Buzzing About HR

Ever find yourself stuck in the middle? One side asking, “Why isn’t this sorted yet?” The other asking, “Why are you doing this to us?” That awkward, lonely space is middle management. And for a lot of people, it feels like being squeezed from both ends with very little room to breathe. This episode is about why that role so often feels impossible, and how to make it workable without burning peopl...

Hiring quickly can feel like survival mode. You need someone in the seat, yesterday. But the real risk often shows up weeks later, when projects slow down, standards wobble, and your best people quietly start carrying the extra weight. In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we go behind the scenes of a probation process that actually works for small teams. One that protects momentum, reinforces cul...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about that mid-winter morale dip. Not a full-blown disaster. Just that flat feeling where everyone is still showing up, but the spark has gone a bit quiet. This episode is about how to shift that without extra budget, forced fun, or another all-hands meeting that everyone politely hates. Because when a team is tired, stretched, or quietly fed up...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we start with something small that quietly disappeared, and took a lot with it. The paper round. Not as a misty-eyed trip down memory lane, but as a reminder of how many young people used to learn the basics of work before they ever stepped into adult jobs that now expect confidence, judgment, and common sense from day one. We talk through a real moment on a m...

Deadlines that sit a couple of years away can feel comforting. Plenty of time. Nothing urgent. Until the small, everyday habits quietly harden into rules you never meant to create. In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we look at the UK Employment Rights Act and why the real risk for small businesses is not the legislation itself, but what happens in the meantime. The vague conversations. The info...

Your inbox says “quick chat,” and suddenly January feels like a wave you didn’t see coming. In this episode, Kate unpacks why resignations spike at the start of the year, how to tell the difference between a normal January wobble and a genuine culture problem, and what small businesses can do in the next two weeks to steady things without launching a huge programme or making promises you cannot ke...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are doing a proper year end reset for small business owners and managers. Not the polished “new year new you” stuff. The real kind. Because year end rarely feels neat when you run a small business. One person goes off sick, someone resigns with no warning, and the policies you meant to sort in March are still sitting there quietly judging you. By the time y...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we land right in that familiar end-of-year mess. It is the 23rd of December. The calendar is on the floor, budget papers are trapped under a mug, and the to-do list looks like it is breeding. If December chaos has a habit of following you straight into January, this episode is here to stop that from happening. This is a calm, practical reset to help you step i...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am cutting through the noise around the UK Employment Rights Bill and focusing on what actually matters for small businesses. Because let’s be honest, there has been plenty of commentary, plenty of opinion, and plenty of people making it sound like the sky is falling. What most small business owners actually need is something much simpler. Clear decisions. C...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am talking about something that is getting lost in the headlines. Hiring might be slower, confidence might be wobbling, but small businesses can still build a strong early careers pipeline without spending a fortune or burning everyone out in the process. This one is for anyone who has noticed fewer decent applicants, candidates disappearing halfway through...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we step straight into the festive chaos that hits every small business in December. Hazel is under a pile of Christmas lights, the inbox is bursting with last-minute shift changes, and everyone is one rota wobble away from losing the plot. If December usually feels like fairy lights wrapped around a burnout buffet, this episode is for you. I talk through the r...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am tackling the Employment Rights Bill and turning all the noise into something much more useful. A plan. Because if you are a small business owner or the poor soul holding HR together with coffee and spreadsheets, you do not need another dramatic headline. You need to know what is actually changing, when it is likely to land, and what is worth doing now, so...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am digging into the Autumn Budget 2025 and what it actually means for small businesses. Because the headlines always sound shiny. Promising. Reassuring, even. But if you run a business, you know the real story is never in the headline. It is in the numbers, the knock-on effect, and the quiet little changes that suddenly make life more expensive. This episode...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about men’s health at work and why a few posters in November are not enough if the culture still punishes people for slowing down, switching off, or going to an appointment. Because this is what I see all the time. The appointment that keeps getting pushed back until it becomes urgent. The calm, capable supervisor who suddenly starts snapping be...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about quiet quitting. Or more accurately, what is usually sitting underneath it. Because by the time someone is keeping their camera off, doing the bare minimum, and giving you absolutely nothing in meetings, something has already gone wrong. Quiet quitting is rarely laziness. More often, it is a very rational response to fuzzy goals, uneven wor...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR, I am diving into a question that so many businesses quietly worry about. Does offering menopause support genuinely help you keep brilliant people, or does it risk looking like special rules that create tension in the team? It is a tricky one, and today I take you through a grounded, practical way to get it right without drama. We start with the legal bits you a...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am diving into one of those moments every HR person and business owner knows too well. A client is pushing for speed, your gut is shouting no, and you are stuck trying to keep the work without dropping your standards. We have all been there. I walk you through a simple way to stay calm, respond confidently and keep things legal without blowing up the relatio...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about employee perks and whether they are genuinely helping your team or just papering over bigger problems. Because let’s be honest. A birthday cake, a shiny wellbeing app, or a ping-pong table is not going to fix poor pay, bad workload planning, or a manager who never says thank you. So this episode is about getting perks right. We start with...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about a trap loads of businesses fall into. Someone is brilliant at their job, so they get promoted. Then everyone watches them slowly drown in rotas, one-to-ones, and awkward conversations they have never been taught how to handle. You know the type. Amazing operator. Great doer. Knows the job inside out. Then suddenly they are managing people,...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about flu-jab season and how something meant to help your team can quietly damage trust if it is handled badly. Because on the surface, it sounds simple. Offer flu jabs, reduce absence, everyone wins. In reality, this is where small businesses can accidentally create pressure, confusion, and a bit of an “us and them” culture if they are not care...

If the word inclusion makes you want to roll your eyes a bit, I get it. For a lot of small businesses, it sounds like code for awkward workshops, forced icebreakers, and someone telling you to “bring your whole self to work” while everyone silently dies inside. That is not what this episode is about. In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I am talking about what inclusion actually looks like in a s...

“Be reasonable” sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Until you are the one who has to make the call. Because in real life, “be reasonable” often translates to “just say yes and feel bad if you don’t.” In this episode of Buzzing About HR , I unpack what reasonableness actually means at work, and more importantly, what it looks like in a small business where you do not have endless cover, five managers, or a...

If you’ve ever said “we’ll fix payroll next month”… this one’s for you. Because payroll isn’t admin. Payroll is trust. And once that trust wobbles, people don’t shout about it. They quietly update their CV. In this episode of Buzzing About HR , Kate breaks down the payroll mistakes that make good people leave and how to fix them quickly, properly, and without drama. We start with the reality. Most...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are looking at one of those moments that catches businesses out all the time. It is Friday afternoon, tempers are up, someone says something they absolutely should not, and the instinct is to sack them on the spot and be done with it. The problem is that it is often where the real trouble starts. Because when a workplace conduct issue ends up at a tribunal,...

In this episode of Buzzing About HR , we are talking about dogs in the workplace. Because yes, office dogs can be brilliant. They can lift morale, get people moving, spark conversations, and make a workplace feel warmer and more human. But they can also cause absolute chaos if no one thinks it through. This episode is about getting the balance right. We look at the real upsides first. Dogs can gen...