieve it at an acceptable cost. One option is to employ a recent graduate. This briefing is primarily aimed at smaller...

  • Incentive Pay

    Productivity and high standards are important to you. Recognition and encouragement are important to employees. Incentive pay is a way for you and your employees to achieve results. A good incentive pay scheme can motivate employees to...

  • Interviewing

    Interviewing is a central part of finding the right person for the job. Done well, an interview is an effective way to find out about a candidate. But done badly, it provides poor information which results in poor decisions. Proper...

  • Investors in People

    Since 1991, leading companies across the UK have already achieved, or are working towards, the Investors in People Standard. They recognise that their success depends on their employees — and that Investors in People is an effective way to make the most...

  • Leadership

    Whether you are the managing director or the office supervisor, the way you lead is the single biggest success factor for everyone you work with. Leaders change the organisations around them. They make a difference to the business, rather than just making the...

  • Managing Change

    Businesses face change all the time, driven by internal or external influences. The rhetoric of change always includes words like growth, innovation, reorganisation, computerisation, redundancy, relocation and diversification. But most changes in business are...

  • Managing Your Time

    Time is like money. If you control it, you can create a satisfactory and productive working environment. If you do not control it, you can spend your working life in an exhausting and depressing muddle. This briefing explains how to make...

  • Minimum Wage and Statutory Pay Obligations

    Regulations covering minimum wages and statutory pay apply to almost every business. It is illegal to pay less than the minimum wage so you need to be clear about your responsibilities as an employer if you are going to minimise...

  • Motivating Employees

    Most employees spend less than half their time at work being genuinely productive. For the business owner, this is frustrating and expensive. Ironically, though, the employer is usually the major cause of the problem. Almost all employees...

  • NVQ's

    Measuring performance at all levels is one of the keys to success for growing businesses. Traditional financial measures alone are no longer sufficient. Measuring an employee’s performance and the contribution they make to achieving goals is essential....

  • Performance Appraisals

    Maintaining employees’ focus and motivation is essential if they are to make a full contribution to your business. Performance appraisals actively involve employees in understanding what is expected of them. By setting agreed...

  • Personal Development Plans

    Personal development plans (PDPs) provide a powerful, flexible way to link employees’ professional and personal development with the development of your business. A PDP is a short, unambiguous written document — usually one...