HR Training for Businesses - What Is It, and What are the Benefits?

There are many different aspects of running a business - from creating products or services, to marketing them,  to keeping up-to-date with invoices and cash flow. But one important aspect that is often left behind is Human Resources, more recently referred to as the People department. 

This is the department that is responsible for recruiting, training, and upholding the welfare of your staff. HR or People are required to ensure that your employees are safe, healthy, and satisfied throughout their time working for your business. Furthermore, any HR person or department will need to confirm that everyone on the team is aware of and upholds employment laws.

With HR training, this is a lot easier to do. Here are some of the areas that HR training covers and the benefits to your business

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Performance management/appeals

Good HR training can help ensure that all performance management is done properly, and prevent worst-case scenarios. 

So, what is performance management? This is the process of monitoring, maintaining and improving your employees’ performance in the workplace. If an employee is deemed to be underperforming, a performance management review will take place. Here, you will establish goals and monitoring to try and improve your employee’s performance.

This is a very important process, because you should comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance matters (ACAS code). Claims can occur at any time during or after employment, therefore you can attempt to avoid this by demonstrating that:

• The reason for dismissal was fair (poor performance is included in this)

• You honestly believe the employee is incapable to do the job to the required level

• The performance management and dismissal were carried out fairly and reasonably

• You complied with the ACAS Code

However, if you fail to follow the ACAS code, this will be taken into account when determining if the dismissal was fair. Furthermore, if the employee wins their claim at an employment tribunal, the tribunal may increase the employee’s compensation up to 25%.

Grievances

Alongside performance management, HR training can also assist you with grievances. This includes setting out a grievance procedure in the statement of employment or the staff handbook. It must include information about who the employee should contact about a grievance (such as poor working conditions, pay, or failure or process) and how to contact this person. 

But that’s not all. The grievance procedure must also:

• Say that if the problem cannot be solved informally, there will be a grievance hearing

• Set out time limits for each stage of this process

• Identify who to contact if the usual contact person is involved in the grievance

• Explain how the employee can appeal a grievance decision

• State that employees can be accompanied in any meetings by a fellow colleague or union representative

• Summarise the course of action if a grievance is raised during disciplinary action

If you fail to handle a grievance properly, this may lead to an employee's bringing a claim, which may go on to be handled by an employment tribunal.

Discrimination laws

Another way that HR training benefits your business is to ensure all discrimination laws are strictly obeyed. This includes knowledge of the 9 protected characteristics set out by the Equality Act 2010. These are:

• Age

• Disability

• Gender reassignment

• Marriage and civil partnership

• Pregnancy and maternity

• Race

• Religion or belief

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

These characteristics are protected because of evidence of ‘significant discrimination in employment, provision of goods and services and access to services such as education and health’ (Equality Act 2010). Employers must be aware of these characteristics at all times, including in job adverts, throughout employment, in job references for ex-employees, etc.

Furthermore, you must have an awareness of the different types of discrimination named under the Equality Act: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation (to name just a few).

Flexible working

HR training also covers topics such as flexible working. As we know from recent years, this is an area that can affect many staff members. As an employer, you need to know what your employees’ rights are, and how you can comply with them. 

For example, every employee has the statutory right to ask to work flexibly after 26 weeks of employment. This must be in writing and include information about:

• The date of the application, the changes that they are requesting and when they would like them to begin

• What effect they think these changes would have on you as their employer, and how they think this could be dealt with

• A statement that this is a statutory request and if they have previously applied for flexible working

You must consider this request and inform the employee of your decision as quickly as possible in writing. If the request is denied, this must be for a legitimate business reason, e.g. the burden of additional costs, inability to recruit additional staff, or a detrimental impact on performance. It’s important to also keep in mind that allowing flexible working where possible could avoid the risk of discrimination due to a protected characteristic.

Types of leave

Finally, HR training will also help you have a better understanding of types of leave. Paid leave is when an employee takes time off work but continues to be paid during that time. This includes:

• Paid annual leave 

• Maternity leave 

• Paternity leave 

• Sick leave 

There’s also unpaid leave, which is when employees take time away from work but will not be paid by their employer until their return. This can include time taken for training, study leave, or unpaid annual leave.

How can HR training benefit your business?

As you can see, HR training can benefit you and your business, as an awareness of employment law ensures that your employees are happy and satisfied. In turn, this can help businesses to grow. According to the University of Warwick, happy employees can be 12% more productive (University of Warwick)!

Furthermore, performance management can help an employer to identify and address misconduct that may be losing the business thousands every year. In addition, a workplace that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion can maintain employee happiness, prevent serious (and expensive) legal issues from arising, and better serve a diverse set of customers.

If you’re interested in HR training for your business, we offer a review of HR department training needs, specifically regarding employment law and HR procedure, as well as HR updates through onsite or online workshops that cover topics such as equality and diversity. Get in touch with us to discuss what we can do for you.

The above information is correct as of 20 April 2022 and may be subject to change. The above does not constitute legal advice.