Gender pay gap reporting can feel like a blunt and brutal process for organisations. The data that legally has to be submitted on an annual basis will show if you have a gender pay gap but it doesn’t help explain why you have a pay gap, or what you can do to fix it.

Thankfully, financial wellbeing and pay gap analytics expert Melissa Blissett (from Barnett Waddingham) is here to help. In this HR Coffee Time episode, Melissa reminds us why pay gap reporting is so much more than a tick box exercise. She also talks us through how to carry out additional analysis to understand and fix your organisation’s pay gap.

If you know people analytics is an important skill to have to help you progress your HR career but it isn’t something you feel confident in, this episode is here to help. It’s the first of several episodes planned to de-mystify data-driven HR practices.  

[02:18] A quick overview of gender pay gap reporting

[03:20] Introduction to Melissa Blissett, financial wellbeing & pay gap analytics expert from Barnett Waddingham

[04:56] What gender pay gap reporting is and why it’s important (regardless of whether you have 250 employees and are required to submit data about it)

[06:47] The other pay gaps (aside from gender) that exist including disability, age and ethnicity

[07:36] Intersectionality explained

[09:57] Why it’s important to go beyond the pay gap mandatory reporting requirements

[11:53] The pay gap analytics tool that Melissa has developed at Barnett Waddingham

[13:40] Melissa’s suggested DNA approach - Data, Narrative and Action planning.

[14:26] How a deeper dive into your pay gap analytics can lead to a far more powerful narrative to share with your organisation and the wider world

[17:09] Fay mentions episode 12 of HR Coffee Time, where Sally Dhillon emphasised the importance of having family friendly policies in place to help retain women and consequently reduce your gender pay gap

[18:03] Pay gap reporting isn’t an isolated exercise to be marked off at the end of the year; it is deeply impacted by other HR practices

[21:04] Fay mentions episode 6 of HR Coffee Time, where Lọ́lá Béjidé talks about the impact socio-economic background can have on talent entering your organisation

[24:45] Using a storybook to share stories from within your workplace

[25:45] Devolving responsibility for finding solutions to the pay gap to the team(s) where the gap exists

[26:47] Why having a gender pay gap isn’t always a bad thing

[32:02] How to get in touch with Melissa

[32:34] The HR Planner for 2022 that Fay is creating (and that you can download for free)

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
• Barnett Waddingham’s website
• The Essential HR Planner

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

Searching for your next senior role can feel daunting. You know you’re ready to take the next leap in your career, but you’re unsure how to go about it.

In this HR Coffee Time podcast the host, Fay Wallis, talks to Craig Elvin from Executive Heads about how to start planning the transition into moving to a senior role using your CV, the importance of LinkedIn and networking and how to make the most out of working with Recruiters and Headhunters.

[01:03] Introduction to Craig Elvin, Executive Search Consultant from Executive Heads specialising in placing people at senior levels.

[03:04] What is classed as a senior role

[04:56] Advice for those in senior roles who want to take the next step up

[06:30] How long should someone plan for moving into a senior role

[07:55] How to start planning the transition into a senior role

[09:21] Tailoring your CV to show your expertise and experience

[10:52] The challenges that can be faced when compiling your CV and showing your experience and how to overcome those

[13:50] How companies are using the platform to recruit at a senior level

[15:40] Tips and advice on optimising your LinkedIn profile to come at the top of search results for senior roles using keywords

[18:15] Positioning yourself on LinkedIn by posting content

[23:16] Why building a network is important for transitioning to senior-level roles

[25:43] Utilising the hidden job market and why not to just focus on applying for jobs online

[28:33] Thinking about the companies you want to work for and connecting with them

[30:11] Working with Recruiters and Headhunters

[30:25] Developing the right relationship with your Recruiter

[33:53] Craig’s book recommendation – "Legacy" by James Kerr

[34:58] How to get in touch with Craig

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn

• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website

• Email Craig

• Connect with Craig on LinkedIn

• Executive Heads Website

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

Research shows that women’s careers often stagnate, stall, or stop after taking a career break to have a baby.  

Putting the right support in place helps smooth this transition and retain (or gain) valuable talent. It can even reduce your organisation’s gender pay gap by enabling women to build the confidence, skills and opportunities to move into, or remain in senior leadership roles. 

In this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast, host Fay Wallis, speaks to guest, Sally Dhillon from Career Mums.

Sally covers the barriers people face when returning after a break, what good support looks like and how returnships are being used to plug skills gaps and support those who want to reignite their careers after taking a break.

[01:35] Introduction to Sally Dhillon

[02:39] The work Career Mums does to support women with their careers

[05:49] Barriers that prevent people from returning to work after a break

[06:56] The impact of childcare costs on career progression and returning to work

[08:02] The barriers of health issues and the pandemic in returning to work

[09:34] What putting support in place for those returning to work can look like

[11:27] Maternity coaching explained

[15:03] Supporting those returning to work post-pandemic with working from home and flexible working

[17:07] The consequences of not getting it right in supporting women returning to work

[19:00] Addressing the gender pay inequalities

[20:27] Returnship programmes – what they are and how they work

[23:02] Using returnship programmes within organisations

[24:18] Successes using returnships

[25:52] Example from companies that are doing well with supporting those returning to work

[28:24] Tips for those who have had an extended break from work in finding their next role or transitioning back to the company that they worked for

[32:02] Formal and informal support networks for returning to work

[34:02] Sally’s book recommendation

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Sally via email
• Career Mums website
• CM Talent website
• Connect with Sally on LinkedIn
• Connect with Career Mums on Facebook
• Follow Career Mums on Instagram
• Follow Career Mums on Twitter
• Career Mums Club Free Facebook Group

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

Whether you love networking or hate the idea of it, there’s no getting away from the fact that it can hugely influence your career success.

This is the first in a series of episodes about networking for the HR Coffee Time podcast. In it, host Fay Wallis talks through the three most important networks for your career; explaining what they are, how to assess the strength of your relationships with them and how to create a plan to improve them. 

[01:32] Networking will be covered over a series of episodes because it is such a large topic

[02:04] Networking makes some people feel uncomfortable. Research by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki & Tiziana Casciaro revealed it makes some people feel physically dirty

[02:34] Fay wants to convince you that networking is something to be embraced & enjoyed

[03:24] Networking is about building relationships

[03:45] The first of the three most important networks for your career is your personal network

[04:52] Your friends and family will probably have helped you with your career at some point

[06:30] Thinking about why networking is useful and what else ‘networking’ means

[07:22] Networking is a way of helping and supporting each other

[07:55] Career karma – what goes around comes around

[09:14] Adam Grant’s research into givers, takers and matchers

[13:16] Approaching networking with a giver’s mindset

[14:25] The second important network for your career – your external professional network

[16:01] Building your external professional network by going to events, joining memberships and groups

[21:00] Networking on LinkedIn will be covered in a future episode

[25:00] The second important network for your career – your internal network

[28:40] A DiSC team building workshop is one way Fay can help your team to build relationships and work effectively together

[29:48] A simple exercise to help you get started with assessing and building your three networks

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• “Learn to love networking” by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki and Tiziana Casciaro
• Adam Grant’s TED talk about givers, takers and matchers
• The CIPD’s local branch finder (to find out about local events)
• Disruptive HR Club
• The HR Independents
• Daniel Barnett’s HR Inner Circle
• The HR Ninjas Facebook group
• The Chartered Management Institute
• HR Heads’ mentoring programme
• Let’s Talk Talent’s mentoring scheme

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

If you'd like to tackle your stress levels and build up your resilience, or you want to find ways to help the people in your organisation with both these things - this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast is here to help.

Host, Fay Wallis interviews Resilience Workplace Trainer and Coach, Adele Stickland for key tips and insights about stress, resilience and wellbeing.

[01:34] Introduction to Adele

[03:53] Adele's definition of resilience

[06:21] The relationship between resilience and stress

[09:43] The link between resilience and emotional intelligence

[10:14] Adele's personal experience of burnout

[12:06] Routines create a sense of psychological safety

[14:56] The benefits of creating a 'pretend' commute

[15:30] Presenteeism and burnout

[16:29] Finding the skills to separate ourselves from chronic stress

[16:55] We already know what we should be doing to look after ourselves

[17:45] Dissonance explained

[18:49] Research about deferred gratitude (the marshmallow experiment)

[19:52] Why coaching is more powerful than giving advice

[21:29] Tips for HR professionals to help build personal resilience

[27:35] Adele's book recommendation, "The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want" by Sonja Lyubomirsky

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Adele on LinkedIn
• Adele's website

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

Do you feel confident in the mental health support you have put in place at work? Or are you worried it might not be as effective as you'd like it to be?

Are you feeling the strain of your increased workload and responsibilities as an HR professional since the pandemic struck?

Is your own mental health suffering but you're ploughing on and hoping things will get better soon?

The pandemic has ramped up concerns about mental health, with lockdowns, government advice and rules that change constantly, periods of homeschooling, job uncertainty, social distancing the petrol crisis and panic-buying in supermarkets all being examples of the extra stress we've all been exposed to. In fact, "Mental health related absence is the most common cause of long-term sickness absence in UK workplaces" CIPD, 2021

This episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast is here to help; with expert advice, tips and knowledge about mental health strategies that work, shared by Danielle Bridge, CEO of ABC Life Support.

[01:30] Free access to the Power Up Your LinkedIn Profile online course

[02:51] Introduction to Danielle Bridge from ABC Life Support

[05:17] HR professionals are at risk of burnout

[06:02] Health and safety law says to look after the health and wellbeing of your staff

[07:04] Since the pandemic, there is greater awareness of the importance of supporting mental health

[07:29] There is confusion about what mental health is

[08:29] What does supporting mental welfare and mental wellbeing of staff look like?

[09:05] Why EAPs (Employee Assistance Programs) may have a low take-up rate, despite providing an excellent service

[09:52] How to increase awareness and take-up of the services offered by your organisation's EAP

[10:43] What Mental Health First Aid is

[15:22] The reasons that Fay became a Mental Health First Aider

[19:55] The risk of suicide when making redundancies

[21:13] There is a wealth of information and resources for mental health support that we can signpost people to

[22:03] Using user testimonies to increase take-up of EAP services

[23:18] Implementing a suicide disclosure process

[24:36] How Mental Health First Aiders can help when someone is in a difficult place

[26:57] What to do after training people in the organisation as Mental Health First Aiders

[28:48] The importance of having a structure and plan underpinning training people in Mental Health First Aid

[29:50] Identifying what your end goals are for introducing Mental Health First Aiders at work

[30:53] Deciding on who should receive Mental Health First Aider training

[33:23] An example of a company planning for strong mental health support effectively

[34:52] Using Employee Representation Groups to help plan your mental health support strategy

[38:26] The importance of consulting your employee community

[40:38] Creating your own mental health toolbox to support your personal mental health

[42:00] Recognising the signs that your mental health is under strain

[44:13] Danielle's book recommendation; "The Daily Stoic - 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living" by Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman et al.

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Free access to the Power Up Your LinkedIn Profile course
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn
• ABC Life Support's website
• ABC Life Support on Twitter
• ABC Life Support on LinkedIn
• ABC Life Support on Instagram

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

Apprenticeships are a fantastic way of attracting, developing and retaining people in your organisation. With HR apprenticeships now available for entry-level up to senior-level HR roles, they're also something you may want to consider for yourself or members of your team.

Join Jo Mortimer from Ocean Aspire for this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast, where she is interviewed by Fay and shares everything you need to know about apprenticeships.

[01:14] Free access to the Power Up Your LinkedIn Profile online course

[06:01] Introduction to Jo Mortimer from Ocean Aspire

[10:32] The Richard Review enabled higher apprenticeships

[12:16] The best route to becoming an apprentice

[14:10] There is a search engine on the apprenticeship.gov.uk website called, 'find an apprentice'

[14:45] Apprenticeships can help businesses recover following the pandemic.

[16:25] Deciding on whether apprenticeships would be right for your organisation.

[17:11] Whether to run the apprenticeship yourself, or use a training provider

[20:57] The different apprenticeship levels explained

[24:41] How apprenticeships have changed

[27:45] Apprenticeship processes are different for different countries in the UK

[29:57] The apprenticeship levy and funding options

[38:22] How Jo can help you with apprenticeships for your organisation

[42:37] Jo's book recommendation: "The Little Book of Lykke" by Meik Wiking

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Free access to the Power Up Your LinkedIn Profile course
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Jo on LinkedIn
• Ocean Aspire's website
• Ocean Aspire's Facebook page
• Apprenticeships.gov.uk website

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

If you're swamped with work, there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done you and can't see a way of ever getting on top of your workload, this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast is here to help. In it, Fay shares the 4 main blocks she sees her coaching clients come up against and shares techniques, tips and coaching questions to help you overcome them.

[01:25] Why you might be feeling overwhelmed by work.

[03:26] The four common stumbling blocks when it comes to managing our time and work.

[03:52] The first blocker - people-pleasing.

[05:10] Strategies for pushing back when being given too much work.

[07:55] Figuring out what is important to you in life.

[10:38] Example of how saying 'yes' to something means saying 'no' to something else.

[11:35] The second blocker - being overly ambitious with your time.

[14:38] Using your calendar to schedule your time.

[18:11] Cutting down the length of meetings and/or the number of meetings you go to.

[20:22] Sharing Jacqui Jagger's tip of using a 'to don't' list.

[25:01] The third blocker - needing accountability.

[28:40] Using Focusmate to help you with accountability.

[33:00] The fourth blocker - not being able to let go.

[37:14] Putting things in place to improve the culture and workload of everyone in the organisation.

• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Focusmate

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

The graduates, apprentices and early-career talent are the future leaders of your organisation. Learn how to put the right support in place for them to flourish and grow, with this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast.

Early Careers Strategist Lọ́lá Béjidé explains why it's so important to nurture the people in your organisation who are at the beginning of their careers. She reminds us of how daunting joining the workplace can be and what some of the many challenges are you have to overcome when starting a career.

[03:12] Introduction to Lọ́lá and her business, Soluman Consultancy.

[09:20] Why it's important to invest time and resources in your early-career talent.

[11:08] Why a holistic approach is key.

[15:00] The Kickstarter scheme.

[17:38] Equitable opportunities for progress - what this means and why it's important to consider this.

[20:22] Key areas to focus on and think about.

[20:28] Engaging your entry talent and creating safe spaces for them.

[23:58] Explaining to entry talent how to use email effectively.

[30:08] Checking your expectations are realistic - assessing and supporting.

[33:53] The role of managers.

[34:47] The role of HR.

[40:41] Cultivating the right culture.

[43:00] Lọ́lá's services explained.

[48:08] Lọ́lá's book recommendation.

B

r

ight Sky Career Coachings' website

Connect with Fay on LinkedIn

Connect with Lọ́lá on LinkedIn

Soluman Consultancy's website

Soluman Consultancy on Instagram

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR

If you're feeling frustrated you aren't progressing your career, or you're bored in your role and don't know what to do about it, this episode of the HR Coffee Time podcast is here to help.

Fay talks through the 3E model - something that can be really helpful at giving you ideas about how to take control of your career and achieve the progress and career success that you're looking for.

[04:03] The first 'E' from the 3E model - Experience.

[05:57] How to ask your manager for more experience.

[06:50] Setting yourself a stretch assignment.

[07:57] Volunteering to help projects in other departments.

[08:27] Volunteering outside of work to gain experience.

[11:01] The second 'E' from the 3E model - Exposure to other people.

[12:24] Mentoring opportunities.

[14:38] Online networking opportunities - the HR Ninjas.

[15:43] Online networking opportunities - LinkedIn.

[16:31] Job shadowing / grown-up work experience.

[21:43] Subscribe to HR Coffee Time emails to receive information about the free LinkedIn course.

[22:03] The third 'E' from the 3E model - Education.

[24:14] Local CIPD branch events.

[25:09] HR events provided by HR Recruiters and local law firms.

[25:33] HR membership groups & HR clubs

• CIPD mentoring scheme
• HR Heads mentoring programme
• Let's Talk Talent future HR leaders mentoring programme
• CMI management mentoring
• The HR Ninjas Facebook group
• Find your local CIPD branch
• The HR Inner Circle
• The Disruptive HR Club
• HRi (HR Independents)
• Review the HR Coffee Time podcast on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Enjoyed This Episode? Don't Miss the Next One!

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Mentioned in this episode:

Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Build your confidence, credibility, influence, and strategic impact by joining The Inspiring HR Leadership Programme.

Inspiring HR