021: HR and return to work - with Sarah McKee-Harris

<p>On today's episode, we’re chatting to HR and recruitment specialist Sarah McKee-Harris of Kingswood Group. Sarah specialises in the financial services and insurance industry in and outside of London. Sharing her insight into returning to work after the pandemic and the HR requirements that most businesses are facing today – we chat about what we can expect from HR professionals and how this might change the way in which HR functions operate within insurance based businesses.</p> <p>LEARNING OBJECTIVES:</p> <ul><li>We can expect that ‘people issues’ will arise from employees returning to work from both a physicality and mental health perspective and employers should be conscious on both aspects.</li> <li>As the government reassesses the furlough scheme and what that looks like in upcoming months, many businesses will need to reassess their workforce plan to support both the business and potential demand as businesses start to come back.</li> <li>It’s important for employers to operate a transparent and fair approach when communicating with employees about returning to work.</li> <li>Discrimination rules still apply.</li> <li>Employers should be considering the information and guidelines issued around health and safety and if they’re unsure on how to implement them – they should be seeking professional advice from a qualified health and safety consultant.</li> <li>Virtual meetings are popular amongst businesses now and can be a practical way forward to ‘ease in’ face to face meetings.</li> <li>If you’re not communicating effectively with your employees on the changes which are happening, changes won’t happen.</li> <li>Whenever you’re making decisions and changes, make sure you document and evidence where you got the guidance to make that change or decision.</li> </ul> <p>BEST MOMENTS:</p> <p>‘’…it's really about assessing who to bring back and how to bring them back if they are furloughed. Also, we'll see introducing at the end of this month, part time furlough so that just gives people a bit more fle