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At a time when companies are struggling with employee retention, internal networking is vital for individual and organisational growth, says Jean Evans When you open any newspaper or listen to broadcasts, podcasts or news these days, you are hit with reports of people leaving the workforce. Organisations are struggling to retain and recruit staff. This is further fuelled by negative media reports on the crises our society is currently facing, from housing shortages to energy prices. It is clear that something is simply not working. People are stressed and overwhelmed. They are feeling the pressure, they are time-stretched, and they don’t have enough balance in their lives. Organisations are unsure of how to respond, leading to managers who are ill-equipped to deal with the changes needed in the workplace.  There simply isn’t enough time to learn and understand everything in this working environment. Internal networking While there is no magic wand to solve the problem of workplace churn, helping people to understand what it means and how to connect with others can help. This is where internal networking comes in.  Organisations must make the time to coach and train employees on how to connect and learn about one another and grow to create a workplace community that supports them when they put their hand up for new projects, share ideas or need to overcome a challenge. Where there are genuine connections and support in an organisation there is psychological safety. This can help to create a happier workforce that is focused on reaching shared strategic goals. Organisational benefits There are benefits for organisations that take the time to facilitate internal networking: Knowledge sharing Internal networking can facilitate the sharing of knowledge, ideas and expertise among colleagues, which can lead to greater innovation, improved decision-making and better problem-solving. Career development Networking with colleagues can provide opportunities for career development, such as mentorship, job shadowing or exposure to new projects and initiatives. Improved communication Networking can enhance communication within an organisation by promoting open dialogue, encouraging feedback and creating a culture of transparency, trust and confidence. Increased job satisfaction Building relationships with colleagues can create a sense of community and belonging, which can improve job satisfaction, employee retention and overall well-being. Enhanced collaboration Networking can promote collaboration and teamwork, which can lead to increased productivity, better outcomes and greater job satisfaction. Professional growth Networking can provide exposure to different perspectives, experiences and approaches, which can help professionals broaden their knowledge and skills. Looking at company culture How internal networking manifests itself depends on the culture of a company. For it to work, everyone must be engaged and ready to buy into the powerful notion that having connections is crucial to any organisation’s success. Jean Evans is a Networking Architect and Founder at NetworkMe

The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 (Act) has been signed into law. Moira Grassick outlines the Act’s key provisions and its implications for employers and employees Last month, the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 (Act) was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins. This new employment legislation will introduce several new statutory rights aimed at supporting a better work-life balance for employees and also supporting those with caring responsibilities. The Act also seeks to support employees who are victims of domestic violence through the introduction of a statutory paid leave entitlement of five days. New rights In summary, the Act introduces the following rights: the right to request remote working for all employees; the right to request flexible working for parents and carers; the right to breastfeeding breaks extended to two years from the date of the child’s birth; five days’ unpaid leave for medical care purposes for parents of children under 12 and carers; and five days’ paid leave for victims of domestic violence. The right to request remote work As all employees with more than six months of continuous service will soon have a right to request remote work, employers will need to plan how to manage these requests. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is also developing a Code of Practice to provide further guidance for employers and employees on managing requests for remote working arrangements. An employer must respond to the request within four weeks. However, this timeframe may be extended to eight weeks if the employer is having difficulty assessing the workability of the request. While employers will be obliged to consider these requests under the new law, it should be remembered that there is no obligation to grant all requests. If employers refuse the request, the Act states they must provide a written notification to the employee confirming the reasons for the refusal. The WRC does not have jurisdiction to challenge the merits or the grounds of an employer’s decision to refuse a request for remote working. Potential impact The new rights to request flexible work for parents and carers, and remote work for all employees, are designed to promote a better work-life balance. While they represent a new development in employment law in Ireland, how these rights will operate in practice remains to be seen. Employers must develop policies for managing this type of request and prepare for negotiations with employees who want to alter their working patterns. Employers in industries that have developed remote work practices in recent years may face pressure to grant requests. If operations were largely unaffected by remote working arrangements brought in to deal with pandemic restrictions, it might be difficult to refuse a request for productivity or operational reasons. And with the jobs market remaining tight, employers who refuse requests risk losing valued employees to a competitor who does offer flexible or remote working options. Unpaid leave for medical purposes  The Act states that an employee is entitled to five days’ unpaid medical leave in a 12-month period to provide “significant care or support for a serious medical reason” for a person who is in a specified relationship with the employee, such as a spouse, civil partner, parent, sibling or person who resides in the same household as an employee. This leave is different to force majeure leave, which gives an employee three days in a 12-month period or five days in a 36-month period for an urgent family matter. Paid domestic violence leave  The Act introduces this new leave which provides for five days’ paid leave for victims of domestic violence to allow the affected employee to seek medical advice, legal representation and to engage with other specialist support services. Bespoke employment policies As it seems highly unlikely that all businesses will be able to roll out generic “one size fits all” policies to manage all these new employee rights, each company will need to tailor new policies to the specific needs of its operations. While employers should wait until the WRC Code of Practice is finalised before tailoring their remote work policies, it’s a good idea to begin preparing to update handbooks and policies to reflect these upcoming changes, making remote working more accessible for more employees. Moira Grassick is Chief Operating Officer at Peninsula

In today’s unpredictable business environment, organisations must invest in resilience to ensure they can withstand any disruption and quickly recover, writes Andy Banks  As Irish businesses grapple with a rapidly changing world, the challenges of geopolitical upheaval, soaring inflation and economic uncertainties have become ever more prevalent.   Added to this, businesses are facing the rising threat of cybercrime, supply chain challenges and the climate crisis.  To survive and thrive in this upheaval, Irish business leaders must be able to proactively anticipate and respond to disruption.  The key to success is resilience: the ability to navigate crises and the capacity to adapt and succeed in the face of disruption.   PwC’s Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023 delves into how organisations are directing their resources, efforts and investments toward building resilience to thrive in a state of permacrisis.  There are three ways organisations can embrace and invest in resilience to transform their operations in an era of constant disruption.  1. Integration: An integrated resilience programme is essential  It is no longer sufficient for organisations to operate in silos as they address today’s complex and interconnected risks. Both locally and globally, enterprises are moving towards an integrated approach to resilience.   They are centrally governing and aligning multiple resilience capabilities around what matters most to the business and embedding this programme into their operations and corporate culture.  2. Leadership: Thriving in a permacrisis means upskilling leaders and teams  Consistent with global trends, 33 percent of Irish respondents in the PwC survey said building a team with the right skills is a significant challenge in establishing a resilience programme. Fifty-seven percent of Irish organisations cite upskilling future leaders as one of the three most important elements of future-proofing resilience.  A successful resilience strategy and programme needs:  Executive sponsorship from the C-suite;  A senior leader with clear responsibility for the programme; and  A skilled team to drive the programme across the organisation.  3. Programme approach: Build operational resilience around what matters most  Organisations must build operational resilience and ensure that enterprise planning and preparation are part of a broader continuous cycle.   Irish organisations invest in teams to deliver on the resilience agenda, with 77 percent of respondents confirming at least one dedicated resource.   As more organisations integrate their resilience programmes, many firms worldwide are adopting the core principles of an operational resilience (OpRes) approach, focusing on protecting what matters most and prioritising investment based on what’s critical to their organisation and stakeholders.   This allows organisations to manage risks with high reliability and drive efficiency.  Those who have moved to an integrated resilience programme are significantly ahead in many of the core elements of OpRes: building a robust corporate immune system where an organisation can adapt, flex and grow stronger.  Technology-powered resilience   Distributed data, systems, processes and operational silos mean organisations struggle to obtain a complete view of their resilience, only identifying gaps when disruption hits.   The traditional approach to managing resilience is no longer working – simply checking off compliance with regulations does not deliver resilience.   Too many organisations miss opportunities to identify and rectify vulnerabilities before an incident occurs. What are the vulnerabilities you can and can’t live with? It’s time for a new approach.  Business leaders understand the need to underpin resilience strategies with technology that can intelligently aggregate data from across a business to provide an integrated, insight-driven single source of truth and greater agility in times of crisis.   Business leaders also want to use technology to create a living resilience programme they can continually test and evolve.  Andy Banks is Risk Assurance Solutions Partner at PwC 

Inclusive hiring has become vital to modern business practices as organisations strive to create a more diverse and equitable workplace. Fergal McPhillips argues that inclusive hiring is not just about a diverse organisation but about attracting and retaining top talent and creating an environment where employees’ unique perspectives are valued. Inclusive hiring is the act of seeking out and hiring employees who are diverse in their perspectives, backgrounds and thought processes. Generally speaking, it’s about recruiting people from underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, racial minorities and individuals from other marginalised groups. Organisations must overcome unconscious bias in their hiring and remain open to diversity in all forms, whether the diversity of thought, cultural background or embracing differences in gender expression. An organisation must recognise that different ways of thinking, experiences and skills can benefit it. Benefits Inclusive hiring is increasingly becoming a priority for organisations in today’s diverse business landscape. According to a study by McKinsey, companies with diverse workforces outperform their less diverse counterparts in terms of financial performance, with ethnically diverse companies being 36 percent more profitable than those who are not as diverse. Furthermore, an inclusive hiring process is a more equitable hiring process and can help reduce the risk of discrimination and legal liabilities. A report by Glassdoor found that 80 percent of jobseekers between the ages of 18 and 35 consider diversity an important factor when considering job offers. Inclusive hiring is essential for organisations that seek to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace culture that can attract and retain top talent and drive long-term business success. It can also help improve employee engagement, satisfaction and morale while making a workplace more diverse, welcoming and productive. Creating an inclusive culture To engage in inclusive hiring and ensure it sticks, you must develop an inclusive company culture that truly embraces and celebrates the many differences that make people brilliant. Creating a diverse working environment is a process, not an event. It won’t happen overnight. It takes time and commitment. Your organisation must be ready to invest in the process, willing to hear new ideas, prepared to change its behaviours and encourage employees to change theirs too. Creating an inclusive company culture is critical in attracting and retaining diverse talent and driving long-term business success. This includes investing in diversity and inclusion training for all employees, ensuring equitable policies and practices, and establishing employee resource groups to provide a sense of belonging and community for underrepresented groups. In addition, fostering an open and transparent communication culture is important, where employees feel safe to voice their opinions and concerns without fear of retribution. This can be achieved through regular town hall meetings, one-on-one meetings with managers and regular employee engagement surveys. Ultimately, creating an inclusive company culture requires a commitment from leadership to prioritise diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the business and to take proactive steps to create a workplace where all employees feel valued, respected and supported. Fergal McPhillips is a Team Leader of Accounting & Finance Recruitment at Morgan McKinley

The European Union’s recently implemented Pay Transparency Directive is set to transform the way companies across the EU approach pay equity and transparency. Doone O’Doherty explores steps organisations should take to implement the Directive. At the end of March 2023, the European Parliament adopted the EU Pay Transparency Directive. This will go through the final formalisation steps, including Council adoption, and enter into force 20 days after publication in the EU Official Journal.  EU Member States will be required to transpose the Directive into national legislation within three years – very likely in 2026.  Given the proposed legislation’s complexity and implications, organisations should start preparing now to ensure a smooth transition from a legal, operational and strategic perspective. Under the Directive, greater transparency will be required in four critical areas.  Gender pay gap reporting and equal pay Organisations above a certain employee threshold will be required to publish gender pay gap figures externally.  Where a pay gap of five percent or more is found in any category of worker and other criteria are not met, a joint pay assessment must also be completed. Recruitment   Organisations will be required to provide information on pay (e.g. pay bandings) as part of the recruitment process, such as adding pay ranges to job adverts or sharing this information with applicants. They will no longer be able to ask candidates about current pay to determine offers.  Pay approach and philosophy  Employers with more than 50 workers must provide workers with information on the criteria used to determine pay and pay progression. Average pay levels Workers will have the right to request information on the average pay level of workers doing similar work to them, broken down by sex. This must be provided within two months of the request.   To whom does this apply? While local implementation may vary, the Directive suggests that the requirements listed above may apply not only to employees but also apply to other worker types (e.g. contractors and gig economy workers).  Key steps to take Given the significance of the measures to be introduced, organisations must identify their biggest risks and opportunities and prioritise activities. This will allow for developing an effective change plan to ensure readiness for the upcoming legislation and wider transparency requirements.  For some organisations, the impact of the EU Pay Transparency Directive will be significant, potentially leading to the widespread transformation of critical people policies and activities. Successful change (including impacted systems and processes) is a multi-year programme.   It will be critical for companies to: Understand the impact: Identify key stakeholders and gain a high-level understanding of key risks and opportunities for your organisation. Provide an initial briefing to identified stakeholders on the Directive and its implications for your organisation.  Assess organisational readiness: Deep dive into the key risks and opportunities identified through interviews and document reviews. Complete a readiness assessment to prioritise activities with stakeholders. Develop an implementation plan: Develop a high-level implementation plan to embed change based on agreed priorities, risks and opportunities.  Doone O’Doherty is Partner of People & Organisation at PwC 

With stakeholders pulling in different directions and competing for your time, staying focused on your daily goals can be difficult. Moira Dunne explains how to manage stakeholders trying to take time away from your scheduled tasks. Stakeholders are the key people you interact with in your role. It is essential to maintain good relationships with them, support and be responsive to them, but this can impact your work plan and put you in a tight spot. We feel pressure to respond immediately and don’t want to upset them by saying “no” to a request, even if it is not urgent. Furthermore, the stakeholder may be a senior figure, so you feel obliged to acquiesce, even if you don’t have time. As a result, you prioritise the new request but sacrifice important deliverables and your own personal time while letting others down. Overall, it can feel like the workday is out of control, leading to stress and anxiety. Here are four tips on managing requests from stakeholders. 1. Take control To help control your time, be clear about what you need to get done each week and block time in your diary for this priority work. As new requests crop up, you can assess which is the higher priority task. You may need to do both, but you will not drop the planned work without rescheduling it first. A baseline plan gives you the confidence to discuss your response regarding the work needed, and not having a plan in place makes it harder to do that. 2. Manage your response time When responding to stakeholders, the key is to say yes on your own terms. For example: Ask when they need the task completed; Inform them when you can work on the task; and Negotiate a time that suits you both – be as flexible as possible. As a result, you don’t automatically drop your planned work but still support the stakeholder as best you can. 3. Review urgent requests Urgent requests generally fall into two categories: things that couldn’t be anticipated; and things that were not done in time and became urgent. Many people don’t plan ahead. You can’t change their work style but can change your interaction with them. Take a few minutes on a Friday afternoon to check in with stakeholders who often have last-minute requests. Tell them you are planning your week and to send on any requests for the next one before close of business so it can be scheduled in. This prompts them to think ahead about requests instead of waiting until the last minute while subtly telling them that they should let you know in advance if they want time in your diary. 4. Agree expectations If starting a new relationship with stakeholders, set expectations with them beforehand. Find out what the service level agreement says and ask what timing will work best for them. Agree the response time for general queries (while acknowledging that genuinely urgent situations can be handled differently). Once agreed upon, it is easier to stick to these response times in the cut and thrust of a busy day. 5. Drop the guilt Do not feel guilty if a task from a stakeholder does not fit into your schedule. If you can’t do something, there will be a good reason, such as not qualifying as a higher priority than your current work or being within your role’s remit. Moira Dunne is the founder and director of beproductive.ie