Alcohol Policy at Work – Is it important?

In the final part of his series about alcoholism at work, Dr John McMahon asks if it is important to have an alcohol policy at work.  (Ed Scrivener)

Is having an Alcohol policy at work really that important?  After all, everyone knows that drinking at work, or coming to work under the influence, is not a behaviour that is tolerated.  Indeed, isn’t it obvious that this kind of behaviour would be considered gross misconduct and could, and probably would, lead to dismissal.  After all, it is just common sense so why would we need to put it into an explicit alcohol policy.

Certainly, that appears to be the attitude that many employers take.  A recent survey found that less than 20% of employers had a specific alcohol policy, apparently assuming that there was no need to state the obvious.  Are they correct in this assumption?  No they are not, not if they don’t want to fall foul of an industrial tribunal they are not.

For example it would appear that an employment tribunal would uphold a decision to sack for drunkenness, which is exactly what you would expect, is it not.   Indeed, it appears that they will even uphold a decision to fire if an employee comes to work unfit for work, even though they may not actually be inebriated.  Let’s look at an example.

United Biscuits vs Ian Waters

In a recent case, United Biscuits vs Ian Waters, it appears that Waters was fired for arriving at work smelling of alcohol and looking tired and red eyed.  He had attended the funeral of a friend the day before and had been drinking.  His supervisor accepted that he was not intoxicated, but nevertheless judged him unfit for work and banned him from the factory floor.  Waters was later sacked.  The tribunal agreed and upheld his sacking as a reasonable response in this situation.  As evidence, they cited that United Biscuits had a clear policy stating that inability to work because of alcohol would be treated as gross misconduct and could result in dismissal.

There are two important points to be taken from this case.  The first is that the tribunal cited the company’s alcohol policy as the basis for its findings.  If you trawl through tribunal findings it is clear that the outcomes of the cases are very much based on what the employer’s alcohol policy specifies and whether the employer has adhered to the particulars of its own policy.

Tribunals do not make arbitrary judgments based on some notional concept of ‘universal’ or ‘natural law’.  Instead it is based on the policy that the employer creates.   So it would it is important to, not only have a policy but to, have one that is explicit about the particular consequences that can be expected for any breach of the policy.  The second point is a far reaching one that we will return to after this next case.

Are the employees clear about your alcohol policy?

However having the policy is only one part of a company’s responsibilities.  It is also important that the employees are aware of the policy and its contents.  In another tribunal, an employee who drank alcohol during working hours, but not on the company’s premises was judged to have been unfairly dismissed, as he did not know the company’s alcohol.  He stated that he was aware that drinking alcohol on the company’s premises was subject to disciplinary proceedings up to and including dismissal.  However he argued that he was unaware that consuming alcohol when off the premises during working hours was subject to the same penalties.  You might think that this is a flimsy excuse, as of course the employees know what is expected and the consequences.  However the tribunal upheld his case as did the appeal.

Employees can be held accountable for their off duty behaviour

 One important and far reaching aspect of these judgements is that the actual drinking that led to dismissal took place outside the employers premises in both, and also outwith working hours for the second.  In this current culture of Binge Drinking a sizeable minority of your employees will drink to excess and arrive the next day unfit to work as they may be still intoxicated or hungover.  It would appear then that, provided all the proper procedures are followed, a tribunal will support an employer in firing these employees.

This could have far reaching implications.  Employers could become a positive influence on their employees’ drinking behaviour, by ensuring that all workers are fit for work and ensuring that the policy is enforced.  As part of disseminating their policy they could take this opportunity to educate the workforce about alcohol, for example the relationship between quantity consumed and the time required to metabolise the alcohol and be fit for work.  This education process could be written into the official alcohol policy.

Summary

If employers are going to protect themselves, and their workforce, they need to ensure that they create a clear and comprehensive alcohol policy.  The policy should clearly detail what is and is not allowed and the consequences for any digressions from this policy.  The policy also needs to be disseminated to all employees and to be enforced in a consistent and equitable fashion.  Lastly there is an opportunity to include some alcohol-related education (units of alcohol, how long to clear the system etc) when disseminating the policy.  This way employers could save money, have a healthier workforce and, in the unfortunate eventuality of ending up in a tribunal, employers should ensure a positive outcome.

About the author

Dr John McMahon is an alcohol expert who has been involved in the alcohol and drug field for 30 years.  He is currently the CEO of Iloumanate Ltd, a company with a mission to change the binge culture of the UK part of which involves helping employers save money by addressing their workforce’s drinking using a free website www.spreade.com

Previously he was senior lecturer in alcohol and drugs at the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Studies at the University of the West of Scotland for 12 years and Research fellow at the University of Glasgow before that.   He was responsible for setting up and writing the MSc in Alcohol and Drug Studies as a distance learning course. This is now the largest course of its kind in the UK.

He was Research Director for a major alcohol treatment charity, was the National Chair of the Alcohol Counsellor Training scheme.  He has published two books and about fifty papers in scholarly journals, has presented at many national and international conferences and is included in Marquis Who’s Who.

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Contemplating Unconscious Bias

The world's not black & white but shades of grey.

The more comfortable we get in our worlds

the more we view the wider world as black & white

Susan Popoola

Have you heard of unconscious bias before?

According to Nareen Young, CEO of the Diversity Council of Australia unconscious bias is attitudinal biases about gender, age, race etc that we unaware we have and are unaware we act upon.  Backing this up, research shows that our brains jump to assumptions and conclusions with us even knowing it.

In line with this, I believe that unconscious bias is a critical hindrance countering discrimination, accepting differences and enabling integration.  This is as it pertains to preferences and inclinations that we have developed often from a very young age that have become natural to so. Critically as the name suggest we are not aware of them.

I believe we all have our biases.  In fact according to Professor Binna Kandola, “We’re all affected by unconscious bias to some degree…. While our prejudices may vary, we’re all the same in having prejudices” The impact is, however, greater if shared with a majority group such that they form a norm or when processed by a person in a position of power such that their biases may have a greater impact on the people that they have authority over.

I heard someone recently say that people should stop using unconscious bias for an excuse for their actions.  Whilst I don’t believe that the fact that actions may be based on unconscious bias makes the actions right or acceptable, I don’t believe such actions are excuses as it’s not conscious.  I do however, believe that it is critical for individuals, organisations and communities to recognise where our biases exists so that we can do something about them.

At an individual level I believe this requires the ability to look inwards and self-access. The ability to accept feedback or dare I say even constructive criticism. In effective it requires trust and open communication without allowing political correctness (to be taken to an extreme) and get in the way.

Organisations and communities (in their various forms) also need to put measures in place to counteract unconscious bias. I believe similar measures as apply to individuals are important. Additionally, there are activities that can create awareness of bias.   Policies, Procedures and Processes can also be reviewed to ensure that they don’t subconsciously encourage bias. The need to counteract bias is also a key reason for having diversity in management, recruitment panels and other decision making processes.

I’ve also come across tools that are aimed to help, such as websites that provide insights on the social economic demographics of postcodes of candidates for jobs, so that special consideration or at least an awareness of possible barriers for people from certain backgrounds may be considered.  The concern that I have for such tools is that just like with the Waterline of Visibility of an iceberg, such tools do not show what is going on beyond the surface. For instance a family may live in an economically deprived postcode/community because they like the sense of community in the area – not because they are poor. 

A person from an affluent area may come from an abusive environment which has had a negative impact on their development and ability to access opportunities.  Equally a person who has migrated to the UK from a developing country may actually come from an affluent family and may have had access to the best of opportunities.

Critically the key that whilst recognising bias that may exist and using such measures and tools to be aware of bias and possibly address issues; care and caution must be taken to minimize the risk that new biases are developed or enhanced in the process of trying to address them.

Ultimately, my hope is that we can have the dialogue to enable great communication and understanding in order to be able to beginning to address our biases – it will never be an overnight process and I don’t believe that we will ever totally overcome it – it’s almost akin to human nature.  I do however hope that as HR contemplates its place and its value that this is a critical area that it can lead on.

Susan Popoola

Has this inspired you to discuss HR?  Leave your comment here explaining your experience of unconscious bias and how HR can go about reducing such instinctive discrimination.

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How to have the right reputation for your business

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Today we welcome another of our new writers, who you may recognise from a previous guest post.  Judith Germain looks at the importance and power of a good reputation. (Ed Scrivener)

How to have the right reputation for your business

The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other - Charles Caleb Colton

It’s been over 100 years since Colton said this and it remains as true today as it was then. Small businesses are particularly sensitive to how their reputation and credibility are perceived. It is therefore imperative that businesses consider the reputation that they are building and how they demonstrate their credibility to others. This consideration must include all their activities, what they do online and offline must be consistent at all times.

Brand perception and delivery is becoming all important for the survival of the business. Small businesses have a habit of believing that this isn’t an issue for them, not realising that it can determine whether their business stands out from the crowd. Standing out from the crowd in a positive way makes it more likely that the company will secure business from the competition. Brand reputation is becoming the ultimate decision maker and to ignore this trend will put your business and earning capacity in peril.

Building the right reputation for your business takes time and there are a number of stages that the business needs to take to ensure that their business strategy is effective. People buy from people (not businesses) and need to trust the person that they are buying from, especially if they are buying high ticket value services. How the business owner and his employees interact with potential advocates and clients is now more important than ever. When you have the right reputation you gain referrals and advocacy.

A referral is when a contact passes your details on to another, this usually happens after a request. Advocacy is where your contact is evangelical about your service or yourself. They are able to prequalify and ‘sell’ your services to potential clients for you. When businesses have chosen to pursue a pull marketing strategy (especially on a social network) they need to ‘pass through’ the following stages to ensure that they are building the right reputation to gain advocacy:

• Auditing current position
• Deciding your niche and how you want to dominate it
• Learning how to articulate your business proposition
• Establishing your reputation and credibility as an expert
• Developing and maintaining your reputation

Reputation and credibility is an integral part of your business strategy

Your business strategy needs to incorporate your personal brand, and how you intend to leverage it. Remembering that with pull marketing, people will buy from those that they trust, it is therefore important to create a brand that is trustworthy, and consistent no matter where it is encountered. A business mentor will ensure that the implementation of your business strategy is achieved and you build a consistent and winning reputation. The execution of your network strategy will be in line with your corporate identity and establishes you as an expert in your niche.

Firstly you should audit your current position considering amongst other things:

• What reputation do you currently have?
• Would others consider you an expert?
• How credible are you?
• What track record do you have?
• Are you and your business trusted?

People increasingly buy from those that they know, like and trust, especially where the purchase is service rather than product related. Being credible and having a good reputational (personal) brand is essential, enabling the buyer’s decision making process to choose you over another business each and every time. 

Whilst reputation and credibility are separate concepts and can be established and maintained separately they are integral to each other. To be credible as a business often means that you need to be an expert in your field. People and businesses prefer experts over generalists; this is after all, the decade of specialism.

In deciding which niche to operate in you should be able to answer the following questions:

• Is the niche big enough to support you?
• Is the niche clearly defined?
• Where is your expertise in this area?
• Do you currently have credibility in this area?
• How do you want to demonstrate your expertise in this area?
• What activities will you be doing to enable you to stand out from the crowd?

To be credible therefore requires clarity on your business proposition (what your business does). Questions that you should be able to answer include the following:

• What makes you different from other consultants?
• How do you articulate what you do in a way that is easily understood by others?
• What are you known for?
• Are you easily remembered?

Credibility needs to be demonstrated and is based on your track record and competency. One of the ways to demonstrate credibility to those that have not seen your work is by articulating effectively how you achieve success for your clients in story form, free from jargon. Good stories are enjoyable to listen to and can enable subtle messaging about your expertise and ability to potential buyers or advocates. Another way is to provide support and advice to others; thus enabling snippets of your expertise to be demonstrated making it easier for others to advocate you.

I believe that reputation is based on the character of the person (or business) and the intent of the individual (or business). Reputation is therefore personal; it is how you are perceived by others. If others perceive your intention as good this can enhance your standing with others.

Reputation is built on what you say and what you demonstrate and it is important to build awareness and visibility amongst your target audience and potential advocates. It is essential that you are consistent with what you say and do, especially on the internet where everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature. It is easy to forget that social networking sites are places where reputation and credibility is established, maintained and developed, not just places to ‘hang out with friends’. Many business owners take a relaxed and whimsical approach to how they network on places like Facebook, which can be quite detrimental to them. Others join business networks and then remain ‘invisible’ to the membership, ignoring the opportunity to enhance their reputation and find advocates for their service.

Both reputation and credibility can be established and enhanced by writing on subjects which demonstrate your expertise. Where you publish your thoughts will be dependent on your objectives. Generally speaking your potential clients need to see that you are an established expert in your field and that you have a strong and positive brand. Social proofing plays an important part in the decision making of some. They need to see that others have bought your service and believe that you are the right person to solve the issues that they face. This is where advocacy plays an important part of your marketing. How you interact with others and how you make us feel when they do interact with you will have a significant bearing on advocacy and whether someone will buy your services.

It is generally much more shameful to lose a good reputation than never to have acquired it – Pliny the Elder

Once you have established yourself as an expert and are providing a consistent message in terms of your proposition and ability to deliver, it is important to maintain it. It is extremely hard to recover your reputation once it is lost.

The benefits of having the right reputation

One of the most essential benefits, especially in times of economic downturns, is that having a good reputation reduces operating costs. When you are trusted, speed in decision making is increased and cost decreases as you need less risk protection. For example, long legalistic contracts become less necessary and collaboration on projects become easier – often without the need for Non Disclosure Agreements.

An expensive but necessary component in business is having the resources to be able to market yourself effectively. Most traditional marketing techniques are ‘push’ marketing ones. For example, the consultant advertises his services to his target audience, unsure of whether they are looking for his expertise. Having a good reputation can mean that ‘pull’ marketing techniques are used. An example is where the potential client ‘pulls’ your services when he needs it – without specific advertisement. He might decide to use your service based on a referral from an advocate of yours. This means advertising spend has not been made to secure this client.

When a door opens not to your knock, consider your reputation – Arabian proverb

You are more likely to find that the sales cycle is reduced because you have a good reputation. It also enables others to believe that there is less of a risk working with you. This is equally true if you are an interim consultant working for short periods within large companies. A good reputation and a credible persona will help ensure that you are chosen for the role over a more obscure consultant.

Distinguishing yourself from others by being a credible expert with the right reputation makes it easier to be advocated. Advocacy is when an individual is almost evangelical about someone or their services. Advocates understand your business proposition inside out and can sell your services to potential clients with very little intervention from yourself. This reduces your marketing costs as well as your sales cycle.

The current economic climate shows now signs of improving in the short term, and the increased competition for reduced customer spend has meant that establishing and promoting your competitive advantage has never been so crucial. A good, strong and credible reputation is the one thing which can provide you with the superior and sustainable leverage you need to survive the credit crunch, whilst others around you fall by the wayside, and it will not cost you a penny!

Read about Jude and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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A statistic, a reminder

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

The final Discuss HR of the week is by my fellow Gloucestershire resident and experienced HR Consultant John Hepworth, who has written some of our most read posts ever!  I think this one could be up there with them... (Ed Scrivener)

A statistic, a reminder

Recent media reports have highlighted that unemployment amongst ‘young people’ in Spain now stands at 55%. I assume that the demographic relates to those just leaving education or higher education. This means, then, that a larger proportion of 18-24 year olds will have their first taste of the so-called ‘adult world’ as a statistic – no job, no prospects.

Back to the U.K. The latest unemployment figures showed a decline: welcomed and also cynically challenged by a few [“Look at the number of people who want to work more hours, but cannot – that has increased!”]. Yet, here again, there has been a slight increase in youth unemployment – the wonderful acronym NEATs [that is, I think this is correct – I am away from Internet access currently so cannot check. The leads to another blog at some stage, featuring a recent ‘South Park’ storyline, but more of that at a later date...].

Look back to the 1980s. Thatcher’s Britain and UB40 – both in terms of the unemployment form and the reggae-influenced band singing about being “A one in 10...a number on a list...as though I don’t exist”. Is it any wonder that the band UB40 named their first album ‘Signing off’, as their musical success had allowed them to stop claiming ‘the dole’?

And finally, returning to the news reports, the last known miner from the ‘Jarrow Crusade’ has passed away. Part of the Great Depression of the 1930s in the U.K. the Crusade was a visible demonstration of how poverty, lack of work prospects and yet, a dogged determination to succeed and prosper without ‘handouts’, could shape and influence policy and Government attitudes. And above all, the visible demonstration – literally and descriptively – showed the World that there were people at all levels of society ready to say ‘no’ to poverty and take action to change the script.

I am acutely aware that business in the U.K. is tough for most at the moment. Cost of living is relatively static and the key reason that employment has fallen is that pay has been stagnant: people are cheaper to employ, yet that in turn means less money being spent to encourage buying of goods and services for example. We all know the script here. Surely, though, our society has allowed itself to make the same mistakes as the past, especially when it comes to youth unemployment?

Consider this. In the 1980s, it was common for generations of families to be unemployed. This led to a lifestyle that was benefit-dependent, compounded by the complete failure of Government to provide alternative work, or more to the point perhaps, the means to acquire alternative work. Think of Norman Tebbitt and his ‘on yer bike’ quote to get work? I personally agree with the sentiment, but how exactly did Norman or successive Government improve our transport infra-structure in order to help people – optimised by the Jarrow marchers perhaps – get to the work they desired? Remember as well the simply pathetic efforts of Government since the mid-1980s to provide employers and employees / potential employees with access to understandable, focused and competently delivered training and funding. Which new initiative is it this week?!

Time to change the script. To start, private sector employers need to think about investment and training in their society as well as in their profits. As HR practioners, let’s help the CEOs provide 3-6 month paid internments that provide skills, so that recipients can at least point to some ‘relevant experience’ on their CVs. Second – let’s help line managers by recruiting for attitude as much as skills and ensure that we keep our short-listing criteria up-beat and positive, and not lazy by pointing to qualifications and experience as a guillotine. Thirdly, connect with education and ensure that if Twitter is the lifeblood of a certain age group, we encourage our companies to use it and benefit from it. Get savvy with the IT and trash the Social Media Policy and Procedure! Next, value customer service above all else – and recognise that this includes ensuring that bar work and cafe work is probably far more useful than nothing at all. We all remember the last bad meal out we had – and that was usually down to the service – so celebrate good service as consumers at the time that you see it.

And finally, remember that research shows definitively that unemployment in early adulthood significantly alters how those affected relate to society in later life – and it is in the negative. So, the next time you hear someone say of a young graduate or GCSE student that they are ‘over-qualified’ or ‘lack experience’, remember the Spanish youth of today. And do your bit to change the script.

Read about John and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Networking & Schmoozing

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Today’s edition of Discuss HR is by none other than myself, so I’ll get straight to the point! (Ed Scrivener)

Networking & Schmoozing

If you’ve been reading Discuss HR since we started 3 years ago you will know I have written a number of posts relating to networking.  I have commented about how I felt HR could and should do more; I have arranged numerous HR networking events; and I have written how those entering into the world of independent HR consultancy need to appreciate that good sales isn’t phone bashing, but relationship building.  My twitter profile refers to me as a “networker and schmoozer”, the sentiment is sincere albeit expressed in a rather tongue in cheek manner.  In short, or at least short for me, I like networking!

I have spent the bulk of my career as a service provider, so it is easy to suggest my networking was sales focused.  I freely admit that there certainly was an element to that.  I have always believed you need to enter into a networking relationship with the belief that you are looking to help the other person, not just seek their help.  There are so many benefits to good networking; you can learn from your peers; you can find opportunities of all sorts; or you can just make good friends!

I recently benefited from my years of networking.  Late last year I decided it was time for me to make a career change and move away from being a 3^rdparty provider to become an in-house recruiter.  I looked at how I could achieve this move and decided to make a two pronged attack, firstly via social media and secondly via my network.  I reached out to everyone I knew professionally to seek their help and advice about my move and hopefully to hear about suitable opportunities.  To say I was overwhelmed by the response is a huge understatement!  I had numerous conversations with experienced people in the field that were able to advise me as to what information I needed to include in my CV and what approach I needed to take.  I had several referrals from people who flagged roles they had seen advertised.  Probably most valuable of all, I heard about opportunities with organisations where the role has not gone to market yet.  Therefore I wasn’t up against countless other applicants.  I had managed to catch a number of people who were in the process of reviewing their resourcing strategy and so my approach ended up being incredibly timely.  Not every approach resulted in a formal interview, but it would be naive to think it would.  Instead and importantly I become a known quantity within the field for the organisation which should hold me in good stead for the future.  But most importantly of all, these approaches did result in formal interviews (8 in total via networking) and crucially I secured exactly the type of role I wanted.  To further add to the proof that this is the best way to secure a role, I applied for 2 roles via traditional job boards; I wasn’t interviewed for either!

I firmly believe that following my years of taking the effort to go out and meet people both virtually and in real life, coupled with my desire to help them when they needed it resulted in this very positive resolution to my job hunt.  So my advice to anyone, whether you’re looking for work or not, a business owner or employee is to get out and do that networking and schmoozing!

Read about Ed and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Why there are no real bargains in the sales

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

The latest Discuss HR is written by one of our newest editions to the blog.  Jane Malone is a training and development specialist and a budding blogger and her debut post for us is well worth reading. (Ed Scrivener)

Why there are no real bargains in the sales     

As January gives way to February and the January sales draw to a close, there are likely to be few bargains to be found in the remaining sales rails hidden at the back of high street stores.

As high street retailers suffer mixed fortunes, they employ increasingly sophisticated sales techniques to tempt us to part with our hard earned cash in their quest to shift unsold stock.  Items are so heavily discounted that we are tempted into believing that even the most hideous items are ‘must-have’ bargains.  Who cares that that gold sequinned designer dress is just a little too tight, and that most of us  would never have occasion to wear such an impractical item that would languish (with the other sales ‘bargains’) unloved at the back of our wardrobes?  Rationality seems to momentarily dessert us as the reduction from £200 to £20 for what is, after all, a designer dress seems to be a real bargain.  As rational thought returns, however we are reminded that there is a good reason why that dress is still languishing unwanted on the sale rail.

Throughout January and February, I find myself bombarded with similarly packaged ‘bargains’ in the workplace as I face a  barrage of phone calls from training companies offering incredible training solutions (a particular pet hate of mine is offers of’ MBA in a day’ or other such ‘equivalent’ qualifications in equally unrealistic timeframes) at knock-down prices .  From the second week of January onwards my email inbox is clogged with last minute offers of heavily discounted training courses ranging from companies choking my inbox with offers of solutions to manage emails effectively, to generic soft skills training, all making implausible claims to provide a panacea for organisational ills. 

The common theme throughout this annual telephone and email sales assault is the encouragement to ‘spend the remaining training budget’.   In austere times, I find myself perhaps more irritated than in the past at the assumption that the training budget is a pot of money which has to be spent before the end of the financial year rather than funds which have been earmarked for the purpose of improving organisational effectiveness.

This year, as austerity cuts bite deeper and organisations are increasingly being encouraged, or rather demanded, to ‘do more with less’ we need to keep a tighter rein on both our personal finances as well as organisational budgets.  Whilst heavily discounted last-minute training deals may seem tempting, like that gold sequinned designer dress, they are unlikely to be a good (organisational) fit.  At the end of the financial year, if faced with a training budget which has not been totally exhausted, I will not be tempted into panic buying– which will almost certainly be regretted a later date, but rather look at how funds may be reallocated to improve other areas of the organisation.   

In determining which interventions to invest in to improve organisational effectiveness, the real bargains are most likely to be found through effective diagnostic work, market testing and careful planning rather than through an off-the-peg impulse buy.

Read about Jane and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Tears, Tissues, Tea and Sympathy

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Today’s post is by our regular writer Sheena McLullich who asks an excellent question about whether HR is over-looking a traditional area of responsibility in the pursuit to appear credible. (Ed Scrivener)

Tears, Tissues, Tea and Sympathy

Apparently last Monday (21^st January) was Blue Monday – the most depressing day of the year.  Christmas is a rapidly fading memory, New Year’s resolutions have already been abandoned, credit card statements are due for payment, it’s still at least a week until pay day and almost 2 months until the next bank holiday.  Coupled with the usual miserable weather at this time of year, the dark mornings … did you struggle to get up and face the world on Monday morning?

What about your employees?  Is that miserable face at the desk opposite the result of a delayed  train, a sick pet or a symptom of something more serious?  Do you know?  Did you ask?  Should you care…?

As an HR professional, I’ve lost count of the number of times that someone has come into my office and said “can I talk to you …?” before bursting into tears and pouring out details of a tragic event in their lives.  Often their close colleagues had no idea that anything was amiss until the person concerned reached the point where they just had to talk to someone.  It could be money worries, relationship problems, an ill relative, concerns about a child … the list is endless and it often has nothing to do with work. 

Actually, the work ‘stuff’ is usually quite easy to sort out and, in most cases, comes to my attention via a manager who has noticed a problem with performance and comes to ask for advice on how to handle matters. 

Personal problems on the other hand, almost always come from the employee themselves and things have often reached crisis point before they look for help.  It’s one of the reasons why I always have a box of tissues on my desk.  It may not be fashionable in these days of transactional, hard-nosed HR but, believe me, they get used a lot.  That’s something that worries me on occasions.  I’m certainly not the cuddly, maternal ‘Auntie Sheena’ type (cue for howls of laughter from anyone reading this who knows me!) but people do tend to come to me when they feel they’ve no-one else to talk to.  What happens in organisations where there is no HR function or, worse, where there’s an HR function that’s under too much pressure and can’t or won’t take the time to deal with these often time-consuming problems?

I’m not a trained counsellor and I do know that there are times when serious issues must be referred on to a qualified professional or the employee assistance programme (where there is one).  Sometimes though, people just need to talk things through or may need persuading to contact a third party.  Sometimes I simply have to make them a cup of tea – and wait until they’re ready.  All these things can take time out of an already hectic schedule but I believe that they have to take priority. 

Tears and tissues.  Tea and sympathy.  They’re seen in many quarters as old-fashioned ‘personnel’ qualities but if HR doesn’tdeal with them, who will? 

Read about Sheena and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

*****

If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Stress and the HR Professional

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Happy New Year!

The New Year has brought some notable changes to the blog.  I have re-designed the blog with the intent of making it more user friendly for you.  I hope I have achieved this and would welcome your feedback.  Secondly and more importantly, I am delighted to welcome a host of new writers to the Discuss HR team.  We have doubled our size and now number 16 HR professionals with some exceptional bloggers to boot.  Finally, we will now publish our posts twice weekly, typically every Monday and Thursday morning.  I hope you enjoy these changes and without further ado one of our new writers, who you may well recognise from prior guest posts, Wendy Mason.  (Ed Scrivener)

Stress and the HR Professional

As you know stress is the body's way of responding to the demands put on it. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed at work (and elsewhere) their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. These chemicals give us more energy and strength to deal with immediate pressures. They can give us the strength to deal with an emergency and then, when the pressure disappears, the chemicals just disappear from the body.  

As an HR professional I suspect you can think of lots of times when you have had to react in just this way.  For example, when there is sudden and unpleasant news to be delivered.  But what happens when we are under constant stress – for example, when we have to deal with a complicated and extended down-sizing exercise?  Well, again as you probably know, that same helpful fight or fright response starts to work against us. If we are under constant stress, the chemicals released remain in our bodies causing the more unpleasant symptoms of stress.  These have been associated with things like heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes. Certainly, stress can contribute to alcoholism, obesity, drug addiction, cigarette use and depression.

Why if you know about this already, am I rehearsing here?  Well, for the very good reason that I think we are much better at warning our clients about the effects of stress, than thinking about and managing our own stress.  Why do I think that? Mainly, I’m basing my assumption on my own experience.

I can think of two large tasks in HR which led me to have to deal with my own symptoms of stress. 

The first was major down-sizing exercise I led for a government department which should probably be nameless.  It was a department that traditionally had employed battalions of copy typists. With the advent of word-processing, their work had disappeared and guess who was charged with giving the good news and managing the resulting organizational change.  Unfortunately, at that time, their location and what was happening elsewhere in the department meant there was very little possibility of re-deployment. Many of them I knew personally and I knew how dependent they were on the jobs we provided. It hurt.  It hurt them and it hurt me.  Oh I could rationalise it till the cows came home. We all knew why it was happening, but it still hurt and it went on hurting.  

On the other occasion, I had a complicated and challenging TUPE transfer to manage - 2000 people from 112 different employers all being moved into one new organization. It had to be done quickly and it was full of uncertainty because the organization they were to join didn’t exist yet.  I have never worked so hard.

Somehow both tasks were completed with relative success. Many of the copy typists opted with our support to try completely new things and to be prepared to be flexible in looking for new work.  The TUPE transfer took place as planned with far less hiccups than some had predicted.

But, among others, I paid a price. Stress can affect how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body works. I spent much of that time feeling irritable and anxious.  I was not a particularly pleasant colleague and I was certainly not a very pleasant partner at home. I spent quite a lot of time with my thoughts racing, expecting the worst to happen.  Plus, on top of that, I found I was suffering from sinusitis which for me is a stress reaction.  

I was very lucky; I had an understanding and supportive partner at home and a very good team at work.  But had I been more willing to admit to myself that I was showing the signs of stress and then sought help, things might have been a lot more comfortable and, who knows, I might have had an even more successful result.  I might have been able to do even more to ameliorate the negative effects of the changes for others.

If I was facing the same challenges now, I would certainly monitor how I was feeling more closely and take action earlier.  For example, I would certainly have considered working with a counsellor in parallel with my own work.  I have done that since when under unavoidable stress and it can make a huge difference to my own ability to cope.

Only you know how you feel at the moment about the amount of stress you carry.  Have the confidence to take an honest look at yourself and to seek the help you would be so willing provide to others.  I know in HR work you cannot avoid stress but I wish you every success in handling yours well and perhaps a little better than I have done in the past.

Wendy Mason 7th January 2013

Read about Wendy and our other authors here

*****

Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

*****

If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

Any source

Sheena McLullich - 2012

In the final review of the year we look back at the writing of our HR Director Sheena McLullich.  Sheena has written some of our most entertaining posts of the year.  One thing that is clear is that Sheena has a wonderful ability to be able to relate her experience to a topic. (Ed Scrivener)

2012

• What’s in a name? 23^rd February
• Bank Holiday3^rd May
• A little ray of sunshine – please! 15^th August
• Cruising in comfort and style 27^th September
• What did you do in the war Grannie? 29^th November

2011

• Full back catalogue

About the author

Sheena began her career in Training & Development before moving to a generalist HR position in 1998.  Since then she has held senior HR roles for several SMEs in a wide range of industries. A Fellow of the CIPD and Member of the US SHRM, she has a keen interest in Employee Development, specifically in coaching and supporting managers to enable them to get the best from their people.  She was appointed as Director of People for SPA Future Thinking in September 2011.

Email | LinkedIn| Website

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  

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Jill Hart-Sanderson - 2012

In our penultimate review of the year, we look back at the writing of Jill Hart-Sanderson.  Jill has written some of the more engaging posts of the year and she has a wonderful knack, that I have completely failed to master, or delivering concise and to the point posts! See I’m waffling again! (Ed Scrivener)

2012

• Do you hear or do you listen 16^th February
• The boating business 26^th April
• Policy and procedure as Granny would understand it 4^th July
• How much does HR cost? 12^th September
• What’s the Point? 22^nd November

2011

• Full back catalogue

About the author

Jill is passionate about using creativity to unlock people's potential, finding practical solutions that make a real difference to organisations.  Her extensive management experience in both the public and private sectors combined with HR consultancy has given her a real insight into how great HR can transform individuals and businesses.

Email | LinkedIn

*****

Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK. 

Any source