Unconscious bias in the workplace occurs when people favour others who look like them and/or share their values and/or beliefs. For instance, a person may be drawn to someone with a similar educational background, from the same area, or who is the same colour or ethnicity as them. Unconscious bias in the workplace can influence decisions in recruitment, promotion and performance management. It could be discriminatory when the unconscious bias relates to one of the nine protected characteristics. Affinity Bias Affinity bias, is when someone feels an affinity with another person as they have similar life experiences. For example, where an employer meets an employee or potential employee and is reminded of themselves when they were younger because of the employees’ personal circumstance or personality type. For Instance, a manager who worked hard to achieve his position despite never doing very well at school may treat an employee who left school without qualifications more favourable than the other staff. This could be because, subconsciously, they are reminded of their younger self. The same can be true of a manager who is educated to degree level, favouring employees who have also been to university. The Halo Affect Another form of unconscious […]
As an employer you may have looked at monitoring staff at work for various reasons. The Data Protection Act doesn’t prevent employers from monitoring workers, but you must remember that workers are entitled to some privacy at work. You must tell your employees about any monitoring arrangements and the reason for it. Why Monitor? It is advisable to have written policies and procedures in place regarding monitoring at work. Monitoring shouldn’t be excessive and should be justified. Staff should be told what information will be recorded and how long it will be kept. However, if you want to monitor workers by collecting or using information, the Data Protection Act will apply. Therefore, Any information collected through monitoring should be kept secure. Monitoring staff at work may be needed for a variety of reasons. It can be used to safeguard employees, for example to ensure workers aren’t at risk from unsafe working practices. In some sectors you may have a legal or regulatory need to carry out some monitoring. The information gathered through monitoring should only be used for the purpose it was carried out for. Unless it leads to the discovery of other things such as a breach of health […]
Managing female employees in male dominated workplaces, on the face of it, should be no different than managing female employees in any work environment. Recent research published by Harvard Business School shows us that this isn’t the case. The research concluded that women engineers have a visibility problem. Like women in other ultra-masculine sectors, they are often excessively visible as women, but overlooked when it comes to their technical expertise. This paradox gets in the way of forming relationships at work and hurts their advancement. The interviewees agreed that the female body stands out in their workplaces in a sexualised way. One interviewee said that no matter what the work was that she was doing, some colleagues seemed to see her primarily as a potential date. Another said that rather than the quality of her work being the focus of attention, the way in which she looked in her overalls was a more common topic of conversation. The interviewees spoke at length about how their competence was obscured by their gender. They said that they felt sexually objectified, and they had to work harder than men to prove their technical competence. If employers want to become more supportive about managing […]
We’re asked regularly, how do you get good managers? There are many ways to get good managers and get the best from them. Communicating Communicating clear expectations means that both managers and employees understand the role of organisational leaders. Certainly, the best leaders find a way to thrive within an organisation. But, they also need effective organisational support to fulfil their true potential. Given the right tools and a proper support network, there’s no reason why your managers can’t become the influential people you need to lead your business to success. Strategising Great leaders are brave enough to make sweeping changes and need a range of skills. But, one of the most important traits in any leader is knowing when something is or isn’t working. Some managers can get caught in a loop of reactive activities, like solving functional problems or achieving short-term objectives. Great leaders need to be strategic in nature. They need to meet operational goals whilst planning for future success. Analysing Good managers can see how their decisions will affect the organisation. They know that their decisions can be interpreted by everyone from employees, to competitors, and to the media. So, this involves different levels of analysis […]
Most work places are beginning to think about the office Christmas party that’s coming up rather than thinking of recruiting this side of Christmas. However, December is actually a prime time for snapping up talented staff. Despite the general perception that January is when everyone starts looking for new jobs, December is far more ideal. Planning Ahead If you’re planning to recruit more staff, it would be logical to think that January is the time to start looking. It’s true that many people will return to work after a Christmas break and make a New Year’s resolution to find a new challenge. There will always be plenty of candidates available in January. Equally, there’s likely to be plenty of jobs on offer too. Companies also see the New Year as a fresh start and the right time to recruit too. Therefore, competition will be high in the New Year. If you get ahead of the opposition, you have the advantage of offering an individual a job instead of having to negotiate. Especially if they have been offered alternative employment elsewhere. You may end up having to offer a higher salary than you’d planned in order to secure the person you […]
So, what five mistakes do employers commonly make when handling redundancies? As well-known retailers and restaurants close down and disappear from our high streets with Homebase, House of Fraser, Toys R Us, Homebase and Prezzo among the latest companies to suffer. More and more businesses face closures or reductions in staff numbers to cope with financial losses. One mistake is to start collective redundancy consultation too late. Sometimes this is because those at the top retain hope that business will improve or do not want staff to see the company is in trouble. Collective Consultation Employers’ collective redundancy consultation obligations are triggered once they are proposing to make 20 or more redundancies at one establishment, within a period of 90 days or less. Consultation must begin in good time. You must start consultation 45 days before the first dismissals if 100 or more employees are affected at the same establishment. If 20-99 employees are likely to be made redundant, start consultation 30 days before the first dismissal. The collective consultation should be completed before you provide employees with notices of termination of employment. Meaningful Consultation The second is not conducting a meaningful redundancy consultation. Some employers see the process of […]
Giving paid holidays to employees off work sick We get asked a lot at Metis HR about employers giving paid holidays to employees who are off work sick. The European Court of Justice ruled that workers were entitled to accrue statutory minimum holiday entitlement while on sick leave. Then carry that leave over into another year. However, they could only do that if they were too ill to take it and prefered not to take it during their sick leave. If an Employee chooses to take their holiday leave entitlement while on sick leave, they will be paid normal holiday pay rather than company or statutory sick pay. This can sometimes be less or none depending on how long they have been off sick. If an employee qualifies for SSP, they would continue to receive this during any annual leave pay period. However, you cannot insist an employee to do this. Carrying Over Unpaid Leave The issue of carrying over unused leave that was accrued because of sickness absence into the next leave year was in doubt. The Working Time Directive conflicted with the 2009 decision by the European Court of Justice. In UK law workers are required to use their holiday entitlement within the […]
Toxic Workers Every organisation has at least one Toxic Worker, those people who exude negativity. They don’t like their jobs or they don’t like the company. They dislike their bosses and they feel they are always being treated unfairly. You can’t control how people act all of the time, but you do have control over how you react with them. Calling them to a meeting for an informal chat to discuss their behaviour may be your first port of call in nipping their toxicity in the bud. Be clear about which workplace rules they are breaking and how it affects the workplace as a whole. However, if the toxic worker is more than just irritating and annoying – they may be abusive, behave inappropriately and unprofessionally. If you think they are bringing the company into disrepute or another employee complains, this is the time to take more formal action. Some toxic workers operate under the radar of their employers. They may come across positive and outgoing openly with their managers, whilst talking negatively to belittle, criticize and slander those workers they feel they can control and manipulate. They could possibly persuade other co-workers to do their dirty work for them, whilst outwardly they maintain their angelic façade! What to do? Don’t allow the […]
It’s a goal that many organisations have, how to make new employees more productive more quickly. You’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy on recruiting them in the first place. It’s not unreasonable that you now want a quick return on your investment is it? In theory, no, but in practice, probably, yes. There are a number of answers to how to make new employees more productive more quickly. The simple and most straightforward is to design a really thorough induction programme. Just because the new recruit has the skills you were looking for, doesn’t mean they will telepathically know what you want from them as an employee. They need to know “how things work round here”. You have to ensure that they get that information early on, and are monitored to assure them (and you) that they are picking it up correctly. The new recruit, hopefully, will be enthusiastic, keen to learn and keen to make an impression. Your induction programme needs to capitalise on this. How enthusiastic would you be if you spent your first week just following people around, listening to what goes on, reading brochures and watching company videos? Not as enthusiastic at the end […]
