July has been a whirlwind and we have felt every season in the same month as well as observed the unusually high ferocity of the sun that is engulfing Europe at this time! We hope to receive a happy balance soon and let summer return to the UK and let Europe have some respite.
It’s got the Peony & Magnolia team thinking about change and how to mitigate new challenges we face or new approaches we can take. We are, after all, forever evolving. We have been looking at key topics that have emerged this month to breakdown and really evaluate what they mean and how they can effect or benefit us. Reflection is how we can put our best foot forward to improving how we support our clients workplace environments.
How Organisational Development (OD) is changing
Organisational Development (OD) is a pillar within HR. It is a holistic approach that is key to the area of critical processes in any business . It enhances the ability to achieve improved effectiveness by developing structures and procedures as well as reinforcing strategies.
OD is an essential aspect for organisations and the nature of it includes adapting to change and, until recently, has been considered more reactive and considered only when there is a need to restructure.
We’re pleased to announce that the days of firefighting seem to be slowly fading and a proactive approach is now set to challenge the old habits. We all know prevention is cheaper than the cure so this change is welcomed.
Making sure we are creating a culture of psychological safety within the work place means that your employees can speak up confidently and feel supported by their employer and therefore further benefit the business.
We discuss Managing people when ‘stuff’ happens on our podcast, Playing with Hire in Episode #3 and have recently partnered with Hannah Grinsted, founder of Roryn to provide a joined up solution for one of our existing clients working in collaboration, combining skills and experience.
Flexible Working and the change we have been waiting to happen
If you’re an avid LinkedIn user, you may have spotted that a new law is incoming – the Flexible Working Bill has now been passed in the House of Lords and we are delighted. Flexible working enables inclusivity and security for those need it most and provides, forward thinking companies to access talent that previously may have involved a number of hurdles to reach.
What is Flexible Working?
Flexible working is a type of working arrangement which an employee can request to enable a degree of flexibility on how long, where, when and at what times they are able to work. The ‘right to request flexible working’ currently applies only to employees who have been in continuous employment for 26 weeks and can be requested only every 12 months. The dialogue around flexible working has been changing over the last few years.
What does the new law mean?
From day one of starting a job, all workers will now have the legal right to request flexible working. It is expected that 1.5 million low paid workers will benefit alongside the removal of exclusivity clauses, meaning flexibility to work for more than one employer.
What are the benefits?
Apart from the obvious Flexible Working to help with your circumstances, the new law now means you that you will not only have one but two opportunities in a year to request Flexible Working that now will need to be responded to within 2 months, whereas before no timeline was specified.
The changes mean that there will be more requests for job shares, flexi-time, compressed hours and annualised or staged hours for example. The changes are hoped to increase productivity and retention and are seen as a benefit for all.
This is a huge milestone for working environments and not only promotes inclusivity but security as well. You can find a whole fact sheet on flexible working practices with CIPD and we will update our regular P&M clients at the start of 2024 with regards to policy change and how this may impact you.
Inclusivity and Opportunities for all of our future generations
This month saw Alice complete her first year of the Enterprise Advisor (EA) program with The Careers & Enterprise Company who are a national body for careers education in England that delivers support to schools and colleges to provide 21st century careers education. Alice supports a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) school to help find work experience for young adults who can be met with a number of barriers and bias.
Inclusivity is a huge part of Peony & Magnolias ethos and we don’t want to miss a chance of promoting it.
Would you like to help?
🌱 Do you work for a business based in Hertfordshire who would be able to facilitate work experience days or just experience of work?
🌱 Could you organise a tour of your workplace and talk about the roles you have? This is a great way of role modelling for these young adults.
🌱 Do you have volunteer days at work? Fancy coming and speaking next year about your career at the school?
If you can support and fancy putting a date in your 2024 diary then please get in touch, we strive to promote and influence equity across all we do at P&M.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this blog. We’ll keep sharing the HR hot topics you need to know about and the trends you can’t ignore. 
In the meantime, please get in touch with any questions.
We would love to hear from you!
Alice
Founder
Peony & Magnolia