This course is designed to build a manager's confidence in handling difficult conversations with employees. Failing to have difficult conversations hinders business growth, team-building and team productivity. We believe that it is only a perception that conversations can be difficult. Perceived difficult conversations can often result in conflict as both sides feel that they have been unheard and misunderstood. With our training, we aim to breakdown what makes a conversation difficult, teach the fundamentals of knowing what to say and how a manager can respond to employees. We will change the perception that conversations can be difficult.
Develop a manager’s confidence in having what they perceive to be difficult conversations
Who Should Attend?
This course is suitable for line managers, senior managers and HR professionals who have a people management and performance management responsibility. This course can be complimented by our Communication in the Workplace training for your employees.
Course Content
Module 1
What makes a conversation appear to be difficult?
Module 2
The consequences when these conversations don't happen
Module 3
"Know What to Say" - Having the conversations
Module 4
Understanding different communication styles and preferences
Module 5
How to actively listen to find solutions
Role play and interactive Sessions
Throughout the training there are role plays, interactive sessions and games to help delegates practise and understand the processes and methods
| Benefits to the Business | Benefits to the Delegate |
| Increase effective and to-the-point communication reducing potential conflict | Build confidence in holding perceived difficult conversations - “Know What to Say” |
| Create an open organisational culture which resolves issues before they escalate | Feel confident when communicating |
| Confident managers work more efficiently | Understand how to react professionally during perceived difficult conversations |
| The team works more efficiently together because they have the confidence and resources to speak up | Skills and knowledge immediately implementable |
To find out more about this course or to book on, just get in touch.
In July 2023, the UK government announced the Bullying and Respect at Work bill which seeks to legally define bullying, provide a Respect at Work code and overall create a framework to protect employers and employees. This will ensure all employees' 'Dignity at Work'. Dignity at Work describes how we should treat colleagues in the workplace including respect for their values, qualities and differences. Today, there are now up to five different generations in the workplace, all who have varying sets of behaviours, values and beliefs. As a manager, it is your responsibility to deal with these situations on a case-by-case basis whilst maintaining the dignity of all stakeholders involved. Without it, a business can face high turnover, high absenteeism and an unmotivated workforce. Our training provides your mangers with the essential skills to ensure a fundamental understanding of dignity at work and a safe environment to ask any questions.
In October 2024, the Worker Protection Act will come into force. This legislation will place onus on the employer to protect employees from sexual harassment in the workplace. Whilst guidance is set to be released, training managers on their responsbilities is a good place to start.
Who Should Attend?
Suitable for line managers, senior managers and HR professionals who have a responsibility for safeguarding their team’s wellbeing and ensuring respect for all colleagues. It is complimented by our half day training course 'Dignity at Work Briefings for Employees'.
Course Content
Module 1 -
What is Dignity at Work and when do breaches happen?
Module 2 -
The characteristics and different types of discrimination
Module 3 -
Need to know discrimination legislation
Module 4 -
Tips for holding perceived uncomfortable conversations
Module 5 -
How to contribute to a positive company culture
| Benefits to the Business | Benefits to the Delegate |
| Promote an inclusive culture where different generations work productively | Knowledge of discrimination legislation to protect the business’ interest |
| Knowledge of discrimination legislation to protect the business’ interest | Understand how to respond when employees feel their values are challenged |
| Creates zero tolerance policies to maintain the team’s dignity | Develop staff relationships to recognise others needs as well as your own |
| Managers understand their legal responsibility to the team | Have an appreciation of the different types of people you may work with |
To find out more about this course or to book on, just get in touch.
Rewarding a high performing employee with a promotion to manage their peers is a widely accepted business practice. However, the transition from successful employee to successful manager isn’t as straightforward as a new job title and a pay rise. Your best salesperson can become your worst sales manager because they don’t possess what is a completely new set of skills. According to a CIPD report, 60% of first-time managers fail because the skill set required is entirely different to what their old job involved. Our Accidental Managers workshop prepares new managers for success by providing the relevant skills to effectively manage, motivate and lead their team.
Build confidence to get the job done right the first time
Who should attend?
This one-day course is suitable for new and aspiring managers who want to learn the essential skills to be effective in their new role. We also offer an Accredited 4-day Qualification which goes into more depth and provides a qualification that can further support your team's management development and be built upon through their management careers.
Course Content
- Module 1 - Understanding the Fundamental Characteristics of Leadership
- Module 2 - Effective Communication
- Module 3 - How to get the best out of your team
| Benefits to the Business | Benefits to the Delegate |
| Build a capable management team | Build your confidence during transition from team member to manager |
| Retain your best talent through investment | Earn respect from employees through effective managerial behaviour |
| Create a smooth transition from employee to manager minimising inefficiency | Feel competent and ready to take on the challenge of people management |
| Ensure that good working relationships remain when an employee becomes a manager | Skills and knowledge are immediately implementable |
| See a return on investment as managers are immediately effective |
To find out more about this course or to book on, just get in touch.
Blanchard's SLII is the most comprehensive and practical method of effectively managing and developing people and businesses in the world. Today, business' needs change rapidly therefore an agile, visionary and nimble leadership team is required. SLII provides leaders with the model and the tools for creating open communication and developing self-reliance in those they manage. It is designed to increase the frequency and quality of conversations about performance and development. As a result, employee's competence is developed, their commitment is gained and talented individuals are retained. Leaders will learn the effective theory on Day 1 and will then put it into practice on Day 2.
Who should attend?
This two-day course is suitable for leaders with a responsibility for performance management and employee development. We also recommend Blanchard's Self Leadership for your team.
Course Content
Day 1 - Blanchard's SLII Model
- What is your employee's development level? Commitment vs Competence
- Which leadership style is appropriate for your employee? Directive vs Supportive
- What is your preferred leadership style? SLII Questionnaire and an action plan to improve your less natural leadership style
Day 2 - Putting it into Practice
- The Performance Management Cycle
- How to support and motivate high performing teams
- Leading and controlling challenging conversations
- Practice holding challenging conversations with an action plan
- How to utilise the SLII model in the workplace
The programme is designed to be highly participative and focused around making a difference in the business longer term as a result of a limited approach to people management.
| Benefits to the Business | Benefits to the Delegate |
| Promote team accountability by empowering employees to provide own direction | Learn good vocabulary and techniques to confidently support employees |
| Create a common and consistent language of performance between employee and leader | Lead meaningful conversations and provide constructive feedback in performance reviews |
| Accelerate the pace and quality of employee development | Partner on performance by understanding different leadership styles to effectively respond to your environment |
| Avoid misunderstandings and time wasting by facilitating open communication | Develop your people management approach to ensure that you are managing efficiently |
To find out more about this course or to book on, just get in touch.
Blanchard's Self-Leadership development programme teaches individuals the mindset and skillset they need to become empowered, proactive self-leaders who take control of their own success and are committed to getting results for your organisation. The success of your company’s strategic initiatives depends on the commitment and proactive behaviour of those on the front line, that is the individual contributors who are responsible for executing and making it happen. When you provide individual contributors with the Self-Leadership skillset and mindset, you build a healthy and empowered workforce that is accountable, innovative, and productive. Throughout each module, learners will refer to Blanchard’s SLII model.
This one day course is suitable for all team members to become pro-active self-leaders. It is also useful for anyone who wished to develop their leadership skills. We recommend running Blanchard's SLII for your management team in conjunction with this course.
Course Content
Mindset of Self Leader
Challenge Assumed Constraints
An assumed constraint is a belief that limits new experiences so during the workshop we challenge individual assumed constraints with a view to eliminating them
Activate points of power
Understand that we all have areas of power such as knowledge power and personal power. Points of power are identified and we explore how they can be used.
Be Proactive
Take responsibility for the support you need for your own development
Skillset of a self-leader
Goal Setting
Learn how to set your own SMART goals in line with business objectives
Diagnosing
Recognising and assessing your competence and commitment to a goal or task
Communication Matching
Communication skills to get the leadership style that you need
| Benefits to the Business | Benefits to the Delegate |
| Employees take responsibility for achieving their own goals and progression | Learn good vocabulary to enable you to find appropriate support |
| People have confidence to approach the senior team with solutions rather than problems | Feel empowered to speak up, share your opinion and take responsibility |
| Create accountable employees with "I can do it" attitudes | Understand where you need support by identifying own needs |
| Promote a common development language | Know how to create achievable and realistic goals that align with business objectives |
| Employees know what good looks like | Feel confident to ask for what you need |
To find out more about this course or to book on, just get in touch.
According to the OECD (Office of Economic Co-operation & Development) Mental illness costs the UK economy an estimated £94 billion per annum in lost productivity, social benefits and healthcare. Because mental health conditions are treated as disability, they immediately fall under the remit of the Equalities Act 2010. The wrong course of action towards an employee with a mental health condition, such as anxiety or stress, can easily lead to a discrimination claim; potentially ending in an Employment Tribunal. And because mental health is a Protected Characteristic, Tribunal awards are unlimited.
Remember, there is no obligation to declare a mental health issue during recruitment and you may not become aware of an employee’s condition until an episode occurs. Having a strategy in place to recognise, manage and support employees’ mental health wellbeing will help you maintain a productive, happy and motivated workforce.
Mental health issues can be complex, diverse and wide ranging. The more common conditions we are aware of include stress, anxiety and depression. These can be bought on by a tough work schedule or deadline or perhaps external factors such as the death of a loved one or physical illness. Additionally severe and enduring mental illness can be life changing.
As employers, our approach to mental health should be the same as any other health condition. We have a duty of care towards our employees and should ensure they are safe and that the work environment is a safe place to be. Because mental health issues don’t generally have any outwardly visible signals like a plaster cast would be for a broken arm, or a streaming nose and red eyes from an allergy, we need to take other steps to identify it.
It’s commonly reported that admitting to having mental issues is shrouded with stigma and is seen as a weakness; especially amongst men. Few people want to admit to being unable to cope or that that are feeling stressed. However this is exactly what needs to change. We should try to create an environment where employees can express their concerns and what is causing them problems.
If we are able to catch the causes of mental health issues early on then we can do something about it, thereby increasing the chances of resolving the issue before it gets out of hand and causes anyone to have to take time off work.
During our seminar, speakers from HR Champions, Menzies Law, and NHS 2gether Trust will talk around a variety of mental health topics. The aim is to equip you with the tools you need to be able to spot the signs of mental health conditions and effectively manage mental health issues as they arise in your workplace.
This seminar will help you:
- Recognise the signs, behaviours and triggers that an employee has a mental health issue
- Understand your legal obligations and duties including making reasonable adjustments and protecting employees from harassment
- Appreciate the risks associated with failing to follow Employment Legislation
- Understand what community support is available for employees with mental health issues
- Create a culture to prevent the stigma of mental health and enable employers to work effectively with sufferers of poor mental health
For help and support with mental health cases, you can as usual call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Or book now to come along to the seminar. Your attendance fee of £50 will be donated to local Mental Health charities.
So, following a weekend of significant snowfall, we now find ourselves in the grip of Storm Eric to batter the UK with gale force winds and torrential downpours. Once again we’re experiencing an adverse weather event. You know the routine; expect major disruption as schools and businesses close, public transport is cancelled, the Met Office and police advise “Do not travel”.
Some employees struggle to make their way into work whilst others don’t even make it off the drive. So, what are the rules for businesses regarding payment for employees?
Here’s the low-down.
Where a business is unable to open owing to adverse weather, but employees still make themselves available for work, then they should still be paid as they are fulfilling, or attempting to fulfil, their duties under their contract of employment.
Conversely, should your business remain open during adverse weather, but your employees are unable or unwilling to get to work, then there is no obligation to pay them.
Those are the hard and fast rules, but, for the sake of employee relations and maintaining morale and goodwill within your organisation, we would always advise discretion and compromise; particularly for smaller businesses.
The type of business and business premises involved will probably dictate how seriously you are affected. For a shop, restaurant, factory or warehouse the effects are likely be significant. For office based staff on the other hand, the availability of the Internet means that there may be some options such as working from home or arranging to work from an alternative site.
For some businesses, adverse weather may make it too dangerous for employees to be working; roof-workers in icy conditions for example. Here, a “lay-off” clause might be an appropriate solution.
Your employees have a right to know what to do should adverse weather strike, so we strongly recommend that all employers have a robust Adverse Weather Policy in place. The policy should clearly lay out how the organisation will act in cases of adverse weather and how it expects its employees to behave. It should lay out the options available to employees and should also include how employees pay might be affected.
Having a properly implemented Adverse Weather Policy in place is a cheap and effective solution that will leave everybody in an organisation clear about what to do, what to expect and what is expected of them.
If you don’t already have an adverse weather policy or yours needs updating, perhaps because of the opportunities that the Internet now provides, we recommend that you take the appropriate action. We can’t do anything about the weather, but as businesses we can be prepared to manage what we do about it when it turns bad.
If you would like further help or advice regarding the issues raised here or anything else related to HR and Employment Law, just call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We usually try to keep this blog a Brexit-free zone, however with the shenanigans going on in Westminster at the moment over the terms of the deal under which we leave Europe, we thought it would be a good idea to give some ideas about what might happen with Employment Law after 29th March.
We don’t actually expect any aspects of UK Employment Law that have arrived as a result of EU directives to be repealed. There is potential however; especially for some features of the Working Time Directive. Other laws, which have been initiated in the UK, such as the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will definitely remain.
As we near the end of the two year period to negotiate the terms of our exit, discussion has revolved almost exclusively around trade and immigration. Whilst sovereignty was one of the key canvassing issues on the run-up to the referendum, little has been debated about UK governance post-Brexit.
Because many of the laws that have come into effect as a result of EU Directives are to the benefit of employees, their sudden withdrawal would be likely create discord amongst the workforce, potentially leading to protests and even strikes. Imagine the reaction from employees if, for example, their rights to holiday pay were withdrawn.
Some UK legislation has been implemented completely independently of the EU and its repeal as a result of our exiting Europe is implausible. It could have been superseded by European Law if we had elected to stay in however. Such legislation includes.
- The National Minimum and Living Wage
- Unfair Dismissal
- The right to strike
Laws that have been implemented as a result of EU legislation and therefore have potential to be repealed include:
- The Working Time Directive
- Parental Leave
- TUPE
- Equal pay
- Collective Redundancy Consultation
- Protection for Part-time and Temporary workers
The Working Time Directive is seen to be the most costly legislation for UK employers to implement and we continue to feel its effect. It was under WTD legislation that a European ruling held that field based employees should count travelling to their first and from their last appointments as working time.
We often hear talk from MPs about alternative exit strategies such as ‘Norway Plus’, but no-one has explained whether free movement of people will mean having to maintain EU directed laws. Moreover, would it mean an obligation to adopt any new laws that the EU introduce.
When we do eventually leave, we must hope that common sense will prevail; that the good laws will stay and the less favourable ones will be scrapped. It’s unimaginable to think that the ban on smoking in indoor public places will ever be repealed for example. Whereas there’s a strong case to ditch the ruling that VAT must be charged on gas and electricity.
Whilst we wait for the final exit, if you find yourself with workplace issues that involve UK Employment Law as it stands, then do call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Insistence on written documents has given way to e-mails over recent years and now the likes of banks and even the Inland Revenue accept, and sometimes insist that communications are made electronically.
More recently still, mobile messaging and social media apps including text messaging and Whatsapp have become much more prevalent as businesses and organisation recognise their speed and effectiveness for communicating to employees and customers.
As mobile communication becomes engrained in organisational culture however, we recommend that a line is drawn and some communications are only ever be made as hard copy. An employee is unlikely to expect to receive his or her contract of employment as a text message, so when it comes to leaving the company it’s right that something as serious as a resignation should be formalised in a written and signed letter.
Text messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service), has been around for over twenty-five years, so texting and its derivatives are common forms of communication for many. Messages are usually read very soon after receipt, but they don’t necessarily interrupt the recipient unless he or she chooses to allow it.
It’s easy to understand why someone might choose to use a text message to deliver news that may not be welcomed by the recipient. Resignations and ‘calling in sick’ are classic examples. The message is effectively in writing, and the sender doesn’t have to be present or speak to anyone to deliver the news. However, apart from being impersonal and impolite, some reasons why we advise not to accept them for resignations at least include:
- The text may have been sent ‘in the heat of the moment’ as a result of a disagreement or other situation that has disgruntled the employee. Has he or she simply reached for their mobile phone and ‘fired off’ a text as a way to let off steam?
- Was the text actually sent by your employee? It could have been friends or colleagues just ‘having a laugh’, or more sinisterly, deliberately trying get the mobile phone owner into trouble.
Well worded clauses in your company handbook stating the company’s views on mobile messaging is a good idea, though make sure that your managers abide by the rules too. If accepting holiday requests by text becomes common practice, it may become too common to overturn if it is later decided that it isn’t acceptable.
You might even want to consider being specific about exactly what types of messaging are acceptable for what. Don’t forget that texts, Whatsapp messages and Tweets come with an in-built date and time stamp, and so can prove very useful if a timeline of events has to be substantiated; in a disciplinary case for example. Formal matters should always be supplemented by a written communication that requires a signature. No-one has ever been issued a ‘final texted warning’ after all and we don’t think we could get it to stand up as being part of the disciplinary process.
If you are the recipient of a resignation by text message, you should offer a meeting with your employee to establish if he or she deliberately sent the message and to discuss the issue. Perhaps allow a short period of time for them to reflect on their actions if you feel it is appropriate or that the text may have been a mistake in the heat of the moment.
If the resignation is genuine then write to the employee reminding them of their contractual notice period and ask for a formal letter of resignation on paper for your own administrative purposes and so that you can confidently fulfil your duties to the inland revenue and issue a P45.
If you would like support and advice regarding what is and isn’t acceptable as a text or mobile message, call us on 01452 331331 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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It’s about this time of year, as we approach the festive season, that the police traditionally announce their crackdown campaign against drink-drivers.
Employers might want to consider taking a similar stance when it comes to drug and alcohol testing at work. Especially with NHS statistics claiming that as many as 1 in 12 adults between the ages 18 and 59 had taken an illicit substance in the year to 2017 and with little in the way of deterrents against drinking in the recent budget,
Drug and alcohol testing at work should form part of your Health and Safety policy and we recommend that it is promoted as being there for the welfare of employees. This is particularly relevant where you have employees who’s ability to do their job safely could be impaired if they are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. And remember they could harm colleagues and members of the public as well as themselves.
Employees that would be considered to be in ‘high risk’ groups include amongst others, drivers, those who work at height, handlers of hazardous substances or those who work with vulnerable adults and children.
To avoid risks of victimisation or discrimination claims, drug and alcohol tests should be carried out either on the entire workforce, or on a selection of employees that you can prove has been chosen at random. Testing only the high risk employees amongst your workforce is acceptable and we would advise this is done as a minimum under a business’s corporate manslaughter responsibilities. However you may choose to test all staff, or representatives of all staff or departments to ensure that workers are not on site under the influence of illegal substances.
Although self-use kits are available, when conducting tests it’s a good idea to use a professional external organisation to maintain consistency and avoid mistakes. You’ll also be able to ensure that proper records are kept and it will be less likely that any positive results are objected to.
The frequency of tests and whether they are applied to the whole workforce or a random selection and/or just high risk employees should be information contained within your staff handbook. This should also detail the likely consequences of a positive test result depending upon which substances are identified in the test.
We recommend that it is made very clear that tests will be held at random. Giving notification of when drug and alcohol tests will happen totally negates the reason for applying them.
For further help and support in managing drug and alcohol testing, your staff handbook wording and what to do in the result of a positive test, call us on 01452 331331 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.