WINNING OR LOOSING (YOUR EMPLOYEES?)

By Gillian Webster, Managing Director, Routledge Blakey Associates Ltd

The Challenge

One of the greatest challenges today for organisations is to attract, recruit and then retain its staff members. Establishing pay and benefits policies which are fair, affordable and attractive can be a difficult task facing many business leaders. If you get your compensation and benefits frameworks and packages right you will be more successful in attracting and recruiting the employees with the skills, knowledge and experiences you require. Get them wrong and you will struggle to recruit and to keep them.

The right approach and a well thought out remuneration strategy to meet the needs of your business will significantly contribute to high levels of motivation and staff retention, low staff turnover and a well understood and fair operational practice.

Market Rates

Have you considered whether the rates of pay across your organisation are affecting your ability to recruit and retain staff? Firstly do you understand the internal roles and responsibilities within your organisations structure? It is advisable to evaluate each job and fully understand the internal dynamics, comparisons, similarities, expectations, specialist skills and knowledge required and the tasks involved.

Paying the market rate involves both the job evaluation and the necessary external research to establish the pay and benefits being provided in other organisations. Ideally this benchmarking research activity will include determining pay and benefits within competitor organisations, similar industries and comparator roles across a wide sector. The danger is these organisations may be in a position to attract both your senior, high performing specialist, skilled employees and also your valuable, high performing lower paid workers.

The information can be found from many sources: newspaper recruitment advertising, the internet, recruitment agencies, word of mouth, leavers, published surveys, membership bodies and journals. The knowledge of what is happening outside your organisation, across the wider market, can be very powerful. This research will be a valuable starting point in structuring your pay and benefits packages, grading systems, deciding how much to pay new recruits and existing employees, handling pay reviews and establishing relevant, non financial rewards and benefits.

Pay Reviews and Bonus

Many organisations aim for a steady increase in real earnings, year on year, for those employees whose performance is satisfactory. Research generally suggests a higher focus on bonus earnings and potential and rewarding employees based upon individual and company performance.

Increasingly organisations are using tailored economic measures to assess Director performance which include cost reductions, staff turnover, profitability and company growth. Only 38% of the FTSE 350 companies rely on simple share price growth measures as the primary driver of performance related reward. There also appears to be an increase in longer term bonus measures for Directors. The trend indicates that companies are using longer term financial rewards to sustain company profitability, growth and to tie in key players.

Flexible Benefits

Many organisations have offered a limited form of flexibility, or no flexibility at all, regarding the availability of company benefits. Within the last five years however more comprehensive flexible benefits schemes have become increasingly common with the larger private sector employers, primarily offering choice which is attractive and can help to retain employees. The CIPD predict that within the next 12 months a further 14 per cent of employers will consider and potentially adopt flexible benefits plans.

Flexible benefits schemes are formalised systems that allow employees to vary (flex) their pay and benefits package to satisfy their personal requirements. Typically core benefits appearing on many such schemes are: holidays, life assurance, private medical insurance, long term disability insurance, sick pay, car/car allowance and pension contributions.

In order to implement such a scheme effectively it will be essential to understand and tie in with key business drivers and consider the options and benefits to be included. The scheme should be designed in detail and costed, a key success factor will be the consultation with staff and communication to ensure understanding and employee engagement. Many organisations have piloted their new flexible benefits scheme and introduced a phased approach prior to full implementation. Timescales and the operational procedures need to be established and worked through carefully.

PAY AND EQUALITY

Your pay and reward system, and pay increases must be fair and free of discrimination. The Equal Pay Act 1970 makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate between men and women in terms of their pay and conditions where they are doing the same or similar work: work rated as equivalent or work of equal value. This act was passed in 1970 when pay gap between men and women stood at 37%. The equal pay act applies to pay or benefits provided by the contract of employment. This has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and subsequently.

In order to bring a claim a person must compare themselves with an actual person of the opposite sex who is treated more favourably and is shown to be employed on equal work. Employers do not have to provide the same pay and benefits for equal work if they can prove that the difference in pay is genuinely due to a factor other than the difference in sex. It is for the employer to show that such a factor exists and that it is the real reason for the pay/benefits difference. The employer must show that the factor is objectively justified.

Additionally the Equal Pay Questionnaire came into effect on 6 April 2003 which is intended to help individuals who believe that they may not have received equal pay to request key information from their employers, to establish whether this is the case and if so the reasons why. The information should help to establish key facts early on and make it easier to resolve disputes in the workplace. The legislation continues to grow within this area and it is important to minimise any risk of an equal pay claim and to justify your differences for those with similar roles and experience.

The legislative position adds weight to the importance of ensuring that your remuneration policies, frameworks and operational practices are fair and equitable. This is in addition to ensuring that you have in place robust systems, pay grades and employee benefits which are affordable and attractive. The importance you place upon this challenging aspect of leadership will depend upon your desire to attract, recruit and retain staff effectively.

If you have concerns about your current pay arrangements or pay levels, or if your business could benefit from discussing any aspect of this article, contact gillian@routledge-blakey.co.uk who will arrange for a specialist in this field to contact you without any obligation.

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Currys Supply Chain are undertaking a major programme of change and have progressed many initiatives internally to support the change agenda. What had become clear to the leadership team was that they needed to fully understand the potential of their management for the future roles and business challenges and to be very clear where the gaps might exist. They are committed to having in place robust succession plans and effective talent management programmes.

Currys Supply Chain HR Director Claire Walton recognized that an impartial view of the existing management potential would be beneficial together with the need for an external and consistent analysis. Our consultants Gillian Webster and Margaret Johnson were delighted to work closely with the organization and set about designing and delivering a series of activities to provide the information required and to measure individuals against the organisations key leadership success factors.

The structured assessment centres involved the design and delivery of a challenging competency based interview, a case study and presentation, 360 degree performance appraisal and various psychometric personality and assessment tools.

Following assessment the participants benefited from detailed feedback and development plans were compiled to address individual needs. Line managers were also involved in the process.

The whole activity has provided valuable data to support future decisions about key people, their careers and suitable roles. It highlighted individual and organization development needs and has resulted in a clear company wide understanding of potential, succession planning and skills or knowledge gaps to be addressed through recruitment and development.

According to Gillian Webster, HR consultant, organisations often fail to accurately assess and recognize potential or address the issue of facing up to whether top leaders actually exist within the organization. Flexibility of approach to assessing and identifying talent and succession planning will give Currys a leading advantage over its competitors.

For further information or to arrange a free no obligation visit to discuss your needs contact gillian@routledge-blakey.co.uk

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A recent survey by the small business service estimated that 100,000 companies fail every year through a lack of succession planning. Larger companies can also be in danger. Similarly, an Investors in People survey revealed that £2 billion had been wiped off FTSE 350 shares due to poor succession planning.

Eighteen months ago when candidate after candidate ducked out of the competition to succeed Charles Allen as ITV’s Chief Executive matters became embarrassing. Too many companies leave it too late before addressing the issue.

Succession planning is seen as a crucial process by many major employing organisations, but there is often the assumption that talented individuals with potential will manage their own careers. Now however, more and more organisations are asking what they can do to retain and coach people as talent gets scarcer and harder to find.

What is succession planning?

Are you preparing your organisation for the future?

Are you effectively managing your talent within the business?

Succession planning is a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts. Career moves and key development activities are planned for these successors to nurture them in the short or longer term.

It’s about being prepared when key leavers leave the business by having planned for both the expected and the unexpected, and ensuring that the company is equipped to continue on its trajectory. It’s also about ensuring that your management development and management training is focussed upon the future. Too often these activities are delivered to reflect the here and now.

How robust is your succession planning?

• Does your current talent pool match what is required to pursue the organisation’s objectives?

• Who are the key, critical people that the business relies upon?

• What do you need to do to keep this talent within the organisation, even if the key people decide to move on?

You may already have in place robust succession planning strategies, but how proactive are you in your approach to talent management? Talent management is about recognising that talent, really understanding how the individual’s potential will meet the business’s need in the future, and focusing on their specific development needs.

Proactive talent management is extremely powerful for an organisation. It enables it to measure succession depth and to understand exactly if people in the organisation are ready to progress now, or if they could be ready in one or more years’ time with some focused personalised development.

You may find that you don’t have the latent skill set you need and that external recruitment is the only answer, but the sooner you know the better.

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In the contemporary business climate of ever increasing employment law developments and employee claims culture, it’s more important than ever to ensure line managers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage staffing issues fairly, consistently and within the law.HR managers are becoming more and more concerned about the ever increasing employment law developments and employee claims culture. HR managers need to ensure that their line managers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage staffing issues fairly, consistently and within the law.

One recently industry case study involves the HR manager of a large manufacturing firm. Through being unaware of essential operational practice and legal requirements, a number of management errors had resulted in costly employment tribunals and damaged relations within the workplace.

The organization lacked the internal specialist resource and the time to design and deliver an effective training programme to meet both manager and the company needs. With her specialist HR background spanning 20 years, many of which were spent operating at Board level, Gillian Webster of Routledge Blakey Associates LTD was able to provide the advice and support required to drive this new initiative forwards internally.

The actions which followed involved a review of the employee manual to check complience, together with the design of a training programme and communication closely aligned to the updated policies, procedures and best practice. The modules selected and delivered to all line managers included:

Managing effectively within the law, this incorporated the statutory requirements and the costs associated with poor practice.

Managing absence effectively, to include managing short and long term absence, recognizing and managing stress in the workplace, operational and legislative family friendly policies, including maternity, paternity, parental leave and flexible working.

Recruitment and selection, which included data protection, diversity and discrimination, and which highlighted best practice procedures and skills development within a structured competency framework.

Managing underperformance, the grievance and disciplinary process and dismissal.

As a result of the expert consultancy of Routledge Blakey Associates LTD, the HR Manager reported that managers have demonstrated a significantly increased awareness of the implications of getting it wrong, the need for consistency and the following of internal procedures resulting in reduced absence and improved staff retention.

According to Gillian Webster, owner of RBA and senior HR consultant, organisations often leave it too late before considering the essential training requirements of their managers. Investing now in a focused, practical approach to ensure managers manage within the law, and also to drive continuous performance improvements can prevent costly and time consuming actions down the line and minimize legal risks.

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Industry Insights: Employment Law Guidance
Are your managers managing effectively within the law?

In the contemporary business climate of ever increasing employment law developments and employee claims culture, it’s more important than ever to ensure line managers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage staffing issues fairly, consistently and within the law.HR managers are becoming more and more concerned about the ever increasing employment law developments and employee claims culture. HR managers need to ensure that their line managers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage staffing issues fairly, consistently and within the law.
Read more here

Industry Insights: How to plan for future success

A recent survey by the small business service estimated that 100,000 companies fail every year through a lack of succession planning. Larger companies can also be in danger. Similarly, an Investors in People survey revealed that £2 billion had been wiped off FTSE 350 shares due to poor succession planning
Read more here

Industry Insights: Talent and management potential
Currys Supply Chain effectively understand the talent and management potential within their business

Currys Supply Chain are undertaking a major programme of change and have progressed many initiatives internally to support the change agenda. What had become clear to the leadership team was that they needed to fully understand the potential of their management for the future roles and business challenges and to be very clear where the gaps might exist. They are committed to having in place robust succession plans and effective talent management programmes.
Read more here

Industry Insights: Salary Benchmarking & Equal Pay
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: WINNING OR LOOSING (YOUR EMPLOYEES?)

One of the greatest challenges today for organisations is to attract, recruit and then retain its staff members. Establishing pay and benefits policies which are fair, affordable and attractive can be a difficult task facing many business leaders. If you get your compensation and benefits frameworks and packages right you will be more successful in attracting and recruiting the employees with the skills, knowledge and experiences you require. Get them wrong and you will struggle to recruit and to keep them.
Read more here

CONTACT US- Discuss your needs or arrange a free no obligation visit

FOR Dental & GP Practices,

Specific modules have been designed, specifically for Practice staff to develop leadership skills and knowledge.  Participants should ideally attend the whole programme for maximum benefit but can opt in and out to meet specific needs.  All modules are a half day duration to fit in with Practice needs and support Continuous Professional Development.

All programmes are delivered at hotel locations across the UK. Costs are reduced by 15% for those signing up in 2009 at only £90 per person per session plus vat.

At the end of this programme of leadership training modules, Practice Managers will have a good understanding of how to manage  people issues  within the legislation, understand best practice and implement HR policies and procedures effectively.  They will have a greater understanding of their role and how to support the principal GP or Dentist in driving the people agenda to maximize individual and Practice performance. The whole programme is designed to equip Practice Managers and team leaders with the essential skills and knowledge required to meet their role requirements effectively, professionally and with confidence.

Module 1            Introduction to leadership skills

Setting the scene, course objectives and outline programme
Leadership skills
Habits of effective leaders, what does good look like
Lessons to be learned from great leaders in business, politics and sport
Guidelines to good leadership and main courses of failure
Assessing your personal leadership skills and style
People and task, getting the balance right
What the Practice needs from its Practice Manager/team leader
Review expectations, roles and responsibilities
Ownership, responsibility, making things happen
Action planning and preparation for module 2

Module 2            Performance management

Review module 1, learning into action
Managing team performance, measuring success
Driving Practice performance, setting and meeting targets and objectives
Setting objectives and monitoring performance
Introducing performance appraisal systems- best practice
Developing appraisal and feedback skills
Coaching and developing
Action planning, preparation for module 3

Module 3            Managing within the law

Review module 2, learning into action
Managing underperformance- conduct and capability
Managing resources
Clarifying expectations and setting standards
Coaching and counselling
Disciplinary and grievance procedures, terminations
New statutory guidelines and ACAS
The legal framework
Assessing risks
Auditing your HR policies, procedures and practices
Action planning, preparation for module 4

Module 4     Managing absence and stress

Review module 4, learning into action
Short term absence
Long term absence
Stress awareness and management
Minimum standards and procedures for effective management and control
Documentation
Action planning, preparation for module 5

Module 5     Recruitment and selection

Best practice process
Competency based interviewing – design and practice
Discrimination- the risks
Record keeping
Clarity of match to job description and person specification
Validity and reliability of selection methods/assessment tools
Cost effective selection routes
Action planning, preparation for module 6

Module 6      Team building

Creating your effective working team
Team working, team building
Tuckman model- forming to storming
Morale and motivation
Understanding motivation
Motivation theories
Practical application
Practical, effective communication
Decision making, problem solving, managing time and resources
Action planning

Module 7            Health & Safety

Health and safety risk assessment
Internal ownership and compliance
Best practice
Legal requirements
Documentation and reporting
The role of the practice manager and key responsibilities to meet the legislation

Additional Development Activities for individual practices

Team Building
Lead dentist and GP- business owner strategic planning
Coaching for the top team
Facilitation to support the management team in identifying, clarifying, documenting and implementing focused business plans and key objectives
Financial planning.

So you don’t have the need for a costly, full time HR specialist on site? We can help. If you have no HR specialist in the division, or are worried about your processes and policies, and whether you meet all legislative requirements, fear not.  Routledge Blakey Associates, can provide your total HR support, services and consulting.

Our services include:

Risk assessment and surveys.

24/7 telephone advice line.

Ad hoc advice and support for all one-off people issues.

Designing staff handbooks, contracts and policies.

Mentoring and developing an internal HR practitioner

Provision of employment law updates/newsletters.

Cost-effective one- or three-year retainers available.

3 year retained HR services.

Set up maintenance of HR requirements & files.

Assessment Centres and bespoke activities can be tailored to also support your recruitment and selection of new employees, or to support staff development, career or succession planning and talent management. We support clients by delivering the approach most suited to their needs, including:-human resources,human resource,outsourcing

Role analysis.

Motivational assessment.

Assessment and development centres.

Occupation and personality testing.

Analysis, feedback and creation of development plans.

360 degree performance appraisals.

Psychometric assessment.

Behavioural assessment.

Personality profiling.

Case studies.

The Health & Safety service is delivered by our own Risk Management professionals, all of whom have minimum NEBOSH qualification and experience in applying Health & Safety in the “real world”.

By subscribing to the Health & Safety Audit your business will benefit from:-

• Full Health & Safety audit of your premises and work activities
• Preparation of a bespoke Health & Safety Manual
• A consultant visit to “install” the system
• Access to 24-hour telephone advice service
• Regular updates to keep your business abreast of relevant legislation changes
• Scheduled visits to advise and monitor
• Liaison with enforcing authorities, customers, suppliers, insurers….etc (acting as your “competent person”)
• Provision of monthly newsletter to keep you informed of changes to Health & Safety Law

Health and Safety Training

Designing and delivering health and safety training courses tailor made to your needs covering a whole range of topics including how to carry out an internal risk assessment, health and safety awareness for managers and legislation updates.

Whether you are a small- to medium-sized business with no internal HR resource, or a blue-chip multi-national corporation requiring assistance and expertise for a specific project or initiative, we can help.

Routledge Blakey Associates Ltd (RBA) is a Human Resources Consultancy with over 25 years commercial experience, many at Board level.

Our consultants are Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and Members of the British Psychological Society. Moreover, we have vast experience in all aspects of Human Resources Management, from recruitment through to redundancy and outsourcing, and all stops in between.

We look after your people issues, so you can get on with what you do best. We can help by providing:

• Annual retained HR support and services
• On-site advice and management of one-off people issues – however small
• Additional resources to design and deliver new initiatives
• Expertise to resolve business and performance issues

Whatever the client’s requirement, Routledge Blakey Associates can help. Our expertise includes:

• Outsourced HR retainers
• Measurement and Assessment
• Training and Development
• Executive Coaching
• Change Management
• Succession Planning & Talent Management
• Motivational Strategy and Action
• Redundancy Programmes and Career Outplacement
• Discipline and Grievance Handling
• Recruitment and Retention
• Employment Law
• Health & Safety support

CONTACT US- Discuss your needs or arrange a free no obligation visit