Avoid the HMRC backlash - Emphasis

Avoid the HMRC backlash Avoid the HMRC backlash You may recall that six million people have through no fault of their own paid the wrong amount of tax over the last few years, thanks to a blunder at HM Revenue Customs (HMRC). The story dominated the column inches last month, in part because of the way HMRC so unceremoniously delivered this bombshell to its customers (in the form of a standard tax calculation letter) and in part because of the backlash that followed from taxpayers. Being customer-centred Arguably some of the controversy could have been avoided through a large dose of subtlety and a more customer-centred approach from HMRC. And if it had actually taken into account how its customers might receive the news (particularly if you were one of the 1.4 million poor souls who had underpaid). HMRC was never going to make friends in this situation, but equally it didnt have to make enemies. The tone of its letter was on the clinical side at best and unapologetic at worst. Heres an extract to give you a flavour: Dear taxpayer [Name] I have reviewed your income tax liability for the year shown above to see whether you have underpaid or overpaid tax for that year. My calculation is given on the enclosed sheet. The calculation result is given near the foot of that page. The See Notes column refers to the numbered notes in the guidance leaflet Understanding your tax calculation which I also enclose. A copy of this calculation has been sent to [Agent name]. Part of this underpayment is already being collected through your tax code during [year] and the rest will be collected during [yearyear] (Source: BBC News) Keeping letter writing customer-centred is always important, but probably never more so than when giving bad news. The last thing you want is to exacerbate the situation by not only delivering a blow, but by also sounding like a robot as you do so. To avoid this, try the SCRAP (Situation, Complication, Resolution, Action, Politeness) formula. Situation Begin by explaining the situation (or where they [your readers] are). By doing this, your readers will realise you understand and empathise with them. In the case of HMRC, this could have involved briefly summing up (and owning up to) mistakes in the PAYE system, and suggesting it was at least aware of the worry this might cause to its customers. As you may be aware, HMRC has recently found that some taxpayers have paid the wrong amount of tax through the PAYE system over the last two years. We understand that many people will now be concerned about how this may affect them. Complication Introduce the idea that theres a problem readers need to solve or a request they need to fulfil (why they cant stay there). Here, of course, this will be the money taxpayers owe (or are due). It would also be wise to reinforce this with an apology. Im very sorry to tell you that you have been undercharged by X for the year XX, as the enclosed calculation shows. Resolution State your resolution to the problem or request. Your readers may well be relieved that youre offering a ready-made way of fixing things. (In the case of HMRC, such a sense of relief would unfortunately elude those taxpayers suddenly finding themselves seriously out of pocket.) We are now in the process of collecting underpayments. For those who have underpaid by less than 2000, like you, we will do this by altering your tax code to reclaim the money in monthly instalments over the next X year[s]. We would also like to assure you that from now on, we will be using a new computer system that will minimise the risk of such a mistake happening again. Action Suggest what action the reader can or should take. In some cases, this will be what further action you, the writer, are going to take. Make sure that this follows on logically from the resolution. HMRC has been criticised for not being entirely open about taxpayers possible rights to appeal. If these were made clear at this point, it might avoid being bombarded with letters of appeal sent on the off-chance. You dont need to do anything at this point: your new tax code will be applied automatically. The additional tax taken each month will be X. If, however, you feel that you provided all the necessary information for us to tax you correctly, you may be entitled to appeal. Please see the enclosed leaflet for details on whether this applies to you and how to contact us. Politeness Finally, end with a polite sign-off. And, in this example, a second apology. I hope you understand why we need to take this corrective action. Once again, Im sorry for the effect that our mistake may have on your financial situation. Yours sincerely [name] Apologise like a human No-one likes to admit theyve made a mistake, but owning up and apologising when its justified will always have a better reception from your reader than trying to wriggle out of it. And, while I apologise is better than nothing, Im sorry is much better: it sounds more sincere and more personal. The language of we apologise for any inconvenience caused has been dubbed professionalese by Daniel H Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Pink advises avoiding the phrase entirely, because it makes the author seem like theyre distancing themselves from the mistake. We speak human at home and professionalese at work, he explains. And that might be hurting our businesses more than we realise. In childhood were often told to say were sorry and mean it. And it seems that remains the best advice at every level. In his book The Upside of Irrationality, Dan Ariely found that a simple Im sorry, uttered following a mistake, stopped the other person from getting annoyed and retaliating in some way. Say, for example, refusing to pay back tax. Want to improve your teams customer-letter writing? See our in-house customer-letter writing course.

Trends changing how companies hire in 2018 and beyond -TheJobNetwork

Trends changing how companies hire in 2018 and beyond -TheJobNetwork The HR world has certainly changed over the past decade- after all, when was the last time you saw a resume or cover letter on thick, expensive paper that came via snail mail? (Or if it was recently, it was probably a rare sighting.) Like every other field, HR is susceptible to changes and trends. Some aren’t built to last (remember the video resume trend for a minute?), but others are geared toward making your job easier in the long term.Better interviews = better hiresIt’s possible that nothing will ever truly replace the good old â€Å"gut feeling† you get when you meet with a candidate. But as a rule, making the interview process more inclusive, less biased, and less time-consuming is a huge plus. Traditional interviews aren’t going anywhere, but they’re getting a bit of polishing this year and beyond. Having someone sit across from you and tell you what they know you want to hear isn’t always the most effective use of your hiring time. I f you’re looking to streamline or equalize the interview itself, there are HR software programs that essentially craft your interview script, standardizing interviews across a pool of candidates. (This has the added bonus of helping to eliminate personal bias or individual quirks if there are multiple interviewers.)Online skill assessments, designed to gauge a candidate’s soft skills, give you more data before a candidate ever walks through your doors in their best interview suit. Gaps and strengths are more apparent up front, allowing you to be more selective about who makes it to the next round, and bring in stronger candidates up front.â€Å"Job auditions† are also hot right now. These are less â€Å"tell me your five-year plan† interviews and more â€Å"show me how you’d do the job† interviews. This takes away some of the guesswork about how a candidate would likely perform the job. Nerves and novelty won’t always show you 100% of what a candidate’s potential is, but it gives you a chance to see how he or she thinks, whether the candidate can apply past experience and skills, etc.Prioritizing diversityDiversity is a priority in just about every industry right now, and for good reason. Lack of diversity is becoming a significant liability and can lead to issues with an ever-more-diverse public. Companies that don’t actively seek diversity in their hiring are likely to find themselves at a significant disadvantage as talent pools shrink. According to LinkedIn surveys, diversity is the top hiring trend for 78% of hiring managers.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});Still, for all its trendiness, truly diverse hiring continues to be a challenge. Many companies are tackling this by branching out in their talent sourcing and using non-traditional recruitment methods (or venues) to find hot new talent.Bingeing on Big DataMetrics, metrics, metrics. With the increased use of hiring databases and HR software platforms capable of collecting information on employees from application to retirement, there’s no shortage of information that companies can use. The challenge here is using it in a smart, speedy way that allows for real-time employee engagement and development to help ensure that great hires stay great employees. According to LinkedIn’s annual global recruiting trends report, more than half of HR professionals say that employee retention is the most valuable use of employee data.The heart of this data trend is using the information to make hiring predictions, not just hiring decisions. HR departments are really starting to harness the power of this data by using increasingly sophisticated AI and automation platforms to create predictive models based on a candidate’s information, compared to information about past hires and current employees.The most important takeaway from this year’s hot trends in hiring is that com panies are moving toward a more efficient, better-rounded talent pool, with concrete data that can be offered up to support those gut decisions. This year, it’s all about streamlining and maximizing the resources we already have in place- not necessarily replacing them.