January brings with it an opportunity for you to look back at the previous 12 months acknowledging your achievements and addressing opportunities. Use the time wisely to plan for 2012, reviewing and setting objectives for the coming year and to help you kick-start the process, here are some areas that you may want to consider:
Policies and Procedures
When were yours last updated? With never ending employment legislation coming through, your requirements may have changed and your policies should be reviewed on a regular basis. Do any of the recent changes affect you? Do you have a policy in place to cover the new legislation? Now is the time to review them.
Social Media
It’s everywhere, and as much as some of us may want to ignore it, you can’t overlook the potential impact on your business. For example, the more content you have on your Facebook page, the more likely you are to appear on top of search results. Is your company getting the maximum benefits from social media? What are your employees saying about your company via social media? Do you have a policy regarding the use of social media? Do you monitor social media to see what is being posted about the company? What liabilities need to be considered? This area continually evolves on a phenomenal basis and you may choose to ignore it at your peril....
Workplace Harassment
This past year seemed to bring a rise in Workplace Harassment issues with companies seeing an increase in harassment and discrimination complaints. Whether your company experienced this or not, it is important to evaluate whether you are in a position to deal with any potential issues that arise. Do you have a Harassment policy? When was it last updated? Has it been communicated to employees recently? When was the training conducted? So many companies think that these issues don’t happen to them, until they do. Taking positive steps will raise awareness amongst your employees and foster a positive work environment.
Training and Development
What does your training budget look like for next year? For many businesses, this is one of the first areas to be cut. As the economy stabilises, employees may be more inclined to change jobs. What are you doing to retain your talent? And with all the employment legislation coming through, are your managers prepared to deal with it confidently? There has never been a more important time to show your commitment to employees, by offering opportunities for learning and growth, before they head out the door.
Recognition
While the past few years have been tough on business, it has also been tough on employees, with more being asked of them as businesses have tightened their belts. How have you shown that you recognise and appreciate your employees? Budgets may still be tight but the New Year may be an opportunity to get creative by showing them how much they are valued.
HR Audit
Whatever you decide, identifying a strategic plan for the year ahead, or conducting a full HR Audit (something we can help you with), could help to ensure that some or all of your resolutions are met. Either way, it could be a New Year and a clean slate.
Finally, here is one New Year’s resolution that Empire will be able to make and keep: we will commit to providing the high-level level of support and advice to our clients throughout 2012, so should you require help with updating your policies and procedures, need advice on specific issues or assistance in the areas of Training or Health & Safety, do get in touch.
What New Year resolutions has your business undertaken this year? How important do you think the issues that we have outlined are to your business? Empire welcome all feedback and comments. Please visit our facebook page where we regularly hold discussions relating to the topics covered in our blog posts.
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