Hiring the right people for your team is both a science and an art. You might have a very clear idea about the qualifications and experience you require for a role, but how do you find the right person among the many candidates with similar credentials? It requires rigorous enquiry, intuition, experimentation and knowledge of the key areas to consider.
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No company wants to have to lay people off, but it is often necessary due to budget issues. Especially during this difficult time, almost every business in the country has been impacted. COVID-19 brought the world to a halt including millions of businesses. Many lost their employees, and some of the biggest names in business had to let go of thousands of staff members.
[continue reading…]In a recent study carried out by the Close Brother Asset Finance, it was found that small and medium-size businesses find diversity is good for business. However, they still struggled to achieve a diverse workforce. There are a number of benefits of having diversity in the workplace and SMEs may be missing out on these benefits.
[continue reading…]Your business needs happy, healthy employees who enjoy their work. They are your greatest business asset while for the individual their greatest asset is their health and mental wellbeing. A person who feels appreciated will ALWAYS do more than expected.
[continue reading…]Companies that are at the forefront of development prioritise the continuing education of their employees because it not only increases their comparative advantage, but it also stresses a continuous system of growth. A company’s trajectory for growth is based on its foundation, which is its people.
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.
As an employer, managing maternity leave is an inevitable part of doing business. You will be understandably thrilled for your employee, whilst also wondering whether your team will be overstretched, or how this change might hurt productivity. On top of that, you have the financial commitments surrounding UK statutory maternity pay (SMP) to navigate. It can all end up feeling rather admin heavy.
For much of history, the concept of a safe workplace was one which was free from physical hazards. While this is still very definitely the case, there is a growing awareness of the need to protect employees’ mental health as much as their physical health.
There’s a lot more to human resources than just handling personal functions such as hiring and firing. HR is also responsible for managing talent and supervising the entire lifecycle of employees. Therefore, to ensure that your business flourishes, a successful talent management strategy is key to helping your employees reach their full potential within the workplace. After all, a firm’s most valuable resource is their people, so, the role of talent management should be considered an essential part of your organisation’s strategy.
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Every manager needs to be well acquainted with the performance of their employees. It’s an essential part of the job. You can’t make any effective changes if you don’t know who is lacking and why they aren’t reaching their full potential. A lot of managers, including us from MAUS Business Systems, use staff performance software to help them keep track of many employees and their progress over time. These programs come with their own pros and cons.
A company retreat can seem like a pre-paid vacation to some and yet another work obligation to others. Companies today are recognising more and more that company retreats are highly valuable for the morale and overall productivity of their employees. At the same time, companies that have never run a retreat before may not be entirely sure where to start.
Dealing with bereavement in the workplace can be difficult; when you’re experiencing such high emotions, the office can be the last place you want to be. At any time, one in 10 people in the UK is likely to be affected by a bereavement. It’s important that employees receive the help and support they need to get through this challenging time.
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Your company depends on your employees being able to perform at a high level. When you facilitate this process, you are critically serving your company’s business goals. In turn, your employees also get more out of working for your company, because you are a forward-thinking business owner, and ultimately this means that your employees will be happier.
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Recently, the World Economic Forum forecasted that the trend for flexible working, including remote working and virtual teams, was set to become one of the biggest drivers for transformation worldwide. This trend has been embraced by companies and governmental bodies of all kinds. While trail-blazing tech companies such as Github, Basecamp and Microsoft all offer remote working, cornerstones of British life such as the Civil Service and Transport for London are praised by employees for their flexible working options. All of this means that it is well worth considering what these options could mean for your business, even if you’re operating on a much smaller scale.
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As an employer, you’ll face many trials and challenges when it comes to managing your staff. One of those challenges may be the issue of workplace bullying. In a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 19% of respondents revealed that they had suffered from being bullied in the workplace. This is an alarming amount given that there should be a zero tolerance on workplace bullying across all businesses. So, what defines workplace bullying? And how can you, as an employer, deal with it?
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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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According to a recent study, employee engagement across the workforce is at a historic low. Many employees cite disengagement with the work they are tasked to perform each day, due to a variety of underlying causes. It could be they are not content with their current job position, or that they do not feel completely connected with the employer on a broader scale. Regardless of the root cause, employers and their HR departments are recognising the pressing need to improve employee engagement – and fast.
HR is an important part of a business, whether you have an entire department looking after the HR of your business or just one person. It’s vital that a small business has an HR professional on board. However even when businesses have dedicated professionals to manage their HR, mistakes are still made that can be avoided. In the worst case scenario, HR mistakes can lead to a court case, with huge legal fines that can be detrimental to a business.
When small businesses owners are starting their business, the main aim and priority is to keep the costs low. It is likely, most of the costs will be spent on necessities, rather than luxuries. Some may think that HR professionals or an HR department are a luxury, however, they can help implement workplace policies and keep the business out of trouble. If it’s not possible to hire an HR professional, then outsourcing can also be an option. However, it is advisable to hire an individual to manage the HR of your business as soon as you can.
The gender pay gap has been in the spotlight recently, with the government actually taking action to start tackling the issue. Companies with the more than 250 employees have to report on how much they are paying their staff. Although this only focused on bigger businesses, small business should also start looking at the gender pay gap at their firm. A positive finding was that UK Fast, a hosting firm, had the mean gender pay gap which was just 0.9%.
