Another year, another set of challenges in the workplace. Talent shortages, the cost of living crisis and increased demands from staff have given way to a highly volatile job market, which is now run by employees. This is being felt by HR professionals up and down the country as they try to recruit and retain talent as best they can in the current economic climate.

But with more jobs than candidates and inflation running riot, the question is, is cash still king? Our HR in 2023 and beyond report revealed that whilst some industries have gifted employees with blanket pay rises in line with rising costs, money is simply not enough to keep employees happy.

Money used to talk

Although 38% of respondents said that they have given their staff a blanket pay rise in reaction to the cost of living crisis, staff turnover is still the biggest problem facing HR teams this year.

In the traditional 9-5 era, there weren’t many negotiable factors in the way people worked. They came to the office within the standard hours and were compensated appropriately, depending on role, seniority and responsibilities. Therefore, “money talked” and the salary was key to recruiting and retaining employees.

Now, there are different variables and flexibility, meaning money isn’t everything – especially not for modern-day workers who experienced the pandemic-induced shift in the workplace.

Is monetary employee compensation/higher paying jobs still the top factor in recruitment?

Of course, salary is still a significant consideration for many looking for new opportunities, but it’s clear there have been big changes in employee expectations and needs when it comes to work.

The pandemic was a landmark turning point where a healthier work/life balance and better job satisfaction were held as high as monthly income. PwC’s workforce survey evidenced this, with over two-thirds of people now looking for more fulfilling roles, over those offering higher salaries.

Our report shows that HR professionals are importantly aware of this and therefore consider salary, flexible hours and hybrid working as the top factors for attracting talent going forward.

What else can organisations do to attract and retain talent?

Although there has recently been some pushback on flexible working arrangements from larger businesses publicised in the media who want employees back in the office, it’s clear that this isn’t going anywhere. In fact, 75% of HR professionals said they will adopt a hybrid approach.

And rightly so, as Gartner found that over half (52%) of employees said that flexible working policies would affect their decision to stay at their organisation.

At the same time, an increased focus on mental health and employee wellbeing at work also means that it’s time to get creative with benefit offerings, and internal initiatives that boost engagement and overall job satisfaction.

Ultimately, people want to enjoy their work. Gone are the days of turning up with tunnel vision on the pay packet at the end of the month. They want more, and those who don’t get it will happily find it elsewhere.

Discover more in HR in 2023 and beyond

Our latest annual report features key data on people challenges, priorities and initiatives that HR professionals from across the UK are focusing on this year. As the candidate-driven market continues to grow, it’s time to let your company’s culture shine with a people-first approach.

Current and future employees know exactly what they want from work, so it’s important to have a finger on the pulse of your workforce and make positive changes to improve employee engagement and satisfaction before it’s too late.

Download our free guide today.

The post Are higher salaries the saving grace for recruitment & retention issues? appeared first on Natural HR.

But now, in the digital age, technology drives departments. File cabinets have been transformed into cloud storage and physical manpower has been exchanged for automation. However whilst other departments have transitioned, HR has struggled to overhaul its system and processes due to its intrinsic link to the paper world.

Even now that the HR technology market is booming and more organisations are realising its benefits, teams are still facing massive inefficiencies. Our annual report, HR in 2023 and beyond, revealed that this is still a widespread problem in 2023 with 35% citing it as a main challenge this year. We explore why this is and how this can be mitigated with an HR solution.

The new normal

Uploading information to HR systems and creating workflows whilst adhering to strict data protection legislation is no small feat. But in 2020, the pandemic and lockdown procedures introduced a new set of administrative and people-focused challenges.

The overnight shift to remote working was a logistical nightmare for businesses that were not familiar with employees working from home. They were forced to implement technology quickly to manage staff access and communication needs. This resulted in much tech but little reward or value for many.

But whilst all of this was happening on the surface, HR was also dealing with confused and burnt-out employees who were looking to their people team for clarity and help – all in the midst of managing widespread redundancies.

HR teams had to work out how to store and manage employee data remotely, how to onboard and offboard staff, roll out learning and development programmes and boost employee engagement from home. This took a lot of work for HR professionals who were used to paper documents and physical contact time in the office.

While some found quick answers in using multiple tools and applications, the disparate and siloed nature of this way of working wasn’t sustainable in the long run. Especially since we now know that hybrid working is here to stay.

One single source of truth

Therefore, many have turned to HR technology. Organisations can utilise people–focused solutions to create a centralised system which securely holds employee data and can help remote teams manage HR-related communications across the entire business.

We found that 79% of HR professionals are using some sort of HR system in 2023. But although many have experienced benefits – including reduced admin, going paperless and better reporting functionality — it’s clear that HR continues to struggle with administrative and procedural issues due to hybrid work.

They are still trying to find ways to manage different working schedules and hours and ensure employees stay engaged and empowered to do their jobs proficiently from wherever they are.
But with the right technology in place, companies can mitigate these problems and ensure they can that the HR department is as efficient and engaging as possible.

The management, accessibility and security of employee information are of the utmost importance for companies in 2023. And HR tech – when set up and used correctly – can seriously improve day-to-day operations for HR teams, whilst enabling them to be agile in the future.

Read more in Natural HR’s free guide

Our new research report reveals the challenges, priorities and initiatives that businesses need to address and focus on in 2023 to create a better working environment for their staff.

With hybrid working going strong and HR departments still finding their feet after the seismic shift in operations, we discover how HR technology can empower teams to streamline workflows so they can focus on value-add strategies.

You can discover more about the future of HR by downloading the report today.

Download our free guide now

The post How can we drive more efficient HR in 2023? appeared first on Natural HR.

Guide to bereavement leave for employers

Bereavement leave is a sensitive subject, making it tricky to understand how and why it works. Involving the death of a loved one, this form of leave is one that your employees probably hope never to ask for. 

Unfortunately, bereavement is a part of life, and you will probably receive a number of these requests over the course of time. Natural HR has put together this guide to bereavement leave in the UK so that you are fully prepared for this situation as and when it arises.

What is bereavement leave?

Bereavement leave is a form of time off that is granted for the death of an employee’s friend or family member. The purpose of this leave is for employees to take time to grieve, attend a funeral, or offer support to their relatives. In this time, it is generally understood that they will not be able to concentrate on their work responsibilities.

In other words, it is a paid compassionate leave based on human needs. It is granted separately from other scheduled leave and is usually requested last minute, for clear reasons. 

How long is bereavement leave?

In the UK, there are currently no laws that compel employers to grant leave for a death in the family. However, there is a clear understanding that refusing this leave is neither good for employee retention, nor is it right. Therefore, most businesses allow three to five days of leave for bereavement.

Difference between compassionate leave and bereavement leave

Compassionate leave is very similar and many people conflate these two terms. The main difference is that bereavement leave is specifically connected to the death of a loved one. Compassionate leave, on the other hand, can refer to time off to look after a sick relative or dependant, or for another emergency involving loved ones.

Reasons for granting bereavement leave

Seeing as bereavement leave is granted at the discretion of the employer, you may be wondering why it should be granted at all. After all, you can choose to refuse it. However, we have found that offering your employees bereavement leave upon the death of loved ones is very important. Here are a few reasons for this: 

Improves employee retention

The truth is, no one wants to work with a company that has no humanity. Offering bereavement leave when your employees are going through a very painful experience will allow them to feel like their organisation supports them. This, in turn, will improve employee satisfaction and retention.

It’s the compassionate option

In the working world, compassion is sometimes lacking. Allowing time off work for bereavement shows your employees compassion in their time of need.

Minimises employee disengagement

During times of emotional turmoil, it can be assumed that employee engagement and performance will be affected. Seeing as the employee in question will likely not be able to concentrate on their work and may affect others around them, granting their leave request actually minimises the disturbance and allows everyone else to continue their work. The employee will then be able to return to their work productively when they return from leave. 

Conclusion on bereavement leave UK

Bereavement leave is an unfortunate reality that most employers and HR professionals will be required to deal with at some point. HR software can make handling leave easy and simple to track so that nothing slips through the cracks.

If you want to know more about the benefits of HR software and how it can make managing your employees more efficient, contact us today.

Find more information below

Founder of Converse Well, Sue Ingram tackled how HR can handle difficult conversations in the workplace – and avoiding the need for them in the first place.

View The Full Webinar

Executive coach, talent consultant and returning guest, Nikki Hill, broke down the key elements of emotional intelligence while exploring how HR leaders can begin infusing a healthy dose of EQ into their agenda and the workplace.

View The Full Webinar

Director of Mast People Support, Kate Marston, showcased how you can manage investigations, grievances and disciplinaries in the workplace whilst reducing the risks.

View The Full Webinar

The post Guide to Bereavement Leave appeared first on Natural HR.

Now, as with any face-to-face interview, recruiters must do adequate preparation to ensure they conduct these online video interviews in a professional manner. This may leave you wondering what preparation you could possibly need to do besides putting together some questions for the candidates. 

Well, it turns out there’s a lot you can do. Through this guide, we’ll arm you with all the tips and tricks you’ll need to host a seamless interview with your potential employees. 

Zoom interview tips for employers

Using Zoom for interviews is a great way to access more talented candidates. However, with this technology, you should always be prepared in advance should anything unforeseen happen. It’s also important to know how to conduct yourself according to Zoom interview etiquette. 

Ensure you have a stable internet connection

This may seem like a no-brainer, but when conducting an interview online, you want to keep things as professional as possible. If you happen to have a shaky internet connection on the day, this won’t be a train smash – turning your camera off will usually help with the sound quality. However, it’s best to connect to a stable internet source so as to ensure that the interview process goes as smoothly as possible. 

Test a few minutes before starting the interview

Whether you’ve conducted one or one thousand online interviews, you never know when technology will act up or your software will suddenly demand an update. 

This is why, as the interviewer, you should always log in to the video call several minutes prior to starting. It will give you ample time to sort through any issues, should they arise.  

Streamline the scheduling process

When you’re recruiting new candidates, it’s important to stay organised. However, between scheduling meetings, conducting interviews and doing other general work-related activities, and liaising with candidates about time availability, you can quickly lose track of what’s going on. 

A simple way to streamline the scheduling process and make your life that much easier is to leverage scheduling tools such as Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly. With these tools, you can let candidates see what time slots are available, and select the one that suits them best. 

Don’t get distracted

When you’re interviewing a candidate, you want to be on your A-game so you can analyse the interviewee and ensure you select the right candidate to fill the job position. This is why it’s so important to eliminate any potential distractions. To do this, be sure to find a quiet place where you can conduct the interview in peace, turn off your phone and other notifications as well as close extra web browsers. 

Practice eye contact and body language

One aspect of Zoom calls that many people have overlooked – both in interviews and even general meetings – is their eye contact and body language. Yes, you and the interviewee may both be sitting on opposite sides of a screen, but this still plays an important role. 

When it comes to eye contact, it can be all too easy to simply stare at the screen or the little box in the corner where you see yourself. However, looking directly into the webcam can simulate eye contact. 

Additionally, you can adjust your body language by nodding encouragingly, smiling and sitting up straight. This will all count as non-verbal cues that will show the candidate that you’re listening and paying attention. 

Compile a list of good interview questions

This may be the most important aspect of any interview – without the right questions, how could you possibly come to understand your candidates and choose the most suitable person to fill the position? So, when compiling your list of questions, consider including the following:

• Basic questions: Including basic questions such as “Tell me about yourself” or “what are your strengths and weaknesses” are generally good ways to start off the interview. However, these should not form the bulk of your questions. 
• Targeted questions: While a candidate may possess all the knowledge and skills needed to fulfil a role, you should also aim to ask questions that will highlight whether the candidate is a good fit for the company and whether your values and expectations are aligned. 
• Behavioural questions: You also need to get a good understanding of how candidates conduct themselves. This is especially important if you’re interviewing for a remote position, as candidates will need to demonstrate strong time management skills, self-discipline and many other traits. 

Record and review the interview

First things first, you’ll have to ask for permission or simply inform the candidate of this. The plus side of this is that a recording will allow you to truly focus on what the candidate is saying, as you won’t have to worry about writing down notes the entire time. Additionally, you can review the recording of the top candidates and compare individuals directly. 

How Natural HR can help you with Zoom interviews

Conducting interviews via Zoom offers candidates and employers numerous benefits. However, it’s essential for organisations to prepare beforehand to ensure a smooth process. 

At Natural HR, our recruitment and applicant tracking software can create a seamless process, enhancing the efficiency of your recruitment team as well as demonstrating to candidates that you have a highly organised environment. 

If you’d like to learn more, get in touch with us or book a demo to see how our software can streamline your HR department’s hiring process.

The post Tips for conducting interviews over Zoom appeared first on Natural HR.

Here are three critical facts about employee turnover in the United Kingdom in 2021:

– 46% of UK workers say their companies training opportunities make them more inclined to stay in their current job.

– 87% of Millennials, those born between 1996 and 2005, say that accessing professional development opportunities is crucial when deciding to stay in their role.

– 63% of polled Chief Financial Officers report an increase in employee turnover within their company since 2019.

With that in mind, in this blog post, we’re going to explore 8 tips on how you can use your HR platform to reduce employee turnover within your company.

How do you calculate an employee turnover rate?

To calculate your company’s employee turnover rate, you need to follow this formula: We divide the number of terminates during a specific period by the number of employees at the beginning of that period.

Let’s say your company started 2021 with 300 employees, and during the year, 14 people left the business, 14/300 = 0.05, or 5%.

But what’s a reasonable employee turnover rate? This varies depending on your industry, and there’s no correct answer. However, statistically speaking, the average turnover rate is around 18%. So, in our example, our company would be well below the average for employee turnover.

What steps can you take to reduce your employee turnover rate?

With all that in mind, what can you do to keep high performers and contributors with your business? Small changes in career development opportunities, work-life balance, manager relationships, compensation and overall wellbeing, are all elements that can make employee turnover preventable.

1. Make sure that you’re hiring the right people for your company:

The best way to ensure employees don’t leave you is to make sure you are hiring the right employees to begin with. Simple steps include using your integrated recruitment module to define the role clearly, ensure you get the correct answers at the interview stage, and use third-party application integration to make sure you reach as many potential candidates as possible.

But that’s not a guaranteed solution. Even when you follow the advice, sometimes you get an employee who just doesn’t fit. In that case, the best thing you can do is use your performance management module to engage the worker and improve their performance through custom performance improvement plans or regular one-to-one meetings with their line manager.

2. Embrace the new way of working and introduce flexibility to your staff:

In the post-COVID world, and with new government policies being introduced, your team will now expect a flexible life/work balance to be a standard ‘perk’ of any position. This year, a Boston College Centre for Work & Family study found that 76% of managers and 80% of employees indicated that flexible work arrangements positively affected retention.

What does this mean for you? If your company is not offering employees flexibility around work hours and locations, they might quickly leave you for someone who will offer them the ability to work from home or work around their family needs.

3. Ensure your salaries and benefits are up to date:

Simply put, are you paying your employees the fair going wage for their work, and are you offering them competitive benefits that they want? If you’re not, then who can blame them for ditching your company?

To solve this, you could use Glassdoor to final the national average salary for a specific role or an internal company survey to discover what benefits your staff want. Likewise, you need to make sure that your salaries are constantly updated to reflect the world we live in or the jobs you could lose your staff to. Consider a yearly review, which in the case of 2021, would look to see if you could increase their salary by 1.25% to cover the rise in National Insurance or 0.85% to cover the 2020 increase in UK Inflation.

4. Don’t forget to recognise the accomplishments of your team:

If employees aren’t being recognised for their hard work, they will become discouraged and disengaged, and over time, that could lead them to want to leave your organisation to pursue new goals and challenges. Recognising employees’ accomplishments is essential to the skill development of your staff and ultimately preventing employee turnover.

By making it a priority to recognise the efforts of each employee through HR platform modules like a social feed, managers will help create a culture where hard work is acknowledged and respected.

5. Make sure you have a developed training and development plan:

Providing your employees with training and development opportunities will display the commitment given by your company. Likewise, your line managers can implement training and development plans to help employees reach agreed-upon career goals that will improve their current job performance.

Then, by using your HR platform and its integrated training and development module, you will be able to track the project’s progress and gauge the employee’s key strengths and weaknesses based on how they perform the tasks.

This approach will motivate your employees to learn new skills that could help you reduce any skill gaps within your business. When the workforce feels that their personal goals and objectives are being taken care of, they will stay longer with your company.

6. Don’t shy away from offering regular feedback to your staff:

Sharing feedback with employees regularly enables them to see themselves from the employer’s perspective and allows employees to develop a long-term commitment to the company through investment in its people. When your staff know that their line managers promote individual development, it will boost their motivation levels and eventually increase retention.

Employee feedback in the form of feedback and one-to-one meetings is instrumental in making them feel valued. As a manager, you can work with your employees on their performance and provide them with more opportunities to develop their skills in the workplace.

7. Always invest in monitoring and developing your workplace culture:

Your employees’ day-to-day duties are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to enjoying their role. Your company’s culture plays a central role in how much employees enjoy their job and is essential in retaining employees.

However, you can’t change or strengthen a culture without first identifying what type of culture the company has. The most important thing is being honest about and communicating openly about the organisation’s culture as it is — not as it aspires to be — with new hires and current employees.

8. Use your HR data to see what issues are present within your company:

Your HR software can break down turnover numbers through the ability to create reports that use your employee data to present you with valuable information. The ability to collect, analyse and act on turnover-related data in real-time and compare it to historical trends will be essential to finding, developing and retaining your best employees.

Using your employee data can report on statistics from termination root causes, top performer turnover trends, and turnover demographics. These can positively influence an organisation’s talent management strategy.

Using Natural HR’s platform to support your retainment rate within your business

Natural HR offers a range of free online resources to support you and your company as you look to improve your retainment rate, including blogs on how to use your people data to improve employee retention.

Find out more in our free guide about the challenges faced by HR leaders.

To discover more about how Natural HR’s software can help your company and reduce turnover, book a demo today.

The post 91% of HR leaders are concerned about employee turnover. Here are 8 tips to reduce it in your business appeared first on Natural HR.

But fear not, in this article, we’re going to discuss how you can identify and address such issues in the workplace so that you can handle the situation tactfully:

Looking for answers – 3 key questions

The first step is identifying if one of your staff is showcasing the characteristics of someone with a poor attitude. At this stage, the key questions you need to ask yourself are:

• What’s the impact of the employee’s behaviour on their duties and the wider company?
• How do the person’s actions differ from the standards set for overall employee behaviour, and is it in breach of their workplace contract?
• What’s the effect of this individual’s behaviour on the people who work with him/her?

Identifying employees with a negative attitude

So, once we’ve answered the three key questions, we are now able to identify the staff members who are displaying a negative attitude in your workplace. To spot these negative minded employees, look out for your staff members who display:

1. Lateness: People arriving late is a very common occurrence in the average workforce of today. For most employers, these are isolated incidents and there’s a perfectly good reason for them, such as bad traffic or a late bus, but when someone makes poor punctuality a habit, it can cause serious problems both directly and indirectly. As well as impacting productivity, it’s a sign that your employee is disengaged and unmotivated in their work.

2. Rudeness: The workplace should be a positive, comfortable, and inviting place for employees to spend their days, so rude attitudes are simply unacceptable and can result in a hostile workplace. Rudeness can be particularly problematic if it impacts your client relationships, too.

3. Bullying: Workplace bullying is, unfortunately, a common problem in the workplace of today, and as a result, it can have a major impact on the happiness of your workforce and the productivity of the business. Common instances of workplace bullying include individuals being unfairly treated or excluded by their peers.

4. Having nothing positive to say: Constant negativity being displayed by an employee is a warning sign that someone is unhappy in their job and lacks the engagement or motivation required to do their job to the best of their ability. Furthermore, negative attitudes can swiftly spread and bring the entire workforce down.

5. Not responding well to criticism: Accepting feedback isn’t always easy, but employees should recognise the difference between understandable disappointment and showing an unprofessional, disrespectful attitude to anyone who offers constructive criticism.

6. Lying: Misrepresenting your credentials, lying on timesheets, misusing expense accounts or even stealing the credit for a co-worker’s accomplishments, is generally frowned upon by others and can lead to distrust in the workplace with other staff members.

7. Poor email communication: This can range from everything from not responding to e-mails, to not putting on an out-of-office reply, to not being aware of how you come across in an email via the tone of your language. As a result of this, employees could miss important meetings or deadlines, cause delays or confusion, or even come off as unprofessional.

8. Poor grammar: When you hear someone using poor grammar, slang, or profanity, it translates into a belief that the person is being unprofessional. Your staff need to remember that they are not at home, or speaking with friends at a social gathering, and what they may consider as ‘banter’ may be offensive to someone else.

9. Inefficiency: Bad habits like being unorganised, wasting time, or being too talkative can make you an extremely inefficient worker, and can even impact others. Generally, this can be seen as spending too much time on water cooler talk, having a messy and unorganised desk, and spending too much time on non-work-related tasks.

Tips for speaking to an employee with an attitude

When it comes to dealing with employees with a bad attitude, it is important to keep in mind that everyone is different and as such, every employee will need to be approached uniquely.

With that being said, when you speak to an employee to help them improve their attitude, there are several tips that you can implement to make sure you can help them improve their attitude in the workplace.

1. Try to make the employee feel more comfortable: These meetings can be quite awkward as the topic can be difficult to discuss, so try to make sure the setting is an inviting one to discuss their attitude.

2. Focus on results and productivity, do not make it personal: The employee needs to know that you are not personally attacking them and that you’re trying to help them with their personal development. Because of this, you should try to use phrases like “I am bringing this up because you must address this problem to be successful in your job role.”

3. Be specific, have an example of a bad attitude that you want to change and avoid being vague about what your issue is: Telling an employee that you don’t like their attitude is not going to be very productive, or help them improve. Instead, you should try a more direct approach like telling the employee that their gossiping about co-workers causes tension.

4. Listen to what your employee has to say, they may tell you the root cause of their attitude: Even if they don’t, letting the employee speak will allow them to voice their concerns and make them feel like they have a voice. As with any performance-based meeting, you must give them a chance to defend their actions and to speak about the concerns that you have raised.

The post Conflict in the workplace: How should companies speak to an employee about improving their attitude? appeared first on Natural HR.

According to legislation from the UK Government, (almost) all workers who work a 5-day week are entitled to at least 28 days of paid annual leave per year. Equivalent to 5.6 weeks of holiday, employers can opt for a leave year or accrual system when calculating their employees’ holiday entitlement.

Below we will explore the UK holiday entitlement system and provide a few handy holiday accrual calculator methods that will help you work out employee holiday entitlement.

What does the leave year system mean?

Under the leave year system, employers define their annual leave year during which employees may use their allocated annual leave.

Naturally, not all new starters commence their employment on the first day of an employer’s leave year.

If an employee starts part of the way through a leave year, you can calculate holiday entitlement on a pro-rata basis depending on how much of the leave year remains.

For example, a worker who works 5 days a week has entered your employment 3 months into your leave year, and your holiday entitlement is 28 days.

28 / 12 x 9 remaining months = this employee’s holiday entitlement is 21 days.

What does the holiday accrual system mean?

The holiday accrual system does what it says on the tin. Every month that an employee works, they accrue 1/12^th of their holiday entitlement. The Working Time Regulations 1998 allows employers to use an accrual system to work out how much holiday leave a worker has built up during their first year of employment.

For example, a worker who works 5 days a week has been in your employment for 6 months and your holiday entitlement is 28 days.

28 days / 12 x 6 = 14 days of annual leave entitlement for the 6 months they have worked for you.

In the second year of their employment, workers that have been subject to an accrual system will then be entitled to all of their holiday allowances on the first day of the new holiday year.

How to work out holiday entitlement for new employees

Whether you’re calculating holiday entitlement for new starters or leavers; the process is a relatively simple one. Of course, the specifics of how you work out holiday entitlement will vary according to your company’s employment contract.

You either calculate this monthly, as detailed above or by the actual working days remaining in the holiday year.

To calculate holiday by the actual (i.e 365 days or 366 in a leap year) days in a year, simply work out the number of days between an employee’s start date and the end of the year. Then divide this number by 365 (or 366).

If an employee starts on 1^st September, there are 121 days between their start date and 31^st December. Assuming your holiday year runs from January to December.

Simply divide 121 by 365 (or 366) and multiply by 100 to arrive at the percentage of full holiday allowance this employee is entitled to.

121 / 365 = 0.33 x 100 = 33%

If your holiday allowance for a full year is 28 days, this employee’s entitlement is 33% of 28 days which is 9.24 days.

By law, you cannot round down the leave. It is at an employer’s discretion whether you round it up or not, but in this case, you may choose to round up the 9.24 remaining days to 9.5.

Alternatively, you can calculate holidays by the days an employee physically works in a year (i.e. 260 days). Simply work out the number of working days between an employee’s start date and the end of the year. Then divide this number by 260.

If an employee starts on October 1^st, there are 64 working days (excluding weekends and 2 UK public holidays.

Divide 64 by 260 and multiply by 100 to arrive at the percentage of full holiday allowance for this employee.

64 / 260 = 0.25 x 100 = 25%

If your holiday allowance for a full year is 28 days, this employee would thus be entitled to 25% of 28 days which is 7 days.

How do you work out holiday entitlement for leavers?

Assuming an employee’s holiday entitlement is 28 days per leave year, and an employee is leaving 90 days into the holiday year, you can calculate their entitlement using a similar formula to that of new starters.

To calculate holiday entitlement by the actual (i.e 365 or 366 days) days in a year, work out the number of days between the start of your holiday year and an employee’s leaving date. Then divide this number by 365 (or 366).

For example, if an employee’s leaving date is 31^st March and your holiday year starts on 1^st January, there are 90 days between these two dates. Simply divide this by 365 and multiply by 100 to arrive at the percentage of full holiday allowance entitlement for this employee.

90 / 365 = 0.25 x 100 = 25%

Assuming your annual holiday allowance is 28 days, this employee would have been entitled to 7 days. This is 25% of 28 days.

Bank holidays and any holidays already taken should be deducted from the 7 days they have accrued.

If any holiday entitlement remains, this should be paid with their final pay.

Equally, if the departing employee has taken more holiday than the days accrued, employers can reclaim these days as a deduction from their final salary.

You can also calculate holiday entitlement for leavers by the number of actual days worked (i.e. 260 days).

If an employee is leaving on 30^th September, they have worked 191 days so far this year. This excludes weekends and 4 UK bank holidays.

Again, simply divide this by 365 (or 366) and multiply by 100 to arrive at the percentage of full holiday allowance this employee was entitled to.

191 / 365 = 0.52 x 100 = 52%

If your holiday allowance for a full year is 28 days, this employee would have been entitled to 52% of 28 days which is 14.5 days.

How to calculate holidays entitlement for part-time workers

The calculations listed above are for the typical employee working 5 days a week. To calculate holiday entitlement for part-time workers, the formula is based upon the entitlement provided by the government. This is the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of holiday for every worker.

As with full-time workers, part-time workers are also entitled to the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday (pro-rata in proportion to the number of days they work).

If an employee works 3 days per week, their entitlement is at least 16.8 days of annual leave per holiday year (3 days x 5.6).

How can you calculate holiday entitlement for hourly paid or shift workers?

Employees that are paid hourly or have no set hours of work (i.e. employees with a zero-hour contract) also qualify for the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday. In proportion to the number of hours they work.

Employees with variable working hours accrue holiday at the rate of 12.07% of the hours they have worked. (That is: 5.6 weeks / 46.4 weeks (i.e. 52 weeks minus the 5.6 weeks an employee is on holiday) x 100 = 12.07%.

Therefore, if an employee has worked 25 hours in one week, they will have accrued 3.01 hours of holiday.

Do you need help calculating holiday entitlement?

We know just how headache-inducing calculating holiday entitlement can be. That’s why we’ve made it simple with our HR software. Automatically calculating holiday allowances for new starters and leavers, Natural HR makes these tedious calculations a thing of the past. Get a free demo to find out how you can ditch these calculations for good.

The post How to calculate holiday entitlement for your employees appeared first on Natural HR.

But what can HR professionals learn from the demise of such an historic organisation?

Communication is key

When times of difficulty arise, the worst thing you can do is keep it under your hat and pretend it isn’t happening. Thomas Cook staff were still working on the morning of its collapse; many being told mid-shift that the business was now in the hands of administrators.

While the media covered heroic footage of staff continuing to show up for work to advise customers that had a holiday booked with the company and help stranded passengers in this difficult time; Thomas Cook failed miserably to keep their workers informed of the dire situation at Head Office in the weeks previous to its demise.

While there is a delicate balance between telling your staff what is happening in the board room and panicking them to the point that they jump ship; the Thomas Cook collapse is a fine example of a complete lack of communication between the C-Suite and their employees.

By law, companies have to consult with employees at least 30 days in advance if between 20 and 99 staff are being made redundant, and at least 45 days ahead of redundancies in the case of more than 100 employees. In all cases of more than 20 staff being laid off, a trade union or employee representative must be involved.

Share your redundancy package

Redundancy can be incredibly distressing for your employees. At this sensitive time, your process and approach to redundancy packages shouldn’t come as a shock. Making sure your employees are aware of the redundancy packages available to them (whether statutory or an enhanced package offered by your business) can help to lessen the worry about personal finances in the immediate aftermath of being made redundant.

It is a legal requirement that employees being made redundant that have been in your employ for more than two years are offered statutory redundancy pay. The total amount depends on the salary, length of service and age of the employee being made redundant.

While insolvency, like in Thomas Cook’s case, makes the process of claiming redundancy pay a little more difficult, employees are still entitled to the funds. This may be paid as a result of the sale of company assets or claimed from the National Insurance Fund.

Be compassionate

The vast majority of the estimated 150,000 UK holidaymakers stranded abroad as a result of Thomas Cook’s collapse will have jobs waiting for them at home. Hundreds of businesses across the UK will have staff stuck abroad that still haven’t returned to work after their holiday and employers should take a compassionate approach to these employees; after all, it isn’t their fault.

Whether it is a sick child, broken down car or the collapse of a tour operator; being flexible and accommodating to your employee’s personal needs can make all the difference in their perception of you as their employer.

Showing compassion and care is a vital skill for HR professionals. Whether workers need to work from home, will be in late or need a few extra days tagged onto their time off in accordance with your absence policy; demonstrating a degree of flexibility in these extenuating circumstances will help to minimise the worry these employees are already experiencing in their personal life.

The post What can HR learn from the demise of Thomas Cook? appeared first on Natural HR.

Bullying and harassment are broadly dealt with by the same legislation in the UK: the Equality Act 2010. Broadly speaking, bullying and harassment are defined as certain behaviours and actions which cause someone to feel either intimidated or offended. They are umbrella terms which cover a wide range of behaviours such as spreading rumours, isolating someone, or making derogatory remarks. It can happen in person, online, or over the phone. They are behaviours which are “unwelcome, unwarranted, and cause a detrimental effect.”

The Difference Between Bullying and Harassment at Work

Although bullying and harassment are frequently bound together, and often dealt with in the same workplace policies, they are distinct from one another. The way to make sense of the difference is that all harassment is bullying, but not all bullying is harassment. This is also distinguished in law. Bullying itself isn’t actually illegal (although it may result in civil action) whereas harassment is.

Harassment is bullying which is related to sex or gender; disability; race; age; marital or civil partnership status and sexual orientation; maternity and pregnancy; and, religion or belief.

If You Believe You’re Being Bullied

If you think you might be being bullied, you should always feel able to speak up. The vast majority of cases of workplace bullying can be dealt with, and ended, quickly and informally. However, if the bullying or harassment continues then you should speak to your line manager. If your line manager is the perpetrator then it is acceptable to go to their line manager instead. Alternatively, you can speak to your HR department or Trade Union representative.

Your workplace should have procedures in place so your available steps should be available to you through the workplace grievance procedure.

For Both Employers and Employees

This article will go on to explain what constitutes bullying in the workplace in more detail. However, whether you are an employer or an employee, if you have questions around workplace buying you can call the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100.

Employers – What You Need to Know

As an employer, you have a duty of care towards your employees and must take steps to prevent bullying and harassment in the workplace. It is in your interests to have a clear Bullying and Harassment Policy, which links to your Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures so that you have a clear protocol to follow which is consistent, fair, and legal.

The fundamental premise, when tackling bullying and harassment in the workplace, is that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. It is not profitable, productive, or efficient, for a workplace to harbour bullying and harassment problems.

As described earlier, bullying and harassment, broadly speaking is behaviour which is unwelcome, unwarranted, and causes a detrimental effect.” However, it doesn’t matter if you believe that the behaviours fall under this definition, if an employee states they feel bullied or harassed, it must be handled as a grievance.

Examples of Bullying in the Workplace

Bullying and harassment can take many different forms. Some examples include:

• Offensive language
• Intimidating language or behaviour
• Name calling
• Malicious or deceptive behaviour
• Insulting behaviour
• Misuse of power in the organisational hierarchy
• Humiliation
• Physical injury or harm

The problem with bullying in the workplace is that it can either be very hard for an outsider to spot (the bully will frequently engage in bullying when there are no witnesses), or because it is ingrained in the workplace culture – creating a systemic problem. Additionally, victims of bullying and harassment do not always speak up or speak up easily. They may be concerned about the security of their job, or be unsure whether the behaviour would be taken seriously or whether there will be any negative ‘comeback’ on them.

It is also important to note that an individual may make a claim against their employer even if the bully isn’t another employee. The bully can be a customer, client, or service user. The employer still has a duty to protect the member of staff from bullying in their place of work.

The Effects of Bullying in the Workplace

Whilst bullying isn’t illegal in itself, even though it is morally wrong, it can hit the bottom line of an organisation in numerous ways. It can also become illegal if it leads to constructive dismissal. Bullying can cause poor morale which will result in poor performance and reduced productivity. It may increase absence rates and staff turnover. Your business’s reputation may also be damaged. Then there is the cost of compensation should the situation end up at an Employment Tribunal, or even in court.

The Law

As stated earlier, the law most specifically relates to harassment. This is because bullying becomes harassment when protected characteristics are the reason.

Constructive Dismissal

If bullying and harassment isn’t stopped in its tracks, then the end result can be hugely detrimental for the employer, as well as the victim. If the mutual trust between the employee and the employer is broken, then the employee may feel they have no choice but to leave. This can constitute constructive dismissal. You could well be held responsible for the acts of bullying or harassment against your employee. You can additionally find a claim being made against you due to failure to protect your employee’s health, safety and welfare at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

What Should an Employer Do

We reiterate again the importance of having a clear and published Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy which is in place alongside your Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures. This way you’ll have a consistent protocol to follow which should help eliminate any issues quickly, and provide you with legal protection if you follow it appropriately.

Typically the policy should include a statement of commitment to anti-bullying by the employer and an acknowledgement of how bullying and harassment can pose a problem. It should then go on to list examples of bullying and harassment, as well as state that such behaviours will be treated as a disciplinary offence. It should also outline the responsibility of individuals and management within the organisation and a clear timescale for action should a case arise.

The post What Constitutes Bullying in the Workplace? appeared first on Natural HR.

It’s much like a football team. If one player isn’t pulling their weight, or if the defenders have lost all respect for the attacking line, they’ll never win another game and will, eventually, sink without trace.

The thought of ‘tribes’ and silos existing within the four walls of a business is unpalatable for any business owner or HR team. You spend years creating an organisation that is built on a set of values that promote the importance of collaboration. Communication is the key, you say regularly at staff meetings, but, somehow, people still fall into their little gangs and create an unhealthy divide within the workplace.

How does this happen? Why do employees seemingly gravitate towards silos within the business, rather than work cohesively with the rest of the organisation?

In this post, we’re going to consider several ways you can break down divides between departments and rid your business of toxic silos. This won’t be a particularly easy process, but the good news is that one you’ve completed it and continue to foster a culture that promotes cohesion, you’ll never have to do it again.

1. Find out why tribes exist

You can’t fix a business problem without first understanding why it exists.

There’s a reason people are congregating in their own factions. Workers don’t create silos just for the fun of it or because they’re bored; there’s always a motive behind it.

We’ll refer to these groups as ‘tribes’, because that term best describes their behaviour. Members of tribes have decided to break away from the organisation, turn inward and operate on their own. They create their own identity and display ultimate loyalty to their department or division.

Tribes are powerful and spend a great deal of their time looking for new members. Here’s why they may exist in your business:

• they feel like they have lost their identity within the business;
• they feel at risk;
• they’re after a greater level of security and safety;
• they’re more interested in self-preservation (followed closely by the interests of the tribe) than they are in contributing towards the common good of the company;
• the business isn’t offering any form of an emotional tie, so they seek it elsewhere;
• they think they have superior ideas for the business that aren’t being listened to

2. Infiltrate the tribe

By looking carefully at the silos within your business, you can try and understand what has led to their tribe mentality. However, just thinking this through won’t lead you to any solid conclusions – you’ve got to get far closer to fully understand what’s going on.

This won’t be easy, and it’s important to note that by ‘infiltrating’ the tribe, we don’t mean sneaking in and becoming a member yourself before revealing your true identity and dismissing them all. Instead, you need to demonstrate that you simply want to understand why these people have sectioned themselves off from the rest of the organisation.

Sit down with members of the tribe and ask them straight, by leaning on the knowledge above. You’ll be surprised by how many open up and tell you the truth. The more open you are with them, and the more forthright the questions, the more likely you are to break down the tribal barrier and get to the heart of the problem.

3. Give them a reason to be part of the wider picture

Although not guaranteed, there’s a very good chance that the silos within your business exist because of one of two reasons:

1. They don’t believe in or agree with the organisation’s goals.
2. They don’t know what the organisation’s goals are.

Both scenarios are undesirable, but fixable. If tribes don’t agree with the organisation’s goals, it’s probably because they either don’t fully understand them or believe solidly that they have a better idea. On the other hand, if they don’t know what the goals are, there’s a communication issue at play.

Your business has goals and you believe in them wholeheartedly. It can, therefore, be something of a challenge to drop your own guard and challenge those who don’t agree with you. They might have a point, after all!

When speaking to members of the tribe, try and get to the bottom of where they sit within the two reasons above. If it’s number 1, ask why and prove that you’re willing to listen to their own ideas. If it’s number 2, it’s time to review the way you’re communicating the business’s goals to the workforce.

Employees need a reason to be part of the wider picture. Why does the company exist? What markets does it intend to disrupt? How will the next three years benefit every single employee and not just the shareholders?

4. Don’t treat silos and tribes as the enemy

Your opponents are your competitors – there should never be an opponent in-house.

By treating any silos or tribes within your business as the enemy, you’ll burn bridges that will never be repaired, and that will spark a downward spiral that will only lead to more serious problems within the ranks.

If you work in HR and have to deal with a particularly troublesome team, it can be tempting to be over critical of their attitude and inadvertently dehumanise the employees contained within. Instead, you should work with them and, as previously noted, try to understand what’s driving their tribe mentality.

5. Accept that certain silos might be working

Here’s an odd thought: what if the tribes within your business are actually onto something? What if their ideas, methods of working and the way in which they ‘run’ the business actually have some substance?

For management, owners and HR teams, this is a hard prospect to come to terms with. How on earth can the customer services team run the business better than the board of directors? How dare they?

However, by putting aside one’s pride, one often finds that others do have a point. As much as silos can be toxic and create tension, their reason for existing might point to a better way to run certain elements of the business.

Drop your own guard and take a look at what the silos are doing. Have they found a better way? If so, it’s time to extend your hand and shake theirs.

6. Recognise and celebrate collaborative efforts

Collaboration in business should be celebrated. If your business isn’t recognising and regularly celebrating wins (no matter how small) that are the result of a collaborative effort, silos will stand little chance of rejoining the main group.

Winning and being recognised for doing something great is infectious; people want ‘in’. Do all you can to recognise collaborative efforts that have a tangible, positive impact on the business and shout loud about each one. Those tribes will start to take notice.

7. Consider you might be part of a tribe yourself

Well, who’d have thought it? All this time you thought there were productivity-crushing silos within your business, and it actually turns out you’re part of one!

This is perhaps the hardest truth to bear and one that isn’t immediately apparent, but a vital question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you have inadvertently created your own tribe. Are you actually the one working in a silo and creating the tension that is dividing the rest of the company?

Take a step back. Petty squabbles and preoccupations within business can become all-consuming, and the reason for their existence somewhat muddied. By taking a bird’s eye view, you might just spot that you’ve somehow worked yourself into a silo of your own making, and if that’s the case, you’ll need to look a little closer to home when it comes to making the changes necessary to bring everyone back into the fold.

Final thoughts

There are plenty of other ways to identify and fix tribe mentality within a business, but the methods above stand the best chance of being successful.

We’ve talked a lot about ‘dropping your guard’ and ‘putting aside your pride’, and those are the key takeaways today. You’re only human, and when departmental divides arise in business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of getting defensive about them and wanting to forcefully break them down – or turf them out.

Instead, work with the silos in your business; try and understand them. They’re cutting themselves off for a reason and simply need a chance to make their point felt. Remember – you’re all in this together.

The post How to break down divides between departments and eradicate silos in the workplace appeared first on Natural HR.