Work in the time of COVID-19

News

As the COVID-19 outbreak is unfortunately spreading and with our government announcing extra measures of shutting the operation of schools and many retail and catering businesses until the end of April, more and more businesses prioritise the protection of their people’s health whilst attempting to minimise disruption of operations. Maintaining an agile approach and with the help of technology many businesses (office-based work) are able to accommodate remote working. Assisting their employees to work from home maintains the general guidelines of staying safe by self-isolating during this critical time of global health crisis. One thing’s for sure. Planning ahead pays off. Companies which already have a teleworking set-up available and who have a business continuity plan in place will come on top. If you are one of the people whose…

What is an HR audit and why is it important?

Blog, News

When it comes to risks in the management of human resources, employers and HR professionals should not simply wait for an inspection by the Department of Labour, the Social Insurance Services, the Income Tax office or another government bureau to knock on their door. Regular audits are the best way to defend an organisation against potential employment claims, adverse government department findings or fines. Most people are familiar with annual financial audits (the legal requirement for organisations to provide reasonable assurance that their financial statements are complete and accurate) but not many have heard of HR Audits. The performance of people (human resources) is one of the most difficult aspects of organizational performance to measure. HR audits can provide valuable help in this direction as they are a powerful tool…

Performance management systems – Why objectives are important

Blog, News

It’s that time of the year: January, the month associated with setting new year’s resolutions on a personal level but also with setting organisational targets for many businesses. It’s the first month of the year when company missions are usually revisited and the performance bar has been raised after the previous year’s profit and loss accounts have been calculated. These new annual organisational targets need to be communicated to all employees and cascaded down to each department. Then they need to be translated as personal objectives for each individual that plays a role in achieving results for the company in such a way that each person can relate to them. A number of years ago, I experienced first-hand a very poorly conducted appraisal system. I had not been given specific…