Last month, we examined five common issues that businesses face, which can be improved with help from HR. The great thing about People Matters is that our assistance can help your business through more than just those five troubles.
We’ve compiled a list of five additional common workplace issues that can benefit from our outsourced HR services.
1.Appraisal
As mentioned earlier, employees appreciate knowing how they fit in, how the work they do is of high quality and that they are performing their jobs correctly. One way you can communicate this to your team is through appraisal meetings. These are great ways to discuss how your people have developed in their roles and how they can contribute to the success of your organisation. It helps them to know that you’re aware of their progress and that you appreciate the effort they make daily.
It also provides the opportunity to hone their capabilities and encourage them to undertake training or development activities to help them thrive in their role (if they wish). Through honest feedback and setting individual goals, your team can improve and flourish.
2. Investigations
Sometimes things at work might not go as smoothly as you’d like. While they’re hopefully not everyday occurrences, when issues like misconduct, underperformance, absence problems, capability issues, and grievances come to light, it’s vital that an independent third party, like ourselves, is brought in to understand these situations.
These investigations should focus on the facts of the situation so that the solution yields a suitable resolution. An investigation must be fair, unbiased, comprehensive, compliant with company policy and employment law and confidential. We can provide your business with a service that meets all of these requirements.
3. Grievance
Many employees may feel that they can’t share their grievances, fearing a negative response from their employer or colleagues. Employees may fear workplace alienation or worry that management will make their lives more difficult. Employees may fear that what they say will become public knowledge, and they might think that they won’t receive a proper resolution.
Allow your employees to express their issues freely, so you can work together to find mutually beneficial solutions. If employees can’t voice their potential concerns, the problems will continue to fester and may potentially worsen.
People Matter can investigate, assess, and advise you on how to handle grievances to ensure fair treatment and resolution.
4. Performance management and capability
Since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, performance issues can arise. They may lack clarity in their job role and need additional support or further training. You may have assigned them a task outside their area of expertise or experience. You should provide feedback and discuss concerns with them, and listen to their perspective.
Involve your HR team in these meetings to help create balanced discussions and prevent hostility. It’s understandable for your employee to feel like they are being criticised, which might make them defensive. We keep the discussion focused on what matters, such as nurturing talent and setting realistic personal development goals. By supporting managers and employees in the meeting, we can ensure that the conversation stays objective and that everyone is supported.
Regular one-to-ones with your employees can help you to identify underlying issues your people may be facing, whether personal or work-based. By bringing attention to the source of these problems, you can then begin to find solutions. From here, you can conduct performance reviews, where employee progress and development can be effectively tracked. It’s a great opportunity to provide ongoing feedback to team members. It encourages them to develop and improve.
5. Disciplinary
Sometimes, more serious concerns may arise, including conduct issues, where employees are failing to meet standards of behaviour. These problems often require escalation, and you may need to take further action.
If disciplinary action is required, People Matters will ensure it’s done professionally and ethically following due process, which is vital. If the process isn’t followed, employers can lose Employment Tribunals for failing to follow their policies, employment law or ACAS codes of practice.
If you’ve faced these issues in the past without professional HR support, you will realise how stressful this can be. However, if you have People Matters HR to support and advise you, you can rely on a professionally qualified, experienced team to guide your business towards the best solutions.