It’s thought that over two hours a week are wasted by conflict at work, costing the economy millions in lost productivity.

According to research from the publishers of the Myers-Briggs personality test, over 60 percent of employees have never received conflict management and dispute resolution training. But almost all of those who did reported being able to navigate conflict more positively.

Working with colleagues, managers and contractors often sees different types of personalities clashing. Workplace mediation can help.

How can workplace mediation benefit my business?

Mediation can be an alternative to the costly and time-consuming process of grievance procedures. It offers a space to air out misconceptions and miscommunications which can often be the root cause of workplace conflict. Workplace mediation is a positive opportunity for people to resolve practical problems and personal issues.

Does my business really need workplace mediation?

Hopefully not! Conflict can be healthy and constructive. It can help teams develop creative ideas and find new ways of doing things.

Mediation may be needed when healthy competition and a challenging exchange of ideas turns into bullying, harassment and undermining of colleagues. This can have a negative effect in a number of ways.  For smaller businesses in particular, the impact can be significant.

What can my business do to avoid conflict?

Conflict is a natural and normal part of the workplace. But identifying at which point to intervene and manage conflict can be difficult. The best way to avoid conflict spiralling out of control is to set an open and honest culture that encourages competition, but also a healthy respect for each other.

If you find your business is negatively affected by workplace conflict, get in touch with the HR Dept to find out how mediation and grievance management could work for you.

It’s creeping ever closer to Halloween and you don’t always need pumpkins and ghouls to have a horror show. We’ve gathered some HR nightmares from across The HR Dept to give you a scare:

A nightmare from payroll

After a new payroll system was implemented at a logistics company, a handful of weekly paid staff were not paid on time. After several days of waiting, they decided to launch a protest by lying down on the road at the entrance to the site and phoning the local press! It was only resolved by the site manager paying them in cash from his personal account.

A boss from hell

During a staff meeting of 200 employees, the boss told the entire workforce that finances were tight, so please don’t get pregnant. Three women in the audience were carrying but hadn’t told anyone. You can imagine a few people complained!

A werewolf in sheep’s clothing

During a redundancy meeting, an HR Dept manager was giving good news to a woman by informing her that she wasn’t being made redundant. Seconds later, the woman stood up, started shouting and threw a chair across the room! It turns out she had landed a new job with a competitor and was hoping to leave with a big redundancy package.

A flash in the dark

Recently, a male employee was accused of flashing his private parts to a female employee who reported it immediately and he was dismissed. His wife who works at the same company – and is heavily pregnant and about to go on maternity leave – still doesn’t know why he was sacked.

Help avoiding your own HR nightmares

It’s so easy for a people problem to turn into a real nightmare – whether that is protesting staff, tribunals, recruitment and retention problems or allegations of gross misconduct. For help and guidance, get in touch with your local HR Dept.

Sadly, we doubt that many were surprised that a male-led organisation that holds so much power and influence was rife with sexual harassment.

What has been shocking is the sheer scale and the allegations of sexual violence and rape that have come out as Harvey Weinstein’s past unravels.

What is equally sickening is the cover-up that has been going on for years just perpetuating the cycle, creating more victims and increasing the sense of immunity that comes from never being held accountable for your actions.

Sexual harassment happens in workplaces every day, all over the world with the vast majority of incidences going unreported for fear of retribution.

Women have recently told stories of harassment at work such as;

• “I was told to sit on my boss’s lap if I wanted my Christmas bonus”
• “I heard partners assessing female candidates according to their attractiveness”
• “On a night out, stood in a crowd of male colleagues who were considerably older than me (I was 19) when one of them interrupted me by leaning through the circle and touching my boob while the rest laughed. Not one of them said anything or even seemed to think it was wrong.”

Everyone (and yes sexual harassment does happen to men too) should be able to do their job without being made uncomfortable, intimidated or having their dignity violated and this is absolutely not the case in workplaces.

Examples of sexual harassment can include verbal, non-verbal and physical unwanted attention:

• Lewd comments or jokes
• Physical unwanted sexual advances, such as touching or groping
• Sexual violence – assault, rape
• Having photos of a sexual nature on display, such as a topless calendar
• Sending emails with a sexual overtone

Harassment also includes employees treated badly because of their reaction to sexual harassment, from anyone else working for the business.

What could the impact be on my business?

Just think of the impact on your company’s reputation. How will you attract and retain the best staff if you have a culture where your staff feel unsafe and.

One person’s ‘bit of banter’ is another person’s humiliation and subsequent court case.

How can I protect my business?

This is about culture. Make it extremely and undeniably clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly and severely. Set the tone, lead by example, take action and you will gain trust from your workforce.

Having strong reporting systems to make sure that complaints and allegations are dealt with in a fair and structured way that both supports HR best practice, as well as protects you from ending up at a tribunal.

Having written equal opportunities and anti-harassment policies is a great start, but these can also be supported by staff training and regular reviews and updates on the standards of behaviour expected of staff.

A proper and thorough investigation is often the best way to tackle any issue that arises head on, and the HR Dept can be an external and independent pair of eyes to help your business.

Retirement age is often a complex and sometimes contentious issue and there is some debate about when employees should leave the workforce.

The Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 – 2015 says that employees that ‘had reached the normal retiring age for employees of the same employer’ are excluded from unfair dismissal protection.

Stating the retirement age in a contract of employment or handbook is preferable as this clears up any confusion and sets out the expectations on both sides.

Having a retirement policy can go even further, addressing what support will be available – potentially detailing any flexible leave that may be offered and how their retirement will be managed.

An employee that successfully claims age discrimination because they were retired compulsorily could win up to two years’ salary or €40,000, whichever is higher.

How can I protect my business?

A claim for age discrimination can be easily avoided by having clear policies and contracts, outlining a retirement age and complying with the Equality Act 2015.

Get in touch with the HR Dept today about how to make sure your contracts and handbooks are up-to-date and can avoid this issue.

Businesses are being asked to encourage staff to walk a mile a day to improve health and productivity.

After a recent successful trial at a school, companies are championing the scheme that’s now being rolled out across the education sector.

The ‘daily mile’ scheme is designed to get people active. Health guidelines recommend walking 10,000 steps a day – approximately five miles (that’s a few miles short of The Proclaimers, though!).

Only 6% of commuters walk to work and a meagre 3% cycle. Recently it was claimed that four in ten 40 to 60 year olds walk less than ten minutes continuously at a brisk pace each month.

What are the benefits of encouraging staff to be more active?

A recent study found that 42% of people who were encouraged to be physically active every 30 minutes reported they felt a lot more engaged, and more focused, than those that didn’t.

In Columbia, government computers lock users out for a certain amount of time, forcing employees to take a break. There is a formula designed for maximum work/active balance of 20 minutes sitting work, eight minutes standing work and two minutes walking every half an hour.

How can you encourage staff to get up and move?

Do you have an office of people planted to their chairs? Here are some practical ideas you could try out to encourage a less sedentary culture:

• Try standing or walking meetings.
• Ask staff to take the stairs instead of the lift.
• Introduce a pedometer/Fitbit challenge.
• Offer a cycle to work scheme and consider shower facilities if possible.

How can I help my staff be healthier?

Get in touch with The HR Dept today and ask about help with your occupational health.

Smokers cost their bosses and small businesses around €1m every day, the Irish government claimed.

An average of one in five members of staff smoke, taking four cigarette breaks a day, that each last about 10 minutes. Following this line of thinking, smoking can take up to 8.1% of a full-time employee’s time and 5.4% that of a part-time staff member. The latter’s habit costs their employers €500 per year.

In addition, almost a full day is taken as extra sick leave by smokers than their non-smoking counterparts, costing on average another €60 per year.

Back in 2011, junior health minister Róisín Shortall claimed the health services would spend an incredible €23bn treating cigarette-related diseases over the next decade.

How can this impact my business?

Smoking is banned inside most workplaces, but many people can be confused about what they legally have to provide for smokers.

The short answer is ‘nothing’. There is no law that requires employers to get an outdoor shelter or to provide bins (although it’s probably a good idea to keep the area clean and tidy).

While some people think smoking is a human right, they are wrong! You can have rules which ban cigarette breaks whilst working. This means they can only smoke during their scheduled rest breaks.

It’s best to draw up a clear no-smoking policy that is part of an employee handbook.

How do I deal with e-cigarettes?

E-cigarettes and vapers fall outside of the smoke-free laws. So you can choose whether to allow staff to smoke them in the workplace. Some bosses will want to support those using e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking. But the vapour may be annoying to other employees and provide a risk of passive smoking. The long-term impact of e-cigarettes isn’t yet known.

What about smoking in company cars?

Smoking isn’t allowed in any work vehicle that more that one person uses, like taxis, buses, vans, or pool cars. A staff member can smoke in a company car that only they use, but only if their boss agrees.

What should I include in a smoking policy?

It’s best to get in touch with your local HR Dept office and they can help you make the changes to your contracts and handbooks in a fair way that complies with all employment legislation.

You would think that it is entirely reasonable to check on your staff to see if they are spending their time at work doing company work – and not using the company IT systems for personal use.

However, a recent ruling from the European Court of Human Rights disagrees and calls into question an employer’s right to spy on their staff.

This case was about a Romanian engineer who set up a Yahoo Messenger account for work purposes, but also used it to message his brother and fiancée. Company policy said online accounts couldn’t be used for personal purposes.

Although he claimed he had abided by the rules, when the employer checked, they found the personal messages and fired him. He then appealed to the Romanian courts who agreed with the employer. The disgruntled engineer then went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Why is this a big deal?

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the business was wrong to fire the employee using his online activity as evidence. The engineer hadn’t been told his online activity would be monitored by the company and his human rights had therefore been violated.

However, they did not award him any compensation, saying the judgement was sufficient. But of course, that is little comfort for the company, who will have suffered the costs of defending this in both courts.

Is this a surprise?

Not entirely. There has been a similar judgement before, but this one is interesting and timely. The balance between work and private life is becoming increasingly blurred. Companies need to look at what data they monitor, why they’re monitoring it, and how they inform employees that the data is being monitored.

With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in May 2018, now is the ideal time to look at data monitoring to make sure you’re complying.

What should I do?

Ensure your employment contracts and handbook are clear. They need to strike the balance between making sure employees are sensible with business assets, versus spying on personal conversations.

Get in touch with your local office and speak to an HR adviser to see how this might impact your business.

The success or failure of a business depends on the people it hires. And whilst employees are the biggest asset, they are often the biggest expenditure.

Making sure staff are happy and engaged can often be a challenge – especially on a Friday afternoon!

Therefore, we’ve compiled some top tips to help you keep your staff motivated and energised:

1. Ensure staff take regular breaks

In today’s busy world, it can be difficult to get a moment to sit down and relax.

Some people feel like they have to constantly work – or have so much work that they can’t take a break. But studies show that short, regular breaks keep people performing at a consistent level.

Working all day without breaks, or while ill, can be a symptom of presenteeism. This can be detrimental to team morale and employee engagement in the longer-term.

2. Take a mental break too

Free apps such as Headspace are ideal for when staff are taking ten minutes to rest and recharge. They are perfect for short, scheduled breaks, and let them return to work ready to face the challenges of the day.

Mental relaxation and rest periods are just as important as physical breaks, especially in office and white-collar environments.

3. Organise a lunchtime workout

Everyone can do with a little more exercise, and research has suggested that even a moderate amount of cardio activity can boost staff productivity for up to two hours afterwards.

Fitbit fitness trackers encourage users to take 250 steps an hour, as leading a sedentary lifestyle puts staff at much greater risk of a stroke or heart attack.

A recent news story claimed almost half of adults fail to manage even one brisk 10-minute walk a month!

Private medical insurance companies are also offering discounts on premiums to employees who track their fitness levels, thereby rewarding those who do more exercise.

4. Employee rewards and perks

Rewarding your employees can take many forms, including:

• A peer recognition scheme.
• An annual awards show with quirky categories.
• A box of chocolates as a small token of your appreciation.

Employee perks can also go a long way. For example, an online employee perk portal can offer benefits like free mobile phone insurance, a coffee every month, and discounted cinema tickets. They also have seasonal freebies like Thorntons chocolate and discounts at most high street brands.

Your local HR Dept adviser will be able to give you advice on the best way to implement and administer a benefits package that’s suitable for your business and budget.

5. Team socials

Social time and rewards from the organisation are an important part of building a motivated team that want to support each other – as well as the goals of the business.

But make sure everyone can participate! Traditional ‘drinks after work’ can exclude those with childcare responsibilities or those that can’t drink for religious reasons.

So, mix up your activities to suit all staff, days and times. Give your employees plenty of notice, so they can attend and make childcare arrangements ahead of time.

How we can help

Your local HR Dept can advise you on how to get the most out of your staff, alongside making sure they’re healthy and happy. After all, they are the key to driving your business forward.

Get in touch with us today to find your local office >>

A diverse workforce has the potential to not only benefit you and your staff, but your customers too! An inclusive team can harness new ideas and strengthen networks and communities.

A team with a diverse range of work and life experiences can enrich your company culture and brand.

And by becoming a more diverse workplace, you will open the door to new and wider talent pools.

But for some businesses, setting diversity as a key objective may lead to difficulties. Especially if their focus becomes blurred through the uncertainty of what it really means to form an inclusive and diverse workforce.

The benefits of a diverse workforce

Below we touch on some of the benefits of diversity. We provide a few tips on how to attract talent from a wider pool of candidates, as well as managing and retaining a more diverse workforce.

1) Be open to harnessing new ideas from your current staff members. Even a little change to the structure of one of your business processes can allow you to identify new and upcoming business trends.

2) When recruiting, ask to review CV’s without knowing the name, gender, age, nationality, etc, of the applicant. This can help to minimise bias and organically grow a diverse workforce.

3) Create a diversity and inclusion strategy which goes beyond simply focusing upon legal compliance. This can add value to your organisation through boosting employee well-being and engagement. It also allows you to improve business performance through a wider focus.

4) Nurture the development of diversity in the workforce. Focus on new areas of growth in both your business performance and your staff members’ skill sets. These may become a new unique selling proposition for your business.

Having a diverse workforce, though, takes more than just recruiting the right people. Integrating the team and making everyone feel valued is essential if you are to gain the benefits.

Stay inclusive to maintain a diverse workforce and staff wellbeing

Focusing upon diversity can bring many benefits to your business. But make sure you are not pushing an idealised image of diversity. You don’t want to risk making your current staff feel they do not fit the mould of your new ‘diverse’ workforce.

It is important to remember diversity is about a range of differences – and these differences can be as big or as small as you like!

If you would like to find out more about recruiting a diverse workforce for your business, contact your local HR Dept expert.

Popstar Taylor Swift recently won a lawsuit after a radio DJ groped her during a photo opportunity.

The court heard that David Mueller, 54, groped Taylor’s bum in 2013 while she was on tour. Swift told Mueller’s boss, and the DJ was fired from his $150k (€128k) job.

He sued Taylor for $3m (€2.5m) in damages and lost income, but a judge later threw the case out. Swift countersued for one dollar (85c).

Speaking in court, Swift said: “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard.

“I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.”

So, continuing Swift’s efforts to draw attention to this problem, let’s answer some common questions on the topic.

What is sexual harassment?

The Employment Equality Acts of 1998-2015 define harassment as “unwanted conduct”. The law says it’s sexual harassment if someone means to, or has the effect of:

• Violating a person’s dignity.
• Or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment.

What does sexual harassment look like?

Sexual harassment can include, but is not limited to:

• Sexual comments or jokes,
• Unwelcome sexual advances,
• Unwanted touching,
• Sexual assault,
• Displaying pictures, photos or drawings of a sexual nature,
• Sending emails with sexual content.

How big a problem is it?

In a Trade Union Congress (TUC) survey from the UK in 2016, more than half (52%) of women, and 63% or young women said they had experienced sexual harassment. Of these women, 79% didn’t report it to their employer.

Who can be sexually harassed?

Anybody. Women, men, straight, LGBTI+. Anybody can be the victim of sexual harassment and anybody can be the perpetrator.

As a manager, how should I handle a complaint of sexual harassment?

You must take it very seriously. Your company will have a policy for handling grievances, and you should follow this. It is a fundamental employment right that no-one should suffer sexual harassment. If it occurs, and you do not handle it appropriately, your company will be exposed to the risk of financial and reputational damage, alongside the suffering of the victim.

Additionally, a victim could take their employer to the Workplace Relations Commission.

For help and advice on handling a sexual harassment grievance appropriately, or improving workplace culture to minimise the risk of sexual harassment occurring, call The HR Dept.