When we are asked by a client to intervene in an employee related issue, very often we find that the matter could have been avoided if the employee’s manager or supervisor was better at holding difficult conversations. We understand. Difficult conversations are often avoided because by their very nature, they are likely to involve conflict; and conflict is something that the vast majority of us at least, will try very hard to avoid.

Embarrassment can also be a reason why issues are avoided or ignored. We may be embarrassed about what we have to say, or be fearful that we may become embarrassed if the conversation takes a turn in a direction that we are not prepared for or don’t have the answers to.

In the workplace, the reasons for why a manager might need to have a difficult conversation with an employee could be to discipline or reprimand them. This could be, for poor work standards, bad time keeping, absence or a mistake that has affected the business. Equally there may be behavioural issues that need to be addressed; and sometimes a word about personal hygiene.

No-one really likes to give bad or unwelcome feedback. When faced with the task of doing so however, we might question what the consequences of not giving it will be. We’ll probably quickly realise that these will be far worse than the temporary discomfort of swallowing hard and just saying what needs to be said.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t consider the recipient’s feelings when having a difficult conversation with them. But by giving appropriate feedback at the right time, employees will know where they stand and issues can be resolved rather than festering and escalating into major problems that then require an intervention from HR Champions.

Here are some top tips for holding difficult conversations, but it’s a complicated subject that really deserves a full day’s workshop, which of course, we can run for you and your managers.

• Be prepared. Make sure you have as much information as you think you’ll need for your conversation and have a clear idea of the outcome that you are after. Try thinking of a mental flow-chart so you can keep the conversation on the track that you want.
• Get on with it. Preparation is good but don’t use it as an excuse for procrastination. Better to go in half-cocked than not to go in at all.
• Make an appointment. Don’t just call an ad-hoc meeting. Pre-arrange a time and date in a suitable, private environment. This will add some formality to the meeting and help to add gravity to your message.
• Don’t beat around the bush. Be direct and get to the point of your discussion but use open questions to draw out the recipients views. Eg. “We’re meeting today to discuss your sales figures. How do you think you are doing?”
• Keep emotions in check. Be aware that the subject of your conversation may make emotions run high. Keep you composure at all times and don’t get personal or raise issues that are not relevant to your discussion
• Find a solution together. Make sure that the outcome is agreed between you and that both parties “buy-into it”. This will avoid resentment and give you a stronger standpoint if the issue arises again.

Congratulations if you’re already comfortable holding difficult conversations, but if you need support or if you think you and your staff would benefit from some training then please call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As we enter the time of year when sniffs, sneezes and coughs become more prevalent, we’re likely to see an increase in staff absence due to illness. With advances made in technology over recent years, and in particular in mobile communications, there may be a temptation for employees to use the likes of text messaging, Whatsapp or Twitter to notify their boss of an absence. However, we still recommend that as an employer, you insist that employees telephone and speak to their line manager if they are not going to turn into work because of sickness or an emergency.

Employers are in fact entitled to be very specific about the time by which they must be informed, and who or what level of management must be told if an unplanned absence occurs.

Staff absence will impact different organisations to different extents. For some, one or two staff members’ unexpected absence may not affect productivity significantly and their duties might be temporarily shared around other employees for a few days or simply wait until they return to work.

Other businesses and industries don’t have that luxury. An engineering firm’s entire productivity may be halted if a key component can’t be produced because it relies on a specific machine operator’s skills. Or a day nursery may compromise its child to adult ratio if they are unable to replace an absent nursery nurse at short notice.

The company policy regarding absence notification should be published in the organisation’s staff handbook and be clear and unambiguous.

It should state the time by which the company should be informed of unscheduled absence, eg within 30 minutes of the commencement of the employee’s shift or even prior to the shift starting. It should also state who should be informed; the employee’s line manager, or an equivalent or superior if the line manager is unavailable.

We further recommend that the absence policy states how the employee should communicate their absence and this should be by telephone.

Mobile messaging negates the ability to hold a proper conversation. The employee’s wellbeing should be of concern for the employer, who has a duty of care. A telephone conversation allows for a proper understanding of the employee’s situation and could be an early alert to some other underlying medical condition.

If there is a possibility that the absence could be for an extended period of time, a one-to-one conversation creates an opportunity to agree channels of communication during this period.

And of course, there should be a discussion around workload, priorities and deadlines. If a customer is waiting for a job or an order to be completed that the employee has some responsibility for then this information needs to be shared so that the organisation can manage the workflow. The employee is contracted to deliver a job and whilst illness may temporarily prevent fulfilment of that contract, a duty remains.

You might even consider that your policy goes as far as explicitly excluding the use of e-mail, social media or mobile platforms to notify of absence so that there is no doubt.

If you are making changes to your staff handbook to incorporate a stringent absence notification policy, ensure that your employees are made aware of the changes and have access to a copy of the document. As usual, if you need any help with your contracts or handbooks or implementing policies and procedures in the workplace, we’re available on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Once an employee has passed their probationary period, you can never really just sack them on the spot and have them escorted from the premises. Even for behaviour that we might consider to be gross misconduct, a proper dismissal process should be followed.

You could argue that any employee who has less than two years’ service hasn’t accrued any rights and can therefore be asked to leave without reason. However, if a situation has arisen that calls for a formal process to be followed, we strongly recommend that this takes place in order to eliminate any risk of wrongful dismissal.

Even for the most serious of misdemeanours, such as theft, fighting or sleeping at work, employers have to go through a formal disciplinary procedure or potentially face a claim for unfair dismissal at Tribunal.

If you feel that the offence is so serious the employee is a risk to the business and so shouldn’t be at work or on the premises, then a suspension is usually your best option whilst the disciplinary process is undertaken. Even then, suspension should be a last resort for the most serious of incidents, where their presence in the business may be a risk to the business or others; and remember, it will be on full pay.

Your disciplinary process should start with an investigation. Depending on the offence, the investigation may amount to simply interviewing solely the employee in question. You should interview other employees for evidence where appropriate and take statements that interviewees have the option to review and sign.

Your investigation might also potentially involve seeking statements and evidence from outside your organisation from sources such as your customers or the Police. Under GDPR, it’s likely to be very difficult to acquire CCTV footage unless it’s your own.

If the investigation warrants a move to disciplinary action (and we can assume that for a gross misconduct offence it will), then the offending employee should be invited to a disciplinary meeting. Give at least 48 hours’ notice prior to the meeting taking place and you must share any evidence you intend to refer to. You must also allow the employee representation at the disciplinary meeting which can be either a work colleague or an elected representative (not simply a member) of a trade union; even if you don’t have a trade union active at your workplace.

We also recommend that somebody different to the investigator undertakes the disciplinary meeting. Should they decide that summary dismissal is the appropriate course of action, then at that stage employment can be terminated and done so without any period of notice. Remember however that the employee is entitled to appeal any disciplinary decision that is made and it is best practice to have the appeal heard by a different and more senior manager to the one that heard the disciplinary meeting.

We are often asked to support clients through disciplinary processes and we can act on your behalf at any stage; investigation, disciplinary, including dismissal, and appeal. If you have a disciplinary case that you would like some support with then please call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you have any uncertainty, seek advice as early in the process as possible. Most Tribunal cases fail because the early stage processes have not been carried out satisfactorily.

In case you haven’t already worked it out already, Employment Law is generally written for the benefit of the employee. As new legislation is introduced or modified, employers might find themselves having to make adjustments in working practices that are outside their comfort zones or go against long established management practices and expectations. For some managers and directors, it might even feel like their authority is being undermined.

HR Champions’ Privacy Policy

This privacy policy aims to provide appropriate information regarding the use of personal data. The policy outlines; what personal information HR Champions may hold or collect, how HR Champions will use it and what you can do if you would like to change the information HR Champions processes.

Please note that the use of the phrases; ‘HR Champions’, ‘we’ and ‘HR Champions Ltd.’ all refer to ‘HR Champions Ltd.’

Last updated: 11^th of June 2018

At HR Champions we take your privacy very seriously and we will only use your personal information to provide the products, services and information that you have requested from us or that we deem relevant to you.

HR Champions Newsletter and Direct Mailing

When you sign up to receive HR Champions’ e-mail newsletters, we use your personal details to keep you up-to-date on the latest Employment Law issues by sending you weekly informative articles on matters relating to Human Resources, matters of interest to you and updates on upcoming products and events, via e-mail and occasionally via post.

We will not pass your details on to any third party.

We use MailChimp to intermittently e-mail our newsletter out to you. We have chosen MailChimp because, they are considered to be the market leading automated group mailshot programme and they are fully GDPR compliant. Your personal details are stored on MailChip’s secure servers.

You can unsubscribe at any time by selecting the unsubscribe link from the bottom of any correspondence received from us via MailChimp, or by contacting HR Champions directly, this will result in all your information being removed from the MailChimp database.

Personal details for our mailing lists are held separately to our client database.

HR Champions’ Clients

HR Champions uses its clients’ information to facilitate the services that we are contracted to provide to them, this information is purely for HR Champions internal reference and HR Champions will not pass any details on to any third party.

HR Champions holds client information on its secure servers.

For a client to be able to access their account we hold some information with third-party website host, Heart Internet.

Purchasing Products and Our World Cup Prediction Plug In

When purchasing products, such as documentation from our Toolkits, you will be asked to do this through a third-party payment processor, such as PayPal, where you will come under the privacy policy of that organisation. For more details please review the privacy policy on the third party’s site. PayPal’s privacy policy can be found at: https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

Online Event Registration

When registering for events through our website, such as signing up for our Employment Law Updates, your information is held on the servers of our website hosting company. By registering through our website, you are giving your consent for your information to be held by Heart Internet. For further information please visit: https://www.heartinternet.uk/terms/heart-internet-privacy-statement

Information gathered from using this website

Cookies are files with small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a web site and stored on your computer's hard drive.

Like many sites, we use ‘cookies’ to collect information to improve your experience on our website, along with information that you voluntarily provide, such as your IP address and other automatically collected information.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.

We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website. Your IP address is used to gather broad demographic and geographic information, which may assist in the delivery of content, identifying preferences and site usage statistics.

Security

The security of your Personal Information is important to us, however, please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. However, in the unlikely instance that there is a breach of security at any of the stages of data processing a notification will be placed on our website, and you will be contacted via e-mail wherever possible.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time and you should check this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you either through the email address you have provided us, or by placing a prominent notice on our website.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, if you would like us to remove your data from the system or if you would like to lodge a complaint about how we handle your data, please contact us. 

https://www.hrchampions.co.uk/contact