Pacman and other Halloween pumpkins

Apart from her HR talents, Melissa carves amazing Halloween pumpkins. This year’s model is Pacman!  
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Tech and people: make sure changes work

Once upon a time, businesses communicated by posting letters, making phone calls and meetings. Now people are sending and receiving work messages through emails, messaging apps and texts.   While considering the obvious pros and cons -…
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Companions for meetings - but no clowns

We deal with all sorts of quirky goings on in the wonderful world of work and HR - but bringing a clown to a formal meeting is a new one on us! You may have read that a man in New Zealand chose to bring an “emotional support” clown with…
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People on medications: Brexit worries

Everybody works with someone who is taking medication of some sort. You just might not know about it. One worry about Brexit is any disruption to the way medications get into the UK and are available to people. More than 60% of medications…
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Why didn’t I get an interview? 8 top tips

I’m spending hours every week reading applications and CVs at the moment. Time and time again I am coming across the same common mistakes that tick the ‘no’ box. So have a read through my list of bugbears and you never know it might…
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Brexit and travel between UK and EU

Let’s start by saying this is relevant advice now but things might change. This is the Brexit saga, after all. Many firms we work with have people moving between countries, either permanently or for a fixed period of time or just for business…
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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…

Looooong weekend!

It's a long weekend: you get 3 days off and then a shorter 4-day week, if you work Monday to Friday. Have a wonderful bank holiday! Have fun and relax.
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Holidays: checking how work’s going or taking a complete break?

Summer holidays are almost upon us and everyone’s heading somewhere for a week or two. With mobiles, tablets and laptops, because that way you can check in with social media and work while you’re away. That’s normal, right? Who would…
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Want to see Brian drop 500ft?

I'm abseiling down the i360 tower on Thursday 4th July to raise cash for the brilliant Clock Tower Sanctuary, a charity helping homeless young people. I'm a little bit nervous about this, so please click on the link and hand over any pennies…
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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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Pay and pension changes from April 2019

In April changes to pension contributions and pay levels come into effect. Pension contributions Minimum pension contributions are increasing to a minimum of 8% of an employee’s salary. The minimum split for contributions is: Employer…

Enjoy the long weekend!

Hope you have a wonderful Easter! Enjoy the long weekend ... then there's another 4-day week.
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Local, national, international - a Big Debate

All kinds of people came to the latest Big Debate: should local firms push themselves to get customers further away? Maybe outside the UK? Not surprisingly, the consensus was yes - with great tips for how to win work and build global companies.…

Share your views for a great free bag!

We have 5 great bags to give away – just share your thoughts and experiences about working with people. The canvas bags are big and incredibly resilient. I’ve been stuffing my bag with groceries and heavy objects for ages, with…
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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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“We can’t get local candidates”

Some job searches are tougher than others. Advertise for a part-time admin role and you’ll get 20 CVs in a day or so. Start searching for a developer with specialised skills or for a senior role with precise definitions of industry, product…
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Equal pay for players

Why pay women less than men? Apart from that general question, why should gender make a big difference to your pay if you’re playing football?  Lewes FC is the first football club in the world to treat and pay its women’s and men’s…