The Friday Tip - page 8

HR Calculators and Tools

10th December 2021

We now have a section of our website dedicated to HR calculators. These calculators are designed to help in a variety of different areas. For example there are calculators to work out what your staff turnover rate is, one to calculate an employee's leave entitlement, and another to calculate the Bradford factor.

In addition to this, there are also some online HR tools available in this section of the website. For example, there is a tool that will help you build an organisation chart, and another to help build a training matrix.

Click here to access the calculators (and tools): HR Calculators and Tools

Managing Carry Over

3rd December 2021

With the disruption caused by the pandemic, many employees have not been able to use all of their holiday allowance. As a result, the rules associated with the carryover of unused leave have been updated.

People Inc. provides functionality to manage the carry-over of unused leave. Settings within the holiday rules screen automate the carryover process. Note that when the maximum limit for the number of days carried over is changed, care should be taken to ensure that allowance from previous (unaffected) years are closed first.

Carry over can also be managed by adding entries to the additional leave screen within the system

Time & Attendance in 2022

26th November 2021

At around this time of year, customers who use the People Inc. time module need to think about setting their system set up for 2022.

• Shifts and shift-patterns need to be set up for the coming months (or perhaps for the whole of 2022). To save time, it is of course possible to copy the shift-pattern from 2021.
• Pay periods for 2022 need to be added to the system. There is a Wizard that makes this a quick and easy task. Pay period definitions are needed when extracting information for payroll (and are also used in reports).
• You will also need to take all of the steps required for at year end to manage absence. These steps have been detailed in the last 4 or 5 Friday Tips. More details on the steps taken at absence year-end are provided in this guide: Absence Year End

Christmas Shut-down

19th November 2021

It is commonplace for organisations to agree a shutdown period over the Christmas break or give employees an extra day off for 'Christmas shopping'. There are several ways to manage this within People Inc.

The additional days may (or may not) be deducted from holiday allowances. In both cases, the block-booking Wizard can be used to record the absence records. If the additional time is over-and-above regular leave allowances, it can be added using the Additional Leave feature, as a statutory holiday, or as regular bookings under a separate absence category.

More information about managing absence at year-end is available in this guide: Absence Year End

Staffing over the Festive Break

12th November 2021

People Inc. provides several ways to see who is providing cover over the Christmas and New Year period.

• There are two absence calendars available within the system. These show individual and team views of employee holidays.
• The ESS calendar tool shows shift patterns (People Inc. time), holiday bookings, and details of an other absence records.
• The People Inc. Employee Directory gives a day-to-day, colour-coded indication of availability for each member of staff.

More information about managing absence at year-end is available in this guide: Absence Year End

Absence Year-End

22nd October 2021

There are a number of important absence-related task that need to be scheduled at around this time of year. These include:

• A review of unused leave (to avoid a flood of bookings in December)
• Agree and communicate any changes to rules on carry-over of leave
• Add 2022 allowances and bank holidays (including Friday 3rd June)
• Manage shutdown and staff availability during the festive break
• Reconcile and close 2021 holiday allowances (and review carry over)

There are some additional things to think about if you use People Inc. time (our Time & Attendance module).

More information about this process: Absence Year End

Succession Planning

15th October 2021

Succession planning is a useful tool that can help to manage change within an organisation. It helps to minimise the impact when key staff move on, it helps when changes are needed within the organisation’s structure, and it is an effective way to motivate staff (as part of their career planning).

Ensuring that successors are identified for key roles within the organisation has several clear benefits. It will provide continuity by ensuring that a successor is available when individuals leave. It will make it possible to highlight shortcoming successors have (based on competency definitions). Planning for possible future roles with employees provides individuals with a goal and with motivation to develop themselves.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Talent Mapping

8th October 2021

Talent Mapping is used to identify and promote the skills, knowledge, experience, and qualifications (competencies) that will be required by an organisation to achieve both short-term and long-term goals. It identifies weaknesses within the current workforce and will help to nurture the talent the organisation will need in the future. It will also identify members of staff who are likely to be key to the development of the organisation.

Within a Talent Management program, particular focus is usually given to recruitment. Where the recruitment of staff is linked to a particular set of competencies, as time progresses and more employees join, the strength of these competencies across the workforce will increase.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Mentors and Shadowing

1st October 2021

Assigning a mentor is a powerful tool that can be used to help with staff development. A mentor can provide advice and guidance and look to develop particular skills. Where a mentor is needed to help develop a particular competency (or a mix of competencies), the People Inc. system can be used to identify staff who can become mentors.

In addition to working with a mentor, it may be beneficial to offer some employees the opportunity to shadow another member of staff (somebody working in a role they are interested in). Shadowing, even for a short period of time, can give an employee a much better understanding of the role and what it entails.

For more information about competencies, read this guide: Competency Management.

Career Planning

24th September 2021

Working with employees to devise a career plan can have a beneficial effect on motivation, focus and productivity. Agreeing a career plan with employees can help to retain staff and build a positive working environment. With a career plan in place, both the organisation and the individual can look to build their competencies to match those required for their next job.

Competencies can also be used to find possible future roles for employees. If an employee already has a number of the competencies required for a particular role, this could suggest it is a job they could do at some point in the future.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Training Needs

17th September 2021

Where the agreed approach to closing the skills gap is to provide training, details of these training needs can be recorded and managed within People Inc. Several tools are available within the system designed to ensure training needs are met. These include the training matrix plug-in, and the wizards designed to manage training in bulk.

Training needs can be managed from the perspective of the course (a list of delegates), or employee by employee (a personal development plan). When training needs have been met, the system automatically retains a full training history. Once again, this can be accesses by viewing a course, or by employee.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Skills Gap Analysis

10th September 2021

Having defined the competencies that a job requires, and having assessed employees working in that role, it is then possible to analyse the information to show the skills gap that exists. The gap might include competencies individuals do not possess (or for which they have not yet been assessed), or competencies they do have, but not at a sufficiently high level.

A skills gap analysis will give an indication of the areas where there is a shortfall in the level of competence. It will then be possible to put a plan in place to addresses this. The plan may include development activities, a reorganisation within the team, a change to some of the roles/responsibilities, or the recruitment of new staff.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Examples of Competencies

3rd September 2021

A competency framework might cover a variety of areas:

• Competencies aligned with the organisation’s current values and goals. These competencies will usually apply to all employees.
• Management or leadership competencies, for example, strategic awareness, supervising employees and project management.
• Role specific competencies that apply mainly to particular jobs (or categories of job) or a within the organisation.
• Technical competencies that define the expertise and knowledge associated with an activity, product or process.
• Competencies that relate to the strategic direction the organisation is taking. This can be used to help to build strength in these areas.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Managing Competencies

27th August 2021

It is possible to define a library of competencies and record details of competencies against individual employee records using the People Inc system. This is designed to provide the basis for a competency management programme. The management of competencies is an optional feature within People Inc.

Competency management can provide a range of benefits for both the individual and the organisation. It can be used to ensure that staff have the attributes needed to perform in their current role. Focus can be given to career planning and development using competencies. Competencies can also be used for talent mapping and succession planning.

For more information on competency management, click here.

Ideas and Suggestions

20th August 2021

There are many ways to engage with employees and encourage them to make more of a contribution at work. Inclusive organisations are always looking to improve communication with employees and help them feel they are part of the team.

Publishing forms using the Employee Self-Service module is an effective way to reach out to employees. An ideas and suggestions form will take no more than an hour to add to the People Inc. system. The form can then be completed from a PC or mobile phone, the entries reviewed and actioned, and feedback provided.

For more information on managing ideas and suggestions, click here.