Employing staff can be a minefield so start this relationship off on a sound footing that ensures a clear understanding of rules and responsibilities.

This helps to minimise any misunderstandings about your expectations and gives you a formal reference point should problems arise. The law requires you to issue each employee with a Written Statement of Employment Particulars, often referred to as a contract. But your contract will have been formed much earlier by your letter of appointment or verbal offer.

The Contract of Employment that will be most helpful to your organisation is one that has been specifically developed to reflect your policies and values. We can provide you with a bespoke contract that will give you flexibility and secure commitment from your employees.

• Be clear about your expectations of employees
• Set boundaries for behaviour

Whether occasional or recurring, problems with employees should be managed consistently, fairly and legally to help reduce them and minimise risk.

It is a legal obligation to have a disciplinary and grievance procedure in place. It can be helpful to have other policies and procedures that enable you to set expectations about the standards and behaviours you expect from your employees. Clearly defined policies can help to reduce the incidence of problems and make them easier to resolve should they occur.

Whether you are facing on-going problems with issues such as sickness absence or poor performance or simply want to ensure you manage your employees in a consistent way, OMS can help you put in place logical procedures that reflect the way your organisation operates and its values.

• Set expectations and standards you expect
• Ensure your policies are fair and consistent

An organisation that takes equality and diversity seriously is one that sees many benefits beyond simple compliance with equality legislation.

A diverse workforce attracts a more diverse client base and sees higher customer satisfaction rates. A broader range of experience and different ways of thinking will foster innovation. Better employee relations mean higher levels of staff satisfaction and make your organisation an employer of choice enabling you to recruit and retain the best people.

OMS can work with you to develop frameworks, policies, tool kits and management training that will support your commitment to equality and diversity. All will be tailored to you culture, industry sector and management ethos enabling you to get the best from your employees.

• Improve employee satisfaction
• Increase innovation levels

The TUPE, or Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment), regulations present unique challenges in the transfer of employees from one organisation to another.

TUPE regulations can come into effect in the merger of two organisations, business acquisition or where the provider of service changes. The regulations can be complex and expert support is advisable. A smooth transition is important for employers and for the employees to minimise disruption and maintain morale.

OMS offers a full support package which will identify when and if TUPE applies and supports your organisation through the due diligence process, consultation with trade unions, communicating with employees as well as verifying existing terms and conditions and proposing ways of harmonising them. We can offer specific expertise on local government, and two-tier implications.

• Ensure the TUPE process runs smoothly
• Keep disruption to a minimum

Any organisation experiencing change must manage the process effectively to ensure the commitment of their employees and avoid engrained resistance to change.

If your organisation is changing to innovate or alter its strategic direction, then changing the behaviour will be necessary to ensure your success. If the change will have a negative impact on some of your workforce then you need to maintain both morale and productivity. Where a change affects employment you must handle this in a way that is fair and legally compliant.

Our Change Managers can provide you with advice and support through tried and tested methods of managing transitions, coaching, consultation and negotiation as well as designing retention and bonus schemes to ensure your best talent stays with you.

• Support employees affected by change
• Ensure that change is managed smoothly

An Industrial Relations Strategy will help you to develop more productive and constructive relationships with trade unions and employee representatives.

Your Industrial Relations Strategy will enable you to negotiate more effectively with trade unions and employee forums and to manage multiple employee interest groups. It can be the basis of a less adversarial culture based on partnership working and positive relationships with trade unions.

As well as developing your strategy, OMS can manage the process of trade union recognition including defining the scope of recognition, running a recognition ballot and defining the bargaining unit. If you have inherited a trade union agreement under a TUPE arrangement we can assist you with managing this potentially complex situation. We can support you with pay negotiations, collective redundancy and resolving disputes.

• Develop better employee relations
• Negotiate more effectively with trade unions

A structured approach to employee management and development will enhance their performance and that of your organisation.

To win the ‘war for talent’ a strategic approach will help you to attract and retain the best. Your strategy should include competency frameworks that underpin your training and learning initiatives. Succession planning and career planning will identify key individuals or roles where you can retain talent, enhance performance and reduce the risk to your organisation.

OMS can help you to put in place the necessary frameworks, improve employee engagement through surveys, forums and trade union consultation, and set up development centres to use psychometric and other diagnostic tools to identify and support emerging talent. Our executive coaches are ideal for supporting new managers or those facing new challenges.

• Develop a strategy for managing talent
• Attract the best to work for you

Retaining your best talent is vital for a successful organisation. After all, they are the people most likely to be tempted away by another employer.

Apart from losing their knowledge and experience, quite possibly to your competitors, you will incur costs of recruiting and training replacements. Remaining employees can become more inclined to move on and you lose consistency in serving your customers.

You have more power to keep these employees than you realise. ‘Push factors’ such as dissatisfaction in a current role are significant factors in many resignations and can be avoided with the right approach. OMS can help you identify the issues that affect your employee turnover and implement a strategy that will keep your workforce engaged, motivated and developed in their roles.

• Retain and develop your best people
• Make the most of their experience and knowledge

If your Human Resources practices have evolved over time there may be areas which expose you to risk which you need to resolve. It’s important to support your business plan with an HR strategy designed to meet your goals.

You might have specific areas of concern such as staff turnover or sickness levels or you might just not know what you don’t know. An effective Human Resources Strategy will enable you to define your people’s challenges and key priorities within the context of broader organisational objectives. It will help you to develop a service excellence culture focused on your customers as well as make your workplace attractive to the best employees.

Our experienced Human Resources Consultants will work with your senior executives to create an effective Human Resources strategy. We can help with a ‘desktop review’ or a more in-depth approach including interviews and focus groups. You will receive a comprehensive report outlining our findings, identifying any gaps and recommending areas that need attention.

• Review policies and procedures and priorities.
• Develop practices and systems

Social responsibility and environmental sustainability are increasingly sought after by clients, investors, employees and other stakeholders.

Clearly defined social responsibility policies and initiatives ensure that you can demonstrate your ethical credentials and commitment to addressing growing demands of social, economic and environmental protection. In a competitive marketplace, they can give your organisation a clear advantage.

Every business is different so your social responsibility initiatives need to reflect your reputational, ethical, branding and commercial drivers, as well as satisfy the requirements of your stakeholders. Through a bespoke service, OMS will ensure that your social responsibility values are embedded throughout your business, that your Health and Safety good practise supports your social responsibility framework and that you can report on the performance of your initiatives.

• Demonstrate your ethical credentials
• Engage with the local community

If you win business through a tender process you will need to demonstrate your compliance with some stringent client requirements.

Local Authorities, central Government and many larger companies require suppliers to go through rigorous pre-qualification and tender processes either directly with them or through verifying organisations such as EXOR and Tiva. They look for structured policies and systems on human resources, equality and diversity, environmental management and social responsibility.

OMS can help you in completing these crucial sections of pre-qualification questionnaires and tender documents to ensure that you can provide the level of information the client seeks. If necessary we can draft any policies and procedures that you currently lack or we can provide guidance and support on your existing documents to ensure they meet the necessary standards.

• Increase your chances of winning tenders
• Develop the necessary policies to meet client demands

The Investors in People award shows your commitment to developing your people and creating a great place to work.

The Investors in People award shows your commitment to developing your people and creating a great place to work. Suitable for organisations in any sector, Investors in People is a sign that yours performs to excellent standards. Organisations working with Investors in People see increased efficiency and productivity as well as more engaged employees. The more profitable, more sustainable and more optimistic about the future.

Our consultants will support you through the process of Investors in People accreditation, drawing on their knowledge and experience in training and Human Resource practices. The assessment process will give you practical recommendations enabling you to improve your performance and build a culture based on the excellence of your people.

• Benchmark your performance against the standard
• Compare year on year performance