HR & Organisational Change

Do you need help with recruitment, employment policies or the development of a staff handbook. Are you struggling with the performance, behaviour or the sickness absence of one of your employees? Do you need to change the structure of your business but are worried of falling foul of redundancy or TUPE legislation?
Elite Coaching helps business owners and senior managers in small and medium sized enterprisers address tricky employment issues and plan successful organisational change. And we do not charge for offering help and advice over the phone or over a coffee.

Case studies

If you are an owner or leader in a small or medium sized enterprise, and you don’t have a professional HR function, you might need help with an important recruitment campaign, the development of employment policies or the drawing up of a staff handbook. You might be struggling with issues relating to staff performance, behaviour, sickness absence, disability or capability or you might need to review your employment or freelance contracts. You may be growing or changing your position in your marketplace and need to restructure your business but you don’t know where to start. You may be worried about falling foul of redundancy legislation or TUPE regulations. Elite Coaching helps business owners and senior leaders prepare for organisational change and we often lead or accompany the senior team through the changes, ensuring that the process is undertaken smoothly, humanely and in line with current employment legislation.

• Hospitality

  A contract catering business in the West Midlands has grown steadily to over £20m turnover and 150 permanent employees in just over four years, and realises that its employment policies and reward system, by growing organically with the business, now lack some consistency and some cohesion. Elite Coaching spent two weeks reviewing all the employment policies and the reward system, and prepared a report for the owner, who discussed it with his management team and asked Elite to implement most of the proposed changes.

• Industry Regulation

  An important industry regulator, funded by the industry itself, had suffered from neglect internally for some years. Changes to regulations following a national enquiry led to a change in the name, the rationale and the top team. I was brought in by the new Chief Executive to review the organisational structures within a new funding envelope, introduce a coherent reward system, review and update employment policies and procedures, and advise on employee engagement. I put a series of proposals to the board, developed an implementation plan and led the necessary changes alongside the Chief Executive. It took five months from start to finish. I have also continued to manage a series of recruitment and selection exercises for the organisation.

• Charity

  I have an ad hoc relationship with a national charity based in London but with a nationwide spread of regional teams. I have recently helped one of the senior managers address a very sensitive sickness issue. An employee in a key position revealed at selection stage that she was “bi-polar”, and was very helpful in setting out her symptoms and medication, and the reasonable adjustments she needed to undertake her role. For the first five or six months the employment went well, but absences then increased significantly. Her line manager was determined to be as fair she could to the employee at the same time as keeping her department effective, so I advised her on how she could follow the organisation’s policies, remain within the law and give the employee every opportunity to succeed. She made further adjustments to her working hours and job content, but ultimately the employee resigned. The manager did a very good job of handling a difficult situation with sensitivity and firmness.

• Telecommunications

  A leading telecoms company took over a smaller rival in 2017, and took the opportunity to close down one of its large regional offices. I worked with the central HR team to plan the change programme, met with and coached the individual managers to undertake their line role in the consultations, undertook the individual consultation meetings with the employees at the regional site alongside the line managers, and acted as an independent liaison between central HR and the regional office.

• FMCG

  In 2017 I led the restructure of an FMCG consultancy based in Oxfordshire in preparation for its sale. The parent company was based in Durban, South Africa, so I undertook the research for the restructure, produced all the consultation material led the collective and individual consultation process, negotiated the redundancy packages and arranged the settlement agreements, in liaison with the head office in South Africa. The purchaser was also based in South Africa so I also undertook the organisational transition work as the sale was completed and continue to work with the company on organisational change projects.

• Retail

  A regional retailer in the outdoor clothing, footwear and equipment sector was weighing up the options of selling the business to a national chain in 2017. He had a largely longstanding and loyal workforce, but little in the way of formal contracts and agreements. I reviewed all the personal records, the employment policies that had been developed and implemented over an extended period and the actual activity in relation to all employment matters, and built up a comprehensive picture of terms and conditions, which led to the drawing up of formal employment contracts and current employment policies, which were agreed by all parties, in preparation for the potential sale of the business so that the transfer of staff under TUPE regulations could proceed smoothly and without rancour on either side.

• Customer Relationship Management

  I have an ongoing relationship with a customer relationship business in the Thames Valley. They work on recall campaigns with a variety of clients in the consumer and vehicle sectors with around 140 employees. They do not have a permanent HR function so I advise them on a range of HR issues, including disciplinaries and grievances, performance management and two very tricky long term sickness absence cases.

• Engineering

  An employee owned engineering company based in the City of London has grown from 30 to c. 80 employees in the past couple of years. I started my relationship with the business by coaching a couple of their senior executives, but I now help with all their employee relations and organisational change issues as they arise. Over the past year I have helped them manage two poor performers out of the business and to close down a division that was no longer considered part of their core offer.