News from Resourceful People Group
The ERA & the Value of a HR Audit
The Employment Rights Act is the most significant enhancement of union organizing rights in a generation with the following changes to the law: ▶️ From April this year, the statutory recognition procedure will be simplified with the removal of the need for a union to show that at least 10% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit are union members, and only a simple majority of those voting in a ballot required to secure recognition. ▶️ From October this year employers will be legally required to inform employees of their right to join a trade union. ▶️ Also in October, trade unions will gain new rights of physical and digital access to workplaces. ▶️ Dismissal for taking part in official industrial action is now automatically unfair, with the previous 12‑week limit removed. This provides open‑ended protection for lawful strikers. Inevitably, the risk of union organizing increases with this these changes. So how can employers respond? First of all, the smallest businesses are exempt from the statutory recognition procedure. It only applies to businesses with 21 or more employees. But other businesses concerned about union organizing should ensure that they have in place robust practices to engage and connect with […]
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Panelist at HR & Employment Summit
So here is the announcement I was excited for this month…… I’m looking forward to joining the panel at the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce HR & Employment Summit on Wednesday 25 March to discuss an important topic for many organisations right now – managing absence and building a fit, resilient workforce. Too often sickness absence is viewed purely through a policy or compliance lens. In reality, it’s usually connected to wider issues around leadership, culture, resilience and how organisations support people through pressure and change. We know (according to the HSE) that historically over 50% of long term illness is related to mental health conditions / work place stress and at the summit we’ll be exploring how employers can move beyond reactive absence management and instead create environments where people can perform sustainably – supporting both wellbeing and organisational performance. If you’re an employer thinking about workforce resilience, skills challenges and how the employment landscape is evolving, it should be a really valuable discussion. I’m looking forward to sharing perspectives alongside other employers and partners. 🔗 Book your complimentary place here: https://shorturl.at/qgO1g Resourceful People Group Ltd
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Exciting & Terrifying – they can co-exist.
Some changes feel exciting. Some feel slightly terrifying. The interesting ones are usually both. Over the next few months, there are three exciting moments / events on the horizon for Resourceful People Group Ltd. The first arrives late this month, which I will release more about in the next few days. The other two follow in June — and if I’m honest, they represent something of a bigger step. The first of which is an issue of a familiar event but with a significant increase in scale / complexity, and the second is the kind of step/event that is in a brand new territory for me and is the type of event that has stretched my own comfort zone much … much … (hang on … lets add another ‘much’) more than expected. It is causing me to feel both a little nervous but also very excited. None of these are creating reckless change, but meaningful change for the business and also me personally. These are the sort that asks you to trust the professional journey you’ve been on, while still stepping into something that feels a little unfamiliar. Because growth rarely arrives wrapped in certainty. At RPG, our work has always been about enabling, […]
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University of Surrey – Business Management & HRM degree
Mike Hood, one of our amazing & incredibly experienced associate directors, was delighted to have had the opportunity to deliver a guest lecture on Employee Relations to final year students on the University of Surrey’s Business Management with HRM degree. Many thanks to Cecile Guillaume for the invitation. It was an opportunity to tell a few old IR/ER war stories about trade union negotiations? Well, yes possibly, but great also to interact with young people about to enter the HR profession and both share experience with them and learn from their insightful questions about what is often seen as HR’s Cinderella discipline. And what a time to do it, with the ER discipline about to become much more important again as organizations respond to the generational changes in the UK employee relations framework triggered by the Employment Relations Act 2025. Great discussion with the class on what this means for both employer and employee choices and tactics in a changing world of work. Thanks to Mike for his time representing Hood People Solutions & Resourceful People Group.
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Spending Time at Bedford College
Recognition Friday…..today it is The Bedford College Group. Yesterday I had the honour & privilege of returning to Bedford College and delivering another workshop. This time the subject was ‘presentation skills’ to a group of young adults (year 12) at Bedford College, studying a T-Level in Accountancy, who as part of their qualification they must deliver a filmed / assessed presentation. The group was quite diverse in their perspectives of what they wanted from their careers and we managed to find ways to make it relatable & interesting, connecting with subjects / themes that they were inspired with (including accounting !). Why am I posting this? Well a couple of reasons, as a leader of our own businesses and hopefully with some depth of experience I think it is important that we share our experiences (if it is wanted) to others to help encourage / inspire and relate it to the real world of work. I know that at that age I appreciated it so I think it should be all our responsibility (if we can) to pay forward to the next generation and help them, especially as the world of work is changing so fast. Secondly I want to […]
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Is your business ready for the Employment Rights Act? The clocking is ticking and change is coming.
Significant new employment rights come into effect from 6 April 2026 with more to come later in the year. Here’s a quick summary of what is changing in April: ▶️ Entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay will start from day one of an absence and the Lower Earnings Limit is removed. For many businesses this means an increase in costs and potentially also an increase in short term absence. Now is the time to ensure your absence management procedures are robust enough to deal with this. ▶️ Paternity Leave and Ordinary Parental Leave also become day one rights but note that Statutory Paternity Pay does not, it still requires 26 weeks service. You will need to think about your policy if you currently enhance paternity leave. ▶️ A new right of Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave gives bereaved fathers and partners, a day-one right to extended paternity leave in the first year of a child’s life if they are in the tragic circumstance of losing the child’s mother or primary adopter. ▶️ Getting redundancy collective consultation right will become even more important as the maximum protective award for failure to consult is doubled from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay. ▶️ […]
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There’s growing pressure on leaders to decide quickly…..
Speed is often mistaken for confidence but in complex environments, fast decisions aren’t always good decisions and slower ones aren’t always wrong. What really matters is judgement. Knowing when you have enough information to act, when to pause and when to challenge your own assumptions. And sometimes, if we’re honest, speed simply means mistakes. I made an administrative error on Monday with a great existing client. Nothing catastrophic but I was disappointed in myself. But I reflected and told myself it was honest and I’m human (now no clever remarks from my friends at that point 😅). The important part wasn’t the mistake, which obviously I instantly regretted, it was what happened next. That fundamentally I needed to own it, I apologised and then corrected it. For me, being in the world of fast complex change, being adaptable doesn’t mean you’ll never get it wrong. It means you need to be honest in the process. You take responsibility. You adjust. And you move forward with trust intact. Here at Resourceful People Group Ltd, we talk about Enable, Support and Protect.🟢 We Enable by building confidence and judgement — not just urgency.🟢 We Support leaders through complexity, including when things don’t go to plan.🟢 We Protect organisations […]
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Bank of Valletta – Malta
Just a very short post for a Friday showing appreciation. Last week I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Resourceful People Group Ltd‘s latest client which is the Bank of Valletta plc, which was founded in 1974 and is now the largest commercial bank in Malta. I had the honour of working with both an exceptional senior EXCO & HR team, working with them on a project. What was great was after the project was completed the feedback from a number of the key stakeholders was “we achieved much more than I could have hoped for” and “you have exceeded my expectations”. As an SME based in the UK it is both lovely & humbling to expanding my international client base and receive such feedback. Just goes to show that HR doesn’t always have to be ‘protection’ driven, it can be about adding true value, enabling and supporting an organisation to greater success. I’m already looking forward to my next chapter with them. Happy Friday everyone.
Read the articleThe Diary of an SME: Understanding Human Resources (HR) in Business
It was an absolute pleasure having the chat with Benjamin Alexander Vis from Panthera Consultancy . There are a number of short videos coming out, so watch this space, hope you find them interesting…let me know if anyone has questions. 🎙️ New Episode Alert — The Diary of an SME: Understanding Human Resources (HR) in Business This episode features Steve Botterill, an experienced HR professional who specialises in people, culture, and leadership development. He joins Benjamin Alexander Vis to answer a question many business owners still ask… 👉 What does HR actually do? Steve Botterill explains how HR goes far beyond policies and paperwork, and how it helps businesses grow by: ✨ Building strong teams and positive culture✨ Developing confident leaders✨ Keeping people engaged and motivated✨ Helping businesses adapt and move forward Packed with practical insights for business owners, managers, and anyone curious about the real impact of HR. 🔗 Full episode available on our website: https://lnkd.in/eXhJ39Vt More episodes coming soon…
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Pressure doesn’t change leaders ➡️ it reveals them 👀
Under times of constant pressure and change (which seems to now be constantly), most of us default to patterns we’re not always aware of. Some become more controlling.Some withdraw.Some push harder when slowing down would help more. Teams feel this long before leaders do. And over time, inconsistency takes a toll — trust erodes quietly as energy goes into managing behaviour rather than doing the work. High-performing teams don’t emerge by chance.They’re built when people understand themselves, commit to shared values, and take responsibility for how their behaviour impacts others — especially under pressure. That’s the space our Resourceful People Group Ltd SCRUM UP® program is designed to help teams & organisations embrace it (safely). Using the wonderful tools of both Insights Discovery and AQai – Adaptability Assessments & Coaching, we work with individuals, cohorts, and whole teams to build self-awareness, adaptability, and a stronger commitment to how people show up, adapting and creating psychological safety for one another when it matters most. Not theory. Just practical insight that makes a real, value-added difference. Contact us here at Resourceful People Group Ltd – HR with a Twist, to find out how we can make a real difference & create a return on […]
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