Redundancy and Discrimination including Parental Leave
This past week has included conversations with clients about how to manage this issue and I also attended a briefing from a trusted law firm on Work Place Discrimination.
This article from HRD online captures the key points for employers http://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/maternity-leave-and-redundancy–what-you-need-to-know-237525.aspx
Let me summarise without repeating.
Redundancy is about the ongoing business requirement for a role – it has nothing to do with the person or people in that role. If it does have something to do with the incumbent(s) then it is not a bona fide redundancy.
Fundamentally the legal advice in this article is (and I agree) saying
1. The redundancy or continuity of a position is ALL about the position and not at all about the person
2. Any decision to modify or adjust a position and role must be about the business need and task not the person.
If you have an employee in a role who is under or over performing then you have an opportunity to manage the person. Do not divert the issue by managing or changing the role
3. If you have a genuine need to take action then you should do it.
Do not shy away for fear of complaint, when there is a genuine business need then action must be taken.
How can you avoid Recruitment mishaps?
Some cynics in the readership would say that the only way to avoid mistakes when hiring is to not hire at all
That also means that your company will never grow, or remain stable if you need to recruit to replace staff who resigned.
This past week has also involved me in conversations and consulting with clients who are needing to hire.
A couple because they are growing.
Also because of resignation.
And again because of downsizing where two roles have collapsed into one.
Recruiting can be and often is a complex and expensive undertaking for a business. Many recruitment agencies charge a percentage of the employee salary as their fee with those percentages ranging up to 20% (and beyond if you are using a search or head hunting company – more on that in a future blog)
The key point is that recruiting is an expensive task.
There is the fee paid to an agency (say 20% of salary0 plus advertising costs (whether ads or fees to an online agency).
Over and above that are the costs to your firm of staff to create manage and monitor the ad and responses. That’s before we get to who will be involved in the interview process (consider this an opportunity cost)
Once beyond this stage you have a new employee who needs to be trained, supervised, observed and checked on how they perform.
Part of the probation period monitoring should be considered a cost of doing business (and a cost of unplanned and undesired turnover – because you need to train up new employee when you had hoped that the previous choice would work out_)
Key comments this week are about hiring and managing well
When you manage your recruitment process well
– clear job description
– well documented selection process
– made the decision based on what the role requires
– found a range of candidates who have the required skills and capabilities
– conducted interviews and selection processes that confirm the fit of the candidate to the role
– completed reference checks that are high quality
If you are wondering why this blog is ending with recruiting then consider these comments
When you hire on “fit” and behaviour you are less likely to experience challenges with that individual behaving in ways that do not suit the culture
The vast majority of companies who hire on skill fire on culture fit. Statistics are sitting at 80% of unexpected resignations are due to people being hired for skills and then feeling that they don’t fit into the new company or team
The way that we begin something is interpreted to represent the way that we want things to continue in the future.
Existing staff will also draw conclusions from decisions made when hiring new staff.
1. salary of new employee vs existing employees
2. who in the company the new employee knows
3. recent contracts signed or lost by the company
People are people and we are wired to share information and fill in gaps of information.
We wish you well with your recruitment and change management decisions, and are willing to assist with the planning process if you need. [email protected]