September 2008

Dear Reader,

In this issue we consider what exactly is bullying in the workplace and why you need to prevent it happening. We continue our “How to” series by looking at the best way to interview, with some free interview question resources on the website.

Best regards

Bullying - Just for wimps?

“The primary cause of stress is not being suited to your job. Or your boss.” Martin Goodwill, MD of Profiles International

Unfortunately bullying is not just a matter of a mismatch. Bullying is called harassment in Employment Law jargon and has to be treated more seriously than saying “People just have to stand up for themselves” or “It was only a joke, don't you have a sense of humour?” The nature of the employment relationship means that it is usually the boss who is the bully (but not always by any means). The employee is dependent on the company for their job, paying their mortgage, car, summer holiday, etc. It is a power relationship which is very open to abuse. At work it is not often physical bullying, more the verbal and emotional terrorism, called “teasing” by those doing it, to underplay the hurt that comments and exclusion from group activities can cause.

There are a lot of reasons why some people bully. They may see it as a way of being popular, or making themselves look tough and in charge. Some bullies do it to get attention or to make other people afraid of them. Others might be jealous of the person they are bullying. They may be a victim of being bullied themselves. Some bullies may not even understand how wrong their behaviour is and how it makes the person being bullied feel. Bullying makes them feel powerful. They have a special need to feel popular – because they're never praised at home. The bully is really insecure, but they'll never show that side of themselves. They'll go after someone weaker, smaller, or different. They'll take away their victim's self-esteem and scare them. And if you allow this behaviour, does it actually make your business work better? No! Unmotivated staff, long term sickness absence, high staff turnover, let alone employment tribunal claims for harassment (£800,000 was the amount paid out in a recent bullying claim) are some of the consequences of allowing bullying to start or continue. So don't do it, it's harming your business.

Prevention is better than cure, so Gap HR Services can help you draw up a comprehensive bullying at work policy to nip potential problems in the bud. Give us a call on 01491 872767.

How to .... interview candidates

You've evaluated the CVs and come up with a list of potentially suitable candidates. The next step is an interview. The trick to interviewing is to make it relevant to the job the candidate will be doing, as well as evaluating the candidate fit to the existing team, whether they have the right mentality, or whether they can learn any necessary skills they don't already have? For example, if the job involves at least 50% of the work on the phone, we would recommend a telephone interview before face to face, so that you can see how they build up rapport in a stress situation. If the job has a lot of telephone work and they are hesitant and nervous on the phone, then they are probably not suitable – an interview, when you have time to prepare, is not as stressful as cold calling clients or responding to an angry client on the phone. Once you are in the face to face situation, again the questions and tasks you test need to be relevant to the job. This ensures that the candidate has the right skills and that they know what sort of tasks the job involves. There is no point keeping secrets about the reality of the role in case people “don't want to do it”. What is worse than having someone start and then leave a week or month later because the job isn't what they expected? Then you have to start the recruitment all over again! Gap HR Services can help you draw up competency based questions (see our favourite questions) and suitable tasks to test candidates on, helping to ensure you get the best person for the job.

Free Stuff and Events

Interview Questions

We have included some of our favourite interview questions for you to use in your interviews. Please click here to access them on our website.

FAQs

One of my employees has resigned but now wants to take back his resignation. I'm not sure I want him to. What can I do?

The basic position is that the employee does not have the right to unilaterally withdraw their resignation once given. You can consider their request, and may allow them to retract, but you can also accept it and the employee has to deal with the consequences of their actions. However, if the resignation was made in the heat of the moment, then you should give the situation a couple of days to cool off and then make a final decision as to whether the employee really meant to resign or not. If you do not allow a cooling-off period and immediately accept a resignation made in the heat of the moment, then a tribunal may decide that the employee did not in fact resign, but was dismissed. This is only the case for spur of the moment resignations; normal resignations can be accepted immediately. If you are actually relieved that the employee has resigned, and it is no “heat of the moment” resignation, you are free to accept the resignation and breathe a sigh of relief.

Client Offers

We are pleased to announce that we can now offer, in conjunction with Specsavers, VDU glasses + an eye exam for just £17. Specsavers' VDU voucher offers both an eye examination and VDU glasses, with a great choice of frames worth up to £45. It means that all your legislative compliance requirements are met, with no time consuming paperwork. What's more, your staff can save £20 on their own glasses purchase. Please call Gap HR on 01491 872767 to get your vouchers or email us on AvoidTheHassles@GapHR.co.uk. This offer is only open to clients of Gap HR Services.

Events

HR & H&S for small businesses: what's the point?

Would you like to halve the time you spend on HR paperwork and compliance?

What would be the benefit to you of having risk assessments that would stand up to the scrutiny of the HSE?

What's the cost to you of doing nothing?

Gap HR and Goode Management have joined forces to present a series of workshops to demonstrate that there is a benefit! If you employ any staff and want to find out the value of employment and safety law to your organisation, come along to a relaxed and informative workshop.

28 October 2008 10.00 am to 1.00 pm

Shillingford Bridge Hotel, Nr Wallingford http://www.shillingfordbridgehotel.com/

25 November 2008 10.00 am to 1.00 pm

Four Pillars Hotel, Abingdon http://www.four-pillars.co.uk/Abingdon/home.html

£25 + VAT including buffet lunch

Contact Carolyne on 01491 872767 or Rebecca on 01491 873323 to reserve your place.

Launch Event

The Athena Network Grows! In October Athena will be starting a new women's networking group in Wallingford, South Oxfordshire. We already have 7 registered members, and we haven't even had our first meeting! Our target is to have ten members at the first meeting on 15 October 2008. If you are a female entrepreneur who would benefit from networking to build your business (and who wouldn't?), then give Sarah McCloughry a call on 0845 688 9720 to find out more. Or visit the website on http://www.theathenanetwork.com

Recommendation – Ginny Avery

Ginny has combined thorough academic training, extensive experience in the performing arts and over 20 years working in the corporate sector to develop a comprehensive series of organised and bespoke training courses to suit all needs. She provides courses in presentation skills, motivational training, telesales techniques and voice care for numerous public and private sector clients including Heathrow Air Traffic Control, Givaudin Roure, Pampered Chef and Mars.

Having completed a Masters Degree in Voice she now specialises in dealing with the nerves associated with speaking in public. Ginny encourages her clients to channel their adrenalin to provide dynamic, effective and confident presentations. Her techniques are fun, straight forward and extremely effective, ensuring a powerful physical and vocal presence.

“The tutor was excellent, interesting and fun! Ginny is very supportive and positive.”

M Turney, Sales Manager, SWC course, Cobham, Oct 03

Many of her clients seek her help with the preparation as well as the delivery of presentations. She actively encourages clients to ‘think outside the box' and avoid distracting OHP or Powerpoint at all costs!

To find out more about Ginny's popular Voice Care and Confidence clinic for professional voice users please visit her website http://www.speakingwithconfidence.co.uk/.

New Small Business Service

Let us halve the time you spend on paperwork!

Gap HR is the HR advisor that understands extremely small businesses.We have for the past five years specialised in exclusively helping extremely small businesses in the Thames Valley area with their people issues. We not only advise, we carry out the advice, and come in to “hold hands” during those difficult conversations with staff. We help you avoid the hassles of HR compliance and take all aspects of people issues off your hands. You can tick the box and can confidently say “We have HR”, having the peace of mind that your people issues will not escalate. The average amount of time spent per year on compliance paperwork is 2 months (www.itbcomputing.com/pr/21486) – Gap HR can help you halve that amount.

So what are you waiting for? What is the cost to you of doing your paperwork and legal research yourself? Get peace of mind now! Call us to arrange a meeting, on 01491 872767.