As the end of the year draws nearer, and the Christmas break feels so close you can almost smell the mulled wine, my thoughts are moving beyond 2020 and onto the challenges ahead of us in 2021.
It’s fair to assume that the majority of businesses which have utilised the furlough scheme have used it to protect jobs. The Government support towards the wages of salaried staff has enabled businesses to retain staff when otherwise, faced with reduced footfall and massively reduced income, they would have had to make redundancies.
The current furlough scheme comes to an end in March 2021. There is a consensus amongst most that this really will be the end of the scheme; the mass roll-out of the vaccine being enough for the Government to justify pulling the scheme and passing the responsibility to pay salaries onto business owners once again. But what do you do when you have become reliant on the scheme, and know big changes are inevitable if you are to survive another year?
Assuming the current furlough scheme will end in March 2021, and that your business will continue to work through challenging times financially, it is only right to be mindful of how you will survive the next six months and to start thinking about HR interventions to protect your business.
It may be that your business has adapted during lockdown to a more online offer, reducing the need for the number of staff you currently employ, which will become a real issue when furlough ends. It may be that the buying habits of your consumers have changed or that you have adapted your approach resulting in the need for fewer staff. Whatever your driver, if you’re looking to reduce numbers or salary costs in 2021, now is the time to start planning.
I know, I know, it’s Christmas next week; but with (hopefully) a couple of weeks ahead of you to be off work and reflect, now is the time to start visualising your business in 2021 and what that might look like.
If you’re a business owner or leader who knows that things need to change in 2021, assign 10 minutes per day between now and Christmas and ask yourself:
1. Can we continue to spend what we currently spend, as we start the New Year?
2. Do we have the skills internally to meet our needs next year, or do we need to review our staff and what they do?
3. Are our leaders prepped for the challenges to come? Will they be confident and capable if we change what we ask of them? Do they need help to get them to the point where we can rely on them to make change happen?
4. Does our current HR support have the capacity to lead our change programme?
5. How can we make the process less traumatic for our valued staff, who we care about?
If you’re looking to make changes to tie-in with the end of Furlough, I would suggest you start scoping out the next steps of the process early-January. Depending on the changes you need to make, you could be looking at minimum consultation period of 30/45 days; weave into that time to negotiate with TU representatives, Employee Representatives, negotiate exits, recruit to a reduced number of positions etc. and you’re looking at an 8-week process at the very least. If the end of furlough is your cut-off point, starting the process early February at the latest is a realistic timescale to work within.
I always knew this business would develop from word-of-mouth referrals; you’re only as good as the service you provide. I’m now finding lots of business owners reviewing their current expenditure on their external HR support service and (rightly) questioning how to get a better service for the money they spend elsewhere, and I’m pleased to be able to fill that gap.
My diary for January 2021 is so far full of scoping meetings and new business transitions. I’m looking forward to getting to know these new businesses, the characters involved and understanding their culture so I can tailor how we work together to really fit with their business and how they treat their people. I also can’t wait to roll my sleeves up and make some real changes to these businesses, securing their future for 2021 and beyond.
If you currently outsource your HR service, or have an internal team who would benefit from some strategic direction or operational support, send me a message, let’s have a chat.
