Author: Paul Middlemast, Chartered HR Practitioner

Management Strategies: Organisational Change in a (Post-) Pandemic World

There is no returning to normal post-pandemic. But there is a path forward: by embedding new ways of working post-pandemic.

After some 18 months of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread lockdown, we must now take stock of how the crisis has disrupted the strategic decision-making framework for organisations and try to build a new one and to look beyond the immediate crisis.

Focusing on the return to work alone is not a viable option, as it will not allow organisations to capitalise on all that they have experienced and learned over the past few months. Instead, we believe organisations should embrace the perspective that humans who want to adapt in an age of acceleration must develop “dynamic stability.” Rather than trying to stop an inevitable storm of change, draw energy from it, but creates a platform of dynamic stability within it.”

New possibilities:

The return to work and the emerging themes; organisations should seize this opportunity to step back and make sure that they are creating clear connections across individual jobs, team objectives, and the organisation’s mission. To strengthen the link between belonging and organisational performance, organisations need to do more than treat their workers fairly and respectfully; they must enable a deeper connection by drawing visible linkages as to how their contributions are making an impact on the organisation and society as a whole.

To help address the most pressing of some of these emerging themes this article; is one of three exploring the new world of work from a people management and compliance perspective in jurisdictions of the UK and Ireland.

Where thousands of businesses during the pandemic have experienced a burst of acceleration: fast-forwarding into the future of work in ways that stress-tested their ability to blend people and technology in the most dynamic business environment many of us have ever seen.

The three articles are:

1. Management Strategies: Organisational Change in a (Post-) Pandemic World
2. Organisational Re-Design: Downsizing and Redundancy: Post Covid-19
3. Remote and Flexible Working: Post COVID-19

The COVID-19 shift:

The pandemic reminded us that people are motivated at the highest levels when they can connect their work contributions to a greater purpose and mission. Consider, for instance, how workers at some consumer products companies have found meaning and inspiration in their jobs as their companies increased production of (or in some cases, pivoted to start developing) disinfectants and sanitizers. People want to contribute to their organisations when they understand how their unique talents, strengths, and contributions are making an impact on larger goals.

Effective strategic positioning enables an organisation to respond quickly and effectively to continuing changes in the marketplace to achieve its strategic intent. Therefore, change must be considered in two contexts:

• the organisation’s ability to deal with change on an ongoing basis and
• managing change separately as each change comes along.

Managing change implies managing the move from one status quo to another–the “unfreeze, transition, refreeze” paradigm. In today’s environment of post pandemic, however, there is no status quo for most organisations. There is only continuing change.

The management of change

The management of change is an overarching approach taken in an organisation to move from the current to a future desirable state using a coordinated and structured approach in collaboration with stakeholders and employees.

Below, we provide a view on how to start that process by leveraging — a set of reflections, recommendations, and frameworks which we believe are more critical than ever as organisations head toward recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 has challenged business leaders to do three things at once:

1. stage the return to work.
2. understand and leverage the advancements they enacted during the crisis and
3. chart a new path forward.

What is Change Management?

Change management addresses the people side of change. Creating a new organisation, designing new work processes, and implementing new technologies may never see their full potential if you don’t bring your people along. That’s because financial success depends on how thoroughly individuals in the organisation embrace the change.

Change management comprises the processes, tools and techniques used to manage the people side of change and achieve desired business outcomes. Ultimately, change management focuses on how to help employees embrace, adopt, and utilise a change in their day-to-day work. Change management is both a process and a competency.

Embracing Change

The new definition of the organisation has to be its strategic intent and that picture of the future has to include an organisation that is not anchored in procedures and processes but anchored in concepts, such as a common understanding of what the organisation is and how it adds value and common values in the way it does business.

One of the defining concepts in today’s environment must be embracing change, and the organisation structure and supporting processes must be flexible enough to allow that necessary response to a changing environment.

The new relationship with employees has to be one in which everyone understands there is no guarantee of lifetime employment, but at the same time, everyone’s success is tied to the success of the organisation. While an organisation cannot guarantee lifetime employment, it can guarantee to help those employees who are willing to invest their energy in staying highly employable by helping them maintain and enhance their skills.

Employees, individually and in teams, need to develop a vendor mentality. They must view the organisation as a marketplace within which they must compete, determining the needs of customers and providing quality service in order to get repeat business and stay in business; that is, to stay employed.

However, as of the change management process an organisation must prepare to ‘pivot’, make organisational and structural changes, and downsize where needed.

The reality of today’s environment, particularly in an organisation that has undergone downsizing, is that employees’ primary loyalty may well be to their work groups and professions. Blind loyalty to an all-knowing and all-wise employer is a thing of the past. People will commit to their work when they have invested themselves and have a stake in the outcome. The needed commitment will be more likely where there is significant employee involvement and the common purpose, commitment, and trust of empowered, high-performing teams.

Five Issues

Preparing the organisation for change involves working through five issues:

• The definition of the new anchors and boundaries that are needed as the organisation redefines itself to effectively deal with change.
• The extent to which the existing organisation structure and supporting processes are compatible with the new definitions.
• The extent to which the organisation’s culture, including the messages management sends by its actions is constant with the new definitions.
• The extent to which HR policies and programs, from reward systems to supervisory training, are congruent with the new definitions.
• The steps that must be taken for the organisational structure, supporting processes, culture and HR policies and programs to provide the support necessary to help employees succeed in dealing with change.

Defining New Anchors and Boundaries

Successful change is about letting go and moving on. Employees have to let go of some of the things they wanted to be constants in their work lives. This is hard to do. But without some idea of what is to replace the old idea of where they are going, it will be particularly hard to get people to move on.

Concepts and Values as Anchors

If an organisation has not given considerable thought to its strategic intent and defined itself in terms of its vision and values and therefore has not created a picture that everyone understands, it will be difficult to identify new anchors for members of the organisation to embrace.

On the other hand, if the organisation has gone through this process, it will be much easier. The key is to introduce the ideas that concepts and values, rather than cast-in-concrete procedures and policies, are the anchors on which members of the organisation can rely.

This is an excellent area for employee involvement. If the strategic analysis work wasn’t previously done, do it now. Communicate the objective to all employees–which the organisation wants to define it and what it stands for.

All “givens” should be clearly laid out in advance. For example, lifetime employment is not an option, dealing effectively with continuing change is a must and so on. It is critical to find out what is really important to all employees in this regard.

It isn’t necessary to ask employees to write beautiful statements worthy of the public relations department. It is necessary to find out what concepts they think are important. This can be done through questionnaires, focus groups, etc. The results of this effort can be used to create a “straw man” redefinition of the organisation and the employment relationship that can then be tested with focus groups, arriving at a final set of concepts.

Boundaries

Some believe that in the new world of flat organisations and self-managed work teams, boundaries are no longer needed. In fact, some will advocate that they be torn down and eliminated. This approach has a certain appeal, since boundaries that keep out information that might challenge the status quo are one of the major barriers to change. Likewise, there is clearly a need to break down those boundaries within organisations–the strict functional “silos”–that inhibit communication across functional lines and contribute to rigid hierarchies.

However, as attractive as eliminating boundaries sounds, boundaries are still needed. The key is that the organisation needs different kinds of boundaries. The organisation must move from authoritarian boundaries discussed above to authority boundaries, so that individuals and groups can establish a protocol for their decision-making and have a context for their daily work relationships with others. Without these boundaries, everything would have to be negotiated.

Defining Authority Boundaries

Authority boundaries need to be defined in these four areas that can be applied to teams as easily as individuals: authority–which is in charge of what; task–who is responsible for what; political–what’s in it for us; and identity–who is us and who isn’t?

Criteria for Establishing Boundaries

In establishing boundaries, three essential criteria must be met. First, the boundaries are porous. That is, they do not become barriers to communication and information, either from outside sources or sources within the organisation. Second, the boundaries are clear enough to provide “safe havens.” Change is tough enough as it is, and individuals or teams need boundaries that will help guide them as they and their processes evolve with changing times. Third, employees understand the boundaries and had input in establishing them. Boundaries should always pass the common-sense test–and common sense may be found most easily on the shop floor.

Existing Organisation Structure and Supporting Processes: Compatible with the New Anchors and Boundaries

Alignment, alignment, alignment. If the organisation has gone through strategic HR analysis and business/HR alignment, it will have identified and studied its organisational structure and supporting processes from the standpoint of alignment with strategic and business goals. Now the question is whether the organisational structure and supporting processes are congruent with the newly identified anchors and boundaries.

Focus groups of employees can help to answer the following questions and help think of other similar questions to ask. If an anchor concept is empowerment, do team members have to go through several layers of supervision to take action or talk to people in other parts of the organisation? If a boundary gives a team responsibility for purchasing routine supplies, do they have the authority to make these purchases?

Accomplishing Alignment

There are various ways to accomplish alignment. Look at the structure and processes and consider whether they are congruent with the anchors and boundaries. When they are not, analyse why not and determine what needs to be done to make them so. Take each anchor and boundary and try to define what that would look like in actual application in the real world of the organisation. Compare that with what is and develop plans to close the gap. Again, employees who will be affected by the outcome should be involved in this task. The key is that the review takes place and the gaps between the new anchors and boundaries and existing organisation structure and processes get identified. In addition to employee involvement, however, executive management support is critical here. More harm than good can be done if employees do the work described above but management will neither support nor allow changes.

Is the Organisation Culture Compatible with the New Definitions?

This is remarkably similar to the previous step, but different in a significant way. Organisational structure and processes are normally well-defined and documented. They can be reviewed and revised in that context. Culture is somewhat different. It is often simply understood rather than written down anywhere, but it is immensely powerful in its influence on the organisation. There are many definitions, but essentially culture is the way we really act, the things we really stand for, the things that really count in the organisation, the behaviours that are understood to be acceptable, etc.

If the organisation has developed its strategic intent and its picture of what it wants to be, then it will know what it wants its culture to be in terms of values, philosophies, beliefs, and practices. This does not mean the actual culture matches the desired culture, so the organisation needs to test its current culture against the benchmark of the desired culture inherent in its strategic intent.

Team and Focus Group Questions

A questioning technique can be used with teams and focus groups to get at the real culture as compared to the cultural attributes raised by the new strategic intent; that is, “what do we really do vs. what we say we do and stand for.” These questions can be used to determine where gaps exist and where changes in the culture are needed.

As with structure and processes (which some may consider part of culture anyway), the key is to test organisational cultural reality against the new anchors and boundaries and to identify the areas where the current culture is not aligned with the new direction.

Are HR Policies and Programs Constant with the New Definitions?

When companies move to implement new organisational structure or new strategic directions, they often neglect to ask whether or not their HR policies and programs are congruent with the directions being taken.

For organisations that have gone through the business/HR alignment and planning phase, HR policies and programs will already have been tested against strategic and business goals from an operational sense. Further review against the newly defined anchors and boundaries will not be a difficult task.

A culture of trust, transparency, and openness

This period has required us all to be supportive of one another, as we all face uncertainty. Control has to some extent given way to trust. People are learning how to do work disparately and with far less oversight: they are learning “on the job” what works and what doesn’t work at home and holding virtual meetings that might have happened before but never to such an extent.

Ironically, in the midst of social distancing, many of us are getting closer. We are building more adaptive teams, are more consistently in touch with each other and connection has become a priority in the name of working remotely. But beyond that we are connected with purpose and as a community.

Working in a more agile way

It is unprecedented to have a large cohort of people, all over the world, start working remotely at once. The events as they have unfolded have shown how fast we can adapt though and have demonstrated that we can move faster and act in more agile ways than we thought.

Business leaders now have, in some sense, been gifted with a better idea of what can and cannot be done outside their companies’ traditional processes, and COVID-19 is forcing both the pace and scale of workplace innovation. Many are finding simpler, faster, and less expensive ways to operate.

All of this points to our innate ability to change, and to move away from prescribed approaches and standardized solutions. COVID-19 is a catalyst to reinvent the future of work and create opportunities for companies to look at things differently.

Our ability to recognize and proactively equip our teams with not just physical resources, but skills, mindsets, behaviours, and values, will be critical in ensuring that we build back better.

organisations face unprecedented upheaval due to the COVID-19 crisis—but its impact can also lead to a chain effect of additional crises—from dramatically different customer needs to business model shakeups to seismic market shifts. Strategies that have quickly pivoted to meet sudden drastic change will likely need to be further adjusted to address additional business fallout. How do you manage all these reverberating changes and survive?

Change management is a methodology to help you prepare and support employees to adapt resiliently and confidently to change in order to keep your organisation strong. Being proactive about managing change helps reduce chaos as the change is implemented. What will change and why (the content) must first be shared. The process by which the change will occur also needs to be discussed and outlined in detail. In addition, the people who will be responsible for making sure the change comes about must be designated, along with those who will be impacted by it.

The change management process seems logical, but it can quickly become complicated by the number of people involved in the change effort. To keep change from becoming difficult to manage, a change leader (normally a HR professional) must be appointed to give direction to others throughout the change process. Other key roles include the change sponsor, normally the CEO, MD or a member of the board who initiates the change, the change agent, who must see it through, and the change target. The change target includes any employee who must actually change what they’re doing in order for the change process to be successful. In addition, change advocates are those who are actively supporting the change, but do not have actual authority to implement it.

Since all people respond differently to change, it’s also crucial to consider how to deal with change overload. This can manifest itself in many ways, including employees feeling excluded from the change process, expressing concern over unrealistic timelines, feeling overwhelmed by what they perceive as too many changes coming too quickly, poor engagement, concerns about insufficient resources, and more. Those leading change must proactively establish guidelines for dealing with change overload, and strategize new ways to gain buy-in, remove silos, communicate openly, and eliminate barriers.

Osprey HR Practice can help

The pandemic presented a multifaceted challenge to employers and employees alike. With business closures, and the potential for business to radically slow down, many employers will be seeking to cut costs to keep their businesses afloat. But reducing staff numbers without following the proper procedures can expose employers to liabilities for breach of contract and unfair dismissal. More importantly, as illustrated above the process of re-alignment and pivoting the business through the management of change, in the long-term will be more beneficial in coming out the other-side of the pandemic `

We at Osprey human resources consultancy practice are very experienced in business re-organisation, change management and the difficulties associated with the short-term challenges to business in these contexts.  If we can assist in any way with the challenges that your business is facing, then please do not hesitate to contact me or one of my colleagues:  Paul Middlemast, Senior Partner at or call 07831 427234.

The content of this blog is for general information only. Please don’t rely on it as legal or other professional advice as that is not what we intend. You can find more detail on this in our Term of our website use. If you require professional advice, please get in touch.

HR OUTSOURCING: The Key Decisions

Are you an organisation deliberating over whether to outsource all or part of your HR? Here, Paul Middlemast, Senior Partner of Osprey hrc a Chartered HR Practice, have put together this guide to explain what outsourcing HR involves, how to do it and what the benefits are for employers.

For any organisation: private, public sector or an NPO knowing when to outsource all or part of their HR management is a challenging decision. The importance of a well-managed HR function; its administration of people management and legal compliance is possibly vital to the success and future growth to the organisation and while there are advantages to taking work outside of the organisation, there are also risks involved.

What is HR outsourcing?

HR outsourcing is when a company pays a third-party group of specialists to carry out human resources functions on their behalf. This can involve the outsourcing of certain aspects, such as payroll, recruitment, administration or of the entire HR function.

The practice of outsourcing aspects of HR is not new, for example payroll. There has been a lot of noise about its benefits and there has been several high-profile deals.

Outsourcing is one manifestation of the transforming shape of HR and, in particular, the increasing demands being placed upon HR functions to deliver greater levels of transactional efficiency at the same time as raising the level of other HR activity to focus on ‘strategic’, value-adding service. Paul Middlemast, along with other commentators, believes that HR functions need continually to improve the efficiency of the administration and legal compliance services they deliver, as part of the shift to a more strategic and influential future of any organisation. Outsourcing is one potential route to achieving this. 

Outsourcing in context

Outsourcing involves buying one or more business services from an external provider. This could include HR and/or other services such as Finance and IT. Outsourcing of HR activities has been a growth area for well over a decade, as organisations have sought benefits in passing over a professional labour-intensive and expensive internal or non-core activity to a third-party expert. The drivers of HR outsourcing are varied, including, for example, a desire to reduce costs, increase effectiveness, obtain dedicated external expertise on a flexible and cost-effective arrangement to release their internal management to focus on the core activity of the organisation.

The specific processes of any HR outsourcing arrangement will vary from organisation to organisation – some may outsource virtually all of their HR processes while others select specific components such as a subscription service for policies (handbook), contracts of employment and other employment related documentation plus the administration and other transactional processes of HR including more strategic aspects of managing people in their organisation.

To avoid any confusion, HR Outsourcing is quite different from that of Shared Service Centres. However, there is a high degree of complementarity with HR Consultancy and Outsourcing in the broader context it is one-of-same, that is, a range of options for improving the efficiency and delivery of HR services. Referring back to the definition of outsourcing in the previous section the following is helpful in this respect.

Outsourcing: the delegation of one or more business process to an external provider (Consultancy), who then owns, manages, and administers the selected processes for and on behalf of the organisation.

The Aims of Human Resource Management (HRM)

Before any organisation sets about reviewing their current and future needs it is always good to understand the concepts of HRM. This, to ensure, any decision made on outsourcing is set against the following:

Why Outsource HR to a Consultancy Practice?

Outsourcing can seem like a simple solution, but there is a lot to consider beforehand. Perceived lower costs are often the primary reason for organisation’s opting to outsource rather than use in-house resources.

Organisations are constantly faced with the challenge of focusing their time and expertise on growth or expanding their services.  It does not make financial sense for many organisation’s to build the internal expertise to support all aspects of their business, so they look for external partners in areas such as IT, HR/Payroll and Marketing.  They also find that internalising all of their HR needs does not make financial sense.  Moreover, if an organisation has inadequate support then they may create compliance, legal and reputational risks.

Even when a organisation decides to internalise HR, they often have a “Department of One”  and finds it nearly impossible to have all the expertise needed to attract, grow and retain their workforce or to stay ahead of the many challenges brought on by the changing workforce and regulations.

As a result, many employers turn to outside experts consultants to provide the support they need around compliance, handbooks, policies, and procedures, recruiting, training and development, salary surveys and compensation design, engagement and retention strategies and benefits.  Outside experts have access to more resources than a company can afford individually as well as knowledge of the latest trends, developments, and legislation. 

Organisations are looking for experts that can provide professional support in a flexible and cost-effective manner and is primarily what many outsourcing organisations offer. Below, sets out the service framework provided by a professional and chartered HR Consultancy:

• Recruiting

An HR business consultant may not post job advertisements or sit in on candidate interviews, but normally advise on what it takes to attract qualified applicants. Consultants whose specialty areas include recruitment and selection give small-business owners tips on the best recruitment strategies as well as how to make wise hiring decisions. Small businesses often cannot afford to waste resources on ineffective recruitment strategies; therefore, an HR consultant can help you create a productive workforce can ultimately save your company thousands by minimising your cost-per-hire.

• Litigation

An HR consultant can assist you in handling employee relations matters, such as investigating informal and formal complaints file by employees alleging that your company has engaged in unfair employment practices. The advantage of having an external consultant is that it preserves the integrity of workplace investigations. In addition, an HR consultant who is specially trained to mediate workplace disputes can save exorbitant costs to litigate employment cases. HR consultants may also advise you on proactive measures to ensure employee satisfaction so that you mitigate future risks of liability concerning employee issues.

• Expertise

HR consultants have to maintain their expertise to be valuable to their clients. Business owners who don’t have a dedicated HR department within their companies benefit from an HR consultant who can provide guidance on the day-to-day operations. Even if there’s an HR staff member in place, the HR consultant can advise him on HR functions that will sustain employee engagement and productivity. Most HR consultants work hard to continually upgrade their knowledge and expertise in HR best practices so they can market high-quality services to clients and ensure that their clients trust their advice and counsel.

• Outsourcing

Many HR consultants are well-versed in the pros and cons of outsourcing HR functions. HR consultants may not perform the duties of an outsource provider, such as processing payroll or handling benefits administration. However, an HR consultant can help you decide whether to hire an outsource provider or help you weigh the benefits of one outsource provider over another. In the event your HR consultant does perform some of the HR functions your company needs; you save the expense of paying the salary and benefits of a full-time employee to handle personnel functions that are well within your consultant’s purview.

• Strategy

Strategic human capital development is an HR consultant’s strength. There are two ways an HR consultant benefits your organization concerning the strategic direction of your HR functionality. Your HR staff benefits from the expertise that your HR consultant lends in coordinating the HR tactical functions. This frees the time your HR staff has to devote to designing and implementing your company’s workforce planning. In addition, it gives small-business owners the ability to leave HR functions in capable hands while they dedicate their time and focus to overall business development.

When considering whether to outsource, the following pros will assist the decision:

• You can focus on running your business and streamline the focus of your internal processes.
• A consultant can provide impartial insight
• External HR professionals have access to more resources that you only pay for when you need them, and you do not have to spend time researching every issue that may arise.
• A consultant will impact your bottom line
• Outsourcing all or portions of necessary HR services is less costly than having a fully staffed, in house department.
• External HR professionals can provide you with more expertise on issues such as human resource management and business effectiveness, the employment market, organisational culture, strategic HRM, managing diversity, employment legislation, TUPE and change management, performance and compensation, employee benefits, talent development and retention strategies.
• One of the main downsides of trying to internalise all of your HR support is that it is exceedingly difficult for one person or even a small team to be an expert at everything. Your HR staff has a wide array of duties and as amazing as they are, it would be really difficult to be stellar at every single one of them.
• When you are facing a highly political situation like defining the future HR department structure after a merger a HR consultant can remove the stress. A neutral and unbiased opinion is helpful in strategic system discussions. Your current HR staff sometimes view work through the local impact to their roles, but an outside expert can analyse and present options without history or politics.

In contrast, the following cons should be taken into consideration:

• Outsourcing means fewer HR professionals on-site.  If this is a concern for you, make sure you find HR consultants who are willing to meet on-site occasionally. That way you and others at your company will have opportunities to speak with them in person.
• Outside consultants might not be as considerate of company culture. You might find that consultants make decisions that do not align with company values. This can be both frustrating and disastrous. In order to keep things aligned with your company’s culture and values, make sure to ask every firm you meet with what steps they take to familiarise themselves with a new organisation. Avoid outsourcing to firms who do not care professionally research their clients.
• Outsourcing can delay future internal development. None of us can see the future, but there may come a time when your company grows enough that you decide an internal HR department makes more sense. Outsourcing before then might mean depriving your company of developing the talent and skills it will need later. This doesn’t mean that you should take the risk and forego outsourcing, though: instead, try and partner with HR firms that are prepared for your company to grow and evolve—and will help train or otherwise prepare your company for potential transitions.
• Your confidentiality could be at risk. HR professionals deal with a lot of sensitive information, from employee medical history to bank account numbers for direct deposit. While HR firms are obligated to keep this information confidential, you should still never partner with a firm that doesn’t seem to take confidentiality seriously. Be sure to ask the firms you meet with about their methods for ensuring confidentiality.
• Choose an HR professional carefully.  Make sure that the individual or firm you hire is in the business of providing HR services as your employees are your greatest resource.

Is Outsourcing HR Cost Effective?

There are a large number of costs involved in maintaining an effective in-house HR and payroll function:

• Salaries of the HR staff e.g. the ratio of a professionally qualified HR manager plus HR administration support to employees is approx.: 80:1 with average cost of £90,000 per year.
• HR regulatory tools and subscriptions
• External Legal Support of the HR staff
• Costs of creating training programs and hiring trainers
• Costs of recruiting tools
• Office space
• Time spent developing and improving internal policies, procedures, and processes
• Managing the in-house team and the people risk of “Departments of One”
• When you hire an HR consultant, you often pay an hourly rate or a monthly retained service. You can decide how little or how much support you need.
• A high level of service can be provided at a lower cost.
• You can hire the best experts at a fraction of the cost of a full-time resource
• You benefit from the shared knowledge and experience of an expert that works with many companies like yours.

So, if, for example, you already have somebody in-house who handles HR, Osprey hrc can offer you your very own named and dedicated CIPD-qualified HR expert to enhance your existing team, by providing practical, hands-on support, either on-site or remotely.

The HR Advisor will act as an extension of your team working with you to run your company’s HR, and being available by telephone, email and in person, as appropriate. They will provide legal, professional, and commercial advice, undertaking HR tasks on your behalf.

Some of the HR services normally include:

Expert guidance will help your business to meet both its operational and its legal requirements. Keeping you up to date with the latest legislation and best practice, providing you with a clear, dynamic service based on your precise circumstances. We won’t take a one-size-fits-all approach with your business.

HR and Employment Law

Since the abolishment of employment tribunal fees in July 2017, the numbers of claims have increased by over 90%, putting businesses under more pressure to do the right thing by their employees, and that is where our expertise could become invaluable to you.

Professional consultants understand the risks of non-compliance and are ready to help you manage your staff efficiently and avoid common pitfalls.

In addition to the above, Retained HR Services package provides you with comprehensive HR support, all of the documents that you need, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your business is protected.

Retained HR Services package includes:

• An agreed or unlimited expert consultancy
• Case management documents covering disciplinary, absence, grievance, and redundancy
• Bespoke document templates
• Newsletters and legal updates
• Prices normally start from just £250.00 per month and vary depending upon company size.

As part of the Retained HR Services package, Osprey will, for example, offer bespoke:

• Policies, Procedures and Handbook
• Offer letters
• Terms and conditions of employment
• Compromise agreements
• Appraisal and performance management
• Exit interview paperwork
• Resignation documents

We at Osprey write every word in every HR document. We tailor it all to protect your business and comply with legislation. You can call us any time, any day, and receive instant HR advice—no matter what the subject. And, you’ll receive access to our suite of HR management software tools and optional legal expenses insurance.

At Osprey hrc, we believe in a partnership approach, which is why we can ensure a dedicated team of experts will be on hand to help you when you need it most. That’s why many organisations nationally and internally have outsourced HR to Osprey hrc.

If you want to find out more about how HR outsourcing can benefit your organisation, please get in touch with Paul Middlemast, Senior Partner by email:  or give us a call on 07831 427234.

To find out more about how we can help your business please take a look at the Services Section on our web site on https://ospreyhrc.com/hr services for more detailed information on our professional services for the people management of your organisation.

The content of this blog is for general information only. Please don’t rely on it as legal or other professional advice as that is not what we intend. You can find more detail on this in our Term of our website use. If you require professional advice, please get in touch.

Paul Middlemast, chartered HR consultant; principal of Osprey hrc has written this blog introducing a flexible working and homeworking policy(s) and how it can benefit you as well as your employees.

Flexible working: business benefits

Many employers believe that promoting flexible working makes good business sense and brings the following improvements. Below is a brief overview:

• a happier, loyal, and more productive workforce, together with a possible reduction of sick days;
• it is a perk that could encourage talented job-seekers to work for a particular company;
• it can enable employers avoid redundancies;
• it shows that a company is progressive and listening to the needs of its staff;
• there is a cost saving to employers, who may be able to save office rental with more employees working at home;
• staff can save on commuting time and costs of travel;
• greater cost-effectiveness and efficiency, such as savings on overheads when employees work from home or less downtime for machinery when 24-hour shifts are worked;
• the chance to have extended operating hours organisations can handle more business outside normal office hours;
• ability to attract a higher level of skills because the business is able to attract and retain a skilled and more diverse workforce;
• greater continuity as staff, who might otherwise have left, are offered hours they can manage; many employers find that a better work-life balance has a positive impact on staff retention and on employee relations, motivation and commitment;
• high rates of retention means that you keep experienced staff who can often offer a better overall service and recruitment costs are reduced;
• increased customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result of the above and,
• improved competitiveness, such as being able to react to changing market conditions more effectively

Flexible working: employee benefits

The main benefit of working flexibly for your employees is that it gives them the chance to fit other commitments and activities around work and make better use of their free time, for example:.

• Personal matters can be sorted without having to take time off. The kids can be taken to school, the shopping can be done when the stores are less full or employees can get to a concert or football match on time. Experience shows that flexitime provides more scope for employees to attend evening courses;
• Mothers with young children can hold down a full time job and leave work in time to pick up children. No queues to beat at the end of the day as staff rush out of the door to be first at the bus stop. 
• Elderly parents their well-being is regularly a cause of worry for their children. With flexible working, more suitable times are now available for employees to visit and care for those who have contributed so much

Introducing a flexible working policy

You should inform and consult employees before you introduce a flexible working policy. This may help them understand how flexible working arrangements may impact on your business.

When planning to implement a policy, you will need to consider the following:

• What flexible working arrangements will suit the business?
• How will you deal with applications, e.g. who will attend the meetings and how will the administration work?
• Are there jobs that might be difficult to do under a flexible working arrangement, e.g. jobs that don’t suit homeworking?
• How flexible are your IT arrangements, e.g. can employees access their email away from the workplace?

Types of flexible working

The term flexible working covers flexibility in terms of the hours that are worked and the location and includes the following:

Part-time working:

Employees are contracted to work less than standard, basic, full-time hours.

Flexi-time:

Employees have the freedom to work in any way they choose outside a set core of hours determined by the employer.

Staggered hours:

Employees have different start, finish and break times, allowing a business to open longer hours.

Compressed working hours:

Employees can cover their standard working hours in fewer working days.

Job sharing:

One full-time job is split between two employees who agree the hours between them.

Shift working:

Work that takes place on a schedule outside the traditional 9am – 5pm day. It can involve evening or night shifts, early morning shifts, and rotating shifts.

Shift swapping:

Employees arrange shifts among themselves, provided all required shifts are covered.

Self-rostering:

Employees nominate the shifts they’d prefer, leaving you to compile shift patterns matching their individual preferences while covering all required shifts.

Term-time working:

An employee remains on a permanent contract but can take paid/unpaid leave during school holidays.

Annual hours:

Employees’ contracted hours are calculated over a year. While the majority of shifts are allocated, the remaining hours are kept in reserve so that workers can be called in at short notice as required.

V-time working:

Employees agree to reduce their hours for a fixed period with a guarantee of full-time work when this period ends.

Home working/teleworking:

Employees spend all or part of their week working from home or somewhere else away from the employer’s premises.

Sabbatical/career break:

Employees are allowed to take an extended period of time off, either paid or unpaid.

Summary

Ultimately, flexible working arrangements will need to fit into your organisation’s strategic workforce plan. Considering the talent shortage in many countries and the ongoing pressure to attract more young people into the workforce, while retaining the knowledge and expertise of older workers, flexible working arrangements will be critical to your workforce strategy now and for the future. If you are introducing a flexible working strategy you should make sure that it is given the time and thought, associated with implementing any new strategy into the organisation.

Planning should include members of the management team, from the top, down. If management are not convinced that flexible working can benefit the bottom line and improve competitiveness, the strategy will not work. It is a fundamental principal of flexible working that the needs of the business are met.

Professional advice

Whether you are a small business employing only a handful of staff, or a larger company, HR issues will inevitably arise. It is always a good idea to take professional advice from a chartered HR professional such as ourselves. We have a wealth of experience in this area and can assist you in developing and implementing flexible working, contracts of employment, HR policies and strategies’ in your business. If you would like more information and an initial free consultation, please get in contact with Paul Middlemast, principal of Osprey hrc on 07831 427234, or email us at .

The Importance of an HR Policies & Practices

Just like societies need laws to create order and common understandings, organisations need policies. Often, when businesses start small, they leave things loose and create rules as they go. However, there comes a point when an organisation needs to coordinate among its members and provide itself with legal protection.

Many an organisation has asked us at Osprey hrc “why,” do I need a policies and practices strategy for my business?” The simple answer is because you have people working for you. With human nature being what it is, employees will test limits and act “creatively” in workplace situations, so you need a strategy for developing, communicating and enforcing a set of policies and practices that comply with legislation and reflect your standards of acceptable behavior.

When you get to the heart of the matter, performance improvement and growth of the business is really about the process of setting expectations and meeting them. The focus in business is not just about meeting specific goals, but also about how you achieve them. And the “how” affects the liabilities you create in the process.

Therefore, building a great company has a lot to do with how people work together, have clear expectations and treated fairly as they help to build your company. The answer is found in the way policies and practices can improve the way your employees interact, while minimising the personnel obstacles that often arise in today’s workplaces and protect the business from expensive litigation. So, to expand on the foregoing:

Why policies are important?

Policies serve several important functions:

• Communicate values and expectations for how things are done at your organisation
• Keep the organisation in compliance with legislation and provide protection against employment claims
• Document and implement best practices appropriate to the organisation
• Support consistent treatment of staff, fairness and transparency
• Help management to make decisions that are consistent, uniform and predictable
• To support business strategy and,
• For smaller organisations, a desire to develop a more formal and consistent approach that will meet their needs as they grow.

HR policies provide written guidance for employees and managers on how to handle a range of employment issues. They play an important role in practically and effectively implementing an organisation’s HR strategy. They also provide consistency and transparency for employees and managers, helping to enhance the psychological contract and create a positive organisational culture.

Defining policy and procedure

A policy is a formal statement of a principle or rule that members of an organisation must follow. Each policy addresses an issue important to the organisation’s mission or operations.

A procedure tells members of the organisation how to carry out or implement a policy. Policy is the “what” and the procedure is the “how to”.
Policies are written as statements or rules. Procedures are written as instructions, in logical steps.

Which policy should be introduced?

It’s difficult to identify a comprehensive list of HR policies that employers should introduce since, as noted above, other than those policies needed to comply with legislation, HR policy needs often vary widely between organisations.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to designing effective HR policies; their content should be based on the unique needs and characteristics of the organisation and its workforce. Rather than following a ‘best practice’ approach which may be unsuitable for the diverse range of organisational contexts, a focus on why there’s a need for a particular policy, and how it’s aligned with the business strategy and business plans, allows an appropriate policy to be implemented for the particular context.

However, certain HR policies and procedures are specifically needed to comply with legal requirements. For example, a written health and safety policy is required for any organisation with five or more employees or workers, while there are also important legislative provisions surrounding the setting out of formal disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Even where a policy or procedure isn’t specifically required by law, employers often find it helpful to have a policy in place to provide clear guidance that reflects the legal framework for handling the issue in question and it also helps employees to be clear about the organisation’s stance on a particular subject.

You want to be sure that any policies you bring into the organisation address a real need and are in line with what your company values and how work should be accomplished. You also need to ensure managers have the skills and resources to be able to implement and monitor the policy.

Whatever your approach, the key to success is to devote the time and resources it takes to develop a policies and practices strategy for your business before the need arises. It’s an investment that can pay large dividends in increased productivity and minimised litigation. And it’s an essential component of your comprehensive people strategy. Many organisations do not have their own HR Department or the one they have is not in a position to develop the people strategy and policies.

If you think I need HR policies in my business… so now what?

Whether you are a small business employing only a handful of staff, or a larger company, HR issues will inevitable arise, and require your time and energy away from other business activities to address.

Osprey hrc can support and assist you with developing and implementing HR policies and strategies in your business, regardless of your business size. For further information please contact Paul Middlemast on 07831 427234 or email .