What a year it was!

So as 2012 draws to a close and Employee Matters celebrates its first year in business I thought that this is a great time to both reflect on the year and also thank our clients for their support.

We started our client-facing work in earnest in Feb 2012 with one client - TP3, but as the saying goes 'it only takes one'. Since then we have grown our client base to over 25 and they are in industries such as IT, medical, banking & finance, corporate travel, environmental & PR - but they all are SMEs who want to be confident that they are legally compliant and to get more out of their employees.

Our services have included recruitment, with one client saving $105k across four senior placements, using our recruitment service versus using a recruitment agency. We have helped our clients exit non-performing employees without being sued; we have worked on HR strategies to prepare a client's employee for exit; we have analysed employee cost impacts for a transfer of business. We have helped clients get the basics right such as position descriptions, employment contracts and visas, maximising productivity and engagement. We have mediated on employee conflicts and coached for performance improvement. We estimate we have saved our clients collectively over $250k in fines for breaches, legal fees and lost productivity.

So how have we managed to do this - well first and foremost we have a great team including a Recruitment Manager, 9 HR Partners and 2 Operations Assistants. Some of the team have worked for me before but many are new and they took a leap of faith in joining a start-up and sharing Mark's and my vision for Employee Matters and for our clients. This team are highly experienced practitioners, commercially savvy and practical when it comes to HR application for SMEs.

We have a great client base and many of them are coming back for more assistance. So, besides the offering we can provide, the great team and clients, why else are we growing? We believe that it is because of our values:

·        Authenticity in approach encouraging engagement and driving success internally and with our clients

·        Knowledgeable and client-focused. Experts in the field whose opinions are highly valued

·        Balancing Strategy and Commerciality for our clients and ourselves

·        Sustain the excitement through versatility and the variety and quality of work

·        Long term partnerships built upon trust, mutual respect and understanding

So to our clients - we thank you for being a very important part of getting Employee Matters started and wish you and your teams a very merry Christmas and a restful break with family and friends. We hope that you have a fantastic 2013, with an engaged team, growth and increased profitability. We look forward to helping you further in 2013 to achieve your business strategy.

Goodbye 2012 and bring on 2013!!!

 

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au

School holidays - pleasure or pain?

For many of us, these times of the year are not relaxing - what on earth do we do with the children during the school holidays? The stress and expense of child care or organising activities to keep our young ones amused. We still have to work full-time and that deadline is still looming...

So what can employers do to support their employees during this stressful time? 'Nothing!' You may say but there are a number of possible answers; remember you are a small business you have the ability to be flexible and innovative:

·         Talk to your impacted employees to ask how they are managing and if you can be of help. Position this as a ‘win win’ situation with increased flexibility aimed at maximum productivity

·         Can they work shorter hours, to coincide with holiday care programs start and finish times? Another option might be allowing employees to work from home, where possible, work a shorter year with pro rata pay. Maybe you can utilise a time in lieu program to trade off hours during school holidays

·         Build consensus and agreement about what might be possible and look to document your agreement and implement a tracking system to record any hours owing. Check your Modern Award to confirm that your initiative is legal

The reality is that society and the workplace both need to recognise that enabling working parents to work successfully has huge mutual benefits at their place of work. What are these likely benefits?

Retention- retaining valued employees

Attracting talent - winning the war for talent, people will want to work for you and you can have a better choice of applicants.  This will improve your brand, becoming an employer of choice

Increasing engagement- the organisations with higher levels of engagement have higher levels of profit and productivity and reducing stress – your ‘duty of care’ as employer now covers managing the stress levels of your employees to a reasonable level

Reduction in absenteeism – this approach is likely to reduce unplanned absenteeism and enable you to plan for the ebb and flow of your workforce

It is worth noting that in businesses across Australia, other than those in hospitality and tourism, experience a reduction in productivity across the school holidays with large numbers of employees taking annual leave at this time. I have found that those employers who provide more flexible working conditions have very grateful, engaged and very hard working employees.

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au