Holding the ideal HR meeting

Much of your time as an employer will no doubt be spent in meetings with staff, often the same staff on a regular basis!  Some of these conversations and meetings will be challenging, possibly around difficult topics, either commercially sensitive or about personal matters such as health or capability.  The prospect of a difficult conversation can be the cause of many a sleepless night and shredded nerves.  

Read on for our top tips on how to hold the ideal HR meeting. 

Controlling a meeting that has become over emotional

If a meeting has broken down due to emotions running high, whether that be tears or tantrums then it’s time to take a break!  If an employee becomes upset or agitated, suggest a break whilst they gather their thoughts and compose themselves.  If an employee is raising their voice and has become confrontational, simply and firmly ask them to calm down before continuing.  Don’t talk over them, don’t compete for air space or you will run the risk of the situation escalating and turning into a shouting match.  Adjourn the meeting, explaining that you want to diffuse the situation but do make sure that you reconvene – don’t let your employee bully you into ending the meeting prematurely.  

Inviting an employee into a meeting 

It is not always necessary to put the invite in writing.  If the meeting is a formal meeting, such as a disciplinary or grievance hearing then a formal written invite will be required. 

Right to be accompanied

Employees do not always have the right to be accompanied at every meeting.   For formal meetings such as those referred to above, your employee has the statutory right to be accompanied by a workplace colleague or a trade union representative.  For informal meetings such as investigation meetings your employee won’t normally have the right to be accompanied, unless your own disciplinary procedure states something different.  If your employee has a disability or learning difficulties, then it would be deemed a reasonable adjustment to allow them to be accompanied to even an informal meeting, if they have requested additional support. 

Discussing a sensitive issue such as personal hygiene 

This concern comes up more than you may think.  Our advice is to speak to the employee in private and let them know that you’ve become concerned and are worried that they’re not looking after themselves properly.  You can explain this is either due to their appearance, cleanliness or demeanour, you can also let them know that their colleagues have mentioned it too (you don’t have to give names.)  This may lead to the employee opening up about other problems they may be experiencing.

Holding a disciplinary hearing 

Many employers are worried that the employee won’t be honest with them and will deny the allegation during a disciplinary hearing.  Before holding a disciplinary hearing, it is important to carry out an investigation.  At this stage, you will be fact finding and gathering evidence to substantiate the allegation.  A thorough investigation and hard evidence will make it much more difficult for an employee to wriggle off the hook and will ensure your disciplinary hearing runs smoothly.

Maintaining confidentiality

Speaking to staff about business changes can lead to concerns about breaches in confidentiality.  It is advisable before starting your meeting, to explain that the information you are going to share is strictly confidential and not to be discussed outside of the meeting.  Explain that if you become aware of a breach of confidentiality that you will take a dim view and depending on the impact of the breach (for example if commercially sensitive information is shared with competitors or clients this could affect your business) then you may deem the breach to be gross misconduct which could lead to summary dismissal. 

Recording a meeting

Meetings can be recorded but you must obtain consent from your employee.   You should not be making covert recordings and neither should your staff.  You can insist that all phones are turned off during the meeting, or better still left outside the room.

Taking minutes of a meeting

Not all meetings will need to be minuted, unless they are formal meetings.  If you are holding an informal meeting, where actions have been agreed it is advisable to at least follow this up with an email so that you have a record of what’s been discussed.  Minutes of formal meetings should be taken during the meeting (not afterwards); they don’t necessarily need to be verbatim but should summarise what has been discussed. 

Discussing capability issues

Raising performance issues with an employee, in our experience is one of the most daunting meetings for many employers.   The best approach again, is to come at this from a point of concern.  The narrative should be around identifying the specific issues and discussing how you can support your employee to resolve them.  Always follow the meeting up with a letter and/or a performance improvement plan to document the required improvements and timescales. 

Protected conversations           

A protected conversation is off the record and completely confidential.  This is a convenient process whereby employers can offer an exit strategy to an employee on mutually agreed terms, as an alternative option and often achieving a speedier outcome than following a formal process (such as a disciplinary hearing or redundancy consultation.)   Apart from being a time saver, the main benefit is that the conversation cannot be referred to in any future tribunal proceedings should the offer not be accepted.  Also, if the offer is accepted the employee will have waived their right, as part of the agreed terms, to make a claim at tribunal.

Perhaps you’ve been putting off holding a particular HR meeting and are still feeling nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing.  If this sounds familiar, then please do not hesitate to contact us for further advice and support.  Alternatively, if you would prefer then one of our expert HR Consultants can hold the meeting on your behalf.