As employers, there are a set of rules and regulations that we must adhere to when dealing with our employees which we refer to as Employment Law. Whilst there is room for some interpretation in how the law is applied, most are reasonably black and white, and we can turn to case law to see how the less defined ones are judged. ACAS also publish a set of best practice guidelines which we are expected to adhere to.

Then there are the rules that we ought to be implementing if we want to be good employers. That is, the guidelines, and procedures we should apply if we want the people who we employ to perform in their jobs, remain in our employment and be happy and content whilst they are with us. This is what we really mean when we talk about HR.

Businesses should aspire to be really good at both. To run their organisations in line with legislation but also to create a great working environment.

Below we’ve put together a top five of each so you can see how you rank. It’s a bit of a crude yardstick to measure yourself against but it might just highlight where there is room for improvement in your own organisation.

Top 5 Must-Haves

1. Contracts of Employment: Strictly speaking, what you must provide is written terms of employment which could all be laid out in an offer letter. According to ACAS there are between 15 and 20 specific terms, depending on the type of employment, that you must include in the contract or at least reference to in another document such as a staff handbook. Additionally, the statement must be issued within 8 weeks of starting work and will become a day-one right from April 2020.
2. A safe and equitable working environment: This goes further than providing a workplace where employees are physically safe and is effectively solid application of The Equalities Act. Staff should also feel free from bullying, harassment and any sense of discomfort. Take an honest look around your team and spend a minute thinking about how each one feels about their workplace.
3. Right to Work Checks: You must have a process for checking employees’ validity to work in the UK. Even if you employ your twin brother, you must keep a record of their evidence.
4. Minimum wage: This should be straightforward, but we still hear stories where the National Minimum Wage isn’t paid. Sometimes travel time or extra time on site can mean the actual time spent ‘at work’ reduces the pay per hour to below the official minimum. Fines for getting this wrong can be quite damaging.
5. Maximum working hours: The working time directive can be opted out of, but you also need to bear in mind time for breaks and rest periods. These rules will also be affected by the employee’s age. Ultimately you have a duty of care towards your staff that means they don’t suffer because of their job.

6 and 7 would probably be Pension Auto Enrolment and Employers Liability insurance.

Top 5 Should-Haves

1. A Vision: You need to know what direction you want to take your business and as your employees will be part of your journey, they should all know it too. On a ship, even though the guy in the engine room can’t see the horizon, he still needs to know how much fuel you’ll need.
2. An effective on-boarding procedure: Starting out in a new job at a new employer is a huge event for most people. How the first few days, weeks and months play out will influence the rest of the time an employee spends with you. Get it right from day one.
3. Regular 1-2-1 meetings and appraisals: Few employees are such great self-leaders that they remain motivated and driven to do their jobs without any intervention from their boss. Regular reviews are an opportunity to measure performance, tackle problems early-on, and set new goals and targets to maintain motivation. This is probably the best place to include a word about channels of communication. These should be clear and effective with an opportunity to feed back.
4. A development plan: We expect that you’re constantly trying to grow your business. You should be trying to grow your employees too so that they are fully equipped with the right skills and knowledge to join you on your journey.
5. A positive culture: Culture is the word we probably use the most at HR Champions. How the people with an organisation behave and feel will be directly attributable to its culture. Take a step back and look inwardly on your business. What would an outsider’s opinion be of your culture?

Hopefully you’re not disappointed that bean bags and a pool table didn’t appear in the list. Yes, they are nice-to-haves it they fit your culture, but in fairness there is much to get right before you even think about introducing them.

If you managed to tick everything on both lists then you should be very proud of yourself. If there are any holes, a conversation with a member of the team at HR Champions might be a good next step for you. We are experienced at covering all the points here for our clients and can help you to integrate elements of both areas at the same time.

Call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

By the time you read this the Rugby World Cup will have already kicked off in Japan. As with most large sporting events, we should give a little thought to its potential effect on staff attendance over the coming weeks. For example, fans might be inclined to take spontaneous, unauthorised absence to watch games or perhaps to recover from win celebrations.

To be fair though, the risk shouldn’t be too great. With the tournament hosted in the land of the rising sun, matches will be aired in the mornings in the UK; too early for most workers to be thinking about having a drink. Plus, the vast majority of the England and play-off matches are scheduled on the weekends; so unlikely to impact businesses operating Monday to Friday.

Fans of the other home nations however are not so lucky as some of their matches will be shown on weekday mornings and it’s funny how rugby seems to bring out people’s deep-seated patriotism. Plus of course, there are the other countries to consider, and fans of the sport itself. It might then, be a good idea to have a plan of action up your sleeve in case you’re faced with an unauthorised absence.

In agreeing a contract of employment, employees are committing to make themselves available for work at the times laid out within it. If a crucial game emerges or runs over time, an employee might be tempted to ‘throw a sickie’ if holiday time hasn’t been booked. However, employees who fail to attend work claiming to be ill can be at risk of disciplinary action up to and including dismissal if their employer has evidence that they are not actually sick.

There may be a temptation to let the odd “sickie” go and make allowances for the fact that there is a World Cup competition going on. After all, unless you have a sick-pay scheme, you don’t have to pay an employee for one day of sickness absence. The danger here however is that this sends the wrong message and could be seen as ‘custom and practice’, making it difficult to enforce any action on another occasion.

A better solution might be to agree a temporary flexible working policy, if your business can manage it, to allow the odd late start or extended lunch-break. Most of the weekday matches will be over quite early so provided a late start is logged and the time made back, there’s probably no harm done. Equally an hour tacked on to the beginning a lunch-hour should be long enough to catch the late-morning kick-offs. This approach will also score you points with your employees but be sure to apply any such policy consistently. You don’t want to be seen to be showing favouritism, or in extreme cases, risk a claim for discrimination.

If you're inclined to set up a TV at work to allow staff to watch games, remember that you'll need a TV licence for your business premises if you don't already have one.

If you’re not able to or don’t want to accommodate a flexible arrangement, then staff desperate to watch games will have to book holiday. If, like most companies you operate a first-come, first-served policy for holiday booking it’s vital that you apply the policy fairly and consistently. Again, you’ll want to avoid any claims of treating staff less favourably than others should you need to turn down a holiday request.

A clear and robust holiday and absence policy is a must for situations like this. Make sure that you are full versed in yours and that your employees understand it too so it can be your fallback position should the need arise.  

We’re here to help with employee issues like this and others, so if you need any additional support or advice, please get in touch on 01452 331331 or by e-mailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Social Media and its usage have evolved with breath-taking speed. Just a few years ago it was predominantly a platform for sharing pictures of your breakfast and your cat. These days Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube are integral to many organisations’ marketing and communication strategies. At HR Champions for example, we use Whatsapp daily for group communications. Even the president of the United States chooses to make globally significant announcements as tweets.

UK Law, both criminal and employment, seems to have been slow to respond to social media developments, relying instead upon the application of existing legislation. “Bringing the company into disrepute” has tended to be the default stance for errant social posts that come to the attention of managers. The law is slowly catching up however and now terms such as cyber-bullying have become part of the lexicon.

In terms of policing social media usage in the workplace, for a number of years now we have been advocating the implementation of a robust Social Media Policy. This has become even pertinent as recent cases involving social media at work have resulted in almost contradictory outcomes. Tribunal judges seem to be looking at claims involving social media on a case by case basis.

Whether a post has extended beyond a specific group now seems to form part of the judge’s deliberations and where a colleague has been offended by a post might not always seen as the fault of the original poster.

Notwithstanding, we should remember that social media is incredibly fast and effective at distributing news on a global scale; and it doesn’t discriminate. With the right connections, anybody can read anything that has been posted by anybody else. This means friends and associates of course, but also suppliers, competitors and customers.

A throw-away comment posted on Facebook or Twitter by an employee may appear fairly innocuous at first, but there is no telling what reputational damage could be done if that employee is connected to a customer, client or colleague who takes offence. Even when made on their own personal accounts, provision should be made in your policy in case comments can be associated with your organisation.

And don’t disregard video. A film that shows an employee flouting Health and Safety regulations for example, whilst being visibly connectable to his or her employer through perhaps, uniform or a branded vehicle, could open the company up to prosecution by the HSE. As well the fallback of bringing the company into disrepute and therefore subject to some form of discipline.

Simply having a policy in place isn’t enough of course. You must make sure it is clear and unambiguous and that your employees are aware of it. You should also be clear of what the consequences will be for contravening the policy.  It might be a good idea to remind employees that your social media policy exists from time to time. Including a reference to it in your staff induction process also makes a lot of sense.

Social media at work will be the hot topic for our forthcoming Employment Law Update breakfast meetings. We’ll give recommendations and ideas for what clauses you should consider including in your policy and also give some guidance on when and when not to use social media during recruitment.

You can book onto our breakfast meetings if you haven’t already done so hereor you can give us a call on 01452 331331.

Describing events at Westminster over the past week or two as turbulent might be considered as something of an understatement. We must allow, of course, for the fact the Government and political parties operate differently to business organisations. However, it’s notable that those who set the laws by which businesses must operate, don’t behave themselves in a way that we might recognise as being business-like.

For example, following a vote in the House of Commons last week, Boris Johnson bluntly sacked 21 Conservative Members of Parliament for voting against his wishes to keep “no-deal” as an option during EU negotiations. Whilst the rebels will remain, at least in the short term, as MPs, they have been expelled from the Conservative party.

In normal business practice, dismissal for “failing to follow a management instruction” is quite acceptable; it is usually regarded as gross misconduct and we have presided over a number of such cases for our clients. In a workplace scenario we would usually expect some procedure to be followed however, such as an investigation, even for a cut and dried case that results in summary dismissal. Failure to follow procedure would usually make a dismissal unfair.

The PM’s behaviour during these events demonstrates a leadership style that we would describe as ‘Autocratic’. We usually see this style of leadership in the armed forces during wartime or the emergency services in a disaster response scenario. It can create an unsettled or anxious environment. An autocratic leader will hold absolute power over a team and often make decisions without consultation.

There is also an element of Transactional Leadership in Mr Johnson’s relationship with his political colleagues. The party rules are clear that the consequence for voting against instructions from the leader is expulsion, so that is exactly what has happened. Despite the potential loss of some big names from the political arena, it’s almost refreshing to see clear and decisive action taken in what is otherwise a theatre of hesitancy.

At HR Champions, we strongly promote the importance of understanding different leadership styles. Indeed, it’s a subject we cover across all of our ILM Leadership training programmes; albeit with a different approach depending upon whether it’s discussed at level 2, 3 or 4.

As individuals, we all tend to have a default leadership style that we adopt in normal situations. These are likely to be modified depending upon the given situation, especially if it involves an element of stress, pressure or tension.  

As well as understanding the leadership styles of our own bosses so that we can behave and act accordingly, it is even more important to recognise our own style of leadership and the effect that is has on our team members. We must also appreciate how stress and pressure affects our own behaviour and try to moderate this so that we maintain a style that gets the most from our team and keeps us in control of the situation.

It will be interesting to see if Boris modifies his leadership style over the coming days and whether or not this helps him to achieve his aims. There can be no doubt he is in a stressful situation, but will he recognise his own behaviour and use this to his advantage? We can only wait to see.

In addition to those already mentioned, other recognised leadership styles the PM might adopt include Bureaucratic, Diplomatic, Laissez-faire, Functional and Transformational. We feature in-depth discussion sessions about leadership styles in each of our ILM Leadership courses which we are currently providing fully funded.

Businesses in Bristol & West of England, Swindon & Wiltshire and Worcestershire can benefit from the funding. To find out more simply call or email us on 01452 331331 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or see further details at www.hrchampions.co.uk

As September approaches, the impending back-to-school feeling isn’t reserved just for the kids. With the workforce back to full strength we can expect a surge of activity, so it’s vital to meet any training and development needs early-on to ensure a fully functioning team. As managers, we need to identify skills gaps so that we can organise appropriate individual training plans which meet the needs of the immediate team or department, and are aligned to the wider organisation’s goals.

Approaching the development of a team presents a number of challenges above those for an individual’s development. Individual strengths and weaknesses need to be considered alongside the different learning styles and personalities. You may consider starting with a simple personality profiling system to help you establish this. We use Belbin Team Roles and this is discussed as part of the content of our Team Member and Team Leader training courses.

When establishing development needs it might help to consider a tiered approach:

• What are the goals of the business? Look at both short and long-term goals including any new projects or contracts that throw up new challenges. Sharing companywide objectives will help individuals understand their own contributions.
• The goals and objectives of departmental teams will be driven by the wider corporate goals, so adequate and appropriate resourcing is key; even if a department is just one person.
• Finally, the individuals within teams need to be equipped to fulfil their own roles and meet their objectives.

We might have to rely on our experience and personal knowledge of individuals when deciding if and what development needs are appropriate. Even when we think we have the right team configuration comprised of individuals with the correct skills, we must continue to set SMART objectives and hold individuals and the team as a whole to account. Regular and frequent reviews and 1-2-1 meetings will establish any shortcomings. If it’s a skills or knowledge gap then this can be remedied with an amendment to the individual’s training and development plan.

Encourage individuals to take the opportunity to identify their own development needs which can then be concurred with your own observations. This will allow them to take ownership and create buy-in.

Remember that different training methods exist which might be appropriate for differing learning styles. As well as classroom based learning, one-to-one coaching can often be effective for specific individual needs. A “buddy” or job-shadowing format can also be a good solution for sharing the experience of existing staff amongst new-starters and colleagues.

Committing staff to external training and development can create its own challenges. Business objectives still need to be met so sending staff on a training course en-masse can’t always be achieved. After years of delivering training for businesses, we have established that one day per week over four weeks works best. The impact of staff absence is minimised, and opportunity is created to apply each day’s learning in the workplace, allowing it to embed before the next day of the course.

Let’s remember to celebrate success also. Attaining an industry recognised standard or achieving a qualification should be applauded and shared with other members of the team. Sometimes the celebration may come simply because a team member has pushed him or herself outside their comfort zone. Maintain sight of the fact however that the ultimate purpose of the development is to enable the individual to meet his or her objectives for company-wide benefit.

Contact us for information about the funded training we have available for businesses in Bristol, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. We’ll also help you conduct a Training Needs Analysis to ensure you maximise the benefit. Call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

This year was the first time that all GCSE results were graded using the new 9 to 1 system. So employers taking on apprenticeships this year might find themselves interpreting applicants’ qualifications into the older A* to G system that has been used for as long as most of us can remember.

We can probably expect a period of confusion until the relevance of the new qualification grading becomes embedded. However, as an employer, do you ever double-check the qualifications of candidates that you make job offers to anyway? And do you always take up references?

Some jobs demand certain qualifications because of their technical nature; particularly for certain levels of maths ability or knowledge of the sciences. But for more generalist roles we may be forgiven for taking claims of some qualifications at face value. After all, we don’t expect job applicants to lie on their CVs about their examination successes.

Asking for job applicants to have at least 5 GCSEs at grades C (new 4) or above might sound like a standard format for ensuring a reasonable level of educational attainment amongst candidates, but without checks there are no guarantees that you’re going to get what you pay for.

As employees further their development with career specific qualifications, establishing the validity of their claims becomes even more crucial. Industry specific awards should indicate a certain level of ability that can be relied upon in the workplace; for example CIPD for HR or IDM for Marketing.

Claims should be checked at job-offer stage as consent may be required to gather evidence from the awarding body. Failing to double-check health & safety or medical qualifications could have catastrophic results for all concerned.

Job offers are often made with the condition that the offer is subject to the receipt of satisfactory references. Again, when seeking references, the prospective employee’s express permission should be sought before any contact is made with their existing or previous employer.

Employees don’t usually want it known that they are looking for another job; at least not by their manager or boss. You must therefore make sure that it’s okay to contact a prospective employee’s current or previous employer, even if a job offer depends upon satisfactory references being received; and even if they have already provided the names of referees.

Imagine the potential upset it would cause if a candidate chose not to accept a job offer but you had already written to their manager for a reference. Not only could seriously compromise their current working environment, you might be in breach of GDPR legislation.

Including a comment confirming that it is okay to seek references as part of a candidate’s job offer acceptance should be adequate to short-cut the process.

Take note though that employers are under no obligation to provide a reference. Our advice is to always only disclose factual information when a reference is asked for. Equally, to increase the probability of receiving a response from a reference request, only ask for information such as position held, dates worked and remuneration.

Information that is subjective, such as “Does this person have a good attendance record?” is open to interpretation. What one employer considers to be a poor attendance might be considered excellent by another. A questionable reference that is opinion based may even leave the referee open to a claim against them.

Whether or not references are sought or qualifications verified, we still recommend that an effectively managed probation period is implemented, but that’s a subject that deserves its own article.

We’ll be covering all the areas discussed here plus many more challenges that employers face during the recruitment process at our forthcoming Recruitment and Retention Seminar on Tuesday 1st October. Book your place now or call us on 01452 331331 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a chat about any advice or support you may need.

You may have seen or heard the story recently of the Commons transport committee’s recommendation that making hands-free calls whilst driving should be made illegal. The committee’s research suggests that the ‘cognitive distraction’ of making a hands-free call increases the likelihood of a driver crashing by up to four times; just as much as making a hand-held call.

Indeed, only this week a driver has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to causing four deaths and one count of serious injury by dangerous driving. He had been changing the music on his mobile phone.

As businesses, we should remain aware of our duty of care to our employees and refrain from putting them in any positions that could endanger them. We should also be aware of the consequences. Asking employees to handle calls or texts whilst driving for example, could mean prosecution for employers, up to Corporate Manslaughter if the worst was to happen.

If a business provides a mobile phone to employees, or reimburses the cost of work related calls and texts on private phones, they will make themselves culpable to any associated offence if their employees are put in a position where they are expected to make or receive calls whilst driving.

Currently it is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving and it is also illegal to “cause or permit” a driver to use a hand-held phone whilst driving. Therefore, an employer who requires employees to use handheld phones whilst driving will be equally as liable as the driver.

The recommendation from the Commons transport committee highlights that even hands-free mobile phones can cause distraction meaning the driver is not in complete control nor driving with appropriate attention. However, if a police investigation determined that it was the use of the hands-free phone for a work-related matter that contributed to an accident, the employer could be found to be liable under current rules.

Existing penalties for private drivers include six penalty points and fines up to £200 which could mean a ban if you’ve passed your test within the last two years. The transport committee has recommended that using a hands-free phone should carry the same penalties.

In a worst case scenario, if a fatality ensued involving a business that required drivers to use mobile phones whilst driving, the directors of that business could be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter.

It is not enough not to require employees to use mobile phones whilst driving. We recommend that employers actively forbid their use and that this is clearly laid out in a robust mobile phone policy. You may even consider that any use of a mobile device whilst driving a company vehicle or whilst on company business is a gross misconduct offence. With the available functionality of modern smartphones, your policy should go further than the making or receiving of calls and should include texting or messaging, playing music, taking photos and gaming.

Drivers should wait until they are safely parked before using their phones and remember that being stopped at traffic lights or in heavy traffic does not count as being parked.

It’s also worthwhile making sure that any office-based staff are equally aware of the rules so that they are not tempted to make calls to colleagues who are driving, thereby inadvertently leaving your company open to prosecution.

For further details or help with your company mobile phone policy, call us on 01452 331331 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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The summer holidays are in full swing – but we all have different ideas about what really makes a holiday. Some want to chill and relax whilst others want to see and do as much as they can possibly cram into their time away.

Our fun quiz tries to match how you like to spend your holiday time with the type of learning and development that might be best for you. It’s a little tongue in cheek of course but you might be surprised how our holiday choices reflect our learning styles.

Results

So, now you've got an idea of what might suit you, why not use the rest of the summer lull to plan your development, and get booked onto a course ready for that back-to-school feeling in September?

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Summer Business Planning

The summer brings with it a new phase of working for many businesses, albeit with different challenges depending upon whether they operate in a business or consumer led industry.

For many consumer-based businesses, this can be the busiest time of the year as the warmer weather and school holiday period bring greater footfall to retail shops and leisure outlets like cafes, bars and restaurants. Equally, businesses in supporting industries like food & drink manufacturers and distributers will see a seasonal uplift in demand.

Business to business (b2b) organisations are more likely to enter a quiet period as staff take holidays resulting in less resources to gets work done or initiate new projects. This is likely to be matched by their business customers who will be in a similar situation with activity led by the amount of available staff.

HR and Employment Law demands of both types of business will therefore be very different but no less important to implement consistently.

Those businesses led by seasonal consumer demand may for example have a need for extra, temporary staff or seasonal workers. Regardless of the period of employment, all employees must have a contract of employment, or at the very least a statement of terms that outlines their basic conditions of work.

This is also an area where zero-hours contracts are likely to be prevalent. Staffing levels my be determined by how sunny it is on any particular day, but employers still have a duty to apply zero-hours contracts fairly, giving reasonable notice to workers for when they are or are not required.

With schools on holiday many schoolchildren will be looking to earn some extra spending money with their spare time and it’s understandable that businesses will want to take advantage of cheap seasonal labour. Remember that restrictions exist for child workers which prohibit them from working under certain conditions. In addition, during school holidays 13 to 14-year-olds are only allowed to work 5 hours per day (2 hours on a Sunday) up to a maximum of 25 hours a week.  15 to 16-year-olds can only work a maximum of 35 hours a week with a maximum 8 hours per day. (Again, 2 hours on a Sunday).

Right to work checks are not required for under 16-year olds but are compulsory for everyone else prior to them starting work.

On the B2B side, the main challenges are likely to be around staffing levels to cover holiday leave.

Many employees will be tied to the school holiday period, so we need to ensure that a fair process has been applied for allocating holiday dates. This could be on a first-come, first-served basis; just make sure everyone knows about it and no favouritism is shown to any individual. When calculating adequate cover in the workplace, also consider any potential for lone workers that may arise and the implications this can have.

We rarely come across the “factory fortnight shutdown” these days but remember that employers are entitled to stipulate when their employees take their leave, provided they give the required notice. Under the Working Time Directive, you are duty bound to ensure all staff take their allocated leave.

The quieter summer period is also a good time to schedule and plan for staff training. As we find at HR Champions, most businesses don’t have the available resources to release staff for training during the summer. It’s a good idea though to plan everything in advance so that you keep your team’s development on track when you’re back to full strength in September.

Finally, employers must remember their duty of care to their employees, particularly in hot weather. Ensuring that staff have a comfortable working environment will help to maintain productivity, however this doesn’t mean that safety can be compromised so rules around the wearing of safety equipment for example still need to be enforced.

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It’s summertime and the workplace is sweltering (occasionally). The kids are off and with them it appears, half the workforce. With colleagues either away on holiday or juggling childcare, productivity at work may have dipped a little.

So, what can we do to make the most of this summertime lull?

This time of year can be an ideal time to think about and plan your own personal development – especially with September and that manic, back-to-school feeling just around the corner. If you don’t already have a career plan, now’s a great time to be thinking about it.  

Of course, we’re not suggesting that you use the summer quiet-time in the office to look for a new job.  Career and development planning can take many forms including making the most of your current role and skills to move onwards and upwards. You might also explore new avenues – such as training courses or qualifications – that you might need to get to where you want to be.

Firstly, do you know where you want to be in one, three or five years? You can start your career planning by thinking about this if you haven’t done so already. Beginning with a goal in mind is a good starting point, but often people just don’t think about it.

Once you have your goal, everything in your career or development plan can hang off it. If you don’t know where you want to be in the future, take a look at the elements of your job that you’re good at; then look at the parts of your job you enjoy. Where these overlap will be your sweet-spot so investigate roles that will allow you to concentrate on this and aim in that direction.

Map out your skills and experience too. Where are you strongest? What areas need some attention? Where are the gaps between your current skills and those necessary for the role you want to be doing in five years? Are there technical skills in which you fall short or do you recognise a need to develop your behavioural or soft skills?

Once established you’ll need to think about how you’re going to fill those skills gaps. Some will require formal training courses with qualifications attached, some will be areas of your current role that you can focus on to improve. If opportunity allows you could consider getting involved with wider projects in your organisation to expand your skillset or voluntary and charity work that will help develop transferable skills such as planning, organising and leading others.

Again, map these and prioritise them to give you a thorough picture of where you need to focus your efforts. You might come up with many more than you can reasonably fit in – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Your development plan will need to be an ongoing project if it’s going to be worthwhile. Everybody will always have room for improvement. The key is to prioritise those elements that will help you to move in the direction you want most effectively.

Having a plan is all well and good but it’s of little use if it remains theoretical; you have to make it happen. To get things moving have a conversation with your line manager about getting a formal development plan put in place. This will give you an understanding of the kind of support your organisation is willing and able to provide. If financial support is a barrier then research what funded options are available. We currently have a range of funded training courses in Leadership & Management skills that might be an option for you for example.  

Utilise your network. That could be within your current business or through external contacts. There might be an opportunity to shadow other roles for example or become a part of a project team. Ask about what’s going on and put yourself forward to make it happen. Development opportunities are often missed by those who aren’t willing to put their hands up and make it known that they’re looking to further their career.  

With your plan in place, your development needs prioritised, and agreement from your employer, you’re well on the road to that one, three of five-year goal. Remember to regularly review your plan to keep you on course but also remain alert to opportunities that may require a re-alignment of your plan if your goals shift or change.

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