The HR Practice

The HR Practice Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from The HR Practice, Consulting Agency, Merlin House, 20 Mossland Road, Hillington, Glasgow.

The HR Practice was founded to offer organisations a full range of HR services to support their people strategy and enable them to focus on their core business function.

Summer can bring a few extra people challenges for businesses.Annual leave requests increase. Childcare arrangements cha...
22/06/2026

Summer can bring a few extra people challenges for businesses.

Annual leave requests increase. Childcare arrangements change. Sickness absence can become harder to cover. Workloads need to be balanced around holidays, school breaks and team availability.

None of this is unusual, but it can become stressful if there is no clear process.

The key is consistency.

If someone requests leave, how is it approved? If several people want the same dates, how do you decide fairly? If someone is off sick during a busy period, what process do managers follow? If working arrangements need a bit of flexibility, what is reasonable for the business?

Having clear expectations in place helps avoid confusion, resentment and last-minute panic.

It also helps managers deal with situations calmly and fairly, rather than making decisions on the spot and hoping for the best.

Summer should not feel like a people management obstacle course. With the right planning, it can be managed well.

If you would like support reviewing your annual leave, absence or flexible working processes, get in touch.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

19/06/2026

What do HR people actually do all day?

We can confirm it is not just reading policies, drinking coffee and saying “it depends” every five minutes.

Although, to be fair, “it depends” does come up quite a lot.

HR support covers so much more than many people realise. It can include contracts, policies, recruitment, onboarding, absence management, disciplinaries, grievances, performance issues, restructures, redundancies, manager support, employee relations and the occasional “please tell me I have not made this worse” phone call.

Good HR support is practical. It helps businesses make better decisions, avoid unnecessary risk and deal with people issues before they grow arms and legs.

It is also there to give business owners and managers confidence.

Because when you employ people, things will come up. Questions will come up. Awkward moments will come up. And sometimes you just need someone who knows the process, understands the law and can explain it without making your head hurt.

If you are starting to feel like the people side of your business is getting more complicated, we can help.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

Probation periods are not just a formality.They are not there so a contract looks complete. They are there to give both ...
17/06/2026

Probation periods are not just a formality.

They are not there so a contract looks complete. They are there to give both the employer and employee a clear period of time to check that the role, expectations and working relationship are right.

But for probation to be useful, it needs to be managed properly.

That means clear objectives from the start. Regular check-ins. Honest feedback. Notes of conversations. Support where needed. And no surprises at the end.

Too often, probation periods are forgotten about until the final week. Then everyone suddenly tries to remember what has gone well, what has not gone well and whether any concerns were actually discussed.

That is not helpful for the employee, the manager or the business.

A well-managed probation period gives new employees the best chance of success. It also gives employers a fair and structured way to deal with concerns early, before they become harder to manage.

If your probation process is more of a calendar reminder than a proper conversation, it might be time to tighten it up.

Need help reviewing your probation process? Get in touch and we can support you.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

15/06/2026

June can be a really good time to get recruitment moving.

It is easy to think “we’ll wait until after the summer holidays”, but if you already know you need someone, waiting can sometimes create more pressure than progress.

Recruitment takes time. You need to write the advert, get it in front of the right people, review applications, arrange interviews, make decisions, issue paperwork and plan the onboarding properly.

Add summer holidays into the mix and suddenly everything can take longer than expected.

If you leave it until August or September, you may find yourself trying to recruit while already stretched, covering annual leave and dealing with the normal post-summer rush.

Getting started now gives you more breathing space. It also gives your new person a better chance of being welcomed properly, rather than thrown into the deep end because everyone is already under pressure.

Good recruitment is not just about filling a gap. It is about finding the right person, setting clear expectations and giving them the best possible start.

If you are thinking about recruiting this summer, get in touch and we can help you get the process right from the beginning.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

When should a business bring in HR support?Not just when something has gone wrong.That is usually when people think of H...
12/06/2026

When should a business bring in HR support?

Not just when something has gone wrong.

That is usually when people think of HR, but good HR support can be just as valuable before the difficult situations appear.

You might be ready for HR support if you are taking on your first few employees, growing your team, dealing with more people questions than you used to or starting to feel that your contracts, policies and processes are not quite keeping up with the business.

You might also need support if managers are unsure how to deal with absence, performance, behaviour, holidays, flexible working requests or tricky conversations.

HR is not just there for the scary stuff.

It is there to give structure, reduce risk, support better decisions and help create a workplace where people know what is expected of them.

For many small businesses, bringing in HR support is not about becoming corporate. It is about making sure the people side of the business is managed properly, practically and fairly.

If your business is growing and you are starting to feel the people side getting more complicated, get in touch for a chat about how we can support you.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

10/06/2026

“I can just give them a warning, can’t I?”

This is one of those questions HR teams hear a lot.

And the honest answer is usually, “it depends.”

A warning is not just something you hand out because you are frustrated, annoyed or feel like someone has pushed things too far. There needs to be a fair process behind it.

That means understanding what has happened, gathering the facts, giving the employee a chance to respond and making sure any action taken is reasonable and proportionate.

Skipping the process can create bigger problems for the business later.

It can also leave employees feeling that decisions have been made unfairly or inconsistently.

That does not mean employers cannot take action when there is poor conduct or performance. Of course they can. But how they take action matters.

A clear disciplinary process protects the business, supports fair decision making and helps managers deal with issues properly rather than emotionally.

If you are unsure whether something should be handled formally, informally or not at all, it is always better to ask before acting.

Need support with a disciplinary issue or investigation? Speak to us before you take the next step.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

Good managers are not born knowing everything.Quite often, people become managers because they were great at the job the...
08/06/2026

Good managers are not born knowing everything.

Quite often, people become managers because they were great at the job they were doing. They knew the systems, understood the clients, delivered the work and could be trusted to get things done.

Then suddenly they are expected to manage people.

That is a completely different skill.

Managing people means having difficult conversations, giving feedback, setting expectations, dealing with absence, supporting performance, managing conflict and keeping things fair and consistent.

That does not always come naturally. And it is not fair to expect managers to just “know” how to do it without support.

When managers are not trained properly, small issues can easily turn into bigger problems. Conversations get avoided. Feedback becomes inconsistent. Team members feel unclear about what is expected. The manager feels stressed, and the business starts to feel the impact.

Supporting your managers is not just good for them. It is good for the whole business.

If you have people in management roles who have never had proper training or guidance, now is a good time to look at what support they need.

Get in touch if you would like help supporting your managers with the people side of their role.

Find out more here: https://thehrpractice.co.uk

There is always one policy nobody reads until there is a problem.It might be your disciplinary policy. Your grievance po...
05/06/2026

There is always one policy nobody reads until there is a problem.

It might be your disciplinary policy. Your grievance policy. Your absence policy. Your social media policy. Your flexible working policy.

When things are running smoothly, policies can feel like one of those “we’ll get to it eventually” jobs.

Then something happens.

An employee raises an issue. A manager is unsure what process to follow. Someone has posted something online that has caused concern. A sickness absence pattern starts to appear. A flexible working request lands in your inbox and nobody is quite sure what the current rules are.

That is usually when businesses realise their policies are out of date, unclear or sitting in a folder nobody has opened for years.

Policies are not there to gather dust. They are there to give structure, clarity and consistency when decisions need to be made.

A good policy helps managers act fairly. It helps employees understand expectations. It also gives the business a stronger position if a situation becomes more formal.

If your policies have not been reviewed in a while, this is your gentle nudge to move them up the list.

Need help checking whether your HR policies are still fit for purpose? Get in touch and we can support you.

https://thehrpractice.co.uk/

03/06/2026

One of the things we feel makes The HR Practice different is the team.

Yes, we know our stuff. Yes, we take HR seriously. Yes, we understand that when people come to us, it is often because something feels stressful, sensitive or complicated.

But we also love a laugh.

That does not distract from the care we give our clients. In fact, we think it helps create the kind of atmosphere where people feel comfortable asking questions, being honest and getting the support they really need.

HR does not always have to feel scary, stiff or full of jargon. Sometimes what a business owner needs most is someone calm, practical and human at the other end of the phone.

We are professional when it matters, straightforward when needed and friendly throughout.

Because good HR support should not just help you stay compliant. It should make you feel supported too.

If you are looking for HR advice from real people who genuinely care about helping your business, come and have a chat with us.

https://thehrpractice.co.uk

01/06/2026

Before everyone starts disappearing on holiday, now is a very good time to look at your annual leave plans.

Summer can be brilliant for morale, but it can also cause a fair bit of stress if there is no clear process in place. Who approves the leave? How many people can be off at once? What happens if two people want the same week? Who covers the workload when key team members are away?

These things sound simple, but they can quickly become tricky when decisions feel inconsistent or last minute.

A clear annual leave policy helps everyone know where they stand. It protects the business, supports the team and helps avoid those awkward “but you let them have it last year” conversations.

The goal is not to stop people taking well earned time off. It is to make sure it is managed fairly, consistently and with enough planning to keep the business moving.

If your annual leave process is more “we’ll work it out when it happens” than “we have a clear system”, it might be time for a review.

Get in touch if you would like support reviewing your annual leave policy before the summer rush properly begins.

https://thehrpractice.co.uk

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Merlin House, 20 Mossland Road, Hillington
Glasgow
G524XZ

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+447500071915

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