Tag Archive for: workplace

NQHR Club – Mediation

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Tune in to our free virtual HR club webinar – Mediation

In this session of the Narrow Quay HR Club we will talk about mediation. We’ve now got two accredited mediators at Narrow Quay HR and they will discuss what mediation is and what it isn’t and what the parties can expect in the mediation process. We will cover the benefits to the parties and to the organisation of using mediation. We’ll look at when is the right time to think about mediation and how it can work in situations such as when a grievance has been raised. We will also discuss the relative merits of using an internal mediator in an informal mediation process and using the services of an external accredited mediator.

Register here

Date: Thursday 18 May 2023

Time: 9.00am – 10.00am

Speaker: Simon Martin & Sarah Carrington

NQHR Club – Neurodiversity in the Workplace

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Tune in to our free virtual HR club webinar – Neurodiversity in the workplace

Date: Thursday 9 February 2023

Time: 9.00am – 10.00am

Speakers: Helen Couchman, Caitlin Anniss & Jonathan Harper

Register Here

In this session Narrow Quay HR’s Helen Couchman will talk you through what neurodiversity is and provide best practice tips on how to effectively support neurodivergent workers and ensure that your workplace is an environment where such workers feel welcomed and well catered for. We are delighted to be welcoming Jonathan Harper from Bristol based charity Paraorchestra who will share his experiences of supporting neurodiverse people in the workplace.

If you would like to email your questions beforehand, please contact our Events team.​

How Can You Celebrate Black History Month in Your Workplace?

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As we come together to celebrate Black History Month in October 2022 we should take time to consider the theme this year: ‘Time for Action: Not words’.

Black History Month celebrates the continued achievements and contributions of black people to the UK and around the world. The focus now is on the present and future by shining a spotlight on those using the platform to push for change.

The Black History Month website stated when launching the theme for 2022, ‘whilst we can acknowledge and learn from the past, we need to strive to protect the future through taking action by coming together around a shared common goal, to achieve a better world for everyone.’

What’s happening in your workplace?

There are lots of ideas and initiatives that employers can implement. Below we have collated a few ideas.

Volunteer with Black-Led Charities

Consider team volunteering for Black-led charities and non-profit organisations. This is a great way to help the Black community while also making a significant difference.

Reflect on Your Internal Diversity & Inclusion Efforts

Reflect on your own D&I efforts. Are you promoting diversity as an organisation? How are you fostering inclusivity in your workplace? Are there areas of your business that can be made more inclusive such as your recruitment process or your management staff? Speak to your employees and see if they’re willing to share how they think you could improve as an organisation.

Celebrate Black Literature

You can promote classic and contemporary Black authors and their remarkable works. You could perhaps select some books written by Black authors and host a company-wide book reading event.

  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou (Autobiography)
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Bring In Speakers and Create a Space for People to Listen and Share

Many companies celebrate Black History Month by bringing in speakers to share stories and experiences around race and Black identity. Promoting diverse voices creates a space for inclusion, understanding, and empathy. Involve people and open up the conversation to anyone who wants to participate by sending out a company-wide email asking for speaker and topic suggestions.

This kind of programming can take on many formats, from panel discussions to round tables to workshops. Choose the topic beforehand, and let people know what to expect so they can feel prepared to share and ask questions.

Other Useful Resources

Check out the below blogs for some further ideas on how you can celebrate this month:

For any further support or guidance, please get in touch with Helen Couchman in our team on 07799 901 669.

NQHR Club – Managing Menopause in the Workplace

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Tune in to our free virtual HR club webinar – Managing menopause in the workplace

Date: Wednesday 14 September 2022

Time: 9.00am – 10.00am

Type: Virtual Online Event

Cost: Free

Register Here

In this informal session, Lead HR Consultant Caitlin Anniss from Narrow Quay HR and Jessica Scott-Dye, Employment lawyer from VWV, will talk through the issues that can arise in connection with managing employees who are going through the menopause in the workplace. The menopause and its impact on work is highly topical at the moment and has prompted employers to consider what they do within their workplace on this topic. 
 
We will use case studies to highlight the key legal and day to day issues involved and provide practical ways for HR professionals to deal with them.

The session will be conducted virtually but we will use polls and the chat function to make the session as interactive as possible.

Speaker:  Caitlin Anniss & Jessica Scott-Dye

We hope you are able to join us. If you have any queries, please contact the Events team.

Culture Reviews – What Are Your Staff Members Really Thinking?

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Are you confident that you know how your staff are feeling at work? Have you noticed tensions in the staffroom or at meetings, but no one suggests anything is amiss?

Perhaps you already do an employee engagement survey but don’t feel this is giving enough relevant details. Or perhaps you are aware that there is a particular team which is not functioning well and you can’t quite establish why that is.

There can be a variety of reasons why it can be hard to get to the heart of what is happening in situations such as this – finding time in a busy schedule, using the right tools to gather in that feedback. Sometimes there is a reluctance from staff to engage on sensitive issues or to speak about colleagues. If left unchecked these tensions may well develop into significant issues for you. Undertaking a traditional workplace investigation to look into these matters might not be the right tool, as the concerns may not focus on one individual, may come too late, may not be practicable, or might not really get to the bottom of the issue.

What Does a Culture Review Involve?

This is where a culture review can really help. It can take a number of forms – online surveys directed at the particular issue, focus groups or one-to-one interviews. Often a culture review will involve a mixture of these methods to really gain a detailed understanding of what is going on.

What Data Can a Culture Review Gather?

At Narrow Quay HR we have a lot of experience in running a variety of culture reviews – looking at general morale across the staff community, dysfunctional teams, character clashes and conflicts. We have also conducted reviews to check in on staff confidence and understanding of key policies such as safeguarding. We know that staff respond really well to a third-party undertaking this type of review – it reassures them of confidentiality (or, potentially, even anonymity), enables them to talk more freely than they would to colleagues and/or offer constructive feedback where they might not otherwise feel able to voice their thoughts, and demonstrates the school’s commitment to finding a resolution.

How Narrow Quay HR Can Aid Your Culture Review

We work with you to develop the right medium for gathering the feedback you need, and through our analysis will draw together the key themes with recommendations for action. We analyse the data we collate and provide you with a report setting out themes and findings, and our recommended next steps. We can meet with you to discuss our findings and any appropriate follow up. We can support you with actions that may flow from the review, which may be more formal investigations into particular incidents or mediation where you have unresolved conflicts.

Narrow Quay HR is a subsidiary of VWV and our team of HR consultants are a mix of former lawyers who now specialise in HR and highly experienced HR professionals, giving you solid legal grounding and practical expertise.

If you would like to talk to us about your individual HR needs, please contact Sue Meehan Boyes in our team on 07384 468797.

11 MAY 2022 – NQHR CLUB – HANDLING WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS

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Date: 11 May 2022

Time: 9.00am – 10.00am

Event Type: Webinar

Cost: Free

Register now

The session will cover:

In this session NQHR expert Simon Martin will take you through the steps you need to follow to conduct an investigation thoroughly, efficiently and sensitively.

During the session they will look at:

  • the role of an investigating officer
  • how to undertake a fair investigation
  • identifying and gathering relevant evidence
  • taking witness statements (including from reluctant witnesses)
  • dealing with tricky areas such as anonymity and parallel investigations
  • how to structure an investigation report

The session will be conducted virtually but we will use polls and the chat function to make the session as interactive as possible.

Speaker:

We hope you are able to join us. If you have any queries, please contact the Events team.

Making Your Workplace More Inclusive for Disabled Staff

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On 12 March, the Business Disability Forum (BDF) published guidance to help employers improve access for disabled workers.

What Does the Guidance Say?

The first part of the guidance, Access for all – Creating inclusive global built environments, sets out what an inclusive built environment may look like and sets out the importance of creating an inclusive environment for both disabled staff and businesses. It also looks at who to involve in this process and some of the challenges that employers may face.

The second part of the report looks at practical issues to consider when designing a more inclusive and accessible built environment.

The built environment refers to the interior of a building and will include things like entrances, stairs and lifts, lighting, seating areas, offices, catering and bathrooms.

The report suggests that thought should be given to how the people using the building really ‘use’ the environment, and that this must include those with disabilities. This will involve thinking about how easy it is for people to use the desks, the entrances, the toilet facilities and how easy it would be to enter and leave the premises, including in an emergency. 

The report encourages employers to consider the whole range of possible disabilities, including not only physical disabilities but also mental health conditions and sensory conditions. Aiming for inclusion in this context focuses on the built environment being able for all people to access and use spaces without specific adjustments being needed on an individual basis.

Why Is This Important?

The report suggests that a focus on the accessibility of built environments of workplaces will help to:-

  • attract and retain staff
  • attract customers and clients
  • reduce costs of high absence rates and high staff turnover
  • enable an organisation to become more energy and time efficient

The report gives some useful pointers for those working in HR to consider when thinking about the built environment of their organisation. 

To discuss these issues further, or for specialist guidance on issues relating to disability in the workplace, please contact Caitlin Anniss in our team on 07909 683 938.

24 March 2022 – NQHR – Essential HR for Line Managers

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Date: 24 March 2022

Time: 9.00am – 12.30pm

Event Type: In-person

Cost: £125.00 + VAT

Register Now

The session will cover:

  • handling disciplinary issues fairly and conducting a formal disciplinary
  • identifying and managing grievances
  • how to conduct a workplace investigation – including the role of the investigator, gathering evidence and writing the report
  • how to manage performance

The session will be interactive and include case studies and practical exercises to get you thinking about:

  • subject access requests
  • the right to be accompanied
  • discrimination
  • keeping notes of conversations
  • other common management issues

What others say… 

“I want to say how much I am enjoying today. It has totally demystified things for me.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought every part was relevant to my role. Engaged all day long.”

Where?

This session is being held in our Bristol office and run by specialists from Narrow Quay HR.

When?

Thursday 24 March 2022

9.00am – Registration and Refreshments
9.30am – Start
11.20am – Break
11.40am – Resume
12.30pm – Finish

The session is suitable for any managers who deal with HR issues as part of their role.

Speakers:

We hope you are able to join us. If you have any queries, please contact the Events team.

Workplace Investigations – What Can You Learn from the Downing Street Parties?

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Recent investigations into ‘gatherings’ at Downing Street are being undertaken by Sue Gray, who also investigated claims of a staff party at No. 10 on 18 December 2020, when London was subject to severe restrictions.

Her senior colleague, the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, stepped down from carrying out the investigations because it was possible that he had attended one of the parties himself. Sue Gray’s investigation now includes the ‘bring your own booze’ event on 20 May 2020 and a wine and cheese gathering five days earlier.

As workplace investigators, we are aware of the issues that can arise during a workplace investigation. We reflect on the key things to consider when conducting an investigation, and how to prepare for the process.

Expecting the Unexpected

In one of our recent workplace investigations, we were asked to find the source of a leak at a school about a member of staff being involved in a safeguarding incident. All was progressing smoothly until one member of staff named the school’s investigator as the source of the leak. The investigator had to step down, leaving us to run the investigation ourselves.

In an investigation you must be able to react to unexpected developments and make appropriate changes to ensure that the process remains fair.

New Matters Might Arise

Fresh matters commonly come to light during our investigations. It’s important for those who have commissioned the investigation to know this to establish whether they want any new matters to also be included, rather than just expanding the scope without consideration.

If the commissioning officer wants the investigation to be expanded to include new matters then an updated Terms of Reference will need to issued. If that happens then depending on the stage we have reached we may need to re-interview some people to whom we have already spoken. It’s another reminder that investigations often don’t proceed in a linear fashion.

How to Deal With Multiple Incidents

The other matter to consider is how the investigating officer should address multiple events. When we carry out investigations we know it is important to first consider each incident on its own merits, which means considering the evidence related to each event.

We then need to consider whether any findings and conclusions can then be drawn by considering the various events together. We ask questions such as:

  • Are there any repeated patterns of behaviour?
  • Are the incidents similar?
  • Are the explanations similar?

In a disciplinary investigation it may be that any single incident in isolation would not merit a recommendation that it should be dealt with at a disciplinary hearing, but cumulative incidents would merit being considered at a formal hearing. This is particularly the case if an employee has been spoken to informally about their behaviour after one incident and then does something similar on a later date. It’s often only when we take an overview that the interconnected nature of the events reveal themselves.

For more details about how we typically carry out workplace investigations you may find our FAQ document helpful. If you’re looking for support with an investigation, please contact Simon Martin in our team on 07384 813 076 for more information on how we can support you.

How to Manage the Menopause in the Workplace

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Managing the menopause in the workplace has become a more topical issue in recent times.

In this article, we will consider:

  • why employers need to think about this
  • the legal context and risks
  • practical tips for managing staff who may be going through the menopause.

There are 15 million women in the UK workforce, and 3.5 million women over 50 in UK workplaces. Currently, one in eight women in the UK workforce is over 50, but this is forecast to rise to one in six by 2022. In the UK, the average age for a woman to go through the menopause is 51, so there is a large group of UK employees who are going to go through, or have gone through, the menopause.

ACAS suggests that two million women aged over 50 will have difficulties at work, due to symptoms of the menopause and that one in three women over 50 will have had severe symptoms from the menopause or perimenopause.

How employers manage the menopause in the workplace will impact on staff well being, staff retention, and equality and diversity.

Legal Context

Employers have a duty to minimise, reduce or where possible remove, health and safety risks for workers. So, ensuring that menopausal symptoms are not made worse by the workplace or work practices, and making changes to help a worker manage their symptoms at work is critical. There is also a duty not to behave in a way which may undermine the implied duty of trust and confidence.

There is limited case law dealing with menopause transition in the UK but two first instance decisions have recently linked the menopause to the protected characteristics of sex, and disability. There is the possibility of other successful discrimination claims being brought in future, for example, indirect discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, victimisation or harassment.

Employers should consider how to manage their risks by carrying out risk assessments, reviewing their policies and procedures, considering training and thinking about environmental factors, such as temperature control.

What is the Menopause?

The menopause is a natural stage of life, usually starting in the late 40’s and involves the decline of women’s oestrogen levels until no eggs are produced. As it goes on for a number of years, it is better to view it as a stage or transition rather than an event. Some women may also have an early menopause, either naturally, or as a result of surgery or medical treatment. The perimenopause usually starts in mid 40’s.

There are a number of symptoms of perimenopause and menopause – both physical and psychological. Symptoms affect women differently and some can experience very mild symptoms while others experience very severe ones. Symptoms can include; feeling tired and low on energy, hot flushes, irregular and heavy periods, aches and pains, mood swings, difficulty sleeping and night sweats, anxiety and panic attacks, struggling with concentration or focus, and headaches and migraines.

Women who do not get support with symptoms may lose confidence in their roles at work, and may suffer with poor mental health.

What Can Employers Do?

  • Think about and talk about the topic
  • Treat symptoms of the menopause as you would any other health condition.
  • Make work an open environment where employees can talk about their symptoms, if they are causing difficulties at work
  • Think about introducing a Menopause Policy
  • Talk to staff who are struggling about appropriate adjustments
  • Involve line managers
  • Think about appointing Menopause Champions in your workplace
  • Raise awareness of the topic in your workplace, in a way appropriate for your culture – posters, newsletters, a menopause policy, menopause cafes can all work. Use simple messages and get senior management on board.

Appropriate adjustments may include private areas to rest, working time arrangements, access to toilets, and a good temperature in the workplace. Discuss options with the staff concerned. Think about alleviating the barriers to allow women affected to carry on in their role.

Think about how this process will be managed in practice. There should be conversations with the employee, identifying specific issues, and identifying any appropriate adjustments which may help. These should be recorded and a follow up should be arranged. Decide who can make decisions about adjustments; line managers or senior management?

The Role of Line Managers

Line managers are critical in managing the menopause in the workplace. They are typically the first point of contact for people who are struggling with symptoms. They are responsible for implementing policies and supporting good performance, as well as also responsible for managing absence and supporting returns to work.

  • Encourage regular one to ones between managers and their staff. This can create the environment where staff can speak up. Managers should keep information discussed at these meetings confidential and agree with the staff member who they are happy to inform and how.
  • Train line managers in how to deal with sensitive conversations such as these.
  • Encourage managers to ask about staff well-being or issues which they have noticed, but not to ask direct questions about the menopause. Remember that it is up to the individual to disclose their symptoms.
  • Create awareness for managers so that they are comfortable in providing information and training on the topic.

Difficult Areas:

  • For some women, the symptoms of the menopause may affect their performance or cause absences. Take this into account when managing performance and making adjustments, for example by treating absence related to the menopause separately to absence for other reasons.
  • Remember that the menopause is potentially a long term health issue and may fluctuate over time.

Summary

There is likely to be an increased focus on managing the menopause in the workplace as the number of women going through the menopause increases in the UK workforce. This presents potential challenges to employers, but also rewards in terms of increased staff well-being, good staff retention rates and good HR practice.

Related Resources

The HR consultants at Narrow Quay HR are available to chat through any queries you may have related to menopause and are able to help with any of the issues raised, including menopause policies or a review of your practices and procedures. Please contact our HR specialist Caitlin Anniss on 07909 683 938.