Agile HR Newsletter November 2022

Here are our Agile HR Top Tips for Engaging your Team

Are your employees passionate about their jobs? Do they come to the office every day eager and enthusiastic to dig in and contribute to the company goals? If not, you may be facing an employee engagement gap, with team members who don’t feel motivated or connected to their roles. This can be a serious issue. A disengaged staff can have a significantly negative effect on productivity, customer service levels and retention.

Some pointers to help:

• Keep them connected
• Clearly define expectations
• Don’t sugar coat difficult/ unpleasant jobs
• Consistency
• Set a good example
• Ask for input
• Care
• Reward creativity and don’t blame for mistakes – people need to be free to try
• Understand people’s aspirations
• Criticise constructively
• Create a place where people want to work
• Learn from exit interviews

For extra advice contact Jenny, [email protected]

Training and Development

Training and developing your employees is an effective way to keep them retained, motivated and engaged. It is important that they remain interested in their role as employees who are engaged in the work that they do and in the company tend to be more productive with a high level of passion, dedication and trust.
We want our employees to stay within the company in the long term as their knowledge, experience and relationships are valuable, so by encouraging career growth and development with reduced employee turnover.

Types of training & development

• New Employee Induction
  Training & development should be the focus from day 1 of employment. A strong induction will help employees understand their role & what is expected of them. On-boarding could last up to 3 months including regular 1-2-1 meetings, shadowing various departments throughout the company and providing them with training manuals/ presentations.
• On the Job: Learning new skills alongside their colleagues can help reinforce procedures and employees have the ability to address any questions at the time. On-the-job training can be an effective way to train new starters as well as develop current employees on a new process or system.
• Workshops: Workshops including webinars, conference and training courses are a good opportunity to develop specific skills and gain further knowledge within specific subject areas.

How to train your employees effectively

• Be consistent
• Be clear on what you would like them to achieve
• Be open and honest on career growth opportunities and requirements
• Keep it interesting to keep employees engaged
• Consider what learning styles work for the employees
• Encourage them to get involved in new projects outside of their usual scope of work
• Encourage them to practise problem solving techniques and applying it to their work
• Offer training to all levels.

Christmas In The Workplace!

As we approach the end of the year, and December is fast approaching, it is time to start preparing for the festive season.

Here are some keys things to look out for during the seasonal festivities within the workplace:

PARTICIPATION: Recognise that not everybody celebrates Christmas therefore, employees should
not feel compelled to participate. The Equality Act 2010 protects employees from discrimination and harassment.

THE XMAS AFTER PARTY: The days following the Christmas Party can rustle up all sorts of HR issues including an increase in absence and the repercussions of conversations that may have occurred between employees under the influence of alcohol.

Have you considered introducing a Workplace Social Event’s policy? It is best practice for employers to highlight the standards and expectations of any workplace event to avoid the risk of any employee disagreements which could later lead to grievances.

POST CHRISTMAS BLUES: Once it’s all over, some employees may feel de-motivated. Take this opportunity to check in on their well-being and thank them for their hard work and dedication to the company over the past year.

21st – 31st JANUARY: The 21st January has been named the most depressing day of the year due to various reasons following the post-Christmas period, with the 31st January being the date most employees in Britain hand in their resignations. What can you do to avoid this?

• Introduce employee engagement such as Employee Awards
• Focus on the vision and plans for both the company and your employees
• Check the signs for poor-wellbeing within your teams

For further support during the Christmas period, please feel free to contact [email protected]  

We hope you all have a well-deserved break and a very happy Christmas and New Year!