Grow. Engage. Retain

Employees underperforming?

Time and time again my clients tell me their frustrations with employees underperforming. It starts well. The company in the early stages of starting up has an excitement and a feeling of ‘all in it together’. Then as success brings growth and change of direction it often results in changed expectations of the roles – but how clearly are these expectations communicated with the employee? If not, this of course leads to issues for both parties.

Here are the 4 areas I advise those clients on:

1️⃣ Make sure you have a clear job description from the off, and when there are changes communicate these in advance with the employee (depending on the extent you may also need to consult with them)
2️⃣ Be clear at interview what the role entails – if you are not honest they are unlikely to stay, wasting time and money
3️⃣ Have regular one-to-ones to continue discussions around expectations – if you are clear you are giving your employee the best opportunity to succeed
4️⃣ Do your managers need training to help them have these conversations?

Looking for ways to incentivise your people without blowing the budget?

Many SMEs are feeling the squeeze right now – costs are rising and employee expectations are high, but margins are already tight. The good news is it’s not always about increasing salaries.

Here are some practical, low-cost ways to help boost retention:

1️⃣ Flexibility around start/finish times or alternative work patterns
2️⃣ Multi-discipline training
3️⃣ Options to buy/sell holidays
4️⃣ Extra day off for birthday/volunteering
5️⃣ Loans to support travel costs

And instead of permanent salary increases, consider:

✳️ Project completion bonuses
✳️ Quarterly team bonus tied to shared goals
✳️ Profit-sharing when the business does well

People stay where they feel valued, supported and seen – not just where they’re paid a bit more.

How do you know if your employee intends on staying?

It’s fairly standard for employers to ask employees upon resignation why they are leaving and what could have been done to keep them. However, for that employee it’s too late. You may be in a position to offer them more money, for example, but more often than not it’s only a short-term fix and doesn’t change the intent to leave. And what if that was one of your highest performers?

Taking a proactive approach, finding out about employee intent and motivations is far more effective at getting to the root of the issues and actually addressing them will improve retention. Keep it simple, asking:

1️⃣ What makes you stay?
2️⃣ What’s harder than it should be?
3️⃣ When was the last time you considered leaving, and why?
4️⃣ What can we do differently to support you better?

Also consider the following:

✳️ Is there trust? – if employees don’t trust they won’t be open with you
✳️ What will you do with the information? – employees want to be heard and see their feedback actioned
✳️ What are the areas that will create most impact? – focus on 2-3 to keep things realistic and achievable

Employee Rights Bill for SMEs

Is the Employment Rights Bill that big a deal for SMEs?

In short, yes. The recent and proposed changes are the biggest we’ve seen in decades – how many times have you heard that one?

I’ve seen multiple posts asking ‘are you ready for the HR changes?’ – of course not, I don’t know who could be at this stage! There is a lot to get your head around, particularly SMEs which don’t have dedicated HR people. The good news is the roadmap for implementation is more gradual than originally thought and it’s still going through the parliamentary process with final approvals expected in Autumn 2025. It’s also still subject to changes.

Is it on the agenda of business owners to plan for it or even have it on their radar? Unlikely given everything else that’s going on. Or you don’t know where to start…

Here are a few things you can be doing to help:

✳️ Get familiar with the Government’s roadmap for implementation and break it down
✳️ Review existing contracts and policies – are they up to date with current legislation?
✳️ There will almost certainly be financial impacts on employers – if this is a big concern, do some forecasting to get an idea of the potential impact
✳️ Sign up to alerts / keep up to date with the progress so you don’t get caught out

Employee one-to-ones

‘Why bother with employee one-to-ones? We’re too busy for that kind of fluffy stuff!’


I get it! There’s a lot to manage when it comes your people, which inevitably takes up time. But ask yourself this – am I struggling with performance issues in my team? Do my employees stay and are they engaged?  Do I need to be doing more?

So why invest the time in one-to-ones?

✳️ They show the importance you put on the relationship
✳️ Often bring up ‘niggles’ before they grow into something bigger and costly
✳️ Strengthens the lines of communication (every single engagement survey I’ve seen cites this as one of the top issues employees have with their employer)
✳️ Keeps a focus on development / workload / concerns

And before you ask, a team meeting where you ask everyone what they’re up to this week doesn’t count as a one-to-one!

Need a little help with how to structure the conversation? 

DIYHR

I love DIY and happy to give a lot of things ‘a go’ but I know when I need to call in the professionals i.e. I got the plumbers in after I sheared off the radiator valve!!

The same can be said for people-related matters – you may not be in a position to call in the professionals for everything, especially if you are a small business.

BUT know when to.

A client recently confessed that they’d used AI to create their contracts for employees. I understand the appeal. It literally says, ‘ask me anything’ and AI is proving to be a great tool to support our businesses. That said, there are areas it shouldn’t be used for and I guarantee this is one that will cause problems later on – here’s why:

The biggie first – not everything on AI tools are accurate so it may look like it covers all you need but it’s unlikely to comply with legislation
These contracts won’t be tailored to your business needs i.e. what clauses do you need to strengthen to protect your business?
There’s no accountability so if something were to go wrong the buck would stop with you
The source of information is copied from elsewhere so is there even permission to use it?

So it may seem like a cost effective option but chances are it will cost you a lot more than what it would to bring in the professionals from the start