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A practical guide to Company Sick Pay
Written by John Berry on 22nd April 2021. Revised 4th March 2025.
4 min read
Many Government employees get full wages paid for anything up to a year of absence, so the Government, as an employer, pays ‘Company’ Sick Pay. Some firms have realised that to attract and retain key staff, they must do something similar. Whilst managers might want to pay full wages whenever an employee is off sick, only the Government and a few others can afford such generosity. So, what are managers to do?
Are some psychometric assessments discriminatory?
Written by Sue Berry on 13th March 2023. Revised 4th March 2025.
5 min read
In 2017, a job applicant with Asperger Syndrome had her case upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). Her treatment by the Government Legal Services amounted to indirect discrimination. She had been required to take a multi-choice situational-judgement test – a form of psychometric test - as the first part of the recruitment process. So does this mean that psychometric tests are discriminatory? Simply, no. But it does require that they are administered, managed and analysed correctly. Here's how.
Employee Engagement is Good For Business
Written by John Berry on 5th May 2017. Revised 28th February 2025.
7 min read
Employee engagement occurs when an employee feels proud, is involved and feel empowered to make decisions. Employee Engagement is Good For Business. This blog first defines employee engagement. It then investigates how a manager sets about creating an engaged workforce.
What Are OD and HR?
Written by John Berry on 9th May 2017. Revised 22nd February 2025.
3 min read
Organisational development (OD) is different from human resource management (HRM). Organisational development involves exploring options that will permit strategies to be achieved. OD techniques such as modelling permit outcomes to be predicted and the right plan to be selected. People are of course the lifeblood of any firm. They join, they leave, and in between they have to be managed. Everyone who manages or supervises people has to double as an HR generalist. Here's the scope of HR and OD.
TEPID OIL makes desired capability a reality
Written by John Berry on 25th March 2022. Revised 20th February 2025.
6 min read
Management is not about the manager – it’s about the people working for the manager and the technology they use. It’s about creating a capability that meets the required goal. The mnemonic TEPID-OIL helps managers consider necessary lines of development. In organisations where capability is released for use when ready, any omission in the TEPIDOIL elements must necessarily stop release while corrective action is taken. The manager’s job is therefore to develop, test and attempt release - and then maintain.
Assessment centres as methods of personnel selection
Written by John Berry on 28th February 2019. Revised 19th February 2025.
6 min read
An assessment centre is where a number of candidates participate together, undertaking exercises as selection tests while being observed and rated by multiple assessors. The candidates are effectively in competition but must also cooperate. Assessment centres can replace interviews and a host of other tools as methods of employee selection but they are misunderstood and controversial. Here's why.
