Let's talk about HR.

Absence management - sick leave is higher in some sectors than others but all the statistics tells us that a higher rate of attendance would positively affect the bottom line.  We can analyse absenteeism for you, benchmark your performance and make recommendations for improvements.

Attrition - this is also called staff turnover and the opposite of it is staff retention.  In some firms, it's a real problem and can have a significant impact on profitability. We can analyse this for you, benchmark your rates and make recommendations for improvement, introduce management initiatives like exit interviews and targets for reduction.

Benefits - this means bonuses, pensions, perks and fringe benefits and we can give you practical advice for competitive and attractive benefits programmes to meet your budget.

Contracts of employment - we can analyse your current contracts, carry out comparisons and introduce new, standard contracts where required.

Discipline and grievance - this means having the correct policy and procedure, and helping with disciplinary or grievance action where required.  We can assist with termination of employment, where required, but only if you have legal expenses insurance cover.

Employment matters - we're not employment lawyers, we're HR practitioners, so we cannot advise you on case law or specific, complex matters of the employee / employer contract.  However, we can give you general advice and guidance based on sound principles and at the very least, provide a sounding board for challenging issues.  We can also recommend good employment lawyers should you need them.

Induction - even small companies benefit from a structured programme of induction for new people and in regulated sectors, this is often a must.  So here, we'll build or manage the process for you, including checklists, induction schedules, competency assessments and new starter coordination.

Job Descriptions - they're part of good HR practice and simple to implement.  We can do it for you or provide the necessary templates to enable you to do it yourself.  Or you might want us to evaluate the ones you've got already and make some improvements, where required.

Motivation - here we can help specifically with improving morale and commitment through analysing motivation, making recommendations for action and, if you want us to, implementing them on your behalf.  All good for the bottom line!

Pay and reward - if you need some help with benchmarking salaries, if you're concerned about the fairness of wages, or if you're considering implementing a pay band or bonus system, this is where we come in.

Policies and Procedures - this can mean anything from creating a new staff handbook, implementing a new intranet, reviewing your existing policies, or creating a new set of procedures for you.

Rationalisation - this is another word for redundancy.  If you're facing the difficult prospect of needing to reduce your overheads then we will support you through this process and guide you on what you have to do and when you have to do it.  Please note, we only provide this service where you have legal expenses insurance.

Resource Planning - usually more relevant to SME businesses, we'll show you how to anticipate and plan for your people volume needs through a structured and systematic approach.  This gives you control over what you do and helps you to budget ahead for your people needs.

Recruitment and Selection - whether you need us to "top and tail" what you already do, or whether you want us to implement a new process, or manage a particular R&S project, it's all part of our recruitment and selection offering.