News
The six step process to providing constructive criticism
Managing employee performance can be the most challenging aspect of your job as a business owner or manager. A large part of successful performance management revolves around clear communication and the provision of regular feedback to employees - in fact these are vital to the continued efficiency and performance of your team(s) and your overall organisation. HR Team director, Martina McAuley, advises the best approach when addressing an employee’s underperformance: “The best approach is referred to as a ‘positive sandwich’. Begin with positive feedback, feed in with addressing the negative issue at hand and finish with a positive statement. This [...]
Can you send an employee home for having a hangover?
As St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Tuesday this year, your employees may be hungover or drunk at work. The St. Patrick’s Day parades are cancelled, but staff may still be worse for wear the following morning. What are your rights when dealing with this matter? Problems with workplace hangovers Lower productivity. Reduced workplace morale. Customer service is of a lower standard. Co-ordination, attention span and reaction speed is slowed. Employee suspension or termination. How do you manage an employee that is over the limit at work? HR Team Director, Breda Cullen, says: “It is recommended to have a witness [...]
Social Media in the Workplace: Ruling underlines need for robust policy
Employers who allow social media users to go unchecked in the workplace by having no clear and robust policy in place are simply asking for trouble. A ruling upholding the dismissal of a long-serving employee over inappropriate social media use underlines the essential need for clear workplace policy in this area. In the recent case of Plant v API Microelectronics Ltd, an employment tribunal rejected the employee's appeal that her dismissal had been unfair. Mrs Plant had been employed by the firm for 17 years and there had been no previous disciplinary issues during her lengthy employment. In 2015 API [...]
How employers can avoid summer holiday headache
Summer has arrived and with it comes the balancing act for employers of addressing a mountain of employee requests for annual leave. In a perfect world everyone could be granted annual leave to soak up the only few days of summer sunshine we’re likely to get. However, in most cases those summer periods when the kids are off school and sun has got its hat on, it’s business as usual for employers. That means that unless there is a mid-summer forced closure period of the organisation, there’s no way that every staff member can take annual leave at [...]
Probationary periods and getting the right employee
Unlike the well-known brand of quick drying woodstain when it comes to new recruits employers often don’t get exactly what it says on the tin. The CV ticked all the boxes and the interview may have impressed but a few weeks into employment it is becoming ever clearer that the new recruit is not going to work out. Whether the employee doesn’t meet your basic standards, fails to perform to expectations or is simply a square peg for the round hole of the role, the time has come to part ways. That’s the moment when employers realise one of two [...]
Performance management top tip – it’s good to talk
Staff exceed standards, expectations and targets through face to face management. Not only is it good to talk when it comes to getting the best from your employees, it’s the golden rule. By no means do I endorse launching straight into Fergie-esque ‘hairdryer’ barrages - but . . . I’m certainly an avid cheerleader of swapping distant written instructions for one to one encounters at the very least once a week. UNDERPERFORMING EMPLOYEES More often than not when it comes to underperforming employees the finger of blame should be firmly directed at managers and their inability to communicate clearly with [...]
Jose Mourinho’s seasonus horribilis management style to be avoided
It may make for riveting viewing but when it comes to managing poor staff performance employers should steer clear of the soap opera style of leadership employed by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. The fiery Portuguese’s most recent public lambasting of Chelsea’s under performing playing staff ticks all the wrong boxes when it comes to good performance management. I’m not for one minute suggesting that the ‘Special One’ isn’t a great football manager – his silverware haul over the last decade has certainly cemented his place among the world’s best. I’m also aware that this is not the first occasion that [...]
KPIs matter when running a business or a race
HR Team was out in force to cheer on Managing Partner Breda Cullen as she took on the Waterside Half Marathon, posting an impressive personal best. Not only did Breda eat up the scenic Derry-Londonderry run course much quicker than last year, she completed the 13.2 mile run almost 13 minutes faster than she did in 2014. It will come as no surprise that Breda didn’t simply turn up on the day to see what happens. Unfortunately for everyone who strives to achieve personal bests in sport that’s not the way it works. To achieve such improvements in performance - [...]