Our clients are a mixed bunch and come in all shapes and sizes. For those without an HR team of their own we’re on call when you need us, to advise and guide you on day-to-day people matters from how to address poor performance through to dealing with sickness absence. These tend to be the issues that worry business owners the most for fear of being caught out by employment legislation.
Often, employment relations (‘ER’) issues in the workplace can be dealt with by having a ‘grown up’ conversation, but sometimes we have to go down a more formal route. We’ll help you stay on the right side of the law, but also help you identify the cause and work with you to ensure your people know what’s expected of them and generally to promote healthier working relationships, built on trust and mutual respect. So yes, we’ll always have your back but that’s also about avoiding problems in future.
We’ll listen, understand your priorities and if this is the best arrangement for you, we’ll agree the details and a monthly fee that’s fair.
A straightforward review of your existing policies, procedures and practices to identify gaps or where things can be improved. We often recommend this to new clients who are maybe thinking about a retainer arrangement. It’s a great way for us to get to know you a bit better and at the same time giving you a heads up on some of the things that might need to be worked on. Think of it as a bit like an MOT.
You might be gearing up for growth or want to do more to stand out in the job market. We’ll carry out a full audit of the ‘employment lifecycle’, looking at every aspect of the employment journey, from how you attract and recruit through to onboarding and beyond. Covering policies and procedures, how these are positioned to engage your audience, how you develop your people, reward and benefits and finally how you exit people from the organisation whilst protecting your reputation.
We’ll get under the skin of your organisation to understand the culture and how your people feel about their employment experience, breaking this down to identify where improvements can be made. We’ll work out where you are now and what’s needed to get you to where you want to be.
If ‘Light touch’ is your MOT, then think of this as more of a full service.
Every client deserves an approach that’s tailored for them and once we’ve worked that out with you, we’ll prepare a proposal and agree a plan of action.
A well thought out strategy and a workable action plan is essential. We’ll help you figure out what’s important and map out the key ‘people’ activities. Often, we’ll work with clients if they don’t have their own in-house HR team, or we’ll support them remotely to follow through on the plan.
The action plan will set out what needs to be done, and the reasons why you’re doing it, along with identifying key stakeholders and detailing timescales and budgets.
We’ll also help you work up a communications plan to bring it to life at every level of the organisation, so your people understand what you’re doing and why, getting their buy in and keeping them informed.
With our help, clients are moving away from traditional policies and procedures which often feel like they’re written purely for legal compliance. We’ll help you reposition these to engage your audience and treat your people like grown-ups, stripping out bureaucracy and getting the language and tone just right.
Think of policies and procedures as a window into the culture of your organisation. It gives people a sense of what you’re about and how they’re likely to be treated.
We’ll also help launch new policies and embed these so that they’re not forgotten.
Projects take up valuable time and resource. We’ll work with you from the planning stage through to implementation and help you embed the change you’re looking for. Every project is different, so we’ll take time to listen and understand your needs before agreeing a plan of action and next steps.
You’ll benefit from our knowledge and experience, gained from working with many organisations across different sectors, some just like yours.
An early conversation will help us work out where we can help. At this point there’s no commitment from you. If we don’t feel we can help you with your project, we may suggest other organisations or partners or give you some valuable pointers to help you move forward.
More organisations are recognising the benefits of bringing in a professional Interim. Interims have a set of skills which enable them to hit the ground running and to build and maintain strong relationships, essential for getting things done. They won’t be weighed down by internal ‘noise’ and ‘politics’ that can get in the way.
We’ve supported many organisations at a time of need, particularly when it comes to filling key senior HR roles for periods of 3-12 months. From covering parental leave or a period of long-term sickness through to leading HR functions whilst you recruit.
