So you have finally taken the plunge and are either starting a franchise from scratch or have bought an existing branch. If you are thinking about running a franchise as a small business, you should have a good idea of what it takes to run it, from the day-to-day operations to the administration tasks. You should have also decided how involved you will be in the daily running of the business.
mental health
Socialising with colleagues feels good, but it also has benefits for the business. Working face-to-face with colleagues can both help maintain a good working culture and boost collaboration. But a year of working from and/or furlough has seen many workers coping with social isolation.
[continue reading…]Moving people to remote working can be stressful at the best of times. COVID-19 adds an extra dimension. For this reason, it is very important that business owners consider the impact on the mental wellbeing of their team as they adjust to the necessary changes.
[continue reading…]For your business to do well you need motivated, engaged employees. Research by Gallup shows that businesses with engaged employees outperform others by 202%. In addition, the study showed that businesses in the highest quartile of employee engagement ratings outperform those in the bottom quartile in customer ratings, productivity, and profitability.
[continue reading…]Leadership is an amazing experience. It gives you the opportunity to shape and influence an organisation and, perhaps more nobly, to turn a vision and a dream into reality. That said, leadership can be hard, and people often harbour unrealistic expectations about what is involved.
[continue reading…]There are 5.9 million small businesses in the UK and around 60% of people working in the private sector are working for small businesses. However, mental health and wellbeing advice and support is only really given to larger businesses. The FSB (Federation of Small Business) has started a campaign to focus on wellbeing for those in small business sector.
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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…]Showing your employees how much they mean to the company should not be expressed only through promotions and paychecks. To help them understand that they are a vital part of your business and that you plan on working with them in the long run, you should implement some work culture strategies that will illustrate how much you care about their wellbeing as well.
Noel McDermott, a psychotherapist states that: “If you want to be a progressive business leader, now is the time to invest in the emotional and mental health of your team, they are after all your most valuable resource. Most organisations now understand fundamentally the link between a healthy workforce and increased productivity and most of us understand that health and wellness includes mental wellness.”
The success of any business establishment is dependent on the mental and physical health of its employees. If they are demotivated or their morale damaged, chances are that they will not be efficient in their day-to-day duties. Being physically unhealthy also means employee absenteeism and an acute dip in productivity.
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.
Giving back to the community and giving to charities has become a core part of most small business culture. From the Federation of Small Business (FSB), a ‘Small Business, Big Heart’ was published highlighting the ‘giving back’ attitude of small businesses in the UK. It is, therefore, the time for the Government to deliver on the National Insurance Contributions manifesto promise (NIC’s), which consisted of a year holiday from the NIC’s for small businesses.
Millennial employees in your workforce are individuals who were born between 1980 and 2000. Unlike the Baby Boomers and the Gen-Xers, this youthful generation has developed unique work characteristics such as adoring parents, contact with diverse people, and structured lives. They work well with diverse co-workers, are used to working in teams, want to make friends with people at work, and have a can-do attitude. They seek leadership from their managerial staff but expect their ideas to be valued and used.
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.
In a recent study carried out by Paymentsense, it was found that female entrepreneurs were better at handling stress than their males counterparts. The research which looked at over 1,000 small business in the UK showed that women are good at handling business stress as well as men and sometimes even better. This should be encouraging to any aspiring female entrepreneurs, who want to take on the rewarding challenge of starting their own business.
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.
Misuse of alcohol or drugs can impair an individual’s ability to perform both socially and in the workplace. Drug and alcohol abuse can have a serious impact on employers and will affect an organisation’s productivity and profitability through staff sickness, overtime costs and recruitment.
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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.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to promote employee wellbeing in the team. If the workforce is demotivated, stressed and not building positive relationships, the team’s productivity and efficiency will suffer as a result.
Like many business owners, you may dread holiday periods coming around. Finding someone to fill in for an employee’s essential duties can be a dismal task. However, there are positive days ahead, as your business will benefit in the following ways when your employee returns from their vacation. Here Austrack Campers highlight why it’s important to encourage your employees to travel while on paid time off.
