In previous blogs, we have looked at key issues identified from the FinCEN files and then how the lack of an effective compliance culture can impact on the operations of financial institutions. This time, we focus on the recent launch of the FCA's ‘In Confidence, With Confidence’ campaign and look at what's really needed to encourage whistleblowing in financial services.
As COVID-19 restrictions are easing across the UK, businesses are looking ahead over the coming weeks and planning how their workforce can make a safe transition to new working conditions. In this article, we examine the health and safety issues which need to be considered from two perspectives.
So much has changed over the last year as the pandemic caused untold disruption to businesses and their staff. Large numbers of people have been forced to work from home and others have had to adjust to more restrictive conditions and protocols when still attending their usual place of work – or have been furloughed and unable to attend at all. Now we are heading towards another shift and HR teams across the UK are working out the details and practicalities of who should return, when, and what the working environment looks like.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
HR modernisation: will you throw your hat in the ring?
For today’s HR professionals, it can feel like work involves wearing a lot of hats. Need to navigate a route towards improved company performance? Pop on a pilot’s cap. Busy with health and safety concerns? Try this hard hat on. Involved in difficult staff situations, or legal disputes? Time for the police helmet. Got training and coaching programmes to set up? Look out your mortarboard. Mindful that a hundred more tasks are waiting in your in-tray? Maybe a magician’s hat is what you really need, so you can pull a few more rabbits from it.
Luckily, achieving greater efficiency with a HR or payroll solution is not just for larger organisations, as moving from manual processes to software simplicity works for SMEs too. Indeed, every opportunity to automate repetitive or time-consuming tasks will free up your team to focus on responsibilities that have a real impact on your business. So, let’s look at some of the ways you can leverage software to make your work life easier, using the key areas below.
Recruitment > Onboarding > Compliance > Self-service and Mobile > Reporting > Integrations
An experience shared by everyone
Did you know that the origin of the word ‘pandemic’ is rooted in Greek? The term comes from ‘pandēmos’, derived from ‘pan’ – ‘all’, and ‘dēmos’ – ‘people’. It’s a word that’s so familiar to everybody now, after a difficult and deeply strange 12 months. It aptly describes something huge, a phenomenon that has undoubtedly affected all people and transformed every personal and work life in some way.
The world is dramatically different. Face masks have become as much of a habit as the brushing of teeth. There’s a heightened focus on health and wellbeing, nature and hobbies. We’re binging on TV series (ok, perhaps that’s not totally different) and learning to keep our distance, with changed greeting customs and different forms of social recognition – memorably demonstrated by the clapping for key workers. Banking and shopping have altered too, with an exponential increase in online transactions. As a result, more people are tech-savvy, with digital screens of some description now even more common than they were before.
Looking at all of this from a HR perspective, it feels like employee experiences matter more than ever too.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Living systems where everything’s linked
“Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci
The words of a truly great, artist and polymath who pushed countless boundaries in his time. Having drawn inspiration from the time of the Renaissance, let’s move our focus to a revolution: the significance of hyper-connectivity, here and now, in our fast-changing world. What does ‘hyper-connected’ mean? A dictionary might say something about the ‘widespread or habitual use of devices that have internet connectivity’.
We’re going to look at it from an HR perspective, however, and for me the starting point is to view organisations as living, biological systems with many intricate nuances. It’s about treating your company as a complex, conscious system and making use of data and technology to ensure a personalised experience for every individual within it. Why is this concept important? Companies that want to thrive no matter what happens need to bounce back quickly as the economy recovers, which means welcoming back employees and considering all their experiences - for the good of everyone.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Against a backdrop of major global upheaval and unprecedented change in the workplace, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the type of aptitudes and abilities people are seeking out is changing. In tandem with this, there’s an apparent move away from more task-orientated skills, such as time management, towards more people-orientated skills instead. Indeed, recent research by LinkedIn helped to identify the top five soft skills predicted to be particularly in demand during 2021.So, a quick quiz: how many of these do you think you can guess (we’ll confirm them for you further below)?
This development hints at just how important it is to look ahead and ensure the health and long-term success of your business: in essence, to future-proof your workforce. Invariably, it comes back to the people and making sure that you’re supporting individuals, nurturing talent and navigating as a team through the usual terrain and uncertainty alike. Closing any skills gaps that your employees might have, to enable the business to grow and prosper, is a crucial part of achieving those aims.
UK Finance, the trade body for the banking and finance industry in the UK, warned last year about the top 10 cyber fraud scams used during the Covid-19 crisis to trick people and organisations out of hard-won cash and company revenues. Many of these scams still apply in the current climate. They are as follows:
We recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Law Society in relation to compliance with its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), and the response will be of particular interest to firms holding this accreditation.
- Topic:
- Legal
The professional reputation of any law firm plays a critical role in their continued success. A strong reputation attracts people, clients and long-term relationships. But reputations can be fragile. As Warren Buffett said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.” With law firms handling the most sensitive, and therefore often most valuable, data and information on behalf of clients they continue to be one of the biggest targets for cyber criminals.
Some of the most recent embarrassing and high profile attacks have involved law firms. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre reported late in 2019 that there had been a significant 42% increase in reported incidents in law firms over the last 5 years. But what can be done?
- Topic:
- Legal
Joe and Izzy couldn’t wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They’d been planning what they were going to get for weeks. It was going to be the perfect start to the Christmas period and their next bonanza!
It was simple to design their best online targets – to be the first to the gifts awaiting them. Sadly, for many people, Joe and Izzy were going to ruin their own plans. They were part of a well-organised criminal gang who were planning multiple cyber-attacks targeting the public at a time when many of us are more vulnerable than usual by chasing the ‘best online deal around’.
