Avoiding HR Nightmares – a Career Exchange Emergency Kit

The outcomes from HR practices and implementations can be mountainous, and with frequent changes to work laws, the way we recruit and technology changes, the chance for shortcuts to fall through the cracks into peril are high.

Because of this, HR needs to be more careful than ever. Mistakes can potentially land you and your company in a sticky and very costly legal situation.

Even small companies can suffer greatly from being lax with their HR processes. 

Imagine the following scenario, you hire someone based on face value, and you later find out that they don’t have the capabilities to treat your customers correctly and land your company a malpractice suit. This  example is a situation that can drain your company’s finance and time resources, or worst, damage your company’s reputation. Simply put, this is a situation you want to avoid at all costs.

The following are some tips that can help you avoid getting trapped in a sticky HR situation.

Transparent work expectations, policies, and procedures

From the very first day, be very clear to your employees about their performance expectations, and all the company’s policies and procedures they are expected to follow. Transparency helps employees to understand their expectations better, and therefore maximizing their chance of achieving success. It also minimizes any discrepancies between the employers and employees, lessening the chance of experiencing any negative feelings for both parties. Additionally, a clear guideline of the company’s policies helps employees from committing any misconduct. Should a violation occur, transparent policies will also help you to justify your decision for a disciplinary action or termination. One way to ensure transparency in this area is to create clear policy templates.  You could provide policies to employees as part of their on-boarding to facilitate uniformity of communication across the board.  

Keep up-to-date with the current employment laws and workplace regulations

Employment laws and workplace regulations evolve over time. You need to make sure to stay up to date to ensure compliance. This is really important, because a violation of these laws and regulations can potentially result in dreadful legal consequences for your company. Online resources such as www.workplaceexpress.com.au provide this information to help employers keep up-to-date with current laws and regulations.

Document, document, and document!

Consistent and accurate documentation is extremely important in human resources, especially for work events that may pose legal issues in later down the track. Things that you unquestionably need to document include employees’ absenteeism and tardiness, deficient performance, misconduct and violations of company’s policies, disciplinary actions, employment termination, and any discussions with the offending employee surrounding any of these issues. On a brighter note, you can also document any recognition and positive contribution employees made, leading to provable movements in pay rises and promotions. These written records can serve as your legal justifications should someone question the decisions you made, and since HR have quite a high rate of movement; makes task hand down easier when you’re moving on to bigger things! They can also protect you from any lawsuit associated with workplace disputes, saving you from headaches! Having a filing system with a folder for each employee, up to date with all relevant documentation will help to make documentation easy and effective. There are also apps and programs that you can download to streamline your communications. They serve as a time saver and ensure accurate records.

Without good workers, businesses would fail. Therefore HR has a key role in the success of a company. By being transparent with what you want in a worker, keeping thorough and accurate documentation and ensuring that rules and regulations are adhered to, you can avoid HR nightmares. 

For help managing employee communications, Psych Press can be used to supplement your business' HR requirements. They provide an all in one tool that is useful for documenting and tracking communications with employees. For more information, contact our partner company Psych Press about what a tailored total HR solution can do for you. Email info@psychpress.com.au or call 03 9670 0590.

Six proven conflict management strategies

Conflicts can cause tension and reduces group effectiveness, leads to a loss of productivity and increase staff turnover. While conflicts can be good for improving the quality of decision-making and helping to foster an environment of self-evaluation, there is a point where conflicts can go too far. 

The following 6 strategies will help you to manage conflicts before they escalate and damage relationships.

1.    Consider an individual’s personality when engaging in discussions

Over time, personality has been used to explain why people behave the way that they do, and while valid in most situations, there is no excuse for poor behaviour.

2.    Consider your role in the resolution process

If you are not directly involved in the conflict, you can only be a facilitator as this is not your conflict to resolve. If you are a facilitator, find out what the expectations of the parties are. Sometimes people don’t want anything to happen, they may just want to complain!

3.    Consider your communication/body language

You should avoid aggressive behaviour, interrupting or talking over people, talking loudly to get the point across and generalising. If one party is displaying any of these behaviours, call it out. You can say something like, “I think the conversation is getting heated, let’s take a break and re-visit it after a coffee.”Also, try to match your communication and body language to that of the other person e.g. if they are standing up, stand up too.

4.    Resolve the conflict in a timely manner

Ideally, the conflict should be resolved within two days. It is recommended to use an informal approach first to bring up the issue. You can ask the other party to have a coffee to discuss “something” but never bring up the issue via email as this can cause miscommunication.

5.    Gather the facts

The key points to address are what happened, how it happened and what the outcome was. Encourage analysis of the situation, such as whether the differing perspectives could be due to a misinformation or miscommunication, whether it was facilitated by stress, tiredness or being under pressure and whether the incidence had occurred before. Consider all points of view before making a decision.

6.    Encourage parties to talk to each other

Parties should talk to each other to get down to the bottom of what they want. Usually people will not change their behaviour, but they will become more aware of it and can select when those behaviours will or will not come out.

Mindfulness - reducing stress and improving communication in the workplace

As a society our overall wellbeing is decreasing. Findings by the Australian Psychology Society detailed that in 2013, the rate of stress, depression, and anxiety reported among people had risen compared to the previous two years of research. In particular, younger people are seen to be reporting the negative symptoms of depression and anxiety at a higher rate than their older peers. Furthermore, workplace wellbeing was also reported as lower compared with previous years.

With the rate of mental health issues rising, large companies such as Google and Apple have begun utilising Mindfulness in the workplace to ensure they give their employees the best possible chance to be resilient and self-sufficient in neutralising the daily stressors that they encounter.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is non-judgemental, open and curious awareness of oneself in the present moment; such as awareness of our thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Research shows that developing this level of introspection has positive effects for reducing stress levels, regulating emotions and emotional reactions, promoting enhanced decision making, and decreasing negative thought patterns which can interrupt positive functioning throughout the day.

Mindfulness in the Workplace

There are great Mindfulness at Work websites that will give you tips on how you can practice Mindfulness while going about your daily work-related routine. Some of these tips are listed below:

• When you walk to the car or the train station, walk a little slower. Feel the footpath on the soles of your feet. If you notice any tension in your body, try to relax it.
• When walking try to breath in and out with every third step you take.
• When you sit at your desk, take a few controlled breaths in and out before you start your computer.
• Eat your lunch a little slower, take the time to chew your food and taste all the different flavours you can.
• When you are going to communicate something, take the time to think about what you are saying and how you will say it.
• Before you put your key in the front door upon returning home, stop and take a few breaths before proceeding.

No matter what industry you are in or what stage of your working life you are at, increasing your wellbeing is beneficial to you and those around you. Through the techniques of mindfulness, the added development of increased emotional stability and positive thought patterns will only improve morale and the company environment.

Mindfulness - reducing stress and improving communication in the workplace

As a society our overall wellbeing is decreasing. Findings by the Australian Psychology Society
detailed that in 2013, the rate of stress, depression, and anxiety reported among people had risen compared to the previous two years of research. In particular, younger people are seen to be reporting the negative symptoms of depression and anxiety at a higher rate than their older peers. Furthermore, workplace wellbeing was also reported as lower compared with previous years.

With the rate of mental health issues rising, large companies have begun utilising Mindfulness in the workplace to ensure they give their employees the best possible chance to be resilient and self-sufficient in neutralising the daily stressors that they encounter.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is non-judgemental, open and curious awareness of oneself in the present moment; such as awareness of our thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Research shows that developing this level of introspection has positive effects for reducing stress levels, regulating emotions and emotional reactions, promoting enhanced decision making, and decreasing negative thought patterns which can interrupt positive functioning throughout the day.

Mindfulness in the Workplace

Seeing the positive effects mindfulness training can provide, it is no wonder that large companies such as Apple and Google (among many others) are arming their employees with the skills mindfulness can provide. Increasing effectiveness at work, the ability to handle conflict better through emotional regulation, and decreased workplace tension are just some of the benefits that implementing mindfulness practices offer. A prime example of mindfulness implementation within the workplace is Google; who run seven-week long classes for employees to focus on developing mindfulness skills useful for dealing with the stressful corporate world. Although smaller companies won’t have the resources for a seven week long course, introducing simple mindfulness techniques to employees can still have resounding results in helping reduce stress and improve the wellbeing of employees.

In any industry, increasing the wellbeing of employees is always of benefit to a company. Through the techniques of mindfulness, the added development of increased emotional stability and positive thought patterns will only improve morale and the company environment.

The 5 Ps of Preparing for a Video Interview

Many companies are increasingly utilising video interviews as a means of making the recruitment process more time and cost efficient. As hiring is becoming a more global process, video interviewing has become an easier way for both employers and employees to speed up the process. What a lot of interviewees are unaware of, however, is that on average only 7% of all communication is verbal.  Tone of voice, how you present yourself, and body language are therefore essential components of communication, especially when you are being video interviewed.

So how can you best prepare and nail that video interview?

Place
Try finding an area for your interview with a plain background. Although an ‘office/study’ area might look nice, it can be distracting to the interviewers. Beforehand, try to record a mock interview in this area to see how the interviewers will see you. Practicing also allows you to prepare for speaking into a microphone clearly and maintaining eye contact with the camera (and not the screen).

Position
Position yourself in front of a camera that is at the same height as the top of your head. This will give the hiring staff a professional view of you. In addition, be aware of your posture and ensure you don’t slouch, squirm, or look bored. Instead, seat yourself just as you would if you were in the interviewer’s office.

Presentation
Even though you’re behind a camera, take the time to brush your hair, clean your face, and dress in business attire. In addition, check the lighting before the interview and clean that smudge off the camera lens to ensure that you are visible. Present to the camera as though you are making eye contact with the interviewer.

Preparation
If it is a live interview, ensure that you have all the materials you might need in front of you at least 10-15 minutes in advance. In addition, double check all internet, camera, and microphone connections to ensure no technological issues arise during the interview. Turn off your mobile (or at least on silent and out of your sight) and minimise the amount of distractions that could occur via family members, pets, etc. 

Pacing
Take your time when composing your answers. There can be a transmission delay when doing a video interview, so pace your speech at a slightly slower rhythm whenever there is an internet connection involved. Nodding when you have heard the question and waiting three seconds before you respond is a useful strategy to overcome interruptions due to lagging internet connections.

As the chances of being interviewed by video is becoming more and more likely, being well prepared in advance can help increase the probability of securing a job. Even though you may be in the comfort of your own home, remember that it is no less formal than a regular interview. Therefore, make sure you treat it as if you were actually in the employer’s office.


Voice Advantage, is our recently launched sleek and advanced interviewing platform
As a job seeker, you can interview via phone or video (depending on your tech) in your own time. To try it out, take a quick 3 minute demo here.

Finally, remember to be confident and GOOD LUCK!

Starting a career blog – to blog or not to blog?

‘To blog or not to blog, that is the question!’

Blogging is rapidly emerging as a great new way to advance your career. Blogs have become a ritual reading, an indication of a person’s professional reliability and at the very least an opportunity to have your name on the internet other than on a Facebook account. As the saying goes ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. With the added bonus of introducing you to a whole new circle, establishing a strong base of professionals who read your articles frequently and can be beneficial to you, and your career.

When’s a good time to start blogging?

There is no time like the present!

• You will be giving the readers a chance to read about your journey and connect with you throughout your career- if you keep them interested that is.
• Taking this initiative looks great on a resume!

Whether you’re a freshly graduated professional or have been employed for a while, everyone has experienced situations similar to yours and there is always going to be someone else who is experiencing what you’re going through. Blogging will become a source of comfort for your readers, although be sure to follow our guidelines to prevent anything career damaging from ending up on the internet!

Establish Yourself

Showing readers that you’re a reliable source is how you strengthen the degree of respect that’s associated with your name, and subsequently this could open up avenues for media sources to contact you- a little publicity never hurt anyone. For example, if you’re an early career Allied Health Professional, writing material relating to current issues in the field is one way of establishing yourself and giving yourself some credibility when you walk into your next interview.

Passion

Be passionate about the topics you blog. The more engaged you are with the content, the more engaged the reader will be.

A blog is not the same thing as a personal diary:

• If you are relaying personal experiences, make sure it still has something of value. Ask yourself, how would my readers benefit from reading this?
• Though you are dealing with social media, try to make sure your spelling, grammar and general flow of text allow readers to take you seriously.
• If you’re not the most creative and influential writer (you don’t have to be!) be sure to share your work with friends or colleagues before going live. This is especially helpful in identifying passages that don’t make sense to others, but that may seem perfectly normal to you.
• Be careful not to reveal any confidential information or inadvertently expose people.

Happy blogging!