I spent yesterday afternoon with my fellow Trustees of a small but vital to the community advice charity, shortlisting candidates.

We are hiring a new Business Manager to run the Charity and help us keep up with our targets and keep the funding streams active and growing.

The process was very thorough; all personal details were removed prior to us seeing the application forms and the candidates had to give direct examples of experience related to the essential criteria of the person specification. Four of us scored the candidates and finally discussed the scoring, ranked the candidates and set the short list for interview.

However, two interesting things I observed during the task.

Firstly, without knowing the gender of the candidates, each shortlister would assign a gender to the candidate and this varied from application to application, do we atomatically assume gender from the types of experience, the manner of writing? It shows we make assumptions about information regardless of how much we anonymise the application or CV. Recruitment selection is always going to be a very human process all we can to is try to make it as fair as possible, however we are battling human nature.

My advice to clients is, you will make assumptions and your gut will tell you things - don’t ignore it, but test out those assumptions and feelings to gain facts which will either support or refute these feelings.

Secondly, I came across a wonderful phrase “Horizon watching”. I was confused at first and then was a tad derisive about the term. However, I came to appreciate it. It said that the candidate was always watching for the new idea, the next issue, the coming culture change and actually that is what you want in a Business Manager who is in charge of finding income and preparing Strategy for the Board. It’s different to “Blue sky” which can infer somewhat impractical ideas which are far fetched - nice if they were probable solutions and implementable but generally they aren’t.

So “Horizon watching” is a bit of jargon I like, although it does smack of someone in the birdsnest of a Tall Ship…

I am a happy to say that I attend Quaker Meetings on a regular basis. No I am not going to get all evangelical, but I want to pass on my observations on their business meeting practices.

A Quaker is a listener, they like stillness and silence, they talk about discernment - a deep spiritual reflection on an issue or decision. They seek unity after “clearness”. My feeling and experience is that in our management meetings we could no better than employ these skills.

How often do we solely listen to another speaker? I mean really listen, not thinking about how we or others will respond, looking for the next thing we can say, looking at the next topic, dismissing their opinion because it doesn’t suit our needs or agenda? If we really listen we might hear something we need or a newness we have not considered.

Do we react immediately someone has finished talking? I have never heard a silence in a business meeting yet….

Sorry! A stunned silence yes but a reflective, thoughtful, absorbing silence?

Silence is one of the most effective tools in a HR practioners toolkit - once you know that the other person has actually said all they want to say and it gives time to consider a response rather than just jump in. Silence can be misunderstood, others thinking you don’t have anything to say or are being “slow” - we need to cultivate silence as a tool in meetings - it could fundamentally change your culture and decisions.

If you are in a meeting of listeners, you can be heard.

Business decisions are generally reactive and needs-based, if we take time out to “discern”, deeply think about, research and comtemplate decisions, will these not be better decisions? Decisions we fully know are right for our business and we are committed to? This clarity enables business leaders to truely engage with employees and clients more fully and believably.

Following listening, silence and discernment comes unity. The Board may not all agree on a course of action or decision, however everyone has been able to contribute fully to the process, has been given the space for opposing views and knows that fully consideration is being given. This means that hopefully the correct path has been chosen, no one person (even the CEO) has forced through an idea or direction. This leads to a unity and pulling together behind the course of action - a committment.

A key phrase there is “leads to a unity”, we all want Leaders in business not Dictators.

I hear you say - how long will that take?! Probably longer than usual, but in the long run that desicion will be right and will be followed through.

Quakers themselves might take a long while - years to come to a decision, but one thing you can say for them - they are committed once decided.

I have tweeted my final tweet, not that I tweeted much in any case! I am not saying I am going to go all “Tech-no” but I am looking at the value of my time and also the time of others.

I don’t think I will be missed, I might miss the constant stream of information - all those tinyurl’s but there are other more selective ways of being informed - do I really need the constant update? What exactly will I do with it? What is it going to distract me from? I get weekly news emails from journals and the like, I am sure it can wait just a little while!

There are many things a small business is encouraged to do and the social media experts and marketing bods are running a miriad of courses on getting the best from the social media internet. Get your message to your prospective clients? I am not entirely sure how they will see any message I give them amongst the 200 plus tweets about goodness knows what…

I am still on Facebook, but that it is for friends, real people I have met and spoken to, Linkedin for business networking and I am blogging still! I write a newsletter for my clients which keeps them up to date and hopefully interested with topical HR Tips on dealing with employees. Isn’t that enough? Admit it, we might just have better things to get on with.

And maybe I will have time to do something which I find rather enjoyable, calling up clients and soon to be clients, chatting about issues that are pertinent to them and their challenges - not focusing on a twitter which frankly is an egocentric way of telling people what you think they should know about you and yours - not focusing on them and theirs.

From recent experience I would like to offer up 3 very small titbits about the working time regs:

Always get an opt out form signed by the employee - better to make it a separate form and get it signed on induction or before, of course they don’t have to and they can opt back in again, but believe me, forgetting or neglecting this and they do over the hours - HEADACHE!

KEEP RECORDS - always keep records of the hours worked - it is easy to get people to send in a timesheet to record what hours they do. Failing to keep records incurs financial penalties, if find out, and frankly it is good management to know what and when your people are working

If your people are regularly doing excessive hours - look at hiring someone else, it will mean BETTER PRODUCTIVITY in the long term and possibly less cost in overtime.

This is a very interesting concept and analysis of the financial gains for the organsation when not only employees are engaged but those engaged employees meet engaged customers. This article/book brings together the ideas of Six sigma analysis which has been so successful in manufacturing (I was green belt trained in Six Sigma by GE, so I know of the advantages of it being conducted well) and applying the rigour to employees and customers.

It is not good enough for HR just to be interested in employee engagement, this in itself does not create a large financial gain, combine it with a engaged custoemr base and BOOOM!!! financial impact made.

The book advises 5 golden rules:

Human Sigma is based on five new rules to bring excellence to the way employees engage and interact with customers:

RULE #1: E Pluribus Unum. Employee and customer experiences must be managed together — not as separate entities.

RULE #2: Feelings Are Facts. Emotions drive and shape the employee-customer encounter.

RULE #3: Think Globally, Measure and Act Locally. The employee-customer encounter must be measured and managed at the local level.

RULE #4: There Is One Number You Need to Know. Employee and customer engagement interact to drive enhanced financial performance. And this interaction can be quantified and summarized with a single performance metric.

RULE #5: If You Pray for Potatoes, You Better Grab a Hoe. This means that good intentions alone do not constitute a plan of action. Sustainable improvement in the employee-customer encounter requires disciplined local action coupled with a companywide commitment to changing how employees are recruited, positioned in roles, rewarded and recognized, and importantly, how they are managed.

I find this theory very exciting and I will blog about it when I have absorbed the book, I have always had an objection to employee engagement as a very internal measure of productivity, slightly lacking in substance - I am interested to see a hard measure for bring the reported large benefit to the bottom line.

Thank you big brother for sending me the article!!

DLA Piper, legal firm has conducted some interesting research across the UK regarding preparation for Swine Flu.

It seems to indicate that regional businesses have taken the threat of swine flu seriously, with 83% reviewing their business continuity plans, however not looking closely enough at the legal impacts of changing working arrangements and conditions.

Of 428 businesses of all sizes across the UK, over half believed themselves to be at high or very high risk of swine flu affecting their business and 80% had reviewed their absence management procedures as a result of the outbreak.

However, a quarter of regional businesses had opted not to communicate their business continuity plans to their staff, whilst almost half had chosen not to inform their customers or suppliers of their arrangements. Hmmm, so how are these plans going to be activated quickly and without panic or fuss? Better keep the communication going strong.

This is not the first time businesses have been faced with continuity planning and possible ammends to terms and conditions, remember Bird Flu? Maybe it is time to have a hard look at the overall long term policy on business continuity and make sure you have something manageable, well communicated and robust in place that can be activated at a moments notice.

It would save on re-writing the rules everytime there is a propective pandemic or other disaster looming.

A London police constable managed to boost his salary to more than £100,000 last year with repeated overtime, the officer was among 38 in the Met to receive more than £100,000 last year, while one sergeant also received more than £100,000, and three others received £100,000 each.

Considering a constable’s basic salary can reach £34,707, but with London weighting and other allowances, this can go up to just over £42,000. This still double the original salary in overtime.

Overtime can become to some employees a right rather than a business need - if overtime is excessive you have your manpower plan wrong and you need to review and re-align to actual business requirements.

I have a post-it note stuck above my desk at the moment, something I have to remind myself of for work…

“Never say no to a Manager, Ask why instead”

The reason I put this note up was to remind me that when a manager wants to act on an employee issue and feel that they are very clear on the direction they should take, it is very easy just to run with it, particularly if their solution is a legal and reasonable one. It gets interesting when you ask the question “why do you want to do that?” Exploring the issue or problem helps to reality test the solution - is it an emotional response? Is it really in the best interests of the business or the employee? What will be the effect of the solution on other employees? Cost implications?

Sometimes the immediate or easiest solution isn’t always the best solution.

Just attended the CEDR course on mediation skills, fantastic course with intelligent teaching and coaching from experienced mediators.

Mediation is a dispute resolution method which allows the parties involved to reach their own solution, something which should be looked at very seriously in the increasing environment of litigation and the new ACAS code for dispute resolution further emphasising the need for mediation as a dispute resolution method.

My reasons for getting involved in mediation is that I believe that this is an intelligent and quick way to allow all parties to be heard and listened to in a safe enviroment. Quick - as most mediations resolve on the day or in the days after. Court and legal process can take months even years. Reducing the emotional impact rather than increasing it and entrenching parties in their positions.

I hope to practice soon, the course is very exacting and there is still written assessments after two assessment days - CEDR take their accreditation very seriously!

Cash might not be the most effective way of motivating your employees, cash bonuses often get eaten up by regular bills and expenses where a gift or prize may be more memorable and exciting.

What types of incentives are there?
Merchandise - an iPod or a mobile phone,
Events/activities - meals out, hotel accommodation or special trips - Ballooning, Day at the Races or theatre/show trips.
Travel - all expenses paid to tropical destinations
Retail vouchers or gift cards - often available at less than the retail value
Points based awards - to be converted to a range of awards

Advantages

Providing incentives can be more affordable for employers, if budgeted correctly and at the right level to still motivate employees, sometimes the return on the investment can be disproportionate, employees put a greater value on relatively low cost rewards.

It can be customised to the wants and needs of your employees.

The reward scheme can be very simple to implement and understand for employees - sell this much product and you will get a flat screen TV.

There is a subtle psychological effect of rewarding employees with gifts and prizes, it is difficult to talk about a cash bonus you receive from your employer (and it is generally the practice to not allow the employee to discuss cash bonuses with colleagues), however winning a prize - it is far more acceptable to be public about winning and even publicly recognising an employee in front of their colleagues for doing so.

It is also far easier to recognise a team or group of people and make the reward a team event increasing sense of belonging and team working.

Drawbacks

Be careful to align the rewards to the expectations of your employees, too low and the prizes aren’t worth winning and actually will de-motivate employees, too high and the risk is the scheme is unaffordable.

Sometimes, hard cash bonuses has become almost part of the wage packet, in terms of recruitment and retaining good employees, it is important to communicate the value of the programme. If you are swopping from a cash scheme think very carefully about the impact on employees and whether your bonus scheme could be considered as part of the employment contract.

Be wary of the tax implications of the incentives, both cash and non-cash, click here HM Revenue & Customs: Incentive awards and PAYE to understand more or speak to your accountant.