What do you do when you realise you’ve made a recruitment mistake?

· by Emma Browning
Don’t Panic ! Keep calm and follow our advice, but whatever you do, don’t ignore your mistake! Firstly, you are not alone, we have all done it – me included!  I’m not going to tell you about all the things you should have done in the recruitment process to minimise your mistakes, we can discuss that at a later date. Right now, what you need is a way to resolve this and fast! I’m sharing our way of dealing with this quickly and swiftly and if you need any help…

Your Top 5 HR Questions answered this month

· by Emma Browning
Here’s our round up of the most frequently asked questions from our clients and our advice for you, which we hope you find helpful. If you have a question you’d like answered next month, then just send it to us at hello@merakihr.com and we may include it in next month’s Top 5! 1.My employees are refusing to come back to the office – what should I do? Employees are required to obey their employer’s reasonable instructions, which would normally include attending work where the employer has put in place safe-working…

An Employers’ Guide to Strategically Managing Employee Wellbeing

· by Emma Browning
When I am fit, healthy, and well rested, I feel good and make good business decisions. But the savvy business owners and leaders among you have already realised that! Looking after your people as a business owner is a human, ethical and moral responsibility — and it’s good for business too! Higher staff engagement means fewer absences, lower staff turnover and far better business results. Well-being is very much on the agenda this year, so our article here examines the importance of looking after your employees and the impact it…

Lend a hand – why workplace volunteering is a win-win

· by Emma Browning
If I told you that approximately 70% of FTSE 100 companies have a volunteering programme, would you be surprised? Corporate volunteer activity days, giving employees time off to volunteer in their local communities, and sponsorship matching are just three examples of popular schemes adopted by some of the top FTSE companies. Waitrose, for example, donate some 75,000 paid employee hours a year to volunteering. So, there must be a really compelling reason why our biggest and most successful corporates do this . . . After all, they have budgets and…

An employers’ guide to strategically managing employee wellbeing

· by Emma Browning
If you take a look around at many businesses and their priorities in January, you’re likely to find that many leaders are finally identifying that improving wellbeing amongst their staff is high on their agenda this year – particularly with everything that has happened in the last 9 months! However, the cynic in me wonders whether these leaders are just paying lip service to the trend,  as the savvy business owners and leaders among you have already realised that looking after your people as a business owner is a human,…

What needs to be on your People Agenda for 2021?

· by Emma Browning
HR’s role in Managing the Long-Term Impact of the Pandemic and Remote Working The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our way of working. But how will the big shift we are seeing within our clients to remote working, impact how we work in the future, and what role does HR have in managing the long-term impact on businesses? Remote Working Covid-19 forced many companies to switch to remote working literally overnight. Although some companies and employees alike have relished in their new working from home arrangements, to be successful in the…

5 Tips for Creating a Happy & Healthy Workforce during a Pandemic

· by Emma Browning
As an employer, you have a responsibility to ensure that your staff are healthy, happy, and productive. That’s an even taller order during these uncertain times that we are living and working in at the moment! However, there are many business benefits to making sure you continue to adopt this approach – it’s a moral obligation too. The forward thinking companies that can cement best practices into their everyday new way of working will undoubtedly reap the benefits. Need a little further incentive? Focusing on health and wellbeing could lead…

Do you need HR Oxygen?

· by Emma Browning
Growing a business without HR expertise is challenging at best, and a constant uphill struggle at worst. If you’ve ever had to tackle a people issue on your own, you’ll know just how stressful it can be. Between trying to manage your legal obligations, and meeting your operational requirements, firefighting can become part of your everyday routine if you’re not careful. The last few months have shown us, how valuable it can be to have your HR Expert on speed dial. There is always the option to call upon HR…

How volunteering or completing charity events can have a positive impact on your team and their well being

· by Emma Browning
If I told you that approximately 70% of FTSE 100 companies have a volunteering programme, would you be surprised? I know I was! So, there must be a compelling reason why our biggest and most successful corporates do this. After all, they have budgets and performance targets like the rest of us.  How do they justify this ‘charitable’ financial commitment to their returns-hungry shareholders?  Because they know that engaged employees make happier and more productive employees, that’s why!  Making sure you have highly engaged employees at the moment, is absolutely…

Support from Meraki HR

· by Emma Browning
We know from all the calls we’ve taken from clients old and new over the last 10 weeks how difficult things are for you right now. You’re trying to understand and make sense of what’s happening both from a personal and business perspective. This includes trying to unravel all the information we are receiving on a daily/weekly basis from HMRC and the Government and make sense of this and what it means for your business and your people. All of this as well as having to try and manage your…