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…

Exciting news – Meraki HR Partner with OK Positive!

· by Emma Browning
How many times have you seen something on LinkedIn and thought – that looks like a great product or service, got in touch with the company concerned and either been disappointed or let down by their response to your enquiry or the product or service itself? I know I have! However, a short while ago I saw a post on LinkedIn by Charlie Winton the founder of a company called OK Positive. OK Positive is a very clever app that allows your employees to input how they are feeling and…

How Healthy is your HR?

· by Emma Browning
Now is the time to make sure your HR policies and procedures are up to scratch and legally compliant (did you know there is a raft of new employment legislation that came into force on the 6th April?) You need to know whether the documentation you have in place is legally compliant and will support any important business decisions you need to make in the next financial year. For example, this includes people working from home on an ongoing basis, as your policies and employment contracts need to reflect any…

The 10 most common HR Issues facing businesses today

· by Emma Browning
Last year will go down as one of the most infamous years of our lifetime. But we know that when there are tremendous challenges, there is tremendous learning to take from these challenges. In Meraki HR fashion, we set out to understand the biggest learnings from 2020 that will impact HR and Business owners or leaders in 2021 and help them prepare for what’s next. Maintain flexible work  Before, offices played a crucial role in company culture, and for many, productivity was partly measured by how often you were seated…

If you think you’ve got HR issues……………………………….

· by Emma Browning
It has dawned on me in recent years that many experiences I have had over my 21 year career in HR, that I thought were simply part and parcel of being in HR, were highly unusual and unique, some slightly sad and sometimes they were funny, and I often found it difficult to keep a straight face! I realised this when I was delivering a recent workshop on Employment Law for our clients. In many of the workshops I run I share some of my experiences by telling stories, usually…

Our top tips to make sure you are only hiring the best people!

· by Emma Browning
Many of you will have started the year thinking about what new hires you need to make this year to help you achieve your business goals post Covid19. But if any of you have tried to recruit recently, it’s pretty tough isn’t it? I’ve been doing my role for over 20 years and this is certainly the toughest recruitment market that I have ever seen, so you need to be at the top of your game if you want to attract the best people to your business. Here are my…

Job Retention Scheme Extension 1st December 2020 – FAQ’s

· by Emma Browning
Thank you once again to Beverley Sunderland at Crosslands Employment Lawyers for their excellent support and advice during these last 9 months! These FAQs deal with the mechanics of furloughing workers under the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) now in place until the 31st March 2021. The JRS was first put in place to provide employers whose operations had been affected by coronavirus with wage assistance from 1 March 2020. It was originally intended to close on 31 October 2020; however, was extended as a result of the Government’s decision to…

What does it take to succeed in HR?

· by Emma Browning
Here’s what some of today’s HR Influencers  think you need to succeed in HR: “My perspective is relatively simple. You need to have extensive experience on the ground working in the field of HR – any functional area of HR but the more experience you have, the better. Those that have never dug the trenches CAN’T possibly have the perspective to truly influence an industry. They’ve never lived in the shoes they are trying to influence so in my humble opinion, their credibility is absolutely nil. This may be harsh…

FFS – the re-introduction of Furlough in all its forms!

· by Emma Browning
Further to our brief update on Monday 2nd November, after the Boris announcement on Saturday evening, which totally ruined my Strictly Come Dancing viewing, the Government has now made major changes to their proposed way forward and seem to have scrapped the Job Support Scheme, at least for England. The furlough scheme paying 80% of wages capped at £2,500 per month is going to be in place until 31 March 2021 but the employer contribution (currently employer’s NI and pension) will be reviewed again in January – I would expect…

Valentine’s Offer

· by Emma Browning
    Sssssshh … its a secret! Ready to raise the bar on HR?  Then you could save yourself 15% off our HR Oxygen Service 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. There is always the…