People Management August UK

August 2017

How can I help?

I heard AI will replace one third of UK jobs We’ll still need HR though, won’t we?

In partnership with

Experience the best digital learning.

Then deploy it.

Build the skills that matter with our Digital CIPD L&D Awards These are short, sharp programmes that let you choose the L&D skills you want to master, then deepen your expertise in a uniquely immersive, collaborative digital environment.

TJ 2016

Gold Winner

Best Training Partnership – Gold

In just 8 weeks, you’ll have the pioneering insights and practical knowledge to embed great learning experiences in your own organisation.

Online programmes brought to you in partnership between CIPD Enterprises and AVADO.

Best online distance learning programme 2016 – Silver

Book today – cipd.co.uk/digitallearning

p18

Contents August 2017 ‘Chatbots’ have revolutionised customer service. Now they’ve come for HR, and can already perform many parts of an HR assistant’s role. While it might be welcome news that bothersome queries about holiday allocation can be automated, in just a matter of months AI will also be able to coach, offer recruitment advice and make reward decisions. Is that a threat to HR jobs – or a chance to take on a more valuable role?

Robert Jeffery Editor

p20

p32

News & analysis

Welcome from the CIPD p5 This month we’ve learned… p6 NEWS: Taylor review: what you need to know p8 PLUS Will new IR35 rules hit the private sector?

Legal lowdown p14 Columnist Penny Mordaunt MP p17

Case studies Dr Martens p18 AMV BBDO p20 Inzpire p23

SIMON FERNANDEZ, PETER SEARLE, SUPERSTOCK, ALAMY

Features

COVER AI vs HR p24 Artificial intelligence is ripping up the HR rule book – but we haven’t seen the end of humans just yet HR’s guide to conflict resolution p32 There’s more than one way to solve an office argument Mo’ money, mo’ problems p36 Why payroll errors are becoming more common and costly – and how to prevent them Do we still need executive headhunters? p40 Recruiting in-house has never been easier, but specialist knowledge still reigns at the top level

Career path

Who I am Andy Preacher p45 Reviews p46 The Fixer p49 People and posts p50 Research p53 CIPD Focus p54 Could HR solve...? Office Space p58

nversation Join the co ter: on Twit

t @peoplemg

Saveate theyedar’s CIPDnce

This l Confere on a Annu xhibition is and E ovember 8-9 N o.uk/ace cipd.c

p58

INTRODUCING

ALL- NEW FORD FIESTA

MOVING YOUR FLEET FORWARD WITH THE UK’S MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED SMALL CAR

TO FIND OUT MORE SEARCH: ALL- NEW FORD FIESTA Official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the All-New Ford Fiesta range: urban 40.9 - 80.7 (6.9 - 3.5), extra urban 67.3 - 94.2 (4.2- 3.0), combined 54.3 - 88.3 (5.2 - 3.2). Official CO 2 emissions 118 - 82g/km.

The mpg figures quoted are sourced from official EU-regulated test results (EU Directive and Regulation 692/2008), are provided for comparability purposes and may not reflect your actual driving experience.

Welcome from the CIPD

r a le c l a st y r c is a d n e g a r u O Peter Cheese Chief executive

that I believe there has never been said I’ve , ago rs yea five PD CI the at ted Since I star profession, but that we also need to our for e tim ing rest inte or ant ort imp re a mo context around the world of work and step up. There have been some big shifts in er been clearer. There is more traction nev business, but the agenda in many ways has iness leaders for change and for bus and rs esto inv s, tor ula reg s, ker ma icy among pol ple at work – from corporate governance peo on us foc and of ing and erst und ter bet routes into work. These are just some of and trust, to wellbeing, diversity, skills and ively campaign around. the areas that the CIPD continues to act in skills. Everyone

John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield published his review into UK productivity last summer

HANNAH J TAYLOR, PRESS ASSO

CIATION

p8

of decreasing investment As Frances O’Grady, general secretar yry has a role to play, whether big or small, in e the TUC, wrote in the CIPD centena ensuring that work not only creates valu issue of People Management in June t for organisations but also enriches the 2013: “We need to rediscover that grea lives of the people who work in them. shared goal of humanising work. ‘Better These are huge agendas, and working lives’ isn’t idealistic dreaming. ieving real change requires not only ach It’s vital for recruitment, retention and collaboration and engagement with business productivity.” leaders, but also listening to the voices of Our purpose as a profession is the many. We try to influence from both to champion better working lives, ends – providing evidence and insight to providing opportunity, inclusive and engage with influencers, drawing on the flexible work environments, and work collective wisdom of our profession and that helps to get the best out of people. h also helping to develop our capabilities In the last few years we’ve become muc so we have the confidence to be positive more aware, as a society, of how the agents of change. nature of work is vital to engagement, y.

The new Professional Standards tivit duc wellbeing, innovation and pro Framework we are developing focuses These themes have been highlighted more on principles and what drives in two major reviews, initiated by the us, grounding our thinking more UK government, which the CIPD has firmly in evidence and with a clearer contributed to. The Taylor review on understanding of the outcomes we modern working practices has called out want to create. the aspiration of creating good work for Perhaps the biggest shifts we all need all, and recommended clarification and are the shifts in mindset. From there, we definition of workers’ rights. Meanwhile, can change behaviours and, with the right the establishment of a productivity insights, evidence and support, we can council, following the Mayfield make the future of work better for all, productivity review, has highlighted all where work is a force for good in which the people-related aspects of work that we all flourish as individuals and can are critical to improving productivity. contribute to society and the economy.

Better work must also result in The next five years will be critical. better outcomes for everyone. The key to building better businesses, and a better economy, is dealing with the long-standing challenges that have led us to a point where pay is stagnating, is trust in business is declining and there peoplemanagement.co.uk

5

This month we’ve learned...

The big lesson ‘Overpaid’ staffin iringline {Reward}

Education secretary Justine Greening says employers must pull their weight by offering apprenticeships

{Labour market}

Apprenticeshippressurepileson Four months on from the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, on-the-job training is still not out of the headlines. This time it was comments from education secretary Justine Greening that caused a stir.

At the British Chambers of Commerce’s Business and Education Summit 2017, she called on all employers to offer apprenticeships and work experience placements to support the development of homegrown talent. Greening said industry and government must work together to create “an army of skilled young people…

It’s how we put our country’s destiny back in our own hands.”

But despite governmental enthusiasm, confusion reigns over how apprenticeships work in practice. A fifth (18 per cent) of levy-paying employers surveyed by The Open University admitted that they still didn’t know how

PRESS ASSOCIATION, GETTY IMAGES

“Some irms maywrite the levyoff as tax,or use itto rebadge existing training”

6

peoplemanagement.co.uk

the scheme works. A further fifth said they had no current plans to use levy funding – although a little over half (54 per cent) said they were already using levy funds.

“It’s concerning that there is still a substantial proportion of employers that have no current plans to use it at all,” said Lizzie Crowley, skills adviser at the CIPD. “There’s evidence that these employers will therefore write it off as tax and not use it to fund apprenticeships, while others use it to rebadge existing training provision.”

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), which is working alongside the government to oversee the apprenticeship levy, has said there will be “zero tolerance” towards employers that do not provide apprentices with the requisite 20 per cent off-the-job training.

“We will be checking very carefully to ensure the 20 per cent threshold is being offered and, where it is not, you are not just putting the money you have procured for your apprenticeships at risk, but your place in the market,” warned ESFA’s director of funding and programmes, Keith Smith.

Pay differentials between the public and private sectors don’t sound that exciting, but they always provoke fierce debate. And in July, the chancellor waded right in when he reportedly said public sector staff were “overpaid” during a Cabinet meeting.

A source told The Sunday Times that Philip Hammond’s comments caused “astonishment” and that “later in the meeting both Boris Johnson and the PM said we should not say public sector workers are overpaid”.

Damage limitation was the order of the day, but Hammond’s subsequent appearances on Sunday morning political shows only served to stoke the fire further, when he said public sector pensions distorted the pay gap. “It is a simple fact – independent figures show that public sector workers, on average, are paid about 10 per cent more than private sector workers,” Hammond said.

“You can’t eat your pension, you can’t feed your kids with your pension contribution, I understand that.”

Analysis released the following day by the TUC showed that public sector workers’ wages had dropped significantly when adjusted significantly for inflation. Salaries of paramedics were down £3,800 a year since 2010, firefighters’ pay had dropped firefighters’ £2,900 and teachers by approximately £2,500, it said.

per cent blamed bad management. Almost half of managers surveyed attributed their employees’ low productivity to tea and smoking breaks.

HR has a key part to play in boosting workplace productivity, said Katie Bailey, professor of management at the University of Sussex.

“Training, development, employee engagement and investment in employees’ progress are all vital to improving productivity, as is enhancing your management style,” she said.

{Employee relations}

Time’s a wastin’

Two-thirds of employees have admitted to wasting at least an hour a day at work, according to a new report from Capita Workforce Management.

A third of the 250 blue collar British workers surveyed said talking to colleagues was the main hindrance to their productivity, while 23 {Diversity}

SPLisn’tprovingpopular

Another month, and more evidence that the government’s flagship shared parental leave (SPL) policy has failed to hit the mark with new dads. Only 7,100 men took paid SPL in 2016, according to new figures from HMRC obtained by People Management. HMRC does not track the number of men who opt to take unpaid SPL.

But there was some good news: the number of men receiving statutory paternity pay in 2016-17 was up 5.7 per cent on 2013-14’s figures.

“On paper, SPL gives new parents much more choice and flexibility about taking leave to look after a new baby,” said Rachel Suff, employee relations adviser at the CIPD. “However, the complexity of the rules and the fi nancial gap financial between statutory maternity pay and statutory shared parental pay in the early weeks are clearly outweighing these positives in reality for many.”

Inga Beale has be as a role model en hailed fo leaders; will ne r LGBT+ w dad Liam Payne show th e shared parent way on al leave?

wants to help Cary Cooper (left) s; new dad mp slu of t ou rs rke wo ly afford to take Jay-Z can probab leave y nit ter pa s generou

{Employee relations}

The one where Ra ch probably shouldn el ’t be alone with her assis left tant

Safetyinnumbers

There’s no doubt we still need to talk about gender equality at work. Just make sure you’ve got a chaperone when you do.

A survey of more than 5,000 Americans last month revealed that one in four felt it was inappropriate to hold a work meeting alone with a member of the opposite sex. And almost two-thirds thought ‘extra care’ should be taken when fraternising with the opposite sex in the workplace.

While The New York Times reported tales of employees leaving office doors open during meetings or asking colleagues to step in to avoid one-on-ones, some suggested the figures were inaccurate.

But one fan of the singlesex rule is vice president Mike Pence, who has said he won’t eat alone with a woman who isn’t his wife. Given that most of his work meetings involve Donald Trump, you’d think he’d have bigger issues...

{Diversity}

OneinthreeLGBT peoplebulliedatwork

Although London saw one of its biggest-ever Pride marches last month, some LGBT+ workers still aren’t feeling the love at the office. In a survey of more than 5,000 LGBT people by the TUC, more than a third (36 per cent) said they had been bullied or harassed at work.

Around three five in fi ve of those who had been harassed or bullied said they did not tell their employer, and just 12 per cent reported the incident to HR. “Let’s be clear – homophobia

and transphobia at work are undermining, humiliating and can have a huge effect on mental health,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. “LGBT workers are often left feeling ashamed and frightened. It has no place in a modern workplace, or in wider society.”

The survey also found that only half of respondents were open about their sexuality at work. This matches other research, often cited by LGBT+ business leaders such as Lloyd’s CEO Inga Beale, that revealed 62 per cent of university graduates go back into the closet when they join the workforce. peoplemanagement.co.uk

7

TAYLOR REVIEW

Isthistheend ofagency work?

The Taylor review included some radical ideas for the future of flexible working, potentially placing agencies in the firing line

I

n the short time since the publication of the long-awaited Taylor review of modern working practices, plenty has been written about its possible implications for the future of work. But one of its most intriguing effects has been less discussed – it could spell the beginning of the end for employment agencies that supply temporary workers.

“Many employers will have perceived the focus of the Taylor review to be the gig economy but, in fact, it is much broader – it is apparent that Taylor and his panel have concerns

8

peoplemanagement.co.uk

over the treatment of some agency workers and want the government to act,” says Diane Gilhooley, head of the global human resources group at Eversheds Sutherland.

While the report, which estimates that there are as many as 1.2 million agency workers in the UK, does not dispute the importance of a flexible workforce to businesses, it adds that some employers are falling back on agency staff “when they could be more forward thinking in their scheduling”.

The proposals put forward

by Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA, include

extending a right to agency workers who have been with the same employer for 12 months or more to request a direct contract with that hirer. Large employers would be required to publicly disclose how many agency workers they are using.

Calling the review a “promising step... to start closing loopholes and protecting workers”, Chris Moore, president of group operations at The Adecco Group UK &

Ireland, says: “The UK’s contingent labour market remains one of the economy’s biggest assets. But to harness this, we need employers to be more transparent.”

Although the Recruitment & Employment Confederation welcomes the Taylor review, chief executive Kevin Green says: “We have some questions about the recommendations, including that employers should be obliged to report on their use of agency workers, as it’s unclear how this would benefit individuals and could

“Wethink lexibility canbefound without using derogation”

PRESS ASSOCIATION

WORDS HAYLEY KIRTON

News & analysis The Taylor review proposes to act in this area by culling the Swedish derogation rule within the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR). This rule, named because it was introduced 1 ‘Worker’ status should be at the Swedish replaced by the idea of ‘dependent contractors’ to sit government’s between self-employment request, creates an and full employment. They exemption to the would have greater employment general rule that rights than workers do currently, and there would be clearer agency workers guidelines on determining should be granted employment status. the same basic 2 Anyone employed on a zeropay as comparable hours contract for 12 months employees or more should have the right after a 12-week to request fixed hours. qualifying period.

3 Gig economy platforms should While the AWR pay the average worker 1.2 expressly prohibits times the minimum wage, though employers from no individual minimum rate of pay was mandated. structuring work specifically to 4 Individuals should be able to avoid equal pay, determine their employment status before going to a tribunal. the Taylor review Businesses that fail to reflect researchers came tribunal rulings on the status across examples of their workers could be fined. where this had clearly been happening, including instances where workers were pressured into accepting such terms 11 create unnecessary bureaucracy weeks into their contract. for businesses.”

“Th “Thee reason we decided in The The proliferation of agency the end – we thought quite work has sparked interest among deeply about it – to get legislators over the last few rid of the Swedish years, amid reports that it has derogation, is become commonplace for that it’s clear it large retailers in particular is being abused to staff distribution centres and we think the solely with agency workers fl flexibility exibility that who have fewer rights than employers and almost any other part agencies of the labour market. want Th Thee Resolution can be Theresa May has previo Foundation think usly made promises to imp tank has said workers’ rights – but how rove ma agency workers are of Taylor’s recommenda ny tions being routinely will she act on? ‘exploited’ by employers.

TheTaylorreview ataglance

found without using that derogation,” Taylor said shortly after the report’s publication.

However, agencies warn that there may be unintended consequences. “The Swedish derogation provides agency workers with full employment rights, and was agreed by the government and all stakeholders including unions as part of negotiations in 2009 to implement the Agency Workers Directive,” says Green. “We are concerned that any attempt to amend the AWR risks watering down the rights for individuals and would create uncertainty for business.”

Although none of its members use the Swedish derogation rules regularly, Samantha Hurley, operations director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, adds: “It is illogical to simply demonise all use. Obviously, abusing regulations to avoid paying workers is scandalous, but we urge the government to tackle individual cases of abuse – where the model is used to avoid the obligation of basic comparable pay – rather than abolish certain worker models completely.”

Philip Harman, partner in the employment and pensions group at law fi firm rm DAC Beachcroft Beachcroft,, says: “Th “This is opt out is used extensively in the sector and there is the counter argument that, rather than operating as a disadvantage to workers, it provides a degree of pay security for agency workers in between assignments in return for waiving the right to parity of pay with comparable employees. A repeal would significant result in signifi cant upheaval to those areas of the sector relying upon the opt out.”

Worstwork ork experienceever ce ever

Twitter users expected a deluge of negative comments when 15-year-old work experience student Eddie took over the account of beleaguered train firm Southern last month.

Fortunately, Eddie was welcomed into Twitter’s open arms – but here are three interns who weren’t so lucky: In 2002, Thad Roberts stole moon rocks worth millions of dollars from NASA to impress a fellow intern he’d fallen in love with. He was sentenced to 100 months in prison.

A work experience student at Chelsea Football Club was shot by an air rifle wielded by Ashley Cole in 2011.

After a company had spent a year finalising a deal with shipping firm UPS, an intern sent the final deal to UPS via FedEx – their primary rival.

The partnership was sunk.

“Maternity can in no way be an obstacle for access to a job” Health minister Dolors Montserrat on Spanish airline Iberia’s policy of administering pre-employment pregnancy tests

23% of sick days taken by UK dog and cat owners are to look after their ill pets SOURCE: ANIMAL FRIENDS SURVEY

peoplemanagement.co.uk

9

News & analysis

Coffeenation Four in five Brits regularly work from a local coffee shop, according to a recent survey.

More than half (56 per cent) of respondents work from a cafe every week, spending an average of £10 on food and drink per working session, which lasts, on average, 93 minutes. And it’s not just the self-employed turning to ‘coffice’ working – threequarters of those who work in larger businesses (of more than 250 staff) often shun the office in favour of a coffee shop. While two-fifths (43 per cent) are concerned about the lack of privacy associated with working in a public cafe, one in three had attended a job interview in one. But at what price comes the flexibility of cafe working? The research estimates that, taking into account travel and food and drink expenses, the average UK worker spends more than £2,160 a year on coffee shop working.

SOURCE: MYVOUCHERCODES

£10

£2,160

“We’re frugal, and we use our money to fund what we think are really impactful and meaningful things” Boxed CEO Chieh Huang, whose company contributes up to $20,000 to full-time employees’ weddings

10

peoplemanagement.co.uk

‘Disaster’loomsifcontractortaxruleschange IR35 could be extended into private sector in spring 2018, say experts

E

xperts have warned of huge logistical also for the businesses relying on their flexibility challenges ahead for HR departments and expertise. Temple told People Management: if IR35 rules governing contractors are “As we negotiate Brexit, it’s imperative that the extended into the private sector.

UK remains an attractive place to do business.

The rules, which mean contractors must Pushing this damaging legislation into the private be paid through PAYE, came into effect in the sector will have a catastrophic impact.” public sector in April and have already led to With the public sector changes causing “chaos”, significant disruption. There are now according to Andy Chamberlain strong indications that they could – deputy director of policy at be expanded into the private sector the Association of Independent as early as spring 2018, according Professionals and the Self-Employed of public sector to recruiters.

– private sector employers may have to contractors said in IR35 means public sector share in the task of “deciding whether April they planned to employers must deduct tax and the notoriously complex rules apply to quit the sector if they national insurance contributions individual engagements”. were affected by IR35 from contractors’ pay at source If the introduction of the rules in and treat them as employees for the public sector is anything to go by, tax purposes, rather than allowing Charles Cotton, performance and reported an increase in reward adviser at the CIPD, said: them to defer and claim expenses. day rates being sought “It isn’t a matter of whether [the “There is a risk that some contractors by contractors after private sector extension] will be could ask for more money, though IR35, according to implemented, it’s when,” said Geoff recruiter Michael Page the ability to do so will depend Fawcett, director at Hays. “It could on their skills and the ability of be as early as spring 2018 but, with organisations to pay.” the current political landscape and There are many who will see the aim Estimated additional ongoing uncertainty, it might be of IR35 – which attempts to equalise tax take from the first pushed back to 2019 or later.” the tax treatment of employees and year of IR35 in the Fawcett is not alone in this non-employees who are effectively public sector outlook. Crystal Umbrella doing the same job – as laudable. reported that a straw poll of The potential private sector extension recruitment agencies at a seminar hosted by follows the aborted attempt to increase national employment law consultancy Lawspeed found insurance charges for the self-employed in that most thought the tax rules would be rolled chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring budget; the out to the private sector within the next two years. Treasury is believed by many industry sources to Meanwhile, Crawford Temple, chief executive be looking for other ways to raise revenue from of PRISM, the trade body for umbrella those outside traditional forms of employment. companies, believes extending the rules would be HMRC did not respond to People “a complete disaster” – not just for contractors but Management’s request for comment.

85%

20%

£185m

THE FRONT LINE

Ideaswe’ve heardfrom theexperts thismonth

HR should be cautious when it comes to using data about employees, urged Adam Yearsley, global head of talent management at Red Bull, at the HR360 European Summit in Vienna. “Customers have a choice to opt in or not about data. The power differential is very different with employees – you pay their bonus. They could leave, but that’s a big decision. We [HR] proceed

with more caution than the marketing department.”

Diversity isn’t just about hiring, Monica Rancati, HR director for western Europe at Microsoft, told the HR360 Summit. “How do you make them feel valued once they are on board? Are you making sure diverse ideas are properly considered? Are you evaluating performance without bias?”

When highly professional people are suspended or made redundant, you need to look out for their wellbeing, said Carrie Birmingham, reflecting at an London HR Connection event on her role as HR director at News UK at the time of the phone-hacking scandal. “It’s not healthy for people who work very hard and who are passionate to suddenly stop getting up for work.”

INTERVIEW CATHRYN NEWBERY PHOTOGRAPHY PETER SPINNEY

Q&A

“Toooften,startalentisspread thinlikepeanutbutter” Author Michael Mankins explains why high performers

T

should be targeted to perform mission-critical tasks

he attention surrounding new book Time, Talent, Energy has so far focused on the almost unbelievable fact that the most productive companies get as much done by 10am on a Thursday as average organisations do in a whole week.

But, says co-author and partner at Bain & Company Michael Mankins, the book has more critical findings for HR: “I’ve become quite obsessed about talent, and I think readers should be, too.”

What explains the difference – which is more than 20 per cent – is deployment. We call it ‘intentional non-egalitarianism’: pick the roles most important to delivering strategy, and concentrate star talent in those roles.

Teaming is a big deal as well. We asked executives: how do you assemble teams for mission-critical initiatives?

The best companies were nine times more likely to say they ‘create assault teams of our very best people’. The rest were more likely to say teams were based What was the idea behind the book? on ‘who’s available’ or ‘subject matter People who are my age went through expertise’. But if you don’t have your best business school being taught that financial people on your crucial teams, you can’t capital was what separated the winners from expect initiatives to be completed ahead of, the losers. I was taught virtually nothing or even on, schedule or on budget. about human capital in business school.

It’s only in the last few years, since the crisis You’ve talked in the past about in 2008, that financial capital has become measuring leaders on a talent super abundant for most companies in the balance sheet. Is that realistic? western world.

I think so. And the company that has gone The real scarce resources are the time, the furthest is Dell. It noticed that teams talent and energy of an organisation’s who rated their leaders as inspiring achieved workforce and, more specifically, the great a 16 per cent difference in quota retirement ideas that people come up with and execute [sales revenue] – which would equate to every day. If you don’t manage that with the half a billion dollars in revenue a year across same discipline we were taught to manage the whole firm. So now if you are rated as financial capital, you’re unlikely to be uninspiring for more than three review among the winners in the next 30 years. cycles in a row, you can’t be promoted. If the next person in line is hyper inspiring, you What it is about top companies’ talent can be replaced and managed out. management strategies that boosts It sounds brutal, but they’d say ‘we their productivity? believe inspirational leadership can be We describe in the book the typical taught so if you don’t improve it’s because model for talent management as being you don’t want to learn’. And why would ‘unintentional egalitarianism’. That means we want our teams to be subject to that? It essentially they ‘peanut butter’ star talent hurts us financially, because productivity across all roles and all teams, and star leaders suffers, but it also hurts our turnover across those teams. It’s unintentional, but among team members. So what sounds that’s what ends up happening. We thought brutal is actually humane, because for it was easy to explain why the best are better every employee the average experience is – they just have better people. But it turns improving over time. out that the best and the rest have about the ✶ We have one signed copy of Time, Talent, Energy same mix of star talent; only about one in to give to a lucky reader. Visit bit.ly/PMwinTTE by 31 August to enter seven employees is a star.

Michael Mankins says human capital must be treated with the same discipline as financial capital

peoplemanagement.co.uk

11

PM HAS A DRINK WITH…

ENIO PIRRI EUG Chief people and culture officer, Do you think globally or locally when introducing new initiatives?

We create, refine and test our initiatives locally before rolling them out to everyone.

We adapt them so they fit with the local culture – not just of the country we are in, but of the hotel. Our oldest hotel dates back to 1836 and our youngest is six years old. Each one has a different history and culture, so you have to be able to adapt.

Culture is the biggest factor in the success of any initiative. You have to be patient and educate staff on the ‘why’ so that they understand the importance of the changes.

INTERVIEW GEORGI GYTON

What do you look for in new talent, and have the aptitudes you need changed recently?

What we need and where we look for it is changing rapidly. It used to be really important to hire people who had various experiences in the job – now it’s the opposite. We are looking for a different type of talent and skillset, in terms of the way employees solve problems Pirri believes or seek opportunities to technology wi ll create ultimate customer benefit his business experiences, for example.

We need people who think outside the box and have a genuine way of engaging with guests. No amount of past experience is going to give you that. I don’t believe in looking at employee turnover as a factor anymore, either. What people achieve during the time they are with you is more important than simply how long they have been with you.

Hospitality is traditionally about personal service and the human touch. How will technology change your industry?

I don’t believe robots are going to take over people’s jobs, but I do think technological advancement is going to be an amazing enabler for us to provide service more efficiently and uniquely – to find out exactly what the guest wants, and deliver it. I believe this is where technology is going to be such a benefit to us. We will see some automation in the background, but certainly in our style of hotel we will not be putting a machine in front of someone.

12

peoplemanagement.co.uk

Howtotakelearningtothenextlevel L&D hacks fr from om smartphones to shared practice

D

igital technologies are transforming the way people learn – but reflecting them in your L&D efforts doesn’t have to mean raiding the budget. There are plenty of costconscious ways to ‘hack’ organisational learning, according to Andy Lancaster, the CIPD’s head of learning and development content. At a special event in partnership with Avado – held at Google’s new, state-of-the-art London learning hub – he outlined some of the best: Video and podcasts “If you have a mobile phone, you have a podcasting suite in your pocket,” said Lancaster, explaining that L&D professionals could create cheap, easy content on the go, and encourage employees to do the same.

Curating resources L&D professionals have an increasingly important role in showing employees how to find the best content from external sources, which means having a handle on the most relevant information and people beyond your four walls. “We know we’re good at what we do, but there’s loads of other great information out there,” said Lancaster.

‘Working out loud’ The practice of sharing new information as you come across it can help internal subject matter experts disperse their knowledge throughout the organisation. Blogs are a great way to do this but, if you can get key people vlogging as a matter of course, it’s even more engaging.

“Ifyou have amobile phone, you havea podcasting suiteinyour pocket”

Get your key people to follow Zoella’s lead by sharing information through vlogs

Social forums ‘Shared spaces’ such as internal social networks can be a great way to encourage knowledge sharing among employees, but the issue of control has to be dealt with up front. “L&D professionals create the environment where the communication takes place and make sure it works – but we don’t control the learning,” he said.

Back channels Adding chat facilities can make online courses such as MOOCs far more interactive. “In one organisation, we had a woman who had to fly in on a helicopter for courses,” said Lancaster. “It was extremely cool that we found another way for her to learn.”

External communities of practice Most professionals can tap into peer groups where they can share ideas and meet others who face similar challenges – L&D professionals should embrace such opportunities rather than fear them, he said.

Virtual classrooms The right digital learning opportunities enable L&D professionals to engage with hundreds of people at a time, said Lancaster – and the content created through such interactions can be shared through social media or other active tools, rather than simply being left on a learning management system to be found.

PRESS ASSOCIATION

WHO Dorchester Collection WHERE Lansdowne House, London WHAT Espresso

GETTY IMAGES

& analysis

Are AreEnglishtestsfornursesfair?

English tests for nurses fair?

Experts make the case for and against new language quizzes said to be deterring applicants

O

verseas nurses are being turned down for roles in the UK despite the ongoing recruitment crisis afflicting the NHS, according to a recent study that pointed the finger at the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). International nurses applying to work in the UK must sit the tests, but the Observer says only

YES

around one in six candidates pass, and many native English speakers such as Australians have been turned down.

Those moving to the UK who want to register as a nurse or midwife must achieve at least a level 7 in the exams’ four elements: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The tests were introduced in 2016 after the government announced rules requiring all foreign nationals in

WORDS EMILY BURT

Nursing and Midwifery Council spokesperson professional code for Patient safety is always our priority. Theto have the necessary all nurses and midwives requires them and it is essential that command of English to practise safely, nurses and midwives and erst und patients and the public can delivering care. and other professional colleagues when delivering around Nurses and midwives are responsible for believe it is in the not do we and 80 per cent of patient care dard of English interests of public safety to lower the stan ence. While evid r competence required without clea English language we are aware of some concerns about ourevidence on which hard any e hav y policy, we do not currentl has committed to to base a change. However, our council in the coming and undertaking further work in this area uage testing months we will be exploring other lang ing element writ the into her furt ing options, as well as look ge. of IELTS and any evidence base for chan e, no change to It is important to recognise that, at this stag sion to undertake our IELTS policy is proposed and the decifeel the current further work does not indicate that we are committed standard of IELTS level 7 is wrong. We erstand their und er bett to s to working with organisation s, patients and concerns, as well as with nurses and midwive , and we will the public to understand their perspectives ing months. com the continue to gather information over

customer-facing public service roles to demonstrate a high standard of English.

Meanwhile, as average nursing vacancy rates passed 11 per cent, only 46 EU nurses registered to work in the UK in April 2017, compared to more than 1,300 a year earlier – a factor some recruitment agencies blame on the testing regime. People Management asked two experts for their views.

NO

Teresa Wilson, international permanent operations manager at HCL Workforce Solutions While HCL firmly believes that stringent testing is important, the level 7 IELTS tests are academic examinations, and do not accurately reflect the communication skills you need to be a good nurse. Of course, nurses need to be able to communicate well and write medical reports, but the difference between four and eight mistakes on a grammar test will not affect their ability to do their job well.

While many candidates achieve a level 7 IELTS in the listening, reading and speaking exams, case studies show that even native English speakers from countries like Australia and New Zealand are failing to pass the written tests. If you fail an IELTS you have to retake it; repeated retakes are costly and can be a deterrent to many overseas nurses.

We are already seeing evidence that nurses are opting to work in Ireland over the UK, and nurses moving from international markets are favouring Canada, the US and the Middle East. The UK is gradually losing its reputation as a place where you can have a quality nursing career. It is just one aspect of a wider crisis in the sector – with the IELTS inhibiting nurses coming from abroad, a lack of graduates taking up university places because of problems with bursaries, and people in the NHS taking early retirement, there are more people falling out of the sector than ever. It is important to have a stringent testing framework in place, but it must be fit for purpose and executed correctly. peoplemanagement.co.uk

13

UK LEGAL LOWDOWN

Courtrulessmallgroupscan bringwhistleblowingclaims Landmark case could influence f e future fu decisions defining defining what is in the public interest

A

decision in a landmark whistleblowing case means there could be changes to how courts decide whether a disclosure is in the public interest. In Chesterton Global and another v Nurmohamed, a manager with a large estate agent raised concerns about discrepancies in how his commission was calculated.

He claimed that the discrepancies were deliberate and that managers were manipulating accounts for the benefit of shareholders.

In whistleblowing cases, it is important for the claimant to illustrate that a disclosure is ‘in the public interest’ to demonstrate that it is a protected disclosure.

Nurmohamed estimated that a group of around 100 managers were affected and both an employment tribunal and subsequent appeal accepted that his disclosure was in the public interest because a sufficiently large group was involved.

The Court of Appeal has now dismissed the company’s further appeal, claiming that previous hearings were wrong to concentrate on the number of workers affected.

The public interest test introduced to whistleblowing law in 2013 was intended to prevent workers using whistleblowing laws to make personal grievances about their contracts, and placed the onus on employees to prove their disclosure was made in the public interest.

In this case, Nurmohamed’s lawyers argued that narrowing the public interest test could deter workers from making disclosures in the future, and the judgment referred to the fact that 14

peoplemanagement.co.uk

courts should look not just at the number of those affected but the nature of the wrongdoing and the prominence of the person or organisation behind it.

Beverley Sunderland, managing director of Crossland Employment Solicitors, said: “The changes introduced in 2013 failed to define what ‘in the public interest’ meant, but the view was that if [a complaint] referred to someone’s personal contract then employers did not have to worry. In the light of this case, they’ll need to be a lot more alert and not discount a disclosure if it only relates to one person or a small number of individuals.”

Glenn Hayes, employment partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, added: “This decision makes it clear that what is or is not in the public interest is not just about the number of people affected. Other factors must also be in play. The identity of the whistleblower is also important and the court suggested that, the more prominent the whistleblower, the more likely the disclosure will be in the public interest.

“Similarly, the nature of the wrongdoing is also relevant; something done deliberately is more likely to be in the public interest than if it was inadvertent, even if it affects the same number of people.”

Hayes said the number of people affected was still important, because “the more people affected by a contractual breach, the more likely it is that there will be other features of the situation that will engage the public interest”.

✶ Read more at bit.ly/GroupWhistleblowing

to bers have exclusive access ?

Did you know that CIPD mem k Service and legal helplines the Employment Law at Wor x mployment-law.asp cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/e

Harassedcancer patientwins£47,000 compensation

A survey by Macmillan Cancer Support last year found that almost a fifth of cancer patients have faced workplace discrimination, and a similar number have been forced to leave their jobs as a result of their diagnosis. A recent case involving a personal assistant at a property investment company shows how extreme this mistreatment can be.

Eimear Coghlan was ordered to take sick leave for medical appointments after she discovered she had an aggressive form of breast cancer in December 2014. Her boss, Poonam Dhawan-Leach, initially allowed her to work flexibly, but relations soured when she began to need more time away for appointments.

The tribunal heard that Dhawan-Leach demanded she produce letters from her doctors confirming that she was well enough to work, and said that, if she had a medical appointment during regular working hours, she would have to take at least half a day of sick leave on reduced pay. Three days before she was due to have surgery, Dhawan-Leach emailed her to say that she would be treated “normally” as she had been declared fit to work. Upset by this, Coghlan was signed off with stress and then resigned in September 2015.

Judge David Pearl said the demands for medical letters violated Coghlan’s dignity, and the policy for taking sick leave for medical appointments was “irrational”.

He said the decisions to end

her flexible arrangements and to make her take sick leave were “plainly unfavourable treatment”, even though Dhawan-Leach claimed this was so Coghlan could relax before her appointments.

The judge said: “The more straightforward explanation is that she was not prepared to yield on this because she wished to maintain her right to manage and give instructions to her assistant – and she wanted those instructions to be obeyed.”

He ruled that she had suffered disability discrimination, harassment and injury to feelings, and awarded her £47,700 in compensation.

✶ Read more at bit.ly/ CancerHarassment

Two- ifthswoulddo ‘gig’workifrights wereimproved

Two out of five people would be more likely to take up ‘gig’ work if their employment rights were improved, according to research released by consulting company PwC in advance of the Taylor review of modern employment practices.

More than three-quarters of people (77 per cent) said they would prefer to be fulltime employees, while 45 per cent described themselves as already in gig-type jobs or said they would consider working this way.

Younger workers were more likely to feel comfortable with this type of work – 58 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds said they would consider working in the gig economy, compared to 30 per cent of over-55s. ✶ Read more at bit.ly/ PwCgigreport

For more employment law news, visit HR-inform bit.ly/PMlawnews

Cascade

IRIS Human Capital Management

WITH CASCADE, ABSENCE MANAGEMENT TAKES CARE OF ITSELF Ma Stress-free HR software that takes the pain out of absence management, so you can relax.

The

ster

HR S

oftw

are are b date ack. s an noun Leed ced s an for For d L mor ondo e inf n. orm www ation .cas visit cade hr.c mas o.uk terc / lass New

clas

ses

Book a demonstration of Cascade HR software by 31st August for your chance to WIN a Summer picnic hamper valued at £100.

Visit www.cascadehr.co.uk/picnic to enter.

Contact us today to find out how you could benefit from Cascade, or book a free demo Call: 0113 230 8602

Email: info@cascadehr.co.uk

Visit: www.cascadehr.co.uk

* D % IP 95

C s ur i O ate r ss pa

The first UK CIPD Centre to offer Foundation, Intermediate & Advanced HR courses 100% online

Unlimited support from your personal CIPD tutor

Live online classrooms

Professional training to fit around your career

Award-winning Interest-free payment plans

and approved

by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Ready to accelerate your HR career?

Start on the path to your successful career by contacting our expert CIPD course advisors today. *Pass rate of 95% based on 17,406 submitted assignments and 16,550 passes between 16th January 2016 and 17th January 2017.

icslearn.co.uk/cipd 0330 134 2936

Comment

I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING

PENNY MORDAUNT

O

Employing disabled people is about more than a moral imperative

ne of the best parts of my job is meeting business leaders and their employees. Each time, the messages are the same: disabled workers are an asset to the firm, and having a diverse workforce brings benefits to the workplace. I couldn’t agree more.

Employers are gradually waking up to the advantages of being inclusive. Getting more disabled people into work isn’t about forcing businesses to do the ‘right thing’; it’s part of a wider, necessary shift in how disabled people are viewed by society – ensuring that their talents are acknowledged and valued.

Almost a fifth of the population who are currently out of work are either disabled or living with a long-term health condition.

That’s a lot of talent companies are missing out on.

The findings of a new report from Mencap, released to coincide with Learning Disability Week in June, are proof that employers shouldn’t be apprehensive about hiring disabled people and, in fact, have a lot to gain by being inclusive. The research shows that employees with a learning disability are often dedicated to their roles, while the businesses that employ them benefit from reduced staff turnover. McDonald’s is leading the way; one of its disabled employees recently started his 20th year with the company, and was recognised for his “hard work and dedication” and being “an indispensable member of the team”.

Being an inclusive employer also does wonders for your brand reputation.

discuss what support organisations need to take their first step towards being an inclusive employer.

The CIPD has also conducted research further demonstrating that businesses are benefitting from disabled employees’ skills and insight. In its Penny 2016 report, Attitudes to Mordaunt employablity and talent, MP disabled employees were Minister of shown to outperform all state at the others in innovation and Department professional ambition. for Work and Innovation is one of the Pensions key attributes of any team and rests on having a diverse pool of ideas to draw from, which helps your company to anticipate customers’ needs.

Often, what holds businesses back when considering whether to hire disabled people is a lack of understanding about what this involves, or a fear of getting it wrong.

But that’s where the Disability Confident scheme comes in. It is, as Channel 4’s chief marketing and communications officer, Dan Brooke, says: “A tried-and-tested Research shows that 92 per cent of framework that encourages you to think consumers think more favourably in much more depth about employing of businesses that hire people with and retaining disabled people.” disabilities. And 87 per cent said they Through the various levels, employers would prefer to give their custom to companies that recruit disabled people. can take small yet meaningful steps to become inclusive and diversify their Sandor, who manages Sarah, a barista workforce. Almost 5,000 UK businesses at Thistle Hotel in London, has seen across all sectors have already become this first hand. “Lots of customers Disability Confident. return with nice comments,” he says.

With the vast majority of people “And when they come back, they ask developing a disability or long-term for Sarah.” health condition during their working If you ask employers about the main life, isn’t it time to get ahead of the attributes they desire in employees, curve and ensure your organisation is friendliness, reliability and motivation equipped to support disabled staff? would all be up there. I recently hosted a roundtable with the CIPD ✶ Find out how to sign up to the Disability Confident scheme at bit.ly/DisabilityConfidentScheme (a Disability Confidence Leader), to peoplemanagement.co.uk

17

In practice Real organisations, real challenges

In practice

Amazon

Dr Martens

“Wedon’tliketo talk t ouurr values” abouto

global of se a h p ew n a ed rt a st k ic k s How Dr Marten growth with ‘rebellious self-expression’ at its heart 18

peoplemanagement.co.uk

peoplemanagement.co.uk

19

WORDS EMILY BURT PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON FERNANDEZ

Helen Verwoert says Camden is the heart of Dr Martens’ consumer base

T

here’s nowhere in London quite like Camden at the height of summer. People throng out of the tube every day in search of cheap t-shirts, pungent sticks of incense or a pint beside the canal but, whatever your pursuit, there’s one shoe you’re bound to encounter every time. “Wander round Camden, and you will see so many people wearing Dr Martens – it really is the heart of our consumer base,” says Helen Verwoert, global HR director at the footwear company.

Dr Martens is a boot with serious heritage – wedging a foot in the door of British history everywhere from the Second World War to the punk and psychobilly subcultures of the 1970s and 1980s. Now, from a newly established office overlooking Camden Lock, Verwoert is helping drive a sustained and rapid expansion of the brand on a global scale. She joined the business in 2013, when it was still a family owned company. It’s since grown significantly – “There were eight people in the HR team globally when I joined, and now there are about 30. Across the business we have just under 1,300 employees, up from 500” – while, says Verwoert, remaining true to its ethos of ‘rebellious self-expression’.

This growth meant it was time to clearly define the company’s culture with a new brand model, which, Verwoert clarifies, was not about values. “I was passionate about not having values in a business like Dr Martens, because values are highly personal. I think it would be wrong of me to tell an organisation of 1,300 people that prides itself on individuality: ‘Right, these are your eight values; let’s all put them on the toilet door and live by them.’”

Throughout 2016, the company worked alongside a marketing partner to run six ‘identity’ workshops with 78 employees who had a combined 644 years of history with the business. After establishing what staff loved about the brand, and what needed to change, they created a framework defining its beliefs and behaviours: integrity, passion and being a team player, combined with being fearless, resilient and rebellious. The finished statements were pressed onto vinyl records, complete with sleeve notes, and distributed around the office.

“Having employees take an active role in that identity process was key,” says Verwoert.

“There are two things a business like ours can’t do without: product and people. If I can’t get the right people and talent into our business we won’t be able to sell the product, and it starts with employees believing in the culture.”

In parallel, the company underwent structural changes, with greater responsibilities devolved to regional directors to ensure staff felt fully supported during the expansion. HR was strengthened too, with people skilled in talent

In practice acquisition and culture change brought on board. “We had a small generalist team who did a brilliant job, but as we began the next phase of development I knew we needed to bring experts in to help scale the business,” Verwoert says. “There might only be five or six employees in some regions, but from an HR point of view you have to do the same treatments whether you’re dealing with six people or 600.”

The biggest change came with the relocation of the Dr Martens central office from Northampton, the site of the original shoe factory, to London, with the opening of a two-storey flagship store complete with a built-in music space at the heart of Camden Market in 2016.

“The CEO knew that, if he needed to get marketing and design talent, that would have to happen in London, and gradually we realised we needed to move other functions there as well,” says Verwoert, who also made the choice to relocate with the brand.

“One of the biggest challenges was that we were forced to roll out this move over a period of time because we didn’t have the space to relocate everyone at once,” she says. “Our EMEA and retail teams relocated in September 2016, whereas my team only moved in June 2017, so keeping communication strong throughout the process was an issue.”

A bespoke app helped staff to stay connected and share stories from around the world, while an internal newspaper, On the Record, covering everything from product launches to new stores, helped promote Dr Martens’ shared identity and improve brand visibility to employees in Asia and the US. The company has ambitious plans to open 128 stores globally in the next four years, but Verwoert is confident that it will rise to the challenge. “What I love about Dr Martens is that we don’t have to do things the way anyone else does. Of course, we want to follow best practice, but we want to do that in a way that’s right for us,” she says. “The fact that the brand has great momentum shows we’re on the right path.”

“IfI can’tgetthe rightpeopleinto our businesswe won’t be ableto selltheproduct”

20

peoplemanagement.co.uk

AMV BBDO

“AnyHRperson workingherewill beoutoftheir comfortzone”

An industry-leading ad agency needed bold thinking to address a drastic gender imbalance

A

ppearances can be deceptive.

Just ask the advertising industry: to the outside world, it might look like the epitome of an egalitarian, meritocratic sector where the quality of your ideas is the only thing that counts, but it’s long been acknowledged that social mobility and gender equality are significant problems. Agencies overstaffed with young, white and invariably male creatives consistently fail to reflect the public they are targeting.

It’s a problem that Kelly Knight, HR director at AMV BBDO – the largest advertising agency in the UK, known as Abbot Mead Vickers before it became part of the giant Omnicom stable – is determined to confront. Specifically, she has been concerned by the low level of female creative talent across the industry; to truly reflect clients’ consumer bases, says Knight, the firm needs a workforce that better reflects society.

“We have a weird situation where women don’t seem to want to go into creative roles, and specifically AMV BBDO has produc become ed advert

ising campaigns for Guinness, Maltesers (pic tured) and The Economist

art directors and copywriters,” says Knight. AMV employs 450 or so people, around 80 of whom form the creative department, whose work has included The Economist’s groundbreaking poster campaigns and the celebrated Guinness ‘surfer’ TV ads. Yet 80 per cent of those creatives are men, roughly in line with the industry average.

Knight’s response to this imbalance has been twofold. By going into art schools and talking to female talent, she has come to believe that the abstract nature of the work and the fact that entry to the industry is so dependent on placements are the two biggest barriers to entry.

“A lot of women don’t like the entry process for becoming a creative,” says Knight. “Once you’ve been through art college and you’ve got a portfolio, people go on placement schemes. But you can be on a placement for two years and, while male students might sleep on sofas, women get put off by that aspect of it or feel the money isn’t good enough to justify it.

And if you don’t come from a privileged background, it’s hard.”

To tackle these issues AMV has set up a scheme

giving entry-level creatives access to fulltime permanent roles on completion of a three-month, paid training contract.

“When senior people leave, we’re trying to keep budget back so there is more funding for juniors and women in particular [on the scheme],” says Knight.

The second part of the solution is bolder and aimed at addressing a lack of senior women. “At senior level, salaries are a lot higher, but it’s still hard being a parent and a creative, particularly if you’re going on shoots or going abroad for meetings. A lot of women with award-winning work never come back to the industry after having children – they

tend to do other things that fit more easily into the working day.”

The agency’s answer, which is currently being rolled out, is a permanent half-day contract that enables anyone in the creative department to effectively cut their hours in half. Knight is confident that it will be operationally feasible, since creatives work in pairs and can cover for each other, and the business will plan ahead so that part-timers can still be involved in shoots, as well as ensure the most rewarding work is shared equally. Over time, she hopes it will also attract new senior talent.

peoplemanagement.co.uk

21

WORDS ROBERT JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY PETER SEARLE

To tackle gender inequality, Kelly Knight has introduced half-day contracts

“We’re starting with the creatives because they’re at a salary level where they can work half days,” says Knight. “If you’re earning £100,000, that still leaves you £50,000.” It will be more challenging to introduce it among other departments, she acknowledges – many staff earning £40,000 or under don’t return to work after maternity leave, for example – but as the idea catches on, Knight plans to introduce targeted support to help with other costs.

Eventually, she hopes it won’t just be parents who take advantage of the added flexibility; carers or those with entrepreneurial instincts may benefit too: “If you want to get the most engaged workforce, you need to allow people to have other outlets for their creativity. It’s not just female talent – we want to bring something in that’s fair for everybody. We can only win from it.”

The fact that the HR department is able to get involved in root-and-branch reform of the agency’s working practices is arguably testament to how central Knight has made it to operations. This comes down, she says, to deeply embedding her team with the business while also making it self-sustaining – she has coding abilities in HR so that it can build its own websites, for example, and two people trained in data techniques work with clients on diversity statistics.

When she joined 11 years ago, it was very different: “HR wasn’t involved in anything. Nobody knew who I’d replaced.

It was challenging. But you need to be forthright, to understand and care about what you do and show how you can help.

“Any HR person who comes into my team is taken completely out of their comfort zone. Too many HR practitioners don’t understand how their business works. But my team do consultations.

They sit in on every appraisal. They know everything about their client group right from the first induction. If you don’t do that, how can you give the best advice?”

There are other challenges ahead – including the move to project-based work that means the workforce will become increasingly contingent, and an even greater reliance on digital skills – but Knight is confident that the resilience and centrality of her team will help it manage them. The omens, so far, look pretty good.

Safe, healthy workplaces build reputation, resilience and results – hear the latest at IOSH 2017

safety enhance culture practice

global workforce skills

business

occupational compliance

mindfulness understanding

proactive

solutions

choice

21st century

diverse

sector

message

OSH collaborate challenges

local

leadership benefits

innovation potential

health contractor construction artificial intelligence

influence

wellbeing resilience opportunity

risk

incidents

next generation

educators practitioner

management

human factors design perspectives

profession international

Visit www.ioshconference.com for updates to the IOSH 2017 programme Get involved in the discussion #IOSH2017 or follow Organised by MEM3879.19-3/120617/CIPD

Official publication

@IOSH_conference Sponsored by

In practice

Inzpire wants to build positive relationships with staff, rather than operate an ‘us and them’ culture

Inzpire people invariably want to give more back to the business, and we’ve had to work hard at saying ‘you need to have that work-life balance’,” he explains. “We find the more senior the person is, the more they are prepared to put in that discretionary effort outside the working day – but the last thing you want is your senior leaders to burn themselves out.

“I’d be quite upset if some of my staff were having to put in those extra hours, because that tells me there is probably a resourcing issue we need to address.”

Inzpire’s size – despite a growth in staff of between 20 and 30 per cent a year – means Havercroft and his HR team (comprising a full-time manager and part-time assistant) can still enjoy the luxury of taking a personal approach to their interactions with employees, managers and applicants. “A couple of weeks before someone joins us, for example, they get a personal email from the CEO welcoming them and saying how much we are looking forward to their arrival. We celebrate birthdays and the dates they joined Inzpire, and send flowers if someone has a baby or is unwell.

“These little things make a huge difference; it means we have a positive relationship with employees, rather than an ‘us and them’ relationship. I cringe when I hear people talking like that – we’re all in this together, and we’ve got to be seen as making life easier for everyone.”

“Unlimitedholidayworks becauseofourculture” Why a defence SME did away with leave limits

WORDS CATHRYN NEWBERY PHOTOGRAPHY GARRY RIDSDALE

“T

he change in people’s mindsets is one of the big things we have to keep reinforcing; you’re a grown up – we trust you to manage your time.”

Despite the blanket media coverage, it’s rare to find organisations that have actually made totally flexible working and unlimited annual holiday a success in reality. But, says Rich Havercroft (right) – head of support services at Inzpire, a Lincoln-based SME providing managed services and mission systems to the defence sector – lifting the cap on leave earlier this year was almost a “non-event”.

“We were fortunate that we got the cultural foundations right to start with,” says Havercroft, who joined Inzpire five years ago from the Royal Air Force and, as well as HR, heads up IT, quality assurance and business administration. “We have fantastic

employees who are really committed to the company. We already encourage people to work flexibly, and in a pattern that suits them. So we felt we could say ‘we trust you to manage your own leave.

If you need to take a few extra days, at short notice, why shouldn’t you be able to do that?’ It wouldn’t work for everyone, but for us it sends a really powerful message.”

After a trial in 2016, the holiday cap for all employees (around 75 per cent of whom have served in the Armed Forces) was removed early this year. “We have put in some caveats,” says Havercroft. “Managers still have the ability to say ‘there is a business reason why I need you in that day’. And HR supports them in doing that.”

But rather than worrying about Inzpire’s 115 employees taking too much holiday, Havercroft is more concerned that staff – particularly senior managers – don’t take enough time away from work. “High-performing

peoplemanagement.co.uk

23

These are the

exper ts deciding the e r u t u f ‌ R H f o

24

peoplemanagement.co.uk

AI and HR

t ’ n d l u o h s … you know who th ey are?

coming n Chatbots can already ext is a ga pe rform basi c HR roles, a me-chang nd what’s er. But th a t doesn’t m threat – as long as humans a sk ean your the right questi ons before it’s tojob is under o l at e WORDS GEORGI GYTON & ROBERT JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON

FERNANDEZ

T here are almost certainly more than five million Amazon Echo devices now humming away happily in homes across the globe, with some estimates of the product’s soaring sales to date putting the figure at nearer nine million. This sleek, voice-activated tower might not do much more than connect your home devices, open apps and access the internet, but it looks and feels like the future.

At the heart of the Echo sits Alexa, a personal AI assistant who acts as the device’s brain and voice. Leaving aside the fact that Alexa is more a product of smart marketing than actual artificial intelligence, people love her (she’s received, recorded and declined 250,000 marriage proposals in her short life).

It is just four years since the film Her, based on the premise of a relationship between a human and an AI home assistant, was positioned as a piece of science fiction. Yet now, a more platonic union seems far from fantastical. Indeed, for Robert Bolton, partner in KPMG’s Global HR Centre of Excellence, the real question is not why anyone would wake up with an Alexa, but why you’d leave such technology at home when you went to the office.

Soon, you won’t have to. Bolton points out that it’s already possible to integrate Alexa with an HCM system and have a conversation with her about HR matters.

He gives the example of a woman on maternity leave who tells Alexa about her new arrival, when she’ll return to work and when she wants her baby to be added to her insurance records. The update is instantaneous: no HR professional has been involved, and the employee hasn’t had to access any software herself.

AI and HR are having a ‘moment’ right now. “It’s as if a lot of HR leaders got an Echo for Christmas,” says Bolton. “Last 26

peoplemanagement.co.uk

year, they weren’t really engaging with the via Amazon and Google have essentially topic, while finance and customer-facing outsourced AI and put the technology in parts of the organisation were. Now, HR reach of even the smallest organisations.” has woken up.”

Fast Future estimates that while Peter Cheese, CIPD chief executive, less than 5 per cent of jobs could be agrees. AI-enabled automation, he fully automated by adapting currently believes, is more significant than available technology, 35 per cent of the previous waves of automation, and has UK workforce does a job that is at risk of the potential to “reshape” HR. “This is potential, albeit partial, AI automation. one of HR’s biggest agendas right now,” Around £1bn was invested in UKhe says. It is both a threat – since in based AI firms in the first half of 2016.

HR, as elsewhere, it has the potential to PwC thinks AI could add £232bn to the mechanise huge numbers of tasks and country’s GDP by 2030, the equivalent entire roles – and an opportunity to take of a 10 per cent boost. It is particularly ownership of a smarter way of working. significant for the UK, since it aims But what exactly is the opportunity? squarely at automating or altering tasks AI is a spectrum term that has come to performed by white collar workers, take in advanced data analytics at its most which is why journalists, insurance basic (essentially, the ability to handle a underwriters and accountants are among question by looking up an answer in a those worried it is coming for their jobs. data set) through to an emerging category Who needs a junior lawyer, for instance, of machine learning, when a computer holds the defined as the ability of entire history of case law and Could chatbots make an algorithm to spot a has enough ‘intelligence’ to work coaches redundant? pattern in data sets and out which parts are relevant to use it to intuitively your case? predict what will The canary in the coal happen next. But mine of such technology is Coaching is a very true AI – software customer service. Lloyds and personal process. How that answers its own RBS both offer chatbots – could a computer do it? questions before a text-based applications that human has carry out a ‘natural language’ asked them conversation by accessing a Coaching is about questions.

– remains database of predetermined AI can be handed prompts to possible only phrases – as the first point of start a conversation and then in theory customer contact. American tailor its follow-up accordingly and may not Express has integrated one happen for into Facebook Messenger two generations or more, for accessing accounts on the move.

But who would if ever.

A start-up is building a chatbot it open up to AI? What exists already is thinks could replace the NHS’s the processing non-emergency power to 111 number.

Research actually suggests that because scale up AI And now, the UK we don’t feel ‘judged’ or intimidated by rapidly. “The is being graced by the digital coach’s presence, we’re more technological its first HR-focused likely to be candid and open ability to chatbots. Software compute at provider MHR the scale and speed needed for says it developed its bot widespread AI has now been for clients after noticing Is there research achieved,” says Steve Wells, how popular internal to prove it works? futures analyst and COO of messaging platforms AI research had become. business Fast It wanted Researchers from the University of Zurich’s Future. “At a ‘playful Public & Organizational Health division built the same time, personality’ that a simple chatbot to help healthcare leaders the rise of would appeal manage teams. Anecdotally, respondents cloud-based to millennial preferred it to human interaction digital services employees.

“IfHRretains ownershipof peopledata,it willhavearole.

Ifitlosesthat, allbetsareoff”

“Very quickly, answers to frequently asked questions – such as ‘when is the next pay day?’ and ‘how many holidays do I have left?’ – can be built into the chatbot, which means HR can get on with more important strategic tasks,” says Tim Johnson, MHR’s chief commercial officer. The bot works by accessing the existing HR self-service system rather than deploying machine learning. It will soon be able to sync with a calendar or handle an expenses claim, a not-dissimilar service to one offered by Indian firm Acuvate, which says it has an ‘HR assistant’ chatbot ready to launch in the UK. Johnson says the bot ‘saves’ the equivalent of one HR professional per 1,500 employees. But it won’t be long

AI and HR before such technology is making a grab less than a mile from London’s Silicon for more than just the prosaic, self-service Roundabout. Above an RBS branch, aspects of HR. Take CoachBot, an inside a cavernous former office block application built by UK start-up Saberr being refitted as a co-working space, the and trialled by organisations including team of data scientists at Satalia are far Unilever, the NHS and NFU Mutual. busier than the preponderance of novelty It aims to revolutionise the sort of mugs and office toys might suggest. team-building work traditionally done Satalia uses machine learning to by an external trainer, by asking team help organisations with scheduling, members simple questions about their predicting customer behaviour and communication style, work goals and advanced logistics. It works for the team dynamics. likes of University College London Having built profiles of each employee, and Odeon, specialising in ‘complex it begins to make suggestions about problems’. And when it comes to HR, how to work smarter or handle conflict, Satalia wants to walk the walk. Given linking to L&D content that might that the company is “data informed, help. While Saberr admits a chatbot not data driven”, says head of human can’t help address fundamentally operations Jai Clarke-Binns, it wants broken working relationships, it is to use its technical expertise to make confident that letting staff interact the way it manages individually, at a time that suits people fairer, easier Satalia (below and them, is an innovative solution. and more efficient. previous page) is To see where this might take “AI is everywhere reinventing HR process through AI us, you need to head to Islington, without you knowing it,” says Clarke-Binns.

“It’s infiltrated our lives.”

HR, like the rest of the business, will have to “pivot massively” to keep up with such technology: “You can’t say the skills you need in HR today will be the same tomorrow at all.”

The good news is that it will be the ‘boring’ tasks the technology comes for first. AI, says ClarkeBinns, could be used to create reward packages that are individually relevant, or to act as a coaching assistant for new managers: “Imagine if you could use AI to coach the individual through the journey, to make sure they are asking the right questions, monitor the work they are doing or onboard new starters, for example.”

Satalia is already internally beta testing a programme that pits its finest minds against the terror of the annual pay review. Why, it wondered, was so much power over peoplemanagement.co.uk

27

AI and HR

The film Her tells the story of the relationship between a man and his AI personal assistant

reward decisions handed to individual managers? Couldn’t AI make a fairer, more objective decision?

The end point of this musing is a system whereby staff input how much of a pay rise they feel they should receive – all salaries are already transparent – and other employees use the system to vote for whether all, some or none of it should be accepted. Satalia has a ‘network map’ showing how frequently people interact with each colleague via internal collaborative tool Slack and coding system GitHub – it weights each vote according to the closeness of individuals’ working relationships, and their seniority and centrality, controlling for other factors that might distort the figures or any attempts to ‘game’ the process. The result, it hopes, is an entirely bias-free pay round.

It is a laudable dream. But Satalia is also keen to look at other areas of HR, such as the potential for more intelligent recruitment. Already, there are commercial applications on the market that sift CVs and use algorithms to supplement or subvert human decision-making. If you’ve applied for a job in the past year, there’s a fair chance AI has handled your CV. There are understandable concerns about the propogation of bias in such processes (see right) but the entire basis of machine learning is that errors can be rectified over time. Indeed, the next wave of AI will hand more power over HR decisions to computers. It will be 28

peoplemanagement.co.uk

able to pick up on and the remit of the HR department. common problems: HR business partners, in his view, might if employees are become the ‘front end’ of HR, backed confused by a new by a vast amount of AI making the annual leave policy transactional work happen. Or it could and are failing to be AI ‘chatting’ to staff on the frontline complete holiday while a centralised bank of humans acts requests, it may be on the intelligence. able to suggest that The billion-dollar question is whether HR improve its such technology will ultimately enhance communications or displace HR professionals. Will it on the issue. Or mean more empowered and meaningful it might mine work for employees? Or will HR follow comments on the customer service route, where the internal social number of roles is already being eaten networks to away at: with an Accenture study create what claiming 80 per cent of customer queries has been called can be handled by a chatbot, the future an ‘emotional of the call centre looks bleak. If you dashboard’ of hope to move HR up the ‘value chain’, stresses and strains, can you possibly need anywhere near as or pockets of good practice. many people when you get there?

“A chatbot is just a medium of This is a philosophical debate being communication,” says Johnson. “But played out on a grand scale – and the [eventually] we could use predictive truth is nobody can be sure. Will we analytics to highlight to leaders follow the trend Are AI programs biased? played out during of an organisation what’s changing in the dynamics, or previous industrial be able to see where the revolutions, bad leaders are in a very where new When Microsoft built an online transparent way.” categories of chatbot called Tay, it quickly This hands huge power jobs emerge turned racist. Why? to AI – perhaps too much. to broadly “The ability to compensate for make decisions those displaced If bots learn ‘rules’ from human for us, particularly by new technology, a experience (for example, who is ones that can be notion championed successful at a company), they made based on

by MIT professors will also reflect human biases our past history, Erik Brynjolfsson and is one of the Andrew McAfee? key promises of Or will the view of Can we AI,” says Wells. You might give your author and futurologist stop this? Martin Ford, in Rise of the personal AI the chance to choose your benefits based on what it knows about Machines, prevail? “You you, he says, but can imagine lots Theoretically, yes. A statistical would you trust it to of new industries,” validation exercise can help you negotiate your salary he has said of control any factors you think might the decades with your boss’s AI, introduce bias to an AI process even if it promised ahead. “But they to do a better job won’t employ than you could? If, as some believe, many people.”

Should we AI could become your ‘digital The UK’s Sutton Trust be worried? has predicted that AI will be twin’, would you let it sit in on meetings and represent your views? disastrous for social mobility For Bolton, at work and may part of settling “disrupt” up to AI will accentuate and perpetuate all such questions 15 million jobs. human biases, just like Tay did. But the is rethinking process of building models ought to force “Nobody knows the structure exactly what will us to recognise and confront them

IT’S PARTY TIME! Join us on 26 September to celebrate the best in the industry at the most prestigious awards ceremony in the HR and L&D calendar.

Taking place at the glamorous Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.

Book your tickets today!

cipdpmas.co.uk In association with

#PMAS17

Headline sponsor

Category sponsors

GETTY IMAGES, ALAMY

AI and HR happen, but it seems complacent to suggest that everything will be the same as it has been,” says Cheese. “I genuinely think this is different. If we look at it in a positive way, if we use technology well and are smart in its adoption, it will allow us to work smarter, not harder, remove the less appealing parts of jobs and focus on adding value. But to get there, you have to consciously design the use of technology – you can’t assume it’s going to happen.”

Even tech evangelists are hedging their bets that some sort of universal basic income – which guarantees a subsistence level of income for those in advanced economies – might be necessary if enough jobs are eroded. In HR terms too, there is an acceptance that the function’s dual focus on strategy and empathy is not easily replicable but that it cannot possibly be untroubled by such profound processing capabilities.

This may not be a bad thing, says Bolton. “I’m passionate about HR being much more evidence-based. I’m passionate about the strategic value of people management, but I’m also highly critical of what’s been done in the name of HR that has no evidence whatsoever.

“This technology can be a lot more evidence-based, and can create a more frictionless way of engaging with the enterprise. It can encourage the appropriate balance of help from machines and help from humans… and it can finally allow HR to perhaps fulfil that strategic role it has always sought.

“The question is who owns the data. If HR retains ownership of people data, it continues to have a role. If it loses that, all bets are off.”

Sophia and Ha, created by Hanson Robotics, are new, AI-enabled robots designed to look like people – and to hold decidedly human conversations

What sort of jobs are Those in the function Not every business going to be automated? is as enlightened. who are purely focused on process should be worried, “A lot of the debate he adds. They should “learn around technology to be more relevant” to survive: and automation in Who is AI the “Think about your skills and the workplace is being biggest risk to? competences and what you can driven by things like bring to a productivity,” digital world. says Cheese. “The White collar workers who specialise in That doesn’t fact that the price repeating processes are the easiest to necessarily point of AI and replace with intelligent systems – but mean going out robotics is coming really it’s tasks under threat, not roles and learning down so much is coding – very important. though that might Technology that was seen even So HR is safe be the answer for two or three years ago as extremely for now? some – but you need sophisticated has now become to develop affordable.

STEM skills “HR has to If we look at the effect of automation and get creative understand the as a whole, McKinsey says it’s those in the more agenda much more, working in hospitality, manufacturing traditional sense and be a greater and transportation with most to fear of the world.” part of the debate.

HR’s other How do we get role in an the best out of our I’ll just have to get AI future will be to help technology and our people? myself promoted… If we believe in a better make decisions about if and when to automate, future for technology in whether to reskill the workplace, or redeploy the we have to design That might not work. McKinsey says human workforce, for that.” that 25 per cent of what CEOs do and the moral and Even so, there could theoretically be replicated by ethical aspects of are reasons not AI. To be truly secure, you probably such decisions. to be so fearful need to become a data scientist Bolton describes an of the future. insurance company In their new that until recently was “like the wild book, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point west”, with people experimenting out that even start-ups assume the with bots with no thought for the structure and flavour of traditional implications. Now, it has realised firms, because it remains the most that HR should be central to the efficient way of doing business. governance of AI automation.

Cheese, too, is optimistic. “People can work alongside technology,” he says. “It can enhance what they do, enable them to do more meaningful work and use their inherently human skills. Increasingly, the skills we will need are critical thinking, empathy, collaboration That’s what we and creativity. That’s need to keep promoting, because, not only are they hard to replicate, they make us who we are.” And besides, who else will AI employees turn to when they have a grievance with their android line managers? ✶ Join the debate about the technology of the future on The Future of Work is Human platform platform: futureworkishuman.org peoplemanagement.co.uk

31

e r o m s ’ e Ther than one e v l o s o t y a w a dispute and – t r a e n fi a is s e c n differe e c la wrong p k y r ll o a w ic t g a in m lv a r d Reso it g n gettin e e b e v a h s e ss e n si u many b

WORDS JANE SIMMS

P

ut down the franking machine and step away from your annoying colleague: the first first rule of resolving conflict at work is to stop conflict thinking of it as a problem.

We see confrontation and disagreement as negative, damaging and to be avoided at all costs. We think that talking about a problem will be uncomfortable, or even make things worse, so we walk away and ignore it.

But we couldn’t be more wrong, say confl ict resolution experts. conflict “Confl ict is healthy and constructive “Conflict – an indispensable element of good management,” says organisational psychologist Amir Kfi r. He knows a bit Kfir. about the topic; not only has he helped companies around the world transform themselves, he has also facilitated peace forums between Israelis and Arabs, and Greeks and Turks. “It is through diversity and diff erence that we grow difference – if two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary,” says Kfi r.

Kfir.

“If people say ‘there is no confl ict here’ conflict they are either blind or lying. What’s important is how we manage confl ict.” conflict.”

Mike Talbot, psychotherapist, mediator and founder and CEO of UK Mediation, agrees: “Confl ict is not only “Conflict a fact of life, it’s also positive – it helps you come up with new ideas, integrate people’s diff erent skills and abilities, and different fi nd a ‘third way’ to do things, which find leads to innovation and creativity.”

In certain industries, such as advertising and the media, the correct calibration of confl ict can be crucial to conflict ensuring creativity isn’t constrained.

In others, confl ict is glossed over or conflict

handled punitively, so its root causes are never examined. HR is the vital social glue that ensures confl ict is handled conflict healthily. But few, HR included, can say they are on top of the issue.

Most organisations manage confl ict through formal procedures – conflict disciplinaries, grievances, employment tribunals and the like – which are, of course, prime HR responsibilities.

Th ere are two problems with this There approach. First, such procedures typically kick in when the confl ict has conflict escalated, and the longer it goes on the more diffi cult it is to resolve. Second, difficult HR professionals and others are oft en guilty of ‘hiding often behind’ the procedures and failing to address the lowlevel confl ict that rumbles conflict on all the time.

Richard Saundry, professor of human resource management and employee relations at Plymouth University, defi nes this defines as “a general sense of disengagement and unhappiness”, which is, he says, the very opposite of the engagement businesses say they are so keen to foster.

In 2009, the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures was simplifi ed and a new emphasis simplified placed on early informal resolution.

Since 2014, employees have been strongly encouraged to demonstrate that they have attempted early conciliation before going to tribunal.

Th is oft en means mediation, by either This often in-house or external trained mediators, or less formal facilitated conversations

with line managers. Th Thee fact that we have seen what Saundry describes as “only sporadic changes” in practice over the past eight years is down to three key factors, which add up to what he terms a ‘resolution gap’.

First, there are fewer employee representatives in organisations these days, “and they are an important conduit for resolving diffi cult difficult situations”, says Saundry. Second, HR, as it has specialised and reorganised, has become in some cases more distant from operations – and although HR business partners are, arguably, very close to the business, they don’t see confl ict resolution conflict as suffi ciently strategic to sufficiently merit their attention. And fi nally, line managers lack finally, the confi dence, competence confidence, and time to have the kind of conversations with team members that would help nip disputes in the bud and prevent them from escalating.

Jonny Giff ord, senior adviser for Gifford, organisational behaviour at the CIPD, says we need to see a similar shift in attitude towards confl ict resolution conflict as we did to coaching a decade ago.

“Mediation-type skills need to be a core part of what it takes to be a good line manager, just as coaching skills now are,” he says. “It’s concerning that HR oft en sees confl ict management as a often conflict non-strategic issue. Our research shows that it is the number one leadership challenge and one of the areas where HR is seen to add the most specialist value. Th is should be a wake-up call for This

“If people say is noo ‘there isn con lict here’ re y are theya either blind ying” orl or lyin

peoplemanagement.co.uk

33

HR – employee relations should not be treated as the ‘poor relation’. Conflict resolution expertise is hugely valuable to the organisation, which is looking to HR for support.”

Just how valuable conflict resolution skills are is evident from US research that suggests employees spend an average of 2.7 hours a week in conflict at work – which equates to around 7 per cent of payroll and billions of dollars in ‘lost’ time. This should rouse leaders who, says Gifford, often treat conflict as ‘pathological’ rather than normal: “We need to embrace mediation and similar approaches that aim to genuinely resolve conflict. These methods can be uncomfortable if they legitimise the concerns of more junior people and reduce leaders’ power, but the outcomes are worth it.

“HR has to realise that conflict management is a strategic issue that needs tackling, and they then need to get the business to recognise it as normal and deal with it in a healthy way.”

However, Gifford recognises that for most organisations this represents a cultural challenge: “You can’t achieve win-win solutions by just bolting on a mediation service.”

James Traeger, director at organisational development consultancy Mayvin, agrees. Mayvin has developed an approach to conflict resolution called ‘Restorative HR’, which brings together HR and OD with restorative justice (an approach used in the criminal justice system that sees victims of crime work with offenders to determine how to ‘make good’ the damage). “Restorative practice is much more about culture change than it is about technique,” says Traeger. “It’s ‘this is what we do’ and ‘leaning in’ to challenges and difficulties to head off conflict. At the heart of it is an ancient Chinese philosophy: ‘Confronting the difficult while it is still easy.’”

But “leaving the rule book at the door and encouraging people to be honest about how they’re feeling” doesn’t necessarily come easy. A collaboration between Mayvin and Surrey County Council resulted in a highly successful 34

peoplemanagement.co.uk

new approach to managing conflict using Resorative HR – but, admits Traeger, the groundwork was laid by Carmel Millar, then director of people and development at the council, in creating a coaching culture: “This meant that leaders were much more open and receptive to hearing what things are really like for people, which is a critical base to establish before you move into what might be thought of as ‘risky’ or ‘difficult’ conversations.”

Even then, some parts of the organisation were less receptive to the approach than others. Millar, now a restorative practice expert, says: “We piloted the approach very successfully in Children’s Services, where there are lots of social workers who are predisposed to this sort of mindset. We had less success in other parts of the council where people prefer processes, systems and technologies to actually talking to people.

“You can’t introduce this as some kind of revolution; it only works in organisations that are values-based, engage staff and have a good culture. In very competitive, shape-up-or-ship-out environments, people just won’t get it.”

Naturally, businesses that have strong cultures are in less need of new approaches. However, Saundry has seen

new conflict management approaches transform toxic cultures, “not through training a few mediators or taking something off the peg, but as a core strategic imperative with high-level support”. NHS organisations are a case in point, he says, and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is an exemplar.

NHFT introduced what it describes as an ‘integrated conflict management system’, which combines both formal processes and informal conversations, to resolve conflict at an early stage through a collaborative approach.

Personality clashes and performance management were the principal causes of conflict, which not only wasted staff and management time but also affected performance and wellbeing, with potential implications for patient care.

Interventions included stress risk assessments, mediation, team facilitation and conflict coaching and training, but the key to success, says Saundry, was HR’s recognition that conflict management is a strategic issue, and involving senior management as coaches and mediators.

“If you’re going to invest in a strategic approach, you shouldn’t just locate it in HR,” he says.

GETTY IMAGES, PRESS ASSOCIATION

tion skills Conflict resolu pply when su t or were in sh e out in the a fistfight brok ament rli Ukrainian pa

NHFT also spent, and still spends, a lot of time training its managers in basic conflict resolution skills. This lies at the heart of being able to nip conflict in the bud, obviating the need to constantly tug at HR’s sleeves, saving money and management time and, ultimately, keeping people happier.

In essence, conflict resolution skills are only an extension of the normal ‘dialogue’ managers should be having with their teams. Talbot says that when he is asked to conduct a structured mediation, “at the end of the process you often find the individuals themselves saying ‘why didn’t we do this six months ago? All we needed was a chat.’” It is, he says, “a big miss” by companies – particularly those that prevent people seeing or speaking to each other until the grievance procedure is concluded.

But most people need training in conflict management skills to make them both competent and confident.

“Some people are natural mediators, but most have to learn it, and the key skills are listening and resisting offering solutions,” says Talbot.

It’s also worth remembering that a lot of conflict arises from poor or non-existent communication. Alex Efthymiades, director at workplace mediation specialists Consensio, cites an example from her work with a financial services client. “Someone was regularly coming into work late, and her boss thought she was either lazy or not interested. In fact, her father was ill, and she was taking him for treatment.

Her manager didn’t ask her what was going on and, because trust had broken down between them and she thought he wouldn’t understand, she didn’t feel she could explain.”

Everyone is human and inevitably brings personal issues into work, says Efthymiades: “Organisations and individuals often seem to forget this and can’t empathise, and it is often because policies and procedures get in the way.”

Resolving conflict, whoever does it, shouldn’t be a binary process – one that frames the conflict as a struggle between a perpetrator and a victim –

but the longer the conflict is allowed to fester, the more entrenched people’s positions become.

“It shouldn’t be about who’s right and who’s wrong; who’s going to win and lose,” says Talbot, whose approach is to get people to forget about what’s happened and focus on finding a solution both sides are happy with. Efthymiades agrees: “Facts are largely irrelevant in conflict resolution; it’s about finding out what people feel, their perceptions of themselves and each other, and what a realistic solution might look like.”

One technique some believe can help focus on the here and now is mindfulness, and coach Julia Carden uses it in the work she does with teams and individuals in conflict to help them explore their emotions, make sense of their anger or hurt and become more aware of their behaviour and the impact it has on others.

She uses other tools too that are also aimed at building self-awareness as a precursor to being able to make a mental or emotional shift, including the ‘metamirror’ and the ‘empty chair’ exercise, which is part of Gestalt therapy.

While these techniques are valuable in their own right, says Carden, they work best in a conflict resolution context when combined with mediation, and she often works in partnership with a mediator colleague.

The ultimate aim of conflict resolution should be to find Talbot’s ‘third way’, because, as he says, “that’s where the learning opportunity is”. Kfir describes it as ‘co-creation’ – a jointly crafted solution, which, because it is in everyone’s interests, is likely to last.

The benefits are there for the taking, but it takes courage to embark on what is a very different path for most businesses. “Formal procedures are a nervous response, and should only be a last resort,” says Talbot. “Instead, organisations need to be braver and walk towards conflict.”

✶ Learn how to design and manage facilitation processes on the CIPD’s oneday Facilitation Skills course. Find out more at bit.ly/FacilitationSkillsCIPD

Whenworkplace con lictgetsout ofcontrol

A police chief who launched an alcoholfuelled tirade about a colleague’s breasts was found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel. At a policing conference, assistant chief constable Rebekah Sutcliffe publicly condemned her co-worker for having breast surgery. The panel heard she then exposed her own breasts and shouted: “Look at these, look at these… These are the breasts of someone who has had three children.”

Sutcliffe (right) kept her job after issuing a public apology.

A factory worker was sacked after gifting a colleague a mug emblazoned with the phrase ‘lanky bitch’. Craig Reed was dismissed when a contractor complained about the item, believing it to be aimed at her. While CF Fertilisers accepted Reed’s explanation that the message was intended as a ‘prank’ at the expense of a friend’s ex-girlfriend, it fired him for the offensiveness of the message. An employment tribunal upheld the decision.

A recruitment firm was found not guilty of vicarious liability at the High Court following a fight between two employees. After a work Christmas party, around half of Northampton Recruitment’s guests, including managing director John Major, took taxis to a hotel.

The court heard that Major launched into an ‘inebriated rant’ about his authority and struck an employee twice, causing a brain injury that left him unable to work.

A woman who posted an expletive-laden rant about her boss on Facebook was sacked – after she forgot she had added him as a Facebook friend. The employee went viral after she accused her employer of being flirtatious towards her. He responded by informing her that her P45 would be “in the post”, adding: “You’ve worked here five months and didn’t work out that I’m gay…

Don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

A BBC journalist was called a ‘shih tzu’ in an email sent by her line manager to 16 other leaders.

Mick Rawsthorne, head of BBC East, referred to a story Sally Chidzoy (left) was investigating about the Dangerous Dogs Act and called her ‘Sally shih tzu’.

Chidzoy’s case was dismissed after she spoke to a reporter about it before it had concluded. peoplemanagement.co.uk

35

Payroll errors

S E A K T MIS

COST

MONEY If you thought payroll ran itself, recent high-profile cases mean you might need to think again. How do you avoid an expensive error?

WORDS LOUISE FARRAND

36

peoplemanagement.co.uk

W

hen it comes to costly and embarrassing payroll errors, size and reputation count for little, as a glance at the recent HR headlines will confirm. In March, Tesco – the UK’s largest retailer – had to reimburse around 140,000 employees to the tune of £9.7m after a move to a new system led to a ‘technical error’ involving those who had salary sacrifice arrangements. Two months later, the feted John Lewis Partnership admitted breaching minimum wage legislation when a pay averaging problem led to £36m being returned to staff.

They are far from alone, with renewed interested in the topic of payroll being spurred by the national living wage. The government initiative of naming and shaming employers that paid below the national minimum or living wage saw 350 names on the list in February 2017, the highest number on record.

While some companies’ reasons for underpaying staff relate to unsustainable or questionable policies – including claiming to use tips to top up pay or making staff buy their own uniforms – others have made honest mistakes.

John Lewis blamed its own error on the complexities of minimum wage legislation: the company’s pay averaging arrangements did not meet the “strict timing requirements” of the regulations, according to its annual statement, which was published in May. While staff would receive the correct pay over the course of a year, where greater than average hours were worked they would have been paid less than the hourly minimum wage.

But the complexity of the minimum wage rules is shining a light on a broader issue – that in an age of technological innovation and process excellence, we haven’t been able to eliminate payroll errors and, in fact, by some measures they are increasing. Almost half of employees across Europe have been paid late, according to an SD Worx survey, and even more have been paid incorrectly; while cashfl ow issues cashflow

Tesco had to re imburse £9.7m to staff after a pa – prompting di yroll error ffi for CEO Dave Le cult questions wis

are part of the picture, old-fashioned mistakes are a problem too.

“The list of elements that make up payroll is endless,” says Samantha Mann, senior policy and research officer at the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals. Over the years, more and more have been added, from pay rates to overtime hours and ad-hoc allowances.

As systems have evolved, this has meant that payroll workers often do not fully understand why they perform certain tasks in certain ways.

The complexity doesn’t stop there. The PAYE system, which was originally set up in 1944 as a simple way to collect tax, has been “tweaked, pulled and stretched, and automated to become something that a 1944 employer would not recognise and would most assuredly not attempt to deliver”, says Mann.

“It is becoming complex and the rules and regulations that you are complying with change,” agrees Charles Cotton, performance and reward adviser at the CIPD. “Payroll has had a significant number of challenges over the last few years – the move to reporting in real time, pensions auto-enrolment and then all the issues around the tax changes to pension contributions and how they have been tightened up, as well as the tax treatment of salary sacrifice. There are a lot of things going on that employers have to know about.”

Meanwhile, the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) in 2013 means employers are reporting their PAYE information to HMRC as it happens.

This has opened the door to new pay attachments being linked to payroll.

For instance, the apprenticeship levy applicable to all employers with a yearly pay bill of more than £3m must be paid through PAYE. Payroll mistakes are especially common in fast-growing businesses, says Kate Upcraft, an independent payroll consultant and lecturer.

“When processes can’t keep up with growth, that is a common instance in which things slip. You have to underpin growth with robust processes.

Otherwise, things can quickly escalate. Once people have got away with procedures that are a bit sloppy that can become the normal practice, which gets dangerous.

“Suddenly a business is growing and it needs policies that it didn’t before. For instance, someone decides to write an expenses policy but they don’t know enough about expenses to do it, so the policy is ignored or it doesn’t work properly.”

Keeping up to speed with changing legislation is another problem, she says.

“Payrolldoesn’t getaseatatthe toptable–butit needstobe respectedby therestofHR”

peoplemanagement.co.uk

37

38

peoplemanagement.co.uk

l error amed a payrol Debenhams bl e government’s after topping th s that failed to pay list of businesse ge the minimum wa

adapting best practice – so you know how your software works, how the industry works and what compliance looks like.”

A shift in organisational mindset would also help, says Cotton. At present, organisations tend to see payroll as an administrative cost, when they should view it as a function that effectively delivers benefits to the business.

A consistent policy and message is vital, adds Upcraft. “It has to come from the top: the executive board, HR and finance director have to be united on payroll policies. Doing that whole lifecycle of employment, from how it feels when I open my payslip to the last time I get one – are we sure that everything is being done correctly? Th Thee confi fide den nce ce of the workforce is key. Th Theeyy should know that their overtime is goin to be right; that their tax is going to be g right. If they don’t have that confide fiden nce, ce, it can erode engagement.”

The payroll team also deserves more respect, Upcraft says. “I have heard payroll professionals saying ‘we have been telling HR we can’t use that form for ages, but HR ignores us’ – there is a lack of respect. HR is seen as having a seat at the directorial table. Payroll sits between HR and finance and does not usually get a seat at the top table, except in the very largest companies.

But it needs to be respected because it is managing the most important and most potentially reputationally damaging part of a business.”

Attracting new talent is essential to an effective payroll team. But Mann and Upcraft agree that the sector is struggling to appeal to promising new hires. It’s time for a rebrand, says Upcraft. “We have to do what HR did and call ourselves something different. I call myself an employment tax specialist, which is sad, because I do much more than that, but it sounds far more serious and influential than ‘I am a payroll consultant’.”

Perceptions of payroll must also shift.

As Mann says: “Payroll isn’t just about pushing buttons. Arguably it never has been, although in some organisations

GETTY IMAGES, PRESS ASSOCIATION

“I have seen a payroll team that is not using up-to-date documentation for new starters. They are not capturing the right info when people start, so their student loan deductions won’t be correct, for example.”

Despite the amount of expertise required to keep up to date with payroll, not everyone dealing with it is necessarily an expert. Especially in smaller companies, the person responsible for paying staff is often performing other roles, such as HR or administrative work.

Part of the solution is a straightforward investment in payroll. “HMRC has invested heavily in compliance in recent years and I think employers need to respond accordingly with a similar investment in their payroll provision, whether that be internal or external, third-party providers, or a mixture of both,” says Mann.

The stakes are high. “Because of RTI, we send information to HMRC every time we pay people. So if there is anything wrong with it, immediately the business is exposed. The more investment in getting good people and good systems, the better,” says Upcraft.

An investment in payroll resources would also help professionals keep up with the myriad new requirements expected of them, adds Mann. “Underresourced people in payroll are struggling.

This [complexity] is tripping up wellqualified professionals.”

Continuing professional development (CPD) could take several forms, says Upcraft, but the most important thing is a high-level commitment to regular training. “That doesn’t just mean training once a year at year-end, it means constant CPD, whether that’s webinars, reading industry magazines or networking with peers at conferences. It is vital that you are

£

data entry may have been one element.

The people who are operating payroll need to be knowledgeable and qualified.

But they also need to be kept up to date.

It is not possible to deliver payroll in an effective way without CPD. “We need to encourage a much greater number of younger people into payroll.

It offers enormous variation – you can guarantee there is never a boring day.

Even with increased automation, it requires a delicate balance of informed operator and an accurate, well-designed software solution, as well as a good working relationship with HMRC.” It’s also a good idea to communicate with employees about the importance of checking payslips, says Cotton.

Worryingly, research by the CIPD suggests that around 300,000 UK employees do not receive a payslip, either electronically or in print, meaning their employer is breaking the law.

Outsourcing is another important piece of the jigsaw but, on the perennial question of whether to run payroll internally, most experts remain agnostic while stressing the importance of having access to knowledgeable people. “The

little guys are outsourcing in their droves at the moment, because they can’t cope with pensions” says Upcraft.

“They struggled through RTI, but pensions has been the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Meanwhile, the largest companies also tend to outsource – seeing the cost as a worthwhile investment. Conversely, medium and large employers are bringing payroll back in-house, says Upcraft. They fear they lack control over the process and are exposed to errors by an outsourced provider, for which they will then be liable. “[Internal payroll professionals] can’t be as fleet of foot because the outsourcer wants payroll data three to four days ahead of time – suddenly, if someone’s overtime comes through or you have a new hire, you lose that flexibility,” she says.

Technology is often heralded as the solution to today’s payroll problems.

However, Dr Sumita Ketkar, senior lecturer in leadership and professional development at Westminster Business School, warns employers not to be blinded by it: “I think from the HR side, you have to choose a partner very carefully. A partner may have all this technology, but is it really supporting what you have?” Technology is likely to improve, with the advent of AI one important development, she adds. But there is a human element to payroll that can never go away.

Ongoing communication between an employer and outsourced payroll provider is especially important. “Do you really understand what is happening?

The The tendency is for companies to outsource and forget about it. To maintain the whole system, you have to keep an eye on it all the time,” says Ketkar. It won’t guarantee that your name won’t appear in the wrong sort of headlines, but it will at least give you a defence it if does.

“Theystruggled throughRTI,but pensions has beenthestraw thatbroke the camel’s back”

D 25 .1 D 99.2 D 23 .0 A 0 4 .3 D 90.2 D 99.0 B 54.1 A 99.2 A 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 D 90.2 D 99.0 D 25 .1 A 99.2 B 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 D 99.2 A 0 4 .3 D 90.2 D 99.0 B 54.1 A 99.2 A 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 D 90.2 D 99.0 D 25 .1 A 99.2 B 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 D 99.2 D 23 .0 D 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 D 90.2 D 99.0 42 .0 D 99.0 B 54.1 A 99.2 A 23 .0 D 0 4 .3 23 .07£ LATOT 587940 :H T UA 10/1 :FE R 10.3£ 33 .1£ 01.6£ 69.01£

N O I T P I RC S E D S E OTA M OT P U O S E LP M IS S AN AN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TLAS A ES M U G SY E L G I R W LA R U TAN T R OF M OC TNIM S ANAN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TLAS A ES M U G SY E L G I R W S E OTA M OT P U O S E LP M IS S AN AN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TNIM O O P M A H S E I S S UA TLAS A ES M U G SY E L G I R W LA R U TAN T R OF M OC TNIM S ANAN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TLAS A ES M U G SY E L G I R W S E OTA M OT P U O S E LP M IS S AN AN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TNIM S AN AN AB S AN AN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA TLAS A ES M U G SY E L G I R W R EFF O T I U RF * M U G SY E L G I R W LA R U TAN T R OF M OC TNIM S ANAN AB O O P M A H S E I S S UA 94 :DL O S SME T I D RA CRE T S A M 8109************ 18975*** :D I M 2111500000000A :D IA : 34.23£ : 99.2£ : 40.21£

%0.51 A TAV %0.5 B TAV %0.0 C TAV LATOT TAV

peoplemanagement.co.uk

39

S W-I-PE!

e v i t u c e x e e Hav s r e t n u h d a he ? y a d r i e h t had 40

peoplemanagement.co.uk

h it w t n le ta p to te ca lo n ca Anyone n a e m t ’ n s e o d t a h t t u b – y g o l o n y s a e s i s e v i t the help of tech u c e x e f o t n e m t i u r c e r e s u o h in-

SUPERSTOCK

O O

n paper, it sounds like the ultimate in rhetorical questions.

With so much data freely available, the rise in social media and access to the right skills and technology, why would any company pay a headhunter tens of thousands of pounds to source a senior executive?

Businesses are already making huge savings on agency fees by increasingly bringing both volume recruitment and more junior hiring in-house. And while the effectiveness of in-house recruitment will be debated endlessly, surely any efficiencies it offers are equally applicable at executive level?

More and more firms are setting up dedicated executive talent functions to bring the science of headhunting under their roof. Roles such as chief talent officer and head of senior hires are often filled by individuals drafted in from search companies. But while the brief seems straightforward

WORDS JO FARAGHER

– getting to know the talent and attracting them to your brand – the complex courtship of candidates that the likes of Michael Page or Morgan McKinley have perfected over decades is far from easy to replicate.

When Capita set up its own senior talent function two years ago, there were high expectations of what it could achieve, particularly in terms of savings. “One of the challenges is that we’re a diverse organisation with lots of different businesses and we also operate globally,” says Aaron Webster, director of senior talent. “We hadn’t looked at leadership behaviours in a consistent way before, so we didn’t know what good looked like. Also, when we set up, we were using 25 search providers. Now there’s just three, including our own team.”

That team has grown from six to 10 people and 85 per cent of senior hires take place directly, but it’s been a gradual process. It can now deliver talent insight to the rest of the

company and has created an executive talent pipeline based on nine types of role. “Ultimately, we want to put ourselves out of business because we’re recruiting more people internally,” says Webster.

Andrew Mountney of Aspen Inhouse, which sources and trains senior recruiters for in-house teams, says one of the challenges direct executive recruitment carries is the expectation that it can save huge amounts of money, when actually it’s a slower and more strategic return. “The decision to do direct recruitment often lies with the finance or procurement functions because they look at the fees search firms charge and think the return on investment from doing it internally will be quick and aggressive,” he says.

“But it can take anything from 18 months to three years to see that return [at senior level] because there’s more that goes into the set-up, the infrastructure and the tools – outsourcing research, for example.” peoplemanagement.co.uk

41

But with executive search fees coming in at anywhere between £75,000 and £150,000, it’s hardly surprising that businesses want to reign in costs and regain control.

Senior-level hiring also differs from ‘business as usual’ recruitment as there tend to be fewer positions, and potential candidates can be less visible: not every top exec is on LinkedIn and many do not want to advertise that they’d be up for a new role. This means anyone looking for their next chairman or CFO needs to build a detailed picture of who’s out there – known as ‘market mapping’, where researchers draw up charts of who works where, who’s linked to who, who’s referred someone they rate and so on.

“Historically, we added value because we knew where everyone was and how we could get them,” says Chris Smith from search and consulting company Korn Ferry. “Now, everyone can produce an organisation chart of a competitor.” But it’s not as straightforward as scraping data from LinkedIn or browsing annual reports – researchers in the executive hiring market (whether inhouse or agency) spend time speaking to executives about their history and connections, attend countless networking events and stay in touch with candidates to keep on top of the ‘map’ for their industry.

Nicki Dexter, VP of HR for product and technology at media firm Schibsted, is in the early days of building this expertise in-house, so still relies heavily on external search. “We’re competing with the likes of Google and Amazon for senior product and technology talent. They’re cashrich and their brands are well known, while ours is not,” she says.

“We use executive search companies because, as they recruit for similar roles, they bring insight that can help shape requirements for new positions. We’re working on mapping our own executives’ networks but this is longer term in nature – there are relationships we need to cultivate. I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point where we could guarantee 100 per cent of roles being recruited in-house.”

Indeed, some of the most sensitive roles should always be outsourced, argues Lorraine Thomas of search company

Metzger. “We might be asked to find a replacement for someone who doesn’t even know they’re leaving, so a lot of what we do is under the radar,” she says.

There are other things professional firms bring to the party, too.

They can call on their contacts to get references, referrals and advice.

They deal with much of the bureaucracy of recruitment. And they often conduct research that underpins their search criteria.

And then there is their mammoth networks of contacts, which can take years to build up in-house. “If you’re in retail, you’ll tend to source from your own industry, when the best candidate might be in utilities – we can widen the network of candidates we look at because of the breadth of network we have,” says Jo Sweetland, managing partner of Green Park. Thomas calls this drawing on the “unusual suspects” – added to which is the fact that many search firms now offer value-added services such as psychometric assessment, coaching and support with onboarding.

If you do decide to build an in-house executive search function, it’s important to draw boundaries, advises Mountney, because, once hiring managers across the business see how successful it can be, they’ll want to use the service too.

Many organisations use a salary cut-off of around £100,000 to determine where executive hire begins, and staff this team slightly differently, too. “This is a different type of person from your business-as-usual recruiter – they need to be able to manage the research, the process, the relationships with the candidate and the hiring manager. Do you have those skills internally or can you develop them?” says Mountney.

One of the reasons in-house executive recruitment is on the rise is the availability of technology that can streamline the process of sourcing and

CHANNEL 4

“Why pay a headhunterto do the matching partif itcan be donebyan algorithm?”

42

peoplemanagement.co.uk

Alex Mahon wa s Channel 4’s ne named w exec in June af chief te run by headhu r a search nters

assessing candidates. Nurole, for example, is a platform hosting the details of more than 10,000 ‘board ready’ executives who can be matched to roles via an algorithm, according to founder Susie Cummings.

AI systems can sort through thousands of data points (such as personality assessments or social media posts) to suggest the most relevant candidates.

“We aim to enhance, not disrupt, the recruitment industry,” says Cummings.

“Man and machine can work together, and organisations will always need that human, advisory side. But why pay a headhunter to do the matching part if it can be done by an algorithm?”

With the business climate and the types of roles changing at an alarming rate, any route to sourcing the right executive talent is tough at present. David Grundy, founder of Invenias, which produces software for executive hiring, argues that getting the best talent is “the number one strategic enabler of a business”, which is driving the emergence of roles such as chief talent officer.

But executive talent functions can’t sit in an ivory tower – they need to collaborate and network across the business and beyond. “What sets great talent functions apart is that they’re called out at a very senior level in the company as having a critical role in its success,” says Grundy. “They know it’s more than bringing a couple of superbrains into the executive talent team – it’s more about having an executive hiring culture in the business.”

So while cost may be the initial driver for your push towards hiring more executives directly, the long-term pay off could be adding real value to the business.

The challenging part is getting there.

Stand out from the crowd Study your MBA International Human Resources Management in London this October Part time and full time options available

Find out more today www.coventry.ac.uk/london/parttime

Coventry University

Coventry University

Coventry University

Ranked No.15 UK University

Top 4 for Student Experience

95% employed or in further study

Guardian University Guide 2016 and 2017

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017

DLHE survey 2014/15 six months after graduation

Coventry University London is part of the Coventry University Group

Career path Helping you get further

The Fixer: my firm needs an HR director – and it needs to be me p49

Masterclass

How to conduct difficult conversations

It’s never a great idea to leave bad news on someone’s voicemail

to be. Plan, but don’t script, the beginning and end of the conversation in advance. How the passage of the middle part goes will be dictated by how the person reacts to what you are telling them.

what you have said. You might feel good because you’ve got through the conversation, but has your message sunk in?

Make sure you are not talking down to the person – speak to them as if there is no hierarchy,

“If someone reacts badly, or emotionally, maintain a level tone of voice to help put them at ease” When you have these conversations there is often a shock factor, meaning the person’s immediate thoughts and reactions might not actually be the same as what they think once they have had time to digest what you’ve said. If someone reacts badly, or emotionally, it’s important to maintain a level tone of voice to help put them at ease. Slow down your voice, and give them the time to think.

What you are trying to do is move them past the emotion. But it is vital that they let it all out, because then you can begin to move forward. If they appear apathetic, the big concern is whether they have actually processed

and use open body language.

Mirroring is also something to consider. Depending on how they react, make sure you are not closing yourself off. If they cross their arms and lean back because they want to disengage from the conversation, stay open and lean forward. This will make them more likely to be receptive to you.

Remember, you are not having a one-way conversation.

Listening to the other party is critical to being able to steer the discussion to where you need it to go.

Afterwards, it is unlikely that you will leave the room feeling happy, because you still know that you have affected the other person. You will need some time to take a deep breath and process what has been said.

Taking it further Read ‘Challenging conversations and how to manage them’ by Acas bit.ly/Acas conversations

44

peoplemanagement.co.uk

Watch ‘Managing Difficult Conversations’

by Fred Kofman bit.ly/ FredKofman

Read ‘How to Handle Difficult Conversations at Work’ by Rebecca Knight in Harvard Business Review bit.ly/HBRdifficult

UNITED ARCHIVES GMBH ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Nick Gold Managing director of Speakers Corner

Difficult conversations are an unavoidable part of working life. Although you’ll probably never feel entirely comfortable broaching tricky topics, there are things you can do help difficult conversations go more smoothly – for everyone involved.

It may sound obvious, but don’t have a difficult conversation with someone on the shop floor; do it in a private room, in a place where they feel relaxed. I also suggest doing it at the end of the day, so the employee doesn’t have to go back into the workplace when they may be feeling uncomfortable about what’s just happened.

Don’t go into these kinds of discussions thinking ‘let’s see how it goes’. It is best to have a clear picture in your head of what you want the outcome

Technology will change how HR operates. I expect a lot more of our day-to-day functions will become automated, but I don’t think HR can ever be replaced entirely. The decisions we make are based on context and personality; technology alone can’t do that effectively.

Andy Preacher

Group head of people and culture UK at Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Europe

The best thing about working in HR is the commercial exposure – I enjoy spending time with stakeholders. What I find frustrating is when HR professionals forget that people are people; they’re not robots or a disposable resource – they’re human. Everyone leads different lives, and has different backgrounds, personalities, insecurities and motivations; it’s those differences that make a business a better whole.

One of my biggest frustrations in life is the overuse of technology.

I hate walking into a pub or restaurant and seeing a table of people all updating their Facebook status to say what a good time they’re having when they haven’t looked up once. Technology is a really important part of life now, but I try not to be excessively attached to it.

Working in HR means you’ll often be confronted with a lot of upsetting situations, especially those that employees face in their personal lives.

Although these are never nice to deal with, helping people to get through tough times can be a very rewarding experience. Knowing that you’ve been able to support someone through a difficult time is a great feeling.

I’m a massive believer in work-life balance. I have a wife and two children and they’re far more important to me than work. The reality is, however, there will be times when I need to work in the evening or at the weekend to finish something.

I appreciate there are roles that can’t always offer unilateral flexibility, given the nature of the work or industry, but balancing ‘real life’ with ‘work life’ is something I constantly emphasise to my team – as long as the work gets done, it doesn’t matter where, when or how.

CV Andy Preacher began his career at Northern Recruitment Group in 2002 before becoming HR officer at Charles Clinkard in 2005. He then held various roles at GE Money and Santander UK, and joined the BBC in 2013 as an HR business partner. Preacher became head of HR at Your Move in 2015, before joining Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Europe last year.

INTERVIEW MARIANNE CALNAN PHOTOGRAPHY GARROD KIRKWOOD

Who I am

Machine, Platform, Crowd

“AI will soon strip away what remains of the back office and will then start listening to and understanding customers”

You may have noticed that AI is having a profound effect on business. You may also have wondered exactly what AI is, given that most of us have rarely seen it in action.

Fortunately, McAfee and Brynjolfsson – the academics behind the groundbreaking The Second Machine Age – share your sense of wonder.

And they have the answers.

Machine, Platform, Crowd – named after the three forces reinventing both the economy and the nature of human interaction – opens with a reality check. Despite the

next, whether we’ll still need physical products in a virtual world and how bitcoin will change commerce, among others.

Throughout, they are eloquent and informed.

They don’t think humans will be obsolete, but they also don’t pretend the solutions are simple. This is a long and complex book, but it is important. And it ends on an optimistic note: AI won’t kill the idea of the organisation itself because it plays a more important role in society than a computer ever could.

Reviews

Andrew McAfee & Erik Brynjolfsson, W W Norton, £22.99/£13.29 e-book

hype, and the vast computing power foretold by Moore’s Law, machines cannot mimic human intuition or common sense, since we ourselves do not understand these concepts.

But that’s scant consolation, since AI will soon be able to do everything else so well that huge companies do not need to own the things they produce any more (Facebook, for instance, is an algorithm that produces none of its own content). And machines already do our admin and are better than us at making situational judgements.

{Book}

{Book}

Bonnie Hagemann, Simon Vetter & John Maketa, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, £14.99/£9.99 e-book

Annie McKee, Harvard Business Review Press, £20

LeadingWithVision

HowtobeHappyatWork

Almost every business has a mission – but no matter how often it is intoned or evoked, employees still fail to “feel it in their hearts”. Clarity is the theme here, navigating leaders through a logical and well-narrated journey to an authentic leadership style that bonds staff to the greater good. Though little here hasn’t been said before, the way it’s said, and the detail, puts it among the upper echelons of leadership titles.

Working lives are too long (and, indeed, getting longer) to be spent unfulfilled at work. Yet that’s exactly what many of us experience. McKee has a blueprint to fix work – through purpose, hope, mastery and friendship (including ‘companionate love’ at work), among others. And while her thoughts on the nuts and bolts of happiness are perhaps unnecessarily drawn out, she has the data to back up her ideas and the focus to avoid falling into the positive psychology trap.

{Book}

{Podcast}

TheCorruptionofCapitalism

Guy Standing, Biteback Publishing, £9.99/£9.98 e-book

The Corruption of Capitalism is a didactic but unpretentious look at why work is so unequal – in essence, Standing argues, because large businesses have treated people (both customers and employees) as a sweatable asset rather than as partners. Though his solutions may be too radical, and his standpoint too far left, for some, this is a persuasive take on the ills of modern business that avoids settling for easy answers.

46

The authors believe AI will soon strip away what remains of the back office and after that will start listening to and understanding our customers. At that point, the role of humans changes profoundly. The authors explain the whys and hows soberly, answering just about every question on AI you could ask: which channels it will colonise

peoplemanagement.co.uk

LovingtheLevy

Via iTunes or cipd.co.uk/podcasts

The apprenticeship levy is just months old, but its effects are already profound.

This CIPD podcast meets GSK, which is embracing the new regime, as well as a range of providers pondering branding issues and the effects of broadening apprenticeships on social mobility.

It also considers whether retraining for existing staff is in keeping with the spirit of the levy, and the challenges of introducing training in sectors with no tradition of apprenticeships.

What’s new Science can help us solve many eternal mysteries – and, according to Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden in The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers and Business Leaders, it can also raise performance in business. The science behind the gig economy is Brooke Erin Duffy’s focus in (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, which looks at the paucity of paid work online and the effects on gender equality.

Meanwhile, Jude Rake’s The Bridge to Growth is a veteran CEO’s take on the concept of servant leadership.

Team Intelligence

It’s all about the conversation

Create the conversations that enhance personal, team and organisational performance with Margerison-McCann Team Management Systems

ÂŽ

Join one of our Team Management Profile accreditation programmes and discover a proven psychometric tool designed to maximise personal potential focused on business success.

Webinar 27 & 28 July 6 & 7 September 24 & 25 October 13 & 14 December

On-the-ground 2 & 3 August - York 18 & 19 October - London 5 & 6 December - York

Or call us to discuss tailored in-company programmes including our new 3-day premium accreditation and fast track options.

+44 (0)1904 464515 visit tmsdi.com/accreditation

Register today

“Insightful, thought provoking and extremely helpful” Head of group HR, PM Insight subscriber

pminsight.cipd.co.uk Visit our new website for great research and thought leadership content, in association with key industry partners

Your problems

PM’s Fixer Samantha Sales tackles readers’ big issues Samantha Sales is managing director of Call HR Ltd and is a former HR director of a FTSE 100 company with extensive HR and OD experience. Her replies are written in a personal capacity and do not reflect the views of People Management or the CIPD, nor are they a substitute for professional legal advice. Not all queries submitted can be answered, and personal replies are not possible.

To pose an anonymous query, visit bit.ly/pmfixer

Send us your problems in confidence bit.ly/pmfixer

Sick employee wants no contact I have an issue with an employee who has gone off sick with stress. They have a history of mental health issues and are taking medication, but now they have just stopped communicating with us.

After getting no response to letters or emails, we were so worried that we contacted the police, who have confirmed the employee is alive. We now have a doctor’s certificate that says we shouldn’t make contact.

What can we do?

This is an extremely delicate situation, and so far you have followed a very sensible course. What you do next is less clear.

The request to have no more contact with this employee is unusual and leads me to speculate that perhaps the

They won’t hire an HR director – but I deserve the job I started with my current company, an SME with 150 employees, as a payroll clerk and was eventually made HR and compliance manager. But ever since, it has felt like wading through treacle. I’ve had a positive impact on the business through HR, including increasing profitability by more than £2m, but we need an HR director. If I could get a mandate with

a proper recognition of my skills and ability, I could make work a lot better for our staff and achieve the company’s true potential.

If I leave, senior roles seem to want more than my five years’ HR experience. How can I get the firm to see that adopting HRM strategy as a key business concept is beneficial to everyone, as well as to my personal ambitions?

way you reached out initially was seen as too heavy-handed.

That’s a possibility you should be aware of, but ultimately if your intentions are to help them get better – and your actions are driven by a duty of care and genuine concern – it’s natural that you would want to reach out.

It’s time to think beyond HR process, however. If they have good friends in the business, they could act as a bridge. Don’t be afraid to use their emergency contact details, or even go through a counsellor if they have one.

If you have an occupational health capability, use it. Even writing a letter could help, but it should be informal, non-obtrusive and timed appropriately to avoid the employee feeling pressured.

Don’t assume, either, that the most senior HR

professional is the best person to handle the matter, particularly if a more junior HR employee has a relationship with this individual or has experience in this area.

The reason for trying to keep up some sort of contact is to avoid a scenario where the employee simply disappears from the radar and you have to engage in a more formal procedure. Mental illness can take years to recover from, so this would only add to the distress – and all the while, you will no doubt have leaders asking questions about both the cost and practicalities of the situation.

For everyone’s sake, it is best to try and maintain some sort of relationship with the employee and hope that, whatever the outcome, it will end in their recovery.

Your letter indicates that you have plenty of expertise outside HR, and some impressive qualifications.

My first question is does your employer know what you’re capable of? Find the

impact. The £2m you saved is a good story, but have you articulated it? Can you take an idea for a strategic project to the board? Can you introduce yourself into a range of conversations in the

“Find the right person at the right time and remind them of your background and experience” right person at the right time and remind them of your background and experience – it’s likely your CV has been languishing in a drawer since you were hired.

Your broader problem may be that it’s too easy to hand you what are seen as relatively narrow ‘HR projects’ when you could have a much greater

organisation, waiting for the opportunity to add value?

It sounds like there is considerable scope for you in this company. But if you do leave, there are opportunities out there – it might be a stretch to get an HR director role, but you could become a head of HR and build your reputation from there. peoplemanagement.co.uk

49

Email us your moves

Moves

People and posts 1

2

3

4

5

6

50

Well done for acknowledging your stress and wanting to do something about it, says Greg Hartigan (left), group HR and legal executive director at Core Assets Group. Even as recently as 10 years ago, it was assumed that people always wanted to have more money and more

peoplemanagement.co.uk

Kate Lander has been appointed to the newly created role of chief strategy officer at Eukleia Training. She arrives from Fitch Learning, where she was chief learning officer.

Louise Edwards, Assoc CIPD, is the new HR manager at Center Parcs Longleat.

She previously spent 13 years at Tesco, most recently as people manager.

Bell Educational Services has hired Mishanka Kaul, Assoc CIPD, as senior HR adviser. Kaul joins from Vindis Group, where she worked as HR and payroll adviser.

Jane Macaulay (3) has joined health and social care charity Community Integrated Care as director of HR. She previously spent 20 years at Asda in various HR roles.

MAS Holdings in Sri Lanka has recruited Rukmal Bandaranayake, Assoc

CIPD (4), as deputy general manager for HR. He joins the clothing manufacturer from AIA Insurance, where he was senior HR manager.

Employee benefits provider Unum has appointed Samantha Hoe-Richardson as non-executive director.

She is also non-executive director at Lancashire Insurance Company.

Paul Hargreaves, Chartered FCIPD (5), is the new executive director of organisational development and people at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. He arrives from Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where he was deputy director of workforce.

The City of Edinburgh Council has hired Stephen Moir, Chartered FCIPD (6), as executive director of resources.

Moir was previously chief people officer at NHS England.

We help you to help your career

I have worked at head of HR level for several organisations, but each time I’ve found the stress too much.

I prefer operational HR, where I am only required to follow procedures and policies rather than work strategically. This allows me to leave my work worries at work. But what career options does this leave me?

How can I continue to progress and have a fulfilling career without the stress and anxiety?

bit.ly/pmnextstep

Who’s making HR headlines?

Julian Daley is the new reward and recognition manager at British Steel. Daley joins from Arla Foods, where he was reward manager, and he has previously held several HR and reward roles at Carlsberg.

Mazda UK’s HR manager, Liesa Neal, Assoc CIPD (1), has been promoted to HR director. Neal joined the company in 2005.

Proton Partners International has recruited Jill Duggan, Assoc CIPD (2), as HR manager and PA to the chief operating officer. Duggan arrives at the cancer care provider from Spire Healthcare, where she was HR adviser and PA to the hospital director.

Todd Rowlands has joined IFA, pensions and employee benefits consultancy LEBC Group as head of risk and consulting. He previously worked at Arthur J Gallagher.

The next step

Let us solve your career crisis

PMeditorial@ haymarket.com

responsibility – but society has changed.

It’s no longer just about climbing the career ladder at any cost, but figuring out who you are and what you want.

You say you’re looking for a job that allows you to ‘leave work worries at work’ – this could be a personal reflection of how you handle stress, rather than a symptom of your seniority. The worries of even the most junior role can be taken home. So it’s important that you identify the precise stressors in your current role: are they connected with your company, colleagues or sector, or the scope of your responsibilities? Otherwise, your new dream job could simply leave you with a new set of ‘work worries’.

If it’s the policy aspects of the head of HR role that’s causing concern, think about seeking a sideways move to a

more hands-on role such as senior HR business partner, or even a demotion to a more junior role. But consider two things: first, you’ll need to have a clear career narrative that you can sell to prospective employers. Frame your decision in positive terms, rather than highlighting only the negative aspects of your previous job. For example, you could say that the change will give you experience in a different aspect of HR, or will help you pursue other interests outside of work.

Second, engage with prospective employers about your mutual expectations. If your new organisation is looking to hire you as HR manager with a view to promoting you to head of HR, you’ll be back to square one. Any employer worth working for will respect your honesty.

SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENTS

AGE

LAW EMPLOYMENT STATUS

CIPD Law on Tour Learn how to tackle your employment law challenges in just one day

WORKERS’ RIGHTS LAW

SETTLEMENT

AGE

DEVELOPMENTS

CONCILIATION BREXIT LEED COURT NEW

London Birmingham Manchester London Edinburgh Stansted

3 4 5 6 10 11

October October October October October October

London Southampton Leeds Cardiff Reading London

CO

DISMISS FAIRLY

Matthew, HR Manager

APPRENTICESHIPS

Dates and locations

CONCILIATION

FINANCE BILL

‘Law on Tour is one of the best short courses I have attended; the course materials are very detailed and I will be using them for future reference’

TUPE

BREXIT

EMPLOYMENT STATUS

ENTERPRISE BILL

12 13 17 18 19 20

October October October October October October

LAW EMPLOYMENT STATUS

COURT

AGENCY WO

CARDIFF

READING

LAW

BREXIT CASE LAW

AGE

LAW

EMPLOYMENT STATUS

To book, call 020 8612 6202 or book online at cipd.co.uk/lawontour FINANCE BILL

Behavioural Science at Work Conference and Workshop 19–20 September 2017, London

Gain an in-depth understanding of behaviours to: • • • •

enhance engagement create impactful learning develop successful leaders inspire optimum performance.

Discounts for CIPD members

Book now: cipd.co.uk/BookMyPlace peoplemanagement.co.uk

51

8–9 November 2017, Manchester Central

Embracing the new world of work

Don’t miss the 70th CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition!

Early bird offer ends 7 September

• Conference speaker highlights include; Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, Professor Alexander Betts, David Marquet and Professor Gernot Schulz closing the conference with a full orchestra!

• Explore the evolving people profession – content streams include ‘Future of Work and HR’, ‘Business Effectiveness and Transformation’ and ‘Well-being, Engagement and Behaviours’.

• Find HR and L&D solutions from 190+ top suppliers.

• Network with 4,000+ professionals from the wider world of work.

Book today and save up to 20%

cipd.co.uk/ACE17-PM

The latest findings from the finest minds

Research

Women ‘need to be confident and caring to get ahead’ Women at work might want to press pause on asking whether they can have it all – and start wondering if they need to be it all instead, according to new research.

The study, which was led by Laura Guillén, assistant professor of organisational behaviour at ESMT Berlin business school, and involved academics from IE Business School and INSEAD, revealed that women must demonstrate not only confidence but also so-called ‘pro social’ attributes, such as being caring, if they want to climb the career ladder. By contrast, men only need to show self-confidence to achieve similar success.

are not liked. Our research shows that women currently need to show prosocial orientation to counterbalance this negative effect – something men do not need to do to get ahead.”

The research, which Guillén says it’s understandable involved 236 engineers, that bosses want to make sure their also found that upper workplaces are friendly and management felt both encouraging pro-social high-performing men behaviours is an effective and women were highly way to do this, but stresses self-confident, but women that they need to treat men were not rewarded as much and women “equally”. as men for possessing this She adds: “Making sure personality trait. this happens should “There are a number of studies not be solely women’s that have shown that, responsibility – ne Self-confidence alo when women display organisations need isn’t enough for a behaviours consistent to take concrete d ee cc su to n ma wo with being ambitious, steps to promote it affects them negatively,” says it actively.” ✶ bit.ly/PMprosocial Guillén. “In other words, they

PRESS ASSOCIATION

People driven by prestige ‘Be yourself’ is the best prefer being small fish advice for jobseekers Some people might feel that getting your voice heard is easier when you’re a big fish in a small pond. However, a study from the University of Michigan has discovered that those who have been raised to believe prestige is important are more likely to opt for a business with a big reputation, even if they are less likely to make a splash there.

Lead author Kaidi Wu and her team asked Chinese and US adults if they would rather go to a top 10 ranked college and receive below-average grades, or go to a top 100 ranked college and receive above-average grades. Chinese people were more likely (58 per cent) than Americans (29 per cent) to choose to go the higher ranked school.

When asked to explain their choice, the Chinese

participants were also more likely to say they were motivated by the prestigious standing of the school.

Although the researchers focused on educational options in their study, Wu notes that the same sort of decision-making applies when people choose where to look for a job or an internship.

Stronger employer branding may help in this case. In a 2015 Universum study of 2,000 senior executives in multinationals, 60 per cent of firms saw the topic as so strategically important it was primarily the responsibility of the CEO, while 40 per cent expected it to be crucial to recruitment within the next five years. ✶ bit.ly/PMprestige

Nervous job hunters are often told to be themselves before heading off to a big interview.

And research has revealed that those well-meaning friends and family members could be on to something.

The research – by academics at Bocconi University, University College London, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and London Business School – found that those candidates who made an effort to present themselves as they truly are (a tactic known as ‘self verifying’) made a better impression on interviewers.

“There is a pressure to “There perform in job interviews, but trying to portray a particular image and other ‘impression management’ tactics do not

lead to universally positive outcomes for candidates,” says Dan Cable, professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School. “In fact, they can often backfire.

Our research proves that if you are a high-quality candidate for the job, just being yourself can be a better route to success.”

Celia Moore of Bocconi University adds: “Interviewers perceive an overly polished self-representation as inauthentic and potentially misrepresentative.”

However, there is a catch – self-verifying only worked for high-quality candidates.

Those who did not otherwise make the grade were actually worse off when they tried being themselves. ✶ bit.ly/PMJobseekers

peoplemanagement.co.uk

53

Focus

HR professionals were encouraged to share their views and experiences at a Manchester event

CIPD members in Manchester gave their thoughts and ideas on the development of the CIPD’s Professional Standards Framework at an interactive ‘Shape the future’ evening event in July.

The new framework will set out the knowledge and behaviours that people professionals need to champion better work and working lives.

The Manchester event is part of a continuing dialogue with members and the wider profession as plans for the framework progress. Through a number of engagement activities, event participants had the chance to share personal stories about their

EXTRA EXTRA

that enables professionals to make a positive impact.

There will be further opportunities for members to take part, with events being planned in Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow and Bristol.

As well as face-to-face events, members can also get involved through online engagement such as the ‘Changing world of work’ discussion forum on the community area of the CIPD website, or via Twitter using #ChangingHR. A dedicated Professional Standards Framework page on the website provides more insights and updates, including a video of the London event. ✶ Email: psf@cipd.co.uk ✶ cipd.co.uk/framework

The CIPD took part in this year’s Pride celebrations in London

Textbookdiscounts

Diversityandinclusion

Recruitmentsuccess

The CIPD report, Facing the future: tackling post-Brexit labour and skills shortages, is among the latest resources on the CIPD’s Brexit hub. The resources on the site are regularly updated, offering support and guidance on Brexit developments.

If you’re a member planning some summer reading or a CIPD student stocking up on textbooks for the autumn, remember that the CIPD’s partnership with publisher Kogan Page gives you a 20 per cent member discount on all CIPD books and other Kogan Page business titles.

An effective diversity and inclusion strategy goes beyond legal compliance, adding value to an organisation and contributing to wellbeing and engagement. An updated CIPD factsheet provides an overview of the social justice case for diversity and the business benefits, as well as guidance on managing a successful diversity and inclusion strategy.

The strong storytelling of a multi-faceted graduate recruitment campaign for the Police Now programme, produced by the Tonic Agency, helped win the Grand Prix award at the 2017 Recruitment Marketing Awards. Sponsored by the CIPD, the awards recognise the most creative and effective campaigns.

✶ bit.ly/CIPD-Brexit-hub

✶ cipd.co.uk/learn/bookshop

✶ bit.ly/diversity-factsheet

✶ thermas.co.uk

Brexitupdates

54

impact as people professionals, and the challenges they face. They also discussed the professional principles – work matters, people matter and professionalism matters – and fed in their ideas on the visual identity of the framework.

An important aspect of these conversations is the opportunity to find out what kind of support members want and need to uphold the CIPD’s professional principles in their day-to-day work. For example, through positive role models, ‘how to’ guidance or peer-topeer support.

The personal stories that were shared will help to build a framework

Participants revealed personal stories about their impact as people professionals

peoplemanagement.co.uk

WORDS PAULINE CROFTS

Membershelpshape CIPDframework

People Management is published on behalf of the CIPD by Haymarket Network and Haymarket Business Media, both divisions of Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Registered office: Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP

EDITORIAL

The Home Office will show how behavioural science is being harnessed to develop successful leaders

Hearmoreon apprentice levydebate Apprenticeships have been in the media spotlight since the introduction of a new levy in April.

The CIPD has been engaging in the skills debate, providing practical guidance and championing the value of apprenticeships. The latest CIPD monthly podcast provides some more food for thought, as apprentices, apprenticeship providers and employers running apprenticeship schemes discuss their experiences and potential future challenges.

CIPD skills policy adviser Lizzie Crowley also shares the findings of the institute’s research, which features views on the levy and highlights the importance of addressing the gap in the provision of intermediate-level skills.

Podcast subscribers can access more than 100 HR and L&D podcasts. These lively discussions chart the breadth of issues affecting the world of work, and the way the profession is evolving and growing in influence. ✶ cipd.co.uk/podcasts

Learntouse behavioural insights

Understanding human behaviour in the workplace is an important part of managing many aspects of HR, including recruitment, performance and learning.

Those attending the CIPD’s Behavioural Science at Work Conference and Workshop in London in September will hear both an academic perspective on the latest research and real-life experiences from organisations that are using behavioural insights to inform their people management strategies.

Michael Sanders of the Behavioural Insights Team will show how this approach is helping to improve HR practice, while Professor EugeneSadler Smith will demonstrate how to mitigate the effects of ‘hubristic leadership’. The Home Office will look at the way behavioural science is being harnessed to develop successful leaders. Other themes include how to lead people during periods of change, and the role of data in unpicking behaviour and building collaboration. ✶ cipd.co.uk/behav-sci

These lively discussions chart the breadth of issues affecting the world of work

PMeditorial@haymarket.com @PeopleMgt Editor Robert Jeffery @robertjeffery1 Multichannel editor Cathryn Newbery @c_newbery Art editor Chris Barker Associate editor Georgi Gyton @Georgi_Gyton Production editor Joanna Matthews News editor Hayley Kirton Staff writer Marianne Calnan @Mazsays Digital content coordinator Emily Burt @EmilyPBurt Picture editor Dominique Campbell

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

020 8267 4970 PMsales@haymarket.com Business director Angela Hughes Account director Lindsey Westley Senior account manager Barney Payne Recruitment sales manager Samantha Johnston Recruitment assistant manager Conor Barr Senior sales executive Oliver Sanderson Sales executives Julie Hartwell, Danny Haynes

PRODUCTION

020 8267 5378 Deputy production manager Alex Wilton Group production manager Trevor Simpson

PUBLISHING

Managing director, Haymarket Network Andrew Taplin Editorial director Simon Kanter Creative director Martin Tullett Account director Issie Peate Senior account manager Julia Saunders

SUBSCRIPTIONS

01604 828702 People Management is sent to all CIPD members, and is available on annual subscription to non-members. All member enquiries should be directed to the CIPD (see below). For subscription enquiries from non-members, see help@shop.haymarket. com or purchase one from bit.ly/PMsubscription. Alternatively write to People Management, Haymarket Business Media, 3 Queensbridge, The Lakes, Northampton NN4 7BF. Annual subscription rates are: UK £140, Europe £219 (airmail only), rest of world £239, surface rate, or £333 airmail. Single copies £13.30.

Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to People Management, Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA

CIPD ENQUIRIES

151 The Broadway, London SW19 1JQ 020 8612 6208 cipd@cipd.co.uk If you’re a CIPD member and your home or work address has changed, please contact the CIPD on 020 8612 6233.

CIPD is a registered charity – no. 1079797

COPYRIGHT

© All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including, but not limited, to any online service, any database or any part of the internet), or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Haymarket Media Group Ltd, which accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.

PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT – ISSN 1358 6297 – is published monthly. Repro by Haymarket Prepress Printed by William Gibbons. People Management is printed on PEFC certified stock from sustainable sources. Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard ISO14001. See page facing inside back cover for US distribution details.

PEFC Certified

Average net circulation 134,853 (2015)

This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources

PEFC/16-33-197 PEFC/16-33-1007

peoplemanagement.co.uk

www.pefc.org

55

Appointments

The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office.

We provide information to employers so they can make informed recruitment and licensing decisions, especially for employees and volunteers working with vulnerable groups.

The DBS is looking to recruit inspiring people who meet our high standards and help us achieve our potential. As part of our vibrant team, you will enjoy excellent facilities and a warm and supportive working environment.

For more information and to apply, please visit

56

peoplemanagement.co.uk

T. 020 8267 4965 samantha.johnston@haymarket.com

What we do really matters. Are you interested in joining us?

We are now recruiting to the following positions:

Leadership Development Business Partner Location: Liverpool

HR Business Partner Location: Liverpool, with occasional travel to Darlington

Ref: 1547302 Salary scale: £33,830 - £39,885

Learning & Development Advisor Location: Liverpool, with occasional travel to Darlington

Ref: 1533009 Salary scale: £27,833 - £32,853

Learning & Development Co-Ordinator Location: Liverpool or Darlington

Ref: 1549526

Salary scale: £27,833 - £32,853

The closing date for applications is Sunday, 13th August 2017.

www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk

Ref: 1549517

Salary scale: £33,830 - £39,885

T. 020 8267 4474 Business Opportunities

Directory

Business Opportunities The HR Managers 1:1 Coaching Toolkit A range of tools to enhance your one-to-one coaching, mentoring & performance management interventions n Coach's Handbook - a digital reference book

£295 + VAT

materials e.g. career mapping tool, wheel of life, pathways to decisions Ideas Pyramids - encourage focus Spark Cards - engage right brain thinking

or FREE when you purchase one of our Coaching and Mentoring Resource packs

n Digitally provided coaching

n n

www.ultimatelearningresources.co.uk

Career Counselling

Business Opportunities

Career Coaching Accreditation Training

Looking for a New Challenge?

'the best development event I have been on'

Start your Own Training Business Quality resources to set up a lucrative business, delivering leadership and management training

• Five day training course, accredited by the

Association for Coaching

• Option to continue to Kingston University

Postgraduate Certificate in Career & Talent Management

For an informal chat call 01529 304402

www.career-counselling-services.co.uk

www.ultimatelearningresources.co.uk

info@career-counselling-services.co.uk

Employability Skills Training

HR and Payroll Outsourcing

g Daily Telegraph Business Wednesday 19 April 2017 's youn Britain ggle u CIPD report tr 's s worker aths

by Lizzie Crowley skills advisor. m ic s a at b ding' and rea

Employability Skills:

Online self-certified courses with a Certificate of Completion No time off work or classes to attend!

Maths | Computing | Accounting | Engineering

eptsoft.com

Talent Development

Creating better business outcomes together

HR & Payroll Outsourcing

Employee Engagement

0207 960 7769

capita.com/HRsolutions

hrsolutions@capita.co.uk

@CapitaHRS

Psychometric Training

(formerly BPS Level A&B)

Global Leaders in Local Assessment Solutions

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE Assessment

Health & Wellbeing

Verified to EFPA Level 2 Standards

BUILD RESILIENCE

www.edisontalent.com talent@edisonuk.com +44 (0) 208 1339750

Diversity & Inclusion

People Analytics

Training in Psychometrics

MANAGE STRESS

Coaching

Resourcing Optimisation

Flexible Benefits

Brush Up Your Maths on Your Mobile

By Clive W. Humphris: Chartered member CIPD

01529 304402

Exceptional value in both cost and quality.

We’ve trained nearly 25% of ALL Level B Cert. holders.

1 Course covering 3 professional qualifications.

A new 5 day programme covering EFPA Level 1 & 2.

Provides access to 15FQ+, JTI and hundreds more.

Training

TALENT

T +44 (0)1525 720003 W uk.psytech.com/training peoplemanagement.co.uk

57

Could HR solve...?

OFFICE SPACE

A programmer’s apathy and lack of motivation are harming his productivity The problem Computer programmer Peter Gibbons is frustrated and bored by the daily grind of working at Initech. After a relaxing hypnotherapy session, he reveals to downsizing consultants that “in a given week, I probably only do about 15 minutes of real, actual work… It’s not that I’m lazy, I just don’t care.” Can HR bring Peter back from the brink of boredom?

58

peoplemanagement.co.uk

The solution

There’s no simple quick-fix for motivational problems, says Meg Peppin (right), founder and managing director of MP Partnership. Nor is it something for HR alone to solve, she adds – it’s up to manager Bill Lumbergh to coach and support his employee.

“Peter needs tailored support, which could be anything from encouragement and coaching to more formal performance management,” says Peppin. “Bill could create working conditions that mean Peter’s apathy is quite visible – to himself, and to his peers – so that he realises he needs to take responsibility for his actions. One approach is to agree shared goals within the team and,

through open and transparent progress reviews, peer pressure could stimulate Peter’s enthusiasm.

“If a manager believes everyone has potential, and has a vision for approaching a problem, even the most ‘difficult’ employees can become more engaged.

“Bill could ask Peter when he feels really good about work, and when his energy is really good, so that he can create opportunities that will stimulate Peter.”

But, warns Peppin: “If, despite this support and encouragement, Peter is still apathetic about work, he might realise it’s time to leave Initech altogether.”

US distribution: People Management (ISSN 1358 6297) is published monthly by Haymarket Network, Teddington Studios, Middlesex, TW11 9BE. The US annual subscription price is $392. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US postmaster: Send address changes to People Management, c/o Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscriptions records are maintained at Haymarket Network, Teddington Studios, Middlesex TW11 9BE. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.

ALAMY

Manager Bill Lumbergh (left) must create opportunities that will stimulate bored employee Peter Gibbons (right)

Alexander Taylor Guy Dixon Chartered Member Affiliate member

Take full advantage of your member benefits at cipd.co.uk/membenefits Benefits include: • The CIPD Profession Map – use the map to guide your own development. Get your bearings in a present job or to plan development for a future one

Guy Dixon Affiliate member

• the Career Clinic forum – created to connect those with questions about their career to experienced HR and L&D professionals who offer advice and guidance from their own experiences • latest factsheets, HR and L&D resources and much more...

Guy Dixon Deborah Alder AffiliateFellow member Chartered

Maria Creisson Student member

Nicole Eckweiler Associate member

As your career partner, we’ll be here for you every step of the way.

We’ve been able to customise CIPHR’s interface ourselves, so when I login, it actually looks like it’s part of Pro:Direct. It was essential for us to be able to hallmark the interface with our own stamp, it ooers a lot of value.

JAMIE CARRUTHERS BRAND ADVOCATE

View the full success story at:

WWW.CIPHR.COM/PRODIRECT

CIPHR PROVIDES THOUSANDS OF HR PROFESSIONALS WITH THE TOOLS AND INSIGHTS THEY NEED TO DELIVER THEIR HR STRATEGY FROM A SINGLE, ENGAGING PLATFORM TO ARRANGE A DEMO, CONTACT US NOW:

01628 814 242 | info@ciphr.com