Reactive HR or Proactive HR?

Sometimes issues occur within businesses that require a quick but thorough response.  These issues include but are not limited to; discipline and grievance, high absence levels or long term absence, and unforeseen or unexpected events within the business such as a sudden impact on cash flow, that requires immediate action affecting staff.  

Reactive HR doesn’t need to be seen as negative, and when managed professionally, can actually be regarded as a positive solution.  This is because the staff within your business can see things being taken seriously straight away and issues being addressed before they become unwieldy. 

When implementing a reactive HR culture you are literally reacting to events and dealing with them as they occur rather than planning for them before they happen.  This type of ‘fire-fighting’ is an aspect of all HR Management but one that is prominent in some companies more than others.  Unfortunately if it is the only strategy for HR it can be a constant and tiring uphill struggle to keep on top of day to day HR Management.

We will never remove the need for occasional ‘reactive HR’ management, but we believe this should be secondary to the benefits of a proactive HR approach.

Proactive HR management requires planning and forethought to reduce risk to the business and encourage sustainability and growth.

Having a clearly defined and positive HR culture within your business can significantly increase employee engagement, morale and motivation, whilst substantially reducing absence and staff turnover.  A positive HR culture graduates from good communication throughout the organisation, a people and performance management strategy that links to the overall business plan, providing the means to implement efficiencies that drive high performing teams.

The clearly defined strategy sets out your expectations as an organisation from ground roots up to Board level.  A company that embraces a proactive HR approach will have policies and procedures in place that address all areas of HR as well as how to deal with emergency or crisis situations.  They will have spent time educating their managers and staff about their values and culture.

Being proactive with HR allows you the time (and money) you would have spent ‘fire-fighting’ to make improvements to your overall HR strategy and branding, terms and conditions.  In this economic climate, anything that makes your business positively stand out from the crowd has to be good for attracting new staff and retaining the ones you have.

www.hrresponse.co.uk
 

We’ve Achieved ISO 9001:2008

Well, it’s been a few jumps through a few hoops to gain our certification, but we didn’t do it just for the badge. We did it to fine tune what we already provide; a quality HR management service.

First and foremost, before we get into the world of managing the quality of our service, HR Response was set up to solve employment problems on behalf of the employer. That’s exactly what we do, whether it’s working proactively to set the ground rules, or reactively to address workplace disputes.

We’ve been providing HR support and advice for over 12 years and during that time we’ve developed a system of working that really does ensure all aspects of what we do are quality driven. Setting out our system in writing has been like reinforcing the foundations for all elements of our service, which has been an interesting and focussing project. Putting down on paper what we naturally and automatically have become accustomed to doing hasn’t been easy.

Our quality management system is designed to look after the client from initial contact through to completed project without being over cumbersome or filling in forms for filling in forms sake.

So, what should the client expect when working with us?

Following initial contact, we will provide a clearly itemised quote, and project plan if appropriate. If the quote is agreed, we will ask the client to sign and return a consultancy agreement which sets out both client and consultant expectations. We will then deliver the project to plan (or revised plan if necessary) keeping the client appraised of progress along the way, and finalising the project with an evaluation report or customer feedback request.

Need to know more? Please visit our website; www.hrresponse.co.uk

Marmite Contracts?

Zero hour contracts are a bit like marmite… you either love them or hate them! Personally, I like them as they offer flexibility on both sides. Sometimes it is difficult to know exactly how many hours per week you can commit to when you have a new role; especially significant for small businesses just embarking on employing their first one or two people. The last thing they want to do is employ someone on more hours than affordable when you really don’t know if the level of business is going to remain the same, increase, or even decrease.

As a HR Consultant I have come across businesses where these contracts are not being used correctly, and other businesses that have skilfully embraced the flexibility zero hour contracts bring. The really shouldn’t be used to ‘control’ the employee by not allowing them to work anywhere else or demanding the person is available seven days a week (even if they are only actually used for 2 or 3 of those days).

There are some scenarios where zero hour contracts are a clear benefit. For example; domiciliary care organisations may not be able to guarantee working hours for all staff as rotas for home visits change at short notice. They rely on casual staff to fill gaps created by the changing needs of their clients. Zero hour contracts can also be good for students, as they provide the flexibility needed for working around lectures and work placements, helping them to support themselves financially through their studies.

Unfortunately, there are organisations that do not apply a holiday entitlement calculation, significantly reduce other benefits for those on zero hour contracts compared to their full time staff, and put unfair restrictions on the employee concerned so they can’t work elsewhere. This is clearly disadvantaging those who would otherwise prefer to be on a zero hour contract.

There are many pros and cons to the zero hour contract and its possible the benefit of the flexibility of these contracts has been lost along the way during the current debates. There would seem to be a case for keeping them available to both employers and employees, but they must be applied fairly.

So what’s the answer? I don’t believe we need more legislation or regulation regarding the management of zero hour contracts as we already have a robust system that determines what is fair and unfair in the world of employment. However, I do believe sensible, realistic guidance and training in the use of zero hour contracts is an absolute must. As employers, we have a duty to protect our employees from exploitation or unfair treatment, but at the same time deliver the working patterns our businesses need in order to thrive and grow.

www.hrresponse.co.uk
by Sarah Daniels, Managing Director, HR Response Ltd