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Company Culture in Lockdown - Top Tips

8/2/2021

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As everyone grows weary of Covid-19’s bite, your company culture might also be feeling some long-term stain. The last year hasn’t exactly been the height of sociality and undoubtedly the social aspect of your workplace has felt the full effect of this - a lack of staff lunch time get-togethers, seasonal parties or charity coffee mornings.

Let’s delve into our top tips for keeping the momentum of company culture as your staff continue to work remotely, from virtual get togethers to workplace communications.

Culture - Is It Really That Important?

Businesses have faced many challenges over the course of the pandemic, from navigating sudden closures and changes due to social distancing restrictions, the subsequent financial pressures of wage subsidy schemes, redundancies and lay-offs, as well as the personal and mental impact of business owners. They could be forgiven for letting company culture slipped to the wayside.

But one year on, it’s time businesses accept these challenges and their impacts, and start knuckling down to get their organisations back on track.

As the Winter Lockdown continues, your employees may be struggling with the lack of social interaction as they continue to work remotely and live away from friends and family.

Their motivation and engagement will undoubtedly affect your business’ performance, interaction with customers and clients and in the long-term, your reputation. Maintaining and extending your company culture virtually is crucial to ensuring your colleagues feel connected to their teams and your business.

Company Culture Remotely: Top Tips

1.      Team Calls… But Not Too Many

Video meetings and calls are crucial to maintaining basic communications between your colleagues and teams. While work chat platforms like Teams, Slack and Trello can be great for instant communication that we’ve had to transfer from conversations shared in office kitchens and cubicles, it can be difficult to get tone and meaning across in a message.

Organising daily or weekly check-in meetings with teams keeps everyone dialled into company activities and ensures management remains approachable to staff members. But remember - don’t organise too many team calls. Just like the dreaded ‘meeting could have been put in an email’ situation, sometimes a video call really isn’t needed. Don’t leave colleagues tied to their laptops back to back - try and find the right balance for your team calls.
2.  Reward Culture

Everyone loves being rewarded for hard work - recognition and appreciation is key to motivating colleagues and keeping them engaged.

While your colleagues may not be in the office, this doesn’t mean you can’t reward them. Whether it’s as simple as a gift card through to work from home care packages, continue to promote a reward culture from home and your appreciation for your colleagues will be clear.

3.  Back To Basics

Company culture starts at the basics - lunch time breaks, set work hours (where possible), full holiday leave.

Whilst remote working has brought a culture of flexible working to the mainstream, this has at times been to the detriment of traditional, basic working practices. As video calls are booked to the extreme, and workers juggle caring arrangements alongside their jobs, working hours can fluctuate with breaks falling through the seams. As people hold off booking annual leave in the hope of some form of vacation after restrictions ease, your staff can easily fall into a trap of becoming burnout quickly.​

Get your company culture working right remotely by going back to basics - your business’ performance will thank you later!
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Winter wellbeing For Your Workers During Lockdown

2/2/2021

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January & February can often been stressful months when it comes to the workplace commute - snow, wind & rain - nobody likes getting caught in it while travelling to work. But in 2021, as we tackle yet more lockdowns, winter for your workplace may bring different challenges as your colleagues work from home.

Whether a windy day leads to a cut in power and Wi-Fi, or snow means children are forced to stay at home instead of being in the classroom, these situations can bring challenges for your workers as they continue to work remotely for your business. Let’s explore the attitude you should take to tackling extreme weather and the impact it can have on your workplace productivity and staff.

Why You Should Put Staff First During Winter

As Lockdown continues your staff are undoubtedly stressed, from dealing with homeschooling in some cases to tackling troublesome Wi-Fi issues. But as Winter continues, these issues could be magnified for your staff.

Whether it’s rain, wind, hail or snow, extreme weather will affect your workers more so during Lockdown, as they rely heavily on their home amenities.

So, why should you put your staff first during Winter? After all, your business will undoubtedly be under financial and productivity pressures during this current Lockdown.

But your business relies on the productivity and performance of your staff. If extreme weather causes these crucial elements to be reduced, then your business will falter. Taking the time to consider your staff and their challenges during Winter and putting them first will help boost your business and maintain your growth in 2021.

Taking The Right Attitude This Winter

So, how can you take the right attitude with your staff this Winter? Here’s our top tips:

1.      Be Patient

Remember to have patience with staff. It’s understandable that your business faces a host of challenges - keeping contracts and customers, maintaining performance and growth goals despite recurring lockdowns and Covid-19 pressures.

But your staff face their own challenges this Winter. From sharing household Wi-Fi and equipment with children to ensuring extreme weather doesn’t affect electricity supplies.

If your staff face a challenge that could affect their attendance or productivity whilst working from home, remember to be patient and show some understanding and empathy with staff. Your workers will feel valued and appreciated by their employer, boosting loyalty and job satisfaction in the long-term.

2. Offer Help

Whilst listening and demonstrating patience is a positive attitude, offering help to staff when they face a challenge will go that extra mile. Whether it’s offering a mobile data supply when a staff member faces a Wi-Fi shortage, or a social distanced workspace in an emergency, offering help to staff members will demonstrate your appreciation of your workers.

Offer help and this will benefit your business by maintaining productivity and performance, regardless of the challenges of a Winter in Lockdown.

3. Learn

While it isn’t your organisation’s responsibility to control extreme weather during Winter, it is important to learn lessons on how to treat staff during a winter crisis.

Whether during a lockdown or not, consider the attitude you have taken with staff in the past and take time to think about how to improve this. By considering learning from mistakes or attitudes from the past, you’ll ensure that your business’ productivity and performance will not be impacted by winter challenges whilst your staff will receive the correct attitude and help to deal with any future challenges due to extreme weather.
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Key HR Trends for 2021: Employee Morale, Perfecting Remote Working & Online Onboarding

12/1/2021

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Key HR Trends for 2021

It’s safe to say everyone is glad to see the back of 2020 - but what does 2021 have in store for your HR team?

As we see the latest set of restrictions come into place in the fight against Covid-19, your HR team will find itself faced with similar challenges to 2020, alongside constant change in expectations from staff, recruits and management.

Let’s delve into some of the key trends in the HR industry for 2021, from recruitment and bonus schemes, to workplace benefits and wellbeing initiatives.

2021 vs. 2020: Any Change?

So, what will change this year? As we approach a full year of varying restrictions and challenges to Irish businesses due to the ongoing pandemic, it’s hard to see how 2021 could be different to 2020.

Restrictions to business travel, remote working, technology to work from home, juggling care responsibilities whilst working - these are all challenges that your staff will continue to face this year, vaccine or no vaccine. And your HR team will have to continually foresee these challenges throughout their operations.

However, 2021 might see your business begin to stem the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit, bringing with it new opportunities for your HR team to help boost your business through recruitment, bonus schemes and other staff initiatives to boost performance, morale and job quality.

Whatever 2021 has to offer for your business, here’s some key trends for your HR team to look out for:

1.      Time to Perfect Remote Working

It’s safe to say that the first 6 months of Covid-19 were a trial run for remote working for many businesses. Whilst some workplaces may have already had in place working from home procedures, others were forced to introduce this into their workplace practices.

In 2021, this will still be a key feature - and it’s time to use your HR team to perfect remote working. Perhaps you haven’t managed to put in place a robust procedure on how to conduct remote working, whether it be using Teams or Zoom, communicating via Email, WhatsApp or Slack, or a weekly meeting schedule. Or members of your team have struggled to get to grips with these technologies to ensure their remote working practices are just as efficient as being in the office.

Now is the time to perfect remote working - use your HR team to identify what you are doing well or not so well when it comes to working from home, and ensure you iron these issues out to make 2021 successful for your business, regardless of where your colleagues are working from.

2. Online Onboarding Here to Stay

Like it or loathe it, video interviews, assessments and training seems likely to stay as a key trend in 2021. Whilst most businesses adopting some form of a hybrid in 2020 to ensure staff could meet potential colleagues at least once in the flesh (albeit with PPE regalia in tow), companies found themselves using online recruitment and onboarding methods more than ever before.

As Ireland continues to fight the pandemic, alongside time constraints from remote working practices and the ongoing Brexit transition, your colleagues may continue to request that online recruitment continues for the foreseeable.

As we head into 2021, it’s important that you adopt this key trend as a lasting one; check that your HR colleagues have the correct tools to ensure successful online recruitment and onboarding in 2021. Listen to their concerns and address them to ensure your talent drive isn’t impacted by ongoing challenges this year. 
3. Morale Is Key

It’s safe to say that staff parties, coffee mornings or business breakfasts will remain a thing of the past for some time in 2021, at least until the future vaccine programme kicks into play. 
And while organising events will not be high on the agenda for your HR colleagues, at least for the first half of 2021, it’s important to use your HR team to keep morale high.

Organise that Zoom Quiz, work from home gift package or new staff incentive scheme. However you decide to reward staff, remember that their morale is key for your performance this year. Don’t forget the social aspect of your responsibility to your staff, regardless of whether they are in the office or at home in 2021. 
 
 
 
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Key Lessons of 2020: Recruitment & Retention

10/12/2020

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2020 will be forever known as a year that drastically changed our lifestyles, how we lead our lives and our working practices. In this series of three articles for December, we’re taking a look back at what 2020 threw at businesses across Ireland. First up - Recruitment & Retention.
 
How 2020 Started Vs How It’s Going…
 
At the beginning of 2020, Irish business was strong; the days of the financial crash were long behind us, unemployment was at its lowest in years and Irish living standards were continuing to rise. Then Covid-19 struck.
 
Unemployment has certainly risen during the pandemic, and whilst the true picture of the state of our unemployment rates has yet to be painted due to the continuing financial support packages available, it’s clear that the pandemic has made incremental impacts on industries and jobs across a wide range of sectors.
 
Particularly during the first wave of the virus, it seemed like everyone’s LinkedIn profile picture featured an ‘open to work’ banner whilst our news feeds were filled with posts from professionals spanning across generations of a career, all in need of some work.
 
As we come near to the end of 2020, your HR team will have been challenged with remote recruitment and onboarding through to organising lay-offs and redundancies, whilst also trying to motivate the remaining staff to retain the skills and talent that help lift your company to success.
 
Let’s explore our key lessons about recruitment & retention in 2020:
 
Lesson #1 - Remote Interviews Are Here to Stay
 
Whilst major firms have used remote, virtual interview tools for quite some time now, many Irish businesses had to move to remote interviews rather reluctantly as the pandemic drew on.
 
It’s important to note that while some second stage interview processes may take place in person as we attempt to recover from the pandemic, companies should understand the expectation that remote, virtual interviews, at least at initial stage, may be here to stay.
 
For your HR team, this may be the breathing space they need as your business moves into 2021 and may want to begin hiring again. Recruitment is a time-consuming process; remote interviews can cut out the unnecessary time wasting of booking and setting up interview rooms, and give your HR team back some time to spend honing their interview practices.
 
Lesson #2 - Invest In Online Onboarding Tools
 
While 2020 for many businesses meant to beginning of a swathe of unfortunate redundancies and lay-offs, for others the boost to online shopping & e-commerce trends meant a boost to their teams as they began scrambling for new team members remotely.
 
While most employees will seek a hybrid model of workplace hours, both in the office and at home, your business should consider serious investment in online onboarding tools.
 
Not only will this help protect your hiring processes if the Covid-19 crisis continues throughout 2021, but it will also help to streamline your training & development of new staff members. Whether you are a small business or a larger organisation, online onboarding can help provide consistency to new colleagues and ensure they are ready to drive your company to further success through enhanced skillsets from the outset of their career with your company.
 
Lesson #3 - Always Put Your Staff First To Boost Retention
 
As the country went into Lockdown in March, we saw the best & the worst of what can happen when a business is in crisis mode. Often financials come first, throwing care for employees to the wayside.
 
Regardless of the impact 2020 has made to your business, there is no excuse for this to happen again. If you want to retain staff in 2021 and beyond, putting them first is key.
 
Plan for similar worst case scenarios - whether this means having a clear and robust lay-off/redundancy package in place, strong supply chain partners that can provide the right work equipment if forced to move employees to full remote working again or a workplace wellbeing initiative that can help employees in the office or at home. Whatever your planning consists of, make sure it puts staff first to help retain your key skillsets for years to come.

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Boosting Employee Productivity At Home

13/11/2020

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As a second Coronavirus wave hits parts of Europe, including Ireland, many workers are being sent back home to work within Lockdown 2.0. Despite operations continuing throughout the original lockdown, many employers may fear a drop in productivity as employees feel de-motivated due to the professional or personal circumstances and working within their home setting where they may be distracted by childcare, caring or other personal duties. But this isn’t always the case – in fact, at the height of the first lockdown, 44% of Irish professionals were found to be putting in longer hours while working from home.
 
Let us explore how the employer can boost productivity through HR initiatives like virtual workshops, meetings and training, as well as pitfalls employers can fall into when working with their staff remotely.
 
The Danger of WFH Demotivation
 
From the financial burdens to operational restrictions, business owners have faced a torrential storm has they face down Coronavirus and its impact on their business. But Ireland’s businesses are in danger of forgetting about a potential HR danger that they face – demotivation.
 
Yes, the first lockdown was a novelty, especially for those workers who had never worked from home before. Whether it was swapping out the usual mundane 11am tea break for a half hour Pilates class or avoiding the stressful daily commute, working from home was something different for many of Ireland’s workers for the first few weeks.
 
However, as reality began to set in, more and more of your workers craved returning to work. Fast forward the Summer and we are back into lockdown and back to the issues we had before. The novelty has well and truly worn off and your staff are being to suffer from a lack of motivation. As dark nights creep in and the colder weather begins to bite, your staff may not be feeling as positive as the first time around.
 
But what is so dangerous about this? If your staff are feeling demotivated, this can lead to further mental or physical wellbeing issues down the road. No matter what this issue may be, this could have an impact on business performance and operations as staff struggle to motivate themselves for yet another working day spent in the loneliness of lockdown. But what can you do about it?
 
Zoom Calls… But Not Too Many!
 
A staple of the first lockdown, zoom or Microsoft teams calls are now a stalwart in business communication. It is important to remember to seek balance – your workers may be feeling lonely and zoom calls can help ease this, providing a social aspect to work. However, there is such a thing as too many zoom calls to the point that your staff may feel that you lack trust in their ability to work with discipline at home. Another pitfall of too many zoom calls is that they can actually affect productivity – with so many calls, your staff may find it harder to focus on their work, especially if calls run on. Not only may their work be delayed but they may also struggle to finish their working day on time, leading to stress and pressures at home, especially if they are working parents or have other care commitments.
 
Strike a balance and zoom calls can really help your staff to stay as connected as possible during this second lockdown.
 
Virtual Workshops
 
Round your HR team up and get a workshop programme up and running for the duration of this second lockdown. Whether this is an office book club, HIIT or weight class or virtual industry conference, having in place a number of workshops can help break up your staff’s working week with useful things that will be of interest to them.
 
By offering a variety of workshops, your business can demonstrate your care for your staff’s development and wellbeing despite Covid-19 and provide them an opportunity to invest in themselves. There is no better way to boost productivity than showcasing how much your value your employees!
 
Official Training Courses
 
Whilst this may not suit all employees due to other commitments at home, if you can financially afford it, investing in official training courses that your staff can complete virtually is a great investment for your business and for their professional development.
 
Since the first lockdown, many industry bodies and colleges have begun to offer more courses online. Utilise your HR team to ask your colleagues what training courses they would like to complete or what could benefit them in their job roles and get a training programme in place.
 
Not only will training demonstrate your willingness to invest in your workforce, but by learning new skills and providing online interaction, your staff can stay motivated despite a winter Lockdown.


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Holiday Leave Post-Covid: Top Tips

17/8/2020

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As the country continues the battle against Coronavirus, working hard to return society to some form of normal, the important issue of holiday leave has begun to dominate in the list of challenges that your HR department will be tackling.

But where do you, as the employer, legally stand post-Coronavirus? What are your employees entitled to in terms of carrying over leave from 2020 into 2021? And what is the best approach to managing holiday leave as we continue to tackle this pandemic?

Whether you are struggling to encourage employees to take annual leave while working from home or finding monitoring employees’ travel during time off in line with self-isolation guidelines, let’s explore some top tips for holiday leave post-coronavirus.

Holiday Leave: Employers’ Rights Post-Covid

Workplaces, large and small, all have their own holiday policies. However, as Covid-19 hit the Irish workplace, your HR team has undoubtedly been inundated regarding holiday leave queries. So, what are you entitled to from your employees in terms of their annual leave?

Simply put, it all depends on how your employees have been working over the past few months. Perhaps they have worked from home throughout the pandemic but have used little leave. Maybe you haven’t had the capacity to afford them the time off if you have been working with a skeleton staff. Or perhaps they have been receiving their pay through the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS).

As an employer, it is your role to ensure your colleagues are clear on what their holiday entitlement is. Perhaps as we begin to enter back into offices and structured workplaces, it would be productive to get your HR team to review what holidays each employee has left remaining, remind them of this figure, and encourage them to take breaks.

Understandably, some of your employees may be reluctant to use holiday leave as they may feel they cannot use it to head away overseas. For those employees, it is important to remind them of their rights but also to ensure they are aware of their limitations on carrying over leave, depending on your organisation.​

The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 provides that the timing of an employee’s annual leave can be determined by the employer “having regard to work requirements” so this gives employers the right to ask their employees to take annual leave during the emergency period. In relying on this provision, employers are obliged to consult with their employees 30 days before the start of the annual leave. While this may be quite restrictive, it still offers the opportunity to exercise your rights as an employer.
Holiday Leave: Employees’ Rights Post-Covid
Understanding the rights of your employees during this period is also crucial to ensuring you keep staff satisfied and your business’ reputation high.
For those employees that have worked throughout the lockdown, they will be entitled to fully paid holiday leave. For those that have been unable to take leave due to the needs and capacity of your business, now is the time to afford your employees that treasured time off. Not only will it ensure that you keep on the right side of your employees, but it will ensure their rights are met, improving job satisfaction and leaving them refreshed to boost your business performance.
For those employees that you had placed on the WSS, their rights will differ. Employees can only accrue annual leave relevant to the time that they have worked. While those staff will likely have accrued full annual leave entitlement up until the month of March, it is important to make the right calculations for their leave entitlement during their placement on WSS and communicate this to them.
For those employees that you may have unfortunately had to lay-off during this period, it is important to remember that they retain the right to be paid for a public holiday during a lay-off period of up to 13 weeks from the date of lay-off.
Jet-Setting: Employees’ Rights for Overseas Travel
While many of your employees will remain cautious throughout the rest of 2020, some will be itching to throw open the suitcase and jet-off somewhere abroad. While various quarantine rules continue to remain, it is important to acknowledge these in relation to the annual leave entitlement of your employees. While you may have the capacity to grant the initial holiday request, with two more weeks of isolation needed, employees must be notified that they will not be able to receive pay for this additional time off (unless they can take their full quota of minimum holiday entitlement).
Do your staff have a duty to inform you of overseas travel? While opinions may differ, if they make a false declaration and have been overseas but are not self-isolating then this could result in disciplinary action as it would be a serious breach of health and safety legislation and could out the rest of your staff and possibly your customers at risk
 
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Employee Rewards Post-Lockdown

10/8/2020

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Let’s face it - 2020 may as well be a write-off if you were looking to jet-set away from Ireland. As we have worked from home, living much closer to family, your employees may have undergone a perspective change. Without the distraction of dining out, material consumerism, busy work commutes and constant events or activities, the pandemic has given people the chance to reevaluate their daily lives, and how they may wish to live it in the future.

In this article we’re delving into how your company’s rewards options could be dramatically changed post-coronavirus, and how your HR team can ensure that the rewards you offer remain attractive to your colleagues.

Employee’s Perspective: What’s Changed?

Before Lockdown, popular workplace rewards including extra holidays, bonuses and gym memberships. But will this change when your colleagues return to your office?

Without the ability to truly travel in 2020, your colleagues may no longer wish to have the extra holidays but instead a pay increase so they can spend it on their home and family. Perhaps they would prefer to swap the gym membership for a membership to explore Ireland’s outdoor parks and countryside, or swap holidays for another alternative.

Employer’s Perspective: What’s Changed?

So, what does this change in employees’ habits and way of life mean for you as an employer? Well, it’s safe to say that your employees will be reluctant to take any holiday leave this year. Could this spell the end of holiday reward schemes? With more people opting for staycations, this may mean shorter annual leave stints - could this effect a work schedule if you have staff overlapping on shorter holiday stints?

The closing of gyms and sporting activities meant people headed outdoors for exercise during the lockdown. And while gyms are in the process of reopening in Ireland, perhaps people will be more reluctant to head indoors for exercise, opting for a walk or a hike instead. Perhaps this could mean that any gym membership rewards that you offer may become redundant for your staff?

Rethinking Rewards Post-Lockdown

Clearly the perspective has changed for many of your employees; is it time that you rethink your reward schemes to ensure that your employees value these and use their benefits? Here’s some alternatives:

•   Great Outdoors Memberships

Your colleagues may have begun to use their outdoor surroundings more during lockdown - why not swap out the gym reward for a membership to one of Ireland’s national parks or resorts? Your staff may appreciate this reward more, improving their satisfaction while working for your organisation. 
•   Pay Rewards

With the pandemic set to continue to affect the world’s economy until a vaccine can be found and guaranteed, your employees will be reluctant to take holiday leave. Why don’t you review this, opting for extra pay rewards?

If your business is in the financial position, reviewing your employees’ salaries would boost job satisfaction. Perhaps you could begin a company share scheme as an alternative if your workers would be interested? Reviewing pay as an alternative to holiday rewards could be more attractive to your staff while the pandemic continues.

•   Holiday Alternatives

Holiday leave continues to be a contentious employment issue as many of Ireland’s workers remain reluctant to use annual leave while the economy hasn’t fully opened yet, restricting what they can and can’t do while they take off work.

Perhaps your business should begin to look at holiday alternatives; annual leave may not be the most attractive job benefit right now, but providing an early finish once or twice a month could prove valuable to your staff. Meanwhile you can demonstrate your willingness to provide alternative benefits to your employees as thanks for their continued commitment to your company.

While 2020 may not be the year for jet-setting, if a vaccine can be found, 2021 could see a boost in Irish workers wanting to take off annual leave. Why not begin a holiday lottery scheme? This could provide your staff the opportunity to be rewarded for extra holidays that they can begin to use next year, maintaining satisfaction that they will not waste any benefits that they are given whilst working for you.

Ultimate Alternative: Reward Choice

Most importantly, providing employees more choice when it comes to their rewards is the ultimate alternative. Currently this is not the case for many Irish businesses, with little flexibility for workers in choosing what benefits they would like to enjoy. Perhaps your staff would prefer extra holidays or a gym membership over a share scheme, or vice versa.
Whatever the situation, it is best to provide more flexibility and choice, where possible, with your reward schemes. This will improve company culture, making your business more attractive to potential talent, and increasing your chances of retaining your staff, boosting loyalty as a result.

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Supporting Your HR Team During A Crisis

1/7/2020

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As a business leader, many people will try to get your attention during a crisis; stakeholders want to know how the organisation is faring, staff want job security, customers may want assurances you’re not going anywhere.

In all of this, HR is key to helping you through a crisis. But it’s crucial that you provide the best support possible for your HR colleagues.

The coronavirus crisis has gripped the globe, not just Ireland, and HR professionals may be feeling the pressure as businesses make tough decisions on how to move forward beyond this crisis. As job losses continue to mount in Ireland, key HR skills have never been in more demand.

Let’s explore the importance of supporting your pressured HR team through a crisis and how best you can support those colleagues. 
The Importance of Supporting HR Through A Crisis

Whether it’s a global pandemic, a jobs crisis or repetitional issues, your HR team are often your first port of call to distinguish the flames, investigate how to help & act. Depending on the size of your organisation, you may have internal and/or external communications teams as well. Regardless, HR are a key component in the solution of a company crisis - it’s crucial that you treat this component with care.

These valuable colleagues will act as the internal face of your organisation through a crisis. From producing consistent communication to all staff regarding a crisis, to organising meetings, coordinating next steps and providing guidance & advice through any difficult decision making, a crisis often means a heap of pressure on this department of your organisation.

How Can I Best Support My HR Colleagues?

1.     Share the Burden

While your HR team have to be prepared to pull up their sleeves and dig deep to help your business through a crisis, it is important that you share this burden throughout your management team. The need for this may depend on the size of your organisation and various teams, but HR & management should work effectively together in order to help stem any crisis, particularly regarding job security & internal organisational matters.

By using your management team effectively, consistent communications between HR and your various departments will be released more quickly, helping to reassure colleagues through familiar faces. This is particularly true if you are a larger business; colleagues may not recognise HR officers but may be more likely to listen to their own line managers regarding any company crises.

Share the burden of a crisis, take the pressure off HR, and this will improve their performance for your company through this difficult time.

2. Communicate Honestly & Quickly

This is crucial - your HR team will not be able to perform if they do not know the latest information on any company crisis. From job redundancies to any damage to reputation, you must communicate honestly & as quickly as possible to your HR colleagues.

By ensuring they know the latest accurate information, they can relay this to your colleagues and ensure it is communicated to them in the right way.

If job losses need to be made, knowing this information fully will provide them with the time to prepare for this effectively. Whatever the crisis, remember to communicate with HR at all times!

3. Listen & Act on Advice

Your HR team aren’t just there to do the nitty gritty, to tell your staff about redundancies or to mitigate any issues with colleagues. You have employed them to provide their HR skills to your company - so listen up!

Their advice on how to handle any HR or people crises will be invaluable. Your HR colleagues are there to steer you through difficult decision making through their expertise, legal knowledge & their communications skills.

By listening & acting on any advice or feedback provided by your HR team, you can provide the necessary support and validation to help them to do their jobs, and to ensure they feel valued during a crisis.

If your business requires HR support, or you have a HR enquiry, get in touch.
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Tips for Delivering HR Leadership in a Crisis

23/6/2020

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As Ireland continues to fight through it’s five step lockdown exit, businesses strive to reopen despite their losses, and people seek reassurance over job security, it’s easy to see why HR professionals may feel pressured during a crisis such as Covid-19.

From contract reviews, lay-offs and redundancies, to liaising with vulnerable staff or those with dependents, HR skills are in high-demand. Already large household names in Ireland such as Mothercare, Aer Lingus & Charles Hurst have announced major job cuts. With similar trends across the globe, CHROs and HR directors are under the spot light like never before.  

In a time of so many unknowns, one thing is certain: Great HR leadership is critical in a time of crisis, both in terms of aiding staff and minimising business disruption. Check out my HR tips for leading in a crisis.

Why Is HR Crucial In A Crisis?

At the end of 2019, the world could not have predicted the impact a virus like Covid-19 could have on the globe’s economic picture; people’s livelihoods, way of life - all changed by this deadly pandemic. But why is HR a crucial cog in your business during such a crisis?

They act as the first port of call for any employee queries and are often the face of your management team. They can help put out your internal crisis communications, ensuring your colleagues hear your voice amongst any chaos that might ensue.

Your HR team help to reassure, advise & guide your workforce during a crisis, keeping them on your side & warding off any issues to the best of their ability. Ultimately, they help keep your workers content to steer the ship through any riptides that might hit your business as a result of a crisis. 
Top Tips For HR Leadership

If you work in HR, a crisis within a business can spell a long period of uncertainty for its employees. Often, you will be the first person they contact about any worries they may be experiencing; your management will ask you to help them make tough redundancy & lay-off decisions.

Fear not! With the right planning & leadership, you can perform your maximum capacity during a crisis & help deliver for your team:
 
1.     Clarity With Management

It is crucial that you are provided with clarity from your management during a crisis. Ensure that you know exactly what the situation is for the company & take time to evaluate any consequences that might affect the company’s workforce as a result.

Perhaps you have lost a big client causing a need for a departmental downsize? Maybe your organisation is undergoing a top-down restructuring, leaving you with the challenge of identifying what redundancies will need to be organised quickly? Whatever the crisis situation, ensure your exercise your professional authority & demand clarity from management about this crisis. As an HR professional, it is important to know exactly what is happening at any time, to ensure you can perform to your best capacity & make the right decisions for the good of the company.
 
2. Plan & Evaluate

Once you are clear on the crisis at hand, take time to plan as much as possible & evaluate the situation. Often in a crisis, time is not something you will have much of - but make it count.

By reviewing what the consequences will be on your remit - your organisation’s workforce - you can effectively identify your priorities. Taking as much time as possible, review any legal or personnel consequences of a crisis. It’s your job to make sure that any decisions made are both legal & for the best interests of the company & its workforce.

Whether this means prioritising contract reviews to ensure the correct colleagues are eligible for redundancy packages or it’s liaising with certain departmental management on the crisis to see what can be done, taking time to evaluate a crisis fully will provide you a clearer picture and an accurate knowledge of how you, as an HR leader, can help your organisation survive a crisis.


3. Consistent Colleague Communication

After decisions are made in response to a crisis, it is important that you maintain consistent colleague communication.

We have seen crisis communications go very bad from some of the world’s largest companies in the past. For example, on the collapse of Thomas Cook in 2019, many staff found out they had lost their jobs from news media, with very little warning or planning.

It is crucial that clear communication is maintained with any staff during a crisis - from job loss & redundancies or a loss in company in reputation - whatever the crisis, ensure staff are aware of any important updates on the status of their jobs or their organisations.

As an HR professional, communication & clarity is key to ensure that you perform your job to the highest standards, and deliver for both your business & its workforce during a crisis.
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Preparing For Recession: Top HR Tips

11/6/2020

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As we start our journey along Varadkar’s step-by-step ease of lockdown, the true economic impact of the Covid-19 is beginning to make its mark. With catastrophic job losses, a possible 25% unemployment rate, a €30 billion deficit and a severe economic downturn are forecast, you can be forgiven to worry about your business, its future and the impact on your colleagues.

As Satayana once famously quipped, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Ireland has had its fair share of financial heartache amidst the crash of 2008. And while this left chaos in its wake, it is not too late to get your business prepared for the eventual short and long-term impact that this global pandemic will ultimately have on your business.

It’s time to focus on the top HR tips that you can follow in the fight against another recession:

Get On Top Of Your Employee Contracts
Your legal responsibilities to your employees during a recession are paramount. While it does not do well to dwell on the possible negative consequences of a recession to your business, it is inevitable that many employers will have to face the challenge of laying off workers or providing redundancy packages.

In order to get this right, for the benefit of both your employees and business, it is crucial that all your employee contracts are up to date to fit within the current context.

It is safe to say that most contracts may not mention specifically anything to do with a global pandemic. However, you must spend the time ensuring that your employee contracts can fit in within this context. This will help provide clarification to your employees on their rights during this period, what they will or will not be entitled to, and how any lay-off or redundancy process may take place.

HR As PR
Depending on the size of your business, this statement ring true for your management team rather than a separate HR department. Your HR team is often the face of your company to your employees during a recession, especially when lay-offs or redundancies are inevitable.

Having great communication between the company and its employees is the best internal PR. Utilise your HR team to communicate all actions that your company may be making during a recession with your workforce.

By keeping all employees well inside the loop, they will be more likely to maintain loyalty towards your company, growing a greater understanding of any sacrifices you may have to make to ensure your business survives a recession. Instilling great communication between these parties will also reassure employees, reduce anxiety of the unknown, and provide clarity to the situation.

Identify & Ask
You’ve built a business up, often from scratch. With no doubt countless years of hard work, you are proud of what you have created and grown. In the wake of coronavirus, many Irish businesses will fear the challenge of yet another recession, anxious to see if it can survive.

During this uncertain time, it is crucial that you identify any external assistance opportunities that will aid your business as Ireland prepares to rebuild post-Lockdown. Whether this is from the government, your bank for business, or industry bodies relevant for your sector – help is there.

Take the time now to identify what you are eligible for and utilise these opportunities; the Irish Government has provided a list of priorities for your business and where you can find eligible aid. They will help you to fight a recession post-Lockdown, ensure your business can remain successful for the future and provide some job security for your workforce as we move through 2020 and beyond.

If you have a specific HR enquiry or require HR support, please get in touch.

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