As the Country gradually opens up after strict Covid restrictions and our vaccination take up is boasted as one of the best in Europe, County Meath Chamber held a roundtable discussion with some of the most experienced HR managers and consultants in Ireland to discuss returning to the workplace safely. The discussion was chaired by Donna Farrell, director of Marsh Mackey recruitment and County Meath Chamber. The round table was held in the Newgrange Hotel and is now available to view on www.countymeathchamber.ie.
The panel includes Tanya Clarke- head of HR at Wellman International, Joanne Kinahan Wall- Group HR manager for the Cusack Hotel group and Knightsbrook Hotel, Riona Gilroy- Business Development manager at the College Group, Paul McGlynn- Employment law expert at HRS consultants and Aoife McDaid- Employer engagement officer at LMETB. The purpose of the discussion was to connect some of the largest employers in Meath on the challenges presented by Covid and the how each have adapted to those challenges.
After a quick introduction from all speakers Donna asked Aoife McDaid of LMETB to explain the challenges that she has come up with over the past 16 months. “Some of the challenges we have seen with students is access to broadband, hardware issues and learning online can be a challenge for some people. We have tried to overcome these challenges by offering one to one mentoring to students who are struggling and staying in touch with them as much as possible.”
Hospitality businesses are faced with a problem in that their staff cannot work from home, but Donna asked Joanne Kinahan Wall- Group HR manager for Cusack Hotels how they managed returning to work safely for their staff. “The first lockdown was tough, but we developed a training academy online.” Joanne also explained how the PUP payment did pose a problem with getting staff back to work originally but they now only have 4 staff that are hesitant to return to work.
Paul McGlynn of HRS consultants explained how the PUP is a layoff payment and that the employer can contact the department of welfare if an employee does not want to come back to work. “This process needs to be fair for both employee and employer. This is where lines of communication need to be open, and everything needs to be taken into consideration. It is not fair however for the employee to dictate the conditions,” said Paul.
Tanya Clarke is head of HR at Wellman International and explained how she has adapted the HR of the company while working for a global enterprise. “We were deemed an essential business during the first lockdown, so we started working straight away on managing risk for all employees. We were working with 5 unions as well as head office, but our staff were amazing. Communication and engagement with our employees was very important. There was a fear of isolation with some of our employees”
When asked what challenges that some of his clients have presented with, Paul McGlynn again spoke of the importance of fairness to employees. “One of my clients were actively resistant to remote working. However, they did learn to listen to employees and take a hybrid approach. Communicating all decisions to employees is so important. Even if you do not know what’s going on with restrictions etc then its best to communicate that instead of nothing at all” Paul also touched on the importance of managing a remote worker correctly, recording hours worked, the right to disconnect and the treatment of employees that are unsure about returning to the office.
Riona Gilroy is Business Development Manager with the College group and she spoke how the dynamic changed with remote workers in her company. “All of our staff have been with the company for nearly 30 years. Because we are mainly production it was only the Finance team that worked from home, and we made sure to keep in constant contact with them. Some people had never worked from home before and creating a home office was a challenge. Going forward we will have to plan a more flexible approach towards working remotely. We need to have the processes and guidelines in place for future employees.”
The discussion was a great way for HR managers from different industries to speak about the different challenges they faced. More round table discussions are planned with County Meath Chamber. The Round table was sponsored by HRS consultants. For more information on how to access the recording or to sign up as a member of Meath County Chamber just email info@countymeathchamber.ie