This is a sample of non-proprietary issues on people and business raised with the practice over the recent past:
Q. We are about to go through a reorganisation that will mean we need to let go about 10% of the workforce. I have to do this rapidly and don't have time to consult with staff. Business survival is at stake. Are there risks?
A. You can contain your risks, but not eliminate them, by having a redundancy package that is substantially more than the statutory minimum. This could mean, for example, paying out one month's salary per year of service, with a minimum of three months and a maximum of twelve months. You can also establish a voluntary redundancy policy first and make it potentially more attractive than compulsory terms. There are requirements to inform the DTI if your numbers cross certain thresholds. The risks of non-compliance are that if you do not treat your workforce as intelligent people with feelings - and ignore communication and consultation - then you end up with a tedious exchange of correspondence with solicitors and the threat of litigation. This can be almost as time consuming as the real thing. And expensive. It only takes one person to adopt this approach to throw your post-reorganisation activities off course.
Q. My company is planning to merge in about six months' time. I need to get the terms and conditions of NewCo in place fairly rapidly. What do I do?
A. Don't rush. You may find that working through your business plan and selecting the top team will take far longer than you think. (No reorganisation ever takes less time than you think.) It is possible - and increasingly common - to transfer your existing staff on their current terms and conditions, and then consult on the changes that may be needed in the future. Once you know who is in place and get everyone together, emotions are much more manageable.
Q. I need a new Personnel director urgently. The one I have at the moment is retiring a year early. I need a bright spark who can add value but fits in to the top team, and I want a headhunter who can help me find the right person immediately. If the new bloke is any good, he will make it to the Board. And of course I need a bloke given the sort of hours we work in this industry.
A. Wake up to the new century. Even having a discussion like this with a headhunter runs discriminatory risks, and you will find this approach causes problems when you come to selection. You do need to go through the essential routine with the headhunter of identifying the scope of the job and the person specification, just as you do for your other senior roles. I have seen organisations spend over a year in a fruitless search for a suitable top personnel person because they pride themselves on knowing instinctively when the right person walks through the door. This simply does not work. The most competent HR people I know, at or near the top of the business tree, would anyway never respond to vague calls from headhunters about wonderful opportunities.
Q. Why do you keep going on about cross-cultural understanding in business?
A. Because unless you recognise how different nationalities behave, you run into difficulties and fail to maximise your business potential. It's interesting that a major bank in its recent advertising points to cultural understanding as an advantage in its international client management. The same principle applies with your staff.
Q. With the prospects of economic recovery later this year, I need to boost my company's approach to training and development generally. My Board colleagues are really not too keen since they think it's a waste of money. What evidence is there that I can use to help persuade them? I would prefer not to use just IIP evidence.
A. Take a look at the publications prepared by the DTI; there is some good research on the impact of effective people on performance (www.dti.gov.uk). Employers' bodies too such as the CBI and IoD have relevant publications. Although the recent Sunday Times survey on the best 100 companies to work for is somewhat superficial, it also reflects the importance of training in companies making the grade.
Q. As the senior marketing manager, I need to start agreeing targets with my staff following on from the new business plan and in the lead up to the appraisal season. But my director doesn't seem to have time to agree my own targets. What do I do?
A. This happens in most companies. You just need to take the initiative yourself and prepare five or six key deliverables for the next six months in draft, and suggest to your boss that you will pass them to him as the basis for discussion at your next regular meeting. And if you don't have regular meetings, then send him an email to say this is what you intend to do; call him to see if he has any problems; and do it. Manage upwards by giving the boss some options he can choose from in no more than two of your potential deliverables if you think it would help. Most frantic directors are delighted when subordinates take initiatives like this.