Solo’s governance lead Matt Simkin reflects on this week’s debate on the future of HR and how it must add value to the business in the future

KPMG has recently published Rethinking Human Resources in a Changing World.  The report reminds us of how it feels day-to-day in organisations; the attention on reducing and optimising cost.  HR has played its part through making the HR function more efficient, though not always more effective whilst trying to become more aware of the organisations in which it operates.

The report states that the key challenges facing HR are: balancing global and local needs; managing a flexible workforce; and retaining the best talent.  Some of the statistics within the report are worth considering, for example 81% of respondents (418 executives) think that talent management was critical to future success.  In stark contrast only 17% believed that HR does a good job of demonstrating its value to the organisation.  Clearly that needs to change for HR to be seen as vital for growth and survival, rather than an overhead to be cut.

This report and many others, including the CIPD research report Business savvy: giving HR the edge  argues that HR needs to move from beyond its functional boundaries and become truly embedded within organisations with a real understanding of how the organisation operates.  The analysis of accurate metrics and data is emphasised by both – that data enables sound business decisions to be made.

Seeing the bigger picture is difficult when HR departments are still in the mind set of providing administrative support rather than strategic direction, but I would argue that to add value, HR needs to become more business-focussed and strategic.

KMPG believes that talent management, for example, is something that can be applied at a global, or national level but to be fully effective local variations need to be built in to provide interventions required.  This takes time and a trust in people’s ability to move from policy to the benefit of the organisation without showing favouritism or prejudice.

How can this be achieved as HR reduces its own costs?

My solution would be to ensure line managers have the skills in place to ensure retention of top talent, to deal with a flexible and varied workforce and to help us have reliable and useful workforce data.  Coaching, mentoring and developing line managers whilst supporting HR practitioners to become business savvy is vital.  Without addressing both it is hard to see how HR can retain its relevance in a changing world.

- Matt Simkin

England’s top flight footballers will shortly be issued with a new code of conduct which will contain a list of do’s and don’ts including the 11^th commandment: thou shalt not tweet (unless it has been cleared by the FA communications team or your club PR people or is so boring no one cares, presumably).  The code of conduct, to be issued by the chairman himself, is designed to set three standards, first of general conduct, whether with England or not; second, conduct when the player is with England; third, how the FA will manage the pro­cess of breach or alleged breach.  When I heard this several thoughts came to mind.  If this is the first attempt to set out core standards, perhaps that may help to explain why some players have been so unboundaried up to now?  If this is a set of amendments, including specific references to social media and verbal abuse, why is it necessary to explain to adults their responsibilities at work and as role models?  And is it really the chairman’s job to undertake an executive function when he and the board are likely to be in a position to arbitrate or judge complex cases in the future?

Setting aside the argument that we are dealing with footballers, who are a unique species (so I’m told), requiring very clear and specific instructions about how to behave in every instance (although I am not sure Michael Owen would agree) what are the lessons we could draw from the FA’s approach that we would find useful in other settings?  Perhaps consideration of ethics in the way we all approach our work is worth some reflection.   The National Business Ethics Survey (2011) published in theUSAby the Ethics Resource Centre suggests that there is a link between increased use of social media and compromising of social ethics.  It may be that the ease with which people now share information and thoughts without consequence has lowered the threshold for confidentiality breaches.  Ashley Cole’s tweet was a good example of a breach of the FA’s own respect agenda.

Rather than setting out a piecemeal list of edicts, it is generally preferable to promote a positive ethos based on self discipline and peer regulation.  The code of conduct should be the last resort.  If a team member has such pride being part of the team/representing the country/contributing to success they won’t break ranks.  Instead, there will a strong mechanism to deal with concerns behind closed doors.  This level of self discipline was evident in Team Sky during the Tour de France when Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome sacrificed their ambitions for the greater team goal of delivering Bradley Wiggins to the winning line in the yellow jersey.  Even when their partners tweeted, they remained stoically silent, and their spouses were quickly silenced too!

All teams need to know who is in charge.  The chairman needs to be the final arbiter.  The role of the chair and the board is to set the tone and the strategic direction, within which the chief executive and their team can operate. Independence from the detail of the operation, whilst knowing the business and its people, is a difficult balancing act but one which successful board members discharge very effectively.  Those who do make an immeasurable difference to the performance of their organisation and are in great demand.

Ultimately, however, we should need the minimum of rules to abide by when we are being rewarded well for doing something we enjoy.

And that is how I became a Games Maker at the 2012 Paralympics. Whilst I will never forget the blessed good fortune of witnessing the men’s team gymnastics final and a day of athletics at the fantastic Olympic park, my abiding memory will be of the joy and honour of working at Greenwich Park as a Last Mile Wayfinder during the Paralympic dressage competitions. My role involved making sure that people got into and out of the venue safely and ready to enjoy themselves, with the information they needed for the next stage of their day provided. Basically, I was one of the volunteers with a big pink foam hand and high-viz tabard who stood on street corners! I worked long hours, including some very early starts, and I de-camped to a Premier Inn in Deptford for the duration at my own expense to make sure I could make all my shifts on time, provide the best service and immerse myself in.

For a lowly Games Maker it was life-enhancing and mesmerising. At our induction session 5000 of us were repeatedly told that the visitors’ experience of the Games would be made by us, not Usain Bolt or Oscar Pistorius because hardly any of them would meet their heroes but every single visitor would meet one of us. That made us the most important people for everybody, and somehow that message got through to public, athletes and dignatories who all loved us as much as we loved them. I felt the personal responsibility of making every visitor’s day memorable from start to finish, and I often saw the same people leaving a session so I made sure I followed up with them to find out how their experience had been. They were surprised and delighted to be remembered in the crowd.

I learnt a great deal about myself, other people and customer service during my training and my Games Maker experience which I think can be transferred to our daily and working lives. Here are some thoughts:

• Make every customer feel personally welcome
• Make sure every member of your team knows that they are the face of your organisation no matter how minor they think their role might be
• Give your team members immediate recognition. I received a pinbadge each time I completed a shift, plus some other surprises which motivated me more than I thought possible!
• Use a range of media to keep in touch with your people. I received text messages, emails, tweets and You-tube presentations every week (daily during the Games)
• Make it all about the customer experience and the staff will have a great time.

 One question.  Why was it that the absence level among volunteers during the whole of the Olympics and Paralympics averaged less than 1 percent?

As is often the case, I can see the argument from both sides. As an HR Director trying to ensure high levels of performance, and keen to ensure that my organisation followed both the spirit as well as the letter of the law, the lengthy procedures around disciplinary and capability procedures, and the uncanny ability of Trade Union officials to find fault with the process (if not the essence of the case) led to a fair amount of frustration and annoyance on my part. It often seemed as though the weight of the legislation, not to mention our own policies and procedures, meant that the capacity to delay, obfuscate and muddy the waters around what should have been a straightforward judgement about performance became mired in tedious and unedifying confrontations about process.

And yet… I would also suggest that the protection offered to employees by the legislation currently means that managers have to treat the business of performance management very seriously indeed. They must focus on facts and be able to demonstrate that their standards are consistent, reliable and equitable. There should be evidence of informal support and development prior to any formal action being taken, for the majority of cases at least, and employees should feel that they both understand what is expected of them and also understand what they can realistically expect from their employer.

How can that be a bad thing?

Wouldn’t we all want to be in that position? And if managers cannot meet these principles, why is that the case? I accept that it can sometimes be difficult to define exactly what the problem is with the way in which an employee is working, but it could be that the role is not clearly enough defined; that the expectations are unrealistic or that there is a gap between what it says in the Standard Operating Procedures and how they are being interpreted by managers.

In addition to the practical arguments above, the CIPD has questioned the effectiveness of the proposal and whether indeed this really is a problem that will be addressed by the introduction of a no-fault dismissal clause. As Mike Emmott, CIPD’s employee relations advisor said in a recent posting on the CIPD website:

“Countries that have excluded small businesses from unfair dismissal regulations, which include Germany, Australia and Spain, have generally found it has failed to achieve the intended result.

There is no evidence that no-fault dismissal would make a positive contribution to economic growth in the UK by encouraging the smallest firms to recruit more employees. Indeed, by increasing job insecurity and reducing employee engagement it would be more likely to damage growth.”

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/06/beecroft-no-fault-dismissals-unnecessary-says-cipd.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=cipd&utm_campaign=pmdaily_070612&utm_content=news_1

So, if the research and experience from other countries fails to support the premise of the no-fault dismissal clause – that it will free up small businesses to employ more staff – then why would we want to risk dismantling hard-won employment protection for the vast majority of workers in the UK?

My solution would be to ensure that managers, supported by proactive and confident HR advice, manage the performance levels of staff to ensure that the UK economy rebuilds and recovers confidence levels that will allow the expansion and growth that is so badly needed.

Many of the exhibitors were selling environmentally friendly services designed to lessen the carbon footprint, or improve recycling, or reduce waste. There was also a large number of financiers, IT experts, accountants and media management companies, many of which were relatively new and which, to me, demonstrated a faith in the current and future commercial environment within Kent and the wider South East economy.

I spoke to three recruitment companies, all of whom said that they were finding the numbers of vacancies that they were dealing with had improved over the previous 12 months. One of them was a purely internet based ‘filter and match’ service, but I was most struck by a small recruitment agency which was advertising a very holistic package of benefits for temporary staff including children’s parties and social events for workers who would otherwise miss out on the more leisure and social aspects of the working environment. These illustrate two extremes of the approach to recruitment – one of which is all about utilising the power of remote, internet-driven tools, and the other which almost feels like a return to a Quaker style of paternalistic employment. Both companies claimed to be growing swiftly and providing employers with additional added value in the recruitment of staff, whether permanent or temporary and provided an interesting dichotomy between two very different approaches.

I suspect that everyone will have to be working hard to ensure that their business stays sustainable and profitable as economic conditions seem likely to remain challenging for some time to come. But then no-one ever said that running a business was easy and it could be argued that those who make it in a time of recession and gloomy economic forecasts are likely to be more resilient and creative – and perhaps more worthy of success. One thing seems certain; a degree of realistic optimism is a requirement. I was talking to a friend in Kansas City earlier this month; she runs her own interior design company, and four years ago, was diagnosed with breast cancer which led to major surgery and chemotherapy. Since then, she has grown her business significantly and has a loyal following of clients. She is beginning to be featured in a number of key periodicals where her work is show-cased and is relentlessly optimistic about her future plans. Now, that’s what I call resilient!

We have been working with clients who have been making some tough and forward-looking decisions for some time, so that they can remain cost-effective and ensure that their staff are committed to the changes that have taken place. Staff have been supported in accepting the new cultural norms which have developed since the market place became less forgiving and more challenging. We believe that resilience can be planned and nurtured, and that it can be modelled by the senior managers and leaders in any organisation. Yes, it’s tough at the moment, but the challenges can also lead to high levels of satisfaction for those who face them head-on, and survive – or even thrive – in difficult conditions.

Dean Becker, Harvard Business Review, May 2002.

Ten years on from this article, the world seems more turbulent than ever. We look around us and see some people who seem to thrive under such testing conditions, while others crumble; some become focused and tough, while others find it difficult to maintain a sense of perspective. At extremes, I have worked with people who have cracked at both ends of the continuum as neither those who tough things out nor those who crumble have found sustainable solutions.

As a coach, at times of change and challenge, I encourage clients to think about the choices that they do have rather than focusing on the areas of their lives that appear to be out of their control. By doing that they begin to build up their personal resilience and becoming a little more objective about their experiences and options.

So what is resilience?

Resilience is: Resilience is not:

Realistic thinking Tough thinking

Calmness under pressure Ignoring emotions

Being open to new options Fantasising about the future

Reaching out Acting independently

We develop our resilience from childhood but learn and develop our mastery as adults. Research (Reivich and Shatte, 2002) has shown that thinking style has a huge part to play in developing resilience. A study in USA (Maddi and Khoshaba, 2005) conducted over 12 years tracked a large group of people working in a telecommunications company, which was de-regulated, had to compete in an open market, and 50% of the participants lost their jobs whilst 2/3 suffered major life events. However, 1/3 appeared not only to survive but thrive in such turbulence. The researchers found that those with the resilience to respond to the difficulties they encountered had three attributes in common:

Commitment: stay involved with the people and environment around you

Control: keep trying to influence those outcomes where you have can

Challenge: try to find out how to grow through the stress rather than staying stuck in the moment when the change struck.

It is easier to write this-and read it!-than to put it into practice, and I think that one of the most important things that we can do is stay open and involved with the people around us so that we can maintain a sense of perspective and personal control. Who knows what possibilities may open up to us as a result?

What is CPD?
CPD is a combination of approaches, ideas and techniques that will help you manage your own learning and growth. The focus of CPD is firmly on results – the benefits that professional development can bring you in the real world. Perhaps the most important message is that one size doesn’t fit all. Wherever you are in your career now, and whatever you want to achieve, your CPD should be exactly that: yours.

What is the process?
CPD isn’t a fixed process, although we do lay down certain basic processes. Fundamentally, it’s a question of setting yourself objectives for development and then charting your progress towards achieving them. It’s about where you want to be, and how you plan to get there. Our approach is based on reflection that focuses on outcomes and results, rather than ‘time spent’ or ‘things done’.
Is it time consuming?
We’re not concerned with how much time you spend on training courses or how many boxes you tick on a form. CPD is about capturing useful experiences and assessing the practical benefits of what you have learned. There is one decisive question that you should ask yourself to evaluate every piece of learning: what can you do now that you couldn’t do before? Similarly, when you record your CPD, it’s the value of the activity that counts. It’s not what you did, but how you can use what you learned.

Why should I keep a CPD record?
As a professional, you have a responsibility to keep your skills and knowledge up to date. CPD helps you turn that accountability into a positive opportunity to identify and achieve your own career objectives.
At least once a year, we recommend you review your learning over the previous 12 months, and set your development objectives for the coming year. Reflecting on the past and planning for the future in this way makes your development more methodical and easier to measure. This is a particularly useful exercise prior to your annual appraisal!
Some people find it helpful to write things down in detail, while others record ‘insights and learning points’ in their diaries as they go along. This helps them to assess their learning continuously. These records and logs are useful tools for planning and reflection: it would be difficult to review your learning and learning needs yearly without regularly recording in some way your experiences.

So, in order to ensure that we also demonstrate our belief in CPD and ‘walk the walk’, Solo consultants spend time and energy thinking about CPD and ensuring that our own professional practice is up to date and in line with current thinking. We do this in a number of ways, including:

• Reflecting on our own experiences and learning lessons from what went badly, as well as what went well
• Group sessions designed to critically evaluate the team’s performance and the value of contributions made by everyone
• Networking with other groups of professionals and listening to a wide range of opinions and experiences
• Attending formal ‘taught’ sessions on specific subjects and then sharing the information with colleagues
• Reading professional journals, newspapers and internet information
• Knowing when to stop working and allow time for other things (family, reading, riding, gardening, yoga)- one of the risks of being self-employed is not switching off and neglecting other important areas of life!
• Recording in brief the learning that we have gained from each area of activity in a way that makes sense to us, and allows for periodic evaluation

The most common default on CPD is the lack of systematic recording and evaluation. It can be tough to keep records which require time, thought and some form of reflection and evaluation. Nevertheless, it’s also habit forming and once the discipline of recording on a regular basis has been established, it just becomes part of the usual weekly, or monthly routine. If you are having difficulty with this area of CPD, try scheduling an hour on a regular basis in the diary which is specifically for this purpose. And remember to put the reminder into your calendar too!
CPD is a genuinely powerful and effective tool for ensuring that you stay focused and effective in whatever line of work that you do. For us, it’s particularly important that we are also seen to be practising what we preach!

1. The Bribery Act

The piece of legislation was introduced in October 2010, and covers the following areas:
• Strict liability for corporates and partnerships of failing to prevent bribery occurring within the organisation – employers must have ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent this happening
• Extra territorial jurisdiction covers the activities of any corporate or partnership not only within the UK but in relation to its business and activities overseas
• Associated persons means that corporates and partnerships can be found to be in breach of the Act if a person associated with the corporate or partnership carries out an act of bribery on their behalf
• Private bribery remains illegal as is a separate offence of bribery of a foreign public official
• Improper performance covers failure to perform one’s duties in line with a relevant expectation (i.e. performing functions in good faith, impartially and importing a position of trust)
• Indirect bribery prohibits all corrupt payments
• Individual liability extends the liability from corporate entities to individuals who may be found to have acted in breach of the Act.
• Facilitation payments, all payments no matter how small or routine are illegal under the Act
• Public procurement- serious potential risk that any corporate convicted under this Act will be debarred from participating in future public contracts

The bottom line is to adopt a policy of zero tolerance and ensure that all your staff, contractors and clients are aware of this.

2. Resolving Workplace Disputes – government response to consultation

The following bullet points summarise the main changes that the government is planning to take forward as part of the new bill on the resolution of workplace disputes:

• A commitment to introduce Early Conciliation as the first part of the Employment Tribunal process. All claimants will be required to submit the details of their claim to ACAS in the first instance and will then be offered the option of engaging in early conciliation

• Mediation will also be given greater emphasis and the creation of regional mediation networks will be piloted

• Reassurance will be offered with reference to Compromise Agreements. A standard text will be developed to reduce costs and uncertainties for employers, and a system of ‘protected conversations’ will be introduced

• Tribunals will be modernised in line with recommendations for the Underhill Fundamental Review currently taking place

• The Unfair Dismissal qualification period will be extended form one to two years

• Financial penalties will be levied against employers who are found to be in breach of employment law, and the penalty paid to the exchequer

• It is planned to implement a rapid resolution process in order to settle low value, straightforward claims

3. Agency Workers Regulations

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 covers a far-ranging group of people including PAYE temps, agency workers and workers who supply their services through an ‘umbrella organisation’. Some benefits are immediately applied to agency workers; others are supplied after a 12 week qualification period. They are entitled to equal treatment in respect of:
• Pay
• The duration of working time
• Night work
• Rest periods
• Rest breaks
• Annual leave

There is also a complex list of anti-avoidance provisions, breaches of which may result in fines of up to £5000 for an employer.

Equal pay is the most important element of the regulations and for the purposes of the regulations, this includes:
• Overtime
• Shift allowance
• Unsociable hours premium
• Fee commission payments
• Performance-related bonuses
The regulations exclude:
• Occupational sick pay
• Company pension scheme
• Share option schemes
• Loans
• Expenses
• Health/life insurance
• Financial participation schemes
• Family-leave-related pay above the statutory minimum

Agency workers will be entitled to paid time off to attend ante-natal appointments after the 12 week qualifying period and hirers must complete a risk assessment for pregnant agency workers.

‘Day one’ rights for agency workers include the following:
• Collective facilities (e.g. car parks, childcare facilities, canteens)
• Right to apply for vacant posts (other than in cases where an internal freeze of posts in place, and vacancies arise as a result of restructuring)
• Right not to suffer detriment as a result of asserting their rights under the regulations
• Unfair dismissal (if the reason for dismissal was related to the Regulations)

Changes in some areas of employment legislation have been suggested by employers’ representatives for some time now, and Solo welcomes the pragmatic approach that underpins these proposals. If you need help in working through the implications that these changes will have on your business, or would like to tackle difficult performance issues with staff even before any changes are implemented, we’d be happy to discuss this with you.