Professional HR - a performance improvement workshop

Professional HR - an In-House Training Company performance improvement workshop Overview
This unique two-day workshop programme is focused on helping HR teams achieve new levels of peak performance. It uses a framework based on the four inter-locking strands of high-performance HR:

• Core skills of HR
• Legal requirements
• Best practice
• Organisational policies and procedures

The precise content of the programme varies, according to current levels of HR performance in your organisation and any particular issues of concern, but the object is always the same: to enhance the participants' mastery of the core skills of HR, to ensure that they have an up-to-date knowledge of employment law and to facilitate a review of organisational policies and procedures to appropriate standards of best practice.
This workshop-led approach is an ideal method for identifying the steps needed to bring all members of the HR team up to the same level of peak performance. It is also a very cost-effective way of arriving at the identification and resolution of performance issues without engaging expensive consultants.
Training objectives
This programme will help participants to:

• Understand the complexity of the role within HR and identify specific challenges
• Understand their contribution to the HR function and to organisational objectives
• Recognise the essential core HR skills, their own strengths and development areas
• Develop assertive behaviour
• Recognise the power to influence, and plan an even more effective strategy
• Manage conflict constructively
• Employ a structured approach when coaching others
• Understand roles in counselling situations and when to refer
• Manage themselves, their time and their meetings effectively
• Use the core skills of HR flexibly in 'difficult' or 'sensitive' situations
• Communicate more effectively in group settings and in 1:1 situations
• Understand the overall legal framework of employment law
• Have a robust legal framework for handling employment issues
• Appreciate the importance of employment status
• Avoid and defend cases of unlawful discrimination
• Manage short and long term absence lawfully
• Ensure that the organisation is not unnecessarily exposed to claims for unfair dismissal
• Implement disciplinary procedures fairly and lawfully

Format
A highly inter-active two-day workshop, with a strong emphasis on practical exercises.
Special features
The outline below is an example of the type of programme we can construct and deliver. The content, duration, objectives and material used can all be tailored to suit your specific needs.
The expert trainer
Depending on the required balance between 'soft' skills and 'technical' issues, this programme is often best presented by two expert trainers:
Alison is an independent HR and management development consultant, specialising in employment law, leadership development and organisational development. Formerly European HR Manager for Kodak, she has also worked within the finance, retail, hospitality, IT and manufacturing sectors. With a highly interactive and dynamic training style, Alison is unerringly focused on the practical aspects of helping people solve problems and achieve objectives. Her enthusiastic and professional approach has won her many clients, including Avis, BP, Daimler Chrysler, Deutsche Bank, Ecotec, Elite Hotels, HSBC, Homebase, Microwarehouse, Procter & Gamble and Standard Bank.
Rosanne, who has over 18 years' experience working in Human Resources as an HR Manager, a trainer and a coach, is passionate about helping organisations and individuals reach their full potential. She has substantial experience of training and development at all stages, including training needs analysis, designing and delivering training interventions and training evaluation against business outcomes and performance. A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a Business Practitioner in NLP and with a background in Transactional Analysis, Rosanne is also a qualified coach through the Coaches Training Institute and has recently graduated from the Solutions Focus Professional Training programme.
Course outline
DAY ONE

1. Introduction and course objectives
2. The role of HR
   • Roles and responsibilities
   • Your customers
   • Challenges of the role
   • The contribution of the HR function to organisational objectives
3. Core skills of an effective HR advisor
   • Employment law
   • Communication skills
   • Assertiveness
   • Influencing and negotiation skills
   • Managing conflict in the workplace
   • Coaching and counselling skills
   • Management of self and time
   • Effective management of meetings
4. Identifying individual strengths and weaknesses
   • Self-assessment diagnostic
5. Assertiveness
   • Beliefs and behaviour
   • The self-fulfilling prophecy
   • Advantages of behaving assertively
   • Your rights to assertiveness
   • The 4 behaviour types - Video
6. Influencing skills
   • Influencing and negotiation
   • Influencing styles and your preferred style (pre-course questionnaire)
   • Planning your approach
   • 'Real plays' and scenarios
7. Managing conflict
   • Conflict: good or bad?
   • Types of conflict
   • You and your role
   • 4 key strategies to resolve conflict
8. Coaching and counselling
   • Coaching v counselling
   • Your role and the role of others
   • Key skills of an effective coach
   • Key skills of an effective counsellor
   • A structured approach to coaching
9. Management of self and time
   • Understanding how well you use your time
   • Identifying your key result areas
   • Prioritising your activities
   • Planning and scheduling your work
   • Eliminating time wasters
   • Top tips on time management
10. Effective management of meetings
    • Preparing for the meeting
    • Facilitating the meeting
    • Managing the follow-up
    • A checklist on meeting skills
11. Handling difficult situations and behaviours
    • Practical exercises using the skills developed on this programme on real issues and scenarios

DAY TWO

1. The legal framework
   • Statutory employment rights
   • Common law rights
2. Defining employment status
   • Employees
   • Agency workers
   • Contractors' staff
   • Self-employed
   • How Employment Tribunals determine status
   • Managing agency workers, contractors and self-employed
   • Case study review
3. Essentials of UK equal opportunity law
   • Sex Discrimination Act 1975
   • Race Relations Act 1976
   • Disability Discrimination Act 1995
   • Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
   • Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
   • Age discrimination
   • Direct and indirect discrimination
   • Victimisation
   • Bullying and harassment
   • Case law
4. Managing attendance
   • The legal dimension
   • Procedure for dealing with short-term absence
   • Procedure for dealing with long-term absence
   • Return to work interviews
   • Medical certificates
5. Unfair dismissal
   • Types of dismissal
   • Qualifying periods
   • Automatically unfair dismissal
   • Compensation - current developments
   • Rights of representation
   • ACAS involvement
   • Employment Tribunals
6. Disciplinary procedures
   • The ACAS Code of Practice
   • A fair disciplinary procedure
   • Understanding the new legislation
   • Dealing with conduct and capability
   • Employees' rights
   • Case study review
7. Conclusion
   • Workshop review / discussion
   • Action planning
   • Close