With the SMH First Aider course remaining on hold, Gwen Robertson, our accredited Mental Health 1st Aid Trainer, delivered the Tools for Managers: Mental Health Awareness Event to our delegates on 26th May. The learning outcomes of this included on listening skills, defining mental health illnesses and having a pro active approach to support the illness.

We attended the HR Network conference this month, with the headline of Strategic Workforce Planning and Leading Out of Lockdown. We participated as an on-demand speaker, where Ruth gave her insight into Returning in person to the Workplace and managing Flexible Working requests.

We all like to have clear, transparent plans.  We want to know what we are working towards, what is the purpose and relay this information across our business environments.  But at the moment, nothing seems clear and everyone looks up to the leadership team to provide direction.

The issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace has entered increasingly into the public eye in recent years, perhaps catalysed by various harassment scandals and the #MeToo movement. However, despite the topic becoming increasingly high-profile, CIPD research has suggested that bullying and harassment are not receiving the deserved attention in many of our workplaces.

During our successful Health and Wellbeing at Work Conference a month ago, speakers and delegates discussed various measures which can be taken in the workplace to enhance wellbeing. What was not mentioned however, and what may well become the next workplace wellbeing trend to emerge in the coming decade, was the power of pets in the workplace.

Subject to Scottish Parliament approval, Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and their subsidiaries in Scotland will fall under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOI(S)A) as of 11th November this year.

The majority of us work within an increasingly competitive environment, being constantly met with external financial demands. These demands force us to think of new ways to save money, a consideration which represents a classic 'bug bear' for many organisations.

Fifteen months on from the implementation of GDPR legislation, there has been a considerable tightening of expectations around data protection activity. At the time of writing, the ICO has noted 68 cases of Data Protection Act (DPA 2018) enforcement: most notably, this includes a £184 million fine for British Airways, and a £99 million fine for Marriott International after 383 million guests had their information stolen by hackers.

It is now over a year since the implementation of EU GDPR, and the most recent area to come under the spotlight of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is that of internet cookies. On 3rd July, after realising its own website did not subscribe to cookie legislation, the ICO published its updated expectations surrounding consent and information with regard to cookies.

Brexit, trade wars, cloud computing, GDPR, corporate social responsibility, the rise of social media. In a period of constant turbulence, be this social, political, economic or environmental, being resilient and adaptable to change is not only valuable for today's organisations; it is an absolute necessity.