staff

In the modern economy, there is no shortage of candidates for any positions in a company. It appears as if the employers are successful in finding the most suitable candidate for a post within no time. But, this is not as easy as it looks. There is always a chance that you will end up hiring the wrong person for the job and this may trigger a series of negative consequences. This incorrect person may turn out to be unmotivated, lazy, or unqualified and he or she may influence the working atmosphere in your company adversely. When you spend a lot of time training the prospect and end up looking for another one, it costs a lot of time and money.

Would you jump into a plane with a pilot who had learned to fly from books alone? Highly unlikely I suspect! We are willing to trust pilots because they’ve spent hundreds of hours in a flight simulator, have developed their expertise and can cope in situations of extreme pressure.

Reopening your business or bringing additional staff back to the office is a positive step. However, there are also anxieties around keeping everyone safe – your staff and also anyone else visiting your premises. Looking ahead how will you be able to judge when your risks in relation to Covid-19 increase, and you need to do something different? Will you be able to identify a new source of infection in good time? One way to help with all of this is to introduce regular and methodical testing.

As an entrepreneur who is considering opening a small restaurant, you have to think about whether you are to invest time, money, and hard work into making it a proper business.

It is not uncommon to experience delays in a business only to be slapped with the phrase, “that’s how we have always done it.” While some tasks need to follow a specific process, you will agree that other processes are complicated for no good reason.

A good sign of business growth is the need for more staff. As your business grows, one of the most important roles you will have to fill is an IT/Tech support professional within the business. Majority of the businesses in today’s world will need some sort of IT support for the business and its employees, in order to work efficiently. IT staff can ensure that your other staff are able to effectively work as well as finding new tech to support your business whether this is new software or new equipment.

There are several signs to suggest that as a nation we’re through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Infection rates have fallen from the highs seen in mid-April, and London – which was one of the worst affected localities – recently saw no new coronavirus cases for a full 24-hour period.

Though many areas are beginning to ease up on their shelter-at-home directives, it’s still going to take weeks if not months for in-person customer interactions to get back to normal. This is why it’s essential for businesses to pivot their communication strategies to focus on maintaining and forging virtual connections.

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.

You may be just getting started with your business and need the right skills to help it grow. Or, maybe you have seed funding and need to scale your team quickly? 

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?

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. 

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.

The majority of schools will close on 20^th December so from that Friday the pressure is on! With Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both being on a Wednesday, this holiday season may be proving a bit more complicated to plan than usual.  What time off will you be giving your employees?

Project management is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of things you need to take care of. From planning to final submission, the list is endless. If you have to keep a record of every step you take in your project or to know what all steps are to be taken for the completion of the project, using a Gantt chart tool is the ultimate solution.

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Starting a company is a risky business. In the early stages, there is a significant chance of failure. One in five small businesses do not last beyond their first year.  Thirty per cent of small business fail in their second year, 50% fail after five years, and 70% fail in their tenth year in operation.

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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.

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Cybersecurity should be a top concern for small companies whether you do business primarily in the UK or in other countries as well. Even though news headlines usually focus on data breaches that happen to large companies and government organisations, it’s the small business that’s even more at risk. Why? Hackers are counting on small businesses to spend less on their cybersecurity budget and have weaker security than larger companies.

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In business giving and receiving feedback, and knowing how to make this an effective process, is vital. When it is sincerely delivered, specific and supportive, feedback helps us to identify previously unseen areas for development, to introduce new ideas and to encourage people to embrace challenging goals. Conversely, feedback that is insincere or overly critical can demotivate and disenfranchise, which can damage and even destroy relationships.

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