 Image credit: Fauxels from Pexels Being a business owner is a lucrative but demanding job. While some things are continually reviewed, analysed, and evaluated to see how we can expand the business, other things go unnoticed. Things like strengthening your relationships with customers could have a significant impact and produce results we never anticipated. The following are a few things you might want to consider doing for your business this year that might go unnoticed but will help you and your employees feel happier, healthier, and more inspired to work to make the business grow and succeed in the upcoming year.
The vitality of retention Finding and onboarding new personnel takes a lot of time and effort for businesses with a high staff turnover rate. They need to replace staff so regularly because they frequently treat their employees terribly once they have them. A company's capacity to retain personnel is crucial to its success. In addition to saving money on hiring and training employees, you may mould and progress employees within the company. that your employees actually care about the company, are dedicated to the brand, and want it to flourish. Someone might be employed for a straightforward job, like a call centre agent, but they might also be enrolled in marketing night school. Maintain a clean and safe workplace There has been a lot of concern regarding workplace cleanliness because there are so many individuals in one place as a result of the pandemic. If your normal cleaners did a deep clean once every two weeks or once a month, it would be advantageous even if you already have cleaners on staff. In addition to all the other areas they usually ignore, this would allow them to clean the microwave and refrigerator. By doing this, you may ensure that any unwelcome bacteria or germs are kept out of your office. Increasing workplace productivity Any business can stand to gain something, and increasing production and efficiency is one of those chances. There are many other approaches you can use; for instance, did you know that happy people who enjoy their work are motivated to work harder? Maintain their happiness by providing them with minor prizes and incentives, and if they offer suggestions, consider them. You can also talk to your IT team; while they manage the servers and put out fires as they happen, they might be able to streamline some aspects of the business and come up with other ideas to make operations run more smoothly and efficiently. The solution is in your effort! Prepare yourself for every possibility Running a business entails taking ownership of all outcomes, good or poor. The other people in the building, including the staff and customers, are under your care as well. Making sure you have things like a first aid pack and doing a risk assessment will be beneficial. Moving your company ahead looks different for different companies like branding yourself in the right way with branded vending trays, taking on new staff or outsourcing work to experts.
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 Image credit: CoWomen from Pexels Research shows that the average employee is interrupted every 3 minutes or 50 to 60 times daily. Unfortunately, most of these interruptions are unimportant and offer no value to the company. The worst part is that workplace distractions and disruptions are not only making employees less productive but also significantly contributing to workplace stress, according to experts. This can be a major barrier to business progress. So, how can business owners reduce workplace disruption and improve productivity? Here are four effective ways.
1. Reduce office noise levels Workplace ambiance noise, especially in open office spaces, is pretty common. Everyday working practices generate noise which builds up quickly as the day progresses. While many workers may be used to workplace noise, studies have shown that it diminishes productivity. Identifying and tackling the major contributing factors is a good way to reduce office noise. For example, are there too many short meetings? Put an end to them. Are the photocopy machines too noisy? Get them serviced. Do people move about too much? Is the busy street noise flooding the office space? Make acoustic upgrades to your office space. For example, you can take advantage of the acoustic properties of fire rated windows to seal off outside noise and create a working space with minimal sound disruptions. 2. Encourage your workers to set task time limits Email notifications, social media alerts, several calls, and coffee breaks— all these tiny distractions can quickly add up to eat out a chunk of your employees’ work time. One way to limit these disruptions or their effect is to encourage your workers to set time limits on their tasks. That will help them focus on a task until it’s completed before attending to anything else. For example, if a task should take an hour to complete, you can encourage your worker to turn off all notifications on the phone during that period until they complete their task. This approach will also help your workers use their time efficiently. 3. Balance employee collaboration and privacy The traditional office setup with privacy cubicles appears to be fading away, as many businesses are opting for more open workspaces to enhance collaboration and ideas sharing. But both office setups have their flaws. A traditional office space with cubicles can create cramped spaces, and an open workspace comes with many distractions. The trick is to balance both office setups to promote employee collaboration while offering privacy when needed. Your office setup can have spaces for group work and meetings. But there should also be privacy cubicles for those who need to complete concentration to work. 4. Let your employees decide where they want to work Not every task needs to be conducted in the office space, especially not when there are too many disruptions at work. Depending on the nature of assigned tasks, allow your workers to choose where they want to work, especially if the work can be done remotely. If someone finds more focus working from home or in a coffee shop, give them that flexibility, as long as it guarantees better results and increased productivity.  Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels The point of conversion is one that gets a lot of attention, and rightly so. It’s the moment where you have the best chance to turn a lead into a customer or client. However, that doesn’t mean that you should be rushing to that stage. If you spend a little more time preparing your lead before the pitch, then you can maximise your chances of succeeding with it. Here are a few ways to do that.
Learn about your customer First of all, you should make sure that you know who you’re talking about. Make use of things like lead capture forms like Leadformly on your website that can hopefully help get you a little more detail on the people that will become your customers and clients. This way, you can adjust your pitch to better suit their own needs and circumstances. You don’t want to be talking to them as if they’re just a part of a target market, you want to be able to individualise your pitch to them as best as possible. Have answers for the tough questions Before you get in touch, make sure that you have considered the potentials problems and barriers between your customers/clients and your products/services. Unless you’ve done a world first and created the perfect product or service, these are going to exist. You can also look at barriers and problems with competitors. It’s likely that your leads are going to have tough questions about exactly these and going in without any research or answers prepared is not going to look good on your end. Set the tone A little showmanship can make all the difference. This is, in effect, what’s at the heart of branding. With the help of teams like the brand design agency - Naked Ideas, you can make sure that your website and any marketing materials you have can carry across the tone and the voice of the brand that you want. A strong brand identity can help potential customers and clients feel like they know what your business is about before you get in touch. It establishes a level of trust and credibility that makes it much easier to make your pitch without as much scepticism. Be generous You can’t exactly bribe someone into becoming a client, no-one is going to be hoodwinked by a gift. However, free samples or souvenirs can help to establish a friendly and giving tone. If you show your potential clients that you’re willing to meet their needs in little ways, then they are more likely to believe that you’re willing to do it through your products and services, as well. Bringing a free gift can definitely improve your chances of winning new clients or, at the very least, keeping them around long enough for you to wow them with your pitch. Don’t rush into a pitch until you’ve had the time to make sure your potential customer or client can warm up to it. Lay the groundwork for your future success.  Image credit: Marc Mueller on Pexels During the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment rates have skyrocketed everywhere you look. In the United Kingdom, the unemployment rate has gone up to 4.8 percent. Nearly 250,000 people have lost their jobs since June of this year. That is the largest unemployment increase in a three-month period since 2009.
The same thing can be said with the United States in terms of unemployment. Rates are the highest they have been in a long time. According to the United States’ Bureau of Labor and Statistics, U.S unemployment currently sits at 6.9 percent. Before 2020, the last time the states’ rate of unemployment was this high was November of 2013. With all that being said, it may be harder to find a job at this current point in time than it has been in recent memory. But in the same breath, it is worth mentioning that you should not just take any old job that you come across. Yes, if you need the money right then and now, that is not a bad route to go. But if that is not the case, you should take some time in deciding the route you want to go in. Here a few things you should consider when concluding on whether or not a job is a good fit. What is the commute like Commuting to work every morning can be a pain. So when considering whether or not a job is right for you, make sure you have a good idea of how long the commute is. The commute to a company offering you a position should not be the biggest of worries, but it would be pretty inconvenient to take two hours to drive into work and two hours to drive home. Is the company you are working for well managed This is essential when finding the right job. If you work for a company that is professionally handled, organized life can be a lot easier. No one wants to work for a disheveled boss with a nasty personality. It could make waking up every day that much harder. So when picking an occupation, look at the company as a whole. Ask questions about employee benefits, what the chain of command at the company/organization is, and how communicating is effectively done at that given job. Do you like the work you are doing This might be the most important of them all. Making sure you like what you do day in and day out is so important. You do not want to show up to work dreading the next eight hours of your life. Try and find an occupation that is engaging and keeps you entertained: even if that means there is a little more stress on your plate. That is a little easier said than done, but do your best! You know yourself enough to say whether or not you would be a good fit working in a restaurant, office building, gym, et cetera. Being bored can be a lot worse than being busy, so try and find work that will make you excited to head in and earn that paycheck.  Image credit: stokpic on Pixabay Business relocations can occur for a wide range of reasons. Perhaps you're upsizing to a bigger store. Maybe you're downsizing in response to COVID-19 and an increased reliance on remote working. Or it might be that you're starting a whole new life in a new city or country. Whatever the reasons, it's imperative that the transition runs. Otherwise, the business dream could turn into a nightmare. You've probably never completed this assignment before, which is why it's easy to forget key features. Here are five that you must not ignore, #1. You Don't Have To Replace All Items When making a fresh beginning, there is a temptation to start over. However, it would be a little counterproductive to spend money needlessly. After all, the whole purpose of the relocation is to boost your bottom line. Even when dealing with huge items, expert machine movers can transfer equipment to new locations. The moving costs are a fraction of replacing the items. Moreover, any employees following your business to the new setting will be familiar with the products too. It also removes fears of delayed deliveries, allowing you to maintain productivity throughout.  Image credit: geralt on Pixabay #2. You Can Still Leverage Success From The Old Location In addition to carrying over physical items from the old venue, you can look to leverage online success from the previous chapter. Rather than designing a brand new website, editing existing pages is quicker, cheaper, and more effective. Service pages, blog posts, and site features are already indexed for SEO. So, adding the new geographic keywords should give you far quicker results. The fact you can make good use of your testimonials and reviews is a bonus. #3. You Have To Create Positive Surroundings After moving into the new business premises, you will have to accept that it can take time to achieve the perfect surroundings. However, creating a positive vibe is an immediate priority. From improving the design of your office to creating a reception area that sets the right tone, you will see a big impact. It can influence productivity and employee-client interactions. If you want the next chapter of your business journey to start on the right foot, you must not ignore this. Furthermore, you should stamp out any source of wasted capital.  Image credit: 089photoshootings #4. You Only Have To Replace A Percentage Of The Workforce
Employees will continue to provide the backbone of your business in this new era. Once again, you don't have to forget everything that went before. Depending on the distances involved, it may be convenient for staff members to follow you to the new setting. Even if this isn't possible, many jobs from admin to customer care can be completed remotely. Managing a remote team takes some getting used to, but can transform the future of the company. However, if this is entirely possible, you should consider hiring a few employees from the new location your business is settling in. This is an added advantage as local employees have a vast knowledge of what customers want, how stiff the competition is, how to build a positive brand image effectively, what trends are currently taking place and many others. To ensure that you hire the right employees in a new locale, you should give an in-depth job description and advertise various openings. Secondly, interview as many potential employees as possible and ensure you select the right ones based on qualifications. Additionally, don't forget to perform pre employment assessment to identify potential risk factors that may limit a worker from performing the job effectively. Go the extra mile and contact the candidates' references to come up with reliable decisions. Many employers tend to skimp on this part and always select the wrong workforce, which can have adverse effects on the business's operations. #5. You Have To Be Organized Good organizational skills are essential at all stages of the business journey. Still, the need to maintain control is even greater at this time. Aside from updating your website and arranging movers, you'll want to find printers for new business cards and letterheads. Likewise, all utilities, including issues like internet and data management should be done in advance. Otherwise, increased stress levels could lead to very serious consequences. You've got this, but only if you put the right preparations in place. Now is the time to do it.  Image credit: Mohamed Hassan on Pexels Staff productivity levels should be a priority for all business owners. Sadly, the vast majority of companies continue to suffer from insufficient results in this key area of daily operations. Whether those lulls in production have been caused as a direct result of Covid-19 or existed long before the pandemic doesn't matter. Either way, it's vital that you stamp out those problems ASAP. The first step to overcoming those problems is to identify the root causes. Here are some of the most common issues to consider, along with the easiest ways to battle them. The road to restored productivity starts here. Inadequate Recruitment & Training It's impossible to achieve the desired levels of productivity if you have failed to assemble a strong team. Therefore, successful recruitment drives should be the top item on your agenda. If you want employees to perform well, it's important to recognise the human elements too. In truth, analysing the right personality traits is perhaps even more crucial than before as teams include remote workers. When employees don't have the attitude and drive to back up their skills, unlocking their full potential is impossible. Worse still, their lacklustre performances can spread to others. Building a quality team that's built to perform is one thing. However, you must also ensure that staff members continue to grow and develop. Investing in the best staff training modules to learn new techniques or familiarise themselves with new software is key. Inferior Tech Facilities They say that a bad worker blames their tools. However, even the best employees will struggle to produce the goods if they aren't supported by the right equipment. From machinery to POS terminals, or office computers to vehicles, only the best will do. If your employees blame the vehicle they use as an excuse for inefficiency, you should install GPS Tracking in the work vehicle to monitor the progress of their shift. GPS tracking is accurate and simple, providing you with real-time locations and movement detection. It's not only about possessing the right assets and infrastructure, though. It's equally important to ensure that all facilities are maintained to optimal health and reliability. Visit https://www.concise.co.uk to learn about how managed IT can transform your approach. It's great news for the firm and its staff. Aside from cutting out various tech-related disruptions, it aids the team's ability to stay on task. There's nothing worse than spending time trying to troubleshoot and correct issues. When those issues are handled in an automated manner, your team can focus solely on the tasks at hand.  Image credit: Joshua Woroniecki on Pexels Poor Teamwork & Collaboration Teamwork makes the dream work. When individual success isn't met with collective triumphs, it will show. As an employer, it's your job to ensure that all team members are on the same page. Team building sessions and group activities are a great way to promote camaraderie. Meanwhile, it's important to build a working environment that is conducive of good collaboration from all times. Whether it's in-house team meetings or video conferencing, short and sweet discussions are for the best. Moreover, tech features like team messaging Apps can serve you very well. Perhaps most importantly, you must stamp out any potential issues, such as workplace bullying. Meanwhile, using the right tech to support collaboration is key. Cloud computing is one key feature. But the ability to track client interactions and let colleagues pick up the conversation is equally crucial. Unsatisfactory Leadership As well as good working relations with colleagues, workers deserve a positive employer-employee bond. So, developing your leadership skills through improved body language and communication is a must. If you cannot express messages well, you can't expect teams to perform. The reality of the situation is that you are unlikely to handle many of the interactions personally. Supporting yourself with great team leaders that can maintain productivity in tough situations will make life a whole lot easier. Be sure to give them the authority needed to complete their work too. When supported by regular reporting and analysis, productivity should remain at the highest level. And when it does drop below the desired levels, you'll be in a position to spot and rectify the situation at the earliest stage. In truth, that preparation is as significant as taking the right precautions.  Image credit: Free-Photos on Pexels Inadequate Safety As already mentioned, human responsibilities are a crucial ingredient in the recipe for success. If employees are worried about any aspect of their health and safety, it'll affect their work ethic. So, for the sake of productivity and profitability, as well as human care, you must get this right. Conducting a full and thorough risk assessment of workspaces is vital. Check out https://www.thsp.co.uk to learn more. Meanwhile, security systems and emergency protocols should be in place too. Even when they aren't needed, their presence can make a significant difference. In today's climate, safety and security aren't limited to the physical world. All data and cybersecurity features must satisfy the latest demands. After all, almost half of all recorded attacks target SMEs. You cannot afford to let your employees fall victim. No Incentives Motivation is a very powerful tool in business. Frankly, you'd be very naive to think that employees will work to their full capacity without an incentive. Engaging work and achieving greatness for the company do have a positive impact. However, personal incentives will always be top of the agenda. The most obvious incentives are financially inspired. Creating a clear path to promotion will spur ambitious workers to want and achieve more. Additional steps may include bonuses or sales commissions. Likewise, perks relating to travel or lifestyle elements can have a big impact on the mood. If you can inspire staff members to actively want to work harder, they will. Better still, hard work is contagious and will inspire colleagues to follow in their footsteps. The benefits for the entire team and, therefore, your bottom line cannot be ignored.  Image credit: Geralt on Pixabay The Final Word
A hardworking team won't guarantee business success, but it'll certainly give you a better shot at success. So, taking the necessary steps to cut out the sources of poor productivity levels is something that all employers should want to do. Whether you're working from home or commercial spaces, paying attention to this part of the kob should pave the way to productivity. What more could any entrepreneur ask for?  Your CV on average can take just 34 seconds to be rejected! The Sun has some of the do's and don'ts for your CV check!
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