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21.01.2022 ***The following is not legal advice. No client-lawyer relationship is created by this post. It is purely for educational purposes. If you need legal advice, please seek the assistance of a legal practitioner.*** It is clear that vaccines save lives. This message couldn't be more clear in light of the global pandemic we're living in. However, small business owners need to understand that the politicization of vaccination and its association with religious practices have added... legal complexity to whether one can require one's staff to get vaccinated. There is a very fine legal balance between protecting the health & safety of staff and discrimination on the basis of disability and/or religion/political beliefs. While there are some clear cases where the requirement to be vaccinated amounts to a reasonable management direction (e.g health care, aged care, child care, etc...), others are not so clear. For instance, in the case of Arnold v Goodstart Early Learning [2020] FWC 6083, the Fair Work Commission allowed a late unfair dismissal application to proceed. The matter relates to an employee who was dismissed as a result of their employer requiring them to get the influenza vaccine. Although the principles from this case do not suggest that employers would be penalized if they mandated vaccination, at the very least, it shows that the Fair Work Commission considers this to be an issue worth deliberating. Remember, if you find yourself in this position as a leader of a small business, it is important that you seek help from a lawyer. Not only is this a smart thing to do, it's also a powerful risk mitigation strategy for your business.

13.01.2022 At Hormance, we believe that our clients can learn a lot about leadership by stepping into the shoes of the individuals who work within their organization. This approach has never been more salient than in the context of a return-to-office strategy. As restrictions continue to lift in Australia, many companies are bringing their staff back into the office either as part of an effort to restore pre-covid "normality" or implement a new "hybridized" approach to working. Whateve...r the strategy is, it's important to make sure that it's *justifiable* not only to yourself but the staff members who are actually affected by it. The only way to obtain a "sound" justification is to consult extensively with staff, especially affected staff. In most cases, there is a legal requirement to consult before any major workplace change is implemented. Take the time to closely listen to their concerns and see if there's any way to put them at ease. It's important that you go into a consultation having done as much preparation as possible. It is in your interest to speak with clarity and authority. If your return-to-office strategy lacks clarity, do not announce it. Otherwise, your staff will think that this strategy is ad-hoc, and getting buy-in from them will become a big challenge. When you make the announcement, it's important to ensure that your message is "genuine". Don't fall into the trap of thinking that building confidence in your strategy requires putting out only positive messages about it. People can see right through the phoniness. Be upfront about the limitations of your strategy and tell your staff about your plans to overcome those limitations. Do you need assistance implementing a return-to-office strategy? Why wait? Let's chat

05.01.2022 As we are nearing the end of the lockdown, we hope that you have used this opportunity to think a bit deeper about the future of your business. We will be living with COVID and its effects for years to come, so it pays to think about what that means in respect of staff management moving forward. If you are planning to bring your staff back into the office and are experiencing some pushback, we want you to think about what made your staff enjoy working remotely. Is it the flex...ibility? Is it because they don't have to commute to work? Are you in a position to offer some of those benefits to your staff to minimize the work-life friction? During periods of lockdown, how are you using them to your advantage? Are there capability gaps in your workforce? If so, use those periods to close that gap. Take advantage of the slower pace. It's not going to last forever. Do you want some ideas on how to make full use of your business "down time"? We can help! Let's chat

04.01.2022 As a small business becomes big, there is certainly scope to introduce HR analytics into its staff management strategy. However, before that happens, small business owners should avoid it. Why? HR analytics can make you complacent when it comes to developing your leadership capabilities. You run the risk of over-relying on numbers that tell an incompletely story about staff performance. This overreliance, to me, amounts to a missed opportunity to develop key aspects of ...your leadership capacity. Without those skills, even when you are at a stage where HR analytics may be of use, you are not able to discern useful measures from futile ones. One of the key issues with performance metrics is the lack of construct validity (i.e when your metrics don't measure what you actually want to measure). The only way to know if your measures lack/have construct validity is to actually spend time *purposefully* leading your staff. I always advise my clients to learn the ropes of leadership before relying on HR analytics because without that background knowledge, you are allowing numbers to entrench your biases. This issue is particularly pertinent if you are thinking of using predictive HR analytics. Just look at how Amazon's recruitment AI penalized CVs that contained the term "woman" or those that listed attendance at all-girls universities. Yikes! Small businesses do not necessarily have the resources or infrastructure to adequately protect the privacy and confidentiality of staff whose data has been collected and analyzed. In the event that your IT systems get hacked, how are you going to deal with a potential breach of trust between you and your staff, as well as the legal ramifications? There will be a time and place for HR analytics, but for now, focus on developing your leadership ability. Not sure how? Let's chat!