HR musings with added sparkle!
Let’s be honest – when someone mentions HR, your eyes might start to glaze over. But hold that thought! HR Unboxed is here to spice things up and (dare we say it?) make HR actually fun to learn about.
Join me and Faye as we run through our HR horror stories, talk about practical policies and have a laugh whilst doing it! Episodes 1-5 are available for you to listen to, now!
Continue reading “Ready to Meet Your New Favourite Podcast? Say Hello To HR Unboxed!”
We’ve all faced it at one point or another: the sinking feeling of failure, the disappointment when things don’t go as planned. But what if we shift our perspective and see failure not as a dead-end, but as an opportunity for growth and learning? That’s right – failure can be your greatest teacher and a stepping stone to success.
Continue reading “Embracing Failure as a Stepping Stone to Success”
Today is a very special day, because I officially pushed the button to print my book!
Launch Your HR Career will be released on 20th November and my blog followers will have exclusive access to a very special copy of the book.
Launch Your HR Career is for those who want to grow their confidence, develop their resilience, discover their purpose and carve the best HR career for themselves. If you are a career changer, university student, already in HR and lack motivation or even someone with an interest in HR, this is the book for you.
Continue reading “It’s time to Launch Your HR Career!”
After a lot of reflection time and given all that we have been through in recent months, now more than ever, kindness is an essential element needed in our workplaces and our every day lives.
Kindness is the key component to a healthy, successful, and well-balanced life. These elements are all essential to our overall wellbeing and kindness is something that we do because we can, not because we should or are obligated to.
For many of you HR acts of kindness will be a new concept but it was actually founded in 2016 after the Brexit result brought so much divide and upset. Since then HR acts of kindness has appeared in Be Kind Magazine, has influenced behaviours at work all over the world and all through simple acts of kindness and there’s plenty of opportunity to get everyone involved!
Continue reading “Spread kindness like confetti – HR acts of kindness is back!”
It is said that duvet days originated in the UK in 1997. August One Communications introduced the scheme that allowed employees time off that was not pre-planned or sickness. The idea behind duvet days was to reduce the number of sick days that were taken, specifically the days when an employee is ‘pulling a sickie’.
Introducing duvet days can ensure that employees feel that they are being treated with respect. As a result they become more productive in the workplace. The scheme also allows employees to avoid lying to their employers, specifically on days where they are not in the right frame of mind to work. Promoting honesty in the workplace and not lying about being ‘sick’.
Idleness could be encouraged, and also a lack of responsibility for overindulgence the night before might become the norm in the workplace. If the duvet day does not offer any additional perks to retain staff, then perhaps it isn’t right for your company.
To add duvet days to your business you need to think of how you will make it work and also the steps you need to take to implement it. Below is a checklist of things you need to think about:
In 2017 an employee was praised by her employer for taking a ‘mental health’ day. (Read about this story here)
But what is the difference between a mental health day and a duvet day?
A duvet day in essence is a day that is taken when you are not sick but would like a day to rest and recharge yourself. Mental health days are a sick day and employers are encouraged to treat time of work because of mental health the same as days taken off for physical health problems.
While it may be easier for an employee to take a duvet day or say they have food poising to avoid having a conversation about mental health, all employees should be encouraged to talk to their employer to allow for potential reasonable adjustments.
Having an employee call in sick is frustrating but inevitable. Employees will have sickness at some time and be unable to attend the work place. Stress as a reason for sickness is difficult to manage and it is on the increase, sick notes being extended and long-term sickness situations can be frustrating to manage. Frustration can come from feeling there is nothing that you can do about this, but there is.
Natalie Ellis HR 