How can you reduce time in your hiring process?

In the UK, the average time it takes for a candidate to be hired after entering the recruitment process is around 30 days. At the moment, attracting and recruiting talented individuals can be tricky as we are currently in a business phase that is limited in candidates. With this in mind, it is worth looking at everything you can do to stack your odds of hiring your ideal candidate. 

Reducing hiring times can really help you get people over the line, helping you catch the talent you need for business growth. The cost of unfilled vacancies often has a direct impact on business productivity and performance, and delays in the process could result in missing out completely on those "gold dust" candidates.

As recruiters, we know it isn't easy trying to find top talent, so we have put some key points together that we think make an efficient recruitment process, which could improve your chances of securing those key hires in the shortest amount of time.

How Can You Reduce Your Hiring Time?

Whether you recruit internally or not, it would be beneficial to streamline your process. Creating a structured plan that everyone involved adheres to will mean you can deliver an efficient top-quality candidate experience, which will help to give you the best possible outcome.

Let's Start With Four Quick Tactics 

Below, we have given you a quick snapshot look at the four tactics that are within our article, 9 Strategies You Must Know for Recruiting in a Candidate-Driven Market, this will give you a quick insight into some of the ideas you can use to help speed up your process.

1. Streamlining the Hiring Process:

In today's fast-paced market, agility in hiring isn't just a bonus—it's a necessity. Implementing streamlined processes and clear decision-making criteria can cut the hiring timeline. 

Try to put procedures in place to shorten your process, for instance, make sure key decision-makers are available to authorise sign-offs, make sure there are no potential hold-ups in your system and ensure you're sending your candidates either an interview or acceptance offer in less than 24 hours. Speed is of the essence if you want to keep your potential candidates in your process.

2. Making Fast Decisions:

The key to rapid recruitment without sacrificing quality is having a robust pre-screening process. By the time candidates reach the interview stage, you should be confident in their fit, which accelerates decision-making.

Making fast decisions on candidates through your recruitment process will reduce the time between the interview and the offer stages, this will also have the effect of reducing candidates dropping out at any stage.

3. Make Sure You Can Keep Your Candidates Motivated: 

Keeping candidates engaged and motivated throughout the hiring process is critical. Personalised communication and transparent timelines turn passive interest into active excitement about joining your team.

If you are impressed with a candidate, don't hold back. Move fast and let them know they could be a good fit for your company; this will keep them motivated, and they are likely to stay with you throughout the process.

4. Discuss Any Issues With Your Candidates In The Interview:

Addressing potential concerns upfront during interviews shows empathy and significantly reduces dropout rates.

If there are any problems for your candidate in the interview, such as inflexible hours and long commute times, make sure they are resolved in the interview stage. Again, this will ensure that potential candidates do not drop out when they are due to start their positions.

Let's Start From The Beginning

The Importance of Employer Branding

A compelling employer brand is vital in today's competitive job market. It not only sets you apart from competitors but also speeds up the hiring process by attracting more suitable candidates. A strong employer brand communicates your company's values and culture and has the benefit of drawing in individuals whose values align with yours. This alignment leads to a quicker recruitment process, as these candidates are more likely to apply, engage with the process efficiently, and accept job offers promptly.

Key Benefits:

• Attracts Qualified Candidates: Clearly presenting your company culture and values helps prospective employees quickly assess their fit, drawing in those most aligned with your mission.

• Reduces Hiring Time: An attractive employer brand increases visibility and interest among potential candidates, leading to a larger, more qualified applicant pool and faster hiring cycles.

• Improves Candidate Experience: Positive interactions with your brand during the recruitment process enhance candidates' perceptions, increasing their likelihood to accept job offers.

Strategies for Success:

Focus on clear messaging about your mission, culture, and values across all platforms. Utilise social media, your website, and employee testimonials to communicate your brand authentically. Remember, your current employees are your best ambassadors; their satisfaction and engagement are crucial in portraying a genuine employer brand.

Investing in your employer brand not only attracts the right talent but also significantly enhances the recruitment experience, laying the foundation for long-term success and growth.

Creating A Job Description

Although creating your job description comes before the candidate is introduced to the process, delving into this now will again give you more opportunity to improve your overall efficiency when you recruit.

The perfect job description needs to be punchy and interesting so it will motivate the candidate to apply; it's a good idea to make sure you include relevant information, such as salary and benefits, as this will save the candidate time finding this information out. You should also make sure your application process is easy to fill out on any device, as according to Indeed, 66% of candidates want to be able to apply for a job on their phone as it's quicker that way.

Searching For Candidates And Shortlisting

Finding the right candidates will take up a lot of your time if you are internally recruiting, so why not think about investing in specialist recruitment tools? Systems that specialise in Customer Relationship Management or Applicant Tracking tools are readily available to anyone in recruitment. Having these systems will allow you to build databases of candidates that you can use to be data-driven when you recruit. This has the added benefit of making it much quicker for you to source people every time you recruit in the future.

Many recruiters also use organic searches through systems like LinkedIn, as well as paid searches through social media and job boards, to source candidates. Depending on your budget, this will allow you to filter and target your job advertisement and content to the right number of people, which can save you a lot of time in your search process.

The Role of Technology in Recruitment

In today's fast-paced business environment, leveraging technology in the recruitment process is no longer optional; it's essential. Advanced technological solutions, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and chatbots, are revolutionising how companies attract, screen, and engage potential candidates. By embracing these innovations, organisations can significantly streamline their hiring processes, reduce time-to-hire, and enhance candidate experience.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning are at the forefront of transforming recruitment practices. These technologies offer the ability to automate repetitive tasks, such as resume screening and initial candidate assessments, saving recruiters a significant amount of time. AI algorithms can quickly analyse vast quantities of resumes, identifying candidates who best match the job requirements based on their skills, experience, and qualifications. This precision helps reduce the risk of human bias and ensures a more diverse candidate pool is considered. Also, as a great benefit, machine learning algorithms continuously improve over time. 

Interviewing 

The interview is an opportunity for you and your candidates to meet and see if you are the right fit for each other. As the candidate will have taken a considerable amount of time to prepare and attend the interview, you should make sure their experience is as good as it can be to keep the candidate motivated so you don't lose them in the next stage.

If you decide some of the candidates aren't right for you, they deserve to know why. So, although it can be awkward, giving feedback efficiently to an unsuccessful candidate is going to allow you to move forward quickly, as well as give you good credibility for the future.

Offering Employment 

Once you have found that perfect candidate, it's important to remember things can still go wrong at this point. So, try to deliver an efficient service as well as an open and honest one, as if they are a good candidate they will most likely have offers elsewhere. If you can give them the best offer you can as quickly as you can, this will reduce the chances of you missing out to another employer.

Enhancing the Onboarding Experience

Congratulations on your new hire! The journey from accepting the offer to becoming an integral part of your team is now crucial; you do not want to waste all the time by losing your fantastic hires before they start. Here's how to refine the onboarding process for better engagement and long-term staff retention:

Setting the Stage for Success

Begin by ensuring all contractual paperwork is complete, and any additional information required from the new hire is gathered efficiently. Establishing a clear start date and preparing everything they need for day one is just the beginning.

Maintaining Engagement Before Day One

The period between the offer acceptance and the start date is critical. To prevent any second thoughts or the risk of "ghosting," maintain open lines of communication. Regular check-ins can reassure the new hire of their decision and build excitement for their new role. Encourage them to connect with their future colleagues and the company on professional networks like LinkedIn. This not only fosters a sense of belonging but also keeps the enthusiasm alive as they transition into their new role.

Onboarding Beyond the Basics

Effective onboarding goes beyond just the first day or week. Consider implementing a structured program that spans the first few months, including:

• Orientation Sessions: Introduce them to your company culture, values, and mission to align their goals with the company's objectives.

• Training Programs: Tailor these to both the role-specific skills and the broader competencies needed for success within your organisation.

• Mentorship: Pairing your new hire with a seasoned mentor can facilitate smoother integration into the team and foster a supportive learning environment.

Fostering Connections

Encourage new hires to engage with their colleagues through team-building activities or informal meet-ups. Creating opportunities for social interaction enhances team cohesion and helps new employees feel like part of the community.

Continuous Feedback and Support

Solicit feedback on the onboarding experience from the new hire and offer continuous support as they navigate their new role. This approach not only helps in refining your onboarding process but also reinforces your commitment to their success and well-being within the company.

A thoughtful and comprehensive onboarding process lays the groundwork for a fruitful and enduring employment relationship. By investing in a robust onboarding experience, you're not just facilitating administrative tasks; you're significantly contributing to the long-term success and satisfaction of your new team member.

Conclusion  

It's crucial to adopt strategies that streamline the hiring process, where the average recruitment cycle in the UK extends to about 30 days. We have navigated you through optimising your recruitment processes, decision-making, candidate engagement, and addressing interview concerns. Emphasising employer branding and recruitment technology, we've outlined how to attract quality candidates quickly and enhance their onboarding experience. This approach speeds up hiring and ensures new hires are well-integrated and aligned with company goals, laying the groundwork for long-term success and retention. In sum, marrying speed with quality in recruitment, bolstered by strategic use of technology and a strong employer brand, is key to securing top talent essential for business growth.

If you want to learn more about how to recruit in a candidate-driven market, please click here

How To Create A High-Performing Team

There are a variety of characteristics involved in a team of high-performing people, regardless of the industry or sector you work within. But why do some teams perform better than others? What sets elite teams apart from the rest of the pack?

Getting the right mix of people for a high-performing team is like making a cake, first, you need a great recipe to create it from, a cooking blueprint if you like. This materialises itself in planning a strong and well-established company ethos, a philosophy for the project and a focused goal to work towards. Then you need the right ingredients in the right amounts. The ingredients are usually a mix of individuals that are highly driven experts and want to achieve outstanding results, they also have complementary skills that help strengthen a team. Goal-oriented yes, totally focused on achieving, yes, but not to the detriment of the team. Together they collaborate and innovate to produce work at the highest levels. Lastly you need a great cook, someone that understands how to bring it all together cohesively. The crucial roles of the right leadership cannot be understated to produce a successful team, a winning philosophy comes from the top and trickles down.

Let's take a look at a very high-performing team. There is no better place to look than Formula One, only the best win consistently and to be the best team you have to fill it full of highly motivated people. They have to be skilful in their work and driven to be the best for themselves and more importantly for the team. 

If you've watched anything to do with Formula One you will know Mercedes typifies an amazing team. You can see they all pull together for each other, they are all individuals who are highly talented but it is the collective team ethos that counts. They must all be the best to succeed at this high level. Mercedes have dominated over the last few years with an amazing group of individuals who make a cohesive team. This has led them to 8 consecutive constructors championships and 9 driver championships in total, truly an outstanding feat in this intensively competitive sport. In 2022 they have struggled at the beginning of the season but you can see the relentless drive and focus they have to change this direction. From the outside looking in it is obvious this success all starts with the Mercedes philosophy. With this in mind we hopped over to their career philosophy web page, just to see what their thoughts are on building a winning team and the type of people they are looking for to join their top-tier, this is what we found, we think you will find it interesting!

Mercedes Careers Philosophy 

"Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future success. We are constantly aware of our competitors and we are restless for more speed.”

"While we’re proud of our past we will never succumb to complacency. Instead, we are looking to the future: remaining at the pinnacle of our sport with unmatched performance, reliability and quality. Whilst we compete in the uncompromising environment of Formula One, we do so with trust and respect for each other and our competitors, upholding Mercedes value of fairness in competition.

We invest in our greatest asset: people. We have experienced leaders to guide us, supported by a world-class operations team and the best new talent and craftspeople in the industry. They embody our values: Passion, Respect, Innovation, Determination and Excellence. And together, we are a formidable team, tasked with building the best Formula One cars and winning races. But it’s just the start. We are on a mission to win every championship and ultimately, to become the greatest champions in Formula One history.

We’ll succeed when everyone delivers their tenth of a second. No matter which area of the team you work in, you will determine how we perform, on and off the track. It’s why every person here takes immense pride in playing their part to the highest standards. Each and every day. Working here is fast. It demands technical excellence and teamwork. And it calls for great reserves of motivation and resilience."

Now, the definition of a high-performing team may vary depending on the responsibilities and expectations of you and your company. However, in general, many of the qualities of high-performing teams are similar. We have dissected the Mercedes philosophy, spliced it together with our thoughts on a good company ethos and added some research to produce a shopping list for the essential ingredients to make the tasty cake of high-performing teams. Let's take a look……..

The 8 Ingredients That Make The Tasty Cake of High Performing Teams

1- Finding The Best To Be The Best 

Mercedes: "We invest in our greatest asset: people. We have experienced leaders to guide us, supported by a world-class operations team and the best new talent and craftspeople in the industry.

Let's start from the beginning, to have an amazing team you've got to have amazing people within that team. Finding the best talent and putting them in the position to excel is where all this starts. Now we know this is not an easy task, after all, we live our lives in recruitment, so we understand this! But it is a guiding principle that investing in your HR procedures and making sure that your HR team is full of talent is important. Look at the following points in this article and make sure your HR department embodies these principles. A great recruiting process with constant investment in training, support and systems is essential in getting this first phase right. After all, it's your foundation that you will be building on, so get it right with recruiting high-achieving team players. Alternatively, use a recruitment company that holds your ethical values and the 'high achieving team' principle, one that takes time to understand your goals and can deliver for you. One of the most important characteristics of high-performing teams is recognising individual strengths. Great teams are built with people who have an abundance of talent and skills. 

2- Collective Vision And Company Culture 

Mercedes: "They embody our values: Passion, Respect, Innovation, Determination and Excellence. And together, We are a formidable team."

High-performing teams are focused on clearly defined goals, objectives and a shared vision that the whole team works to achieve. This has to come from the top, with a framework of structured company culture and positive directives that support this. This allows the team to run on the principles of common ethical communication that is part of the individual, team and company vernacular. A shared vision between directors, management and all levels of employees is embedded into the team psyche. Everyone knows exactly what their performance needs to be and the cultural framework needed to reach the team goal, ensuring everyone has a steely focus to get there! 

3- Commitment To Constant Re-evaluation 

Mercedes: "Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future success. While we’re proud of our past we will never succumb to complacency." 

Regular reviews of work strategies and how these processes can be improved are paramount. The constant moving forward and re-evaluation of your company's best practices can be a key asset here. High-performing teams value a feedback loop in which they learn from their mistakes. A positive feedback culture on the constant moving target of being the best is the only way to hit the heights of team success, supported by ongoing employee development and training, is a magical ingredient a lot of people leave out of their strategy. There is a need for curated reinvention and continuous personal growth, it keeps teams moving forward and aspiring for higher achievements. If constant reinvention worked for David Bowie, it can work for your team! 

4- Trust and Respect

Mercedes: "Whilst we compete in the uncompromising environment of Formula One, we do so with trust and respect for each other and our competitors, upholding Mercedes-Benz value of fairness in competition."

The team understands that trust and respect have a direct impact on the business and the overall working of themselves and the team dynamic. Trust, integrity, collaboration and teamwork are all required for high achievement, both individually and collectively. Taking risks, sharing ideas and innovating together are all made easy with trust and mutual respect. Although top teams are usually built up of very driven people, this should not be at the expense of collective trust and respect. 

5- Clear Concise Goals

Mercedes: "We are on a mission to win every championship and ultimately, to become the greatest champions in Formula One history."

Clear goals closely aligned to the team and organisational priorities are a must. High-performing teams like a clear focus, setting team and individual goals that support this shared vision is important for driving achievement. A clear defined vision lets people understand exactly what they need to do and how to get there. This promotes a culture of accountability aligned with the company goal, engaging individual participation in the team effort of achievement. When employees understand how their job role fits with the overall goals of the organisation, they are then more engaged to work together and support a shared vision.

6- Fast To React To Deadlines Based On Priorities

Mercedes: "We’ll succeed when everyone delivers their tenth of a second. No matter which area of the team you work in, you will determine how we perform on and off the track"

High-performing teams focus on what matters most and spend their time efficiently going about the tasks that work toward this. They understand that not all work has equal urgency and that the priority may change, and change fast! This is why people who embrace change as a positive challenge and stay motivated can be natural high team achievers. Managing projects based on what tasks have the highest impact and priority are all strengths of great team players.

7- Individual Ownership of Achievement 

Mercedes: "It’s why every person here takes immense pride in playing their part to the highest standards."

High-performance teams tend to take a more decentralised approach to leadership. The goals, company culture and ethos framework have been set, but leadership is pushed down the chain of command so there is more ownership by the individual. They all know their part is important and that they have to make their own decisions to deliver on this. Operating under personal deadlines, seamless communication, planning and self-managing are all part of this approach. Great communication and personal conflict resolution can all be part of high-performing teams that are trusted with a more decentralised approach. This also can make the team more open to the responsibility of managing itself by highlighting and filling in any weak spots within the workflow of the business.  

8- Recognising Contributions And Celebrating Success Together 

Now, there is no quote from Mercedes on this one but I know this to be at the core of their ethos, Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton quite regularly say we all lose together but we all win and celebrate together too! It's quite obvious in statements from the hierarchy within Mercedes that everybody is included in a celebration when they win. It is always mentioned that it's a team collective that has achieved the win, not just one person. High-performing teams know that success results from a collective team effort. They celebrate wins together and show their appreciation for each employee’s contributions. This builds a strong culture of collaboration and helps everyone feel valued as part of the team.

No matter how large or small your employee's role is, they need to feel they are contributing to the larger success of your project, everyone needs to feel they are important in the outcome of your success. When the entire team embraces this attitude and belief system, incredible things can happen. During a visit to the NASA space centre in 1962, President John F. Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, "Hi, I'm Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?" "Well, Mr. President," the janitor responded, "I'm helping put a man on the moon.”

The Conclusion

We think this is a good basis for the well-rounded and iced cake of high-performing teams. Sure, the ingredients are hard to get right at first, but when you take it out of the oven and it looks and tastes amazing, it is all worthwhile! 

From our point of view, we know people have different strengths and qualities that make them unique. In order to be a successful company, we invest in our staff and their uniqueness with support, training and constant feedback loops. A clear directional vision together with working goals are something we focus on heavily within the company, which allows our employees to thoroughly flourish. Sometimes, reaching these goals may be difficult and we count ourselves fortunate to have an amazing team that rises to the challenge.  

Here we have an interview with Hannah Knight, who in the words of one of our Directors is a ‘one-in-a-million, quirky and creative individual.’ Hannah is one part of our high performing team who is very driven in nature, but she is also a great team player. She embodies our company culture as do all of our team which we feel gives us great strength in depth.

How to Increase Workplace Communication

Regardless of the industry you work within, communication is a key ingredient to ensuring your business runs smoothly and your employees all feel they are working towards the same goal. Pre-Pandemic this was all focused on office-based communication strategies, which relied heavily on personal contact, email and a smattering of video conferencing if a company had multiple site offices. Post-pandemic we have firmly entered a world where home working is the norm and hybrid working seems to be the desired solution for most, which has been aided and abetted by electronic communication tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. It is essential that companies keep investing in their technologies as they are the foundation to implement your communication strategy. This helps you stay focused, strong and agile through positive communications and the proliferation of company values and direction.  

We all like to communicate in different ways, there are numerous styles you can communicate with employees, so it is essential that you find out how your employees like to communicate and make sure all those options are available for them. Before we look at the communication strategy side of things let's look at some of the platforms that businesses have been using to do this: 

1 - Zoom

We should all know this one by now, it seems to be the top word in a post-pandemic era! Zoom is an enterprise-level, collaboration tool, great for video and web conferencing solutions that have cross-platform messaging and file-sharing features.

2 - Microsoft Teams

Yet another one that has seen a massive uptake by businesses and when you get the hang of it, it can be an all-in-one business communication tool! With an Office 365 subscription, you have access to Teams, within which you get access to video conferencing, chat and Together Mode which makes it look like everyone in the meeting is in the same room. On top of that, you have collaboration tools with powerful feature-sets, like file, screen and apps sharing workflows and real-time collaboration inside Microsoft Office. It is the big beast in the room and has taken a massive market share, a truly powerful Swiss Army knife of communication and collaboration. 

3 - Slack

Not such a well known one but people who use Slack wax lyrical about it! It is a multipurpose communications platform with a project management-centric ethos. It has video conferencing, screen sharing, instant messaging and file storage. The UI is clean and simple and it is very easy to create several channels for different teams, adding and integrating new members to multiple channels is easy and logical. Slack is a great tool that was championed by a lot of start-up companies in Silicon Valley as it provided fast communication and organisation. 

4 - Join.me

Join.me is browser-based, it is quick and simple to get together a meeting that you can then screen share within. It lets you easily start a casual voice chat with anyone, then switch to a video meeting and webinar. It also has some powerful integrations like Outlook and Google Calendar for scheduling and applications integration with Salesforce and Slack.

5 - Windstream Enterprise OfficeSuite UC

OfficeSuite UC is a cloud-based UCaaS (unified communications as a service). It has audio, web and video conferencing. Their OfficeSuite offers unlimited free nationwide phone service and digital faxing. (does anyone fax anymore!) It also has useful mobile twinning, making all incoming calls ring your desk and mobile phone simultaneously; hot-desking to enable incoming and outgoing calls from any phone and virtual voicemail to receive messages from any phone or email. It also has great integrations with Salesforce, Skype, Google's G Suite, Slack and Microsoft Teams. On top of all that you also get contact centre services so you can create queues for calls and chats, all with the ability to see live and historical agent activity and record calls if needed!

Okay, we have had a look at some of the technology, but there is plenty more out there that can help you like BlueJeans, Cisco Webex, ClickMeeting, Fuze, Zoho Meeting etc! So having a fragmented business in terms of office location and home working is not a problem anymore. Now let us turn our attention to communication styles and techniques you can employ in conjunction with collaboration tools, to really bring this all together! We’ve listed our top ten for you to look at below: 

1 - Open Meetings 

Open meetings are a great opportunity for everyone in a company to communicate about the same problems and issues. In this style of forum, the whole team can listen to what everyone else is saying and take the ideas on board. This style of meeting is especially important if everyone is allowed to speak freely, regardless of their position or place and this approach remains one of the best ways to communicate effectively within a team.  

2- Written Communication Trails

After face-to-face meetings, virtual or otherwise, it can often be difficult to remember what was said or what was spoke about. For this reason, emails, SLACK or any messaging tool can be seriously beneficial in helping ensure that there is a record and a reminder of what was covered in the meeting. Communication via these written tools is quick, easy and can enable you to pass messages to members of the team without interrupting their workflow

3 - One on One

Some employees may not feel comfortable talking in front of others, so you should make sure that you regularly talk to employees one on one, especially if you are in management. Some people also understand better when you take them aside, it can also allow them to express opinions without fear of feeling embarrassed, communication this way is very beneficial.

4 - Training

Training is a vital element when it comes to communication and communication training for new employees is essential. But remember, training isn’t something that just happens once, it should be something that is continuous. Continuous training gives employees the opportunity to communicate whenever there are problems that occur, as well as giving them the chance for more support if they need it at any point. 

5 - Simple Words 

The honest truth is that everybody has different levels of vocabulary in the workplace, so by using difficult, specialised vocabulary, you may confuse some employees. Therefore, it is important to understand your audience, it’s always better to oversimplify what you are trying to say. Just remember that when ambiguous words are used, you can be misunderstood and/or waste precious time having to explain yourself.

6 - Listen 

It is vital you remember that communication is a two-way street. When you are talking to people at work, make sure you give them your full attention so that you can fully listen to what they are saying. Partake in active listening, nod when appropriate and give positive affirmation to show you are communicating too. It seems obvious, but not doing simple things can have negative effects on employees thinking they do not have a voice.

7 - Presentations 

It is important to remember that not everybody listens and understands the same way. Some employees may prefer communication to come in the form of pictures and others in the form of sounds. Using presentations and visual aids will help communicate with people who prefer to see images and read in order to process information.

8 - Humour  

It’s important to remember that although you are communicating with people at work, the people you are speaking with are still human! Using friendly jokes helps pass along messages in a more relaxed way and has been proven to be a really effective method of communicating. Bringing humour will also help break a tense environment, so it is a really helpful tool to bring to your communication skills!

9 - Feedback 

Feedback is also a fantastic method of communication and it’s essential that you ask for it. Give room for feedback so that you take other opinions on board. You can also ask for feedback to ensure that what you have said is understood.

10 - Be Appreciative 

Most importantly, you should remember to be appreciative. Appreciate the team you have around you and make sure you communicate this to them, it costs nothing and it’s a simple courtesy, especially if people have been struggling to keep positive and trying to keep any mental illnesses at bay. So being positive and appreciative can really make a big difference to an employee’s life and outlook whether at home or in the office. 

Conclusion 

By using the latest communication technologies and methods you can ensure that you increase communication in the workplace. This should not just be from management down, but across employee to employee too. Communication is important regardless of your job role and this should be stressed to all employees with training on how they can improve communications personally. With everyone on board and with an ethos of regular positive communication, you will have a well-run, efficient and collaborative business with happy employees. 

What Does ‘Cultural Fit’ Actually Mean?

'If you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.' - Simon Sinek

'Company culture is the continuous pursuit of building the best, most talented and happiest team we possibly can.' - Andrew Wilkinson

'Culture, more than products or services, is what differentiates an organisation from competitors, both in the minds of customers and of employees.' - Joe Tye

Three great quotes that give you an insight into why great company culture and employees that fit that culture can transform your business from being average to amazing! 

Chances are, you’ve probably heard the words ‘cultural fit’ before, especially when it comes to the professional working environment. For many, it is a term used to reflect the likelihood that a new hire will do seemingly insignificant things, such as conforming to the company dress code, pitching in for lunch, or going out for drinks on a Friday with the rest of the team. However, this is not what it means at heart, there is so much more to the system of a good ‘cultural fit.’

What ‘Cultural Fit’ Means For a Company

Every company should have its own culture, which is usually built up of a set of beliefs, behaviour, personality and goals. One company’s culture may be more distinct than another, but once a company culture has been defined, ideally every action, strategy, decision and communication should support its cultural beliefs.

What ‘Cultural Fit’ Means For an Individual

Every individual employee also has their own working culture, which radiates throughout who they are, through language and communication, through daily work ethic and throughout everyday working lifestyle. The working culture is designed by their attitudes, values and beliefs.

Being a cultural fit for a company is about mostly owning the same beliefs, behaviour and personality as the workplace. The individual will fit if you have the same working values that the organisation holds. The two may never be exactly aligned, but they should all be marching in the same general direction.

What ‘Cultural Fit’ Doesn’t Mean

Company culture fit doesn’t mean that a company should recruit the same kind of individuals with the same backgrounds and experiences. Hiring diversely is vital for every company in today’s society, and businesses should certainly hire a variety of individuals from different genders, ages, races and religions to ensure their business stays innovative and new. Cultural fit shouldn’t be used to discriminate against diversity. Research supports the fact that non-diverse teams can make for a less ground-breaking environment in terms of business evolution. Having a diverse workforce has been shown to build stronger companies so this should be embraced. True cultural fit on the other hand is more to do with attitudes in the working environment, and the alignment with the company’s values.

Communication In The Culture

Companies with strong cultures are usually interested in collaborative working processes and open communication. When these values are aligned, employees find easier communication between all levels within the business. Positive communication within company culture is a powerful indicator that a business will be successful.

Working As One

A team that works together with the same core values functions better, and everyone moving forward with the same goals makes a strong cohesive team, rather than a team that has disjointed priorities. When conflicts and differences arise, be that professional or personal, it is much easier to resolve when employees are working towards similar values.

Why Finding A ‘Cultural Fit' Is Important

It is a relatively straightforward process for recruiters to find good employee matches based on qualifications and experience. The missing piece in the jigsaw is whether the applicant is actually a Cultural Fit for the company. When recruiting individuals in your organisation, finding a cultural fit should be one of the most important features you search for. A meta-analysis by Kristof-Brown reported that employees who felt like they fit well with their organisation, co-workers and supervisors in terms of having shared values also had the following:

• Higher job satisfaction

• Identified more with their company

• Were more likely to remain with their organisation

• Were more committed

• Showed superior job performance

A Tale of Two Hires

To illustrate the importance of cultural fit, let’s take a brief look at two hypothetical employees: James and Lucy.

James was hired primarily based on his impressive CV. He had all the technical skills needed but struggled to integrate into the company culture. Despite his qualifications, he often felt isolated, disagreed with the company's approach, and eventually left within a year.

Lucy, on the other hand, had a good balance of skills and cultural alignment. She believed in the company's mission, easily integrated with her team, and contributed innovative ideas in line with the company's values. Her alignment with the company culture not only made her stay longer but also enhancedThis simple comparison highlights the tangible benefits of considering cultural fit alongside qualifications and skills. her performance and team collaboration. This simple comparison highlights the tangible benefits of considering cultural fit alongside qualifications and skills.

Studies of cultural fit across many countries have also found that there is a relationship between cultural fit and mental and physical health. Therefore, if a job fits a certain personality, they are less likely to exhibit signs of depression and anxiety. On the other hand, if you hire employees that don’t connect well with the existing company culture this can lead to poor work quality, decreased job satisfaction and a potentially toxic environment. This results in a turnover of staff, which has high costs for the business.

It is therefore vital that you think clearly about company culture. It’s also important to think about the other side of this, it’s not all about the company. It’s also about the potential employee. If a business hires an individual who they’re not sure will be a correct cultural fit, they are potentially wasting everybody’s time. People thrive in an environment they feel comfortable in, so find the right people and let those with a different workplace value find their perfect company elsewhere.

Conclusion

When we are matching employees to companies one of our main concerns is to get the right cultural fit. Through years of experience, we know it can be the make or break of a good working relationship that lasts. Scientific research proves that employees who are happy and fulfilled in the workplace not only perform better but are also more likely to work for the company for a longer period of time, increasing productivity and retention levels. So, investing in your understanding of company culture and how that affects the cultural fit of employees is a worthwhile consideration and a great investment in your time.

Good Leaders Retain Staff

In today's competitive job market, retaining great employees is crucial for the success of any company. As a leader, it is your responsibility to create an environment that inspires loyalty and commitment among your team members. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership, there are certain qualities that effective leaders possess. In this article, we will explore these key qualities and provide practical tips on how to retain great employees.

According to HR News Approximately 43% of UK workers have left a position due to poor management, and of those currently exploring new job opportunities, 53% are considering a change primarily because of their present manager, as per a recent study conducted by a people analytics firm Visier. Bad management in business can be a real problem for employee retention so we are going to take a look at what makes a great manager. If business owners and managers take these issues to heart then this will have a direct impact on employee retention and turnover. We are currently experiencing a candidate-short market, so at the moment keeping great employees with positive management practices is of paramount importance. 

Let's start this blog off by saying this, PLEASE, read the classic book - 'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' Just this action alone will point you in the right direction of what it is to be a great manager and mentor. We have mentioned this book numerous times over the last few years of blogging, it really is a classic. How to Win Friends and Influence People is a self-help book written by Dale Carnegie, published in 1936. Over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time! A number of high-profile business leaders including Richard Branson and Warren Buffet have credited the book as “changing their life”! This is an old book but full of timeless wisdom, miss it at your peril, read it and implement and it can be a game changer for you and your business. 

If you are interested in delving more into this book we love this summary below by Hubspot it gives you a good idea of what to expect. 

Now you know we love this book let's look at some other examples of how to be a good manager and leader! 

Lead by Example

Leaders who lead by example inspire and motivate their employees. When you demonstrate the qualities and behaviours you expect from your team members, you create a culture of accountability and high performance. By rolling up your sleeves and actively participating in tasks and projects, you show your employees that you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success.

Leading by example also means being open to feedback and criticism. Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns. By actively listening and responding to feedback, you show that you value your employees' opinions and are committed to continuous improvement.

Build Strong Relationships

As a leader, it is essential to build strong relationships with your employees. Take the time to get to know each team member on an individual level. Understand their strengths, goals, and aspirations. By showing a genuine interest in your employees' well-being, you create a sense of belonging and loyalty.

One way to build relationships is by organising team outings or social events outside of the office. These activities provide an opportunity for team members to connect on a personal level and foster a sense of camaraderie. When employees feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to stay committed to the organisation.

Be a Trustworthy Leader

Trust is the foundation of any successful relationship, including the relationship between a leader and their employees. As a leader, it is essential to be transparent, honest, and consistent in your actions and communication. When employees trust their leader, they are more likely to feel valued, motivated, and committed to their work.

To build trust, it is important to keep your promises and honour your commitments. If you have offered growth opportunities, mentorship, or additional training, ensure that you follow through. By demonstrating your dedication to your employees' success, you show that you are a leader who can be trusted.

Encourage Collaboration and Communication

Effective leaders understand the importance of collaboration and communication within a team. Encourage open and honest communication among team members and create opportunities for collaboration on projects and initiatives. By fostering a collaborative environment, you promote innovation and creativity.

Implement regular team meetings and check-ins to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Encourage employees to share their ideas and perspectives. Recognize and appreciate their contributions. By fostering a culture of collaboration and communication, you create a sense of belonging and teamwork that inspires loyalty among your employees.

Be Approachable 

Great managers and leaders find time for their staff, they are approachable, good listeners and they will take a sincere interest in them. They will support people with any challenges they may have and put strategies in place to help them.

Provide Opportunities for Advancement

Great employees are always looking for opportunities to grow and advance in their careers. As a leader, it is your responsibility to provide these opportunities within your organisation. Create a clear career development path that outlines the steps employees can take to advance their careers.

Offer training programs, mentorship opportunities, and challenging assignments that allow employees to develop new skills and expand their knowledge. By investing in their professional growth, you show that you value their potential and are committed to their long-term success.

Clear Core Values 

Great leaders and managers set examples of behaviour they want to see, they practice what they preach. They show respectful behaviour wanting it to be emulated throughout the organisation and have positive key values that other people can be guided by.

Foster a Culture of Learning and Growth

Great leaders understand the importance of continuous learning and development. They encourage their employees to expand their skills and knowledge, creating a culture of growth within the organisation. By investing in employee development, leaders show that they value their employees as individuals and are committed to their long-term success.

There are several ways to foster a culture of learning. Encourage employees to attend seminars, workshops, or industry conferences. Provide opportunities for mentorship and coaching. Implement a goal-oriented review process that allows for regular feedback and identifies areas for improvement. By prioritising employee development, you not only retain great employees but also foster a culture of innovation and excellence within your team.

Responsibility

Some people want more responsibility and some people don't. Great managers find out who these people are and tailor the amount of responsibility they can share with them. This way they can give support where needed and set appropriate challenges for individual people. 

Criticism and Feedback 

Great managers make it easy for team members to raise concerns and give feedback. Responding in a positive way to criticism and showing appreciation to people when they have raised their concerns is important. Openness to feedback from a manager also makes employees more open to feedback themselves.

Clear Vision 

Knowing the overall direction of the company, its ethos and goals are vitally important for a leader. We covered this in our blog 'Characteristics of High-Performing Teams'. High-performing teams are focused on clearly defined goals, objectives and a shared vision that the whole team works to achieve. This is the philosophy of the Mercedes F1 team, so I think from that we can safely say it is a successful one! 

Innovative and Critical Thinking

Encouraging innovation and critical thinking in a team are all good traits of a good manager. High-performing teams are always wanting to move forward and improve. Enabling this in the company culture and actively encouraging the team to contribute toward it is a real positive aspect of management. Another benefit of innovation is that it encourages a culture where people are more receptive to change.

Support Work-Life Balance

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for employee well-being and retention. As a leader, it is important to support your employees in achieving this balance. Encourage flexible working arrangements, such as remote work or flexible hours, to accommodate personal commitments and responsibilities.

Promote a culture of self-care and wellness within your team. Encourage employees to take breaks, prioritise their mental and physical health, and disconnect from work when needed. By supporting work-life balance, you create a positive and supportive work environment that fosters employee loyalty.

Provide Opportunities for Advancement

Great employees are always looking for opportunities to grow and advance in their careers. As a leader, it is your responsibility to provide these opportunities within your organisation. Create a clear career development path that outlines the steps employees can take to advance their careers.

Offer training programs, mentorship opportunities, and challenging assignments that allow employees to develop new skills and expand their knowledge. By investing in their professional growth, you show that you value their potential and are committed to their long-term success

Recognise and Reward Success

Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stay engaged and committed to their work. As a leader, it is important to recognise and reward the achievements of your team members. Celebrate their successes, whether big or small, and publicly acknowledge their contributions.

Recognition can take many forms, such as verbal praise, bonuses, or promotions. Tailor your rewards to the preferences and needs of your employees. By recognising and rewarding success, you create a positive and motivating work environment that encourages employee loyalty.

Summary

Retaining great employees is a vital aspect of effective leadership. By embodying the qualities discussed in this article, you can create a work environment that inspires loyalty, commitment, and growth. Be a trustworthy leader, foster a culture of learning and growth, lead by example, build strong relationships, encourage collaboration and communication, recognise and reward success, provide opportunities for advancement, and support work-life balance. By implementing these strategies, you can retain great employees and build a high-performing team that drives the success of your organisation.

There are lots of books out there on great management, we have only scratched the surface with a few tips. But, we think it all comes down to a few things. Be nice, treat people as you would like to be treated, motivate people and use creativity to challenge and engage with people. We think these are really good starting points! 

We have some great articles on strategies to better retain staff, these are all worth your time reading through them: 

Characteristics of High-Performing Teams

How visual learning can boost your business and aid employee retention

Tools For Employee Retention ( part 1)

How to Increase Workplace Communication

Are flexible Working Methods Your Company’s Future?

Attracting & Managing The Best Temporary Workers In A Challenging Work Economy

What Does ‘Cultural Fit’ Actually Mean?

5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Employee Training

How visual learning can boost your business and aid employee retention

In today's dynamic job market, the UK continues to face an intriguing challenge: a relentless pursuit by businesses to find exceptional talent that perfectly fits their needs. Employee retention can be critical to this; losing brilliant and accomplished team members could prove to be a monumental setback. These individuals possess a unique blend of talent and expertise that sets them apart, making their loss an irreplaceable void. In this context, employee retention has emerged as a strategy, captivating the attention of forward-thinking companies.

The battle lines are drawn, and businesses understand that their success and competitive edge lie in keeping these top-tier performers engaged, motivated, and loyal.

One of the best ways to invest in your employees is by giving them training so they can progress their careers with you, it is a great win-win for both parties. But, are you presenting your training in a way that employees can better understand, retain and engaged with the information? There are many different modalities in how people learn, If your employees understand that you are creating their training just for them, in the modality that they learn best within, they will get the message loud and clear that you trying your best to invest in their future positively. Although there are lots of employee retention strategies out there this is a great one that flies under the radar that you can add to your retention stack!

If employees find it easier to learn the information they feel less anxiety when it comes to a training session. Also, they will retain more information increasing their skill level giving them the ability to advance their career. We all want the feeling we are moving forward in life, it is important to our motivation as a person and affects our career choices. 

Styles

Information and learning styles come in many different forms, according to a blog fromLightbulbMoment.com, there are 3 different ways people learn. Verbal learners are people who learn by listening and this equates to about 30% of the general population, they benefit from things like class lectures or group discussions. Experiential learners are only about 5% of the population, these people learn by doing and touching; things like clinical work or role-playing exercises.

Although there are other ways people learn, the remaining 65% of the population are visual learners. They need to see what they are learning and whilst they have difficulty following verbal lectures they perform well at written assignments, and can often remember information quite easily. So, with the increase of technology that frequently influences people with imagery, this is increasingly the dominant way people connect and learn from each other. 

In most cases businesses will be made up of Verbal and Visual learners, so you will really need to adapt to both. People who learn by listening can benefit from visual learning too, as imagery is often shown with the text, which will benefit both learners.

It is so important to know what you’re teaching style is as you may need to adapt it to benefit how other people will learn. Whether you are a business owner or employee. Not only will this reduce your learning curve but also allow you to communicate the same concepts to people confidently. 

VARK Learning Styles

In 1992 a study by Neil D. Fleming and Coleen E. Mills describe four modalities of student learning “VARK” is used to described these. The different learning styles are visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic. These were identified after thousands of hours of classroom observation. More information on VARK here

Examples of how you can accommodate different learning styles effectively 

Start by Asking How They Learn Best:

You need to understand how your staff are going to retain information, otherwise, they are going to struggle with taking information in and retaining it, so it is crucial you support their needs as much as possible. Talking to them about it shows your employees that you are fine-tuning things to them personally.

Understand the Difference Between learning styles:

As a business owner or manager, it would be useful to know the percentages of different learners working for you so you can accommodate them. You will need to learn the difference between them and how you can support individuals or groups with the same learning styles.

Be Flexible and Develop Step-by-Step Processes:

You need to be flexible and willing to work with people in different ways, making time in your schedule to create multiple styles so everyone can understand. You also need to accommodate how people within your business learn, which could mean implementing a step by step process to make it easier. This may be time-consuming but it will give good results in the long run.

Make Sure Meetings Serve Both Types:

If the majority of your learners are verbal and visual, create information that will suit both in the meeting, whether that be talking to your employees, using handouts or conducting visual presentations all of which could work well for both.

Develop Individual Plans:

If there is a particular member of staff struggling with the plans you have put in place, why not develop individual plans that you can both agree on.

Although it can be hard for a business to accommodate multiple learning styles, by making sure any information you relay has content that will suit both will make all the difference.

In order to use learning styles to boost your business, you need to completely understand how the different styles work and how individual learners retain information. Even though technology is taking over and creating more visual ways of working, you will always need text and content to go with imagery. Both imagery and text will always work hand in hand, so verbal and visual learners should too.

5 Reasons Why You Should Offer Feedback to Unsuccessful Candidates

The job market is very fluid at the moment with people and businesses shifting in different directions, and gaining very experienced top-tier employees can be a task in this climate. Recruitment can be a really busy place to be, but it is important for us to always look at and practice good recruitment ethics. Implementing these in our working practices no matter if they do take us a bit longer to achieve is a great investment for the long term. What you give out will always eventually reflect back on your company.

One good practice that we are writing about today is supplying interview feedback to unsuccessful candidates. This in the past has been problematic for businesses and employees, with many working professionals before the pandemic believing things should be improved. In fact, 3 years ago an article by Charlie Taylor undertaken for the Debut Guide to Interview Etiquette revealed that 77% of 18-23 year old’s think it should be a legal requirement for employees to provide feedback after a face-to-face interview. The student and graduate careers app Debut, have in the past targeted this problematic procedure and have campaigned for more feedback. Since this article, we have seen things improve, and we at Prestige have always advised our clients to implement feedback as a best practice in business recruitment procedures. Yes, as a company it does take a bit more time, but with a lot of people coming onto the job market at the moment, it can give interviewees the essential feedback they may need to move forward with their career. It also can give businesses a great reputation for employee-focused company culture. We as a recruiter understand the importance of feedback for both clients and candidates and with this in mind, we have compiled a list of five reasons why you should offer feedback to unsuccessful candidates.

1) Feedback Can Offer Great Recruitment PR 

The more positive an individual’s experience is with a company, the more positive their review is likely to be. Websites such as Glassdoor allow you to leave reviews of your interview process, which can show other potential employees how to prepare. If a candidate has had a negative experience with your company, they can leave a bad review, which can affect the company’s reputation. As well as this, word of mouth is a great marketing tool. Even if a candidate doesn’t take the time to write a review on a website, they may still be asked by friends about their interview experience at your company. If your company has taken the time to be transparent and honest during the interview process, they are likely to say positive things. This may attract other candidates to want to work for your company, meaning you are attractive to a wider audience of individuals.

2) Future Customers - Future Clients 

When an individual applies for a job, they are a potential candidate for a vacancy. Beyond that, they are also a potential consumer. When a candidate prepares for a job interview, they research your company, products and services. While doing this research, they may like what they see and want to use your company themselves. If after the interview, things are left on bad footing and you don’t supply feedback, they are less likely to want to use your company for their own personal needs and less likely to recommend you to friends. 

Candidates may also be potential clients. You never know whether one day your company may want to work with another business – which now happens to be run by a candidate you rejected many years ago. If this candidate has had a negative experience due to lack of feedback and communication, they are unlikely to want to work with your company.

3) A Great Way to Say Thank You

When an individual has an interview with a company, they are likely to spend time and effort preparing for their job interview. Whether that is researching the company or preparing answers for potential questions (or reading our other blogposts), it all takes time! A candidate may also have to take time off from their current job and spend money getting to the interview location. By giving feedback to a candidate after they have invested money, time and effort into your company, it shows that your company is prepared to mirror this and invest in every person, regardless if they get the job. It makes candidates feel like they haven’t wasted their time, which increases satisfaction. 

4) It’s Not as Time Consuming as You Think

By supplying feedback to candidates, you are investing time into them – but it’s not actually as time-consuming as you think. Often during an interview, the interviewer will be making notes on the candidate’s responses and the interview process. If you outline these notes back to a candidate constructively, it supplies the candidate with what they really want without having to waste a substantial amount of time or resource.

5) It’s the Nice Thing to Do

Many candidates will not hear back from an employer, which can often affect their confidence and chances with other jobs interviews. By supplying feedback and responses to unsuccessful candidates, you are giving them closure in a positive way. Although they may not be a great fit for this specific role, if you supply feedback, the candidate may be able to work on their weaknesses, so something good can still come from their rejection. Supplying feedback to a candidate is the best thing to do as it gives them something substantial to take away from the whole interview experience. 

Conclusion

Interview feedback really is a win-win for the long term goal of good company culture. As a business it’s important to us to deliver regular communication and feedback to both client and candidates, we have built our reputation on this. People really appreciate having fast concise feedback to work with. In these times of the pandemic, where a lot of people may be changing career paths and leaving long term posts for new horizons, this feedback could really help them know if they are on the right path or not. All in all, it is a great thing to do to help in this strange situation we all find ourselves in at the moment. 

5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Employee Training

Investing in training is one of the most positive things you can do as a business. By investing in your employees, you are investing in your business and this will only see you move forward with your goals. Do you need strategies to future-proof your business? Well, this is where the correct structured training programs can make a real difference. 

Training is not just all about helping people with the skills they already have, it's also about broadening critical skills outside the obvious ones, this is where that magic sauce can happen! Firstly it has the advantage of creating flexibility across different roles within the business. With the ability to quickly cover business problems and disruptions. It gives the ability for employees to cross-pollinate within different roles, bringing strength in depth to the business. It also affords the opportunity for an employee to develop into new roles that arise within the business, keeping them moving forward which is a motivating factor for the person involved. To really accomplish these all-around benefits businesses need to invest in structured ongoing quality training that is aligned with their company's ethos and business goals.

There are two quotes by Benjamin Franklin that are noteworthy, one is “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest”, the other is “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Two great quotes that not only show the importance of training but the need for quality training too, training that is motivating and involving! Information taken from a 'Train Like a Champion' infographic states that one out of every three employees said that uninspiring content is a barrier to their learning. This really does highlight the importance of Benjamin Franklin's 'involve me and I learn' quote. Look and invest in training that is engaging to all.

Are We Giving Training That is Needed?

We feel most people would agree that training equals better employees and therefore better companies, but our research seems to show the opposite trend within business. In 2019 the CIPD (a professional body for HR and people development) wrote a report addressing employer underinvestment in training. It noted that 'the world of work is rapidly changing, and the need to develop the skills and capabilities of the workforce to respond is more important than ever before. They also stated that 'investing in training and development is a key way to fill skill gaps and address skill shortages within organisations, yet despite its importance, evidence suggests that employers in the UK are training and investing less in their workforce.' It is a bizarre fact that in the late 1990s, an ATD study concluded that organisations investing in comprehensive training saw a 218% higher income per employee than companies that didn’t have formalised training. So this is even more bizarre when the CIPD said 'employer training has been declining since as far back as 1998, even despite the introduction of government initiatives.'

Employees Training Concerns

On this topic let's now look at the findings of a long-term research project commissioned by Middlesex University for Work Based Learning, it stated that 'from a 4,300 workers sample, 74% felt they weren't achieving their full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities. If we add all this up then it seems that we are generally not giving enough quality training and employees feel like they are being held back because of it.

Future Skills and Training

It looks like new skills and training are high on the agenda if we want to stay ahead of the curve. In the Department of Education Employer Skills Survey of 2019 (Summary Report here), they stated that 'for future skills requirements around two-thirds of employers anticipated the requirement to develop the skills of their workforce in the coming year (64%). The most common reasons for expecting to need to upskill their staff were in response to new legislative or regulatory requirements (42%), because of the introduction of new technologies or equipment (41%), due to the development of new products and services (35%) and the introduction of new working practices (35%)'.

Now we have an appreciation of what these findings are saying let's take a look at all the benefits a company can expect to achieve if they decide to invest in the quality training needed!

1 - Reduced Cost of Turnover

Staff turnover within a business is very normal but if your turnover is high, you are wasting a lot of money having to constantly hire new people. Therefore, investing in training is a far more effective way to spend your money. By supplying training to all members of staff, your existing employees will feel engaged with your organisation. When constantly learning new things, your employees feel more valued by your company and so are more likely to stay loyal. This means their confidence in their role will improve along with internal prospects, in turn, you stand a better chance of them not wanting to go elsewhere – which is a major win for reducing hiring costs.

2 - Helps Your Business Run More Efficiently

If you have a business built up of expert employees, there is no denying that your business will run more efficiently. Thorough training ensures that every employee knows exactly what they should be doing and when, while also understanding how they should do it. Therefore, every company should be working towards having a full team of people knowledgeable in the field they work within and in other roles that are connected within the business – it just makes good sense.

3 - Your Company’s Reputation

Having a company that is reputable as an organisation that cares enough to provide thorough training and education is great for hiring new employees. In today’s society, company review websites such as Glassdoor have serious effects on your company's reputation. If you are known to have a great training program in place, you will have a wider choice of candidates as more people will like your company culture and want to work for you. Also offering employees development as part of the benefits of working for you can help stave off competition that is trying to attract your top talent!

4 - Knowledge Efficiency

Efficient training programs mean that you are able to cross-train employees so that they are knowledgeable in different areas of the business. In the new frontier post-COVID, this is an essential attribute! By teaching a wider breadth of skills, you are not only developing the employee’s personal skills and increasing employee engagement; you are also being efficient as a company. Having employees that are trained in a wide variety of things means that you can fill in for absences if you need to. Cross-training also fosters team spirit, which adds to your company atmosphere. Training is also essential in knowledge transfer, as by spreading knowledge throughout all employees, you have support with training future hires as everyone can help train each other. It also means you aren’t left in the lurch if one employee who was very skilled at something in particular leaves.

5 - Promotions

Having well-trained staff means that it is easier for their roles to develop into management. If you need to find a manager for your company, you are safe in the knowledge that the employee you hire will have all the knowledge in the things you need them to – because you have trained them. By promoting from within, rather than outsourcing, you can prevent stagnation and lethargy with employee roles within your company. People that are in the same role for years can become jaded and not as productive as they could be when motivated by a new challenge. Another huge benefit is that by hiring internally, you substantially cut recruitment costs. 

Conclusion

All the evidence suggests that investing in training helps employers and employees, it makes logical sense. Starting it from day one and continuing throughout the employee’s career will give the company the best possible outcome to all the points above. Although it may take some time to see a return on investment, the long-term gain will make a huge difference to your company's performance and perception. We as a company have understood this for a long time now, and that is why we have always invested in training for all our employees. We always look for the most engaging training we can and try to keep our internal training fun and informative.

How To Guarantee An Increase In Workplace and Homeworking Creativity

Whether this is at home or within the traditional office setting, workplace creativity can be an essential element of any productive company and office environment. Bringing creativity to the forefront of a business through working strategies, culture and environment will generally enhance employee creativity. This will inevitably have a knock-on effect on your business to be more innovative and productive. Workplace creativity can inspire your staff, creating a positive culture to work within and this can lead to a happier more dynamic team and company.

Let us start all this off with some quotes about creativity and imagination. They seem to be coveted by some very successful people!   

1. “Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

2. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein

3. “Creativity is just connecting things.” – Steve Jobs

4. “To have a great idea, have a lot of them.” – Thomas A. Edison

5. “What is now proved was once only imagined.” – William Blake

6. “Creativity may be hard to nurture, but it’s easy to thwart.” – Adam Grant

7. “Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for business people looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.” – Twyla Tharp

8. “If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.” – John Cleese

9. “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.” – Malcolm Gladwell

10. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein

It is a blast from the past but the Adobe State of Create 2016 report showed that 77% of workers believed creativity would be a critical part of the staff skill set in the future. Well, we are in this future now and if we ever needed to be more creative this is the time!  

Since COVID-19 things have changed, it's not just the office we have to look at, but home working too! We are now back in an office environment but there is no doubt things have changed. Homeworking is still a part of the working paradigm so let's first take a look at the home working before we then mix in the traditional office solutions. By now you will know people who love working from home and those that hate it. So, a well-integrated home and office work culture can be a real advantage. This brings me to the 'Work After Lockdown' study, which is a major research project funded by the Economic & Social Research Council, they investigated how working from home under Covid-19 lockdown will impact how the UK works in the future. Let's take a look at some of the findings and see if they are comming true:

Work After Lockdown: Working from Home under COVID-19 lockdown - Transitions and Tensions January 2021

In this report, it states that "productivity under lockdown was good. Nine in ten (88.4%) of employees feeling they had got at least as much, if not more, work done at home as in the office. Many people expressed a strong need for connection and social support." Also "Few miss the regular travel to work. Many miss the workplace as a source of social interaction – those opportunities to contribute new ideas, learn from others and feel connected to the organisation." And “'seven in ten (73%) of employees wished to adopt a hybrid work arrangement - blending working from home with the commonality of the office - and to retain the flexibility and control over their working pattern from which they have benefited under lockdown." This study shows that under difficult circumstances productively has been good however we really need to think about how we can sustain this long term,  by bringing a creative workspace and working concepts into the home as well as the traditional office. Let's have a look at some solutions that will work to integrate both with joined-up thinking and continuity. We’ve listed some strategies to ensure that your business stays creative, focused and thriving!

Increasing Workplace Creativity:

Hire Diversely 

If you are recruiting diversely, you should have a team full of people from all walks of life. Because of this, you will gain access to a variety of viewpoints and perspectives, which funds the growth of unique, innovative and fresh ideas. So hire diversely and your business will be able to identify opportunities and explore new solutions. Hiring diversely, therefore, guarantees an increase in workplace creativity.

Flexibility

If possible, allowing for flexibility in the workday allows employees to work when they feel the most creative. Studies have consistently shown that flexible schedules lead to higher rates of overall productivity, higher job satisfaction and most importantly, higher workplace creativity. Letting employees work outside of the box and outside of regular hours means they will be able to produce their optimal creative output. People are all so different in their creativity and energy patterns, so let's have a look at two artists that used their creativity constantly with amazing effect. 

Pablo Picasso would often go to bed late and wake up late. He would get up around 10 am, have some leisure time to himself then arrive at his studio in the early afternoon around 2-3 pm. Then he worked until 3 am with a dinner break usually around 10 pm. Now, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Georgia O’Keeffe told an interviewer in 1966 “I like to get up when the dawn comes. The morning is the best time, there are no people around". After breakfast at 7:00 AM, O’Keeffe would then work in her studio for the rest of the day and finish for her last meal of the day at 4:30 PM. So we can see, all people are fired up at different times. Work flexibility can help get the best from peoples natural working rhythm, it can also help with their domestic commitments too. Enabling flexibility with people can make for a very happy and productive team! 

Encourage Breaks

Burnout is not good for an individual’s creativity, and that is why it is so important that you actively encourage your employees to take breaks. If possible, you should let employees go for walks when they need it, having fresh air will clear the mind and help them think better which is also very important whilst working from home too. It is really easy to let the day slip away from you when you are working from home but forgetting to take ample breaks hampers peoples ability to recharge and refresh their creativity. We talk about this very subject and a lot more strategies for getting the best out of homeworking in our podcast 'The Guide to Survive and Prosper in the World of Lockdown and Homeworking'. It's worth taking time to listen to this as we talk to Sandra Marston, an esteemed counsellor and life coach who talks about how to deal with the new model of homeworking. Although this was put together for coping with the pandemic, all the strategies are still relevent and are effective at any time or situation. So please feel free to share the podcast link with any of your employees.

Structure Your Brainstorming

It is important that you structure brainstorming activity in order to reach optimum productivity and creativity. Allow everyone to present their ideas first. Then, once everyone has their ideas down, go through them one by one and make sure each idea is given the same amount of thought. Structured brainstorming allows room for growth within people, they feel part of the solution within the context of working toward the companies goals and it focuses on creative thinking!

A lot has changed since New York advertising executive Alex Osborn come up with the idea of group brainstorming in books he wrote in the 1940s. He was the person that made fashionable the idea that problem-solving and innovation are enhanced by harnessing a group’s collective knowledge and building on each other’s ideas. I know there are many sceptics on the topic of brainstorming efectivness but Paul Paulus, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington has been involved in more than 100 experiments and studies. He assessed group creativity and group decision-making and said "If done badly, brainstorming is unproductive, but it’s valuable when done right. Problems often need multiple perspectives.” His strategies for successful brainstorming are outlined in this article from success.com  

Diverse surroundings 

When an employee spends all their time at one desk and in one seat, it can become easy to feel demotivated. The best creative environments have a variety of options so individuals can work wherever they feel best suits them. If someone is getting fed up sitting at their desk, changing the environment and standing or sitting on a comfortable sofa can seriously affect their engagement and creativity. Therefore, you should offer a variety of options so that people can work where best suits them on that particular day. This also can be recommended for employees working from home. Give them permission to work outdoors as well as inside, let them know they don't have to be in their home office all day. Recommend to them that if it's quiet, sitting on the sofa with a cuppa and their laptop for a few hours can really help break the monotony. After all, diversity is the spice of life! 

Meeting Spaces

Linking to our previous point, you should also offer a variety of meeting places. There should be some that are open and some that are closed. These different areas will encourage different personality types (which we discussed in our blog 'How Can Introverts Succeed In The Workplace?') and groups to work together in a space that best suits them. The same applies to connecting digitally. There are many software solutions that can give you very different flavours of connection, we looked into all these options in our blog 'How to Increase Workplace Communication'. The blending of connection and communication for your team via online services is imperative for creativity and motivation. We predict these online solutions themselves will become more creative in their offering in the future, improving upon the human interaction experience. It is important that you keep track of new solutions and use multiple forms of connection for remote and office workers. This multi-format connection approach will help employees to stay in their creative mode by using their preferred way to connect with people and their team. 

There Are No Stupid Ideas

You should communicate to all of your employees that there are no stupid ideas. Some individuals may be scared to speak up and show their creativity because they are worried that their ideas may not be suitable. Therefore, you should reinforce the fact that you want to hear all ideas and no idea will be stupid. Just like good brainstorming we mentioned earlier, If you can actively encourage individuals to speak up, their creative flair will increase when they realise that they don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. You may just find the next big thing from your liberated employees! 

Henry Ford's ideas were totally rejected in the beginning when he tried to present his concept to a group of industrialists, nobody bothered to give him any time, they thought Ford's idea of 'affordable vehicles for an average citizen' was not even relevant. He was however encouraged by one person and that was Thomas Edison and today we are reaping the rewards of his idea of mass production cars! 

Who does not know “Harry Potter” and author J.K. Rowling? The manuscript of Harry Potter was rejected not once, but twelve times by publishers! But, she didn’t give up and we can now enjoy the life journey of Harry Potter. Let your employees know that no idea is ever off the table, there may be many that can't be implemented, but some just may be the game-changer you really needed!   

Facilitate A Team Mentality

It is rare that a good idea comes from just one person – that’s why it’s important that you can work as a team. Creativity is a team sport, so you should make sure everyone is part of the team's shared goals. In the blog entitled ‘Characteristics of High-Performing Teams', we covered how selecting the right people with the right attitude and teamwork can produce a very high performing team. As a case study, we looked at the Mercedes F1 team careers philosophy and broke down these strategies for success in how these type of teams are built and managed (it's worth a read!). Teamwork, sharing ideas, trust and collaboration are all parts of optimal creative teamwork. 

The Physical Workspace 

Looking back at one of the headline statistics of the IES Working at Home Wellbeing Survey of 2020 was that there has been a significant increase in musculoskeletal complaints. More than half of the survey respondents reported new aches and pains, especially in the neck (58 per cent), shoulder (56 per cent) and back (55 per cent), compared to their normal physical condition. We are now bringing this blog around to something as simple as how you sit and what you sit on! This can make all the difference to your motivation and creativity throughout the day. A fundamental of working creatively is to be feeling in good shape while you are working. Making a home office a great workspace is as important as doing this in a communal office. Investing in your homeworker with quality working equipment like proper chairs and desks are as important as supplying great laptops with good screens! Don't leave it down to chance, help employees create a positive place to work with great equipment at home as well as in the office. Also, encourage your employees to make their personal space creative and tactile, maybe give them financial help with this. It is proven that people work better in more creative spaces. There is a good article in Medium about this '11 Creative Workspace Ideas to Trigger Your Creativity' It covers things like adding plants to your workspace, hanging art on walls, an inspiration board and a recharge space! A physically creative office, whether communal or at home is the fuel for being creative itself, your surroundings are an important factor, so do not dismiss this, it is a good strategy for general well being and productivity for employees and teams. 

Conclusion 

Admittedly, creativity doesn’t necessarily come naturally to everybody. But, if you can foster creative ways of working, have it embedded in your company culture and give people the tools to be able to achieve this, then you will find that creativity will naturally grow within your company. 

Are flexible Working Methods Your Company’s Future?

Originally we wrote this blog in 2019, it was pre-COVID-19 and talked about how flexible working patterns can help businesses, we truly believed that work flexibility would be a key to future working practices. Who would have known back then what global chaos was in store for us all! So we have re-wrote this blog to incorporate some of the radical changes that COVID-19 has forced us to take. A lot of these changes we were advocating pre-2019 and now we are coming out the other side the Government seems to be pushing to get people back into offices, however, we are now seeing a hybrid situation, where a lot of businesses are splitting hours between the office and home. Let's have a look at all the positives and negatives of this and the things we have learnt.

Pre COVID Ideas

We started the original Blog talking about technology changing our world as we know it, completely altering the way people can and want to work. Technology was changing how businesses ran but it was also changing the perception of how people wanted to work. Social media was shining lights on forward-thinking companies back then with great employee-focused concepts and for sure, flexible working was a part of the mix. This flexible style of employment had taken inspiration from the start-ups of the Silicon Valley Boom where they were treating their employees very differently. The new inclusive way seemed to galvanise employees with purpose, commitment and the general vibe of working hard and getting results, but having fun doing it! They were more like a tribe on an exciting mission than just individuals turning up to work, trying to get through a day's grind. The changes looked exciting with engaging modern working environments with pool rooms, table tennis, coffee stations and chill out bean bag areas, this usually ran alongside flexible hours and the ability to work from home or in different environments like your local coffee bar. This all grew in our consciousness, we all wanted to work for an amazingly flexible company like that! Somewhere cool, enjoyable, but with goals and a defined purpose! Not an easy job, no, but a job that motivates you and treats you with trust and investment in return for all your hard work. It is quite ironic that the instigators of this work culture and this flexible working are the exact same companies that were building the technology to allow us to move forward with flexible working methods.

Soon companies outside of Silicon Valley started employing this type of ethos in their working environment to attract top talent. This way of working gained traction outside of the tech sector with many diverse companies employing the company ethos and flexible working patterns of those valley startups. Companies like Zappos Shoes, Warby Parker and Moog Music, with many more companies pre-pandemic looking at this positive work culture concept so they could attract the right calibre of people to their business.

Flexibility The Key

In the crisis of COVID-19, we found that flexibility was the key to the solution. We were using Zoom in 2019 but to think everyone under the sun would be moving to this service in such a small space of time would have been an astonishing thought pre-pandemic. But when plunged into a crisis, humans have this amazing ability to find tools to meet the challenges they face. Video conferencing was a big tool that fixed a problem and now people are seeing the benefits of this form of communication, also, the limitation of it too! After all, not every solution is perfect, but mixed in the right way they can move us forward and improve our communications and working environment.

Companies have had the chance to test out the benefits of people working from home, which they would not have tried without the crisis. They can now see in real terms the financial benefit, flexibility and productivity of it all. Working from home became a new norm, now we have all had time to figure it out. We now know what can and cannot be achieved with homeworking, who likes or dislikes it, the technology we need, and the systems we need to support this. We have come out of this with far more knowledge of what does and doesn't work and having the ability to build successful hybrid working solutions companies would not have imagined pre-pandemic.

The Agile Workforce

There is another part of flexible working that we feel will be the key to the transformation of our economic recovery and growth. This is the curation of a truly agile, flexible workforce that can support and bolster businesses as they rebuild. It seems that a high element of homeworking will be one of the ways forward to ease people back into a restructured working environment, but there are other forms of flexibility that we have been talking about for a while. A workforce that is a truly flexible one, built of highly skilled contract and temporary workers, working from home and connected by the best technology to integrate with any company at the drop of a hat.

In the post-COVID-19 world we live in, to build strong businesses we will need this type of flexibility. It will be essential to have highly skilled people being able to move fast within the business environment to help with future growth. This type of solution was starting to slowly gain popularity before the crisis, we have been shouting out about this since 2018. Informing people to look at a flexible workforce in a different light to the past perceptions of it. Considering you can connect to the internet pretty much anywhere on the planet these days, this solution looks to be a key to our economic transformation.

Summery

So let's put all this information together! Below we are going to go through some of the benefits we talked about previously regarding flexible working for employees and businesses. Then we will add some notes about how we are looking now in hindsight and how a true Flexible Workforce could be a major strength for everyone going forward.

Pre-COVID-19 Take On It The Benefits Of Flexible Working:

Home Woking

Back in 2019 according to Inews, almost half of people in the UK weren't happy in their job and did not have a good work-life balance. Potentially, companies that promoted a flexible working system have the ability to improve people’s well-being in the workplace, thus making them a more desirable employer.

Although working from home can potentially cause distractions, it can also have the ability to increase productivity. This is not only great for personal development, but it will also build a trusted relationship between employee and employer. On the negative side, If you work from home every day, the structure between home and work could decrease and this could reduce the work-life balance, this is something to be aware of. So, having the option to work from both the office and home, could ensure the best of both worlds. I think from our original post we have seen this prediction play out with positive effect over the last 3 years.

Reduction In Travelling Costs And Fuel Emissions

Obviously, if more people worked from home this would be a benefit to the environment, your time and pocket, we are all now seeing the impact this can have. Promoting flexible working is great for your staff and the environment.

Enhances Company Image As a Family-friendly Place To Work

Competition is fierce for top candidates, so seeing a company promote positivity in the workplace with a good work-life balance and benefits will make any company look attractive.

Alternative Ways For Flexible Working

Not everyone likes working the typical 9-5 these days, so, having the option for people to choose their hours would allow them to work at full capacity for longer. Introducing flexible working for your employees would do so much for a company and its staff. There is so much pressure in all aspects of today's society, so it's important that people feel valued and rewarded, benefits like flexible hours will not only increase happiness but obviously, it will boost company growth too!

All the above concepts were written pre 2019. With this in mind let's now look at the reality of it all Post COVID!

Benefits Of a Flexible Workforce Post COVID-19

In 2019 a large percentage of employers (46%) used agency workers for ‘traditional reasons’, a growing number of businesses were hiring temporary and contract workers with the hope of transitioning them into permanent roles, with 64% of respondents from a CareerBuilder study saying that this was their ideology behind using a flexible workforce. So we have a foundational past use case, but moving forward this can become very tactical for businesses in how they recruit and grow.

Agility

Being able to move faster with projects will be key, having a pool of skilled flexible contract workers that can just plug in and go is a real plus point. It would let you experiment and innovate within your business more freely.

A New Way Of Thinking

Bringing highly talented fresh people in from outside the company, coming from a contracting background can often spark new ways of working which can have a knock-on effect on the rest of the company. You can use these strengths to be more creative and innovative. Also, if you mix this in with a flexible work approach for existing employees you with find the perfect productive sweet spot for all your workers.

Talent Scouting And Retention

By offering an environment suited to a flexible workforce, employees are more likely to find the talent they need. They have time to see what a person can actually achieve. Then you have a chance at retaining that talent if they are a good company fit. This all adds to building a great company reputation, which in turn will allow you to continue to attract the right additional staff.

The Perfect Mix

Once you have assembled and structured your workforce, be that a mix of the flexible workforce or not, it is time to use what we have experienced over the last few years to your advantage. Providing a positive work culture is the best way to attract and keep a highly-skilled workforce. Flexible working environments from home and office really work well for the right people. Flexible hours, investment in training and a positive work culture all add up to your company being a fantastic place to work. This has been proven over the last 3 years, and if you what to get the best from your employees then all these concepts should be considered.

Conclusion

As we can see there are so many benefits of being a flexible forward-thinking company pre and post COVID-19. Taking all these strategies, mixing and matching them to create the perfect blend of working going forward can only enhance your company in terms of productivity and culture.

Our Vision Of a flexible Recruitment Solution 

As a business we recognise the future role of traditional office work will change forever and we have searched for options to add value to our service offering when supporting clients; this had led us to release Prestige Remote 360, the complete secure remote workforce solution. We combine highly talented flexible workers with the security of a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, making this really simple to integrate talented people at all levels into your business seamlessly and safely. More information here…. 

Do you worry too much?

Whether you are a CEO, manager or employee, we all can suffer from excessive worrying. You may just think this is generally indicative of life, which in part is true but there is a difference between occasionally worrying and being in a permanent state of anxiety, both in and out of work. This can have a bad effect on your mental and physical health and also have a negative effect on your work, which then can lead to more worry and the cycle goes on! This is a problem, where if not addressed early on can slowly invade your life without you realising. The best way to analyse this is to take a big step back, clear your mind and have a look at the following 5 signs. If you establish you are worrying too much then we have the ABC strategies for coping and helping at the end of the blog!  

The Five Tell Tail Signs 

1- You Replay Everything Over and Over 

This is a case where you are constantly overthinking past situations and replaying them through your mind to give yourself some reassurance. As an example, you’ve just been to a work meeting and your boss said one of your ideas sounded good, but didn’t really elaborate. After the meeting, you sit at your desk and start replaying the meeting over and over in your head trying to think if your boss said anything else, you start thinking about the tone and the way they spoke. Did they actually think it was good? Did they say it sarcastically? Did they mean it? You will replay it over and over potentially convincing yourself of the worst-case scenario.

2- The Worst-Case Scenario

This is when you always think of the worst-case scenario in everything and twist even positive news into something bad. For example, your boss may say something like;  that was a great conclusion to the project the other day, lets get together as I have some questions. Now person one, who is a generally positive person,  may think great my boss has noticed my good work and wants to know how I did such a good job! I can't wait for the meeting!

Let's now look at person two, who is generally in a constant worried state. They may think, oh-no! the boss has spotted something that is wrong with the project and wants to give me a dressing down for it! 

These are two very different takes on the same request from your boss! This is what we call your filter, and if your filter is one of anxiety and not positivity then it can potentially bring out a negative hypothesis to a simple request!  

3- You Rehearse What’s Going to Happen

Every day you rehearse for the most mundane things. You think about your drive to meetings, you check out the parking options as you are worried you won't get parked, and you prepare what you’re going to say in advance. You will hardly let anything happen naturally as you worry about how you are going to get somewhere, what you are going to do and what you are going to say. 

4- You Struggle to Sleep 

When it comes to nighttime, you will rarely fall straight to sleep. You might toss and turn, thinking and worrying about what the next day will bring. You also go over things that happened within your day and especially dwell on any slightly negative situations. This leads to a lot of overthinking which in turn leads to a lack of sleep. 

5- You Can’t Ever Relax 

You always need relaxing time, however, if you find that during this time, you just can’t switch off, you are a serious worrier. If you find that you are having persistent anxious thoughts throughout your daily life, even when you’re trying to relax, you’re definitely worrying way too much!

The ABC Strategies For Coping With Worry

A - Quality Sleep

Let's tackle an important foundation step first …. SLEEP!

Poor sleep means poor functioning the following day, which can lead to more stress which then, in turn, creates worse sleep. Your anxiety levels rise when you have not got enough shut-eye! When it comes to sleep, you need to break the cycle and move your bedtime to at least get the recommended 7-9 hours. Some tips for this: stop using technology or use blue blockers before bed, let yourself unwind, maybe read some fiction, dim the lights or ultimately do a bit of mindfulness or meditation! If you feel guilty about taking ‘your’ time, remind yourself that proper rest lays the foundation for proper functioning. You will be better positioned to tackle the next day! There are also plenty of apps out there to monitor your sleep to see if you are getting the correct amount of quality sleep. It might take some time to get into this new routine, but once you’re sleeping more, your worries will decrease.

B - Mindfulness and Meditation 

We have mentioned this many times in our blogs and podcasts, practising meditation and mindfulness can calm your mind and really put the breaks on anxiety. Whether you are sitting down in a quiet place for 10 minutes just being mindful, or putting Headspace on your phone and doing 10 minutes of meditation, it will all help! Using a meditation app like Headspace can help you have a calmer, more focused day, reducing worry and anxiety. Try doing it first thing before work and at night before you go to sleep, it will have a profound effect on your work and personal life. Research shows us that mindfulness and meditation are real-world stress busters, so give it a try, commit to doing a little bit every day and you will see a vast difference in the long term. In the podcast 'Regaining Your Mojo With Motivation! The esteemed counsellor and life coach Sandra Marston gives a shout out to a book on mindfulness by Ruby Wax called 'Sane New World', this is definitely worth a read. Mindfulness is slightly different to meditation but it can have a very strong effect!

C - Breathing 

Yes Breathing! We mentioned this very subject in a blog post last month called 'Nerves and how to deal with them for an interview', in this we had a big section on breathing! You would be amazed Just how relaxed and free from worry you can become after a bit of structured breathing. There are lots of styles out there to choose from but the one we focused on was Box breathing. Research shows that there is a link between the way you breathe and the way you think and feel. It is all to do with The Autonomic Nervous System which controls, among many things, heart rate and respiration. Structured breathing taps into the parasympathetic nervous system which helps your body calm down, it slows your heart rate, respiration and reduces cortisol levels in your body. Relaxation techniques like box breathing engage the Parasympathetic Nervous System quickly, calming the mind and body and helping with worry and anxiety. This technique of breathing is used by US Navy SEALs to keep them working efficiently under high pressure. They are taught simple controlled breathing techniques that help them stay relaxed in high-stress environments. 

Let's try some Boxed breathing! All you have to do is picture a box with equal sides. Inhale for 4 counts as you breathe in and visualise moving up one side of the square. Then hold your breath for 4 counts, as you do this imagine moving across the top of the square while holding your breath. Then exhale for 4 counts while your visualising moving down the other side of the square. Then finally hold your exhaled breath for 4 counts and visualise moving along the bottom of the square back to the start. Then all you need to do is repeat this until your anxiety releases. A great technique for managing worry at any time! If it is good enough for the SEAL's it's good enough for you!

Conclusion

Worry comes when you allow your mind to wander too far into the future and dwell on the past. Using all these techniques will anchor yourself in the present and can do wonders to dispel worries. Using meditation to calm your mind adds power to the foundations of breathing exercises and getting great quality sleep gives you the best way to face your day! Put these three things together for a few weeks and you will feel like a different person! Remember, everyone worries and worry isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s human. The problem with your worries comes when they take over your life and you find yourself struggling to be productive, especially at work. If you try all this and are still having problems maybe seeing a counsellor would be the way forward, they are so approachable. As mentioned earlier, give our podcast 'Regaining Your Mojo With Motivation!' with Sandra a listen, we go into all these relaxation techniques and much more! Also, you will get to listen to a proper counsellor talk and quickly realise they are just  there to help you with great ideas and solutions,  and definitely not someone you should fear. We hope this blog helps you on some level and all the very best for the future.

Artificial Intelligence: The Benefits for Recruitment

Everything and everyone has become completely reliant on technology in today’s society. You can connect to the internet pretty much anywhere and do anything online without having to click a button, which has completely changed how the world can function.

One of the biggest and established systems that has only just started to revolutionise how everything can operate, is Artificial Intelligence. AI is inspired by our very own human intellect, and is designed to support people and businesses, to ensure they can work as efficiently as possible.

What Companies Are Currently Using AI?

Microsoft - Forus Health created a portable eye screening device that uses Microsoft AI. In less than a minute, AI can identify whether a person is at risk for vision loss, so people at risk can get the treatment they need.

Netflix – This streaming service uses AI to record your previous preferences and user behaviour to give you new and relevant suggestions, making it easy for you to find the next programme or film to watch in half the time.

Facebook – Social Media uses AI to record what you’ve searched for, where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing so it can target relatable advertisements and content that will interest you on your timeline.

Businesses use AI systems because they can be tailored to the business’s needs, AI features can help deliver faster services with better results as it can sort, analyse and track large amounts of data, which is why it works so well for recruitment.

How Has AI Improved the Recruitment Process?

According to Ideal 52% of Talent Acquisition leaders say the hardest part of recruitment is screening candidates from a large applicant pool.

However, there are now Recruitment Systems that can support this. These systems are built with Artificial Intelligence software to suit your style of business, by using tags and codes in your data, this allows the system to work quickly and deliver accurate results for you, by using AI at different levels.

There are lots of AI driven software on the market, but here are a few to look at:

·       FireFish

·       BambooHR

·       Freshteam

·       LinkedIn Recruiter

These systems all use a variety of different Artificial Intelligence in different ways to support your recruitment process.

We know how important it is for recruiters to be able to deliver the best and quickest service, so if you want to look at other ways you can reduce your hiring time for every part of the recruitment process, please click through to our blog here.

Automation:

Artificial Intelligence has really helped streamline recruitment; however, it can still be a lengthy process. So other systems within Artificial Intelligence that offer automated services, could give you extra support in your recruitment process.

Chatbots

Chatbots aren’t new to the technological world, however using Chatbots for recruitment purposes could really help improve your reputation. The AI Natural Language Processing system is what makes a Chatbot any businesses dream “employee”.

Chatbots can be programmed with accurate information, as well as words and phrases that could mirror your businesses personality. Which could help to transform how you interact with potential clients and candidates.

Digitised interviews

Skype, has been around since 2003, and since then has been widely used to conduct video interviews. Although Skype doesn’t use Artificial Intelligence, there are now AI systems claiming they can assess candidates based on their word choices, speech patterns, and facial expressions, to see if they are a good fit for the role.  

This can be achieved through Video Interviewing and pre-hire assessments, which is something that HireVue specialises in. They combine video interviews with predictive, validated IO science and AI to give candidates the best interviewing experience, which allows recruiters to still make confident choices about candidates.

This is just the tip of the technological iceberg, and as it is going to continue to grow, so is our research and content on this subject, so look out for more posts based around Artificial Intelligence!

We have a NEW! article that looks into How Voice Search Within Fashion E-commerce could be the Future, as well as a great blog that has been written by our Creative Director, Edward Ball and what his Fashion and Voice Search Fantasy would be, which is a great read!

As all types of technology are always developing, this would be a great time to think about how systems like AI could be beneficial for your business. Not only could it help to surpass your competition, but it could support you to have the best working practices for your business and employees.

The beauty of Artificial Intelligence is the automation and efficiency, and if you feel like your business is lacking in these areas, why not do some research to see if there is a system out there that could work for you and your business’s needs.

How can leaders confront burnout?

Although the term burnout has actually been around since the 1970s, in the last 2 years it’s really started to become an issue for people in the workplace. 602,000 workers reported that they were suffering from work-related stress in 2018/19 according to The Health and Safety Executive Organisation.

The rise in technology means everyone can now connect to the internet pretty much anywhere, which has increased the demand for flexible working. However as more and more people are starting to work from home, this is making it harder for them to know when to stop working.

As a leader, how can you solve this problem?

If your business allows flexible working, you need to ensure your employees aren’t overworking themselves. However, systems like Skype and WhatsApp can support this, as being able to video call or direct message your employees will help you keep track of people and ensure requirements are being met.

If you are a good leader, you need to be flexible in your approach to supporting the business and your employees. We have touched on some things below that could help to improve your employee’s behaviour and stress, if you are already doing these things then that’s great, but it’s important you are doing them to the best of your ability.

Take a Vacation

According to Direct Gov, full-time workers in the UK are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks or 29 days paid holiday a year (including bank holidays). However, according to the telegraph, a third of people in the UK don’t use all of their holiday, and in most cases lose up to 5 days a year. You need to encourage your employees to take their entitled holidays, as this is going to help them to relax. If they never have time away from work how are your employees going to maintain their standard of work?

If you have employees that need to work on computers every day, you need to ensure they are also taking regular breaks every day so they can stay refreshed and focused throughout the week. Although it is not a legal requirement to do so, it is recommended, according to The Health and Safety Executive.

Suggest Different Responsibilities

If you can see an employee is suffering from stress or burnout, be proactive and see how you can support them. Communication is key, so set up a meeting to discuss any issues they may be having and if they do need support, this is a good opportunity to openly discuss options for them.

If their workload is too much, the atmosphere in their team is an issue or if they are just generally unhappy in their role, being proactive will show that you care and that you want to invest time into their wellbeing.

For some tips on how you can support a member of staff that is under stress, click here.

Make Work More Fun or Interesting.

Encourage your employees to set up social events, as this will create a better working environment where people can have a break and socialise. Giving your employees an afternoon off occasionally will give them something to look forward too. And if they are on schedule and work isn’t too hectic, then doing so shouldn’t cause any issues.

Here are some popular choices for social events at work:

• Summer Party

• Christmas Party

• Seasonal Days – Pancake Day, Halloween etc.

• Charity Work - McMillian Coffee Morning

There is a lot of pressure to succeed in today’s society. Last year it was recorded by the Mental Health Foundation that 74% of UK adults said they have felt stressed at work. As a business, it is important that you have procedures in place to support your employees if they are struggling.

Yes, they are there to do a job, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t receive support whilst working. If people are overworked and not offered support, it is only going to have a negative impact on yourself and your business. So it is important to see the bigger picture and help people that matter.

Children’s Mental Health Week

“Children get sad, children feel bad, children think sometimes they are going mad. Children get stressed, children get depressed, children think sometimes their life is a mess. A child’s mental health is more important than any school grade, it’s up to us to give them the courage to speak up and not be afraid.”

- @allontheboard

As it is Children’s Mental Health Week, we thought this would be a great opportunity to help raise awareness for this cause. More and more children are struggling to deal with mental health issues, so it is important children know they are not alone.

The Independent claims that one of the main contributing factors to mental health in young people is social media. In the last 10 years, technology has completely revolutionised how people live, communicate and socialise with each other.

As most people are now spending most of their time online according to a report by The Huff Post, 60% of those people have said their self-esteem has been impacted in a negative way. This is due to the unrealistic connotations of people’s lifestyles and appearances.

According to The Children’s Society:

• At any one time, at least 10 million children and adults in the UK are experiencing a mental health problem.

• 75% of all mental health problems are established by the time someone is 18.

• 75% of young people who are experiencing mental health problems aren’t receiving treatment.

The Children’s Society has also found if children and young people aren’t given the support they need, their problems are manifesting rapidly. The NHS is under immense pressure which means there is also a lack of services, with an average wait time of two months according to Charity Rethink Mental. Which to any parent with a child or young adult who is suffering from mental health is simply not good enough.

This is why it is so important to come together when a system is failing you. Communities, organisations, friends and family are what help people who are suffering from mental health problems. Which is why everyone needs to spread the word and get as many people involved as possible!

For some advice on how you can support Children’s Mental Health Week or if you just want advice to support your child, click here.

As a parent it can be very difficult not knowing how to help your child, especially if they don’t know how to express themselves properly. ChillFactorE.com has some really useful tips about how you can be proactive if you think your child is struggling in any way.

By doing things such as:

• Organise fun activities.

• Ban phones from the dinner table to encourage conversation.

• Stop your child from taking their phones/tablets to bed.

• Find apps on your child’s phone that are designed to encourage physical activity, such as Pokémon Go!

• Encourage your child to be involved in a school club.

Although these are small steps that you may think are impossible to do, it is important you are consistent with them, as these steps could ensure positive changes for your child.

There’s no denying that mental health in general is rising year on year, so it needs to become a normal topic of discussion. If children are struggling and don’t understand why this is just going to create further problems. By teaching children, young adults and parents that they are not alone and that there is support out there, this will increase the chances of getting the right help and eventually learning how to manage or even overcome mental illness.

If you want to find out more about mental health, as well as organisations that are working to help support children and young adults, we have found some great organisations below:

Interview questions employers should be asking

In most interviews, there are usually a certain set of questions that you will ask your candidates, no matter what job they’re interviewing for.

• Tell me about yourself

• What are your strengths?

• What are your weaknesses?

• Why do you want this job?

• Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Although these questions will usually be accompanied by some role-specific questions, do they really give you enough information to make the right decision about a candidate? As these questions are so generic, with enough time anyone could come up with great answers, and they may not even be true. So, it might be worth changing how you get to know your candidates, by delving deeper with strategic questions for example. This could create a better interview experience for you and your candidates.  

As recruiters, it is our job to soul search and find the perfect people. Asking lots of questions is one of the most important factors in our process! So, we want to talk to you about different ways you could potentially approach interviews and find the best candidates for your business. 

Think outside the box

It is important to ask questions that will make the candidate think. For example, can you ask them something that will throw them off guard to see how they deal with pressure? This doesn’t have to be related to the business, as they will most likely have done their homework. So, something like a maths equation would do the trick, because who doesn’t love maths? Although this may seem random, it is just a test and doesn’t have to be taken too seriously.

You can also ask them what they would do if they were to be the new CEO of the company. What changes and challenges would they focus on? However, if you think this isn’t something you would want to practice, you could treat it as an “ice breaker” to relax the candidate.

Be real

Although an interview is just a chance for you and your candidate to get to know each other, it can still be nerve-wracking for them. Long-winded questions could confuse someone that is nervous, resulting in a stressful situation. So, ask questions that have thought behind them, as this could potentially increase their interest and engagement.

An example could be:

“What’s the most selfless thing you’ve done and why?”

This is a great question as it could reveal what sort of person they are. If they invest a lot of their time into helping others for example, this would be a great trait to have in business. If they haven’t done anything you consider to be “selfless” don’t hold it against them, as they could still be perfect for the job, but that’s up to you!

What do you think?

It is important that you reflect on the interview and the candidate. It could also be useful to get feedback from staff that talked to them beforehand. This could help you determine how they physically come across and if you could see them fitting into your business. For example:

• Do they fit the criteria for your company values?

• “Can I imagine working with this person, or seeing them being socially active with others outside of work?”

• Ask security or the receptionist – “How did the candidate come across to you?”

Even just one of these questions could help you if it comes down to choosing between two strong candidates. The chances are one of them would either be better suited or come across better in these situations.

As a business you need to appreciate the time candidates will put into applying for a position. This should be reflected in the interview stage, they have given you their time, so give them yours.

Return to work interviews: Why are they important

A return to work interview is put in place when an employee has been off sick or absent from work for a specific period of time. The purpose of these interviews is to discuss any absences or issues that are on record, as well as assessing if the member of staff is ready and fit to come back to work. As everything will be put in writing, this is a good way to keep track of any issues. It will be easier for management to determine what information needs to be assessed and what needs to be dealt with.

So, although it’s not mandatory for businesses to have these interviews in place, it would clearly benefit them to do so. Please see other benefits below:

·         Deterring dishonesty by conducting face-to-face interviews.

·         Reducing unexplained absences.

·         Supporting employees and planning for reasonable adjustments.

·         Transitioning employees back into work.

·         Assessing risks around the work environment.

It can be nerve-wracking for an employee to come back to work after having time off, especially if they have been dishonest about why they were absent. Although a return to work interview is completely informal, it’s a good opportunity to spot any inconsistencies or unusual behaviour from the employee, as they are not put in place to catch people out. If they are absent for reasons such as illness or “workplace tension” such as bullying, this should also be discussed openly. Having a return to work interview is a great way to offer one to one support, but they are also a good way to get the employee up to date with anything that has happened in their absence. By making sure the employee is aware of any changes or upcoming deadlines, this will take the pressure off and allow them to prepare for that.

Not only is it important to listen to the employee, but you need to be prepared to give solutions. By asking questions that are open-ended, it will show the employee that you want to engage with them. Having a conversation should make them feel like they can be honest with you, if they know you respect them and genuinely want to help, this could help reduce any future absences.

These interviews will also allow you to accommodate different types of absences, for example, if one of your employees is off work due to a disability. People with disabilities may need extra time off to go to medical appointments, these days shouldn’t be counted as sick days so a return to work interview wouldn’t be appropriate. You should have an agreement within the employees’ contract to have adjustments to accommodate their disability. However having a one to one meeting would still be beneficial, in case there are any problems.

If an employee needs support transitioning back into work, as a business you need to accommodate that and come up with a workable solution for both parties.

Finally, end the interview by asking the employee if they have any questions about what has been discussed. Although in most cases there will be procedures you have to follow when doing a return to work interview, it is important the employee feels as though they can be honest. They need to feel comfortable that any issues will be professionally dealt with, so they don’t have to feel uncomfortable when they go back to work.

Flexible working: Should the working week be reduced to 4 days?

Because of the digital transformation, people can connect to the internet pretty much anywhere at any time. This has allowed businesses and their employees to be a lot more flexible, by changing how and where they work. This is why it has become one of the top benefits employees look for in a job, 73% of people in fact, according to Insight.com.

With flexibility in mind, there has been a lot of curiosity surrounding how people could potentially work 4 days a week instead of 5. Is it possible to benefit both the employee and employer? Most businesses simply wouldn’t be able to shut for 3 consecutive days, so we are going to look at other ways a 4 day could be implemented, without putting businesses at risk.

If you think about how the retail industry structures their staff working patterns, this could be a good way for other businesses to operate too. Obviously, daily shift patterns wouldn’t work for people that have a 9-5 job, but maybe weekly shift patterns could be beneficial. For example, half of the employees could work Monday to Thursday and the other half Tuesday to Friday. Obviously, as there would be one less day accounted for, it would make sense to extend the working days to ensure valuable working time isn’t lost.

Don’t panic, because if our maths are correct, that only equates to 2 extra hours a day! Which isn’t bad going for a 3-day weekend in return!

As this is a relatively new way to work flexibly, it hasn’t been practiced within the UK yet. So, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the pros and cons of working a 4-day week.

Pros:

Employees can be Flexible

As previously stated, having flexibility within a job is something most people want. It could potentially make such a difference to people’s wellbeing if they can control when they work, as long as they work their contracted daily or weekly hours.

Enhances Company Image

According to Insight.com, over a third of UK employers don’t offer flexible working benefits. When this is compared to 70% of people in the UK that want the option, that isn’t good. Businesses that offer benefits like flexible working and social events, for example, have a much better reputation. According to The Independent, people admit that having these kinds of benefits makes all the difference in a job search, which could increase interest in your business and potentially decrease staff turnover too.

Cons:

The Risk Factor

Going back to the fact the 4-day shift pattern isn’t implemented in the UK, there is no certainty that this style of working would work. If it was to be implemented, other things would have to change in order to accommodate it. If employees have children, their childcare arrangements will need to change in order for them to work these new hours, as nurseries only operate between 9-5 generally.

Making adjustments

When a business implements a new working structure, there should always be procedures to support them. This is to ensure the structures are fair and it won’t affect employee’s productivity. So, if your employees are working longer hours, they should be entitled to more breaks to ensure they can remain focused throughout the day.

Considering all these points, people want to have a good work-life balance, which flexible working can offer. Bringing in a 4-day week structure could absolutely work, with shift patterns in place. This would ensure there are never any staffing issues and workloads won’t suffer.

Businesses need to recognise that the digital transformation has changed people’s mindset, so businesses need to do the same. Even if you feel implementing a 4-day working week isn’t right for your business, having flexible working, in general, will improve your employee’s productivity, your reputation and staff turnover!

Tell-tale signs one of your employees is about to quit.

Here at Prestige, we have extensive experience working with people on their job-seeking journey. It is crucial that we can determine from their experience and behaviors in the screening process whether they are a serious job seeker or not. We need to be able to recognise anything in the recruitment process, good or bad. If their attitude changes or they start to ghost the situation it is important to be able to work towards solving any underlying issues as quickly as possible.

Even if we find a client the perfect candidate and they get the job, nothing is ever plain sailing in life. This is why it is important to be the “middle man” between our clients and the candidates we have found for them, even after they have successfully landed the job. Even we get ghosted from time to time, so we have first-hand experience of working with people who aren’t happy. We have to be prepared for people’s minds and circumstances to change, so we can resolve these issues quickly. So, we have put some tips together for you to be aware of, so you can spot any potential inconsistencies with your employees.

Productivity has decreased

In any job, employees will always have something to work towards, whether that be targets or deadlines. In most instances, you will monitor your employee’s performance, to ensure their work is consistent. So, it should be easy for you to spot decreasing productivity. If and when this happens, you should take action straight away, talk to them in private and offer support if relevant. Taking positive actions will only create positive outcomes, but if the result is still the same and they leave, you can be confident as a business that you did all you could to support them in their role.

Acting less like a team player

Any employee should be able to demonstrate that they can work in teams and alone. If their teamwork starts to decrease, this will not only impact others but also workloads and deadlines overall. This sort of issue would need to be dealt with quickly, especially if they have high involvement in teamwork projects.  

A negative change in attitude

Everyone has those days where they don’t want to go to work and don’t have as much motivation as normal. But if this becomes a consistent issue, then you have a problem. Not only is this a sign the employee is unhappy, but this sort of attitude can impact negatively on other employees if they are around it regularly.

Frequent sick days and Leaving work early

Being able to monitor an employee’s sickness rate will indicate if there are consistent absences and a pattern will form. If there is and they are also frequently leaving early, this can indicate they are perhaps getting ready to hand their notice in.

Change in appearance

If an employee has a sudden change in their appearance, dressing smarter than usual for example, this could be an indication they are going for interviews. So, if you do spot that in one of your employees, approach them professionally and see why they want to leave or establish if there is anything you can do to change the situation.

If an employee resembles even one of the above behaviors, they may be looking elsewhere. As a manager, it is crucial that you can recognise any differences in your employee’s behaviour. If someone is unhappy in their role, sooner or later they will leave, especially if they have been unhappy for a while and not received any support from their employers. Although people will always come and go, it will make all the difference to your business if you put things in place to support them and make them happy which in turn will improve retention.

4 ways to keep your staff motivated this holiday season

Not only is it cold, dark and rainy, but Christmas and the New Year are fast approaching. This can be a lot for businesses to contend with when trying to keep their staff motivated during the festive season.

Although this can be a stressful time to some, as targets need to be hit and deadlines need to be made. By celebrating the festivities, this will boost positivity by making sure your staff feel appreciated for the year they have just worked.

So, by embracing the season it will create a much better atmosphere for your employees to complete those last-minute tasks. Whether you are a big or small company have a look at some suggestions below for how you can embrace Christmas at work!

Get into the festive spirit

If you want to reward your staff, whether your big or small there are lots of different things you can do. End of the year bonuses is a great way to keep your staff motivated for the last few weeks of the year. But, if you don’t have a big budget, small gift cards or organising a Secret Santa is a great way to get everyone involved and feeling festive.

Most companies will save a big budget for their Christmas Party, as this is a great time for everyone to get together and blow off some steam. Investing in social events for your staff is another way of saying thank you for your hard work. It’s also a good opportunity to get everyone together in a relaxed environment, where they forget about work for one day and have fun!

If your business has a social committee this is a good way to have festive-themed events that employees can get involved in. This is a great opportunity to organise charity events, with festive bake sales, or a donation to spread the joy and get people feeling positive.

Be Flexible

Making your employees hours flexible is another way to show your thanks. Whether that be giving them flexible hours and having early finishes on a Friday for example! You may have employees that need to travel far to see families over the festive period. As a business can you afford to let people have more time off, whether they use their own paid holiday or not? Little things like this will ensure your staff feel looked after and show that you care about them, which will make them want to work harder in the long run.

Communication

As the year is coming to an end, so are targets and deadlines. This is a great time to get everyone together for the last time before the new year. Doing this will ensure everyone is on the same page and that everyone will know what December will entail. Of course, this is the time to talk about schedules and if there is anything that needs to be done, but it’s also a great way for everyone to know what fun festivities will be taking place throughout the month, again to boost productivity.

Online Promotion

Even with the festive season approaching, make sure your social presence is as consistent as

ever! Although December is a festive month, promoting your business and social events will still increase your engagement. A lot of businesses withhold putting content online from social events or things that aren’t always business-focused, but statistics from LinkedIn show that this content gets the most engagement.

So, whether you’re donating to charity or you’ve found someone their dream job in December this will not only increase your employee’s motivation but also your company’s reputation online!

How to get the most out of your Middle Managers

Middle Managers are frequently described as being the "bad guys" in business, even though this role is often the key to a company running smoothly. Research from Clear Company suggests that 48% of HR executives rank mid-level Managers as being one of the most important roles for a business. This is often overlooked due to the bad reputation middle managers have for not always being that easy to work with!

When you actually think about the pressure that comes with the role, that negative reputation can sometimes be understandable, even if it isn’t always true.

Clear Company found that even though a middle management role is crucial for a company’s success, 80% don't feel prepared for their day to day business challenges. It is vital that middle managers are given frequent support to develop in their roles and that they feel valued, otherwise the success of your company and the number of employees you have will start to decline.  

Below, there are some points and tips to think about to ensure you are getting the best out of your middle managers and know they feel supported in their roles.

 Are they the right?

Obviously, it is crucial that your middle managers are the right fit for your business, as well as being good at what they do! Managing people and a number of tasks on a daily basis can be a very difficult thing to do. It is important that you have methods in place that will help guide your managers in the right direction.

Even if you have a middle manager that has the best delegation and management skills if they don’t work with others well that can create a lot of issues, so these two elements need to come hand in hand. Resolving issues within the business and potential conflicts between staff will allow everything to run smoothly.

Less delegating

Although this is a very demanding job role, you need to ensure duties are delegated fairly and give more support to middle managers. This will ensure overall performance in the business is consistent and their well-being is supported, which will, in turn, create a happy working environment.

Set expectations and goals

It is important to make sure your middle managers are always working towards something, whether that be a project deadline or a personal goal to help them develop in their role.  

If you have a great middle manager but you can see they are struggling, put structures in place for them to follow and work towards. As a business Investing in your staff is so important, no matter what level they are at. It shows you are committed to their growth with the company. 

Give them more flexibility

Flexible working is on the rise and being able to connect to the internet anywhere gives your staff the freedom to work remotely. Although it may seem unwise to give middle managers flexibility, for them to know they have the option if needed is important. For your staff to have a good work-life balance, mixing up their routines would boost their productivity. 

When you are in a business it can be hard to keep track of everyone working for you, and of course, if you’re at the top it isn’t always a top priority as you trust them to get on with it. But, without middle managers, your business wouldn’t work consistently, so it is important to invest time and money into people that are there to work hard. By supporting the “big picture” this will help your business grow.