October 2017
DOES HR HAVE A PROBLEM WITH
MEN?
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Contents October 2017
p23
One thing that becomes clear when you talk to male HR professionals is that they rarely see their gender as an issue. Even so, the lack of gender balance in HR is something we should investigate, if only because it means many HR departments look radically different to the rest of their organisations. And the real question, which we ask in this issue, is why are men reluctant to enter HR in the first place?
p24
Robert Jeffery Editor
News & analysis
p 10
Welcome from the CIPD p5 This month we’ve learned… p6 NEWS: Will pay ratios work? p8 PLUS GCSE grades made simple; whinge bingo Legal lowdown p14 Columnist Dr Paul Redmond p17
p49
Case studies
Virgin Money p18 Manchester Airports Group p20 War Child p23
PRESS ASSOCIATION, SIMON FERNANDEZ, SIMON HADLEY
Features
COVER HR’s gender challenge p24 Why are men so reluctant to join the HR profession? And why are there fewer women in senior roles? Free speech at work p32 As the sacking of Google engineer James Damore shows, it’s not always ok to speak your mind CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition p36 Data and wellbeing p38 How analytics could unlock health gains for your staff The future of L&D is virtual p44 How VR is changing classroom learning as we know it
Career path
Who I am Donna Chambers p49 Reviews p50 The Fixer p53 People and posts p54 Research p57 CIPD Focus p58 Could HR solve...? Catch-22 p62
p57
tion versa n o c r: the Join on Twitte
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Welcome from the CIPD
a d n e g a e th n o n o si u cl in g Puttin
Older workers – the UK’s fastest-growing demographic – need more support from employers
these and, where more public reporting is required – such as around gender pay gaps – that we have a narrative to explain the figures. Inclusive cultures are based on an acceptance of everyone as gnition of what reco a and als, vidu indi We also know that innovation and s holds us back in term of bias, both creativity come from diversity of conscious and unconscious. We need to , thinking, knowledge and experience. train staff at all levels to understand bias As Einstein observed, we can’t solve allow people to express concerns in a safe problems with the same thinking that space and develop coaching and support created them. Similarly, if we don’t have capabilities. We need to pay attention to diversity in our workforces then we can the balance of our leadership teams, and end up with ‘groupthink ’, where people to encourage positive role models – tend to think the same way. Having which send so many signals to the rest workforces that reflect the diversity of the organisation. of society is central to creating more s Practically, we must ensure our responsible and trustworthy organisation processes are accommodating to all. We that understand their customers and the can start by avoiding job advertisements communities in which they exist. that dissuade diverse applicants, and Population and demographic trends discouraging a narrow focus on cultural point towards increasing diversity in the fit that mitigates against hiring or future. For example, the black, Asian and promoting people who are ‘different’. We minority ethnic proportion of the UK to have to recognise the bias that is causing working population is expected to rise presenteeism, and the importance of about 21 per cent by 2051, from around flexible working practices in supporting 14 per cent today. The fastest-growing older workers, and those with caring age demographic is the over-50s, and it commitments, an illness or a disability. has long been the case that there are ies We also need to take a step back and more women graduating from universit reflect on the HR and L&D functions than men. themselves: how diverse are we really? Are These contextual shifts create a clear we role-modelling inclusion, all the way f imperative to build more inclusive work from how we present the profession itsel environments, and seeing diversity in the to how we recruit and retain our own workforce as a strategic business issue. diverse workforce? It’s a challenge that this Understanding and monitoring diversity edition of People Management highlights how of ility visib and ence evid ide prov to in more detail. inclusive the organisation is must be the t starting point. Pay gaps between differenor groups will highlight progression issues, s where there are unbalanced distribution of gender or ethnicity in certain roles and functions. It’s essential that we understand
HANNAH J TAYLOR, SUPERSTOCK
Peter Cheese Chief executive
re to the forefront The theme of diversity has never been mo anisations and g org of business and political debate. Creatin value diversity or, working environments that support and for all, is as much a even better, that create genuine inclusion yers of all shapes and business issue as it is a social issue. Emplo skills and talents sizes depend on their ability to access the find, attract and they need – and that means being able to ls as possible. poo retain people from as wide a set of talent
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This month we’ve learned... The big lesson Is Fit for Work fit for purpose? {Wellbeing}
d Unions have wage n a lengthy campaig against the ongoing p ca public sector pay
{Reward}
Time is running out for the pay cap
GETTY IMAGES, SUPERSTOCK, PRESS ASSOCIATION
Officially, the pay cap on UK public sector employees – which since 2013 has stood at 1 per cent for those earning above £21,000 – is still intact. In practice, however, the death knell has been sounded by Downing Street’s dramatic change of course on the issue. And almost nobody is happy about it. As media speculation mounted that pay rises were on the cards, at least for some public sector workers, the government was at first tight-lipped. But Theresa May eventually confirmed that police officers would get an effective 2 per cent rise (1 per cent plus a 1 per cent bonus) in 2017-18, while prison officers would receive 1.7 per cent. At the same time, the government signalled that ministers would be able to exercise “flexibility” when dealing with pay recommendations concerning other groups of public sector
“Public services are a team… politicians shouldn’t be cherry picking” 6
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workers, with a further announcement widely expected in November’s budget. The Scottish government has scrapped the cap entirely, while decisions on local government pay are taken independently. The unions were particularly displeased at the turn of events. Fourteen of them wrote to chancellor Philip Hammond demanding a 4 per cent across-the-board rise, pointing out that modest increases would further the gap between wages and inflation. The TUC’s Frances O’Grady was scathing of the fact that different professions would receive different raises, telling People Management: “Public services are a team, so politicians shouldn’t be cherry-picking workers for fair pay.” Meanwhile, Len McCluskey of Unite said members would take to the streets, and would not fear jail in their efforts to secure pay rises. The figures Hammond is juggling, however, are equally stark: the Resolution Foundation said it would cost £10bn to ensure public sector pay keeps pace with the private sector until 2020. Something will have to give, it’s fair to say.
When it was unveiled in September 2015, the government’s Fit for Work scheme was heralded as a revolution in occupational health that would get people with long-term conditions back to work faster – and keep them there. It doesn’t appear to have worked out like that. This month, a survey run by GP magazine on behalf of People Management found that 65 per cent of more than 400 family doctors had not referred a single patient under the scheme in the past year. Around 40 per cent of those who had used it said they had not seen a patient return to work under Fit for Work, and most (61 per cent) were unconvinced of its effectiveness. The Department of Health, which did not comment, has been “analysing” the results of a review into the scheme since February. Others are calling for the plug to be pulled sooner. Describing Fit for Work as a “wasted investment”, Charlotte Cross, director of the Better Health at Work Alliance, said: “The united focus from all stakeholders should now be to ensure that employers are aware of the plethora of experts and other specialist resources already available to them… removing employer over-reliance on the NHS and improving work and health outcomes.”
{Learning and development}
{Wellbeing}
Learning on the ropes A hangover haven Interest in apprenticeships has never been higher, and the sector is positively glowing with good publicity. Which means last month’s damning report into the country’s largest provider of adult training was a genuine shock. Learndirect, which has 73,000 people on its apprenticeship and traineeship programmes, was branded inadequate by Ofsted, which said 70 per cent of apprentices did not meet the minimum standard required for their course. The Department for Education quickly announced that it would withdraw funding for the organisation, but said it would ensure
courses continued until contracts ended in July 2018. Learndirect will still be able to offer apprenticeships under the levy funding system. Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, said there were “serious questions about the provision of training, as well as how we got into this position in the first place”. But is Learndirect the only training provider facing an uncertain financial future? Analysis of figures from Begbies Traynor revealed that 39 per cent of firms in the adult training sector were showing signs of financial distress in the second quarter of 2017, a figure that had leaped 147 per cent in a year.
{Diversity}
having the opposite effect and trapping offenders in their past,” said Lammy. “We need a more flexible approach that recognises when people no longer pose a risk to society and gives them a chance to start afresh.” In 2016, a survey conducted by YouGov found that half of employers would not consider hiring an offender or ex-offender.
Call to ‘seal’ records Ex-offenders could have details of their criminal records ‘sealed’ so they cannot be seen by potential employers, if the government accepts proposals made by a wide-ranging review into the criminal justice system. Labour MP David Lammy said the idea, which echoes a system operated in the US, would help former offenders’ rehabilitation. Judges considering a request to seal a criminal record would take a range of factors into account, such as age at the time of conviction and subsequent behaviour. “Our criminal records regime must protect the public but it is
The tactics employed by individuals attempting to work after a heavy night out range from staring sadly into the distance willing the day to end, to the impromptu ‘offsite meeting’ that turns out to be a lie-down in a darkened store cupboard. London-based music ticketing app DICE has proposed a different way to deal with party-hungry employees, offering them the chance to book a ‘hangover day’ when alcohol-related circumstances prevent them working to their potential.
“Hold my calls today, Sandra…”
“We trust each other and want people to be open if they’re out late experiencing live music,” said CEO Phil Hutcheon. “There is no need for a fake sick bug.” The business said it hoped to “encourage transparency and spontaneity for employees whose passion for music goes beyond office hours”. Which does mean that you at least need to be able to remember what you were doing the night before to qualify…
{Recruitment}
Staff sourcing slammed Modern slavery remains a blight on the UK – in August, the National Crime Agency said its scale was “far larger than anyone had previously thought”. And now employers, and recruiters in particular, are being urged to play their part. Outsourced recruitment, as well as ‘informal hiring practices’, were specifically blamed for the growing
ords would Sealing criminal rec ing be rs de en off t en ev pr st’, says ‘trapped in the pa y mm La vid MP Da
proliferation of forced labour in a study from the Universities of Sheffield and Bath. Victims may have had their passports withheld or been forced to work without pay, said the study. “We have pretty much solved traceability of the food served in our restaurants,” said one chief executive of a hotel chain quoted by the universities. “I can tell you the farm where the steak on your plate came from; probably even the name of the cow. But we have no idea where the workers in our kitchens came from.” All companies above a certain size are required to publish a statement on supply chain slavery, but 34 per cent of those had not yet done so. peoplemanagement.co.uk
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News & analysis
: 129 1
Will ratios fix executive pay? New corporate governance rules could see CEO salaries compared to average workers’ – but not everyone is in favour
T
WORDS HAYLEY KIRTON
he average pay of a FTSE 100 chief executive has rocketed from around £1m in 1998 to more than £4m today, according to figures cited in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) long-awaited consultation response on corporate governance, which was published at the end of August. While that figure will provoke consternation in some and resignation in others, there is a sense that structural changes are afoot in corporate governance, including the reporting of pay ratios between chief executives and average employees by listed companies – which could in time be extended to other organsiations. Given that the average ratio in 2016 was 129:1, according to research from the CIPD and the High Pay Centre, firms will have some explaining to do when figures are published. The consultation itself has been long in the making. Since 2013, listed companies have been required to give a single-figure total for their executives’ annual pay, bringing together elements such as pensions, bonuses and share awards into a single number that can be easily reviewed, while shareholders have had a binding vote on remuneration policies – the methodology that sets out how executives’ pay packets will be calculated. However, the BEIS noted that a handful of companies were still persistently flouting their shareholders’ wishes on top-dog pay and the remuneration committees responsible for setting executive pay had little incentive to take into account the wages of the wider workforce. Here’s what you need to know about what happens next. 8
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Will we all have to report pay ratios?
It’s possible. The BEIS has proposed introducing new laws requiring listed companies to report annually on the ratio between their CEOs’ pay and their average worker’s pay, providing details of why that ratio has changed year-on-year and clearer explanations of their remuneration policies, including clarifications of complicated share-based awards. The government paper concluded that providing such ratios would create “a valuable and dynamic reference point” to help companies explain boardroom pay within the context of their overall business.
What is the likely impact?
Consultation respondents who favoured pay ratio reporting said it would give companies a new tool to explain their approach to executive pay, while others felt it might incentivise firms to spread reward more evenly among their workforce. Experts are optimistic. “We need to see fairer ratios between chief executive and average pay, as well as stronger remuneration committees that make sure executive pay packages are based on long-term evaluation of performance,” says Patrick Woodman, head of research and advocacy for the Chartered Management Institute. “High-profile cases of runaway executive pay and ‘rewards for failure’ have broken down trust in business. Greater transparency about executive pay will help drive change.” Charles Cotton, reward and performance adviser at the CIPD, says: “You would hope it would encourage dialogue within the organisation and between the organisation and its stakeholders about what’s been awarded and why, when and how.”
SUPERSTOCK
Is everyone in favour of ratios?
How big is the gap?
Average estimated CEO-to-average-worker pay in selected industries, financial year 2016 Consumer services Telecoms
132:1
Healthcare
124:1
Oil and gas
72:1
Financial services
68:1
Utilities Technology
61:1 27:1
particularly if no further explanation for the figure was provided. “A supermarket group, for example, would have a significantly wider pay ratio than an investment bank, because of a prevalence of low-paid workers in the former, yet the CEO roles might be equally demanding,” the white paper read. Andrew Kakabadse, professor of governance and leadership at Henley Business School, slams the publishing of pay ratios as “a waste of time”, adding that too much data will likely distract the board from focusing on the issue of stewardship: “What we should be doing in the boardroom is building trust... this report is going to detract from that and just deal with more statistics so trust will be eroded further.” Cotton says he would like chief executive-to-averagestaff pay ratios to be one of a range of figures large firms provide about their reward policies. Other data points could include pay ratios between the highest-paid and lowest-paid employees, employee turnover figures and investment in training. Cotton also notes that HR departments dreading an influx
“We should be building trust i n the boardroom – this report will detract from that”
Not entirely. Some of those responding to the consultation pointed out that it could be misleading if people attempted to compare pay ratios across different companies and sectors,
248:1 166:1
Consumer goods
SOURCE: CIPD/HIGH PAY CENTRE
The requirement is expected to be in force by June 2018. “Not much will change at first,” says Stefan Stern, director at the High Pay Centre. “But gradually and over the medium term, I think pay ratios will make their presence felt.”
of complaints about the boss’s salary should relax, as employees generally accept that chief executives get paid significantly more than them. “I think where the questions will arise is how much of the extra money is down to performance,” he says. “The evidence indicates that CEO pay goes up quite significantly when performance goes up. However, when a firm’s performance drops, CEO pay doesn’t fall by that much.”
What else was in the recommendations?
Although the BEIS also asked if there would be any support for requiring companies to stick to an upper threshold for executive pay and having to seek a binding vote from shareholders if they wished to exceed it, there was little appetite among consultation respondents for such a punitive measure. The government has also proposed creating a nameand-shame list of companies where at least a fifth of investors voted down their executive pay packets. And it suggests introducing requirements for businesses above a certain size to provide more explanation of how they are taking their employees’ interests into account across their reward practices more broadly.
The future is flexible Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of British office workers expect the 9 to 5 daily grind to be a thing of the past in just five years’ time, according to a new poll by consultancy 9-2-3. One in three women and one in five men surveyed for the poll said flexibility of hours was the most important influencing factor when deciding to take a new role. However, a further one in five (20 per cent) women said they felt that working flexible hours had a negative impact on their career prospects. But another recent report suggests that there is still much work to do in convincing employees of the benefits of flexible working. A survey of 2,000 British office workers by Crucial, which manufactures digital storage devices, revealed that nearly one third (31 per cent) avoid working from home.
“Who wants to be an ‘employee’? It just isn’t something you strive toward”
Restaurant CEO Steve DiFillippo prefers to call his employees ‘inner guests’
28% of working millennials would trade free yoga classes for a dog-friendly workplace SOURCE: PURINA PETCARE
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“Have you got anything by Organisationa l Culture Club?”
Name that tune
Express Your SelfCertification Madonna (Salary) Sacrifice Elton John Appraise You Fatboy Slim Hire and Hire Jackie Wilson Skilling Me Softly Fugees Beautiful Data U2 All (Pay) Rise Blue I Fought the Employment Law The Clash Payroll With It Oasis Fit (For Work) But You Know It The Streets
“Meetings are the Anne Hathaway of the working world – moderately annoying, but entirely unavoidable” Journalist Kira Bindrim, who must have forgotten about Hathaway’s seminal turn as Andy in The Devil Wears Prada
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op of young This year ’s cr the first e jobseekers ar w set of ne to receive the ks GCSE 1-9 mar
New GCSE grades ‘could cause confusion among recruiters’
reform. A further 29 per cent said they were aware of the new numerical grading scale but did not understand how it worked. Crowley said the changes would “likely have an impact on recruitment processes and some systems may need to be changed so that forms can accept letters as well as numbers. R professionals and employers have an “Employers should consider reviewing their “important role to play” in making sure recruitment processes and aligning entry that staff with recruitment responsibilities requirements to the new grading system for are aware of the changes English and maths, to the GCSE grading to indicate clearly THE NEW GCSE MARKS EXPLAINED whether they will system for English and maths The new grading system sees students receive a that came into effect this year. require a grade 4 grade between one and nine – with nine being the Nearly half (48 per cent) or a grade 5, for highest mark – for mathematics, English literature of the 691 HR professionals instance.” and English language. For example, a 9 would be polled by the CIPD said The revised grading equivalent to an A* in the previous system, whereas a 1 correlates with a G, constituting a fail. their organisations were not system was originally aware that GCSE grades were put forward by former OLD GRADES NEW GRADES changing. education secretary Lizzie Crowley, skills adviser Michael Gove, and 9 A* at the CIPD, said it was crucial will be extended to 8 A that employers get up to speed other GCSE subjects 7 with the changes as quickly as by 2020. The content possible, “particularly if they of the new exams is 6 recruit people direct from designed to be more B 5 school, or offer internships, challenging, allow C work experience places or schools to differentiate 4 apprenticeships”. more easily between D 3 A separate study by the students of varying E Confederation of British skills and abilities, and 2 F Industry and Pearson found reflect the standards 1 that more than a third (35 of other qualifications G per cent) of UK businesses worldwide more U U were unaware of exam grade effectively.
Nearly half of employers are unaware of new grading system, say HR professionals
H
PRESS ASSOCIATION
More than 57 per cent of HR professionals find music motivational at work, according to a new survey from LinkedIn and Spotify. But what to listen to? People Management has compiled an exclusive HR playlist…
News & analysis
“I’m the last person to complain, but…” Two weeks of grumbling a year for gripe-happy British employees
T
wo weeks a year – it’s the sort of time the typical business would love to claw back from its workforce. And now you can, because two weeks is the exact amount of time the average UK employee spends complaining at work each year, according to a new survey
from animal charity SPANA that records the 50 biggest gripes to be heard in the nation’s offices. To help draw attention to the deluge of whinging, People Management presents a cut-outand-keep game for observant HR professionals. How long will it take you to record a full house?
Tick off the square every time you hear a colleague complain about…
Computers being slow
Colleagues who talk too much
Smelly food in the office
Long and tedious meetings
The commute
Printers jamming
Wifi going down
Uncomfortable chairs
Bad phone signal
People who inflict their mood swings on others
People who ignore a ringing phone
Difficult colleagues
Being copied into emails that are of no concern
Someone stealing a mug
People who talk too loudly
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Cut out and leave lying around. Until someone complains about it
Temperature too low/high
11
5% *
pa O ss u ra r C te IP is D 9
This is you. A fully-qualified HR expert, joining your dream team, ready to make a difference.
Start on the path to your successful career by contacting our expert CIPD course advisors today. Ask us about our interest-free payment plans. icslearn.co.uk/cipd 0330 134 2936 cipd.enquiry@icslearn.co.uk
PM HAS A DRINK WITH…
SALLIE BARNETT
Government to investigate cases of discrimination
T
he government is investigating reports that EU nationals in the UK are facing discrimination when applying for jobs. The potential problem was highlighted by the Guardian after the Labour Party and the3million – a campaign group promoting the rights of EU citizens living in the UK – produced more than two dozen examples of adverts asking for applicants of UK or Irish citizenship only. Examples included an advert for a graduate sales assistant with German language skills and a full UK passport, and a law firm recommending that clients insert a clause in their employment contracts specifying that losing the right to work in the UK would result in immediate dismissal. “Anecdotally, I have been told of job adverts that contain the words ‘Europeans need not apply’,” said Deidre Brock, Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, during a Westminster Hall debate. “There seems to be increasing evidence of discrimination and hostile working environments for EU citizens living in the UK.” Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central, said the Department for
Small businesses need £13m per year for HR
Exiting the European Union needed to take a tougher stance on the alleged discrimination: “We need to do more than send a signal to employers. It is the lack of clarity created by the government and, frankly, the uncertainty created by their willingness to use citizens’ rights as a bargaining chip that are creating the hostile environment in which this sort of discrimination takes place.” Last month, the government’s postBrexit immigration proposals – which include a maximum residency of just two years for low-skilled EU migrants – were leaked to the Guardian. Other recommendations include granting work permits of three to five years to individuals in high-skilled occupations; giving preference to job applications from UK residents; and introducing more stringent right to work checks. Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, warned that the plans would “create an underground economy, encouraging bad bosses to exploit migrants and undercut decent employers offering good jobs”, while Seamus Nevin, head of employment and skills policy at the Institute of Directors, called for the government to introduce “an immigration system that provides control while also enabling employers to access the foreign workers they need at all levels”. Gerwyn Davies, senior labour market analyst at the CIPD, said: “This leak should offer a reminder to employers that hire workers from inside the EU that they must respond now to the prospect of migration restrictions or face the consequences of recruitment difficulties in the future.”
Glasgow each received two days’ worth of free HR support. Although interventions were basic – including, for example, The CIPD has called on the writing employment terms and government to invest £13m a conditions and job descriptions year in HR support for SMEs, – managers who benefited were following the success of its more likely to report that their People Skills scheme. organisation was in a better During the year-long position than similar firms programme, developed by the on issues such as workplace CIPD and supported by the relations, labour productivity JPMorgan Chase foundation, a and financial performance. total of 400 small businesses in “If policymakers are serious Hackney, Stoke-on-Trent and about addressing the UK’s
long-standing productivity deficit – particularly among the nearly 1.3 million small businesses that employ between one and 50 people [each] – then they have to start seriously thinking about how to improve management quality,” said Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD. “People Skills provides a template of how to do this.” ✶ Find out more about the People Skills scheme at bit.ly/CIPDskills
What’s been the most pivotal moment in your HR career so far? I started out at Halfords, where the employee relations manager took me under his wing. When I was about 22, I was asked to form a partnership with the two unions we had at the time. I found myself with these shop stewards who were a lot older, with traditional, militant union views, and I tried to convince them that they should trust us. I got a real taste for what I wanted to do, and I loved it. Does HR play a role in the creative success of Joules? Absolutely. We have to ensure that we have the best new designers, and that we nurture that talent. Encouraging designers to join us in Market Harborough is one of our biggest challenges – many creatives feel they get their inspiration in London. We are lucky to have persuaded a lot of them out of the capital; it’s only an hour by train, and we give them flexibility in terms of hours and days of work. With 1,500 employees, Barnett: HR can do a Joules is paying lot to help reduce the into the new gender pay gap apprenticeship levy. Has it been easy to find willing apprentices? No – but we wanted to be honest with people about the commitment they are making. We’ve given people time to think about whether they really want to do it or not, because it is a big thing. We currently have around 30 store supervisors doing the retail management level 3 programme. Eighty-five per cent of your staff are female. Where are you on gender pay gap reporting? We’ve got the results, and I’m not worried about them. The problem is we have no benchmark; everyone is holding back on publishing. The bigger challenge for me is how we explain to our employees why we’ve got what we’ve got, and what we are going to do to improve it. HR can make a real difference by being proactive – by making conscious pay decisions when recruiting women, for example, rather than just perpetuating history. There’s years of stuff that’s got to be undone – it’s not an easy thing to solve. peoplemanagement.co.uk
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INTERVIEW CATHRYN NEWBERY
‘Europeans need not apply’ for rising number of jobs
WHO HR director, Joules WHERE The Ivy Market Grill, Covent Garden WHAT Skinny latte
to bers have exclusive access ? Did you know that CIPD mem legal helplines and vice Ser k Wor at the Employment Law mployment-law.aspx cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/e
UK LEGAL LOWDOWN
Employer was wrong to monitor private messages, rules ECHR
Experts urge HR to carefully consider if there is a legitimate interest in checking emails before doing so
E
mployers are being encouraged to review their internet and email usage policies after a surprise decision in the case of Bărbulescu v Romania. The case involved a salesperson who was asked to set up a Yahoo Messenger account to deal with client queries. Although he had been warned not to use the account for private correspondence, his managers discovered an exchange on the service between Mr Bărbulescu, his brother and his fiancee. Bărbulescu was sacked and brought a case to the Romanian courts, claiming that his employer had gone against Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers respect for private and family life and correspondence. The courts found in favour of his employer, and
Bărbulescu took the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Again, the judges found there had been no violation of his human rights and deemed that the employer had acted reasonably. Last November, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR heard the case again. By an 11-6 majority, the judges ruled that the organisation had failed to protect Bărbulescu’s right to a private life and correspondence by not informing him that his emails had been monitored. Where does this leave UK employers with regard to staff monitoring and policies on the use of workplace software or systems for personal correspondence? The main implication is that if employers feel it necessary to monitor an employee’s emails, they must consider whether they have a legitimate reason to do so.
“[Employers] should ideally have a usage policy setting out any expectations for usage and the limitation or prevention of business email/instant messenger etc for personal use,” said Jen Featherstone, employment lawyer at Shoosmiths. “Consider what aim you are seeking to achieve with any employee monitoring and always ensure this can be justified. Crucially, before embarking on any monitoring exercise, ensure you have considered why this is necessary.” Featherstone added that existing UK legislation already strikes a balance between the necessity for the employer to monitor systems and employees’ right to privacy: “As an employer, you are not prevented from monitoring employees. But in the UK, legislation such as the Data Protection Act 1998 (to
be replaced by the GDPR) already exists, which has the effect of limiting an employer’s right to monitor the private communications of employees. “Ultimately, employers must tell employees in advance if their work email accounts are being monitored – or if they intend to monitor any other communication method. The courts may wish to see evidence from an employer that they have applied their minds to both their requirements to safeguard the business and an employee’s right to privacy.” A good point of reference is the Information Commissioner Office’s employment practices code, which recommends that, before monitoring any communications, employers carry out an impact assessment addressing the balance between protecting workers’ privacy and the interests of the business.
✶ Download the code at: bit.ly/ICOCode
Postman wins unfair dismissal claim over shift changes New Acas guide on trans discrimination A postman has won a case for unfair and constructive dismissal after he resigned over his shift patterns. Adam Gregory had worked at Royal Mail since 1993 and had an access arrangement in place to see his daughter at weekends. He approached his line manager in 2012 about changing his shift pattern to work Monday to Friday; this was granted and he signed a letter acknowledging this, but his contract was not changed. In 2015, a restructuring exercise at Royal Mail meant shift patterns at his office had to change. Since Gregory was on holiday when
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a questionnaire was sent out regarding preferences, his union representative picked preferences on his behalf and chose a duty that meant Gregory would work three Saturdays a month. He submitted a new request for flexible working, which was rejected because the work could not be reorganised among other staff. Gregory appealed, but this was also rejected, and soon after he was signed off sick with stress. He raised a formal grievance and returned to work in May 2016, but was still sent a letter confirming that he would have to work three
Saturdays a month. He resigned and was forced to claim jobseeker’s allowance for six months before he found work. Judge Holmes at the Manchester Employment Tribunal said “it was not physically impossible for [Royal Mail] to maintain his shift pattern, it was merely unsatisfactory, inconvenient and more costly”. Gregory was awarded £10,577 as a basic award, plus more than £8,000 in compensation and just over £3,000 for breach of contract. ✶ Read more at bit.ly/ RoyalMailShifts
Conciliation service Acas has produced a guide aimed at helping employers to support transgender employees. It produced the guide following research into the treatment of trans individuals at work, which found that many managers were not up to speed with the law on gender reassignment and where trans staff stood with regard to protected characteristics and the Equality Act 2010. The guide includes advice on the terminology to use when talking with trans employees,
as well as information on which trans identities are protected under discrimination legislation. Rebecca Stinson, head of trans inclusion at LGBT charity Stonewall, said: “Workplace discrimination is unacceptable, and trans people, in particular, can face challenges when transitioning at work if they don’t have a supportive and informed employer. This guidance will go some way to supporting trans members of staff and we’re pleased to see it launch.” ✶ Download the guide at: bit.ly/ AcasTransGuide
For more employment law news, visit HR-inform bit.ly/PMlawnews
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Comment
I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING
DR PAUL REDMOND
INTERNET ARCHIVE BOOK IMAGES
I
Generational differences aren’t clichés – they’re vital to understand
n his seminal 1835 study, Democracy in America, French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “Amongst democratic nations, each generation is a new people.” In recent years, de Tocqueville’s theory has gained new currency. And the idea that different generations view the world according to their own specific outlook is particularly relevant in the workplace, where there are currently at least five generations jostling for managerial attention. The notion that people born at similar times should have similar attitudes and assumptions is deeply ingrained in our culture. We talk about ‘the war generation’, the ‘sixties generation’ – even the ‘eighties generation’. But it’s more than just a useful historical shorthand. Research shows that between generations can exist a set of defining characteristics. Some have suggested that looking at ‘life stages’ is a more useful way of categorising people; in short, that 20-yearolds today are not that different from 20-year-olds three or four decades ago. But at the core of generation theory is the argument that even while this maturing process is going on, generations maintain a generational outlook that shapes their worldview. It means that baby boomers, even though some are now grandparents, often maintain their sixties idealism and optimism, for example. These issues are particularly pertinent when we try to understand generation Y, who were born between 1980 and 1999. Within the next few decades, they will overtake the boomers to become the world’s most populous generation. Gen Y accounts for two billion people – 86 per cent located in emerging markets – and by 2025 will make up 75 per cent of the global workforce. As ‘digital natives’, gen Y is the first generation for whom the computer isn’t
‘technology’ – it was around before they were born. The internet has nearly always existed for them, telephones have always been mobile and cameras always digital. Yet while gen Y is undoubtedly digitally enabled, some of the other stereotypes we ascribe to them deserve challenging. Let’s begin with the idea that gen Y is materialistic. While baby boomers value their possessions, there is strong evidence that their children value their incomes, inhabiting a sharing economy in which access to services and products is afforded a greater level of importance than ownership, and experiences are prioritised. We’re told that gen Y is highly ambitious in the workforce – which is true, up to a point. But often, CPD is worth more to the younger generation than a job title. In a survey by PwC, 52 per cent of gen Y respondents said the defining quality that would make a prospective employer attractive to them was the possibility of career advancement. Neither is gen Y necessarily a nightmare for managers. In fact, if you’re managing them, you can congratulate yourself on becoming a coach. Other gen Y stereotypes are plain wrong. They’re not insular and poorly informed – they’re motivated by civic and global values and have a strong sense of right and wrong. And they certainly don’t prefer to learn
Dr Paul Redmond Director of student experience at the University of Liverpool
online – in fact, it leaves them cold. For HR, understanding the multigenerational workplace offers a range of opportunities and challenges. Many of today’s leading firms were built by baby boomers, for baby boomers. As such, they reward values such as loyalty, tradition and top-down command and control models. Learning a little about what motivates the next generation is a skill that can help employers stand out. ✶ Dr Paul Redmond will be speaking at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester. For more details, see page 36 or visit cipd.co.uk/ace peoplemanagement.co.uk
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In practice Real organisations, real challenges
In practice
Amazon
Virgin Money
“HR’s job is to break down the wall between work and personal life” Sharing employees’ stories is key for the first firm to report its gender pay gap
WORDS GEORGI GYTON PHOTOGRAPHY PETER SEARLE
W
hat do rainbow flags, whistles, flamboyant dancers on colourful floats, a 17-year-old boy and his mother, and a pair of golden circle tickets have in common with Virgin Money? Newcastle Pride 2014, of course. “We organised a ‘design a t-shirt for Pride’ competition, giving staff the chance to win tickets we had been given as part of our sponsorship of the event,” says Matt Elliott, the consumer banking group’s people director. “We had never done anything like that around diversity before, so I was keen to find out the story behind the winner of the main prize – the VIP passes – and see if she would share her experiences with her colleagues.” Elliott discovered that the winner’s teenage son had just come out: “It was a brilliant opportunity for her to tell him that, firstly, they were off to Newcastle Pride, but more importantly that she was proud of him and happy to be open about it at work.”
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The blog she wrote afterwards “caught people’s attention and sparked an interest”, says Elliott, becoming the most-read article on the staff intranet that year. Realising they could be on to something, he set about encouraging other employees in Virgin Money’s 3,000-strong team to write about topics that might enlighten colleagues. Elliott admits that the organisation had previously “struggled to get started” when it came to diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives. “We had perhaps been too reliant on the Virgin brand to talk for us and we weren’t sure how to get the conversation going.” Elliott says he realised they needed to stop overthinking things and start taking action. And out of those actions came positive effects it never expected. “I knew we were really getting somewhere – beyond any measurement data – when our people
wanted to tell their stories,” he says. “We have had people write about their battles with depression, the realities of Ramadan and what it’s like to be a young Muslim woman. People wanted to come forward – and not always on comfortable topics.” Sharing these stories helped to break down the wall between work and personal lives, which Elliott says was long overdue. “HR has been partly guilty of erecting that divide in the past. Our job now is to knock it down.” Another area of diversity that is high on Elliott’s ‘to improve’ list is gender balance. With a high-profile female CEO, it isn’t surprising that the company is keen to reduce its recently published gender pay gap, which currently stands at 32.5 per cent (down from 36 per cent in 2016). Publicising the gap has prompted the firm to focus on its causes, which, says Elliott, aren’t just about women – they’re about men, too. He attributes the gap
“We wanted to make sure our ‘gender agenda’ group was not ‘the women’s network’”
With SPL pay no the company’s w matching m package, Matt aternity El the next stage liott says is men feel comfo to make taking parental rtable about leave
not only to the under-representation of women in senior roles, but also the underrepresentation of men at junior levels: 75 per cent of entry-level staff are female. With an ambitious target of a 50/50 gender split at all levels by 2020, Elliott says the company is “looking at why we are not as attractive to men as we are to women at that level, and why we have a higher leaving rate for men in that group”. Virgin Money is taking a multipronged approach to solving the problem. Both men and women are encouraged to join its ‘gender agenda’ affinity group – it’s deliberately “not the women’s network”, says Elliott – which organises activities that benefit employees, irrespective of gender. It has also changed its parental leave policies, following the introduction of shared parental leave (SPL) in 2015. “As well as men now being allowed to have that time off, we also match maternity pay,” says Elliott. “We have taken money out of the decision-making process.” Around 30 men have already taken SPL this year so far, with numbers predicted to reach 40 by the end of 2017. Approximately 80 women have taken maternity leave in the same period. “I think we are running at a pretty impressive rate,” says Elliott. “But we need to work on making men feel comfortable with the idea.” One of the next stories the business is looking to share is from a senior male employee who has just come back from taking SPL. Moving the dial on diversity is all about having visible role models, and collaborating with other interest groups, Elliott explains: “The LGBT community realised that if it was to be better understood and supported, it needed to engage everybody – and they have done an amazing job. When it comes to other diversity strands, I think we can learn similar lessons from their achievements.” Ultimately, employers need to take a more fluid and creative approach to D&I, Elliott argues. “If you are too corporate and too planned, those beautiful, unexpected knock-on effects simply won’t happen.” peoplemanagement.co.uk
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In practice Manchester Airports Group
“When you hire experts, you can’t tell them what to do” How could a traditional airport business foster the culture of a cutting-edge digital agency?
WORDS ROBERT JEFFERY PHOTOGRAPHY ANDY BROWN
“I
was the first person on the executive floor to wear jeans,” says Kelly Singleton (right), HR director of MAG-O and airport services at Manchester Airports Group. Such subtle rule-flaunting is clearly a point of pride, but it’s also emblematic of the way the year-old organisation has challenged not just how its parent company operates but the way it views its HR department. Conceived as a cross between an internal digital agency and an R&D department, MAG-O is the latest in a trend of large companies driving innovation and new revenue streams by incubating a start-up ethos inside their own four walls. And so far it is paying off spectacularly. The opportunity for the group – which owns and operates Manchester, Stansted, Bournemouth and East
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Midlands airports as well as a US airport services business – was to generate greater insight from its customers, provide tailored e-commerce products and take a greater market share of holiday services such as duty free and parking among its 60 million passenger journeys each year. Having decided that a dedicated digital agency – MAG-O – was the answer, CEO of airport services Andrew Harrison made an HR leader his first hire, reflecting the fact that, when digital innovation is your aim, people are your only currency. Even so, plenty of questions remained: how would the new business compete for young digital talent in a city and region with a flourishing tech scene full of start-ups? And how would an agency operate within the traditional, governance-heavy culture of an airport group?
GETTY IMAGES
A year on, the fact that the team has grown to almost 100 and revenue targets have been comfortably exceeded is testament to the strategy’s success. But it began, says Singleton, with a deliberate and concerted period of learning before even attempting to define strategy. “I had to immerse myself in the business,” she says. “It meant that I didn’t go in from the outset telling people what I wanted for the people agenda. I spent time understanding the business, helping develop the strategy; I was sat there with analysts and the leadership team, researching the market, watching TED talks, reading books, going to conferences, meeting people. Because how can you overlay a people strategy if you don’t understand the business strategy?” Together with the rest of the leadership team, Singleton ‘hacked’ the company’s strategy in a series of workshops. The wider team then hacked the people strategy: “I don’t believe HR should write strategy in a darkened room – if it is about people, engagement and performance, then the team should be involved in its creation. That ultimately meant they owned it and felt accountable to each other for its implementation. It has led to a really special culture emerging.” Equally importantly, she helped define what leadership should look like in this new environment: “We had to explain to our leaders that the people they were hiring were extreme experts in their field: if you hire a data scientist, you can’t tell them how to get from A to B. You have to move into a world where you set and agree a vision and strategy, give them the right resources and coach them towards the desired end goal. It’s hard for some people to provide that space for truly empowered teams, but now it feels like it was always there.’ MAG-O’s first hires were sourced, naturally enough, from the rest of the airport. But it soon became clear that fresh blood would be needed in the form of data scientists, digital marketers and product development ‘squads’ with specific expertise.
While Singelton says attracting techies is often portrayed as “harder than it actually is”, there’s certainly a knack to it. “The main thing is not to recruit the way you always have – you’ve got to change your approach to the market, and build a relationship. I spent a lot of time out there in the Northern Quarter [of Manchester] in the evenings, for example, going to different events and talking about what we were working on. “Digital people want to work on things that are exciting and have never been done before – and no airport has conquered this end-to-end model. That gives us an interesting story, plus we’re a well-known brand in the area. But you can’t just knock on people’s doors when
Midlands Airports Group hopes MAG-O will increase what it knows about its passengers
you’re ready for them; you have to be out there, actively contributing to the digital scene.” Recruitment, Singleton adds, is now fully digital, with candidates viewing immersive videos before being encouraged to upload their own video selfies alongside their CVs. By the time they are hired, a Facebook-style profile has been created and circulated to new colleagues, and the team have presented them with a personalised gift bag based around their interests: “It means that, from day one, they feel they’re part of something really special.” That sense is only enhanced by MAGO’s location, in a customised standalone building within the airport complex. It’s enabled the business to be truly ‘agile’ in a way that works for digital specialists. “Initially, I wanted everyone hotdesking,” says Singleton, who has previously worked in organisations as
diverse as Iceland Group, MercedesBenz and the NHS. “It’s worked for me in the past, and it gets people socialising. But it just wouldn’t work in this setting because you could be breaking up a core project team. Plus they have all this tech that they need at their desks.” ‘Agile’ instead manifested itself in an ethos of iteration and constant improvement. This methodology, coupled with a design-thinking approach, has provided a framework in which governance and risk is actually easier to manage, she says. “It has provided confidence in how we work, and the ability to fail and learn fast actually reduces financial risk.” This attitude has not only brought new revenue streams, but also influenced the HR team to think differently about how it operates; Singleton’s belief that “you can hack anything” has led her to take on various aspects of HR, with mutually beneficial results. “It’s shown me that you can’t be the HR director walking around in a suit every day, operating within a narrow remit. You have to be creative, be digital in your approach and be that person they can talk to, generate ideas with. For example, HR has led brand developments and social media campaigns with the team. We are breaking the traditional boundaries of how HR is seen.” There are still challenges, particularly around cultural fit. When MAG-O moves to a custom-built office featuring a gym, diner and collaboration space, it will make the distinctions with the rest of the business starker. Singleton has already dealt with remuneration discrepancies, collaboration challenges and cultural differences, and says the key is constant communication and clear lines of accountability, as well as ensuring opportunities are genuinely open to everyone across the group. Ultimately, she says, the aim is to create a complementary business that both learns from and adds to the rest of the group. And the same ethos applies to HR: “HR is part of the business – not partnering with it.”
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In practice
Since embarking on leadership training, managers at the charity feel more confident voicing their concerns
War Child
WORDS HAYLEY KIRTON
“We had to prove the value of investing in people” The problem Although War Child has existed since 1993, it has recently gone through a growth spurt and aspires to keep growing. The charity, which has 325 employees globally, focuses on supporting people in areas affected by conflicts. It directly helped 126,000 children, young people and adults in 2016, and aims to reach 260,000 by 2019. But the organisation was struggling to shake its start-up roots. When she joined in May last year, head of people and achievement Andrea Vogel (above) was faced with a team of line managers who had varying degrees of experience – in locations everywhere from the UK to “extremely stressful environments” such as Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. Some busy managers didn’t understand the value of staff development, says Vogel. “They told me: ‘I don’t have time to coach my staff. I don’t have time to teach
Why supporting busy managers was key to retaining top talent at a global charity
them. I don’t even have time to recruit them, so just send me somebody who can hit the ground running.’” The solution Vogel and her five-strong team set up a seven-month training programme focusing on leadership, which kicked off in December 2016. It consisted of a series of bite-sized workshops, spaced about six weeks apart, covering topics such as how to delegate and how to create trust within a team. The 18 managers who took part were encouraged to take what they had learned back to their staff and set themselves regular challenges. “The change had to happen over a period of time,” says Vogel. “It doesn’t happen overnight.” The charity created its own version of 15-minute TED Talks – nicknamed Value Added Talks or VATalks for
short – with the most recent one focusing on why conflict in the workplace can be a good thing. Vogel also introduced practices she hopes will give line managers sufficient guidance, as well as the flexibility to take decisions into their own hands. “It has taken a lot of time and patience, and building relationships and trust with people, showing them the value of having a longer-term vision of investing in people,” she says. The outcome Since the leadership training ended, Vogel says she has seen the charity go from an organisation where all the power sat with the senior management team, to one where decisions are made by people who are closer to its programmes. She also notes that the culture at the charity has improved, with staff becoming more comfortable voicing their concerns and standing up for their career development, with junior managers and non-managerial staff due to embark on training later this year, too. Employee turnover has dropped dramatically, from around 50-60 per cent to 30 per cent. “I think that’s a direct result of people feeling much more valued and being invested in,” Vogel says. “People now have the impression that there is a future for them at War Child.” ✶ Hear more from War Child at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester on 8-9 November: bit.ly/CIPDACE17 peoplemanagement.co.uk
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HR Ever since it began life in munitions factories, HR has been viewed as a female profession. But is its lack of gender balance becoming a problem, and can it ever truly be solved?
WORDS EMILY BURT
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Men in
HR
There are few topics more likely to push the buttons of the average man (or woman) on the street than gender equality. Which makes it refreshing that the HR profession is a place where, by and large, being male or female seems unlikely to be a determining factor in how you are viewed by your colleagues. And yet HR has a gender challenge that is a frequent topic of discussion when the profession gets together. Specifically, just 21 per cent of CIPD members are male, a figure it seems reasonable to assume is replicated across HR as a whole. And this ratio has shifted only slightly in the past few years (in 2013 it was 19 per cent). There are plenty of theories advanced for why HR is intrinsically viewed, both in the public imagination and in practice, as a female profession. These range from the legacy of its early incarnation as the welfare arm of factories during and immediately after World War I, to the perception that HR requires an over-abundance of soft skills. There is also a broader context to consider, and it is voiced by Brad Taylor, director of people at the CIPD. “Certainly there’s an imbalance in HR – and that’s something we need to keep challenging – but the profession isn’t alone in this regard,” he says. “If we look across the gender diversity challenge, there are several roles and sectors where there is a predominance of one gender over another. As a society, we need to get past the idea that certain jobs are typically a ‘man thing’ or ‘woman thing’ to do.” Amid the post-work rush of a London pub, People Management asked a selection of HR students to explore these issues further and, while there was outward harmony among the mixed-gender group, the fractious nature of the debate was always simmering underneath. “HR is the sort of profession that comes from a social sciences background, and in my
experience social science degrees at undergraduate level start attracting women and men in those 70-30, 8020 ratios,” says Nick Coleman, an area manager for a social justice charity who is currently studying for a Level 5 CIPD qualification. Coleman says he didn’t consider HR as a career when he graduated, and doubts that many other young men do. “It could be partly the fact that it was just never presented as a viable career path at that time, and partly because of archetypes about being young and male,” he says. By contrast, Zeina J Al-Khaznach studied for an MsC in HR at King’s College London and moved into the profession immediately after
Overall HR gender split
completing her degree. She is “obsessed with human beings”, and says she has always been concerned with issues around employee welfare and development. But she rejects the idea that this is in any way linked to her gender. “I don’t like that people treat HR as a ‘woman’s profession’; I don’t appreciate that label, or the idea that it’s to do with empathy,” she says. “Empathy at work is not something that should be HR-specific. When I asked my male colleagues about getting into the profession, none of them gave the reason of feeling like empathetic people. They are business-oriented, and recognise the importance of the profession in the world of work.” Students are a useful bellwether – an early warning system, even – for the broader discussion about gender. Aidan McKearney has been a senior lecturer in HRM for more than 15 years, at London Metropolitan University and more recently London South Bank University. He says “the
21% male
79% ale fem
SOURCE: CIPD MEMBERSHIP DATA
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“The gender issue in HR is sometimes at the back of my mind”
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PETER SPINNEY
gender balance of those taking postgraduate HRM qualifications is Students questioned by usually 80 per People Management said cent female – and, HR was still viewed as a if anything, the largely female profession trend is becoming even more gender imbalanced, with fewer and fewer men appearing in the classroom in recent years”. Other HRM academics report similar trends, he says, and difference,” says Justine Williams, they often ponder why the profession an HR manager at Movement seems not to be attracting greater Strategies who is studying for a Level gender diversity (though he equally 5 qualification – but it plays a role points out that there are many in turning young men away from examples of ‘horizontal occupational a future in HR and into what they segregation’ working “the other perceive as ‘tougher’ professions. way round” – in engineering and “HR is still broadly considered a technology, for example). ‘female’ occupation despite the fact While HR is undoubtedly better that as a society we are trying – rightly understood and more strategically – to become more gender neutral,” central than ever, old stereotypes are says Chris Doe, who is performing hard to shake and the conflation of a sideways move into the profession HR with a ‘tea and sympathy’ style of after years of working in a law firm. operating has been deeply ingrained. “But women are perceived to have This will bristle with many who better soft skills than men, and at spend their time having difficult some point empathy and people skills conversations without a tissue in sight do have to come on to the agenda.” – “I defy anyone to tell me I moved ‘Intrinsic aptitude’ theory – the into this profession because it was suggestion that our biology or touchy-feely… I’m here to make a real neurology primes certain groups to be
better at certain roles – has been hotly contested of late. It’s not far from the set of ideas that got James Damore sacked by Google (see page 32) and has also been cited by those seeking to explain the under-representation of women in STEM professions (only 9 per cent of the engineering workforce in the UK is female, for example). Whether we believe HR is intrinsically ‘caring’ or not, could it be – as the stereotype has it – that women are just more naturally adept at a role that involves interaction with others? There is a growing body of
Kessar Kalim HR partner, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
When I started in HR, some of my friends and family said they thought it was a ‘girly’ job. I wasn’t embarrassed, but the gender issue in HR is sometimes at the back of my mind. Early in my career, I was in meetings with people who had been expecting, because I’m in HR, that a woman would turn up. But that has changed over the past few years. HR is seen by some people as a fluffy, supportive role, and there is a perception that women are better at or more suited to listening, giving advice and handling sensitive issues. That’s consistent with wider societal stereotypes around male and female roles and characteristics, and it’s something HR professionals should be at the forefront of challenging. Data from various studies suggests that HR’s gender imbalance is an issue, and so is the progression of women into senior HR roles. To perform effectively, organisations need the right people in the right roles – whether you’re a man or a woman shouldn’t come into it.
Men in
HR
“We need more research to understand why there is an imbalance” SIMON FERNANDEZ
Jon Dawson Director of HR,
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park I was a management trainee in ops at another hotel group when a lady approached me and said I would benefit from spending six months in HR to learn more about people management. She was going on maternity leave and wanted to bring someone more junior in; she’s still my mentor today and has helped me develop massively over the years. The number of women in HR has never really been an issue for me, and it has never caused any practical problems either. In hospitality, everything is about the customer, and because our customers are both men and women you learn to focus on people rather than anything else. But of course, HR has a focus on diversity and inclusion and we need more research to understand why there is an imbalance.
evidence that suggests our thinking in this area needs to evolve further. Intrinsic aptitude owes much to 30-year-old experiments conducted by leading neuroscientist Simon Baron-Cohen, which concluded that the level of exposure to testosterone in the womb led to the development of ‘male’ or ‘female’ brains. But in the intervening years, the methodology of Baron-Cohen’s work has been criticised, and other research has demonstrated clearly that socialisation is every bit as important in developing character traits and, eventually, choosing a career. In short, if girls are not exposed to maths, for example, and are consistently told they are less adept with numbers than boys,
it is unsurprising that far fewer of them become accountants or mathematicians. The same holds true for other professions. In her new book, Inferior, Angela Saini points to the fact that the ratio of men to women among those with exceptional mathematical ability has fallen from around 13:1 in the 1970s to 2:1 today. This cannot be explained by intrinsic aptitude. As Saini writes: “Human biology… does not sit independently from society and culture. The two interact with each other.” Neville Hounsome, consultant, coach and former HR director, references the work of linguist Deborah Tannen. “She observes that the language between boys and girls is very similar until the age of seven, and then boys develop the language of ‘competition’, while girls develop the language of ‘cooperation’,” he says. “It’s all a bit Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but I’ve definitely observed, at board level, these misunderstandings in language and attitude persisting.”
Howard Sloane is managing partner at Teslo HR and has spent his entire career in the profession, following in his father’s footsteps as an HR director. While he rejects the idea of intrinsic aptitude, he argues that the idea HR is in itself ‘fluffy’ can be more damaging than concerns about its gender make-up. “I have often been in board-level meetings, and I know that those in the room see me as the softer part of that meeting,” he says. “There are all kinds of jokes and comments that are made, along the lines of ‘tissues and issues’ and being ‘warm’, ‘fluffy’ or ‘tree hugging’. I think you learn as a man in HR to roll with that a little bit and use it to your advantage.” The fact that, despite the situation improving, most young people have little idea of what HR practically does before they enter the workforce seems to play a role in shaping who studies the topic and ends up working in it, but can only go so far in explaining why these are mostly women. Taylor says the issue should be seen as less binary and more nuanced:
“I don’t like it when people treat HR as a profession for women… I don’t like that label”
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n Men i H R
Female
How does HR compare?
Male
“Diversity is absolutely something that we need to be thinking about as a profession, but this isn’t just about making HR more attractive to men. We want it to be seen as an attractive profession full stop, drawing on a range of skillsets and experiences that come from professionals with different backgrounds rather than different identities. “As with the wider workforce, we need to encourage greater diversity in HR, and this will be achieved by creating more inclusive workplaces, and recognising and encouraging the different strengths and experiences that individuals bring.” Certainly, the majority of men performing HR roles, including those featured on these pages, do
Michail Pytharidis HR adviser, Grupo Antolin The first degree I took, in Cyprus, was with a UK university and I spent the second year there. I was studying marketing but when I got to the UK I was hearing a lot about the HR profession and it appealed to me as a way to add a lot more value and to do something that involved people. It was only after I took my master’s that I really focused on HR and got the job I have now. I’m a generalist, and that suits me. I was aware early on of the perception that, in the UK, HR is a female job. And when I did interviews, all the managers were women. At first, if I’m honest, it did make me feel a bit uncomfortable. You wonder if you might be discriminated against. When I started work – in a team where only one in six was a man – I almost didn’t want to imply anything about gender by mistake, so I just didn’t mention the topic. I remember talking about my wife a lot at first, because maybe in a strange way that helped break the ice. But that went away quickly, and now it’s something I don’t even think about; the team I’m in is female dominated, but it never causes any sort of issue.
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86%
75% 59% 41% 25%
14% Finance
Marketing
not habitually see their gender as a practical impediment. As Ollie Hill, people business partner at Help for Heroes, puts it: “I tell people I’m in HR and they often say ‘oh wow, there aren’t many men in that’ – but I love it, and I’m really proud of it. I once
IT
turned up to interview and was told how refreshing it was that I’d applied, because they didn’t see men coming into the roles. But anything to do with professional stigmas, or working in female-dominant teams, has never crossed my mind.”
SOURCES: NEW FINANCIAL, AXONN MEDIA, DELOITTE GLOBAL
The UK’s gender gap in selected business functions
“If I’m honest, being a man in HR did make me feel a bit uncomfortable”
SIMON FERNANDEZ
Kevin Sampson Associate HR business partner, Brunel University London
SIMON HADLEY
My first big opportunity was working in graduate recruitment at HewlettPackard. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but soon I was doing a brochure and getting involved in the milkround and the placement schemes. At most companies I worked at in the 80s and 90s, I was the only man [in HR]; at one point, there were 17 women and me in the department. It never felt strange. I worked with colleagues I got on with, and that’s all that mattered. The balance has changed. I see more men coming into the profession, and we have male graduate interns here, for example. But HR still isn’t that glamorous for men, and the old stereotypes can be hard to shift. Without HR, a lot of companies just couldn’t function, but men still seem to be more attracted to other roles. Maybe it’s about telling people what HR isn’t – doing loads of boring admin all the time – as much as what it is.
But could there be a more tangible downside to being in a profession where one gender dominates? One male HR leader People Management spoke to claimed he was regularly told ‘off the record’ by recruitment consultants that they were not looking for men in HR director roles. He even won an out-of-court settlement from one firm. Others who contacted People Management by email said that being referred to as ‘pale, stale and male’ was a frequent stereotype that went unchallenged – but it would be unacceptable to group women together in such a way. The flip side of this is that it is widely acknowledged that the greatest proportion of men in HR are to be found in the more senior ranks (one recent survey said there were now 6 per cent more men in senior roles than women, though these figures are open to question). This means, among other things, that a large share of HR’s public ‘voice’ is still male. “While studying for my CIPD qualification, I noticed that most of the publications I was being told to read were written by men, and the people coming up with the
“The balance has changed. I see more men coming into the profession” theories were men,” says Williams. “For me, the gender issue is less about the percentages of women in the profession, and more about how far they are getting – whether there is a glass ceiling in HR where men who are more widely published, more vocal and articulating more theories fill those senior positions.” A key factor in this, which has been well-documented elsewhere, is that men are more likely to work in a different function or career before moving into HR at a more senior level. This is a welcome trend to the extent that it brings fresh perspectives into the profession, but suggests there are issues around progression. “We ran a survey that showed about a 70 per cent imbalance in favour of females in the lower to mid ranks, and then about 70 per cent males in the mid to senior ranks,” says Lisa Wormald, a director at executive search firm Harvey Nash HR who has extensive experience of finding HR leaders for blue-chip companies.
“My theory is that a lot of men make the leap into HR as they reach mid-management levels, and get far more involved in the management of talent, business transformation and culture. This also ties into broader themes around female progression, and what happens when women have children and take career breaks, and whether this affects their confidence in progressing into senior roles.” As Wormald observes, an over-representation of senior men is not an HR-specific issue. Examination of ONS statistics in 2015 found that women earned narrowly more than men, on average, until the age of 35, suggesting that the biggest factor in stalling progression is becoming a mother. Yet HR does at least have the virtue of boasting a smaller overall gender pay gap than most other professions (just 9 per cent at a senior level, and positive for women in part-time or certain junior roles, according to ONS figures released ahead of the introduction of gender
“Is there a glass ceiling in HR where men who are more vocal fill the senior positions?”
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n Men i H R
“A male perspective is valuable because you can offer a different viewpoint on HR issues” Adam Kirton Head of recruitment, Gloucestershire I did a degree in geography and a master’s in glaciology, but soon realised I didn’t want to spend the rest of my working life on ice caps. I joined the NHS because it had a good graduate scheme and HR appealed because I’m a ‘people person’, and it seemed slightly altruistic. I think a lot of people don’t go into HR because it’s an unknown. My first memory of HR was the HR manager on Dinnerladies, who walked around with a clipboard and didn’t fit in with the rest of the staff. But HR is changing, and so are perceptions of it. Being a man has never been an issue for me. There are times when a male perspective is valuable because you can offer a different viewpoint on HR issues or on an interview panel full of women. I’ve worked with plenty of women and men in HR and I can say that gender is not what makes you a good practitioner. Women aren’t more likely to be ‘people people’ – it’s just that society tends to see things that way.
pay gap reporting in 2016). And there are questions around the recruitment and progression of members of ethnic minorities and those with disabilities – as well as ongoing ageism – that cut across all business functions and sectors and must also be addressed. “We need to shift the focus of the question; instead of asking ‘do men feel excluded?’ ask ‘what can we do about inclusion?’” Williams says. “If you’re asking what you can do to make people feel included in a profession – and that means men, people with different ethnic backgrounds, and people of different sexualities and gender orientations – that subtle shift makes such a difference to the way you approach these issues. “Should we worry about quotas, and spending time and effort dragging 30
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different sections of society into the profession, or should we just be making it so awesome that everyone wants to be a part of it?” This is a compelling point. But it is part of HR’s recognised remit to address diversity issues. Furthermore, if we ‘normalise’ gender ratios in HR departments – whether by design or otherwise – what might that do to the underrepresentation of women in the business as a whole? McKearney is not alone in wondering how far it is appropriate to probe the matter. “If you pose the question ‘why are there so few women’ in sectors like accountancy or engineering, it seems an entirely appropriate thing to investigate,” he says. “But given that men already have so much privilege in many aspects of their lives, there’s an automatic shift towards ‘why should we even bother to investigate it?’ Does it matter that they are not so heavily represented in this one profession – especially as there is still so much to be done around female representation?”
Others say there are positive signs of progress among young professionals entering the workforce today, who are less likely than ever to see gender as a key point of difference and to believe diversity should be an organisational imperative. With continuing work to explain HR to young people before they enter the workforce – such as the Inspiring the Future programme that takes HR professionals into schools to share career knowledge – stereotypes can be challenged over time. “Provided the job is being done well, that’s what matters most,” Taylor concludes. “But by embracing broad principles that help us challenge barriers and encourage and celebrate differences, we can create better, more inclusive workplaces that benefit everyone. HR has a real opportunity to lead on this agenda and role model to the wider business, community and society.” One day, in this vision, gender at work will be at best an irrelevance. Until we get there, this debate is a long way from finished.
“Given that men have so much privilege in so many aspects of life, should we be worrying?”
GAVIN ROBERTS
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! (As long as it's compatible with our corporate values and isn't going to offend anyone) (Otherwise, we'll probably fire you)
o em m ’ st xi ‘se ’s er ne gi en e gl oo G a er ov w ro The l ca ti ac pr or le ib ss po it is : on ti es qu begs a bigger to let people speak their minds at work? WORDS CATHRYN NEWBERY
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@JAMESADAMORE, GETTY IMAGES
T
he Google engineer who authored the now infamous ‘women in tech’ memo this summer was prophetic when it came to his own fate. “We have an intolerance for ideas and evidence that don’t fit a certain ideology,” he wrote. “Google’s left bias has created a politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence.” James Damore was duly shown the door, and the veracity of his claims about women’s suitability (or lack of it) for a career in tech engineering has since dominated media debate. But was he on to something about the nature of free speech at work? What’s the business imperative for being comfortable to air your views? Are the employers that espouse values of open communication, and spend thousands on mechanisms to listen to employee opinion, actually listening – or just paying lip service to it? And how can organisations enable their staff to speak honestly – about their personal views and business challenges – in a non-emotive way? Free speech is a tricky concept to get your head around. UK citizens have a legal right to freedom of expression under common law, but it is not absolute and is limited by the rights of other individuals. Broad legal exceptions to free expression include words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, hate or extremist speech and libel. (It’s because of these parameters, for example, that a teacher who was a member of the BNP was sacked in 2015 after he told students he was ‘allergic’ to Muslims.) Employees in the UK don’t have an explicit right to free speech at work, but other rights – such as not to be unfairly dismissed, and around discrimination and whistleblowing – bring the concept of free speech into play, says Jim Wright, partner in the employment and HR team at Shulmans. “It is always more of a freedom that’s balanced against other hard rights. It isn’t straightforward, which is an issue for both employers and employees.” Case law in this area is complex, he explains: “Because we don’t have the express, free-standing right to free speech, people are always trying to push their beliefs into some form of
discrimination.” In 2009, a court ruled in favour of an employee who claimed he had been discriminated against on the grounds of his philosophical belief in environmentalism. Two years later, a garden centre staff member who morally opposed bloodsports was sacked by the business’s owners, who were members of a local foxhunt, and was found to have been discriminated against because of his beliefs. But a tribunal ruled against an employee who claimed that the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks were ‘false flag’ events because, says Wright, “the beliefs didn’t meet ‘the minimum standard of coherence and cohesion’, and were therefore not capable of protection against unfair dismissal”. Even things that can legally be voiced at work would be unwelcome in most workplaces and could be highly detrimental to morale. Think about the consequences, for example, if an individual who had an affair was berated at work by a colleague who felt their behaviour was immoral. Most HR professionals would feel they clearly needed to stop such a confrontation. Which means the bigger question remains: how far can we allow free discussion at work to go? If you don’t let staff to talk freely, says Dr Wilson Wong, head of insight and futures at the CIPD, “you are not allowing them to exercise quite serious and adult rights. If you define the boundaries of free speech, and don’t
allow employees to learn where those boundaries are, you are signalling that you want a paternal relationship with your staff. “In every debate – whether it’s about politics, religion or whatever – the underlying question is: what kind of organisation are you? If the organisation wants a mature, adult relationship with its staff, apart from some ground rules (around stuff like fascism and racism) the rest of it has to be negotiated.” Employers need to be ready to accept that employees’ views might not be in line with their corporate values. Wong cites a company that publicly backed the drive to achieve 30 per cent female representation on FTSE 100 boards, despite internal discussions about whether – given that the end goal is 50-50 representation – it was right to aim for a lower, but more achievable, target. And you can’t allow staff to only have frank discussions about work matters, says Isaac Getz, professor at ESCP Europe Business School – the same rules have to apply to all conversations. “If you want people to step forward and say what they think, it can’t be authorised for some areas and forbidden for others,” Getz adds. “The employee who is silent regarding his opinions on how people are recruited won’t say anything about the product that is not good either. It’s self-defeating. “If the CEO sits in front of all his employees and his fly is down, does
“In liberal sectors, conservatives can feel that they can’t speak up. We must enable them to do that”
Google engineer James Damore has become a highly divisive figure since he was dismissed
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Katie Hopkins (centre) is employed to air controversial views, but even she found there was a limit when she was axed by LBC
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line that the organisation has set. He could have been engaged to discuss why he has these issues, and then you have an opportunity to deepen and further educate or expose your workforce to the issues. It’s unfortunate that this incident mirrors the archetypal accusation against HR – that when an employee does something like this, the HR rulebook is thrown at them, and the person is dismissed.” There are myriad benefits of free discussion to businesses beyond saving their senior leaders from embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions. For the NHS, it really is a matter of life and death, says Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers: “In the last four or five years, the NHS has done a lot of work about candour and whistleblowing; about trying to encourage people to express concerns about things that have gone wrong, that
the public or their employer needs to know about. Creating workplaces where people are able to speak up is a massive part of our cultural development.” Every statutory NHS organisation has an independent freedom to speak up guardian to whom staff can raise concerns. The guardians are also charged with making sure each organisation’s culture, policies and ways of working are conducive to speaking up. “We have an absolute imperative to develop safer ways of working and cultures in our organisations; recognising problems and learning from them is a central part of that,” says Mortimer. Private sector firms are also starting to realise the benefit of engaging employees at such a deep level, according to Stefan Wissenbach, founder and chief engagement officer at Engagement Multiplier, which
“If you’ve chosen to work for an employer, you’ve made the choice to sign up to their norms and rules”
REX FEATURES, GETTY IMAGES
anyone tell him? Or does everyone just sit there for an hour, staring and not listening? Does this company have a culture of fear? Of compliance? Or of responsible, autonomous, free adults who take the initiative when there is a problem?” Google’s approach – of firing the memo’s author – falls squarely in the ‘compliance’ category, says Stephen Frost, a D&I specialist and founder of consultancy Frost Included. “Yes, they needed to move quickly, but I’d love to have seen them beat the guy on the facts,” he says. “To say: ‘If you want to have a debate about the biological differences between the genders, bring it on.’ That facilitated discussion would have given Google leadership authority on this.” Wong adds: “By firing this person for being honest enough to express his, perhaps unenlightened, view, Google has changed the dynamic of the culture in the organisation. It becomes ‘thou shalt not speak’ for fear of crossing a
develops anonymous employee feedback systems: “One of our clients estimates that giving employees the opportunity to anonymously and confidentially submit their improvement ideas – and acting on them – has added more than £1m to his bottom line in the first year alone.” Those without the budget or workforce size to warrant introducing an online feedback system can open up conversations through things as simple as an anonymous questions box in the staff canteen, he suggests. Creating spaces in which it feels psychologically safe to speak up is essential for supporting minorities, says Frost: “BAME individuals and women generally feel less safe to speak up than white men. And that’s not only of interest morally, it’s of interest because the company is not being efficient in its use of human resources – there are brilliant people who aren’t being used properly. It’s diversity without inclusion.” That inclusion and safety must extend to those who aren’t members of minorities as we classically define them, says Frost. “In liberal, progressive industries in the UK – such as the media, science and universities – conservatives and men can feel threatened and that they can’t speak up. We’ve got to give them space to do that.” Inclusion diagnostics are more powerful here than straightforward employee engagement surveys, he adds. While some organisations might be tempted to rewrite the HR policy book to define new boundaries for discussions, Wright says that’s not the best approach to solving this problem: “What you need is for the values of the organisation to be Teacher and BNP member Reverend Robert West was fired after telling pupils he was ‘allergic’ to Muslims
communicated far more clearly, and have those tied to your existing policies. “You could make it clear that, if people want to express certain views at work, they must ensure they are appropriate for the environment and that they are not expressed in a way that is going to cause offence to others.” An employer can have a legitimate interest in limiting what employees say on social media, too, adds Wright, because of potential threats to the organisation’s reputation. If a heated debate arises, Wong recommends ‘freezing’ the conversation so no further fuel is added to the fire, and inviting interested parties to a faceto-face town hall discussion: “With the help of a good facilitator, you can focus on the issue – not the emotion. And the issue will be: what kind of exchange do we want to have? Not the specifics of that exchange – whether that’s about politics, religion or whatever – but what are the general principles we want to guide that exchange.” Each intervention you make as an organisation needs to take you closer to that cultural vision, he says. Free speech will remain one of the trickiest areas of HR practice – and when protected characteristics or individual moral convictions are involved, there will never be a single rule of thumb at work. But every business should think about the Damore case, and how it would react in a similar situation. As Frost puts it: “If you have a particular view, that’s your right and I can’t change who you are. But if you are affecting the rights of somebody else, then that’s an issue. “If you’ve chosen to work for an employer, you’ve made a conscious choice to sign up to the norms and rules that govern how that organisation works. If you contravene them, there are consequences – that’s the deal. The problem is too many organisations either aren’t clear on their culture or norms, or lack the confidence to interpret them.”
WAS GOOGLE RIGHT TO SACK JAMES DAMORE? People Management readers have their say
YES He breached what the organisation stands for, which he would have signed up to when he began his employment there. Google tries to lead the way in fairness and transparency; this employee goes against its brand and what Google wants to say on this topic. Bringing a company’s reputation into dispute is unquestionably a sackable offence. Use your views to challenge and make a difference, but you should not work somewhere where you fundamentally disagree with its direction. Work is not a university where free speech is the norm: you sign up to policies and a culture. Any debate that is counter to the law or accepted standards of behaviour in a business is counter-productive.
NO He was challenging the policy in a reasoned and referenced way. The right response would be open dialogue to influence and educate. He is a perfect example of how a company with the scale and impact of Google could use open discussion to make a meaningful impact on changing this type of perception. If I were an employee in Google I’d think carefully before speaking out on a subject that could be controversial. Psychological safety has been blown apart. It’s very dangerous when we lose the ability to respectfully hold alternative viewpoints. The firm did not treat him with the respect he deserved and instead prioritised its reputation and brand. Their reaction is likely to discourage honest and decent employees from giving their genuine appraisal of matters of concern. peoplemanagement.co.uk
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THE ONLY PLACE W
ith the world of work changing by the day, how do you keep a grip on what’s important? By coming to the only event in the HR and L&D calendar that brings the knowledge, people and practice you need to excel under one roof. The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition turns 70 this year, and is celebrating in style with a focus on the major shifts affecting organisations – from changing demographics to the challenges and opportunities of automation – and a range of commentators, academics and
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practitioners from across HR, L&D and OD who’ll share their practical insights. With more than 180 leading HR and L&D suppliers showcasing innovations and solutions in the exhibition, there’s never been a better reason to get out of the office and join the brightest and best of the HR community in Manchester – and there are a few surprises in store too… Exciting and unusual keynotes Baroness Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com and former UK digital champion, will deliver the opening keynote on creating a fair and inclusive digital world. Professor Gernot Schulz, a conductor and former
member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, will close the conference accompanied by a classical orchestra, to demonstrate how leaders can enable optimal performance. Inspiring individuals You’ll be able to hear from the cofounder of Stonewall, Simon Fanshawe, on how to advance diversity and make it work in your organisation. David Marquet, former nuclear submarine captain, will be sharing his ideas on intent-based leadership, and BBC Radio presenter Timandra Harkness will tell the story of artificial intelligence and human wisdom in the workplace.
TO BE
orking – w et n ss a cl trs fi s, rt pe ex g in d World-lea and even a classical orchestra – at the 70th CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition
Opportunities to learn Keynote speakers include: The CIPD Exhibition will feature a free programme of bite-sized learning sessions from a wide range of speakers giving expert advice and insight. Learn how to navigate the digital evolution, get practical tips on enhancing the candidate experience and employee voice in your organisation, and even find out how a Timandra Harkness games mindset can drive wellness and engagement. Visit the CIPD website to see the timetable of free sessions and all the hot topics on the agenda. Supporting your career The expert team on the CIPD stand will be on hand to offer advice on professional
development, including membership, qualifications, training programmes, how to volunteer and much more.
Martha Lane Fox
Gernot Schulz David Marquet
Stay connected Make sure you stay up to date before and during the conference by following @CIPD_Events on Twitter and using #cipdACE17, visiting CIPDUK on Facebook or joining the CIPD Conferences and Exhibitions Group on LinkedIn. Keep an eye out for the main conference app on the App Store or Google Play, which will go live just before the event. It will enable you to plan your day, find out where your sessions are and connect with other delegates.
Where? Manchester Central
Convention Complex
When? Wednesday 8 November 9am-5pm / Thursday 9 November 9am-4.30pm
Where? For conference tickets or
to pre-register for the free exhibition, visit cipd.co.uk/ace peoplemanagement.co.uk
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THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW
Employers have unrivalled data on individuals’ wellbeing. What will they do with it?
M
uch-pilloried retailer Sports Direct is not particularly renowned for its employee wellbeing practices. But in August, it emerged that it had been making some efforts in the area. Employees who began shifts in its warehouse were asked to press a button featuring either a happy or sad emoji; if they pressed sad, they would be asked whether they were sure about their decision. Press it again, and they would be called to see a manager to discuss their reasons for doing so. Unfortunately, this didn’t amount to an outpouring of concern from a business condemned for the ‘gulag’
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conditions on its sites. While the survey was supposedly anonymous, staff were being identified by their fingerprints, prompting howls of protest from unions and a fresh barrage of woeful publicity. Sports Direct may have been misguided, many would argue, but in seeking to use data to shape its approach to employee wellbeing, it is treading an increasingly well-worn path. A survey by Aon Employee Benefits last year found that 72 per cent of employers now use some form of data to drive their health and wellbeing strategy. This isn’t surprising in itself. After all, we are enjoying a well-documented explosion in employee data, along with a growing recognition that investment in
wellbeing pays off in both the short and long term. While the most popular sources of data are well-established – absence statistics and employee engagement surveys – more and more companies are looking at fresh inputs, such as data from Fitbits and other wearables, calls to employee advice lines and even ‘sentiment analysis’ of internal social media channels. “Done responsibly, this is a huge opportunity for HR to understand the impact the organisation has on its people, and how to best support them and create an environment where there’s a balance between their health and their commitment to work,” says David
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WORDS JO FARAGHER
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D’Souza, head of engagement and London at the CIPD. There are several factors driving the trend, according to Mark Witte, principal at Aon Employee Benefits. “There are cost pressures on employers and the impact that poor health could have; support from the state is not what it used to be so the health burden has shifted; and we’re now presented with a greater array of choice than before in terms of private healthcare, specialist providers and different pathways we can offer,” he says. Proponents of wellbeing data analysis argue that flagging up potential health problems across the worker population could prevent serious issues (and costly insurance claims) down the line, too. BNP Paribas, for example, recently carried out a workplace stress and wellness study of more than 500 of its employees, who wore a Microsoft Band 2 that measured various biometric measurements such as heart rate, as well as how many steps they took. The data was gathered and analysed by health technology start-up BioBeats, deploying metrics such as whether employees’ perception of stress tied in to their actual stress levels and whether interventions such as breathing exercises made a difference. It found that stress levels were 23 per cent lower where employees followed breathing exercises on an app, and ‘high rumination’ (where people consistently worry about work outside of work) was reduced. “Traditionally, HR and occupational health have relied on subjective data from questionnaires, so there’s a certain bias. We bring in objective physiological data – the amount of sensors we track builds a picture of wellbeing that would be impossible through questionnaires,” says David Plans, CEO of BioBeats. “Many employers have pathways already such as an EAP or GP referral, but in an ideal world we’d respond before this stage. There can be stigma around admitting you’re not coping and, by the time some [mental health issues] present themselves, it’s at a late stage.” Using data to predict workplace wellbeing trends can avoid
Health and fitness guru Joe Wicks has sparked an interest in eating healthy lunches at work
costly interventions down the line, he argues, and even reduce the risk of chronic diseases. All of the employees involved in the wellbeing study chose to take part and knew what their data would be used for. “It all goes back to intent. Employees don’t want oppressive oversight,” says D’Souza. “If it’s being done just to improve productivity, people may feel uncomfortable not opting into something – the relationship becomes unhealthy.” A recent survey by consulting firm PwC found that 65 per cent of people feel technology has a role to play in their health and wellbeing, yet 38 per cent do not trust their employer to use the data it collects to benefit them. Employers need to be upfront about how the data will be collected and used, advises Jocelyn Paulley, director at law firm Gowling WLG. “Would an employee be comfortable using an employer-sponsored health provider if they thought news of their condition would get back to their employer, which may make promotion or work assignment decisions with this information in mind?” she asks. Next year will see new data protection responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which places more emphasis on employees’ consent to data being used – so it’s an area where employers need to tread carefully. Gaining insights from aggregate or averaged data, rather than zoning in on individuals’ activities, is the safer path. “We would only ever give an analysis of data across a large population,” says Peter Blencowe, managing director at Bluecrest Health Screening. “Some companies may ask whether we can slice it by department, but say you have 10 people and one has a certain condition – that’s going to be pretty identifiable.” Mapping data from sources such as EAPs, insurance claims and wearables also has inherent limitations because it will never cover the entire workforce, adds Ivan Robertson, co-founder of
business psychology firm Robertson Cooper. “With any voluntary collection of data, you run the risk of getting a biased picture. EAP data will only show you who’s picked up the phone – what about the other 80 or 90 per cent of the workforce?” Initiatives where staff sign up to wear a fitness tracker or take part in a data collection exercise don’t give a full picture, either. “You’re only looking at a slice of the workforce that was already interested,” says Gemma Milford, a health insurance consultant at IHC. “More data might not change their behaviour, but having a more inclusive overall wellbeing strategy – for example, offering fitness classes or encouraging people to take the stairs – might have a greater, albeit anecdotal, impact.” Professor Sarah-Jane Cullinane, assistant professor of HRM and organisational behaviour at Trinity College Dublin, believes that making employees aware that you’re monitoring them could end up having the opposite effect. “They could worry that it’s just another way they have to be a ‘good employee’,” she says. “It becomes another pressure, and there are so many outside variables that make it difficult to judge fairly.” She adds that regular ‘pulse’ questionnaires, taken anonymously, can provide a more accurate picture of the happiness (if not necessarily health) of the workforce. “If it’s anonymous,
“Staff could worry that it’s just another way they have to be a ‘good’ employee”
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people are more likely to be more honest. If they know they’re being watched they’re more likely to change their behaviour. Coming up with an aggregate can show trends without people feeling they’re being watched.” For employees, the question of ‘what’s in it for me’ will always prevail. Law firm Shakespeare Martineau wanted to make its staff more active as a tie-up with Commonwealth Games England and offered employees Fitbits. It set a challenge for people to collectively track enough steps to get to Australia’s Gold Coast and back again – the equivalent of 20,000 miles. Two participants will win the chance to see the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland. “We are honest and upfront about the data we collect from the Fitbits, and while the Gold Coast goal is there, 90 per cent have said they will continue to use the watch once the challenge ends,” says Joanna Thornell, director of sales and service excellence. Many of the benefits have been anecdotal, she adds. “Teams are hosting walking meetings and finding them to be more
productive. It’s not just an excuse to clock more steps for your team.” And while small behavioural changes are gratifying, collecting data on wellbeing can also offer hard evidence on the efficacy of existing health programmes and suggest where businesses’ health spend could be better targeted. “Lots of companies are trying to define their wellbeing strategy, not just because they want to ensure it’s effective, but to make sure they’re doing it for the right reasons,” says Jo Salter, director in PwC’s people and organisation business. Beth Robotham, head of business development at Bupa, says data is critical in demonstrating return on investment in wellbeing: “When it comes to creating a sustainable wellbeing strategy, it has to deliver value to both the employer and the employee. Data provides a clear sense of what is important to their people and helps them decide where to invest to make a meaningful impact,” she says. The golden rule is that data usage has to be both well-defined and adequately
explained. “Any wellbeing statistics can inform the wider HR strategy in conjunction with other data, but pushing for more and more data could create ethical dilemmas,” says Neil Mountford, chair of the UK Employee Assistance Professionals Association. You only have to look at examples in the US where employees have been microchipped so they can buy food and drink or log into computers, or a start-up offering predictive analytics so employers can decide what proportion of its staff are likely to become pregnant, to see there is the potential to go too far. There is also the question of how greater employer knowledge of health risks in their workforce will affect insurance premiums. More and more corporate health insurance providers offer data analysis as an add-on, “so clients understand where their money is going and they feel they’re getting more value from their spend”, says Witte. At present, insurers can only look at data at an aggregate level and do not use predictive analytics around individual workforces to calculate premiums. The GDPR sets clear boundaries on how individual the company a “valid business performance, there is employee data is stored and used. picture of employee evidence that health initiatives health”, according to But it’s equally clear that in the at the firm have led to changes John Mayor, head of in behaviour and better health. longer term, businesses could UK rewards at Danone. Some business units have seen come under collective pressure “An experienced GP provides a decrease in the number of from insurers (as they have in an interpretation of the data, employees with raised BMI, and the US) both to pass on more highlighting the issues that are the overall number of smokers detailed information about their relevant and would benefit has fallen by around 8 per cent workforce and to undertake from more attention in the over two years, says Mayor. health and wellbeing strategy, “In future, as the dataset specific interventions to keep and those that might just be grows, we’ll be able to track their premiums down. red herrings,” he says. “This is progress on employee health In the meantime, making now year three, and we have an over time. We’ll be able to tactical decisions about groups indication of both areas needing see where an issue has been of at-risk employees and running attention and improvements identified, how we’ve tried to programmes that can help with in health that came about as a help people address it and the result of greater awareness and outcomes. We’ll also be able their medical or physical health engagement among our staff.” to use data to quantify the could prevent problems – and Although Danone does value of health and wellbeing therefore claims. For employers not have explicit calculations to the business in terms of that stay on the right side of the linking health improvements to performance and productivity. line between paternalism and Big “Anecdotally, the introduction Danone’s employee Brother, wellbeing data remains of screening has led to new health screening a world of possibility, even if the attitudes and awareness of involves more personal health issues, meaning than 50 tests future is less clear.
Food manufacturer Danone UK has 1,300 staff based across two offices, a manufacturing site and in the field. All employees – not just senior executives – are offered a free comprehensive health screening annually. This includes more than 50 individual tests, generating extensive data on a range of areas, including: BMI, blood pressure, heart health and diabetes risk as well as areas like cancer risk, musculoskeletal health and psychological wellbeing. Every year, Danone’s healthcare provider produces a detailed management report based on anonymised data. This covers around 60 per cent of employees who have voluntarily taken up the screenings, which means the data gives
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less absenteeism and a more productive workforce generally.”
✶ The CIPD NI Well-being and Resilience Conference 2017 takes place in Belfast in November. Find out more at bit.ly/NICon17
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w u a o n y t o D h t i w that ?
Virtual reality learning isn’t just for bra in surgeons – a new generation of applica tions is being d eployed in some h ighly une xpected se ttings WOR
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’ve barely had a chance to buckle 2D. It’s a contradiction, and immersive to its remote potential, which is ideal up before the countdown begins. technologies can change that.” for blended learning programmes. Within five seconds we’re off, For Andy Lancaster, head of learning “It makes learning faster and more and I’m nervously turning to my and development content at the CIPD, comprehensive because learners companion to see if it’s just me the time is right for VR – within reason. fail quicker, and without incurring who’s feeling uneasy. In minutes, “As it stands, VR lives and falls on how unneccesary costs or putting we are accelerating past stars, accurate and compelling it is; it doesn’t employees through instructor-led and the Earth, a glance to the left have to be perfect, but it needs to be ‘death by PowerPoint’ that’s difficult confirms, is becoming a speck. believable enough that users feel like to absorb. The digital world blending It’s disorienting to come back they’re interacting in the ‘real’ world,” with the real world has the power to down to terra firma. And even more he says. “It doesn’t work when it’s an illbe revolutionary.” discomforting to take the glasses off and thought through design concept, because It’s these factors that are opening realise I am not the first HR journalist if it isn’t giving you a realistic experience L&D professionals’ eyes to the in space; instead, I’ve been using a then the technology gets in the way.” possibilities of VR. Already, virtual reality (VR) tool designed to Safety-critical work is, naturally, companies are using it in leadership boost understanding of interstellar a major beneficiary of VR training. training – where users can give virtual travel, both among potential astronauts Faccini says it allows employers presentations or conference speeches and curious executives taking part in the to put people into pressurised – and to play out tricky scenarios in FT IE Corporate Learning Alliance. situations, without making them feel diversity programmes. Much of the It’s a spectacular use of workplace uncomfortable or actually unsafe. recent uptake in corporate VR has technology, but it’s far from the only For example, selecting the correct fire been among retailers and hospitality one. While virtual reality – essentially, extinguisher on a health and safety businesses that see the benefit in immersive and interactive computer course is a more straightforward building virtual shop floors to train simulations generally experienced via a experience if nothing’s actually on fire: their employees (see boxes). headset – has been around for decades “I’ve created a scenario in VR to reflect Nissan is working with a games and has been popularised in everything something blowing up next to users, so manufacturer to create a digital version from flight simulators to The Matrix, they can see the consequences. I would of its Sunderland factory so that its potential as an L&D tool is finally argue, and have had learners tell me, processes can be learned, practised being realised, thanks to economies of that if you’ve experienced it once in VR and perfected virtually via HTC Vive scale that have brought prices to more you won’t easily forget it.” headsets. One of the main benefits, says accessible levels, and increasing interest Katharine Jewitt, educational the car giant, is the positive impact on from learners and trainers. technology consultant at The Open the level of musculoskeletal injuries. With the lack of visual ‘fidelity’ that University, says VR taps into some of the The FT’s alliance, like other once made VR a novelty experience at most fundamental aspects of how we suppliers, is looking to use gamebest also banished by slicker technology, learn. “In comparison with traditional based technologies to put users into there is a sense that this is a watershed training such as classroom-based meetings or conferences in other parts moment that could see it move from learning, VR generates immersive, certain niche settings (the technology high-impact, engaging training is already common among trainee that encourages people to learn by surgeons and in the oil and gas industry, doing,” she says, while also pointing where working offshore can be dangerous and expensive) to Best Western the mainstream. And, of course, millennials love it; 77 per cent would like to use VR in the workplace Ron Pohl, chief operations officer, care “to the next level”, and 52 per cent think it When global hotel group Best adds Pohl. “Staff experience handssays an hour with the simulator Western wanted front-desk would make them more on scenarios to help them prepare produces gains that would have customer service staff to improve productive, according for each situation that may occur. taken several days of conventional their interpersonal skills, the to the 2016 Dell & Talking to an avatar – as opposed training. “Our properties that have answer was a virtual training Intel Future Workforce to role-playing – helps employees utilised the training have already platform that offered a range of Study Global Report. As serve the customer the same as seen major boosts in customer simulations – including greeting Marco Faccini, strategic they would in real life, and brings satisfaction,” he says. guests and recommending local consultant for VR trainees “as close as possible to VR is helping the chain take its amenities – designed to replicate supplier Immerse, says: actual guest interaction.” employee training and customer the customer experience. “We live our lives in 3D but conduct training in
“It’s taken customer care to the next level”
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McDonald’s
“These skills become second nature”
scenario, so they will require support.” And then there happen when large Restaurant giant McDonald’s has is the question encourage them to numbers of customers turn up, long made use of technology in of cost. VR can make decisions independently. He equipment breaks down or staff are employee relations, including an be experienced through says McDonald’s has experienced unavailable. Scores are compared immersive system of high-tech a projector screen for via a leaderboard, which encourages a “huge uplift” in how managers kiosks in break rooms that help staff larger groups, but most apply knowledge compared to other employees to replay the game, access key information between users require a headset learning methods: “What they learn choose different decisions and try shifts. Its latest foray involves a or glasses, which start becomes second nature because to beat their score. VR-enabled 3D game to help shift at around £100 each. they’ve practised the skills so much.” “The best way to learn is by managers learn on the job. Having software built By 2020, around 10,000 UK doing and making mistakes in a A new, on-demand food for your business can managers will have used the game safe enviroment,” says Mark Reilly, production system meant the cost anything from a few – which cost £150,000 to develop – head of learning and development, managers needed to make ‘in the thousand pounds to well and McDonald’s plans to roll out the so the game deliberately offers moment’ decisions. VR scenarios into six figures, which is training globally. trainees only basic instructions to ask them to role play what might why Lancaster advises companies to outsource to providers that will offer of the world, which moves the idea of employers a good idea of how they will full support on a trial basis first. telecommuting beyond being the ‘box cope in a prison.” And while there are plenty who in the corner’ on a videoconference and Despite the huge potential, it is wise to feel VR could be revolutionary, into a new, virtual dimension. “It can tread carefully. Jewitt says it is crucial to there are others who point to the bring organisations together without introduce VR with a thought-through concept of ‘cognitive dissonance’: the doing so geographically, with the travel induction process that recognises the neuroscientific principle that our brains and accommodation costs required to technology is likely to be unfamiliar do not learn as effectively when they are physically be together,” says FT learning to many. There are also practical issues removed from the environment where designer Ian Shakeshaft. around motion sickness among some they will apply the learning. There is There are also potential applications users that need to be addressed. no evidence yet that VR overcomes this in the recruitment process or during “It’s important that organisations barrier, and few studies showing its longonboarding. Faccini highlights what have their own processes for adopting term effectiveness as a learning tool. VR could deliver for prison officers as an technology like this,” Lancaster points That’s probably a reason not to blow example. “There’s a huge turnover from out. “It has to be part of a wider strategy, the L&D budget on VR just yet. But induction to actually working because and it has to be properly inducted. Some it won’t dent the enthusiasm among whatever they’re shown during the of these lessons are already being learned technologists for VR’s learning potential, learning process isn’t what they actually in the gamification space; people are or stop people being captivated when experience,” he says. “If someone can use more used to using VR technology, but they first experience it. Most importantly, VR to ‘walk’ through a gangway with for many it still seems peculiar to put says Shakeshaft, VR can encourage us to prisoners confronting them, it will give on a headset and interact in a virtual rediscover how to fail. “As adults, we’re very keen to avoid Walmart embarrassment,” he says. “VR provides fully immersive yet safe spaces where there are no real consequences or unsafe to The world’s largest retailer for our mistakes. And example, that’s a very real feeling create in real introduced VR a year ago to improve mistakes offer great – and they’re likely to remember what life, such as Black Friday crowds, the leadership skills of frontline learning opportunities.” they experience and execute their hygiene issues and natural disasters. supervisors and department Plus, if you’re going responsibilities better,” says Brock It is currently being rolled out to managers, building on a training to pull the wrong McKeel, senior director of central 200 internal academies, dedicated programme first introduced by its lever at 300,000 feet, operations for customer experience training environments attached to Asda business in the UK. you’ll be glad that you and mobility. “VR allows me to show stores that will train 140,000 people It’s been particularly helpful, haven’t actually left what we expect of staff and why annually from 2018. Walmart says, in helping employees the atmosphere.
“We’ve made boring training memorable”
experience and learn from customerfacing situations that are difficult
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“If partners experience a video of customers in close proximity, for
those expectations are important. It’s made ‘boring’ training memorable.”
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Career path Helping you get further
Research: why promotion doesn’t always work out well for women p57
Masterclass
How to support psychological wellbeing
environment can be a recipe for disaster
not aware of their impact, but there is growing evidence of their link to absenteeism and presenteeism. With one in six working people experiencing stress, anxiety and depression at any one time, and 30 to 40 per cent of short-term absences related to mental health problems – plus as much as 50
factors are influencing this and what could be done differently, making sure you highlight the positives of any changes made. You should also try to reduce the stigma of mental ill-health by highlighting the commonality of the issue, and therefore normalising it; review current policies and identify
“Create space for reflection – the cost of rash decisions when people are stressed can be high” per cent of long-term absences – the issue shouldn’t be dismissed. There are challenges for HR professionals wanting to develop this kind of mindset within a business, but there are potential solutions too. To gain support at the top, it is essential to gather evidence from research, as well as from your own organisation, on the need to be more aware of the mental health pressures faced by staff and the benefits of addressing these. You could start by focusing on an area within the company where people are more prone to pressure or that is experiencing high stress or sickness rates. Consider which organisational
goals in relation to wellbeing; support employees in their development of resilience and coping skills; and quantify what you want to achieve so that the effects of changes made by the organisation can be measured. I also recommend creating space for thinking and reflection. In a pressured environment, when people are stressed and emotional, they react to situations rather than respond calmly. The cost to the business of rash decisions could be high, so it is beneficial to allow staff to take time out to reflect, perhaps through encouraging mindfulness exercises that aid good decision-making.
Taking it further Read Psychological wellbeing at work by the British Psychological Society bit.ly/BPSwellbeing
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Swat up on ‘What are the management standards for work related stress?’ by the Health and Safety Executive bit.ly/stresstandards
Practise ‘10 Ways to Be More Mindful at Work’ by Mindful.org bit.ly/Mindfultips
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A psychologically minded organisation is, loosely speaking, one that attends to the psychological factors within a company that can affect employees’ psychological wellbeing. Several components are necessary to achieve this. Having a senior management Dr Sarah Swan team that understands the Consultant clinical psychologist at The importance of staff wellbeing Swan Consultancy from a business perspective is just one aspect. A culture that encourages people to be open about mental health challenges, a focus on how to minimise organisational sources of stress and an acceptance that people sometimes need space for reflection are also key. Some organisations may not be concerned about stress and poor mental health in the ul workplace because they are ssf stre a in g rkin Wo
Donna Chambers Group learning and development manager at International Motors (IM) Group
I’m the only L&D professional in the business, which gives me a lot of freedom to work independently, but I also have to make many important decisions on my own. That sense of responsibility really motivates me.
Each employee ‘gets’ what we do as a business, and what we strive for. We always look for that at the recruitment stage, while also ensuring we have a diverse workforce. It’s fantastic to know that all staff are aiming to achieve the same goals.
One of the best things about L&D is watching people’s learning journey. I love being involved in their development from beginning to end, and seeing how different people progress. It’s the people I work alongside who make every day different.
Nothing beats face-to-face conversations – I much prefer that to talking on social media. I understand why people like social media, but I tend not to use it too much – either at work or in my personal life – because I prefer talking to people in person. I enjoy networking with my L&D peers because I love sharing knowledge and feel you can never know ‘enough’; we can always learn from one another’s expertise.
I prefer learning from people, not books. I’m just not the sort of person to pick up a book; on holiday, my favourite activity is people watching because I’m fascinated by people and what I can learn from them. That’s why everyone I work with now, and have worked with in the past, has inspired me – there isn’t one person in my career or personal life who has not affected me in some way.
Encouraging people to work collaboratively is my biggest challenge. IM Group is made up of two automotive brands (Subaru and Isuzu); it can sometimes be tricky to get people from the sales and aftersales sides of the business to work as one. I’m confident that this will improve when we start using a new online system that will enable the teams from both brands to see what each other is working on. I’m hoping it will make the whole management process much more streamlined and transparent.
CV Donna Chambers joined IM Group nearly nine years ago from a non-automotive and non-HR background. Since then, she’s risen through the ranks from PA to administrator of the technical department, and on to her current role. She won the HR and training category at the Great British Women in the Car Industry – Rising Stars awards, presented by Autocar, in June.
INTERVIEW GEORGI GYTON PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON HADLEY
Who I am
“Those conditions that tarnish HR’s reputation are the very things that may cause its renaissance or even metamorphosis”
Reviews
Transformational HR Perry Timms, Kogan Page, £19.99
HR professionals have little difficulty articulating the difference they make. In some parts of the business world, however, HR has a ‘reputational deficit’ it struggles to overcome. Which is why blogger and consultant (and social media stalwart) Perry Timms asks everyone – HR professionals, executives and employees – to think again about what HR is and what it can do, to make it a truly disruptive force fit for the 21st century. That’s quite a task. Fortunately, Timms is
up to it. At its heart, Transformational HR is a call for the profession to prioritise and organise, to find a mission that will elevate it beyond being merely reactive and make it as indispensable to organisations as marketing or finance at a time when the relevance of people to business has never been greater. To Timms, creating a ‘just’ business is HR’s ultimate purpose, and he shows us powerfully how the function can increase both obvious and less tangible measures
straddles everything from the Ulrich model to employer brand, and at first feels overwhelming. But delved into more deeply, it reveals itself as a passionate, expert and credible endorsement by an author who realises HR’s unique capacity for self-doubt sometimes holds it back, and who retains an eternally optimistic outlook on its capabilities. As he puts it: “Those very conditions that tarnish HR’s reputation are the very things that may cause its renaissance or even metamorphosis.”
{Book}
{Book}
Managing Conflict
Coaching for Performance
What’s new
David Liddle, Kogan Page, £29.99/£19.49 e-book
Sir John Whitmore, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, £18.99/£9.99 e-book
There are more than six million unpaid carers in the UK, many of whom are in work, which makes the issue of how employers handle caring a matter of growing importance. Take Care by David Grayson is the first book to tackle the topic from a business’s perspective, and is as readable as it is useful for HR professionals. Meanwhile, the broader issue of change is the preoccupation of Managing Transitions, the sixth edition of William Bridges’ hugely popular guide to the psychology behind change and how to harness it.
You only need subscribe to People Management’s daily email newsletter to realise workplace conflict can be costly (not to mention a source of extremely poor publicity). Liddle’s book is the most comprehensive and accessible on the market, and covers every base – from the psychological causes of fallings out to the relative merits of a range of solutions, and how to build your internal conflict resolution capabilities.
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of fairness: by removing barriers to optimal performance to enable true agility, deploying data and science to make better decisions, and acting as a futurologist to create a more capable workforce. The result is at times a ragbag of ideas – most from Timms, some coopted from a small army of expert contributors – that
The fifth edition of this encyclopedic work, published just months after the death of its author, is a timely reminder of just how essential it has been to the development of the coaching industry over the past quarter century. Whitmore answers questions of coaching style, goal-setting and culture with panache, but also leaves room for admirable amounts of real-world experience, making the book realistic, practical and accessible.
{Book}
{Book}
The Loyalist Team
The Power of Moments
Linda Adams et al, PublicAffairs Books, £21.05/£8.99 e-book
Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Bantam Press, £13.99/£9.49 e-book
All teams, say the experienced and credible authors of this work, are located on a spectrum from saboteur to loyalist. No prizes for guessing where they think most can be found or where they want us to get to – a place where teams “demand the most from their members but also offer the greatest rewards”. There are plenty of anecdotes and insights in this guide that make it an intriguing enough read, even if evidence is in shorter supply.
What makes a truly transformative moment? It’s a question the Heath brothers, who have carved out a niche as popular exponents of ‘nudge’ thinking, have travelled thousands of miles to answer. And while only some of their stories – such as the invention of Spanx and a turnaround in a failing hotel – are directly relevant to the workplace, the concept of making learning moments memorable will interest L&D practitioners, among others.
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Your problems
Employee reduced boss to tears
PM’s Fixer Samantha Sales tackles readers’ big issues Samantha Sales is managing director of Call HR Ltd and is a former HR director of a FTSE 100 company with extensive HR and OD experience. Her replies are written in a personal capacity and do not reflect the views of People Management or the CIPD, nor are they a substitute for professional legal advice. Not all queries submitted can be answered, and personal replies are not possible. To pose an anonymous query, visit bit.ly/pmfixer
We have an employee who has constant problems with managers. In each team she has been in, she starts off being nice and then slowly turns the team against their manager. She reduced two of her bosses to tears. I have tried mediating but it has only worked for a while; when she leaves the team, things return to normal. Her performance is fine and she has no attendance issues. She claims to suffer from hypertension (although she has provided no proof), which means people tend to tread on eggshells around her, particularly as she is very emotional. I have no idea what to do with her.
On the face of it, hypertension is not the same as stress or a behavioural issue; it’s essentially a case of high blood pressure and a range of factors are thought to cause it, of which stress
may be one. But there is some evidence, my medical experts tell me, that high blood pressure could affect behaviour, so it’s important to take this aspect of your employee’s issues seriously. Clearly, you need to talk to her, and the basis of the conversation must be the impact she is having on other members of staff. If she raises hypertension, involve your occupational health team or a doctor and encourage her to seek help. But regardless of her medical situation, you have to find a way of making your workplace harmonious again. My instinct is that your employee is the type of person who wants to make herself a ‘rescuer’ – the one who solves the team’s problems, and who’s always on hand with some helpful advice. She’s probably subtle in the way she undermines her managers, but you can bet that when she’s on
holiday, the rest of the team realises the boss isn’t as bad as she makes out, and her games begin to unravel. Some people, both individuals and teams, thrive on tension and chaos, often because the constant turmoil means nobody’s ever properly held accountable. But you can’t let it carry on. By gathering testimony from colleagues, you can confront her with her behaviour and its effects on team dynamics, and ask her to think about how she can interact more positively. If she doesn’t respond, you could, depending on the firm’s circumstances, try to find her a role where she is working in a smaller group or even on her own. But really, that is avoiding the problem. Formal performance management is the next step, but that sounds like a better option than the vicious circle you’re currently caught in.
How can we inspire staff to live our values? We spent a lot of time and effort putting together a set of core values, working with consultants and groups of employees. But how do we bring them to life in the workplace? And how do we get staff interested and engaged in them?
So far, you’ve tackled this in the right way. You asked your employees for their views (which is crucial so they don’t feel the values are being ‘done to them’), you
sought feedback and you acted on it. Hopefully you’ve ended up with values that mean something to you and that haven’t become overly complicated or loaded with ‘consultant speak’. The next stage, as you’re aware, is to make sure those values are lived right from the top of the organisation and reinforced in everything you do. That means the cosmetic things (handbooks, screensavers, signage), but also embedding them in
your appraisals and other performance management processes, the language you use when recruiting, internal awards programmes and internal comms channels.
externally. And you could consider a ‘launch’ that will ensure employees understand the context behind the values, perhaps by getting your CEO to talk through them.
“Consider a ‘launch’ that will ensure employees understand the context behind the values” You should think about teaching the values, both through onboarding processes and other training, targeting individuals in customer-facing roles who will embody them
It means, of course, that your work is only half done, but taking the next steps now will ensure the investment you’ve made so far is genuinely worthwhile. peoplemanagement.co.uk
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Chartered FCIPD (2), head of HR. He previously worked as staff engagement lead at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Green Park has recruited Nick Scott as director in its retail and consumer practice. Scott has more than 15 years’ executive search experience, and joins from Tesco, where he was an independent consultant for global executive search. Emma Vernon, Chartered MCIPD (3), APM International’s HR business partner, has been promoted to head of HR. She has worked at the examination institute since 2007. Andi MacGregor (4) has joined hospitality firm Know Collection as talent acquisition director. She previously spent 13 years at educational services provider Kaplan, most recently as head of skills and employment.
David Goggin, Chartered FCIPD (5), is the new chief talent officer at Publicis Media. He joins from Insala, where he was managing director, and has also held senior roles at IBM, Meteor Mobile and Canonical. Law firm Hodge Jones & Allen has hired Lisa Judd as partner in its employment team. Judd arrives from Fisher Meredith, where she was head of employment. Claire Maxwell, associate director at the Oasis School of Human Relations, has been appointed chair of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative’s board of trustees. Dorchester Collection has promoted Eugenio Pirri, Chartered FCIPD (6), to chief people and culture officer . He joined the hotel operator in 2011 as vice president for people and organisational development.
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After being made redundant during the credit crunch in 2008, I have gone on to establish a reasonably successful career as an L&D consultant. I have lots of experience in my field and have expanded my international capability, but I miss the longerterm work and the opportunity to ensure my advice is really embedded in the organisation. I would like to return to a permanent role, but I’m finding it very difficult. I’ve been told that I’ve been out of an in-house role for too long to secure a comparably senior one, and that I’m too experienced for a less demanding role. To make matters worse, I’m 61, and I feel that people are
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Who’s making HR headlines?
Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust has promoted Sally Quinn, Chartered FCIPD, to director of HR & OD. She was previously acting director, having joined the Trust as associate director of HR and OD last year. Willis Towers Watson has hired Paul Devitt as a director in its global services and solutions consultancy practice. He arrives from Aon Risk Solutions, where he spent 17 years as global benefits consultant. Dawn Robinson, Chartered FCIPD (1), is the new global director of people at North P&I Club. She joins the global marine insurer after three years at Nomad Digital as global HR director. Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership has appointed Sandy Wilkie,
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overlooking my skills and assuming I am ready for retirement – which I am not. The first thing you should do is make sure your CV accurately reflects your previous experience, showcases your skills as an L&D consultant and communicates your personality, says Kelly Tucker (left), director of HR consultancy HR Star. Many employers are now recruiting based on their organisational brand and culture, so it’s worth thinking about exactly what you are looking for in a role and clearly communicating this in your cover letter or opening statement. Be open-minded about the seniority level of the positions you apply for, and accept that you may have to begin
working at a lower level with a view to progressing back up the ladder. It’s important to demonstrate a willingness to learn new skills, and a robust attitude towards further professional development. If you feel you are being overlooked because of your age, it could be worth addressing this upfront in your cover letter, stressing that you are seeking a permanent full-time role. As retirement ages rise and the population ages, 61 should no longer be considered ‘old’ in the workforce; instead, employers should be taking advantage of the knowledge, experience and diversity of thought that older workers can bring to organisations. If you are not ready for retirement, you deserve to continue working in a fulfilling role – good luck.
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Evidence-based solutions and impactful data insights. Learn from high-profile organisations with established people analytics functions, including: • Jordan Pettman, Global Head of People Data, Analytics and Planning, Nestlé • Angela Ignam, Head of Group HR Analytics, HSBC • Elaine Mahon, Head of People Analytics, Office for National Statistics
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The latest findings from the finest minds
Research
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Women less satisfied with their job after promotion Life isn’t always better at the top of the career ladder, particularly for women, according to research from Middlesex University. Its study of 13,000 male and female UK employees, which was published in the Work, employment and society journal, found that, even in workplaces offering flexibility, generous pay and abundant progression opportunities, women were less happy with their role after being promoted to a management position.
Dr Daniela Lup, senior lecturer in quantitative sociology at the university, says the lack of satisfaction is linked to the stereotype that women are less able managers than men, which undermines women’s authority with their reports. “Another factor with detrimental effects on women’s managerial experiences is their limited access to support from highstatus contacts, in part because of women’s exclusion from ‘old boys clubs’,” Lup adds.
In light of the findings, Lup that prevent women from recommends that companies advancing on the managerial take care not to treat the ladder, but also pay close experiences of attention to the male and female actual experiences managers as one that women and the same, and have once they respond to any reach positions of issues that arise authority,” she says. quickly. “To the extent that “If the glass women managers ceiling is to have more difficult be shattered, experiences than organisations men, fewer are likely Dr Lup: women are excluded from ‘old should not to seek further boys clubs’ only focus on promotions.” ✶ bit.ly/PMWomenPromotion removing overt barriers
Too many friends can damage work success
reserved, but able to present different faces to different people – is not likely to preserve trust if the individual is playing a role in just a single clique rather than dancing between the demands of different cliques,” says Martin Kilduff from the UCL School of Management. “Indeed, the personality style best adapted to the situation of interacting at work within a single group of friends is quite different: a talkative, trueto-one’s-self forthrightness is likely to maintain trust. “Friendship brokers who flexibly and guardedly manage their individuality facilitate interconnection across cliques but, for those people whose friends are all within a single clique, it is self-revelation and authenticity that is expected.”
Smiley emojis make colleagues frown
Workers juggling lots of friendship groups might secretly praise themselves for their diplomacy, but research has revealed that this might be hindering their career success. The UCL School of Management and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, examined more than 1,000 friendship pairs at a critical-care unit of a hospital and on a twoyear business school master’s degree programme. It found the best ‘friendship brokers’ – people who could move with ease between different office cliques – were those who were slow to voice their opinion and were most adept at presenting themselves to different types of people. “But this diplomatic personality style – somewhat
✶ bit.ly/PM PersonalityWork
that while the inclusion of a happy face had no effect on the reader’s perception of warmth, it made them think the sender was less competent. In another experiment, A smiley face emoji is participants were asked to look certainly easy to type out, at a photograph of a person and may seem friendly. with either a smiling or a But according to a study neutral facial expression. Those from Israel’s Ben-Gurion with beaming grins were University of the Negev, it deemed more competent and might undermine the sender’s friendlier than their neutral professional credibility. counterparts. However, when The research, published in asked what they thought of the the Social Psychological and sender of an email containing Personality Science journal, smileys, they rated the sender involved participants being as less competent, though it asked to read did not alter their perception work-related of their friendliness. emails “Our findings provide firstfrom an time evidence that, contrary unknown to actual smiles, smileys do sender, not increase perceptions of some warmth and actually decrease containing perceptions of competence,” smileys says Dr Ella Glikson, a and some post-doctorate fellow at the without. The university. “In formal business researchers emails, a smiley is not a smile.” Emoji use can found ✶ bit.ly/PMEmojiFrown be es im et som inappropriate
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Focus
New extended service covers UK and Irish employment law and operates 24 hours a day The CIPD’s relaunched employment law telephone helpline is giving members 24-hour support, and has been extended to include advice on Irish as well as UK employment legislation. Redundancy consultation, parental leave, dispute resolution and TUPE are some of the most common queries that come through to the helpline, with members looking for a second opinion or reassurance. The new helpline, provided by a team of employment law experts at Croner, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The team keeps abreast of legal developments so, as well as providing practical advice,
they can help dispel any common misconceptions that may have been triggered by a new case law report or media announcements. The scrapping of tribunal fees in the UK is just one of the developments that has been in the headlines in 2017. HR professionals are also making sure their organisations are up to speed on requirements around gender pay gap reporting. While the member service is not designed to take the place of an employer’s solicitor, it does offer advice related to the specific situation a member’s organisation may be facing, such as a contractual issue, dismissal or the likely impact of new legislation.
Members can make 20 free calls a year (25 for chartered members) and there is no time limit on call length. Enhanced access to the helpline will also will form part of a package of new resources and features in the CIPD’s relaunched HR-inform service, which has been rebuilt on a new mobile-friendly platform. The subscription-based employment law resource, HR-inform Core, includes an extended case law library and access to settlements and forecast reports giving information on key pay trends. HR-inform Lite, an opento-all resource, also helps members keep up to date on employment law developments. The resource is delivered in partnership with Croner. ✶ bit.ly/CIPDAdvice
EXTRA EXTRA EAPM conference
Data protection
The CIPD’s latest podcast explores the development of coaching cultures and why organisations are increasingly making coaching an integral part of their performance management processes.
Managing Conflict, a practical guide to resolution in the workplace, is the first CIPD book to be published as part of a new partnership with Kogan Page. Written by dispute resolution expert David Liddle, the guide combines practical advice with an understanding of the psychology of conflict.
CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese will be discussing what Brexit means for HR at the 28th EAPM Congress in Paris. Taking place on 27 October, the event brings together members of the European Association for People Management, the umbrella body of HR organisations in more than 30 countries.
Data protection issues affect most areas of HR activity. A new CIPD factsheet outlines the changes that will be brought in by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which is due to come into force in the UK next year, as well as the UK Data Protection Act. The factsheet also looks at the legal obligations of employers and the rights of individuals.
✶ cipd.co.uk/podcasts
✶ cipd.co.uk/learn/bookshop
✶ bit.ly/EAPMConference
✶ bit.ly/DataFactsheet
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SUPERSTOCK
The CIPD’s new book on conflict resolution offers both practical advice and and psychological insigh t
Resolving conflict Coaching podcast
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Members can get advice and reassurance on their employment law queries
WORDS PAULINE CROFTS
CIPD law helpline offers round-the-clock support
People Management is published on behalf of the CIPD by Haymarket Network and Haymarket Business Media, both divisions of Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Registered office: Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP
EDITORIAL
The CIPD will be highlighting the valuable role of volunteering and social action
Top pay debate in CIPD Voice CIPD research and policy adviser Charles Cotton explores the findings of the institute’s recent research into executive pay – produced in partnership with the High Pay Centre – in the latest edition of CIPD Voice. The online newsletter highlights the work of the CIPD policy team and encourages discussion of public policy developments in the world of work. Migration is also in the spotlight in this edition, with policy adviser Gerwyn Davies considering the implications of the government’s first phase of consultation for managing EU migration. The CIPD is feeding in to a consultation paper by the Migration Advisory Committee. Other topics include future trends in the gig economy, the likely impact of scrapping tribunal fees and improving careers support for young people. CIPD Voice is published every two months. ✶ cipd.co.uk/news-views/cipd-voice/issue-11
Get a career boost at annual event HR and L&D professionals attending the CIPD’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Manchester will be hearing and sharing views on the new world of work. But the event is also an opportunity for members to focus on their professional development. Visitors to the CIPD exhibition stand can get updates on new services and support for members, while stand staff will be on hand to offer one-to-one advice. As well as showcasing new resources and careers help, the CIPD will be highlighting the valuable role of volunteering and social action, with updates on members’ involvement in various programmes. The CIPD’s Manchester branch will also be taking an active role at the conference and exhibition, running a fringe event and providing volunteering support. The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition takes place on 8-9 November. ✶ cipd.co.uk/ace
Other topics include future trends in the gig economy and the impact of scrapping tribunal fees
PMeditorial@haymarket.com @PeopleMgt Editor Robert Jeffery @robertjeffery1 Multichannel editor Cathryn Newbery @c_newbery Art editor Chris Barker Associate editor Georgi Gyton @Georgi_Gyton Production editor Joanna Matthews News editor Hayley Kirton Staff writer Marianne Calnan @Mazsays Digital content coordinator Emily Burt @EmilyPBurt Picture editor Dominique Campbell
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PUBLISHING
Managing director, Haymarket Network Andrew Taplin Editorial director Simon Kanter Creative director Martin Tullett Account director Issie Peate Senior account manager Julia Saunders
SUBSCRIPTIONS
01604 828702 People Management is sent to all CIPD members, and is available on annual subscription to non-members. All member enquiries should be directed to the CIPD (see below). For subscription enquiries from non-members, see help@shop.haymarket. com or purchase one from bit.ly/PMsubscription. Alternatively write to People Management, Haymarket Business Media, 3 Queensbridge, The Lakes, Northampton NN4 7BF. Annual subscription rates are: UK £140, Europe £219 (airmail only), rest of world £239, surface rate, or £333 airmail. Single copies £13.30. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to People Management, Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA
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COPYRIGHT
© All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including, but not limited, to any online service, any database or any part of the internet), or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Haymarket Media Group Ltd, which accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.
PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT – ISSN 1358 6297 – is published monthly. Repro by Haymarket Prepress Printed by William Gibbons. People Management is printed on PEFC certified stock from sustainable sources. Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard ISO14001. See page facing inside back cover for US distribution details.
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Appointments
T. 020 8267 4965 samantha.johnston@haymarket.com
HR Operations Manager – Greater Manchester Police Salary - £50,652 - £52,902 per annum Closing Date: 4/10/2017 The vacancy is for an exciting opportunity and new challenge as a key member of the HR Senior Leadership Team. Based at Force Headquarters, reporting to the Head of HR , this role as HR Operations Manager, will have responsibility for serving the Force, working with the Command Team and the HR Branch including retained HR and Greater Manchester Shared Services which is partnered with Trafford Council. This will mean travel across the Greater Manchester area. GMP is looking for a strong HR professional to lead the HR Operations portfolio and drive change linked to both strategic people issues and tactical HR operations (at both a consultancy and practitioner level). As HR Operations Manager you will have responsibility and direction of all teams within the HR Operations portfolio. There will of course be some elements of the traditional HR however; you will be expected to act as the professional adviser to the Head of HR in the development and direction of HR Delivery Services provided by the Branch to the Force, in line with the Target Operating Model and implementation of the People Strategy. In addition to day to day duties this role will involve managing senior HR staff working on allocated strategic business thematics e.g. Absence Management, Flexible Working, Workplace Equality and Grievances, Limited Duties, Local Change etc., plus a team of HR Casework staff providing practical assistance and coaching to managers in areas of HR practice and policy. You will be required to influence the business through effective management and delivery of a proactive HR service within a fast paced complex HR environment
For more information about this vacancy and to apply please visit People Management Jobs
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Could HR solve...?
CATCH-22
An Army commander is putting his pilots’ mental health in jeopardy The problem There’s only one way for the airmen of the 256th Squadron to avoid flying dangerous missions: by being declared medically insane. But any pilot who requests a sanity evaluation to avoid the missions is thereby demonstrating his sanity – and must fly. Only those who are crazy enough to want to fly can be grounded because of insanity. Could HR save Yossarian and his friends from this catch-22?
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The solution
The squadron’s complex policies are almost impossible for HR to untangle, says Patrick Mullarkey (right), L&D specialist at PA Consulting Group, but there is scope to simplify the labyrinthine performance management process. “Yossarian’s commander, Colonel Cathcart, repeatedly ups the number of missions men have to fly to complete a tour of duty and return home – often after they have completed the original number,” says Mullarkey. “While stretch targets are useful, arbitrarily moving the goalposts will lead to breakdowns in trust and, in this case, probably mental health issues, too.” HR could emphasise to Cathcart
(and his superiors) the dangers of overworking his staff, and the importance of a proper worklife balance. The airmen would also benefit from more formal health and wellbeing support, adds Mullarkey. “This could include giving staff access to appropriate resources, and training managers on the signs to watch out for – particularly on mental health – and what support to offer at the appropriate time. Managers need to recognise when it’s time for them to intervene, rather than the onus being on employees to reach out for help.”
US distribution: People Management (ISSN 1358 6297) is published monthly by Haymarket Network, Teddington Studios, Middlesex, TW11 9BE. The US annual subscription price is $392. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US postmaster: Send address changes to People Management, c/o Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156-15 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscriptions records are maintained at Haymarket Network, Teddington Studios, Middlesex TW11 9BE. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
GETTY IMAGES
HR needs to explain the importance of work-life balance to Colonel Cathcart, who is overworking Yossarian (pictured) and his colleagues
8–9 November 2017, Manchester Central
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