Employment Tribunal fees- update

The Ministry of Justice has reported on the outcome of a consultation on the introduction of employment tribunal fees. The stance that's been adopted states that the aim of bringing in fees is to please the taxpayer by cutting the costs of the current tribunal system to the taxpayer.

Fees may be implemented as soon as summer next year.

Here's a summary.

'Level 1' claims ('simple' claims including the likes of unlawful deductions from wages) will atract a £160.00 issue of claim fee and a hearing fee of £230.00

'Level 2' claims (less straightforward claims) will attract a £250.00 issue of claim fee and a hearing fee of £950.00

An Employment Appeal Tribunal will cost the claimant £400.00 to log, and a

£1,200.00 fee for the hearing itself.

The release sets out various other charges such as a fee of £600.00 for judicial mediation.

 

It is obvious (and the report does acknowledge) that these fees do not cover the costs of running our tribunal system. It also gives an undertaking that the fees will be regularly reviewed, and changes made swiftly should problems present themselves.

Whether the decision to levy fees will prove to cut the number of claims filed annually (whether vexatious or not) remains to be seen, but we must be cautious that an inability to pay does not prevent the less-fortunate claimants from pursuing claims against unscrupulous employers too.

Creating a vision

This week we've sketched out draft one of our vision for where we want to be in a year's time. It's a work in progress of course and we will share it when we feel we're done. 

We've used some simple, straightforward guidelines set out by the US deli dynamo Ari Weinzweig that we found via the Inc website. Ari will also share his personal vision for where he wants to be in 2020 with you if you just email him and ask nicely. (He's a lovely chap, too.)

Make time to read Ari's article then have a go yourself and let us know how you get on.

Really useful philosophy

I get business books recommended to me all the time, from tomes that promise to reduce my working week to just four hours (why would I want to do that? I love my work and I'd be terminally bored) to those that pledge to help me make money while I sleep (intriguing, but I am rather fond of the sense of having worked for what I have.) I want to talk about just one approach that resonated with me years ago, and still holds true.

Back when I was still a thirtysomething, I worked on a temp contract with the Royal Bank of Scotland. It was a six-month maternity cover contract to support a department with employment relations admin, and see that the right stuff got to the right people. I underwent a two week training and induction programme (yes, two weeks for a temp job! Anyone would think they wanted things done properly!) The training manager, a redoubtable and highly personable lady named Liz, introduced me to one of the very best business systems I'd ever encountered. It's still one I touch upon time and again, and it's based on the most beautifully clear, clean and simple principles from the most unexpected source: The Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. 

The guys there do a dirty job, handling cold, stinking, wet fish day in, day out. They do long hours and they work hard.

They are also are legendary for their showmanship and commitment to great service- so much so that they attract crowds of suited and booted office workers early morning and every lunchtime who hope to tap into the energy and vibrancy of this unique workplace, and the people who make it buzz.

The guys realised many years ago that what they had was worth sharing, and so they created the Fish Philosophy, based on the aforementioned simple principles. I still refer to them as my touchstones of how to give great service, inspire loyalty and be remembered. (You can buy a shedload of materials to help you implement this thinking, but all you really need is the below and the ability to read and understand them.)

From the Fish Philosophy website, here are the fab four:

Be There is being emotionally present for people. It’s a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships.

Play taps into your natural way of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do.

Make Their Day is finding simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life, not because you want something out of it, but because that’s the person you want to be.

Choose Your Attitude means taking responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Once you are aware that your choice impacts everyone around you, you can ask yourself, “Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?”

Through The FISH! Philosophy, we build stronger relationships with the team members we work with, the customers we serve, the students we teach and the people we love.

I thought I'd reflect a little on how well I'm doing in living in alignment with these principles.

A small but carefully-nurtured client base means I can deliver on the first. I don't check my phone or emails when I am on time booked out to see a client. I don't blog when I am focussed on a task for a client. I don't tweet. I am there, with them, and that's where I want to be.

Playing can mean anything from getting creative with very few resources to meeting interesting companies. It can mean tweeting, or spinning off on themes that can really add value to a relationship and get people smiling. I do a lot of that. I love to play. Who wouldn't, given half a chance? Mark Twain said that 'Work and play are two words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions', and that's one dude who knew a lot.

Altruism is all too rare. Very few people can honestly go into a situation without pondering 'what's in it for me?' I'll tell you- a sense of having made something that little bit better, and having been a good and decent soul. I don't mean to sound pious, but surely contributing where we can for the good of others feeds our need to achieve? I swear, being able to sit down in the evening and say "I made their day" makes you feel damned good about life. Try it.

I believe in the sixty second effect. If you walk into a room in an ill temper, within sixty seconds you'll have put everyone there on the path to a foul mood, too. Taking a moment outside the door to compose your thoughts helps you choose your attitude. Remind yourself that nobody in that room cares about the traffic you've sat in, your bad hair day or the little gift the cat left in your slippers: it's not their problem. You being a poor version of the real you is. Respect them and don't inflict it on them.

So I think I do ok. I know could do better. But that's what keeps me motivated and determined to stick to the plan. I will always work to ensure that Treacletiger uses these principles in how we behave with clients, colleagues, connections, friends and everyone we meet. 


Try working with just one of the principles and see what happens. Let me know how you get on.

The Olympics- A Matter of Trust

Just dropping by to reblog this piece by Jane Sparrow from the excellent HRZone website as not all of you can log in there and it deserves a wide audience.

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Whether you agree with London Mayor Boris Johnson's comments about 'skiving' home-workers or not, his outspoken views last week have once again raised the bigger issue of trust. 

As we move closer to the Olympics, I believe we will see more evidence of companies that do -  and companies that don't -  trust their staff.  

The Olympics is a unique opportunity to celebrate. Many organisations are sharing the excitment of the Games and doing wonderful things such as putting up wide-screen TVs into canteens and meeting rooms to allow staff the opportunity to watch the action.  

Other companies are seeing the Olympics as an opportunity to discover new ways of working and connecting with each other.

Equally, however, there are also stories emerging about employers placing restrictions on social media and internet use during the Games. Sites like http://olympic-slacker.com do not help to dispel the cynicism about a mistrusted workforce looking to take advantage.  

Of course, each company has to decide its own agenda around the Olympics to best suit its culture and organisation. It's about finding the balance that enables staff to celebrate and enjoy the games if they wish to, whilst still ensuring business continues 'as normal'.  

How companies choose to act sends a clear message about the behaviours it really values and it is not just current employees that are shaped and influenced by these actions. Generation Y - the Millennials -  our younger and technology-savvy future workforce, will be making their own mind up about their choice of employer. 

Surveys show that this generation of employees are looking for more than a paypacket from their employer.

They want flexible working that enables them to build their lives around their work. They also want a workplace that is fun and enjoyable to be part of, in exchange for their loyalty and dedication. They take social responsibility seriously and expect transparency from their employer.    

Business needs exceptional people in order to thrive and grow. For many organisations, how it entrusts its workforce with the time, flexibility and and opportunity to celebrate the Olympics will send an important message not just to its employees, but to the next generation of talent.

Jane Sparrow is managing director of behavioural change consultancy, Northern Flight.

Breaking bad habits

This may prove a little controversial, but it's cluttering up the Tiger mind palace* and so needs to be thrown out there.

I've recently helped to recruit and induct two new employees to a business that does things rather informally and in a fairly relaxed way; the office staff work hard. They do great work. They just don't take breaks, preferring to eat at their desks and drink tea throughout the day. It works for them. They've established a way of doing things and they're happy. Mostly.

What I'm not so sure about is how I broach the topic of this being Not Really A Good Thing. I feel that this is a bad habit that needs to be very visibly and clearly broken for the new guys. I don't like it: I feel a lack of getting out in the air or a break from a screen is terribly bad for a soul. I believe that it exacerates stress and that it can lead to health problems. 

And yet, and yet... I do it too. I work in this office for at least half my working week. I'm one of the worst culprits. So now do you see why I am struggling with how to raise it?

It's led me to think about whether a lack of practicing what we promote means we are hypocrites. Are we doing the worst thing in asking that others behave in a way that we ourselves have chosen not to adopt? Would they be entirely justified in telling us where to take our recommendations?

Or is it that we have made our own choices, but want others to know that it's ok for them to make a different one?

I guess it's all in how it's communicated; recognising that you may do things one way, but giving them the option to do it a different/better way is a great opportunity to invite new thinking and change. 

But lor, being so close to the fire on this one has been tricky.

I found myself ticking one of the new guys off earlier and sounding like a parent 'tut-tutting' at a wayward kid when I asked if he planned on taking a break from the screen and he replied non-committally 'Yes... maybe... soon...'I walked away, irritated that despite my good intentions, I had come across like a disapproving schoolmarm.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas or tips on how to tackle this?

*Thank you, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Derek Irvine on Making the abstract real: Living workplace values

I reproduce this excellent blog by Derek Irvine, which appears over at HRZone, but may be missed by many who aren't registered to that site. All work is Derek's- I just want you all to see it!

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Recognise This! – Your company values do you no good unless employees know how to live them in their daily work.

I think it’s a fairly safe bet to say most companies today have defined set of core values – behaviors and ideals the executive team has invested a good deal of time and effort in defining as the “how” of employee efforts as they work to complete the “what” (results/deliverables).

 

There is a very great difference, however, in having values, knowing the values and actually living the values in your daily work.

 

Having Values

 

What do I mean by having the values? I’m sure many of have worked in (or are currently working in) organisations that require you to carry the company values around as part of your building access badge. Or perhaps you received the values in the employee handbook when you first started with the company.

 

And there’s this example from an article on the 5 worst employee engagement strategies ever:

“Employee engagement and [recognition] programmes are designed to induce behaviours in employees that will help you grow the business. Running alongside this, you have ‘values’ – a set of shared beliefs that you wish to instil throughout the organisation. They are not one and the same thing."

 

However, at Kohl’s, many years ago, gratitude was shown by rewarding employees with rubber bracelets. There would be four bracelets in total – your aim was to achieve a full set, each one representing one of the company’s values.

 

It was viewed by many as cheap, and nobody wore them. Kohl’s simply wasted their money by having the rubber bands made in the first place, and created a feeling within the workforce that they were cheap.

 

Not only were employees somewhat insulted by the gesture, since they didn’t even wear the bracelets it’s unlikely they could even be said to “have” the values.

 

Knowing the Values

 

Knowing the values, but not living them, is no better.

 

An example of this comes to us from the Chief Happiness Officer blog, in which author Alexander Kjerulf shared this quote from a recent conference he attended: "You know a corporate values programme is doomed to fail when they start printing mouse mats with the values." - Henrik Burkal, CEO of REMA1000 Denmark.

 

Sure, you can require employees to recite the values to you when they see you in the hall. But reciting them doesn’t mean the individual knows what each of those values looks like in his or her own daily work. Think about a common company value of “integrity.”

 

A worthy value, indeed, but very abstract. This needs to be made real for employees.

 

Living the Values

 

One client of ours helps to make this abstract value real for their employees by specifically recognising and praising them for doing things they might have been punished for in the past.

 

For example: “Steve, thank you for reporting the broken equipment in a timely way. This allowed us to get it repaired and back on-line quickly. You showed great integrity by taking responsibility for the break, communicating to the team how you think such breakage can be avoided in the future, and enabling us all to get back up and running.”

 

If you want your employees to live your values every day, then make them real. Recognise and reward them – and let them recognise and reward each other – whenever the values are being demonstrated through the work.

 

Do your employees have your values, know your values, or truly live your values? Do you?

Look back and smile

Exciting times. We're about to appear in our local Chamber of Commerce newsletter as new members. In the course of writing our piece for that I stumbled across the below, a piece I wrote for when we were featured on the BlueBiz blog a while back and I thought I'd share it. Things have come on quite nicely since then but it warms my heart to see that we've stayed true to what we believe in...

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            1) Tell us about your business:

Treacletiger is a venture that’s grown from our work with small businesses providing HR support, health & wellbeing programmes and all the kind of stuff business owners need, want and would love to have to build skills and value in their company.

We work with your existing team to develop HR and employee surveys and policies that have genuine worth. There’s a world of difference between a policy that sits on a shelf gathering dust and one that really informs how you do business.

We can review your existing policies and bring you bang up to date. We won’t clutter your business with policies for the sake of having them; our support is realistic and aligned with your business’ values and culture.

Oh yes- realistic. That also means affordable. We don’t believe there’s anything to be achieved by demanding huge investment of cash or time. We’ll reflect your position, rather than imposing our own terms on a business. We believe strongly in keeping the client in the driving seat, because that’s how we’ve experienced the greatest impact and positive change. If a business’ people are part of the change, their voices are heard and their value appreciated, they ‘buy in’ more readily... and working together with common aims is better than imposing change on anyone.

We’ve designed a simple to use health & wellbeing programme that not only offers a survey of all staff by a trained professional, but that we can coach to your people so that you feel confident in running with it in years to come- and developing it to support your business. This programme has been implemented in several businesses now, and we’ve seen reductions in sickness absence, stress levels and unhappiness at work whilst staff loyalty job satisfaction, productivity and confidence in the business has risen.

We offer varying levels of support- if you just want to get the basics right, sure, that’s a great place to start. But if you want to move things up a notch we can help you on the road to accreditations such as Investors In People and ISO standards.

            2)    When did you start your business and where did the idea come from ?

We’ve worked with a number of businesses in the last five years and seen positive results; in 2011 my partner Steve and I decided that what we do has value for small businesses struggling to cope, or who cannot justify engaging a full time HR or training professional. We saw a solution, and we’re looking forward to helping others develop using the techniques we’ve tried, tested and know to work.

            3)    Where do you see yourself in 5 years time ?

We’d love to be working with some seriously creative and challenging organisations, developing our skills and knowledge further and loving every day of it!

            4)    Can you offer any advice to anyone thinking  

            of starting a new business ?

Don’t wait til you’re ready- that day never comes! You don’t need a huge start-up budget, marketing guru or fancy office. You just need focus, commitment, and the ability to engage others when you speak about your business. If you’re going to do it, go into it with all your heart and soul. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes- that’s how we learn after all.

            5)    And finally, what do you think of social media marketing for small businesses ?

Social networks like Twitter are changing the playing field for start-ups, and are essential marketing tool. They do take time to maintain if you’re doing it right, but it’s fun and you’re gathering info on what your audience wants as well as building connections, so where’s the harm? Our advice would be to make friends, share info, be yourself and be helpful. Don’t auto-tweet- be genuine. Be original. Have fun. Don’t just spam followers with your mission statement or ‘special offers’- take time to chat to them, understand their needs and don’t be afraid to offer a little free advice or help if you can. You really do get what you give on these sites.