HR Learning Bites

We are delighted to have as our guest speaker Rachel Calder, Assistant Director of Learning and Development at Samaritans.Every six seconds Samaritans answer a call for help from individuals but not everyone knows the organisation also provides bespoke training for hundreds of UK companies through courses such as Conversations with Vulnerable People, Managing Suicidal Conversations and Building Resilience and Wellbeing. In 2019 alone, Samaritans trained 7,262 external delegates.After a year where we have seen increased anxiety, depression and loneliness among many employees, Rachel’s expert advice will help HR and L&D professionals to spot the danger signs and build resilience and wellbeing in the workplace.

Delivering news about organisational change and redundancy is stressful. Unfortunately, high-stakes situations can lead to unethical behaviour. Under pressure, organisations put their project plans first and fail to engage with their workers who are most impacted. This in turn can have a severe detrimental effect on those left behind – the redundancy survivors – and ultimately lead to a drop in productivity across the whole business. Join our experts Zita Lourdes and Joseph Grech for the latest advice on how your organisation can manage change and restructure effectively and ethically.

Now that the government has started to ease lockdown restrictions, businesses are encouraging their employees to return to work. However, re-opening presents a whole raft of new problems which if not managed properly can cause further risk and disruption to your business.At this extremely turbulent time, it is imperative that HR and business leaders keep abreast of government guidance evolving on a very frequent basis. To keep you informed, we have invited back our employment law expert Dr Amanda Harris to discuss the latest developments as businesses return to work after lockdown.

For many home workers, out of sight, out of mind can cause real problems particularly if they are unfamiliar with the online tools available to ease communication. What can HR professionals and business leaders do to ensure their people remain motivated and productive rather than being left out in the cold? This 30 minute discussion features Watson Martin Director Heather Watson in conversation with L&D Career Coach Joseph Grech. With many years’ of experience of both successful flexible working and online delivery, don’t miss this opportunity to hear their top tips on how to work from home the right way!

From the health and safety issues caused by the coronavirus to the employment law changes being introduced in April, Dr. Amanda Harris will keep you informed of the latest developments.Topics under discussion include:Furlough leaveSick pay and holiday pay whilst furloughedLay-offs and short time workingHealth and safety issuesTerminations of contract: potentially fair reasonsThe employment law changes coming in AprilStaff motivation and retention.

Join Ian Nicholas, Group Chief HR Officer with REED and Joseph Grech, Leadership Development Expert and Coach to hear about Ian's guide to career success. Having reached the pinnacle of his profession after 26 years, Ian has some useful and thought provoking advice on how to be an HR influencer and get ahead in your career.

In this webinar we are delighted to welcome Dr Duncan Brown, Head of Consulting at the Institute for Employment Studies and a leading commentator on reward strategy. Don’t miss the opportunity to listen to Duncan discuss the influence of pay on performance and employee engagement in conversation with Melanie Martin, Director of Watson Martin, and L&D expert Joseph Grech.

In the hot seat answering all your questions is our Apprenticeships expert Sharon White who will be leading the discussion on how work-based learning can generate the skills your organisation needs in the future. Sharon has over 20 years’ experience in senior roles in the learning and development sector with extensive knowledge of developing Apprenticeship programmes for a whole range of organisations.

Do you want to become CIPD qualified but are worried that you won’t have time to study in an already busy life?Never fear, you are not alone! Many of our candidates feel overwhelmed by the thought of juggling work, family and life with the extra pressure of studying for a qualification which is why we have chosen How to Study Around a Busy Life as the theme for our second Learning Bites session in the 2019 series.The webinar will provide lots of practical advice and techniques to support your learning journey from managing your time efficiently to devising an achievable study plan.Understand that your life doesn’t need to stop just because you have enrolled on a course! Develop a holistic approach to studying to maintain a good work life balance.Learn how to read for purpose so you can retain the information you need to pass that assessment.

The webinar event, based on James Reed’s new book of the same name, provided lots of useful nuggets of advice on what employers want to see in the CVs they receive along with some insights on the current labour market. Hear from one of the most renowned leaders in the industry!

Have you just secured your first job as a new manager? Being a first-time boss is exciting but it can also be scary without any experience… What new skills will you need to make an impression in your new role? How can you delegate effectively and get the best out of your team? Can you still be friends with the people you manage?Whether you are an HR professional taking your first step up the management career ladder or a newly appointed manager, help is at hand in this latest free Learning Bites webinar from Watson Martin. Here we ask the opinion of our management guru Joseph Grech on his top tips to ensure you stand out in your new role for all the right reasons.Joseph is a consultant at Watson Martin and excels at delivering effective learning programmes to develop people capability and change behaviour. Highly experienced in delivering CIPD qualifications at Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced levels, Joseph has extensive experience working with senior management to execute and evaluate L&D strategies.Hosting the session is Watson Martin’s senior consultant Dee Gemmell. Experienced in management and leadership, Dee has managed a number of teams over the years and also runs leadership and management development workshops at all levels. She is responsible for the assessment and internal quality assurance of CMI qualifications at Watson Martin.

2018 is proving to be a landmark year for employment law. We’ve already seen:-Gender pay gap reports for the first time for many employers-Increasing volumes in tribunal claims and rising awards-The Gig economy cases and the Taylor review -Issues around employee surveillance and privacy-Compensation guidance for injury to feelings in discrimination casesWith the future of UK employment law after Brexit still hard to predict and this month’s introduction of a massive new piece of legislation from the EU around data protection – GDPR – to say that HR teams have much to grapple with is an understatement.Help is at hand in this, the second of our free Learning Bites, a new series of informative webinars from Watson Martin. Here we ask the opinion of our ‘legal eagle’ Melinda Allison on the latest updates in employment law and the issues that HR professionals need to be aware of in the coming months.

Help is at hand in this latest Learning Bites webinar when our experts will give the low down on the Government scheme including: -advice on how HR professionals can grow apprenticeships in their organisation, -how to take advantage of the funding available the key benefits of apprenticeships, -how to ensure your organisation gets ROI.As more school leavers decide university is not for them and look for alternatives it is the companies that invest in apprenticeships now that will reap the benefits in the future.

It’s now 15 years since the CIPD published its groundbreaking research into understanding how HR drives business performance. In the intervening time, the work has become one of the profession’s most influential studies quoted by thousands of HR practitioners. However, does this revolutionary model stand the test of time and are there new factors in the workplace that have an impact on the people performance relationship?In this, the first of our free Learning Bites, a new series of informative webinars, we ask the opinion of Angela Baron, who commissioned the research for the CIPD all those years ago.Angela, whose book Managing Performance is still regarded as a must read for those studying for their Advanced Diploma, is a consultant with Watson Martin and advises on all levels of CIPD qualifications. Here, she discusses how greater complexity, constant change in the workplace and the continuing poor reputation of HR in business are just some of the issues impacting on how the model is interpreted and implemented.