Business of The Day 16/04/2020

Today we have our very own HR support service for our members. S Potter Talent Ltd offer our members Human Resource support internally here at The Trusted Business Community. The two ladies who are behind this support service are Sue Potter and Karen D Phillips.

Not only are they a support internally for our members to go to when they need advice here in Essex, but they also work with many businesses across the region as an outsourced support service for all industry sectors.

I asked both ladies a few questions yesterday that I thought would be worth sharing, as their answers are not just interesting, but poignant at this time and worth sharing for other businesses to see how they see the months ahead.....

Q1 What was the passion behind starting your business?

To run a consultancy with a vision to create learning cultures within business, and a mission to motivate, inspire and empower people to do things they never thought were possible, whilst developing and streamlining leadership systems and processes, facilitating learning for managers and leaders, enabling them to better manage their people.

Q2 What has been your biggest challenge to date?

The change in working environment, from always working in a busy corporate environment to being my own boss and working from home. Routine, planning and social interaction within our profession peer groups are the keys to my survival!

Q3 What measures have you put in place for both you and the businesses that you assist since COVID-19 has been an issue?

Moving to the 'virtual' world, and having Zoom and Microsoft Teams as my new best friends! Thinking out of the box and looking at innovative ways to get the outcome required, for example, we were due to run a career open day at a client's premises, so instead we changed it to a 'virtual' career day, where they were still given the opportunity to hear about the opportunities being offered, talk to current apprentices to find out what the apprenticeship programme is like, speak to team members to find out what it is like working there and instead of a tour around the premises we played a film of a tour around the site. Attendees were still given the opportunity of speaking to 'real' people and asking them whatever they wanted.

Q4 How do you see businesses being effected during the lockdown?

Money! Sorry to be crude but money coming in versus money going out is going to be an issue regardless of the size of the company. Whilst the government is offering as much help as it can, there are still a lot of gaps which will cause a lot of companies issues, for example the apprenticeship levy is not being suspended and levy payers are still paying their monthly amounts.

One of my biggest concerns is the way the job retention scheme (furlough) is being carried out by companies. Normal redundancies processes must be adhered to ensuring employees, unless otherwise stated in their contract of employments, are going through a formal consultation period, and a fair process for furloughing an employee is being followed, with written confirmation. Failure to comply with this will see an increase in employee relation issues once we are through this period.

When we come out of the other side of the current situation, I envisage changes in recruitment as there will potentially be a more diverse pool of candidates with a wide range of skills. Businesses and organisations should review their recruitment to gain the maximum benefit from this.

Q5 What can you offer SME's both now and in the coming months?

We have adapted our training sessions to be run via Zoom, topics range from Covid-19, human resources know how, management and leadership skills, presentation and communication skills, health and wellbeing including a one hour session on domestic abuse and coronavirus - the toxic mix which we are running this month.

In addition to our training sessions, we offer full human resources, learning and development and apprenticeship scheme management, primarily focusing on 'life after covid-19' to ensure businesses are ready to reintroduce employees back into the workplace and look at how flexible working can work for them in the future, for example working at home options.

Q6 How will you implement what you have learned because of COVID-19 and what adjustments will you take forward when this is all over?

Having an open mind, being proactive, agile, adaptable, positive, staying focused and flexible has always been very important to us, but during Covid-19, it has become very clear, this is where our strengths lie along with our expertise and knowledge of the HR environment.

We will still offer on line training sessions, but will also revert back to offering classroom based session as well to ensure we cater to everyone's needs. It has made us more determined to put the human back into HR!

Some really honest and direct answers there!

These ladies are here for anyone in business, whether just starting out, expanding or a business looking to embrace change or support from an outsourced HR Service.

For a full list of services and contact information please visit the link below that takes you straight to their Profile Page in our Directory.

https://trustedbusinesscommunity.com/…/s-potter-talent-lim…/

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