Is it Stay or Go?

Scott had employed Ian for 9 months and as time had gone by he was getting more and more dissatisfied with Ian’s attitude and lack of interest in taking more ownership and responsibility as part of his role.

So Scott contacted us and when we spoke it was apparent that there had been niggling concerns from the start of Ian’s employment but they weren’t addressed as he was ‘doing his job’ and the was ‘no time’.

Ian hadn’t been given any objectives or outcomes to meet when he joined, there were no scheduled review meetings (there was nothing to review!), Ian had been left to his own devices to carry out the tasks detailed in his job description and the probation period clause in his contract of employment meant that he was automatically confirmed after 3 months.

Now I can’t say 100% who was to blame about Ian’s lack of motivation, but in resolving the situation, it was apparent that there wasn’t a strategy in place to get Ian working in the way that Scott wanted him to.

Having an induction strategy is vital to being able to have enough evidence to decide should you new employee stay or go.

Here are some practical tips to get the evidence that you need to confirm, extend or fail an employee during their probation period and remain legislatively compliant:

Probation Clause

First things first, ensure that your probation clause states that it is only completed when confirmed in writing.

Clear, SMART objectives

During the first week of employment set objectives for the first 3-6 month, ensure they are clear and easily monitored.

Regular Reviews

Meet with your next starters once a week during the first month and at least fortnightly thereafter. Have a template to ensure you are reviewing how they are progressing against your objectives and well as ensuring that they have been provided with the support and training that they need to succeed.

Evidenced Feeback

Give clear objective feedback, so that there are no grey areas, it’s not how you feel, it’s what the evidence is showing you. For tips on having that ‘difficult conversation’ read our article here.

Extend or Terminate

If your new employee isn’t achieving the objectives that you have set for them, and you can demonstrate that they have been given the support and training needed to be successful. You have to decide whether to extend their probation period or terminate their contract. If you’ve been having the regular review sessions as discussed above and there has been little or no improvement, terminate, However, if there has been an improvement and there are just a couple of minor issues it may be worth expending the probation period for a month or two.

Document all of the above

Always, always, always ensure that you document your objective and review meetings.

Our Management Fundamentals online training will provide you with the practical skills you need to manage, motivate and develop your team, check out the details here.

How to make sure you are on the right path

May is National Share a Story Month, so this month we’ll be sharing an interesting HR story a week and I hope you will share some of your stories or with us.

As an HR consultant, I always get asked about juicy scenarios, especially when I’m with other business owners or HR Professionals, normally I’m very discrete but I’m going to share (while anonymising the names!). I shared my own story in an interview with Bella networking, click here to check it out.

We started working with a new client who contacted us after receiving a lawyers letter challenging the way they had dismissed a member of staff, threatening to take them to the employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. 

It turned out that Julie in their sales team had raised a grievance against her boss Andrew for sexual impropriety; they had been in a relationship (which he should have informed the company about) and when Julie ended the relationship, Andrew continued to attempt to be intimate with her in the workplace.

Julie’s grievance was not upheld, nor her appeal and so she produced a sick note for work-related stress stating that she was signed off from work for a month. As her manager was accused of improper behaviour, he didn’t contact her while she was off sick and neither did anyone else. A month later they received another sick note for a month. Another manager then wrote to Julie inviting her in for a meeting to discuss her sickness, Julie refused to come into the office as she felt uncomfortable and so they terminated Julie’s contract and advertised her role. 

The letter from the lawyers stated that my client hadn’t followed their own policy and that they had unlawfully withheld pay. 

I looked into the case and informed the client that had not handled the case correctly and would need to negotiate a settlement because:

• During the investigation process, they suspended Julie but not Andrew which can be seen as apportioning blame.

• Andrew’s manager investigated the case rather than an independent individual.

• They did not have an appeal hearing, but reviewed the report from the initial investigation and sent a written response, which was not detailed in their own policy.

• They failed in their duty of care to support their employee when she was signed off for stress.

• Statutory sick pay was not paid to Julie while she was signed off.

• Julie did not receive her contractual notice pay.

• Julie was not given the opportunity to appeal to her contract dismissal.

It wasn’t entirely my client's fault, they had been working in the US and so were not aware of some legislative differences in the UK.

Luckily for my client, we were able to settle the case by paying Julie what she was owned and agreeing to the wording for her reference.

Lesson Learnt - It is important to ensure that you are aware of the correct process to complete when you have staff issues; failure to properly follow process is deemed as automatically unfair by the Employment Tribunal.

Schedule a call to discuss how we can keep you out of HR trouble here.

Are you protecting your team from Stress and Anxiety?

When Ian walked into the café I barely recognised him. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t wearing his usual sharp suit, he seemed to have shrunk and his usual smile and twinkling eyes had disappeared.

Ian was a member of the board, he managed a team of 5 and budget of millions! He had a beautiful wife, gorgeous children, wore a signet ring, Lived in a NICE part of London – He was posh!

He belonged to a club that I aspired to (at that point in my life!), so even though I’d seen the Dr’s notes and spoken to him on the phone, I wasn’t prepared for the person who turned up in front of me.

Ian had been signed off for stress for the past 3 months, he’d exhausted his company enhanced sick pay and was receiving statutory sick pay that wouldn’t make a dent in his outgoings. So he’d met us to discuss coming back to work, but it was obvious that he wasn’t ready yet. I watched him deflate when I said we’d need a fit note from his doctor and for him to see our occupational health team before he could return.

It turned out that this wasn’t the first time that he’d experienced stress and anxiety at work, and even though he’d felt it coming on, he didn’t mention it to anyone because of the stigma attached to his condition.

We worked with Ian’s doctor and therapist and he returned to work in a phased manner when he was ready ….

But I was angry that we’d failed him as employers, he hadn’t felt comfortable to share his mental health issues and therefore get access to help before he became unable to attend work.

Also, we had a duty of care, was his manager lax in ensuring his workload and external pressures were being monitored? When was the last time he’d had a 1-2-1? 

Did you know that Stress Management is one of your responsibilities as a business owner as part of the health and safety regulations?

This experience led to a series of changes being implemented to ensure that Managers were aware of the warning signs of stress and anxiety in their team members and were having regular 1-2-1 meetings.

Remember the top four reasons for absence due to stress and anxiety in the workplace are:

• Workload: 44%

• Lack of support: 14%

• Changes at work: 8%

• Violence, threats or bullying: 13%

Do you and your managers regularly check on the mental health of your staff?

Here are some tips for dealing with cases of stress:

• Treat stressed employees in the same way as those with a physical health problem.

• Discuss the issue with the employee and demonstrate that you are concerned with their health.

• If their work is being affected, explore the option of a referral to Occupational Health.

• Ask if there is anything as a manager you can do to help/try and identify the stressors.

• Seek advice from the employee on any action that could be taken to alleviate the stress e.g. simple modifications to work for a short period, increase communication etc.

• Advise the employee about sources of help e.g. Employee Assistance Programme.

• Document agreed actions and actively follow up to ensure stress levels have been reduced.

• Review and if necessary modify the work tasks and responsibilities of employees who have had sickness absence due to stress as a result of their work.

• Be aware of the impact of stressed employees on other members of staff.

If you are concerned about stress in the workplace, contact us to discuss how we can assist you.

Are you wandering why Stella is sick again?

Most people will avoid confrontation if it is at all possible. I’ve lost count of the amount of clients who tell me that the moment that they start dealing with a staff issue, that person goes off sick.

It’s an amazing phenomenon, it’s as though they think that by going off sick you will forget all about that pressing issue that needed addressing. The problem is that sometimes you do, it’s easily done, you have so much other stuff going on running your business and keeping your clients happy, that the passing of time can often mean that your priorities change and the issue gets put on the back burner.

But this is a cycle that can be dangerous to the success of your business and can lead to discontentment in your team. So how can you avoid getting into the cycle in the first place?

You need to nip performance issues in the bud! And here’s how:

1. If there is an issue discuss it as it happens (or when you discover it), in private. Unless the issue is so bad that it is automatically a disciplinary issue. Having an informal conversation in ‘real time’ rather than waiting for your next 1-2-1 is best.
2. Make it a positive conversation, discuss how to avoid repetition. Demonstrate what good looks like and offer support and training if necessary.
3.  Agree SMART (SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, REALISTIC,TIME-BOUND) Outcomes,
4. Get the individual to confirm everything you have agreed in writing – a simple email will do.
5. ACTUALLY stick to the review timeline (at least weekly).
6. If the quality of work does not improve, use the evidence that you’ve gathered from this informal process to start your formal capability process

REMEMBER - If someone does go off sick after a capability conversation, press pause on the process, but once they return MAKE SURE you restart and if this happens again, ask for a doctor’s note. You may have to pay for it, if they are off less than 5 working days, but it will be worth it.

As always, should you need some assistance please contact us here.