Companies in the transport and logistics sector faced with having to make staff redundant can make an unpleasant task more bearable if they have followed the right processes in the run up to it says Youmanage, creators of an innovative online HR toolkit that allows firms to manage their people more effectively.
As the economic downturn continues to bite, the option of redundancy looms large in many companies, and with it the fear that a failure to do it right may have many consequences, which include being taken to costly industrial tribunals by dispirited employees desperate to keep a clean CV and secure financial security.
Reports suggest that fears about following correct procedures have led a growing number of companies to seek the professional services of HR experts and consultants as the number of redundancies increases. This is one way of ensuring compliance but it is costly and there is a pro-active alternative.
Youmanage says that any fears a company has about making people redundant can be alleviated if the company has followed good management practices and had in place the right systems and processes in the first place.
Valid criteria that organisations can use for deciding which employees are made redundant include previous review ratings, historical performance against objectives, and attendance record. However if organisations are not to leave themselves open to challenges they need to be able to demonstrate that decisions are objective and based on firm evidence.
If companies are unable to show that a consistent approach to recording absence or assessing employee performance has been followed across their organisation then they risk leaving themselves open to successful challenges from employees that have been selected for redundancy.
The Youmanage online HR toolkit can play a valuable role in helping companies address these issues. The system helps ensure all managers across an organisation follow a consistent approach when it comes to managing performance or absenteeism. It also provides organisations with an auditable record of key dates and vital information, something that is impossible to achieve if a companys HR processes are all paper-based.
The system also provides a huge amount of guidance concerning all aspects of the employment process, from starters to leavers and everything in between, as well as sample policies covering areas such as redundancy, which can be invaluable for smaller businesses that may not have in-house HR expertise. It also contains the automated prompts and processes every company needs to ensure it complies with relevant policies and regulations.
No company wants to make its people redundant, but in the current climate we have to accept there will be casualties and it will happen, says Youmanages Managing Director Phil Brown.
When it does, it will pay to have had the correct procedures in place beforehand and the proper systems to record and track employee performance. This results in less disruption and cost to the company and a fairer process for all of the employees involved.
Unfortunately we cant protect our clients from the effects of the economic downturn but we can help to ensure that if they do need to make redundancies they will be equipped with the information they need to make fair decisions and the evidence to support those decisions. The Youmanage system provides both, which is why it is increasingly being adopted by companies keen to protect themselves whilst at the same time being able to manage their people more effectively, he adds.
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