Leading accountancy firm MHA Larking Gowen organises free webinar to help small businesses get through the Covid crisis by giving access to the experts at MAD-HR.

Eastern Daily Press: Carole Burman of MAD-HRCarole Burman of MAD-HR (Image: Archant)

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect all businesses, accountancy firm MHA Larking Gowen is organising a series of free-to-attend webinars to help address key areas.

The first of the 30-minute Bitesize Insights sessions takes place on November 20, looking at the critical area of people management. “Smaller businesses may not have a dedicated HR department, but every business relies on its people,” explains the webinar host, MHA Larking Gowen partner Becky Ames.

While MHA Larking Gowen has won Best Employer awards, the specialist insights will be provided by Charlotte Bate and Carole Burman of consultancy MAD-HR. “For some businesses, HR was seen as a bolt-on to the day job,” says Charlotte. “Now HR is the day job: you can’t get on with that until you’ve made sure your people are doing OK, that they have a clear understanding of what they need to do and are able to do it. To get the job done, looking after your people becomes your first priority.”

A particularly difficult aspect of people management during the pandemic is handling the furlough scheme – and any redundancies at the end of it. “With the extension of the furlough scheme, the headline was announced long before the real detail. This doesn’t help as we’re not pink-and-fluffy HR people: we like to give answers,” says Charlotte.

Eastern Daily Press: MHA Larking Gowen partner Becky Ames will host the webinar Picture: MHA Larking Gowen/Sylvaine PoitauMHA Larking Gowen partner Becky Ames will host the webinar Picture: MHA Larking Gowen/Sylvaine Poitau (Image: Sylvaine Poitau)

“Nobody likes to talk about redundancies... but it’s important to take a considered approach and not knee-jerk,” she adds, stressing that it’s important to handle everything in a way that is both sensitive and legally sound.

“When you’re a small business owner, you’re inevitably a jack of all trades. What this crisis has demonstrated is that you have to adapt very fast and there are so many plates you have to keep spinning that sometimes people-management gets pushed down the list,” concludes Charlotte. “But the pandemic’s impact on the work force has shown how important it is to have a plan about how to make the best use of your people resource to deliver business success.”

MHA Larking Gowen’s 30-minute Bitesize Insight human resources webinar takes place at 10.30am on November 20. It is open to all businesses and is completely free to attend – just go online and register here.

For further information about MHA Larking Gowen, click here.