HR advice from the Professionals

Following Sarah and Jennifer’s sunny days out with clients, we decided we should have an away day. Heather recommended Go Ape - so we made all the arrangements and headed off to Aberfoyle, on Friday 10th October. Even the rain and mist did not dampen our spirits and as the mini made it’s way north and west - the rain got heavier and the anticipation grew.

Now that we are back safely I can tell you that it was fantastic. It is very exhilarating and is a great team building event. We got very very wet as you can see from the photos!

This is Jennifer arriving on the zip wire!

The team before we got REALLY wet - arrived safely & looking forward to our adventure…………….

Becky sets off along the slippery path

Now we really are wet - but still smiling!

Sarah and Jennifer smiling in the pouring rain.

The way home is back across the zip wire over the trees, waterfall, landing on a big pile of wood chip ………

Jennifer looks happy!

Margery can’t believe she is in one piece

Sarah arrives elegantly……….

And a few action video clips!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JEGxnT11YfY

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tMQVaBAF65o

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb2PYiL1g3U

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi_NRFoz1p0

If you want to find out more about Go Ape visit Go Ape

According to Croner, the UK’s leading workplace information and consultancy providers, have highlighted the potential cost of mismanagement of redundancies. Employers who are looking to cut costs by making redundancies run the risk of facing further costs as a result of employees raising tribunal claims against them. They recommend that businesses seek professional help to put the right plans in place and be able to implement those fairly and minimise the risk of claims. You can read the full article at Redundancy Not the end to employers’ problems.

Recently we have been advising clients on managing redundancy in their businesses. Our advice has been centred around the following principles:

1. Have a defined policy and procedure to follow that meets the current and future needs of your business.
2. Take every step to follow statutory process and best practice.
3. Consider the implications for those who are chosen for redundancy and for those who remain.
4. Offer support for all involved in the process - it can be very emotional especially in a small business where team members are close and have an emotional involvement with each other and the business.
5. Communicate clearly at every step and stick to the stated communication plan - be careful of casual asides.

It is not an easy process to manage and the emotional cost can be high, but it is really important to ensure that you do not add to the cost by incurring further financial exposure by getting it wrong and open yourself up to an employment tribunal claim. Seek independent advice early and follow the advice.

And this is not going away, over 50% of organisations are planning to make job cuts according to the KPMG National Business Confidence Survey - which you can read at KPMG - quarterly national survey.

Gravitate HR have been selected to be one of the 10 winners to represent Scotland in this year’s HSBC Start Up Stars Awards.  This means that we go forward to a national judging panel, who will select 10 national finalists and 5 Green Award Finalists.

If we are successful at that, its off to London to make a presentation and attend an interview!

We are really excited and pleased with our progress in the competition and look forward to some positive local PR in the press and radio - so if you hear or see of us, do let us know!

You can monitor our progress by visiting hsbc start up stars  - wish us luck.

Margery, Heather and Sarah have now completed their races with Heather coming in the fastest time of 33 minutes. All three really enjoyed the experience and are proud of the £1.5K that they have collectively raised for Cancer Research. The business also sponsored a client in the Moon Walk, who successfully completed the through the night adventure in 6.5 hours. It is great to take part in these events and to give to such deserving causes.

Margery

This is me setting off on my 5K adventure around Hopetoun House after my warm up with 1800 others. The photo of me returning is not so sprightly so I will keep that in my photo album. It was a very emotive experience, reading the messages and being part of a movement that hopes to raise £50M for cancer research. Perhaps it is not really surprising as so many people are touched directly or indirectly. But it is not all bad news - there are survivors and hope for many.

Thank you to all who sponsored me - the support and encouragement kept me going, despite a dodgy knee, not being very fit and absolutely not a natural athlete. You will be glad to know that is my fundraising for this year!

However I do intend to keep running - I almost enjoy the dull monotony of my early morning trips around the streets of Trinity and maybe I will get a bit fitter.

If I can do this - anybody can do it!!

Margery

The arrival of our 2nd year accounts from the accountant has lead to some reflection of how the business has grown and speculation on where we should go from here. I thought I would share my learning from the “early years” and perhaps this will lead to words of wisdom and inspiration from out there in the ether. So if you are interested in how we got going and have some ideas that would keep us growing - please read on and then reply.

1. We have stuck to what we know and do best - we have not tried to do anything that we can not excel at and have always delivered the promise.
2. We have gone out of our way to understand the client and what they need - perhaps not what they want - and then over time have demonstrated how they can benefit from following our advice.
3. We have tried to have fun - HR can be quite dry and can be perceived as an necessary evil (sometimes an unnecessary evil) - but if you can bring some passion, some life and some common sense to what you do it is much more palatable. We are not shiny and brash - we have kept our real identity.
4. The team is important - having a good team fit and all understanding where you fit in is really important for them and for the client.
5. Keeping close eye on costs - working within a low cost base, investing in what is essential and not extending the finances has allowed to maintain a positive cash flow
6. Building on word of mouth - positive referrals has been very important in our growth. This way introductions are meaningful, proposals are effective and lead time to getting work relatively short because there is a platform of trust already created.
7. Invest in good advice - I have invested in trusted IT support; accountancy and legal advice and built good working relationships with other professionals and it has paid dividends.

Where do we go now?

Next steps are to analyse our cost structure; identify profitable sectors and avenues to open discussions with key players. We need to build our IT infrastructure to ensure we have the best systems to manage and protect data. We need to develop our own skills and knowledge to keep ahead of the market. Most importantly we must work hard at maintaining effective working relationships with our clients, move our services up the food chain so that we can influence strategically and deliver effectively at the operational level.

And at all time - we must enjoy, have fun and have a sense of achievement!

What do you think we should be doing?

Margery

Keep an eye out for us in this years Race for Life, the UK’s largest women-only fundraising event.

Margery & Heather

You can find out more at

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/margerymcbain

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/heathermccaig