Employee rewards and recognitions come in many forms and are employed to various degrees of success.
We are asked by clients; How can I go about changing workplace culture? In a series of blogs, we shall look at how we can effectively change workplace culture and improve employee engagement to produce a highly-productive and happy workforce. To do this your organisation must first place core values at its foundation. Here’s what we consider essential when considering your organisation’s core values. Values Need to be Actionable Integrity, quality, excellence may sound familiar, but they are too vague and don’t necessarily drive behaviour. Your company values should be the backbone of everyday decision-making. Think of company values as a GPS map. Every time an employee comes to a fork in the road, they should be able to call on a core value to help guide their decision and move them in the right direction. Actionable core values always present a trade-off between two good things like speed or perfection. Some examples of actionable values are: Being accountable/taking responsibility for actions. Making a difference. Focusing on detail. Delivering quality and keeping promises. Going the extra mile for clients and colleagues alike. Being reliable and remaining positive. 7 Plus or Minus 2! There’s a theory in psychology that most adults […]
To enable religious inclusion at work you should make it so everyone is comfortable enough to identify as following their religion without their religion impacting on their career. That isn’t the same as getting others involved in the religion or providing a platform or acceptability for people to push their own beliefs on others. True religious inclusion at work comes from a culture of acceptance of each other’s differences and intolerance of prejudice or discrimination. Six Ways To Enable Religious Inclusion At Work Avoid indirect discrimination Have a respectful culture Have zero tolerance of discrimination, prejudice, and hate speech Have adequate policies and practices Avoid faith-based bias Separate religion from identity 1) Avoid Indirect Discrimination Indirect discrimination is where company policies or practices inadvertently exclude a group of people. It might be something seemingly innocuous like only holding team meetings in a pub (excluding religions that ban alcohol), or buying everyone bacon sandwiches on a Friday morning (excluding those who don’t eat pork or meat). Or it might be more serious. For example, turban-wearing Sikh’s are exempt from wearing protective headwear in the workplace (with some exceptions). Indirect discrimination would be having a policy that fines or disciplines people who […]
We’ve already had two calls this week asking us “Can I make my employees have a COVID vaccine?” The short answer to this is “No”. It’s also unlikely to be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee because they don’t want to be vaccinated. It would be highly unusual for any employer to force an employee to undergo a medical procedure (which is what being vaccinated amounts to). Consider also, that some employees may be unable to have the vaccine. Employers do have a duty of care to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and anyone visiting or affected by their business. If your risk assessment establishes that being vaccinated reduces the risk of contracting the virus, it’s reasonable to ask employees to get vaccinated. But, you can’t make employees have a COVID vaccine. Do your employees need to tell you that they’ve had a vaccination? No, they don’t. Health data is sensitive personal information. If you record that employees have been vaccinated, make sure that you collect the minimum information. Maybe restricting this to simply, have they had the vaccine, yes or no. Considering adding COVID vaccination as a contractual clause? Take care. Enforcing this change, […]
2021 is going to bring some challenges to the HR profession that are genuinely unprecedented. Brexit and Covid are wreaking change after change on UK businesses and it is our job to be prepared where we can be and agile if we can’t be prepared. Your HR policies need refreshing for 2021 to allow for that and protect the business and the rights of the staff. In this blog, we will look at three key policies that are likely to need refreshing. We are assuming that you already have these policies in place since the first lockdown. If not, it is advisable to add them to your staff handbook and inform your staff of them as soon as possible.
Our free HR calendar 2021 is here! Get 2021 off to a cracking start with perfect planning. We have included helpful suggestions of when to include policy reviews in line with days that highlight workplace issues or initiatives. All the major religious holidays are on the HR calendar so your workplace can be inclusive and mindful of everybody.
It would be fair to say that 2020 has been a challenging year, but we are not out of the woods yet. 2021 is likely to be almost as much of a challenge. Covid, Brexit, a potential recession, and the decimation of some industries will mean 2021 has some pretty unique HR challenges. Being forewarned is being forearmed, as they say, so we have compiled a list of the challenges we can look forward to meeting next year.
Love it or loathe it, office Christmas party time is here. Despite face to face Christmas parties being a washout in 2020, they will be back with a bang when it is safe to do so. This year, many businesses are having their office Christmas party online. Whilst this does remove some of the more personal HR problems office Christmas parties bring, it doesn’t eradicate them all. But don’t worry-the Metis HR guide to avoiding an HR headache after the office Christmas party will help you navigate this problematic tradition. What Are The Potential Problems At An Office Christmas Party? Throw together a group of people who don’t normally see each other socially, add some alcohol and the letting down of hair and you have seemingly endless opportunities for offence to be caused and bad behaviour. Sometimes the bad behaviour is fairly innocuous and sometimes it is very serious. Some serious office Christmas party problems are: Sexual harassment Violence and aggression Damage to property or theft Verbal abuse or hate speech Bringing the company into disrepute It doesn’t always have to be alcohol-related, either. There are some very cringe-worthy horror stories here that no doubt resulted in a big metaphorical […]
Managing disability in the workplace can be a sensitive subject and sometimes makes employers and employees feel awkward, nervous of offending, or embarrassed. It doesn’t need to, though. Sensitively managing disability in the workplace is achievable with good HR management, proper planning, and timely actions. Let’s have a look at some key areas for approaching disabilities in the workplace with sensitivity.
Are you setting up a business and looking for an HR essentials checklist? Well you have found it! This checklist details all the essential things your business needs to keep your HR function running smoothly whilst complying with employment law. It really is an essentials checklist though-there are some things that could be added to future proof your business, such as staffing plans, performance review templates, and exit interview pro formas. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because there are a handful of staff now you don’t need all these HR essentials. You do! It is a legal requirement to have policies such as those dealing with Disciplinary and Grievance and a contract of employment. Getting the basics ready now will save you time and effort when you do expand. Do You Need Help With Your HR Essentials? Here at Metis HR, we provide outsourced HR advice and activities. Not only do we save you time and money by preparing documents for you, but we also make sure they are legal, sufficient, and tailored. Of course, you can find a generic contract of employment, staff handbook, and policies on the internet but if they don’t reflect and detail how […]
