As HR Consultants, we are asked to advise on the how, when and what of giving an employee a warning....a lot.  It may seem simple enough – you are the business leader, your employee is behaving poorly or not delivering so you bang out a letter and put them on notice.  Right?  Well yes, if you want to get hit with action by Fair Work, or completely disengage an employee.   But if you want to do it the right way which will protect your business and show that you have been fair and followed process, and you are genuinely focused on trying to get the employee to do what is required, read on…

Communication is the exchange of understanding.  What this really means is that what you’ve communicated to an employee has been received in the way that you intended, and that you’ve gotten a response back to let you know that that’s the case.  

Anything less isn’t communication.   It’s just making noises with your mouth.  Those noises can cost you time and money so you want to make sure they are being understood.

There are three  major mistakes managers make when communicating: 

​You’ve invested time and money into recruiting the best candidate for your business and you ticked all the boxes in terms of interviews, capability assessments, reference checks and you have a candidate that is an absolute standout.  But how about a pre-employment medical?  Can you require it as a pre-requisite to employment and what can you do with the results?  

24 hours or 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds.  It doesn’t matter who you are, we all have the same amount of time in a day.  It’s how you use it that counts.  When running or leading a business, it often feels like there are never enough precious, magical time to get everything done while also managing to have a personal life but there are ways to take back from time thieves.  We all know the changes in our lives that “apps” have brought but how do you even find time to work out which ones are applicable to you?  Well fear not fine reader, we’ve taken a look at a few and have 7 time saving apps that might help you streamline your work and give a bit of your day back to you….

 
​​Small businesses typically take a fairly informal approach to appointing new staff.  Often it is done verbally and if there’s time, there may be a short written position description. Many don’t go the extra step in drawing up an employment contract.   While there is no legal requirement for you to provide an employment contract, it should be high on your priority list if you want to protect your business.  Here’s why:

HR Staff n’ Stuff has supported many clients who have needed to implement Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).   We always  highlight the need to follow process to protect both your business and the employee.  When used correctly, they can have incredibly positive outcomes but when used inappropriately, they can cost a business an absolute fortune! 

​A recent case proves how costly it can be if you get it wrong.....

Feel like you’re in a constant operational cycle, and never get the chance to be more strategic?  Feel like you are always working IN rather than ON your business?

Here are 9 quick  ways to help you get off the roundabout and stay focused on what you really want to achieve so you can continue to take your business forward.

Last week we looked at some tips on how you can make your recruitment process more successful but have you ever wondered how you can get to know a candidate more thoroughly outside of the information they share with you in a CV or the technical skills they display when you set a capability assessment?  Face to face interviews will give you some insight but we all know candidates who have interviewed exceptionally well but in reality, they turn out to be completely wrong for your business. 
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Rest assured, there is a solution! 

To those who haven’t done it, recruitment looks easy but the reality is that most small businesses get it wrong. OK, so that’s a bold statement and maybe a little harsh, but true nonetheless.  As HR consultants working with a wide range of industries, we see the damage that poor recruiting can do to a business.  Recruiting the wrong people ends up costing time and money – time and money that is limited and really needed elsewhere in the business. There are two main reasons that small business owners get recruitment ‘wrong’ - and we have 12 tips to help you get it right for your business!

At HR Staff n’ Stuff, we are lucky enough to work with business owners who are focused on nurturing employee engagement and positive organisational culture.  This is important as we all spend much of our lives in the workplace, so fostering positive and supportive workplace environments should be a priority for all businesses if they want their teams to be motivated, effective and delivering the best output possible while driving retention of experienced and talented team members.

Thinking about it, things usually run smoothly in your workplace, and for most part, your team and workmates are supportive, productive and show respect and kindness towards one another.  But over time, there has been the  occasional team member who has shown an underlying and increasing disregard for others.  We’ve all witnessed it – the team member that everyone tiptoes around as none of us want confrontation in the workplace and you don't want to poke the bear.  Often the perpetrator becomes increasingly volatile and difficult to work with or to manage.  So it's best to just ignore the disruptive behaviour isn't it?

A few of our clients are small businesses with around twelve staff - for one of them, what should have been a simple situation regarding annual leave became a frustrating series of poor behaviour that culminated in a tough decision being made once they received the advice from HR Staff n' Stuff as their in house HR consultants. 

​The story commences with the appointment of a new senior person in their business. The new employee informed the business owner that they had a pre-planned holiday booked for two weeks within the first few months of starting.  Although the new employee wasn’t entitled to leave, the business owner agreed to honour this time off - it was a reasonable request and can quiet often crop up when new team members commence.  But some will always try to push the envelope....

What kind of Manager are you? 
Are you a Micro-manager who rules with an iron fist, hoards all the power and controls decisions? 

Or are you a Delegator who shares the duties and is more consultative than dictatorial, relinquishes power, and shares responsibility?

To be a great leader, you have to learn how to delegate well.  We have 5 tips on how to become a better delegator and improve your leadership qualities.

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July 1, 2019 marks the start of a new financial year and with it comes changes to minimum wages as set out in the Modern Awards as determined by the Fair Work Commission.   Since 2017, there have also been changes to penalty rates that have significant implications for employers so let’s take a look at them.

It’s the middle of winter and for many the thought of a tropical island holiday is the only thing that keeps them getting out of bed on these chilly and bleak mornings.   We know that all full-time employees receive four weeks annual leave per year with part time employees receiving the pro-rated equivalent.  Now Virgin, Netflix and Melbourne-based Inventium have all upped the ante and now offer unlimited annual leave – should you?

​Millennials.  It’s a word that strikes terror into the heart of many employers! But this demographic will form 75% of the workforce by 2025 so its vital businesses know how best to harness the skills and talent of this group. 

​Millennials are a complex creature so let’s take a look at a few areas you can consider in your business that will help engage and retain the talent that will drive the best results for your business. 

​Sham Contracting – is it really a big issue?  The Federal Government recently announced that the Fair Work Ombudsman will receive $2.3 million each year for the next four years to establish a unit dedicated to addressing the problem so yes, it is considered a major problem.  But what is sham contracting and how do you make sure your business isn’t involved in it?

The Fair Work Commission has handed down it’s decision last week with a 3% increase to the National Minimum Wage, together with all Modern Award minimum rates of pay.  While the ACTU was calling for a $43.15 a week increase, a 3% increase delivers a $21.60 pay rise to Australian Workers.  

As an employer, you now have some jobs to complete to be in line with these changes.

​It’s getting cold out there and the natural desire is to don the warmest clothes you have before stepping out the front door and heading off to work.  But what do these clothes look like and what do they say about you as a business leader?  How do they position your business and you as an industry leader?  If you are the best in your field, what difference does it make how you dress?

Well actually, it can make a massive difference and it’s all decided within two seconds!

Most workforces are comprised of adults and as such, we should be able to assume that they will conduct themselves in a manner befitting grown-ups.  Right?  Nope, not right.  Unfortunately, you will always find that there are those who are willing and able to push boundaries, behave inappropriately and potentially endanger themselves or their colleagues.  Sometimes it’s deliberate and damaging and sometimes it is a lack of understanding or naivete that causes the problems.  

As a business leader, you need to be on the front foot with protecting your employees and your business from unacceptable behaviour.  But how?

We usually discuss adverse action cases whereby an employer has wronged, or been accused of wronging, an employee.  But a recent case lodged by the Australian Building and Construction Commission demonstrates how prospective employees are also protected by the same laws and the penalties for offending employers can be pretty steep!


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To state the obvious, discrimination within the workplace is unlawful – the Fair Work Act is where this law is enshrined.  But what is included and what constitutes an adverse action in relation to discrimination?.  

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​As a business owner or leader, I bet you are constantly thinking of and planning ways to continuously improve your business?  Well of course, that’s what a great business thinker should be doing but it doesn’t always have to involve grand, long term plans that involve huge capital expenditure.  Improving your business can be as easy as finding small improvements every day. 

Sally is sick. Really sick.  Sally can’t come to work and has now run out of sick leave entitlements.  Sally doesn’t know when she’ll be back at work, so you’re scratching your head wondering ‘what do I do now’?  Sally is one of your customer service team who are drastically under the pump now with a key employee missing from their team…. Sally calls to say that she has to have surgery.  Sally now has complications with her surgery and won’t be back at work for the foreseeable future….. Sally is really sorry.


We hear you screaming from here! It’s frustrating and really hard to keep your business operating at optimal      levels.  Customer service levels are being impacted and the rest of the team are feeling overworked…  To get a temp up to speed will take time and money which will be a lost investment when they are no longer needed.  Sally is still employed so you can’t just replace her.  Or can you?

One fine Tuesday morning, George doesn’t show up for work.  There’s no phone call, email or text message to advise he won’t be in so by 10:30 am, you try contacting him.  There’s no answer so you leave a message.  You also try calling his next of kin as advised on his HR file but they don’t respond either.  Further attempts are made over the course of the next three days to contact George but you still don’t know where he is or if he is coming back.  You have a business to run and you need people to either show up for their rostered hours or advise that they need to utilise some of their personal leave.  So what can you do?

​An employee has just approached you with a request to ‘cash out’ a portion of their annual leave.  Roger doesn’t want to take the time off – he just wants the cold, hard cash in this instance.  He’s got seven weeks up his sleeve and he’s requested to cash in one week of his accrued annual leave.  Do you want to agree to this request and are you obligated to sign off on Roger’s request?

It’s a fact, staff turnover costs your business financially and the recruitment process can be an additional load that you simply don’t need.  There are trackable expenses such as recruitment and advertising but there are many intangible costs that are not so easy to determine.  Lost productivity is an obvious one but it isn’t just limited to lost output when a role is not back-filled before your incumbent departs – it’s also the efficiency of a new employee who won’t be as quick as the experienced team member they replace.  And don’t forget the reallocation of time and attention that impacts you or your staff that are involved in the recruitment, onboarding and training a new team member.  And for some businesses, these costs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to staff turnover.  

​There is no real way to avoid people leaving a company but working on your retention and looking after the people that help make your business a success, can help you reduce the number of departures and minimise these overheads whilst further enhancing a positive, engaged team with increased productivity as a result.  To that end, we have seven quick tips to help you build an employee retention strategy that delivers results.