Blog

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – June Update

· by Emma Browning
It’s hard to keep up with everything that’s being introduced in relation to the COVID19 Pandemic, so here’s our round up of the latest news and info. Summary of the changes to the JRS announced on Friday 29th May 2020 The Furlough Scheme will be closed to new entrants, and employees must have been on Furlough for 3 weeks prior to 30 June 2020 in order to qualify for the new scheme. This means employees will need to have been placed on Furlough by 10 June 2020 to qualify for…

Thrive with Meraki HR

· by Emma Browning
At Meraki HR, we have always been here to help and support clients with their immediate people problems. Being able to deal with these issues quickly and with the minimum of fuss and impact to your business, allowing you to get on with what you do best – running your business!  However, the majority of our work with clients has been to help them create great places to work; where their people are happy, engaged and highly productive. We appreciate that there are a lot of immediate issues and problems…

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…

Why Having a Female Non-Executive Director (NED) Is More Than Just a Diversity Move

· by Emma Browning
Now more than ever, ensuring your business’ Board of Directors is diverse and inclusive is vital to your success. So why are we still not seeing this in action? My latest post explores the reasons why we’re not seeing this happening quickly enough and what business owners/Directors can do about it! If there’s one thing my peers know about me, it’s that diversity is one of the favourite aspects of my work. No, I’m not just talking about diversity in my day-to-day (although that certainly plays a role too), but…

How healthy is your HR?

· by Emma Browning
If you don’t know, then take advantage of our Remote HR Health Check for just £500, in May or June 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 also need to know whether the documentation you have in place will support any important business decisions you need to make in the coming months. We will undertake our HR Health…

Make sure stress doesn’t get in the way of your success

· by Emma Browning
Six things every manager can do to make sure stress doesn’t get in the way of success When your team’s happy, healthy and engaged in their work, they’re more likely to meet their goals and help you to meet yours. More good days for your team lead to more good days for you, as well as a healthier, happier work environment. On the other hand, when people are stressed or burned out, their performance and relationships with others will suffer. So, what can you do to minimise some of the…

The importance of knowing your why to employee engagement

· by Emma Browning
What’s your why? People often talk about employee engagement and will say to me that they need to “improve their employee engagement” but they don’t really understand what employee engagement is or why it’s important! Let’s start with what it’s not first! Employee engagement isn’t employee happiness! Employee engagement is defined by Kevin Kruse as “the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals.” Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, two way commitment and communication between a business and its employees. It’s an approach that increases…

Who wants to understand and develop employee behaviour?

· by Emma Browning
Personality Profiling Meraki HR have a number of HR professionals and coaches in their team who are accredited Thomas Practitioners. We chose to work and train in Thomas pyschometrics as they are easy to use, and provide great reports that are both helpful to the manager and the employee. How was it developed? In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dr. Thomas Hendrickson developed William Moulton Marston’s DISC theory to produce the Thomas Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) for the work place. The Thomas PPA determines how individuals respond to workplace…

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) – latest update 30th April 2020

· by Emma Browning
HMRC published details of its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on 26 March 2020 and updated this 7 times now, with the last update being on the 30thApril. It’s important to remember that the HMRC guidance is just that – guidance. However, the directions issued by the Treasury appear to have some form of statutory authority although the nature of this is unclear. This means that it is not clear which set of instructions will take priority over matters such as whether the employee has to agree in writing to…

Free Contract or Handbook Review

· by Emma Browning
There is no doubt that like all of us at the moment, we have suddenly had some of our work cancelled, and many of our clients are very worried about how the Coronavirus will impact their businesses in the long term and whether they will be able to survive the next few months with either fewer customers, less employees able to work, or reduced manufacturing or products to sell. It’s important that during uncertain times like these you know that your contracts of employment and employee policies and procedures are…