Dear Subscriber,

After a short break due to 3ft of snow and the festive period – we return to our normal monthly update – I hope we’ve been missed!

The new decade has started with something of a bang already for all involved with Exclusive Human Resources as we launched the new branding for our four sub brands, something I’m excited to share with you.

For nearly three years now, the umbrella brand "(e)" has become synonymous with quality, efficiency, and a bespoke service. Our design team have used this symbol to unite the four sub brands to give us: (e) HR Recruitment Services, (e) HR Consultancy Services, (e) Leadership & Management Development and (e) Employee Communication Services which reflect the strategic positioning of Exclusive Human Resources as an all-encompassing HR service provider.

The integrated brand identity is being implemented throughout the company – starting with snippets of it on this very newsletter and our website in March.

We’ve also been very busy on the events front – organising our first annual joint employment law update with Eversheds in which we welcomed over 100 HR & business professionals to St James Park. It was a very informative event with excellent networking opportunities - despite the snow outside it was still a resounding success.

We follow up this partnership with yet another joint event with Eversheds – this time a breakfast briefing with the UK Border Agency: ‘Employing migrant workers'. It’s a free event taking place on March 3rd – your invite will be with you next week – keep an eye on your email as places will go very quickly.

Another date for your diary is February 22nd when the Entrepreneurs Forum (supported by Exclusive Human Resources) host ‘Chance for Change’ at Newcastle Civic Centre. If you know people who have been made redundant or are under threat of redundancy – then this event is a must for them. Please direct them to register here.

And finally – due to our continued growth I’m delighted to say we are looking to expand our team – please check out our website for more details by clicking here.

We look forward to working with you in 2010.

Mark Ions - Managing Director

Q: I have been asked to analysis the current total staff cost to the business, what would you advise?

A: Just as any manager should be familiar with the costs that make up their product or service, HR people should understand the cost of people to the business and the area that they support. In addition to this HR will really benefit if it knows the key ratios between the component parts of the salary and benefits bill which makes up the total staff costs. If one area of the business wants to increase its headcount, this information will help you to be in a position where you can advise on the impact to the budget in terms of the level of employee benefits and salary that would be required to implement it.

When putting packages together there will often be a level of management where the benefits package increases - sometimes dramatically. Executive pension schemes, healthcare or car allowances may be made available. Decisions to hire people at a certain level versus hiring more than one person at a different level will, therefore, be informed by these factors.

HR business partners can also benefit from understanding their competitors' ratios in terms of employment packages cost. If you understand competitors' staff costs and their ratio of salaries versus bonus pay, or cash pay versus benefits, you will be able to ensure your packages are competitive and appealing to the staff you'd like to attract.

All of this information will enable you to strategically engage the line managers in sensible conversations about the degree of cost that special requests might have, or the impact of their plans on their staffing budget over and above salary costs.

When entering pay discussions with employers or negotiating with new hirers HR need to make employees more aware of the benefits they receive. If employers are to be genuinely valued by staff, then employees need to understand the scale of investment being made on their behalf. An organisation I used to work for published every year a Salary and Benefits breakdown document for every employee which catalogued the cost of the benefit to the business and the financial benefit to the employee giving a grand figure at the end. It made very enlightening reading for the employee and was a positive motivational tool for the business.

Employee benefits include non-wage compensations given in addition to salaries such as private medical and life insurance, disability income protection, holiday and pensions. Typically, where an employee earns £26,000 a year, a sum equivalent to 21% of their salary is spent on benefits. Similarly, where an employee receives £60,000, a further 39% is spent on benefits.

To discuss your HR consultancy requirements with Fiona Ward or one of our HR Consultancy Services team, please call 0191 2155400/0113 2430 900 or email consultancy@exclusivehr.com

This month we are switching our attention to the manufacturing sector. After a difficult year in 2009, some positive stories have started to emerge from the manufacturing sector in the North of England. The announcement this week by Nissan of the creating of hundreds of new jobs in the North East, coinciding with the launch of their new vehicle to be produced in Washington was a real good news story and will hopefully be the first of many for the year ahead.

The manufacturing environment offers unique challenges for HR and historically pay and reward within the HR department is historically slightly higher than in other industry sectors.

Certainly, this is borne out with the data included in our comprehensive salary survey. Before we go any further, it is worth mentioning that the Winter 2009/2010 survey is still AVAILABLE NOW free of charge and we are delighted with the feedback we have received from clients on this valuable resource.

From our survey, we found average salaries in manufacturing organisations to be as follows:

HR Administrator £14,500
HR Assistant £16,300
HR Officer £21,700
HR Advisor £22,300
HR Manager £36,600
HR Business Partner £42,800
HR Director £62,000

To receive a free e-copy, please e-mail our Senior Consultant Gareth Harrison at recruitment@exclusivehr.com or call 0191 2155 400/0113 2430 900.

Performance Management, The Olympic Way

How do athletes become truly World Class? Are they born or are they made?

There is no doubt that there has to be some underlying talent, but in my experience of working with World Class athletes for almost 15 years, they are made!

So how do you make a World Class athlete? You obviously need hard work and dedication, but that is not enough. The vast majority of athletes have that and not all become World Class. The defining factor often is FOCUS. The very best know exactly what they need to do and they optimise every available second they have. They also have very exacting standards and are incredibly disciplined at measuring their progress.

In short, they have a very simple, yet highly effective performance management system which helps to guide them. 

We are looking to run a series of workshops throughout the year focussing on 'Performance Management, the Olympic Way' and other key business areas. To register your early interest in these unique learning opportunites and to find out more - please email leadership@exclusivehr.com.

Stigma Damages in Claims of Discrimination

It has been the case for the past 12 years that in a claim of unfair dismissal, an employee can be awarded compensation for the stigma caused by their employer’s unlawful conduct (Malik v Bank of Credit and Commerce International). That principle has now been extended to claims of discrimination.

In Chagger v Abbey National plc and anor, Mr Chagger was made redundant by Abbey National in circumstances which the employment tribunal held amounted to race discrimination (amongst other things). At the remedies hearing, Mr Chagger presented evidence of his extensive attempts to find similar work and claimed that his failure to do so was caused by the stigma of having brought a discrimination claim against Abbey National. The employment tribunal made an award of £2,794,962.27, which included future loss based on the assessment that Mr Chagger would never work in the financial services industry again. Abbey National appealed against both liability and remedy.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) dismissed the liability appeal but upheld Abbey National’s challenge to the compensation award. The EAT held that stigma loss was the result of third party conduct for which Abbey National could not be liable. Furthermore, EAT believed that the employment tribunal should have considered making a reduction to the compensation to reflect the chance that Mr Chagger would have been dismissed in any event absent any discrimination. The amount of loss actually resulting from the dismissal was remitted for the employment tribunal to reconsider. Mr Chagger appealed.

Abbey National argued that it should not be held liable for the discriminatory conduct of third parties who refused to employ Mr Chagger due to the stigma of his claim. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument. Employees who suffered a stigma when searching for a new job as a result of having brought a discrimination claim against a previous employer are entitled to be compensated for that loss by that employer. However, the Court considered that such loss would not ordinarily need to be considered as a separate head of loss; it would be a factor to be taken into account when assessing how long the claimant would remain out of work. An employment tribunal would only award specific compensation based on stigma loss where it was the only head of future loss. This could occur, for example, where an employment tribunal finds that a claimant would definitely have been dismissed even if there had been no discrimination.

Written exclusively for 'HR News & Views' by Barry Hutchinson, Employment Law Solicitor. Exclusive Human Resources' HR Consultancy Services team works in partnership with Gordon Brown Associates for all complex legal matters.

For more information on protecting your company - please either call 0191 2155 400/0113 2430 900 or email consultancy@exclusivehr.com.

No matter how effective your company might be in the management of its Human Resources operation, this effort might be wasted if you haven’t mastered the art of communicating with your staff. This communication can take many forms, from an email newsletter to a corporate intranet or simple staff noticeboard, but it can be hugely beneficial to productivity, morale and, ultimately, the bottom line.

As your organisation’s single most important asset, it is never a good thing to keep your workforce in the dark, regardless of whether the news is positive or negative. Anyone who depends on you for their livelihood has a right to know how they and the wider business are performing. It’s not about giving away confidential information; you simply need keep them in the loop and make them feel that they’re an integral part of the team.

Whether news is positive or negative, it should be communicated effectively. Larger companies in particular should have a written policy on the dissemination of information to their staff. If you have good news, it’s good to share it, but make sure you do it in a controlled way and in your own time. If it’s bad news, you should decide quickly when to share it with the staff and how much depth you should go into; if you keep it quiet, rumours are bound to leak out, causing uncertainty and potential bad feeling.

Internal communications channels take many forms and will largely depend on the size of your company and the business sector you’re in. A simple format is a monthly or fortnightly newsletter in electronic or printed form. You can use this to let employees know what other departments are doing, promote new training programmes and share news about the company. If you have an intranet, you can also publish news stories on there.

Where bad news is about to emerge involving job cuts, the loss of a major contract, site closures or other negative issues, planning is the key. Work with your HR team, senior management and communications team to produce a plan and ensure that you let your staff know before the media finds out. Also have letters to staff prepared and remember to keep those in other parts of the company informed, especially if they may fear for their own positions.

Internal communications is not rocket science. If you’re willing to be open with your employees, share the joy and not sweep bad news under the carpet, you will see the benefit. Find a communications adviser who you can trust and ask for their advice early in the process. You will see the benefit in the performance and attitude of your staff.

To speak with Rob Lawson our Employee Communications expert - please call 0191 2155 400/0113 2430 900 or email communication@exclusivehr.com.

To celebrate the launch of our new branding - we are offering the following exclusive offers to readers of our (e) newsletter during February:

15% off all HR Recruitment via our Recruitment Services Division.

10% off all HR Consultancy and HR Outsourcing products via our HR Consultancy Services Division.

10% off all course via our Leadership & Management Development Division

15% off all internal communications and ballot & election services via our Employee Communication Services Division.

Please quote reference 'Newsletter' to receive the appropriate discount.

Due to launch in March - we will be launching a Professional & Executive Support service aimed at career coaching, CV building, interview techniques and ongoing support. To register your early interest in this service and to find out more please email recruitment@exclusivehr.com.