Grievance season
An industry survey conducted towards the end of 2022 shows we truly are in grievance season, with 30% of employers seeing a rise in grievances over the last two years.
There is the usual dissatisfaction about workplace conditions, including a broken or unusable toilet and kitchen facilities, problems with workplace temperatures and perennial arguments about parking.
However, the survey reported the main cause of grievances in recent times to be relationships with managers or colleagues. Broken down, the top three reasons for grievances were:
- Bullying or harassment (67%)
- Relationships with managers (54%)
- Relationships with colleagues (49%)
More topically, 37% reported pay and grading as their primary cause of grievance. With rising costs of living and surging inflation, this will come as no surprise. The recent winter of discontent, which continues to see industrial action, is a glaring reminder of employee pay dissatisfaction.
When it comes to resolution of these issues, four in ten respondents said managers were ineffective at resolving complaints before they reached a formal grievance level.
Have you noticed an uptick in complaints? It’s not all doom and gloom – there are steps that can be taken to resolve grievances and improve employer-employee relations.
Fostering a supportive business culture which offers open communication to employees is key.
Your employees should feel comfortable that they can raise complaints informally at first, in the knowledge they will be addressed and discussed fairly. When you establish this trust, and support those involved at every stage, complaints are more likely to be resolved than if they’re escalated to a formal level.
The survey also shows some managers feel lacking in the training required to deal with complaints. To be a successful manager, it’s crucial to have the skills and knowledge to handle and resolve complaints. Our training courses can help to provide these skills.
When a grievance does arise, it’s essential that you have a proper grievance policy in place. This will include the structured steps you will follow to resolve it fairly. If you’d like support in producing a grievance policy, please get in touch. In this season of grievances, it’s best to be well prepared.
Four-day-week?
It will seem radical to many, but the results are in for early trials of a four-day working week. They’ve been a resounding success. At the end of the six-month trial, which ran from June to December of 2022, almost all of the 61 employers involved are sticking to the four-day pattern.
The idea isn’t to squeeze five days’ work into four, but to maintain 100% of salary and productivity over 80% of typical hours. The key for it to work is productivity. So far, the majority of companies taking part have reported that they are happy with performance levels, and many employees have noted increased productivity.
The main benefit of the shortened week was found to be employee well-being. With staff happiness up, employees are less likely to quit, and sick days and absenteeism have reduced. The financial benefits of higher staff retention are undeniable, when the total costs of hiring can easily run into thousands of pounds, depending on the role.
A four-day week doesn’t always mean a long weekend, with either a Monday or Friday being freed up. Businesses that provide services all week, for example a brewery and fish and chip shop involved in the trial, could opt for a rota pattern, with the extra day off being mid-week for some instead.
Whether the four-day week will maintain long-term productivity is unclear. But the trial’s success in creating happier workplaces is testament to the importance of a true work-life balance.
Of course with budgets tight, the four-day pattern is not feasible for many businesses right now, and may require quite a mindset shift for you as an employer and your employees. If it is something you wish to explore, please do get in touch.
Is AI taking over?
AI has been taking over in the news recently, and there are fears it may take over creative job roles too.
The emergence of tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney has proven AI’s capacity to generate complex written and visual content, ranging from articles and graphics, to songs and award-winning artworks.
The question this raises for employers and employees alike: could AI ultimately replace creative job roles?
The jury’s still out. Although AI is quicker and cheaper than a human workforce, it isn’t perfect. AI works by mining the Internet’s existing content, so copyright issues are a concern. And AI output still requires editing by human minds, so can’t replicate human flair.
AI’s encroachment in the creative industries seems inevitable, so perhaps the best approach is to embrace it. If employees work alongside AI, human and computed creativity could be combined for the better, helping businesses work smarter, instead of harder
What to look out for when a employee leaves
Never underestimate the importance of tying up loose ends when an employee leaves.
Something as simple as an employee taking documents away could escalate into a more serious security issue – take Donald Trump as an extreme example, his properties raided after being suspected of retaining classified White House documents once his presidency had ended.
To protect your business after an employee leaves, particularly an unhappy one, thought needs to be given to the contract when they join. Do you need a restrictive covenant to protect the business from customers and staff being poached? Restrictive covenants must be properly drafted to be effective so do take professional advice.
There should be a process for ensuring that keys, laptops, mobiles and all company information is returned before they leave the building. IT access should be immediately switched off and door codes changed.
To ensure correct procedures are followed every time, talk to us about a leaver’s checklist – so all bases are covered.
The Lionesses lead the way
On International Women’s Day, it was announced that the England women’s team secured a victory off the field to add to the many they have won on it.
An open letter to government, sent after winning the Euros, called for girls to be given equal access to all sports in PE. On 8th March this was granted – with up to £600 million earmarked to improve PE and sports in Primary School.
After decades of gender inequality in football, the Lionesses have shown that with fair opportunity and investment, women can, of course, deliver just like men.
Businesses can create the same opportunity and make big productivity gains if they harness all the talent available to them. Have you got the best team you could hope for or would you like to explore new ways to attract the best talent? We can help by reviewing how your roles are structured, advertised and filled.
Hands off!
Whether it’s a stolen sandwich, milk levels mysteriously waning, or chocolates disappearing, few workplaces are free from the office thief.
One milk theft victim sought vengeance by spiking the carton with laxatives. Others have padlocked their lunch, or set noisy traps to catch the thieves.
Revenge is a dish best served… with MSG? One employee with an alleged MSG allergy was mortified when she dug into Chinese leftovers without checking the ingredients first.
One simple solution? Keep the peace by investing in communal milk for your kitchen.
