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When a row at work turns into a grievance

What’s a grievance? Dictionaries define it as a complaint resulting from a cause of distress or annoyance. In the workplace, any employee has a legal right to raise a grievance which is a formal complaint about a work issue. In practice,…
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Redundancy – not a magic wand to fire someone

When’s a redundancy not a redundancy? When it’s an obvious attempt to just sack someone. A real redundancy is when a company decides it no longer needs a particular role. Maybe because the work is no longer needed, or the company needs…
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6 tips for your Christmas party

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me: 12 drunken staff, 11 promised pay rises, 10 crates of beer bought, 9 passed out workers, 8 leering managers, 7 punches thrown, 6 cupboard lovers, 5 bullied workers, 4 broken bones, 3 drunk…
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Work & Christmas: a survival guide

Ho ho ho! ‘Tis the season of goodwill, when people smile more and sing along to festive favourite tunes while hanging tinsel and baubles over anything they can. So here are 7 things to consider as you eat your own weight in mince pies and…
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When social media turns ugly

Want to moan on Facebook about your workplace? First step: unfriend your work colleagues. If you don’t do that, then you cannot complain when you go into work and find out that people are not happy with you – and you might be facing a telling…
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Disciplinary: steps to follow & things to consider

So you have a problem with an employee and you’re thinking about what to do. One option might be to take disciplinary action. There’s some guidance about thinking things through here. Now let’s go through the steps you need to use. The…
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Change, develop and improve

  If you see or hear the words “developing people” – you probably don’t react well. If you’re a manager, it probably feels like a duty or, at worst, a pointless exercise. Ticking a box in an appraisal process. But here’s…
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Thinking about a disciplinary?

If telling people off at work was easy, then anyone could do it. In reality, managers find it hard sometimes. You work closely with people and nobody enjoys sitting with someone who’s feeling angry or sad because you’ve just told them off…
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Employ full-timers only? You're missing out

As the economy picks up and your business is expanding, it may be worth considering employing new staff on a part-time basis. Maybe you need more help but cannot justify the costs of a full-time worker? If you are replacing staff, do you really…
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Hooray, it’s appraisal time again!

Hands up who loves appraisals! Come on, don’t all rush to raise your arms enthusiastically. If you’re sighing and feeling it’s something you have to do, because your boss and HR are hassling you about it, then here’s some quick advice:   1…
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Working in different places and how to adjust

With so many people now working from home, how are you getting on? As a massive experiment, it’s blown up all the previous obstacles and concerns about home-working: the worries that people won’t work or things will fall apart. If work…
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Working at home or everyone in an office?

My colleague Brian recently wrote a blog about the difficulties of hiring locally and thinking about relocating staff to work for you, with some handy tips and food for thought. But, as I sit in my kitchen, working remotely, I question why…
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Work feels like running a marathon?

Running a company sometimes feels like a marathon. Just when things settle down, somebody leaves or a problem happens. Things keep changing and you have to work out how to deal with them - and that includes getting employees to help. Sometimes…
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Special offer for our clients

We regularly run a practical "greatest hits" training course for busy managers, to improve your skills and confidence in a wide range of areas. We like to offer special services for our clients when we can. So instead of the usual course fees…
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Social media and work: tips and training

Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media sites are changing our lives: keeping in touch with friends and relatives around the world, making new friends with shared interests and communicating quickly about whatever seizes the imagination. The…
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Social media for managers

How can you use social media to find people when you need to recruit? What happens if an employee criticises you or your company on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media site? We’re running a 2-hour training course on Tuesday 8th September…
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Living or Minimum wages: what do you have to pay?

What’s the difference between a Minimum Wage and a Living Wage? Well, it depends who you ask. The Government is introducing a compulsory Living Wage soon, although critics are saying that’s just changing the name of the Minimum Wage –…
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Work disputes - less risk of a Tribunal claim?

Feeling hard done by at work? Sacked unfairly or victimised because you’re somehow different to the others? You’re probably aware of Employment Tribunals but you might have seen publicity about fees and the falling numbers of Tribunal claims. People…