You have probably read about the recent cases of "gig workers" and wondered what all the fuss was about.  Gig workers can be those who work in the digital world or indeed someone like me, freelancers working for many clients or companies.  These individuals can work on a casual basis, zero hours, full time, part time - quite frankly anything!  

A lot of the time people continue under these arrangements with absolutely no problem.  Until there is an issue - their performance declines; you want to end the arrangement (get rid of them); they tell you they (or their partner) is going to have a baby.  They think that they are your employee but you don't.  Then what happens?   

This is why establishing the exact employment status early on, whilst there are no issues, is so important.  Agreeing (and documenting) the arrangements in the form of a written contract can help save time, money and difficult conversations later on.  

It's never too late to start the conversation.  If you have someone whom you aren't sure of their status and your obligations to them, get in touch .  

Do you know how your team works?  Understanding what makes your team tick is critical to getting the most out of them.

I have recently worked on a project with a client who wanted to restructure.  They have a fantastic mixture of young talent coupled with very experienced and knowledgeable team members.  The restructure was needed to ensure that they had the right people in the right roles to help grow their business.

I agreed with my client that we would initially conduct two assessments.  The first was the first was The Thomas International PPA Assessment.  The assessment takes approximately 8 minutes to complete and provides an accurate insight into how people behave at work.  It identifies a number of factors including their strengths and limitations, what motivates them and how they behave under pressure.  Understanding how this team would react under increased pressure was a key reason behind selecting this assessment.

The second assessment was the Thomas International High Potential Trait Indicator or HPTI.  This assessment helps identify leadership potential.  the online assessment provides a tool to support and nurture leadership talent.  HPTI measures six key trains which affect work performance - conscientiousness, adjustment, curiosity, risk approach, ambiguity acceptance and competitiveness.  The report is delivered in an easy to read dashboard style and clearly shows the level to which those being assessed display each trait.  Further analysis is provided and, most helpfully ideas on how to develop each trait.

The assessments were shared with my client and individual team members.  Some of those assessed expressed initial scepticism at the assessments, however, when reading their individual reports, were surprised by their accuracy.  My client was very pleased to have such comprehensive and visually presented reports on his team.  The reports gave him the confidence to really understand the strengths, development needs and potential of his team and therefore ensure that the right people were in the right jobs.

Get in touch if you would like to discuss how you could help your team and company grow.