In April the Circle Housing Group invited contractors to bid for tenders on a new build social housing framework. The project is estimated to be worth £500 million directly, and could rise to something approaching £1billion overall for work in the London, South East and Anglia regions.

For the contractors that get taken on, however, a challenge exists. How best to save money and time in billing for work that is carried out?

When contracting, existing laws dictate that PAYE and NIC contributions are deducted in full, prior to direct payment. Agencies and clients thus require full invoicing for work carried out and this can only come as valid from a limited company.

This creates more heavy administrational work for contractors that run themselves as limited companies, and whose time is already precious, as well as creating issues for contractors who have not set-up their business practices as fully.

We asked whether setting up under an ‘umbrella’ company could help contractors to maximise these new business opportunities.

HR Aspects Magazine spoke with Mike Keeling, who is Senior Business Development Manager at Paymatters, a company that helps contractors manage their payroll and taxation issues.

He commented: ‘Undoubtedly contractors benefit at the outset in commanding higher hourly rates than other fixed contract employees. However, many seem unaware that managing their business can prove unwieldy without expert advice from accountants and legal professionals”.

Mike continued: “Paymatters offers, under one roof, a comprehensive Umbrella, Accountancy and CIS payroll service that eases tax and administrational worries. This service offers clear expensing advice so contractors are paid in full what they are owed, as well as providing a tried and tested invoicing and payment collection system that can rapidly improve cash flow.

He added: “Using the Umbrella service at Paymatters can save valuable time and effort, as well as easing the burden on over-worked contractors”.

PayMatters can be contacted on 01625 546610 or via mike.keeling@paymatters.co.uk

In January 2013, the Department for Work and Pensions reported that over the past three years, over one hundred employees were either disciplined or dismissed for misusing social media.

During the rise of social media, there have been numerous debates over whether social networks should be banned in the work place, if staff have a right to access them at work, or even if their usage can actually be a benefit to business.

Charlotte Gallagher, founder and managing director of P3 People Management, has been talking to Property Aspects about the pros and cons of social media and, more importantly, what to do if it’s misused.

“Social media usage in the work place is a very interesting debate and one that can only be decided on business-by-business basis. If your staff don’t need to use social media websites as part of their job, then you may want to consider blocking the sites altogether. This may seem harsh, as the staff may want to use these sites during lunch hour. Then again, most have it on their phone. Unfortunately many staff do spend working time on social media sites, so a ban may be a good idea.”

“However there are benefits in staff using social media for work purposes. LinkedIn, Twitter and yes, even Facebook can all help a business in terms of marketing and communications. But, that said, staff can sometimes abuse these sites.”

“The best way to deal with this is through prevention by implementing a Social Media Policy, and then communicating it to all employees. There should also be a section in your IT policy or handbook as a minimum on how the company manages social media use outside of work if it affects the company.”

Talking about some of the key points that should be addressed in a Social Media Policy, Charlotte stated: “We know that some people find Facebook very addictive, and this can lead to staff spending time on the site when they should be working. If staff are spending time during working hours, this is a conduct issue and should be dealt with informally or formally depending on the circumstances.

Staff also may spread gossip and post derogatory comments about the company or fellow employees on social media sites, as well as giving their personal opinion about the company’s products and services, which may damage the brand. This may again be a discipline issue, and should be covered in the policy.”

“Many social media users include a prominent disclaimer saying who they work for, but that they’re not speaking officially. This is good practice and should be encouraged. An example on twitter might be “Account Manager for X. Opinions expressed are my own.”

Concluding, Charlotte commented: “When drawing up a social media policy, ensure you always cover the standards expected, a note on privacy, a note on copyright law, confidential information, rules on mentioning the company on social media sites, and the consequences of failure to comply with the policy. This should help cover all the major bases.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher.

For more tips on managing staff holidays as an employee or employer, call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

As summer in Britain approaches, the yearly exodus away from the office looms large, as employers and employees alike prepare to take their holidays. However in this time business doesn’t stop, and a company’s smooth management and running throughout this period remains paramount.

After speaking to Property Aspects recently about what employers can do to manage staff holidays, Charlotte Gallagher, founder and managing director of P3 People Management, is back to discuss how employees can better manage their workload around holidays, and help keep the business running smoothly.

“The peak holiday season is fast approaching and employers are no doubt dreading the chaos that can occur when the office is operating with a near skeletal staff; tasks left undone, mail boxes overflowing, endless handover notes, and then the looming first day back when you’re faced with 600 urgent emails to answer. However, P3 is a strong advocate of the ‘holiday countdown’ plan that’s designed to, with a little careful planning and organisation, ensure that the last day in the office is relatively stress-free and the first day back is a breeze.”

“3 weeks to go. The trick is to plan ahead – you should email your employees to remind them that you’re going away. It might be on the office notice board but it may not have registered. Remind them not to book appointments for you and plan in time with them before you go when they can go through any issues they think may arise in your absence. Next, ensure that your diary is kept free for the day that you return as you’ll need the entire day to catch up on emails and to update with the team.”

“2 weeks to go. Follow up with clients on any ongoing project work to advise the dates that you’re away, and have a meeting with your team for each project you are working on to ensure that everyone knows the status of each task. This is also the time to list everything that needs to get done before you leave. Also make a note to review your first week back so that any preparation work can be done.”

“1 week to go. No doubt you’re getting excited, but at this stage you need to list anything that needs covering when you’re away and email it to the team so you have time to discuss and iron out any queries.”

“1 day to go. Remind everyone in the team that you are off from tomorrow and set up your out of office facility. Activate your mobile answer phone and leave your desk clear with a folder for post and messages to ensure that you arrive back to an organised desk. Once that’s done, the only task that’s left to do is to pack your suitcase and passport – happy holidays!”

I’ve actually trialled this system, and in the past the team have sometimes literally forced me into the taxi to the airport, but now everything is in order. I leave the office calm and serene and return to a tidy desk and a manageable workload.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher.

For more tips on managing staff holidays as an employee or employer, call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

Britain is a wonderful, multicultural place, and that’s reflected in workplaces up and down the country. But with different cultures brings different practices and traditions. Charlotte Gallagher, founder and managing director of P3 People Management, has been encouraging workplaces to embrace this rather than shy away.

Last year’s census revealed that one in eight UK citizens in England and Wales are born abroad, and also saw rises in various races and religions across the country. This was especially true in London, where it was revealed that one in three Londoners are born in a foreign country.

Charlotte believes that sooner or later, every workplace will have to take cultural diversity into account.

“As businesses expand in this modern, multicultural Britain, it simply becomes a matter of mathematics that, sooner or later, your workplace will include people of various faiths and races. Having a diverse workforce can bring your business many benefits, including different viewpoints, experience and skill sets. Managing religious diversity in the work place can be challenging, and if managed badly can have serious consequences, including a detrimental impact on productivity when conflict arises, or it can result in costly and time-consuming litigation at Tribunal.”

“Tolerance and acceptance of religious views in the work place is vital to ensure everyone has equal opportunities at work. Taking a proactive stance on preventing discrimination and encouraging diversity also helps to attract, motivate and retain staff, while enhancing your reputation as an employer.”

Speaking about how to manage diversity, Charlotte stated: “Consider adopting a zero-tolerance policy for breaches of internal policies. Employees need to know what is deemed to be unacceptable behaviour in the workplace so once provided with training on, and given time to read, the Company polices on Equality and Diversity, there should be no excuse for unacceptable behaviour towards employees from a different religious background.”

“Religion and belief is an emotive subject for some and clashes can cause a great deal of conflict in the workplace, especially where employees try to impose their belief systems on others unintentionally. It is vital to offer training to all employees, to encourage a culture of understanding and acceptance of others beliefs.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher.

For more tips on managing office diversity call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

With many companies downsizing and moving forward, there is becoming a growing need to ensure that the employees kept on board are not just satisfied, but also actively engaged with their work.

Ensuring the right, engaged people are on the staff, can effectively improve the profitability of a company, right from the off.

Studies have shown that engaged employees take fewer sick days and short-term absences, yield a lower staff turnover, and generate higher productivity through smarter working practices, leading to lower costs and reduced duplication of effort. It’s also shown that engaged employees help create higher sales and revenue growth through increased customer confidence and loyalty.

Charlotte Gallagher, founder and managing director of P3 People Management, is an expert on ‘employee engagement’, and has spoken to Property Aspects Magazine about how to gauge employees, while also warning that it should not be confused with ‘employee satisfaction’.

“Many companies try and implement an employee engagement project to see how committed and engaged their workforce is. The problem with many of these surveys is that the people designing the survey use questions that may sound good, many also just make the questions up, off the top of their head. But the questions have not stood up, under research. The surveys also often look like employee satisfaction surveys, which ask questions about pay and the parking facilities.”

“At P3 we use the “Q12” employee engagement survey, which is based on extensive research by the Gallup organisation. They argue that there are no great companies but there are great workgroups.

They established, after years of research, that the groups that had high employee retention, high customer service, high productivity and high profits, also had high levels of employee engagement, and they consistently answered “strongly agree” to certain questions.”

“After the survey we are able to determine who is engaged; working with passion and feeling a strong connection to the company, not-engaged; employees who are sleepwalking through their work day, or actively disengaged; Employees that aren’t just unhappy at work, they’re busy acting out their unhappiness.

Every day, the ‘actively disengaged’ undermine what their engaged co-workers accomplish. From this point we can then help build an action plan on how to get all employees engaged.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher.

For more on Q12 and how you can tackle employee engagement, call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

A study by Articles Base has reported that outsourcing HR is in its greatest level of demand for 75 years, since the business model was first created. This is because of the significant savings in time and money, outsourcing the HR process can now offer businesses, as well as other long-term benefits.

Charlotte Gallagher, the founder and managing director of P3 People Management, has noticed that a trend may be catching on for businesses – outsourcing is the way to go.

“The focus of outsourcing for clients is on flexibility, access to specialist knowledge, affordability, reducing risk, providing cost certainty, and using HR measures to increase profitability. This is achieved by building a strong working relationship with clients so we can support the in-house functions or use as stand-alone service.”

“Like any relationship, it needs nurturing and investment to get what you want out of it. Two key points to remember when considering outsourcing are to not view outsourcing as a way of getting rid of a problem, and don’t think that once something is outsourced it no longer needs managing. However the benefits are that the bulk of the management of HR is now in the hands of an expert who can help share the risk.”

The study showed that outsourcing HR could save up to 20% in employee benefits, 20% in worker’s compensation payouts, and up to 10% in standard HR functions, like compensation and payroll, which could result in annual savings of thousands, even after paying outsourcing fees. It was also reported that “HR activities that are essential but cannot be done differently from competitors are being outsourced to reduce costs and complexities of internal operations. Companies have seen expenses drop by as much as 20 percent or so by moving the administration and transactional tasks outside.”

“HR is something that needs handling with respect, so before businesses jump into outsourcing for the savings of time and money, and access to HR specific expertise, they need to consider a few things first. They need to understand what they currently get out of HR, select a partner that works to really understand them, establish a collaborative relationship with board-level support, and most importantly sign the contract but don’t abdicate responsibility.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution to this article from Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher.

For more details call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

Employees who are starting to repeatedly turn up for work late are possibly suffering from stress, either at home or in the workplace. Stress may not come from work, but can still have huge effect on work performance, and a decrease in punctuality is just one of the many signs that could show an employee is suffering.

The Health & Safety Executive reports that stress affects one in five of the working population, from the newest recruits right up to seasoned directors, and it costs UK employers £1.24 billion. Back in 2010, The Independent reported that stress was Britain’s ‘£26bn epidemic,’ stating the figure as the cost of treating mental illness to employers each year. There have been no reports to show this has improved since.

Charlotte Gallagher, Managing Director of P3 People Management, has been on hand to explain some of the signs of stress, and how to deal with it.

Charlotte stated: “It’s vital that members of an organisation, from employees right up to directors, are consistently vigilant to the possibility of stress. It’s understandably difficult to gauge, as everybody reacts to stress in different ways thus leading to different coping strategies. However we have the tools and the know-how to be able to spot stress and deal with it efficiently.”

“Colleagues, peers, employees; whatever your relationship is to the person is irrelevant, if they show signs of a dip in performance and punctuality, or perhaps display mood swings, or show more anxiety than before, then they may be suffering from stress. Furthermore, solutions needn’t be costly or overcomplicated. Sometimes it’s just offering more flexible working hours as an employee, or providing a support network as a colleague.”

She concluded: “P3 has an eight-point plan for managing stress in the workplace, and sometimes addressing one or more of these points can help make a notable, difference. The points are to educate managers to be aware of common causes of stress, create a supportive culture, examine working practices, tackle excessive workloads, manage working hours, provide support and training, encourage two-way communication, and to prevent bullying.”

Email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk for a complimentary copy of the eight-point plan.

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher. For more details call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

When staff members make poor decisions, a lack of training or negligence are usually first on the list of causes. However, employers are quick to overlook the UK’s biggest cause of illness: stress.

According to Skills You Need, “It is important to tackle the causes of stress in the workplace as it can lead to problems for the individual, working relationships and the overall working environment.” The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reports that stress is the biggest cause of sickness in the UK, also reporting that over 105 million days are lost to stress each year.

The HSE also issued a guide entitled Tackling stress: The Management Standards Approach (2005), which outlines six areas of the workplace that should be monitored to assess stress levels: Demands, Control, Support, Relationships, Role and Change.

Charlotte Gallagher, Managing Director of P3 People Management, spoke to Property Aspects about the key signs of stress and what to do when it’s spotted.

“Companies across all sectors are seeing a huge increase of stress-related issues as a result of the continuing economic pressure and it’s a problem that employers really need to start tackling with strong support. Solutions needn’t be costly or require major changes – it may simply be allowing more flexible working hours, providing a designated “quiet room”, or setting up a buddy/mentoring scheme to give staff support.”

She continued: “Stress affects people in a variety of ways and should not be underestimated. Some of the key symptoms that employers should be aware of are headaches or migraines, insomnia, muscle tension, mood swings, anxiety and depression. Ways of coping with stress will vary between people, but sometimes a balanced diet, positive thinking and regular exercise can help. However self discipline when stressed can be difficult, and often social support or counselling may be the best medicine.”

Concluding, she stated: “Over 105 millions days lost to stress is a maddening figure considering we have the tools to deal with it. Sometimes it is as simple as taking someone to one side and asking how they are doing. How hard is that?”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher. For more details call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk

“Too much of the working week is lost to managing HR,” according to HR specialist Charlotte Gallagher.

The founder and Managing Director of P3 People Management has been speaking to Property Aspects about why many firms try to keep HR in-house, and why that might be the wrong call.

A report from Articles Base highlighted that regardless of the size of your firm, HR will form some of the core duties of running your business, such as payroll, training and employee benefits administration. They go on to report that most owners, CEO’s or MD’s of smaller businesses will try and handle HR themselves, believing that it will save them on outsourcing costs.

The reality is these added duties eat up 25% of their time, leading to a difficult juggling act of the different jobs, and leading the company to be less cost effective.

Charlotte Gallagher was on-hand to expand upon the study, believing that people underestimate the value of having a HR expert on their side, while overestimating the costs.

She stated: “At a time when businesses are under intense pressure, more and more companies should look to outsourcing their human resource function – whether it’s larger companies looking to cut the costs of an in-house team or smaller businesses that need help navigating through these difficult times when dealing with the likes of restructuring, redundancies, change of management, and all sorts of other issues that the economic crisis may have brought to the fore.”

“Each business’ requirements will vary considerably dependent upon their needs, from outsourcing virtually all HR processes to selecting specific components such as payroll, recruitment or training. However the benefits of outsourcing are clear, such as the gift of more time by removing mundane tasks from your workload, or making the business more cost effective.”

She concluded: “While there are many competent people in-house who could handle HR, it’s not always straightforward. The mishandling of a situation could lead to Tribunal claims and disputes that can cost time and money. Having a devoted expert at the helm could save thousands in the long run, while making immediate cuts to areas like benefits or base HR functions like admin or payroll.”

P3’s team of HR consultants have experience in the property and construction sector. Property Aspects Magazine appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher to this article. For help with HR matters call 0161 493 1963 or email info@p3pm.co.ukcharlotte@p3pm.co.uk

Charlotte Gallagher of P3 People Management has been talking to Property Aspects Magazine about why stress should still be a concern to employers who reside over a relatively low impact, stress free workplace.

Stress may not come from work itself, but can still have huge effect on work performance, and various signs, from an increase in absence to making poor decisions, could show an employee, or indeed a workforce, is suffering.

Last year the Daily Mail reported that stress is the most common reason for a worker being signed off long-term sick, with experts calling it the ‘21st century equivalent of the Black Death’. According to the CIPD, last year also saw stress become the number one cause of work-related absence for the first time in both public and private sectors.

Charlotte Gallagher was on-hand to discuss how to handle stress in a workplace, even if the workplace itself is not the cause of the stress.

She commented: “Managers need to be consistently vigilant to the possibility of employee stress, since every individual is different in terms of coping strategies. An organisation that is free from complaints is not necessarily one in which no stress problems exist.”

Charlotte continued: “This is a possibility because few employees will admit to stress because they may feel embarrassed about it, or fear that they will be perceived by management as weak or incompetent. It’s key for managers to be educated about the common causes of workplace stress, such as over-long working hours, excessive workloads, lack of support or training, or fear of isolation.”

She concluded: “The most important thing is to create a culture that is supportive, so employees feel able to speak openly about stress, and where asking for help is not seen as a sign of weakness. Having a manager or supervisor that can support an employee means that the employee will suffer fewer negative effects. This way a supportive manager can “buffer” the impact of work stresses, as can the support of peers and colleagues.”

P3’s team of HR consultants boast a collective experience of over 55 years. Property Aspects appreciates the contribution of their Founder and Managing Director Charlotte Gallagher. For more details call 0161 941 2426 or email charlotte@p3pm.co.uk