Last week, both Ryanair’s British-based and Irish-based pilots announced planned strikes as action against pay disputes. Not a great week for Ryanair’s headlines, who suffered major losses from a host of strikes in 2018 and found their arguably poor reputation further damaged amongst its customers.

While Ireland only lost 4,050 working days to strikes in 2018, over 50,000 were lost in 2017 – Ireland has had its fair share of labour disputes and examples of companies who have suffered at the consequence of their refusal to
tackle disputes head-on.

By and large, employees disputes should never come down to a strike. But it is the responsibility of the business to negotiate with its staff and unions to avoid this last resort. Here’s how you can avoid strike gate.
 
Don’t Bury Your Head Under the Sand
When the going gets tough, it can be easy to head for the ‘safe’ option; to hide inside your office and avoid mingling with unhappy, frustrated and unheard staff.

But this isn’t a ‘safe’ option – it’s a dangerous one. Whether it is a pay dispute, arguments over break times or challenges from a certain sector of employees, any issues when not dealt with quickly and effectively can quickly tumbleweed and leave your business in a state of drought when staff decide to strike.

Not only will burying your head under the sand showcase your refusal to address business problems, but it will indicate a lack of value for your staff and a lack of leadership to deal with any issues.
 
Communicate Effectively
Not only should you avoid burying your head under the sand, but it is crucial that you maintain constant, effective communication between your business and all of your employees when experiencing any labour disputes.

From the earliest of stages, ensure that you provide leadership for the next steps, listen to issues from employees themselves, as well as negotiate effectively with the relevant unions. Union representation is often a key element in the event of a strike; getting unions on board to negotiate will often be the first step to getting your employees to listen to you again.

Even when you may be forced to make decisions that may make employees unhappy, communicate these decisions as early as possible and explain your reasoning behind this – while not all will understand, you have set out your agenda and made staff aware of what you are aiming for throughout a dispute.
 
Go Beyond Industry Standards
Your business can avoid labour disputes by ensuring that staff have no cause for a dispute in the first place.

Often strikes are the result of a refusal from companies to provide employees with adequate living wage pay, leave arrangements or perhaps poor working conditions.

Not only should you meet your industry standards but go beyond them. Offer added benefits, add extra breaks, support your working parents. Ireland’s talent market is running dry – of you refuse to actively improve your workplace for staff, they will simply look elsewhere.

Don’t lose out to your competitors – prove that you are an industry leader by focusing on your people first and foremost and avoid any dreaded labour disputes.
 
Take a Head-On Approach
Labour disputes are not good and should be avoided at all costs. But often the damage has already been done from a business’ refusal to tackle any issues its staff may have raised.

Ensuring that your company uses its HR department to lead with a head-on approach will demonstrate your willingness to communicate with staff and unions, to lead the way in finding solutions to issues, and to value your workforce’s opinion.

​Take a head-on approach – avoid strike gate this year. 

We all know the beginning few lines of that pop-country anthem, the punching piano-filled chords, the rousing almost marching beat, and the first Appalachian harmonies from musical icon, Dolly Parton.

The theme tune for a movie about women in the workplace, ‘9-5’ epitomises that daily routine shared by millions across the globe. But is it still the reality for many in Ireland today? Or should Irish businesses have a major rethink about these working hours?  
 
Why Not 9-5?
While the eight-hour-day was intensely sought after by workers in Ireland at the beginning of the twentieth century, today it isn’t so lauded.

In 2018, just 5% of Irish people reported actually working 9am to 5pm; their contracts may have sad they should work these traditional hours, but in reality those hours fluctuated. In fact, 45% of respondents in this same study reported that they worked hours that suited them, with 31% in want of an 8-4 working pattern and 32% arguing for a longer day but shorter work week.

Clearly, Ireland is fighting against the rigidity of the traditional 9-5 in favour of increased flexibility.
 
But Why?

• Increasing Women in the Workplace

While both men and women in Ireland want more flexibility in the working hours, the increasing amounts of women who are now in the labour force has increased calls for flexitime, as both male and female parents juggle the pressures of kids, home and working life.

In fact, over 50% of Irish women over the age of 15 are now in the labour force; flexibility is needed if your business is to keep this talent within its grips.

• Technological Advancement

Twenty years ago, it was simply impossible for most Irish employees to have the ability to work from home. With a lack of laptops, WiFi and cloud-based information sharing systems, employees had to be present at their desks to access work emails and to do their jobs.

But that ship has sailed. With most firms now accessing the adaptability of a cloud-based server, workers can access all the information that they need to do their jobs simply from the click of a button, allowing employees to work practically anywhere that has an internet connection.

Technological advancement has derailed the traditional 9-5 in preference to a more flexible schedule that allows employees to work wherever and, by and large, whenever they want.

• Productivity

Afternoon slumps are not made up; time and time again workers have reported lacking in productivity for significant chunks of their 9-5 day. Another recent study reveals that 62% of employees reported they would be more productive if they knew they could finish earlier.

The phenomenon of ‘presenteeism’ has killed productivity, as workers force themselves to stay after their contracted hours in an effort to make themselves appear to be working harder.

In reality, your employees have spent 8+ hours doing a job that could have taken them 4 or 5. Responding to this, some companies such as Ireland’s very own ICE Group have went the extra mile, introducing a four day working week in an effort to bring more flexibility into the workplace, drive up employee retention and increase productivity.

Offering more flexibility to eradicate this issue, giving employees back the power to choose their hours and become more productive in the long run.
 
How Can HR Help?
Communication – it can’t be stressed enough. Get your HR team to talk with employees, listen to their views on their working hours and how best your business could support them to remain productive and at optimum performance.

As a company, it is crucial that you are willing to listen to the feedback and alter your working environment to suit modern conditions. With low unemployment and a dearth of high-skilled talent, a refusal to listen to employees in this way could be detrimental for your talent retention.

Take a leaf out of Dolly’s songbook and take time to rethink your working hours for the sake of your workplace wellbeing. 

So, you’ve slaved your way through CVs, cover notes and applications. You’ve shook countless shaky hands. You’ve sat and listened to great and some not so great interviews. You’ve finally found the dream candidate and hired them.

But is that the work done? Absolutely not; the work is just getting started.
 
Challenge of Retention
Irish unemployment is at the lowest it has been in an awfully long time. While that’s great news for the country, it makes employers’ jobs that bit harder, faced with the challenge of attracting the best talent from their competitors, and once obtained, retaining them through a combination of work life balance, job satisfaction and loyalty.

With Millennials now a stalwart in the workplace, and Gen Z flooding into the Irish working population, more and more candidates feel less committed to companies, opting to jump ships several times, especially early in their careers.

This leaves Irish companies fighting amongst each other to coax the best talent to come to them, placing increasing budget spend on the candidate recruitment process and on workspace elements which will attract and retain.

Both costly and time-consuming, recruitment can quickly become a major headache for any business in the tight market that exists in Ireland currently.

How Can Your HR Team Help?

• Introductions are Key

As the saying goes, first impressions can make or break any relationship, whether that be a candidate and an employer, a potential date or even thoughts towards a clothing brand.

Getting the initial months right for a new recruit is key. They need to feel welcomed, invited and nurtured by all of your team. Depending on your business scale, that could mean their own narrow department, or it could mean the wider organisation. Regardless, ensuring that new recruits are transitioned smoothly into the workplace, grasp their basic tasks quick and that they feel welcomed by the company will make or break their loyalty and experience at your company.

• Regular Communication

It might seem common sensical but initiating regular communication with new talent is also crucial.

From putting in place former mentorship programmes, 1-to-1’s with line management or providing internal and informal networking opportunities amongst staff will keep regular communication high on the agenda, and foster communication as a given for any staff member, not just a new recruit.

This will help staff feel valued, as well as feel they have the opportunity to learn and grow within their new roles.

• Opting In or Out of a Social Culture

We’ve all been there; felt compelled to attend after-work drinks or that charity coffee morning during what is meant to be your tea break. Not everyone likes to be ‘work’ social.

While socialisation at work is important, fostering an opt in or opt out culture from the beginning of a new recruit’s journey will make employees feel comfortable to make their own decisions about what they will or will not get involved in.

Avoiding notions of judgement or peer pressure, new recruits will have the option to be as social as they want within the working environment.

• Foster Loyalty

Out of any of these challenges in retaining new talent, fostering a sense of loyalty to your company can be a difficult one to overcome, even for your HR team.

Arguably, it begins during the recruitment process. A new recruit may have accepted the job, but were they satisfied with your company during the interview process? Or are they leveraging this opportunity to help them move up the ladder to the next?

Ensuring that new candidates agree with your brand values and feel comfortable and happy to work for your company will help with loyalty.

But, ultimately, fostering loyalty comes down to one thing: ensuring all employees have a reason to stay. Workers who feel appreciated, satisfied with their career development and enjoy a healthy work-life balance will have a reason to stay loyal to your company and to take their eyes off your competitors. After all, flashing the cash may distract for a while, but nothing can beat old fashioned appreciation and respect for hard work.

Foster loyalty in this way through your HR team and you won’t have to worry about retaining talent – the talent will come to you.

Freelancing has never been bigger in Ireland – just over 10% of the 3.2 million Irish working population now describe themselves as ‘self-employed’.

Ireland isn’t alone in this trend either. In 2018, the US reported a rise of 7% in freelancing, while the UK experienced a 31% surge. In fact, freelancers contribute approximately £145 billion to the UK economy – a valuable asset for any organisation.

Now the norm rather than the exception in a multitude of industries, freelancer management is becoming yet another challenge that businesses and HR teams are faced with. As the saying goes, businesses up and down the country are asking themselves how they can get ‘the best bang for their buck’; how can they identify the best freelancers for their projects?

This article will delve into the ‘Do’s’ & ‘Don’ts’ of freelancer management for your HR team.
 
Managing the Freelancer
The clue is in the name… ‘free’-lancer. The whole purpose of being a freelancer is to escape the boundaries that often come with the traditional 9-5, office-based job. You’re free to work where you want to work, be it in your bedroom, a local café or a hotdesking space. You’re free to work the hours that you want to work, and once you are successful, you can decide which clients you want to work with, not who your boss has got on contract.

This might be great news if you are the freelancer, but for the business, this means growing a level of trust within this relationship. It means having a level of faith in your freelancer and a belief that they will deliver what they say they will within the given deadline.

However, it shouldn’t all rest on a game of faith. Here are some tips for managing your freelancers:

1. DO Your Research 

There is nothing worse than finding out that a hired freelancer cannot deliver on what you need. You might hire a marketing professional expecting someone with up-to-date graphic design skills, or a software developer that perhaps has too much other work on. Regardless, research is key.

Whether you search for reviews online or ask around your LinkedIn network, research freelancers, the skills they have on offer and past experiences will help you to separate the best from the adequate.

With the rise of freelancing, a popular alternative to finding the right contractor talent has emerged: freelancer comparison platforms. Giving your business access to an array of local freelancers for you to try, these platforms, like Toptal, are proving invaluable for businesses under tight deadlines and pressure to find the right person for their projects.
 

1. DO Communicate Effectively

Once you have hired your freelancer, it’s crucial that you keep communication high on the agenda. While they might pop into the office now and again, most freelancers will work remotely.

From video calls to monthly meetings at an agreed location, keeping in regular contact with your contractors will let them know that you value their contribution, keep them in the loop around project developments and make them feel like they are part of your team, regardless of employment status.
 

1. DO Make Yourself Approachable

Approachability for any manager is key, regardless of who you are dealing with in your workplace. However, it can be a particular challenge for a freelancer; they haven’t had the time that your employees have had to develop their relationship with you.

Ensuring that you remain available for any queries from your freelancers will help to boost your approachability and develop these relationships, a key element for effective and strategic communication.
 

1. DON’T Allow a Lack of Accountability

Your freelancers may work remotely and during their own working hours or schedules. They might have different lifestyles or different styles of work.

However, this should never go before accountability. If you feel a freelancer isn’t pulling their weight, or isn’t working cohesively with the rest of your team, step in. Alongside your HR team, ensure that this freelancer has the right equipment and knowledge to deliver the project effectively. If their work doesn’t improve, ask why.

You might feel tentative to approach a freelancer in this way, knowing that their work style may be so different from your own. But the work needs done – make sure that is happening.
 

1. DON’T Expect Freelancers to be Anything Else

Part-timers, temps, full-time commitments and the freelancers; we get it, it can be hard to juggle everyone, their contracts and their working patterns.

However, remembering what exactly a freelancer is, what is expected of them, and what is expected of you is important for your freelancing relationships.

You should not expect freelancers to report to your place of work daily or take the same lunch breaks as you.

Instead treat your freelancers as just that – freelancers. This will build positive working relationships and provide you with the bonus of having a list of talented workers you can rely on when you need projects completed and your own staff need a helping hand.
 
Freelancer 101
Utilising your HR team, ensure you manage your freelancers effectively. Communicate with them and remain approachable at all times, treat them as freelancers and ensure you keep them accountable.

​Your business will boom, you’ll meet your project deadlines and most of all, you’ll expand your talent pool. 
​

Time, money, resources – they’re all limited when you work in a small business. Between juggling your need to keep up performance alongside staff job satisfaction, training and professional development has a habit of falling into the background, especially as your small company grows.

But training is a vital component for any business. It’s what keeps staff feeling refreshed, operations ‘on point’, and reputation high on the agenda. Fail to invest in professional and personal development, and you will quickly find both your employees and customers looking elsewhere.

Irish unemployment is at a crucial low of 4.5% - can your company compete for talent? Getting the most out of staff training and investment could be your key.
 
Top HR Department Tips for Staff Training

1. Research, Research, Research

There is nothing worse for a time-strapped employee than being asked to attend a workshop or conference that bears no relevance or key training that will help them with their jobs.

Between the earlier alarm call to catch a train or flight, the stress of finding the location and the boring, overestimated speaker, your employee can be left frustrated with the loss of time and lack of learning. Meanwhile, you have failed to improve employee skills and lost out financially.

Doing your research on the best courses or host associations is key. Implementing a mentoring scheme in work can help senior staff identify what skills their junior colleagues could benefit from, while e-learning courses give employees the option to develop more flexibly, avoiding the dreaded stress of commuting to courses, or juggling family commitments.

By taking the time to understand which skills you need to improve in your employees and the best training options available, you can get the most out of the resources, money and time that you use as a business to develop your workforce.

1. If In Doubt, Ask!

Even in a small business, it can be a struggle to understand what your staff desire; what training they want and what skills or equipment they feel they need to do their jobs better.

While you might have an idea of the needs of the overall organisation, some employees may be more experienced than others in different aspects of their jobs. Some may have received training in previous employment, while others may want to develop some skills associated more closely to their particular job title and role within the company.

As an employer, you can maximise training opportunities by evaluating what the business needs as a whole, as well as ask staff to request training that they are interested in and feel would improve their jobs. Whether it is a certain course or provider they have heard of or taking part in Personal Development Plans during their appraisals to voice their own training goals, your staff can help you to invest efficiently in development, so you can get more bang for your buck.

1. After-Training Feedback

If a training course or conference doesn’t deliver, staff may feel unable to share that with you, conscious of the money & resources you may have used up to send them.

Implementing a process through your HR team, whereby staff can share feedback on the courses they have attended and their recommendations for future training, will give you an insight into the quality of courses or conferences you are investing in, and help you evaluate your choices for future professional development.
 
Train Your Way to the Top
All companies, especially small businesses, struggle to give up the time, money and resources to provide employee development and training. Weeding out the useful from the irrelevant courses, as well as recognising staff training goals will help you to invest in the right training for the right person, at the right time.

​Make sure your resources aren’t wasted – research and use your HR team to ask staff the right questions, before and after you embark on your training journey. 

Irish professionals are taking their career beyond the limits of the 9-5 contract with the side hustle and improving their quality of life in the process.

Known as ‘slashies’ because their job title contains more than one occupation, these workers create a secondary job for themselves by turning a hobby into a second source of income. 

With Generations Y and Z entering the world of work, this multi-faceted professional lifestyle is here to stay as today’s worker becomes more and more professionally multi-faceted.

Employers may think ‘Why should I risk hiring a side hustler?’. Anyone not 100% dedicated to the company is a liability, right?

Wrong.

Having a passion outside of the business doesn’t make workers any less dedicated within the business, it allows them a creative outlet which speaks to who they are.

Against the background of high competition for talented staff, it is vital that employees’ hobbies are accepted and supported especially when they turn it into a side business!

While there are no official Irish statistics, the Independent revealed that almost two-fifths of UK employees have a side hustle and this figure is expected to continue to grow.

Are you ready to find out why these individuals are key to your workplace’s future? 
 
Here are the HR Department’s top 5 reasons why you should encourage your workers get in on the hustle…

1. Passion

Your employees’ passions come in all different forms so it’s important to encourage them to pursue them. Support for their personal interests outside of work will upkeep their passion for their job with you. This zeal will add a quality to employees’ work which is otherwise difficult to manufacture.

Encouraging new lifestyles for your workers to accommodate their outside interests whether through remote working or some other method will drive employee motivation during working hours because their personal needs are being met.

1. Security For You and For Them

With multiple sources of income, your employees will have improved job security and therefore, an improved sense of wellbeing. With less stress about paying for their expenses, employees will be more content with their salary.

This is not to suggest that you shouldn’t promote employees who deserve it but for SMEs who have less to spend on wages, it can be a great way of building profits until you can properly afford raises and other accolades for team members.

1. Highly Employable

One fear of employers is that the side hustle will detract from their primary job which is vastly untrue. In fact, a Forbes study revealed that 48% of side hustlers spend less than five hours a week on their external projects.  

Why are we put off by those who have start-ups or other businesses and yet we ask for self-starters on our job advertisements?

Those who are personally motivated to generate success in their spare time are often the types of individuals who take initiative and are very organised and it is these individuals who bring multiple types of experience which are invaluable to your SME!  

1. A Chance to Infuse Meaning 

Many employers focus on how their employees find meaning from their job but what about the meaning they find in their personal endeavours?

Helping employees find meaning in their life helps employees get into a forward-thinking mindset in which they feel able to create their future.

This boost in personal agency will help them feel more empowered to provide high-quality customer service and to be an integral contributor to the team.

A commitment to your employees’ meaning of life outside of work is going the extra mile for them, a gesture which will likely breed loyalty and emotional connection to your workplace.

1. The Opportunity for a Healthy Employer-Employee Relationship

One of the negative stereotypes about side hustlers is that their daily performance becomes drained by moonlighting.

It’s important to remember that a part-time passion doesn’t mean that their productivity during their full-time hours is necessarily in jeopardy.

Often while their side hustle brings them extra money and fulfilment, employees will want to stay in their fulltime job for the salary, stability and benefits it offers.

Building a give-and-take relationship with those who do other forms of work could unexpectedly boost the health of your business processes.  

An example of how this could be done would be to communicate that their other work can’t be completed during working hours but respect that you have no sway over what they work on in their own time. Boundaries and respect from both parties breed a stronger relationship.
 
Side Hustle in a Nutshell
We need to rewrite the narrative of the fickle side hustler as making passions a reality is key to your employees’ self-actualisation.

Side hustlers who are supported in their passions will feel more fulfilled and can therefore bring something extra to your business as positive company representatives, people with greater job security and unique skills from their wealth of experience.

While multi-faceted careers bring more to think about, it also gives you a greater opportunity to build a meaningful relationship with your employees, one that will last the test of time.

​So, how are you going to show your support of the side hustler today to embrace your workplace’s future? 

Internships have experienced a popular rise in recent years, particularly amongst those career fields such as the arts that lack the funds for full-time, permanent roles.

But it isn’t just the interns that need the experience; businesses are increasing strapped to find the right talent & skills needed. While Ireland remains on the cusp of full employment, this multiple industry skills shortfall isn’t set to disappear any time soon.

Summer is upon us, schools and universities have finished up, and so too are its students & alumni. Why not fill those skills, give young talent an opportunity to develop their experience, and attract your future employees by offering robust and valuable internships? Check out why internships are important for your business, and the pitfalls to avoid.
 
Why An Intern?

• Performance Upkeep

As Summer holidays begin, many of your permanent staff may be looking forward to switching off and catching some rays somewhere for a week. But what about your performance?

While it may only be temporary, if a business is without several team members, productivity can slip and lead to customers or clients becoming unhappy.

Having a trained intern or two already available can help to level off some of this loss, and ensure your business keeps up its performance throughout the Summer period.

• Talent Gaps

On the other hand, Ireland has never been as close to full employment. Compared to 16% when the recession hit hard, unemployment now stands at an all-time-low of 4.4%, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Businesses across the island are finding it increasingly hard to attract talent, with competition driving up wage bills as a result.

Implementing internships can grab great talent early and give your business the opportunity to ‘sell’ and prove itself with these candidates. This will only make it easier to retain this talent permanently in the future.

• Fresh Perspective

Giving a candidate an internship will help them to learn new skills and develop a greater experience in your sector. However, an intern can also provide a fresh perspective and valuable feedback on your organisation from the ground up.

Whether it’s their views on the management model, to the training that they have received, this retrospect will only help improve your business and operations.
 
Pitfalls To Avoid
While internships are great for your business, it is important to tread carefully.

• No Pay, No Way!

Young candidates are growing increasingly weary of poorly paid or unpaid internships as a sign that your business will not offer practical experience, and that you do not care for your interns and the skills that they can bring.

Put simply, people are fed up working for free. In our low-level unemployment environment, young candidates will go elsewhere in their hunt for new skills and fair pay. Offering a reasonably paid internship will reap the best talent and the maximum benefits for your business.

• Poor Preparation

Whether you forget they are coming, fail to have a designated staff member to mentor them, or you haven’t enough tasks for them to work on, an internship can quickly become a boring exercise of administration.

While it might be great to get some tedious databases cleaned up, an intern won’t see it that way. Instead, they will view your business as disorganised and a negative place to work, leading to a poor word-of-mouth reputation when that intern returns to University during the next term.

Poor preparation for an internship will leave you without your skills gaps filled, while the Intern will fail to learn anything new or valuable, resulting in a waste of both time and opportunity.
 
Time for Skills, Time for Interns
The talent crunch is on. It’s time that you use your HR department to address this, seek out the skills that you need and implement robust, valuable internships that will reap these skills and introduce new talent to your business.

​Ensuring internships offer fair pay, a great experience and a valuable opportunity for professional skills development will attract the best candidates that could form part of your future workforce. 

Irish commuting has never been longer. While the average worker now spends half an hour commuting to and from work daily, 1 in 5 workers across Ireland spend over 45 minutes commuting to and from work.

But what impact can commuting, and business travel have on your colleagues? Let’s delve into these risks and how your business can best support your commuting staff.
 
Irish Commuting in 2019
Ireland’s workers are spending copious amounts of time driving and commuting to and from work. On top of this, more workers are now travelling for longer periods of time for work-related purposes.

According to recent research conducted by iCarhireinsurance.ie, an increasing number of workers are travelling more frequently for business, with some reporting that they are willing to travel on trips upwards of 9 hours on average.

So, what is the big deal if these workers are more than willing to travel for business? The answer: workforce health!

In this same study of 1,000 Republic of Ireland road trip travellers, a worrying trend appeared: 75% of road users admitted to taking a caffeinated beverage instead of a proper rest during longer periods of commuting. In fact, only 14% reported taking a nap to overcome tiredness.

Irish commuters and their health are increasingly at risk due to business travel. Is your business taking this into consideration?
 
How to Support Your Commuting Colleagues
In any business, its people that matter. As the old JW Marriott saying goes, “If you take care of your people, they will take care of your customers and your business will take care of itself”; nothing could be truer.

Looking after your colleagues spans across every element of working life, from providing first-class benefits to ensuring all staff enjoy a healthy work-life balance.

The same can be applied to those employees that commute daily, or frequently travel for your business. Here are
just a few steps that your business and its HR team can take to ensure that those colleagues and their health are appreciated:
 

• Share Out Those Miles

Ensuring all relevant colleagues do their share of business travel will keep staff content and ensure that all members work equally.

While business trips can be great experiences for younger colleagues, and a breath of fresh air for the more experienced, they can also become a burden for staff who have family commitments to balance outside of work.

Taking time away for business travel can mean families have to reorganise school runs, or family events, often at the last minute. Sharing out those business miles will go some way in easing the burden for these colleagues and give everyone the opportunity to gain a great work experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, your business can encourage daily commuting colleagues to seek out staff members who live in proximity to themselves and begin to car share. Not only can your business go some way to tackling climate change, but colleagues can share each other’s commuting burden, take the stress out of travel and save on fuel at the same time!
 

• Set Realistic Travel Expectations

Your people, their needs and their health should always come first. Increasing road awareness through training can help colleagues to understand the dangers of driving while tired, and enforce the importance of regular commuting breaks, especially during longer periods of solo car travel.

On the other hand, as a business, ensure you do not set unrealistic travel expectations. Whether it’s a tight arrival time between flights and trains or expecting long-distance daily commuters to come into the office during extreme weather, putting travel pressure on staff can be both unnecessary and harmful to workforce health.
 

• Give Time to Switch Off

Staff can often place perceived expectations on themselves during travel. Despite waking in the early hours to catch a flight or jump on the motorway, colleagues often feel pressured to continue working out of hours.

While your business may need colleagues to respond to some emails or follow up on a missed call, setting aside time to rest during travel will give staff a break from these often intense work days; implementing standards of responsiveness will also clear up any ambiguity and ensure staff are clear of what is expected.
 
Hit Full Throttle on Commuting Support
In 2019, commuting is just another factor in the life of the Irish worker. As Dublin continues to expand, and other regional cities like Cork welcome new companies, commuting from other areas of Ireland will only increase.

​If your business wants to attract new talent and put current colleagues first, monitoring staff commutes, and work-related travel can inform where those staff need support. Whether its scheduling realistic connecting flights or sharing the responsibility of business trips amongst relevant colleagues, your HR team can go a long way in ensuring your commuting colleagues feel valued and supported.  

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
 
A simple Google search for ‘team building in Ireland’ now stirs up over 735 million hits – event companies have begun to specialise in team building activities for a wide variety of workplaces.
 
In today’s world of instant messaging and social media addiction, people are spending increase amounts of time alone; nine hours a day online for Irish teenagers. This behaviour will only enforce habits of isolation in your workplace in the coming years.
 
With this in mind, it’s getting harder to get staff genuinely enthused for team building. The very fact that these work activities are often made compulsory is enough to drain the fun out of it.
 
Team building is about forging connections; team building is about giving staff the freedom to choose their activities and make decisions as a team. Growing such bonds will make a direct impact on your staff’s ability to work together and your overall company performance.
 
Are you ready to rejuvenate your team building strategy? Let’s see why it matters and how your HR team can help.
 
 
Why Does It Matter?
 
It matters because without people, there is no product or service. It matters because any organisation, large or small, relies on the ability of a team to work together cohesively, to trust each other to finish their jobs, and deliver the product or service offered by their company.   
 
British entrepreneur, Richard Branson, has long advocated for an employee-first approach, “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients”. In other words, a well-developed and trusting team will deliver the best performance and results for your business.
 
To run a successful business, one must understand that healthy relationships are what create high-quality work and a positive company culture. 
 
To build healthy relationships, your team building policy must involve an element of ‘letting go’, of allowing your team to negotiate what event they would like to partake in and having the freedom to shape elements of your company culture.  
 
 
So, What’s the Best Method Since You’ve Rejected My Trust Fall Idea?  

To really support meaningful team building, you need to choose the kinds of activities that are going to form bonds for the long-term. Sorry trust fall, you don’t make the grade.

Engaging each member’s individuality through the team building activities you undertake will improve everyone’s emotional intelligence about each other; a major asset to any team.

Below are just some examples:

• Implement Resilience Training

Teaching your staff how to handle difficult circumstances will speak to every person in the room.

While it enhances staff wellbeing, it will also encourage staff to discuss their vulnerabilities. 
Allowing staff to bring out their personal side, when comfortable, can be key to improving professional relationships.

• Communicating Communication Style

 
Each employee comes with their own idiosyncrasies and to work together productively, these unique characteristics need to be accommodated.
 
One effective way of doing so is by openly discussing your preferred communication style.
 
By vocalising whether you prefer to pass on information better verbally or in written form can make hand-offs so much easier while also showcasing staff how unique their colleagues are.
 
Keep it Fun
While more in-depth team building activities could be exactly what your HR policy needs, old-fashioned fun is still key. 
You can shake up the tired format of the traditional ‘ice-breaker’ by taking your team away for a weekend, for an escape rooms experience or even by having a NERF battle in the office!
 
Time for an HR Approach to Team Building

The key to top team building? Choice and a concrete HR strategy!

Regardless of the activity, encouraging staff to choose team building activities will introduce colleagues naturally and enthuse them to take part.

Time invested in team building will improve the quality of relationships in each department, give staff an opportunity to form lasting bonds, and improve your company’s performance and reputation as a result.

​Whether it’s serious resilience training or something a little more fun, get your HR team involved and get a team building strategy in place!

If you’re a HR practitioner, you’ll know that familiar feeling of dread when the sun starts shining and with it, come a flurry of summer holiday requests.
 
Everyone has the same idea of catching some rays in the Costa Del Sol and switching their briefcase for their suitcase.  
 
According to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, each employee is entitled to approximately 4 weeks’ annual leave. 
 
If a lot of your staff take their holidays at once, it will undoubtedly derail productivity, especially if you’re a small business.
 
Regulating the summer holidays is a failsafe way to make your life easier and ensure your employees get the rest they deserve.
 
 
First Come, First Served
 
Sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong.
 
While a first-come, first-served basis is probably the fairest way to manage holiday requests, it is important to inform staff of the periods likely to be the most popular ahead of time.
 
Employees must be informed of alternative break periods available and made aware of the limitations of attaining summer leave so as expectations don’t become too high and be quashed thereafter.
 
Here are 3 top HR tips to ensure your annual leave policy is up to scratch!
 

1. Carrying Over Holiday Leave

 
Sometimes employees will take holidays en masse to ‘use up’ those they have accrued.
This sense of urgency often leads to crossovers between employees’ planned holidays and there’s nothing worse than telling one employee that they can’t jet off because of a clash.
While annual leave is usually taken within that leave year, it’s legal to spend leave within 6 months of the relevant year, with employer’s consent.
By negotiating with upper management about opening a carryover period for employees, you will reduce the perceived pressure on staff to take them while they can.

1. All Hands On Deck

There may be some parts of the summer which will be more popular than others but what will that time be like for your business?
If there is a specific time when you need everyone available to work, you can establish a ‘blackout’ for that period.
Creating a company blackout will ensure your business operations run smoothly during busy periods and will make sure staff know the available windows of time for their holidays.

1. Set Holiday Length to Ensure Everyone Gets Some Sun

Limiting holidays to a standard length will depend upon several variables including company size, number of staff and the frequency of projected busy periods.
Applying a limit will democratise the holiday season and lessen the rush to book vacation time as everyone will have the same chances of securing their summer break. 
Digital applications like WHOSOFF are a great way to help your staff envision the windows of time available to them and can also be used to communicate the tenets of your annual leave policy to staff ahead of time.
 
Note! Be Transparent!  
It is important to agree on a process by which employees are allocated time off.
As HR practitioners are often colleagues of employees in different departments, it is vital that no preferential treatment is given to friends of those who are running operations.
Furthermore, it is vital that all levels and types of staff are treated equally when it comes to leave requests, respective of their contract type and hours.
Share a calendar, either online or on the wall of the office, and update it with the accepted applications you have received.
This will not only communicate that you are treating each staff member fairly but allow you to book cover far in advance and motivate staff to work around each other in the planning of their breaks.
 
 
In Review
Implementing an annual leave policy will level the playing field for employees seeking that well-deserved summer holiday. 

Informing employees of carryover and blackout periods, as well as the maximum time they can take off is vital to ensuring efficient negotiation between HRs and employees.

Making a collective calendar accessible to all staff members will ensure transparency and will enable staff to be informed about their colleagues’ bookings when they submit their application.

In short, we can all go on a summer holiday but just not at once! Negotiation by management and HR is key to keeping staff happy and your business productive during the upcoming summer season.