I don’t think anyone is in doubt that nearly every aspect of life today is dramatically different to how it was 12 months ago. A few of the impactful changes we have seen are:
- Face masks becoming the norm
- An increased focus on our health and wellbeing
- The exchange of handshakes for social distancing and elbow bumps
- An increase in online purchasing
- Computer screens fast became our window to the world
- Finding solidarity in social recognition
The disruption we have witnessed is leading to a new phase in our working lives. As a result, organisations will need to examine how they create value and start to develop a more human-centred future. The role HR plays in this will be pivotal going forward, ultimately shaping the future of Work, the Workforce and the Workplace.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
As COVID-19 restrictions are easing across the UK, businesses are looking ahead over the coming weeks and planning how their workforce can make a safe transition to new working conditions. In this article, we examine the health and safety issues which need to be considered from two perspectives.
So much has changed over the last year as the pandemic caused untold disruption to businesses and their staff. Large numbers of people have been forced to work from home and others have had to adjust to more restrictive conditions and protocols when still attending their usual place of work – or have been furloughed and unable to attend at all. Now we are heading towards another shift and HR teams across the UK are working out the details and practicalities of who should return, when, and what the working environment looks like.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Many businesses are aware of the pent-up demand for holiday across their workforce. It’s been a challenging year and across the UK as we make good progress towards achieving more normality and freedom in our daily lives, it’s understandable that so many of us are now thinking about taking time off from work.
Various announcements about the prospect of travel both in the UK and abroad have prompted plenty of people to finally start making plans for holidays over the coming weeks and months. And all of this presents a potential issue for line managers and HR staff to deal with.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Unless you know what business problems your organisation is facing, how do you know what the Board considers important? And, therefore, how can you build a strong Business Case for HR technology and get Board buy-in?
- Topic:
- Human Resources
The constant interest in agile HR mirrors a global trend towards adoption of agile practices in many areas of the organisation: from project management, to operations management and beyond.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Recently, Access People were invited to participate in the CIPP National Payroll Week roundtable event to discuss how market forces are shaping payroll departments of the future. High on the agenda was technology and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for payroll teams to start automating transactional tasks.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Travelling towards simplification
The prospect of changing your HR and payroll software could be intimidating. At this point, you can choose your metaphor. Perhaps it seems like you’re going to be turning a tanker around. Maybe it’s more akin to trading in a dated but familiar, family car. Or, the perceived complexities might make it feel like you need to get a space rocket off the ground – a moonshot project. Whatever your outlook in this respect, it’s crucial to ask yourself why you need certain software now, but also to identify both your current needs and where you need to be in a few years. In short, to know where you are and where you want to get to.
The average HR and payroll software is changed somewhere between every seven to nine years and with the right people and purpose steering the project, a simplified system can be truly liberating. So don’t let the fact that you’ve always done things a certain way constrain you and do ensure you have the right people involved. Let’s take a look at some of the factors to consider and the things that can help when you’re planning to change your system.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Once more unto the avoidance of breaches…
As we all know, nothing is certain in life except for death, taxes and the pressures of compliance. With time moving us towards a new financial year then, let’s take a look at some key regulatory areas to be aware of in the weeks and months ahead.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
The question many HR leaders are currently asking is: How do you create a positive candidate experience in the new normal? So much has changed over the last year, yet the challenge of recruiting and onboarding the best candidates remains, even as most (if not all) of this process is now completed remotely in many cases. So what is the secret to success?
As businesses have made the shift from predominantly face-to-face recruitment processes to more virtual interactions, many have found the change to be extremely effective. The breadth of technology now available – for example, cloud platforms, AI-powered analytics and streamlined automation – makes it even more likely that online recruitment and digital onboarding will become the preferred approach, even after pandemic restrictions have been removed.
So what are the companies having the most success with remote recruitment doing differently? At Access, we work with HR leaders across multiple sectors and businesses, and we’ve discussed multiple approaches with them. Of course, each business has its own unique way of doing things, however, we also found the following 5 approaches usually prove advantageous.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
An experience shared by everyone
Did you know that the origin of the word ‘pandemic’ is rooted in Greek? The term comes from ‘pandēmos’, derived from ‘pan’ – ‘all’, and ‘dēmos’ – ‘people’. It’s a word that’s so familiar to everybody now, after a difficult and deeply strange 12 months. It aptly describes something huge, a phenomenon that has undoubtedly affected all people and transformed every personal and work life in some way.
The world is dramatically different. Face masks have become as much of a habit as the brushing of teeth. There’s a heightened focus on health and wellbeing, nature and hobbies. We’re binging on TV series (ok, perhaps that’s not totally different) and learning to keep our distance, with changed greeting customs and different forms of social recognition – memorably demonstrated by the clapping for key workers. Banking and shopping have altered too, with an exponential increase in online transactions. As a result, more people are tech-savvy, with digital screens of some description now even more common than they were before.
Looking at all of this from a HR perspective, it feels like employee experiences matter more than ever too.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
