👻 Don’t let your business become an HR Horror Story!

READ TIME - 4 minute read

🎃 HR Horrors and the Curse of the Scary Manager

Our household (or more to the point our allotment) has been very popular with our neighbours, as we have stocked them all with our enormous pumpkins that David has grown!

With Halloween upon us, it feels like the perfect time to dust off the cobwebs and share our HR Horrors download — a collection of real-life workplace nightmares and, more importantly, how to stop them haunting your business.

From vanishing contracts to the ghosts of grievances past, our guide will make sure you avoid the kind of fright that no amount of pumpkin spice can fix. 👻

Download your free copy of HR Horrors here

Trick or Treat Management

In the spirit of Halloween, let’s talk about the difference between “trick” and “treat” managers.

• Trick managers rely on fear, control, and criticism. They think keeping people on edge gets results — but it actually does the opposite. According to Gallup, teams with bad managers are 70% less engaged and see 37% higher absenteeism.

• Treat managers, on the other hand, build trust, recognise effort, and show genuine care. Their teams are 21% more profitable, 17% more productive, and far more likely to stick around.

The moral of the story? Great managers don’t need to scare people into performing — they inspire them. And that’s the real magic behind happy, high-performing teams. ✨

So this Halloween, whether you’re handing out sweets or managing your team, remember: be the treat, not the trick.

Happy Halloween from all of us at Gateway HR — and from Daisy, who’s is very unimpressed that she is not allowed any of the sweet that are ready for our local children when they come calling on Friday 🐾

Best wishes,
Emma

P.S. All the resources you need to not feature in next year’s horror stories can be found in the HR Hub. Why not try the HR Hub free for a month here.

Events to Join in the coming weeks

🎥 Free Webinar- Managing Sickness Absence - — understanding the real costs, reducing absenteeism, and preparing for the 2026 changes.

🎥 Free Webinar- Managing Conflict - — coming in the next few weeks, the next in our series of free webinars. Click on the title to join the waiting list.

🎥 LinkedIn Live on Sexual Harassment Legislation and How to Be Complaint - Click on re-watch it.

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