As we are entering Mental Health at work week, some of our clients have asked how to tackle mental health in the workplace. The need to deal with mental health in the workplace is becoming increasingly prominent. According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in seven people are experiencing mental health problems in the workplace and 13 per cent of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental ill-health. Therefore, we created this guidance blog to help employers understand and learn how to manage mental health in the workplace. Encourage conversations Starting a conversation with an employee about mental health doesn’t have to be difficult. Encouraging an open culture where employees feel like they can talk to each other and/or managers will help alleviate stress in the workplace. Dealing with sick notes It is important for you to deal with a medical certificate stating mental ill-health appropriately. If you contact the employee to find out if work is a contributing factor in triggering their illness and if there are any steps that can be taken to alleviate or eliminate the cause as soon as possible. Appropriate contact should be maintained with an employee on sick […]
Mediation in the workplace is a completely voluntary and confidential form of alternative dispute resolution. It involves an independent, impartial person helping two or more individuals or groups reach a solution that’s acceptable to everyone. The mediator can talk to both sides separately or together. Mediators do not make judgments or determine outcomes – they ask questions that help to uncover underlying problems, assist the parties to understand the issues and help them to clarify the options for resolving their difference or dispute. The overriding aim of workplace mediation is to restore and maintain the employment relationship wherever possible. This means the focus is on working together to go forward, not determining who was right or wrong in the past. Many kinds of dispute can be mediated if those involved want to find a way forward. It can be used at any stage in a dispute but is most effective before positions become entrenched. You might want to think about writing a mediation stage into your individual grievance procedure. In facilitative mediation – the style that dominates workplace mediation – the mediator is said to be neutral with respect to both the parties and any solutions found. Mediators manage a structured […]
How to be a better manager is not as trendy a question as it once was. How to be a better leader is a much more trendy question. Why is that do you think? Surely an organisation can only have so many leaders before they start falling over one another and confusing the direction? Effective managers are a key bedrock on which any organisation relies. So how do you become one? How to be a better manager in 5 steps Know your policies and procedures Be consistent Be brave enough to question your own management style Actively use reflective learning Earn the trust of your team Know your policies and procedures Become thoroughly familiar with your organisation’s HR policies. What are the rules on time off for Doctors appointments? How much notice of annual leave do people have to give? how frequently are you expected to meet individually with your team members. If you don’t know the rules, how can you respond quickly and with authority to your team? Be consistent Consistency builds credibility. It’s so important there was even a management theory devoted to it in the 1950’s. Consistency Theory tells us that people become uncomfortable when things are out […]
Employees sometimes have the statutory right to be accompanied to meetings, but who can support employers in meetings with employees? We can! If you are new to managing people, some of the more conflicting meetings such as disciplinary and performance management can be a little daunting. This can be especially so if you know you have to have a difficult conversation with the employee concerned. New employers often wonder what they can and can’t say in these situations. They feel like they want professional support to help them get it right, to avoid making the situation worse by saying something that they shouldn’t say. The call to us asking “Who can support employers in meetings with employees?” is quite common. It’s not a failing to ask for professional help. We certainly won’t judge you for asking for help. It’s our job to help. It’s far easier to advise somebody before the event rather than trying to dig them out of a hole after things have gone wrong! New and Experienced Employers Need Support From Time to Time However, it isn’t just new employers who ask “Who can support employers in meetings with employees?” Employers with experience in dealing with difficult situations can still feel apprehensive in certain situations, and may want help […]
Employees who take time off with stress to avoid a disciplinary at work. In effect they make the process and situation more difficult for themselves. As well as for the employer. A disciplinary investigation can be a daunting process. The employee may feel angry that the company considers their behaviour amounts to misconduct. They may believe their future employment is at risk. As the employer, you may want to deal with the problem quickly and move on. However, for employees who take time off with stress to avoid a disciplinary at work, there maybe little incentive to engage with the process. Especially if the employee is suspended on full pay until a decision is reached. This can cause an employee to time waste by asking to postpone the disciplinary. Another tactic is to make last minute call-offs or submit unfit to work notes. An employer is entitled to insist a suspended employee attends a disciplinary meeting during normal working hours. But it is good practice to reschedule a hearing at least once. Especially if the employee provides a good reason for the postponement. This does not mean you are under an obligation to postpone disciplinary proceedings indefinitely. You can proceed with a hearing […]
Employees who challenge and undermine your authority constantly are deliberately obstructing you in your job. They are rejecting your right to oversee them and have decided that you are not their boss. But you are their boss, they just don’t like it. Maybe they believe they should be in charge. Or perhaps they want you to prove yourself or they just have psychological blocks. Whatever the reason, they are trying to undermine your effectiveness. They are under the presumption that they are too clever and you will avoid confrontation. The situation of a disrespectful employee must be resolved immediately. Otherwise the behaviour will begin to interfere with the work environment. Potentially it could also begin to damage the company from within the workforce. It’s not unusual in this kind of situation to feel anger or sheer frustration with the problem. The employee may think it’s okay to walk out of work because they’re unhappy about something. Or decided to take a break when they feel like it. They could simply ignore your reasonable management instructions altogether. So, how can you deal with employees who challenge and undermine your authority? Mediation in the workplace enables disputing parties to discuss their points of view in a […]
A family member falling ill can be a stressful time for all involved. As an employer, you still need to know how to handle staff who take time off for dependents. Whether it’s sick children or caring for an elderly member of the family. Research shows that nearly three million working days are lost each year through this type of absenteeism. According to CIPD, more employers recognise line managers play a vital role in supporting employees. However, most employers aren’t giving them the tools they need to manage absence effectively. The 2016 Absence Management survey revealed that less than half of employers (44%) train managers to handle short-term absence. Employees have a right to reasonable unpaid time off to deal with a dependent who has fallen ill. However, this should be limited to the time needed to make other care arrangements. Usually this takes no more than a few hours or at most one or two days. Where an employee continues to take time off for caring duties, flexibility can help. Perhaps offer the option to make up the time missed. Give them the option to work from home at flexible times during the day. Other options is to offer […]
Employers are worried about using Mediation and Settlement Agreements. The introduction of employment tribunal (ET) fees has changed the balance of power between employers and claimants. It has had a significant impact on employees’ willingness to make claims. Employers spend an average of 19 days of management time dealing with individual ET cases. Larger organisations with more than 250 employees spend 20 days dealing with individual ET cases. While organisations with fewer employees spend around 12 days. CIPD (2015) Recent legislation has only a limited impact on employers’ approaches to managing conflict. However, there is growing support for an alternative dispute resolution. Try something different to the usual formal discipline and grievance processes. Employers are beginning to use informal methods when attempting to dismiss staff. Employers are beginning to use mediation and settlement agreements as a means of terminating employment. The majority (56%) of employers asked in a recent CIPD survey that they feel settlement agreements are a useful mechanism for removing an underperforming employee without the need to go through an unnecessary and time-consuming performance management process. Employers are making increased use of mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, to resolve workplace issues, but many HR managers […]
Are there winners and losers in the Grievance process? Or is everybody a loser? ‘Just put a grievance in’, is a very common response by employees who are having difficulties with a situation at work. Especially, if it’s to do with a difficult working relationship. ‘Just put a grievance in’, shows a complete lack of understanding for what putting a grievance in, actually involves. By the time an employee gets to the point where they feel they have no option other than to ‘just put a grievance in’, it’s likely that they have had months of negative emotion about a situation. The situation will have likely kept them awake at night. Or been their sole topic of conversation at home and at work for some time. It will be distracting them from working as productively as the organisation would wish them to. And may even have resulted in them taking time off sick to avoid the situation. Resolving this situation is highly unlikely to have winners and losers in the Grievance Process. The employee’s grievance will most likely involve at least one other employee. The person that they are aggrieved against. That person may be oblivious to the situation and […]
As an employer, you’ll encounter your share of difficult employees. When you’re recruiting, you’ll do your best to choose candidates with great attitudes and solid experience, you might even take up references to establish if what they say about their abilities to perform at work stacks up with previous employment. Unfortunately, even the best candidates can have little idiosyncrasies that make them difficult to work with in day-to-day operations. These “quirks” are not necessarily worth dismissing somebody over especially if they get their work done on time and their standard of work is acceptable; but someone who flat out refuses to work in a particular way or work with particular people or undertake particular tasks because they are against “their principles” can become a huge headache. We’re not saying that all employees have to kowtow to you without question, indeed challenge is healthy, it makes you questions why you are working in a particular way but employees who become unmanageable are something else again. This kind of employee can make it difficult for you to keep your team productive while retaining your image as leader. If you find managing difficult employees, try one of these three strategies: Set written expectations. Be clear from […]
