Our first contact with clients is often with a telephone call asking us to have a look at their contracts of employment, update their policies, or produce an employee handbook. During one call we heard that this was something the business owner had been meaning to get around to because he knew they were not up to date and he was losing sleep because of worrying about it. Another asked for a review following a business buy-out, whilst a third was just fed up of receiving endless legal update emails, and then trying to find documents on the Web to bolt onto existing HR documents every time the law changed.
The Collins Green Solutions
Getting to know your business and what documents are needed
For us these invitations are a wonderful opportunity to learn what your business is about so that we can prepare the documents to reflect how your organisation works, and so that they make sense to the people who will read them. Typically we spend a day with you to find out what you do and we learn a whole new vocabulary along the way. We are highly proficient at understanding acronyms, abbreviations and the general shorthand speak which exists in all businesses and we are more than happy to spend time on your “shop floor” if this makes sense to you and us. So far, we have produced suites of HR documentation for SMEs in the construction, software development, wholesale and retail sectors, and ranging in size from 5 to 60 employees.
Top tips
- One size does not fit all – have documents created for your specific business and employment arrangements
- Engage team leaders and team members in the process
- Ensure employees understand the basics of the law as it applies to their specific role
- Review documentation regularly to ensure its still up-to-date in terms of the legal requirements but also current circumstances
Collaborating and bringing understanding to the process
Producing the documents is one thing but making sure that our clients agree with what we have produced is something different. In all cases we produce first drafts and then work with owners, line managers and members of staff who review what we have said, add suggestions, and question what they don’t understand. We have also designed and delivered training and briefing sessions so that managers and staff have the chance to get some background information about employment law, discuss what we have produced, and ask questions. These are always lively, especially when we talk about cases which have gone to Tribunals.
Ensuring you keep up-to-date with what’s relevant to your business
We hope that some of our policies and procedures don’t see the light of day too often (e.g. disciplinary procedures) whilst others might need tweaking or updating more regularly because they cover day to day HR arrangements. For all our clients we do a 6 monthly “stock take” to see how things are working in practice and to make any changes needed, either because of legal changes or because of how the policies are working in practice. We also act as a filter so that all our clients now rely on Collins Green to tell them about HR related information which is relevant to their business.
As one client said:
“If you send me an email, I read it, do it and bin the rest”.
No more grumpy bosses and hopefully less sleepless nights!