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May, 2010
Lina abseiling......
all in a good cause !
Picasso HR team expands…
The World Cup – Are you prepared?
Don’t worry, B happy
- for a better business brain
Lina Hogg, MD of PicassoHR, is raising money again, this time for a small charity where a small donation can go a long way. The charity is Cancer Campaign in Suffolk, which is a local cancer charity and is not affiliated to any national charity. All funds stay local and benefit the Suffolk community. Lina said "Although I am terrified of heights, 3 years ago I did a tandem skydive and raised £1200 for St Elizabeth Hospice. I've decided I need to now challenge myself again to raise even more money for cancer related charities; I'm abseiling from 9 stories high off the Ipswich hospital maternity ward! " The abseile is on the 10th July. Cancer Campaign in Suffolk provides advice, emotional support, well-being, education, information and complementary therapy free of charge for cancer patients, their families and carers. Your donation is so important as it will help continue this work in the county. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - Lina will raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. "So please dig deep and donate now. Thank you very much for your support."
We would like to take the opportunity to introduce Suzanne Spooner as our most recent recruit, joining the established team here at PicassoHR in May 2010. We know Suzanne is going to make a great contribution to supporting our clients and to the organisation as a whole. For a brief insight to Suzanne’s background, Suzanne started her HR Management career in London working for a Railway Contractor and Engineering Company with various offices across the Country providing great experience and exposure across the full range of generalist HR areas. After taking the decision in 2006 to relocate and return to her home territory (being Suffolk where Suzanne originated from), Suzanne continued her HR Management career by joining a well known, multi-channel Company based in Worlingham, near Beccles. This provided a very different offering covering the day to day HR Operational Management responsibility for a Company operating in the retail sector, mail-order/web sales environment, along with a warehouse/distribution centre (the equivalent size of the warehouse floor area being four full size football pitches as we are on the topic of the World Cup this month!!). Suzanne is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and has further studied a Post Graduate Certificate in Employment Law, together with recently completing a Masters in Employment Law at the University of East Anglia.
In April, a CIPD straw poll of members found that 90% of employers have no plan in place to help manage staff absence during the World Cup with only 5% thinking of developing one. Other surveys generally suggest that during the football World Cup and other major sporting events, there is a greater tendency for employees to phone in sick.
A few ideas to help with the game plan ready for kick off...
It’s probably important at this point to recognise peoples desires and passion for such events but yet not at the detriment of service, productivity or disruption in the workplace. We recommend that it is a good idea to have a game plan to tackle the World Cup, so here are some helpful ideas on what PicassoHR suggests.
- Special screening on premises if it is a lunchtime kick off, one option could be the setting up of a TV in the canteen and allow flexible working hours/flexi-time (i.e. a flexible but communicated start or end time) to compensate for any extra hours taken during the lunch period
- Shift swaps may be an option to consider (so long as an agreed process is communicated) as another approach where the business has a need for 24/7 service or production not to be disrupted.
- Time off work could be permitted via the normal annual leave procedure, but may need to be managed on a first-come, first-served basis and for any staff that perhaps have taken all their paid annual leave entitlement, to possibly consider unpaid leave. Again, care needs to be exercised though to ensure that sufficient numbers are on site and working so the business operation is not disrupted.
Consideration for all…
It should be remembered that not everyone in the workplace may be interested in the World Cup or watching football so its important that nobody is made to feel excluded if they do not wish to be involved in the event. Also, consideration could be given to those who choose not to watch the event so they don’t feel disadvantaged in any way (for example, offering the equivalent flexibility in working time on the days when the event occurs to those that do not wish to watch the game as an idea.
It is hoped that by considering the above points within the article can ensure that the needs of the business are not compromised, with good employee relations remaining intact and reduced ‘sickness’ absence.
Managed workspace provider, Basepoint Business Centre in Ipswich is opening its doors for an afternoon of relaxation and refreshment for local businesses on Wednesday 16th June. Launching at 2pm with an informative workshop and clinic from PicassoHR at 2.30. The afternoon will consist of a diverse range of taster sessions in sports, Tai Chi, massage and a variety of holistic therapies, with advice, guidance and workshops available from local business leaders and organisations aimed at reducing stress and increasing wellbeing in the workplace. The day was the idea of Basepoint Centre Manager, Michelle Wootton. After several years in London working in employee reward and recognition for a national telecoms retailer, Michelle recognised a key difference facing businesses in Suffolk, “In the fast-paced, corporate environment looking after employees wellbeing is considered key to business success. As an SME where is the support network to take care of your wellbeing? Starting a business is stressful and time is in short supply, but a healthier mind and body makes for better business.” The day has been organised in collaboration with wellbeing consultants, and Basepoint licensee, Suffolk Healthzone and local business leader, Lina Hogg from PicassoHR. Lina said, “ As a specialist HR advice and support company for SME’s, we are fully aware of the stresses and strains on employers and employees, particularly in today’s economic climate. There is so much businesses can do to look after the health and wellbeing of their employees, that cost nothing to very little. ” Confirmed visitors for the day include Healthy Ambitions Suffolk, NORCAS, MIND and David Lloyd gym, offering a range of advice and tools for businesses, with a sample of gym and pamper sessions up for grabs. Basepoint’s local chosen charity Out & About will also be available to explain the benefits of volunteering not only to the local charitable community, but to the well being of the volunteer too. This event is free to attend and booking for workshops and taster sessions is recommended. For a full programme of events and to book contact Michelle or Lisa Tel. 01473 722 700.
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