The principle of an open-door policy is to encourage honest conversations, create trust and allow employees to approach their manager, or any leader within their organisation with feedback and suggestions, or to raise concerns outside formal channels.  The purpose is for employees to feel empowered to share insights with senior people within the organisation which they would not otherwise do, resulting in positive changes within the business by building trust and ensuring transparency.   When an open-door policy works well, valuable knowledge into potential problems with existing bus ..read more

Rarely has there been a more sudden and dramatic shift in the way people work than in early 2020 when working from home became an overnight necessity for millions of people as a result of the Covid 19 crisis. We have seen a rollercoaster of responses from both employees and employers over the last two years, continually adjusting over time to this new world. Initially updates to contracts, concerns for health and safety, rushing to update IT equipment and adapting to new ways of working were the priority. When the world and offices opened up again, the process of bringing people back to the wo ..read more

In this week’s article, we are looking at the importance of feedback and one major factor which is impacting this at the moment… Ghosting!  There is an increasing prevalence of ghosting in the workplace.  This concept has evolved from being ghosted in a romantic relationship.  Research shows ghosting is now widespread in the workplace. In the dating world, ghosting is an expression used when someone suddenly cuts all ties and communication with the person they’ve been seeing.  They have broken off the relationship without giving any feedback to the other party.  It has ..read more

During the pandemic many people on furlough felt stuck in their jobs, with a feeling of being “in limbo”.  Their time at home gave them the space to evaluate their roles, their priorities and think about where they wanted to spend their time.  Having more time with their family, spending less time commuting and having fewer interactions with colleagues has resulted in a shift in attitudes to how we work. For some businesses this has resulted in the loss of key employees and the struggle to replace them is very real.  So, the need to retain talent is now more important than ever ..read more

It is a common misconception that HR strategy is complicated, time consuming and only relevant to large corporations. We define HR strategy as ‘having a plan for your people’.  In most businesses, people are the most expensive asset.  At the same time, they are the key to delivering everything your business wants to achieve.  Having a plan to ensure you get the best return on your investment in your people makes commercial sense. A good quality strategy is based on accurate data with relevant, measurable actions for implementation.  For an HR strategy, the actions are based ..read more

According to the Financial Times, we’re in a mental health recession. In 2021/22, 8.3 million patients received at least one prescription item for antidepressants in England, according to NHS data (that’s 22% more than in 2015/16). 12 billion workdays are lost every year because of depression and anxiety alone, according to the World Health Organisation. How is this still the case? At Emphasis, we have seen a positive push from employers, such as providing training mental health first aid, offering medical benefits including employee assistant programmes and opening the discussion on mental he ..read more

Are your employees showing typical signs of burnout such as exhaustion, irritability, loneliness, job disengagement and stress? Employees experiencing these symptoms may become disengaged and unable to function at their full potential. It could also result in long term absence from work which would impact on overall business performance. There is also a high risk employees end up leaving as the strain of work becomes too much to bear. Often employee burnout can happen without employees being aware of it happening. Many feel it is part of working life. By recognising the impact, you can proacti ..read more

You may vaguely remember the Winter of Discontent in 1978–79 when 4.6 million public and private sector workers went on strike to obtain cost-of-living pay rises following an increase in inflation to 13%.  Today we have the highest inflation rate for 40 years.  One of the biggest differences between now and 1978-79 is the strength of the trade unions.  In the 1970s over 13 million workers were trade union members, twice the figure there are now.  Many of the 1978-79 strikes started unofficially, with no effective trade union laws in place.  This meant workers could “do ..read more

According to a recent study by the Menopause Experts Group, the number of employment tribunals which reference the menopause has increased by 44% in the last year. More worryingly, a report on Menopause and the Workplace* found one in 10 women have left their job because of the symptoms of the menopause. This is equivalent to 333,000 women across the UK. Furthermore 14% reduced their hours and 8% of women surveyed had not applied for a promotion due to their symptoms. Businesses are finding it more difficult to retain staff and to find good candidates for vacancies in the current climate so to ..read more

Many of you will know I am a keen fan of F1 and, of Lewis Hamilton in particular.  At this point someone of you may wish to challenge me on my choice of driver (and even race team), which is great as I am always open to discussing the pros and cons of individual drivers, so let’s pick it up next time we meet up ?.  However, this article is not about Lewis or any other driver but Toto Wolff, the team principle for Mercedes. Apologies if F1 is not your sport; the good news I don’t plan to focus on the technical side of motor-racing.  I wanted to talk about leadership and manageme ..read more