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HR ZONE Any Answers Digest – Issue 4
Tuesday 2 April 2002
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/anyanswers/
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********** THIS WEEK’S TOPICS ***** THIS WEEK’S TOPICS **********
…Redundancy criteria… therapeutic earnings/permitted work
rules…flexible working practices…’planning roadshows’…
********** THIS WEEK’S TOPICS ***** THIS WEEK’S TOPICS **********
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been encouraging members to
profile themselves. Why? Because it helps us get a better idea
of your specific interests so we can make sure HR Zone
remains relevant to you. With so many different topics in the
HR world, we can’t possibly cover everything, but we do
want to make sure we concentrate on the things that interest you.
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HR Zone by going to
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Parents at Work
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What you asked this fortnight
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New questions posted include:
– We need to review our redundancy criteria sheet – can anyone
forward me a copy of the selection matrix/criteria/sheet that
they use?
Louise Redman
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/76214
– We have a new employee who has requested to work under
therapeutic earnings/permitted work rules. Does anyone have any
info on this and how it works for both employer and employee?
Andrea MacGregor
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/76144
– We have a member of staff who leaves work a couple of hours
early twice a week to attend Territorial Army training. As a
Company we have been supportive to this member of staff, however
we feel that the impact on his work is now unacceptable and wish
to manage the situation. Any suggestions?
Matthew Austin
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/76091
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The Training Foundation
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April 2002.
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Featured question: ‘Planning’ roadshows
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Q – I have been asked to launch some ‘planning’ roadshows to
highlight the importance of planning to everybody in the company
and I am looking for some ideas! It’s such a huge task, I don’t
know where to start doing something a bit ‘different’ and
something that will be of use to all levels of the business.
Question submitted by Claire Barber
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/74982
Members responses
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I would be very cautious about why this needs to be done, and be
careful of the sausage machine approach, i.e. everyone attended,
therefore, things will be better. In terms of structure you need
a good planning model to base it all around whatever that is
there are many about:
– Make it a two hour session – 10 ’til 12 fits in well
– Have a mixed audience
– Get them to identify planning failures in groups
– Gather feedback identify main causes of poor results
– Introduce the model
– Get them to work through a silly example in groups and review
how it felt
Colin Williams
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(Edited version appears – see the site for full response)
My first suggestion would be to question the whole thing. If
someone has asked you to do it, you need to establish why. The
danger is that it is not a perceived need by the majority and you
will end up with people attending the events with a negative
attitude. The more ‘alternative’ it is, the greater the
likelihood there will be of delegates complaining about style
over substance as well as questioning the relevance. As you
identify the need, ask the same people for some solutions.
Eric Welburn
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(Edited version appears – see the site for full response)
Without knowing the nature of your business, time and budget
allocation, I can only suggest a generic response. You could use
the adage of the five p’s – Prior Planning Prevents Pretty Poor
Performance. I am assuming that your remark ‘I want to steer
clear of traditional stand up training’ implies that you are
trying to avoid lecturing. In a workshop scenario, your role
would be that of facilitator. I would do some research within
each business unit (at all levels) to source evidence of
successful and non-successful planning activities (assuring
anonymity to all concerned). Use this information as case
studies.
Clive O’Donnell
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Not to repeat what Clive said, I have used that method and it
works. Additionally the Backflush Project Planning approach can
give another perspective. Get participants to imagine they are at
a point in the future where Success is. Get them to look around
and describe what they see (behaviours etc.), then get them to
figure out how they got there, what did we do, when who etc. It
is sometimes easier than the forward planning process and
validates against it.
Tony Latimer
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To see all the responses to this question in full, go to:
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/74982
The Open University
—————————————————————–
The Open University recognises corporate needs and COROUS
(Corporate University Services)is here to help you with all your
e-learning requirements. If you would like to find out more
about our service please contact us to arrange a visit.
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Any Answers Answered:
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This fortnight, new responses have been added to the following
questions:
Q – We have been asked to look at the possibility of flexi-time
for our staff employees. Staff are contracted to work 37.25 hours
per week. Any help/ideas on how to get started or the type of
patterns that work would be most appreciated.
Lynne Prophet
A – One of the main advantages of flexible working practices is
that it can be developed to suit the needs of the organisation,
says Liz McConnell. You need to ask the following questions:-
Who needs to work from the an office base? Is that all the time
or sometimes? For those who need to be in the office, is it to
cover a front line customer access point? Can people have
meetings over the telephone, Do we employ parents who have child
care responsibilities? There are loads more questions like this
that you need to ask yourselves and your staff before you can
begin to develop a relevant working policy for flexible working.
To see all the responses to this question in full, go to:
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/76519
Q – What effect does flexible working practices have on
productivity?
Cheryl Lamb
A – Depends on how you are measuring productivity. Organisations
that have introduced flexible working schemes combined with
special leave arrangements have seen significant reductions in
absence. Reduced absenteeism will usually improve productivity.
The other indicator often quoted is how flexible working patterns
help aid staff retention and improve staff recruitment.
Rob Shorrock
To see all the responses to this question in full, go to:
http://www.hrzone.co.uk/item/75528
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