I have been blown away by the response I have had to an article I had published in my local Chamber of Commerce magazine, inbusiness, so I have decided to share the actual article here on my own website…
As businesses grow, they evolve into something else entirely – whether that is through outsourcing, insourcing, acquiring or merging with other companies, or growing to an entity large enough to sell.
With change of this scale, a company director’s head is likely to be taken over with all sorts of considerations, and the financial and operational elements of the change often take priority.
Mary Dovey, owner of the HR Consultancy Your People Matter(s), has found often the HR steps required are considered too late. She said: “When buying or selling companies, businesses often don’t engage with HR until they’re quite far along in the process. Ideally, organisations should take HR advice into consideration at the decision-making stage, as potential issues and costs relating to employees can have an impact on finances and operations.”
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, known as TUPE, see the transferring of employees from one employer to another and can be a hugely complex process, as regulations stipulate an employee’s contractual terms and conditions are also transferred.
Mary added: “The impact of transferring staff cannot be underestimated. While TUPE protects employees’ rights when the business transfers to a new employer, the personal impact will vary for each employee. Communicating, consulting and involving HR in the process will help alleviate any concerns from staff and, hopefully, avoid any serious problems for employers.”
For more information or advice, email mary@yourpeoplematter.com.