RLT Associates

Personnel Advisers

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Q. How do I keep up with all the practical issues happening on the employment front? All this Equal Opportunities stuff is clearly political. It has no link to reality.

A. The practical impact of legislation has to be tested through the courts, and you are right that in some instances the impact is modified over time: in the UK we have just had recent legislation on age discrimination, however, that do reflect fundamental changes in society. And if you are a manager in your 30s or 40s, then the expectations of your 18 year old recruits on the one hand and your 60 year old stalwarts on the other are going to be quite different from yours. And if you don't get them on side, you are heading for trouble eventually.

Q. I'd really like to start up some management training this year, but we're on a pretty tight budget. How can I justify the cost?

A. Most managers will agree with the proposition that staff are their greatest asset. So it makes good business sense to maximise their usefulness to your organisation. In fact, if you think about the hidden costs of underperformance, replacing unsuccessful hires, and waiting for replacements to move up the learning curve, the money you spend on your key people is probably the best investment you could make. A tailor-made approach that meets your business needs may be more cost effective than a fortnight at a business school.

Q. When you take away the jargon, isn't this Personnel stuff all just common sense?

A. Not really. What one person thinks is the obvious, common-sense solution may strike his colleagues as totally impracticable. Good personnel practitioners and advisers with a sound business grounding can offer solutions that work, based on real experience of similar problems.

As for jargon, we try to avoid it - though personnel specialists, like the lawyer or accountant, should be allowed a few technical terms.

Q. If we offer our staff training, won't they just take advantage of it and then move on elsewhere?

A. In practice this rarely happens if the training is properly integrated into a good development plan and based on appraisal discussions. The best way to avoid expensive premature exits is to make your staff feel that you are genuinely interested in developing their skills and offering them opportunities to build their careers within your organisation. That's why firms which have good personnel policies have such a low turnover of staff.

Q. What about our own Personnel Director? If we buy in external help, won't she think she isn't trusted to do her job properly?

A. I have been a Personnel dierctor in the past and am used to hiring consultants, either for short-term input or for a particularly sensitive area where using outside help was a positive advantage. Having sat on both sides of the desk, it's clear how important it is to build up good relationships with in-house personnel departments. These functions are often under-resourced and appreciate the extra help.

Q. Why is avoiding litigation so important?

A. Disgruntled staff taking an organisation to a Tribunal can cost the employer three or four times the settlement or the award in real terms - mainly in management time - as well as hostile press comment that can cause reputational risk. We have worked with clients managing a defence project where the case consumed management time for a year. However, we saved even more time and cost by organising this effectively and liaising with the lawyers as required.

Q. I would prefer going on a training course to having management coaching. Coaching seems threatening.

A. Much depends on the needs analysis. It is essential this is done. Our experience of delivering and evaluating both kinds of training shows that you need to choose coaching with care. Occasionally, a senior executive expects a coach to effect a major change immediately. This is unlikely to happen, but we have found that one to one coaching based on practical business needs can substantially increased commitment and productivity.