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Is Your Workplace Ready for The Upcoming Summer Months?

31/5/2018

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​The days are getting longer, the sun is shining, and summer is on the horizon. While your employees are planning their holidays, make sure that you plan for summer before it hits your office. Hot temperatures and sunny days can be a massive distraction for employees. Follow these tips to make sure your employees maintain a strong work ethic despite summer conditions.

The summer season is full of employees jetting off on holiday, so it’s important that you have a strategy in place to cover your company during days off. Ensure all employees pass a handover document before they go on vacation. This will ensure that work is still being completed and everything is running smoothly. If you need to, hire freelancers so that all work is complete. Schedule posts to go out on your company social media pages during any national holidays, which keeps the interaction going even when your office is closed.

Don’t forget to encourage employees to have a holiday. When employees feel exhausted, their work will suffer, so it is imperative for them to take time to re-energise and clear their minds. They will return to work feeling refreshed and motivated again, which is always a positive for your company as employee engagement will increase.

Bring the summer feeling into the office through different work events. Organise after-work barbeques on a Friday afternoon or lunch picnics in the sun. Taking some time out to let your employees enjoy the good weather will stop them from being demotivated. They won’t mind being in the office on a good day if you give them a chance to enjoy the sun. They will appreciate your generosity which will increase their overall productivity. Offering a bonus at the end of summer if your team hits certain targets is another effective way to ensure motivation. The bonus could be a team trip away or vouchers for an airline.

The weather can get extremely hot during summer. As enjoyable as warm weather is, it can also cause heat stress which is considered a safety hazard. Put a policy in place based on a risk assessment which should include putting heat stress measurements in place and creating a plan to keep the workplace a cool temperature. Put a training session in place for all employees on what to do if they or others show heat stress symptoms and ensure there is easy access to water and air conditioning. Keeping employees hydrated is important for their health and their working ability. 

If relevant to your industry, give out protective clothing and equipment, including cotton body suits and water-cooled suits. This is particularly relevant to those companies that do manual labour. Keep track of the weather forecasts to ensure your employees are prepared and kept hydrated if a warm spell is on the horizon.
With temperatures starting to rise and workers getting into the holiday mood. Now is the time to start implementing a policy to prepare for the summer season. This will help to ensure your employees stay healthy and your company runs smoothly during the season of holidays. 

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Make Sure All Meetings Go Smoothly

24/5/2018

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​Team meetings. A chance to plan, solve and think as a workforce. But some meetings can be rushed, pointless and difficult. So, what’s the happy medium? This article delves into how to hold meetings that inspire, engage and are effective for your company.

Does it have a Purpose?
Before planning a meeting, ask yourself, why is this meeting being organised? Is there an overall purpose? Many companies throughout the world waste countless hours a year in meetings. When this time could be used for other areas of work. The meeting allows the team to catch up on the overall work structure and gives everyone an opportunity to air any questions or problems. Remind your employees of this at the start of a meeting, encouraging them to use the time wisely and be vocal. At the end of the meeting, reinforce the team goals and reflect on the objectives discussed.

Plan Everything
A meeting agenda must come with the purpose. Make a list of the things you want to be covered. This will enable you to estimate how much time should be spent on each topic whilst preventing time being wasted on unnecessary topics. If items on the agenda need extra time, arrange for a meeting to be held at a different time with relevant attendees.

If the meeting is regarding employee tasks. It’s a good idea to hold the meeting every Monday morning. Asking every employee to list out their tasks for the week and the date it must be completed by. This helps with your company organisation. Avoid postponing meetings or calling meetings last minute, as it may leave employees feeling frustrated.

Use Technology    
Times have changed since digital has swept into our lives. Traditionally meetings had to take place in packed out boardrooms, however a surge in technological advancements has streamlined these communication methods and offers more options for meetings. Face to face is becoming less commonplace as more companies use skype and smartphones to communicate. Make use of these technological advancements and digitally hold a meeting with people from overseas, saving time on travel and cost.  

Let Everyone Speak
If you notice one employee owning the meeting by speaking too much, say to them that you appreciate what they are saying, but before making an overall decision you want to hear from everyone. The rest of the team will appreciate you listening to everyone which will make them more likely to speak up.  

Follow up on Each Meeting
After each meeting send an e-mail to all employees who attended. Reinforce the responsibilities given, tasks to be achieved and deadlines. This will keep your team on track and avoids any confusion. Try sending a monthly e-mail asking employees to evaluate meetings - What they would change? What they think works. What should be done in future? - This helps you to improve your meeting structure.
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Organising a meeting is only the beginning. Use these tips to help ensure creativity, teamwork and efficiency are the result of each meeting.           

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Ensure The Office Is A Safe and Secure Environment for Employees

18/5/2018

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​As an employer, you have the responsibility to look after your employees and ensure they are safe and secure in the workplace. Along with ensuring the health and safety of your employees, it’s important to look after any visitors in your office, such as suppliers and clients. The health hazards are higher in some industries than others, but it’s important that you are aware of the regulations that apply to your own industry.
 

Create a Policy
Businesses come in all shapes and sizes, however if you employ five or more people, you must keep a record of all assessment results and a health and safety policy. As an employer you must ensure safe working practices are set up, that all materials are stored and safely used, provide first aid facilities and ensure that all potential dangers are sorted as soon as possible. Start by assessing potential dangers in your office, ensuring that all lighting and safety equipment is working.

After a thorough assessment of the office, create a policy and hold a meeting with all staff. In the meeting, talk through the policy with your staff in specific detail and make sure to answer any questions they may have. Emphasise the importance of being aware of all health and safety procedures for all employees, each workplace will have its own risks depending on the type of work. Organise training for all your employees, including first aid and what to do in the case of a fire. Don’t only rely on management and supervisors for identifying workplace risks, but communicate directly with your workers as they are the ones who experience day to day life in the workplace.  

Act Quickly with Workplace Violence
Workplace violence comes in two forms, physical or verbal. Physical includes pushing, punching, kicking or in extreme cases attacks, whereas verbal abuse is swearing, shouting and rude gestures.  
If there are certain employees who seem like they are a potential risk to other employees, act on this immediately and carry out a background check. Ensure that employees can speak to you quickly if a problem arises, make sure there are always a couple of workers in the office at one time and keep employees trained up with the health, safety and security procedures. If violence does occur, make sure the victim is not left alone after the incident occurs and provide the victim and any witnesses with counselling. Train staff in what to do following an act of violence and encourage them to support the victim and witnesses.
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Have Monthly Discussions
Aim to create an environment that has open communication within the workforce, reinforce your zero-tolerance policy for violence, allowing employees to express their opinions and feelings. This can be achieved by organising a monthly meeting to discuss the health and safety policy in your company. Hearing what employees have to say will help you notice any hazards or inappropriate behaviour that you weren’t aware of. Your staff will appreciate your efforts to maintain a safe and positive office, which will increase their overall working productivity.  

Install Security Measures
Hiring security guards or installing security cameras will give your offices an extra sense of safety. Install cameras around the office and any remote areas surrounding the workplace, especially if you have workers who often walk home alone.

Establishing a safe working environment is a win-win situation for you and your employees. You will make your team happy coming to work everyday, which keeps them motivated, but it also protects you from any serious consequences that might happen when an employer doesn’t take responsibility for the safety of their staff.

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Ways To Support An Employee With An Illness

10/5/2018

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​All employees will get sick from time to time and need some time off to get better, problems such as having the flu, migraines or back pain can all require an employee needing a day off. But what happens when you have an employee who has an ongoing health condition? They will have to take more sick leave than the average employee, which is likely to result in less productivity in their work. While you can’t find a solution to an employee’s suffering, you can find ways to support them. Here are some ways how to create a positive working environment for when they can make it in.

Establish a policy
It all starts with your company policy, once you have established a compassionate employee illness policy, you can communicate your company culture in a clear and positive way. In the document it’s a good idea to outline your expectations, this could include asking sick employees to contact their line manager at the start of each day of the absence, keeping them update and always supplying a doctor’s note when required to. For those illnesses that can be planned around, it could be a good idea to implement a working from home policy during particular days or flexitime.
 
Have a strategy so that you are prepared for situations when an employee needs to take a large amount of absence due to an illness. It should be made to suit the specific needs of your company, this could include having prepping staff for looking after the ill employee’s workload from time to time and implementing realistic deadlines.  
 
Be understanding
Allow time off for doctor appointments, this is an important day to day task that people should be given time for. When a recruit starts make it clear to them that you have no problem with them taking time out of their day to attend an appointment regarding their health. If it’s possible in your line of work, allow the employee to work from home. It may be a more comfortable environment for them and they will appreciate you letting them work from home, resulting in a higher level of productivity from them. Some conditions, such as back problems will require specialist equipment in the office, make sure to always tailor your office to your employee’s needs.
 
Listen
Employees will be more motivated if you take their suggestions on board, if they ask for flexitime or want to work from home more often, then allow this. They will appreciate being listened to which will increase their working motivation. Keeping the lines of communication open with your employees is essential, make sure to monitor ill employees to make sure they are not taking on more than they can handle and be prepared to make any additional modifications in the workplace if needed. However, there will be employees who don’t want to speak about their issues, in this case it’s important to not pressure them into saying anything and to let them know that you are available to talk to at any time.      
 
There are some illnesses that may not be so easy to spot, such as mental illness. It can be tempting to avoid this topic with an employee but it’s important to approach and talk to a worker who you feel may be experiencing this. Resolving the issue at an early stage will prevent the issue from getting worse over time. Arrange a meeting as soon as possible and approach the topic in a positive and compassionate way.
 
If a staff member has to take a period of time off due to an illness, try and keep them in the loop. It will be easy for them become isolated, so regular e-mail updates about the workplace will keep them content and make their return to work easier. Before an employee returns to work, arrange a meeting outside the office so they can express any concerns they may have. Make sure to welcome them back and check that they are well enough to return before getting stuck back into their work.
 
It’s easy to get caught up with the ill employee but don’t forget about your other staff members. When team members become aware that a work colleague is experiencing mental ill health they may find it distressing. You should be willing to support your team in the same way you do with the employee. This could be having regular catch-ups with each employee to see how they are doing and express they you are available at any time to talk about any concerns or worries they have.
 
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The Importance Of Having An Honest Workforce

3/5/2018

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Complete honesty in the workplace can be hard to achieve, as employees often avoid expressing any disappointments, frustrations or ideas in fear of judgement or scrutiny. It’s important that employees feel they can express their thoughts and opinions, as any problems can be quickly resolved and productivity will increase. If you don’t make it clear that workers can speak up, then their opinions and ideas will be discussed throughout the office and increase any underlying frustration or gossip. Even if you don’t like what they have to say, it’s important to hear the issues for your company to progress and grow. Here are some ways to build or maintain integrity in your company.


Make it Clear
At the end of meetings, ask employees if they have anything they would like to share. Explain that you don’t want them to hold back and to let any opinions be known. This gives a worker a chance to get something off their chest, which will make them more motivated. Other employees productivity will increase as they will feel valued.
For your leadership to be effective, you must lead by example and in this case,  it means showing honesty. If you glide over the truth or completely lie, you are showing your workers that the truth isn’t important to you. This could lead to your team lying to you and their colleagues.

Listen to Everyone
When a worker does speak out, it’s vital that you do something about it, whether it be solving a problem they have or taking an idea into account, your team will see that their thoughts matter and this will increase their loyalty to your company. Even if you don’t agree with them, still listen and don’t criticise them for their honesty. If an employee feels judged, it will make the office environment tense and will decrease employee motivation rather than increase it.

Ensure Employees have a Reason
When an employee has something to voice, whether it is negative or positive, tell them that they need to justify their opinions with facts and substance. This will weed out any thoughts employees are saying just for the sake of it. You should also make it clear that any problems that are brought up, should be followed up with solutions. If they aren’t willing to help find a resolution, then they shouldn’t be expressing what needs to be changed.

Honesty is Good for Business
Having an honest company can help you build a good reputation as a reliable business in your industry with clients and customers. Many people check out a company before doing business with them, so having an honest name will help attract new clients and help you keep up with competitors. Maintaining this reputation will have a ripple effect and over time you will see more customers gravitating towards your company.

Living and working honestly will benefit your own work ethic, helping you to maintain a positive attitude. Dishonesty leads to stress which has a negative effect on productivity, honesty will bring you a sense of relief. It will allow your confidence to increase and have a positive impact on every aspect of your life, not just work.
An office environment will always have things that need to be changed or improved, whether it be a minor or major change. It’s important to remember that employees are a big part of helping a company run successfully and grow. Therefore, they should feel comfortable enough to have their say, whether that be through email or meetings. Try and focus on the positive as well as the negative because at the end of the day, communication in an office is key to success.
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HR Department, 49 Hollybank Avenue, Lower Ranelagh, Dublin 6, Ireland.
 
Phone : +353 (0)1 685 2360 Fax: +353 (0)1 685 2532 E-mail: info@thehrdepartment.ie

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