As an entrepreneur, starting a new business and hiring employees to join your team can often be a daunting first move to make as your business expands. It can be difficult to create the right environment and culture as a start-up business whilst also developing your brand.
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Evidence published by Future Workplace, after carrying out their Workplace Wellness Study, suggests that the number one luxury on employees’ wish lists is in fact something very simple – and far from expensive. Rather than elaborate perks and benefits, employees are searching for natural light. The research showed that a substantial proportion of employees wish they had more access to natural light. Intrigued as to why this is?
[continue reading…]Good communication skills are essential in pretty much every aspect of life, none more so than in the workplace. Today’s workplace can be a tricky area for employees to navigate, as so many generations are now mixed together and each age group has specific ways they prefer to communicate.
[continue reading…]While many considerations are given to physical safety in the workplace, it is only recently that the focus has turned to mental health and the significant impact it can have on the workforce’s ability to conduct its duties effectively. Issues around mental health in the UK cost businesses £35 billion per year, and cultural issues around ‘presenteeism’ are seeing workers fail to admit to mental health issues, resulting in poor health and reduced productivity.
Businesses have enough to worry about; one of the major things being competition from outside sources, so fraud that takes place within a business can be viewed as an avoidable problem. Not only do employers have to be extremely vigilant to defend against external threats from their competitors, but they also must be constantly looking for indications that their employees may be stealing from the company from within for personal gain.
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These days, when we think about improving productivity there’s probably a good chance that we think about automation and process improvement.
Many business owners still feel that investing in workplace safety will have a negative impact on productivity and finances. But the truth is, a safe workplace is often a more productive and profitable one! The work environment can have either a negative or positive effect on the quality and quantity of work that employees produce. It can either promote a place that invites employees to want to be there, or it can be a place that they cannot wait to leave at the end of the day.
If you search for health and safety procedures online, it looks like an absolute minefield. In reality, it is pretty easy to get to grips with. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is a piece of legislation and guidelines put into place to protect your employees, customers, visitors to your premises and you from harm.
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Regardless of whether you are an employee or a self-made entrepreneur, in order to work efficiently, you need to be able to focus. This word is essential for doing any kind of work but staying focused is often difficult as there can be so many distractions in the workplace. In order to tackle this issue, both employers and employees are constantly on the lookout for methods to make the workplace more private.
Now more than ever professionals are keen to move away from traditional working hours in favour of a better work-life balance, and as more of life moves online, the idea of working from home seems to make sense. Many organisations are now offering, or at least trialling flexible working hours, but some are still behind the times.
Remote working has become the latest trend in employment. It has become so popular due to the multiple benefits it offers for both the individual and the business. Working from home may be a dream for many individuals so offering this option to your employees can be incredibly valuable for the company too. From previous statistics gathered by the Office of National Statistics, it was predicted that half of the UK forces would be working remotely by 2020. This number is huge and 2020 is fast approaching. Therefore, small businesses should look into allowing their staff to work remotely as soon as possible.
The subject of dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace is a big topic of conversation in the mainstream business sector. CEO’s and business owners are continuing to find ways to address the problem that appears to be an ongoing matter across the sector. This doesn’t just involve large fortune 500 companies and global enterprises either, it’s an issue for small businesses too. Although there is less staff in a small enterprise, it’d be naive to suggest that there’s less chance of sexual harassment occurring.
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Mental health issues in the workplace have been a hot topic for some time and now even the government is recognising the issue. The issue of mental health problems being neglected in the workplace has a negative effect on everyone involved. Therefore, the government has pushed to tackle the issue. A new online service for employers has been launched to help them support and manage their employees with mental health issues.
Mental health issues plague the workplace as working conditions can sometimes lead to stress and anxiety. Although there is continuous progress being made to destigmatise talking about mental health, there is still a lot of work to do. Small businesses need to actively talk about mental health in the workplace, so employees can feel like it’s okay to talk about how they are feeling. Small business owners need to be the leaders and open up about the challenges and stress that comes with being in the workplace.
There are many benefits to working remotely, both for the employee and employer. Flexible hours in the environment of your choosing sounds ideal to any employee whose dream is to work from home in their pyjamas, but there can be some major drawbacks as well. Keep your remote workers invested in the company by taking extra measures to ensure they are informed, feel valued, and continue working hard.
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Procrastination can plague workplaces and have a huge impact on the productivity of the business. Therefore, it’s essential to tackle the issue, whether it’s yourself as the business owner or your employees. Procrastination is putting something off that needs to be done, to deal with at a later time. You might procrastinate by focusing on exciting things. However, if you are ignoring dealing with business taxes because you’re working on a new product, this could lead to serious problems.
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Diversity in the workplace can be really beneficial for both the people who work for the business and the business itself. Every major city is multi-cultural, there are people from all over the world that live and work there. For example, London is one of the best cities in the world and it’s full of people from many different backgrounds, cultures, races, genders and sexual orientations. The diversity in the city should, therefore, be reflected in the city’s workplace too. Small businesses, in particular, need to encourage more diversity when it comes to the recruitment process.
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The work-life balance is something that has become more important in recent years, even though it has also become more difficult to obtain in many cases. There was a time when working long hours (and at weekends), losing sleep and sacrificing family time, was seen as something admirable, but thankfully the pendulum is beginning to swing the other way, and now most people understand how important it is to have some downtime.
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Properly implemented workplace safety is something that both the employer and the employees benefit from. In practice, it is quite hard to motivate the workforce to follow the intricate safety procedures. They are usually fully aware of their importance, but they lack the motivation to follow through.
In a recent study conducted by Advanced, it was found that small business owners are on the brink of a burnout due to their heavy workload. SME leaders and managers are close to hitting the boiling point because of the stress and pressure that comes from running a small business. These are issues that can be controlled and maintained. Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy, and without healthy small business owners to run them, the UK economy could be in trouble.
