Employee Relations
All of our consultants are highly experienced in managing the full range of employee relations issues. We assist clients to conduct disciplinary hearings, to deal with employees who aren't performing properly and to manage grievance complaints. We also have a number of certified workplace mediators on our team who can step in and seek to resolve issues at an early stage.
We also regularly work with clients to improve staff satisfaction levels (sometimes referred to as staff engagement) through conducting an initial staff satisfaction survey, and then working to put plans in place to address any underlying issues.
Discipline and Grievance
We work alongside clients as they manage disciplinary and grievance issues, or if they prefer not to be directly involved, we step in and chair these meetings on our client's behalf, at all levels of staff seniority. This provides the peace of mind of knowing that the matter is being dealt with professionally and effectively, and to the required standards. We also offer an independent perspective, which can be helpful in demonstrating that a decision has been fair and reasonable.
Bullying and Harassment
Over the years we have seen the incidence of bullying and harassment claims lodged in the workplace multiply beyond all recognition. We are very experienced in managing bullying and harassment complaints either independently or alongside our client. We also advise on steps that our clients can take to protect themselves from a claim that they allowed bullying and harassment to take place in their organisation.
Mediation
We have a number of certified workplace mediators on our team who have excellent success rates at resolving employee relations issues before they reach the stage of a formal complaint. Using mediation to resolve issues close to the source not only leads to better team relations, but it also saves the cost (both financial and in terms of management time) of having to deal with grievances or other complaints. These can be costly and protracted.
Employment Tribunals
Employment tribunals are an inevitable feature of the employee relations landscape and further to the Court of Appeal decision on tribunal fees in England and Wales, the volume of cases is set to increase again. We are experienced in appearing at the Tribunal on behalf of our clients and defending the independence and the transparency of our work. This can be an important step in terms of demonstrating that the employer has taken an issue seriously and called on independent and professional expertise to resolve it.
Employee Engagement
Essentially employee engagement is about the extent to which staff feel happy and motivated in their jobs, and want to stay working in the organisation. Disengaged employees lead to high levels of turnover, loss of productivity and the cost and disruption to the organisation of constantly having to refresh its team. We're experienced in carrying out staff satisfaction surveys to measure the level of employee engagement and putting in place plans to address areas of concern. Our independence in conducting this work is critical to enabling staff to be honest in their thoughts, which is vital for the work to have any value and be a true catalyst for improvement.
Capability/Performance Management
It is inevitable that in any group of staff there will be some individuals who are not performing to the required standard and need to embark on a performance management process. Our team is highly experienced in working with clients to create performance improvement plans (sometimes known as “PIPs”) and to manage a performance management process through to an effective conclusion. Our starting point is always to work with the organisation to try to enable the employee to improve, but in the event that this isn’t possible and an employee has to be let go, we ensure that the records are in place to demonstrate that the process has been managed fairly from start to finish.
Absence Management
Our consultants are experienced in advising on how to manage absence issue effectively, whether a short-term absence, or a longer-term absence or more complex issue. Where this requires an occupational health assessment, establishing reasonable adjustments, or contacting a health professional, we manage these processes, ensuring that our clients are seen to acting appropriately and in accordance with the law to get the best possible result.