While most companies put a great deal of effort into their recruitment and onboarding process, the offboarding process can be just as important in the employee lifecycle.  Taking the time to ensure a detailed handover, return of equipment and resources, processing final payments, conducting exit interviews and communicating the departure to the wider community, each have their own advantages for the business.

Holding a friendly and honest discussion with an exiting employee can produce a great deal of information regarding areas where the business excels and also areas for a focussed improvement.

It can be tough where naturally you may wish to avoid what will possibly be an uncomfortable discussion, especially if the manager has taken a resignation personally, however the insights gained from why a new opportunity is considered a better option than staying, far outweighs the awkwardness. Remember, it is a normal part of leadership to have employees come and go. The difference is how you choose to handle this.

There are many questions that can assist in having an exiting employee open up about their considerations for leaving such as, “What are the things your new role/employer has to offer that attracted you to that position?” rather than “where do you think we can improve”.  The first question prompts a thought process from the employee that will possibly provide the answers to the second question but in a less awkward way.

In addition to exit interviews, taking the time to detail a very clear handover of tasks/responsibilities with timelines attached, will assist in ensuring ‘no stone is left unturned’.  One of the best ways to develop the handover is to sit with the employee with their position description and ask in addition to the requirements within their written PD, what else do they do that would require handover.  Hold check-ins with the exiting employee and those they are handing over to during the notice period to ensure the handover is on track.

Making the offboarding process streamlined and providing an opportunity for communicating the value you place in the efforts from that employee, will only assist in them speaking positively and recommending your business as a great place to work.  It also increases the chance that a great employee may consider returning to your business at some point in the future.

Should you invest no time in ensuring the offboarding process is treated at the level of importance you place on onboarding, your exiting employees will not advocate for your business, nor would they consider returning.

For assistance with developing your offboarding process or should you require support regarding any HR matter, please contact the team at HR Advice Online at advice@stg.hradviceonline.com.au.au

Information in HR Advice Online guides and blog posts is meant purely for educational discussion of human resources issues. It contains only general information about human resources matters and due to factors, such as government legislation changes, may not be up to date at the time of reading. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as such.

In the context of an unfair dismissal application, and where an employer is submitting that the termination arose as the result of a ‘genuine redundancy’, it needs to be demonstrated that it is the employee’s ‘job’ that is no longer required to be performed.

Redundancy is not intended to be used to terminate an underperforming or ‘unwanted’ employee.

Rather the Fair Work Act 2009 provides that a person’s dismissal will be a case of genuine redundancy if their job is no longer required to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer’s enterprise.

Some possible examples as to when a dismissal will be a case of genuine redundancy due to a change in operational requirements (as provided for in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Fair Work Bill 2009), include:
 

·       Where a machine is now available to do the job performed by the employee;

·       Where the employer’s business is experiencing a downturn and therefore only requires three people to do a particular task or duty instead of five: or

·       Where the employer is restructuring their business to improve efficiency and the tasks done by a particular employee are distributed between several other employees and therefore the person’s job no
longer exists.

When reviewing whether an employee’s job is no longer required to be performed, the test applied by the Fair Work Commission is not necessarily whether the duties or functions of a particular job themselves survive. Rather the test is whether the job itself that was previously performed by the applicant still exists within the business. As such, a termination can still be a ‘genuine redundancy’ in circumstances where the duties of a previous job persist but are redistributed amongst other existing positions.

In such circumstances, it is essential that the employer can demonstrate that the incumbent of a former position does not, after the reorganisation of the workplace, have any duties left to perform. If there is no longer any ‘job’, function or duty to be performed by that person, their position becomes redundant. It is important that an employer distinguish that it is the employee’s ‘job’ which has become redundant, rather than the actual employee themselves.

it is important to note that the Fair Work Act 2009 further provides that an employer must comply with any obligation in a modern award or enterprise agreement to consult with an employee about the redundancy, in order for the termination to be deemed a genuine redundancy.

Prior to any redundancy activity occurring, we recommend that you contact a member of our HR Advice team on 1300 720 004 to discuss the consultation process that is required to be undertaken and to ensure that due process is applied.

HR Advice Online can also provide our members with a range of templates to support the redundancy process, including a ‘Notification of Potential Redundancy Letter’ template and a ‘Redundancy Termination Letter’.

Information in HR Advice Online guides and blog posts is meant purely for educational discussion of human resources issues. It contains only general information about human resources matters and due to factors such as government legislation changes, may not be up to date at the time of reading. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as such.

Notice periods continue to raise many questions as to how employers may treat the absences of their employees.

Can an employer cancel an employee’s approved leave, either the entire period or what remains, when the employee has provided notice?

The answer is No.  An employer cannot unilaterally withdraw approval for leave that has already been approved. 
The only way leave can cease and the employee return to the workplace would be via agreement between the employer in the employee.  Generally, the question commonly arises due to the operational need for a handover to be completed by the exiting employee.  Whilst you can request that they consider cancelling their leave or returning early to assist with this handover, you cannot force it to occur.

It is also important to note that the approved leave will not extend the notice period provided by the employee.

Another common question is if an employer can refuse a request for personal leave by an employee during their notice period.

Again, the answer is no.  An employee working their notice period is still legally employed by you up to and including their last day of notice.  As such, the National Employment Standards and Fair Work Act continue to apply to the employee and they have a right to take personal leave if they:

·       Are ill or injured

·       Have an immediate family member or member of their household that is ill or injured and requires the employee to care for them

As with all applications for this type of leave, the employer has the right to request the relevant documented evidence.

A third common question is if an employer can refuse a request for annual or long service leave during a notice period.

The answer to this, is Yes.  Whilst the Fair Work Act provides that an employer can only refuse a request of leave on reasonable operational grounds, the requirement for an employee to provide a handover during a notice period would be considered reasonable and therefore a refusal would be reasonable.  Note: consideration must be given to the need for handover and how long a handover would reasonably take to occur.  For example, if an employee has provided 4 weeks’ notice and they could reasonably complete a handover in a two-week period, it would not be reasonable to refuse their request for the 2 weeks where handover would not be required.

For assistance with your employee’s notice obligations, please contact us at advice@stg.hradviceonline.com.au.au or 1300 720 004.

Information in HR Advice Online guides and blog posts is meant purely for educational discussion of human resources issues. It contains only general information about human resources matters and due to factors such as government legislation changes, may not be up-to-date at the time of reading. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as such.

Employee turnover – Why may your employees leave?

You will have heard the age old saying – ‘Your employees are your company’s greatest asset’. That is why employers are often left scratching their heads wondering what happened when a strong performing employee resigns without warning.

While there are a number of reasons why an employee may seek to pursue alternative employment, when an employee elects to depart your business voluntarily it can be a symptom of bigger issues. In particular, employee turnover or a reduction in an employee’s productivity can often indicate that there are opportunities for improving manager skills and organisational culture. The efforts put in by managers within your organisation can play a vital role in either optimising or eliminating an employee’s desire to remain with the organisation.  In many instances, an employee will not seek to leave the organisation, rather they leave the manager.

Key factors which can result in reduced employee productivity or can influence an employee’s decision to leave the organisation altogether include:

Lack of Adequate Supervision

While most employees do require regular feedback to understand the company’s perception of the work they are performing, some actions undertaken by managers which can increase frustrations can include:

·       Lack of consistency – Everchanging expectations and inconsistent processes

·       Lack of transparency about work – Not providing all of the detail for the job to be a success

·       Micromanaging work – Not allowing a level of autonomy

·       Not giving enough work to ensure employees are well utilised – Mismanaging workloads can create a level of disinterest

·       Having a biased approach during supervision – Treating employees differently

Lack of Effective Communication

Communication is critical in almost every business process within an organisation. If information is not provided in an appropriate manner to the intended recipients, it is likely that productivity will fail.

A lack of communication often results from different managers providing different instructions/expectations, employees not interacting with peers, disorganised team meetings, and instructions not being provided to employees in an effective way. It is essential that a business ensures that communication channels are effective and timely.

Lack of the Bigger Picture

Employees need to understand the bigger picture while performing their role. This ensures an understanding of the importance and value of their contribution in obtaining the company’s overall goals and objectives. It further provides a sense of direction and purpose in their everyday work.

The failure to communicate the bigger picture can provide little to no context in why you want your employees to do what they do and can reduce their motivation to work at their highest level of productivity.

Unprofessional Management of Concerns

Discussions regarding errors made or performance concerns should be undertaken privately and in both a professional and respectful manner. Employees should be given an opportunity to discuss and provide their response, and to be mentored by their manager. Employee performance discussions should not be raised in front of their colleagues, nor should an employee be reprimanded in front of others.

It is important that managers consider their own behaviours when raising and discussing concerns with an employee. If the manager is angry or upset, they should take a moment, remove any emotions and address the issues with their employee when they are capable of holding a calm and rational discussion.

Not listening

One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make and one that is likely to quickly result in an employee not feeling valued is to not listen.

Listening is not limited to just listening to an employee’s ideas and suggestions when provided, rather it is about listening when they provide constructive feedback about the workplace and individual management styles and making an effort to take on board their feedback as a way to make improvements.

While employees may not be in a senior position themselves or may not have a financial stake in the business, they are the ones who are most often on the front line, “doing the do” and performing core duties on a daily basis. As such, they will most likely have valuable firsthand knowledge and experience with identifying potential workplace issues and areas of concern. Listening to their employees may save employers time, energy, money while also having a positive impact on the extent to which your employees feel valued.

Asking questions of an employee as a token gesture to appear that you really are interested in their response or concerns will usually become evident to the employee and will impact greatly on their willingness to provide input in future if they feel that the level of interest taken is not genuine.

Being Inflexible

Employees should be confident and comfortable to approach their manager at all times to discuss any matter that may be impacting their ability to perform their role. Being inflexible with time or lacking a willingness to openly listen can create a barrier between an employee and their manager and may create a decrease in trust.

Lack of Consistency

If employees are being required to work in many different directions with ever changing expectations or inconsistent processes, it can become challenging for them to consistently obtain the expected and required outcomes. Management should seek to ensure that operational processes remain consistent where possible to minimise the likelihood of employees facing frequently changing rules and expectations. Workplace environments that are inconsistent can result in increased confusion and frustration for employees, minimising the likelihood of being able to maintain a productive environment.

Lack of mental wellness

No matter how experienced, skilled or qualified an employee is, they will not give their most productive performance if their mentally wellness is impacted. It is imperative that managers check in with their employees regularly to understand if there are any impacts to their mental wellness, such as overwork or working excessive hours, stress or personal factors that they may not wish to discuss. Ignoring ‘flags’ that indicate an employee may be mentally unwell can have an adverse effect on their productivity and potentially their retention.

Lack of Appreciation

Providing gifts, a flashy coffee machine, free lunches, or pay rises will go only some way to showing an employee they are valued and appreciated. Rewards and gifts in isolation will not ensure that your employees remain productive or engaged. In many instances, the provision of more simple but regular recognition for the effort and work being applied will be more greatly appreciated.

Micromanagement

Managers who micromanage and insist that their team run every small task by them is not effective and is not a good use of time. Such management styles can impact adversely on employee confidence and overall morale. In comparison, providing autonomy to employees to manage their projects and tasks where practicable will help establish an environment of productivity and trust.

It’s important that as an employer and manager, if you want your organisation to be successful, you ensure that you show your employees that they are valued and give them reasons to stay, not reasons to become less productive and worse, leave.

A popular quote for managers to live by: Never push loyal employees to the point where they no longer care!

If you require advice regarding staff retention, or should you require support regarding any HR matter, please contact the team at HR Advice Online at advice@stg.hradviceonline.com.au.au or on 1300 720 004.

Information in HR Advice Online guides and blog posts is meant purely for educational discussion of human resources issues. It contains only general information about human resources matters and due to factors, such as government legislation changes, may not be up to date at the time of reading. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as such.