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The Key to Business Success: Building a Wonderful Workforce

August 13, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Building Workforce

Finding the right employees for your team can be difficult- like everything in business, competition is always going to be fierce. It’s worth remembering that you’re not just competing against other businesses for customers but for employees too, since similar companies will be offering similar job roles which will appeal to the same pool of candidates. Be aware of the following to ensure your job stands out and you can secure the best workers.

Recruiting and Interviewing

Your first step is to create an ad describing the job role. While you’ll want it to sound appealing, it’s important to not dress it up as something it isn’t. If an employee is left disappointed and the role isn’t what they expected, they could leave your company and you’re left out of pocket in regards to recruiting and interviewing costs. A high staff turnover rate reflects badly on your business, it can reduce productivity, staff morale and can cost you money. If you use a recruitment agency they can put you in contact with the most suitable employees who have skills that match what you’re looking for. Otherwise, be sure to interview carefully, finding out as much about the candidates skills and experience as possible. You could use an applicant tracking system to manage the hiring process and keep you in control. Second and even third interviews help you to narrow down the best candidate for you, it’s better to spend time in the recruitment stage than hire someone that’s not right for your business.

Invest in Employee Benefits

While it’s the hourly wage that candidates will place the most emphasis on when looking for a job, employee benefits will also be taken into consideration and are what could help you stand out from your competitors. Health, dental, medical and disability plans are just a few examples. These things can make your job role more attractive than those offered by your competitors and can also make your employees feel more secure. This can reduce staff turnover rate, saving you time, hassle and money in the long run. Other employee benefits include things like company phones, laptops or a car depending on the role being offered.

Upgrade Your Office

Mood and productivity are closely linked, and one way you can boost both is to upgrade your office. Change the layout to improve space and flow, make the most of the natural light by placing desks next to windows. Give the office a coat of paint and upgrade the flooring to give the space a fresh feel. As well as the decor, you also need to work on creating a positive and friendly working environment. This means a zero tolerance policy towards bullying, this could mean implementing an anonymous reporting system and being open and available to listen if employees come to you with an issue.

Utilise Team Building Activities

Teamwork is absolutely crucial when you run a business, and one thing you need to do as company owner is ensure that your staff work well together. The first step to this is choosing the right workers, people who have a track record of working well in a team. Secondly you can inspire great teamwork with the use of team building activities. There are lots of fun ways to do this these days, from weekend retreats offered by companies with lots of activities on offer, to treasure hunts, escape rooms and murder mystery evenings. Anything that gets the team chatting, socialising and working together can lead to better communication back in the office.

Is Employee Development Worth It?

August 2, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Employee development is a massive part of being a manager or running your own business. If you employ staff, they are a vital part of your company and its success. You need a training plan in place as soon as you start hiring. A way to ensure that your staff are able to perform their duties efficiently and that they have sufficient knowledge of health and safety, hygiene and any other legal requirements that your business needs to meet. They must be legally compliment and able to do their jobs well and to ensure this is your responsibility.

But, only a basic level of training is usually required to meet these standards. You could spend an afternoon working with a new member of staff to ensure they know what they are doing, and then leave them to it. You don’t ever need to offer that member of staff further training and development, which is often expensive and time-consuming.

Yet many of us do. We take the time to develop our staff. To sit down with them to appraise their current performance and find ways to help them to improve. We ask about their plans for the future and help them find ways to meet their goals. We set them targets and build training plans. You might even have a whole department committed to staff training and development or send your team off-site to take training courses and gain extra knowledge.

But, why? This additional development can be costly, it takes time out of your day, and means your staff are available to work less. Extra training can also mean that our current systems have to be changed, as we learn new ways to do things. Sometimes, it means that our best staff leave us. They learn so much that we can no longer offer them the challenges and promotions that they need to keep them happy. They get to a point where it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, or even start up on their own, in competition. So, with all of these negatives, why bother with further development? Why not just offer a basic training course to the commencement of employment and then leave it at that?

To Keep Everyone Safe

One of the primary reasons to invest in some level of training is safety. If your staff use machinery or technology, they should be adequately trained on what to do. Any staff that works with the public should know what to do in the event of an accident or injury. Your team should be offered a cpr renewal regularly so that they have the basic health and safety and first aid training needed to look after themselves, each other and anyone else that they come into contact with.

Poorly trained members of staff are one of the leading causes of workplace accidents and injuries, as well as damage to expensive equipment and machinery. If you want your team to remain safe and protected, and your equipment to last, then it’s essential that your staff are well trained.

To Motivate Your Team

Offering training and development in the workplaces gives your staff something to work towards. This can help to keep them motivated. If they think that there will be opportunities to learn, they’ll work hard. It can also help to improve office morale. They’ll respect you as a manager or business owner. They’ll give you more of their focus and commitment because they know that you are invested in them and their development. They’ll work hard for you, be motivated to achieve more and give you all of their loyalty.

To Learn More Yourself

Running a business is tough. Especially if you are small and can’t afford to hire other people to take over the running of departments like marketing or HR. You have to know it all. You need to be the ideas man, the digital marketing expert, the coach, the HR department, the tech team and the person that develops new ideas and pushes the business forward. You are in charge of recruitment and accounting, as well as meeting clients and pitching for work. You are everything to everyone. It’s hard. You’re always busy. But, you still need to make time to learn.

There’re always new developments in any industry, and courses on offer to gain new knowledge. As much as you’d love to go on them all, and it would certainly benefit your business if you did, you are unlikely to have the time. So, instead, send someone else. Send team members on courses, and they’ll come back with the knowledge to share. They can help you and teach the rest of the team too.

To Offer New Opportunities

Well trained staff will help your company to grow. As you grow, you might find that you are in a position to take on staff to fill specific positions. Giving you more time to focus on expansion You might suddenly find that you can hire a marketing team. And, because your staff is so well developed, you might already have someone on board to fill the role.

To Keep Staff Interested and Engaged

Employees get bored. As much as they love a job in the beginning, when the exiting early days where there are challenges to tackle, and there’s plenty to learn, come to an end, they can get bored. They can feel like every day is the same. Like they are just going through the motions. This can lead to a lack of drive and interest. The quality of their work can start to slip, and you can find that you suddenly have to chat with your staff about their commitment and performance.

Offering extra training can keep them interested and engaged. They can find new enjoyment and challenges in a job that they’ve been doing for a long time. They have more to offer and more to think about. They’ll be proud of where they work. They’ll be engaged with work and enjoy coming in.

To Attract the Best Employees

Improving your current staff is a fantastic way to promote from within. It keeps them engaged and interested, motivates them to do more and helps you to grow your business. But, that isn’t all.

Being the kind of company that takes the time to develop their staff, or invests money in in-depth training programs, helps you to attract the very best team in the first place. When you are recruiting, staff will want to work for you because they know that it’s a position that will afford them more significant opportunities in the future.

To Offer Clients the Best

If you want to grow your business, you need to be able to offer clients and customers the best service, the best products, and the best experience. To do this, your staff need to be the best. This will help you to keep clients, attract new ones and build lasting working relationships.

To Limit Turnover

Training can be expensive, and you can face a loss of income if staff have to take time out of the business. But, it’s cheaper than having a high staff turnover. Having to recruit new staff, train them up and integrate them into your company costs money. The more often you do it, the more it will cost.

Offer great training programs and development, and your current staff won’t want to leave. You’ll be able to keep the same team for a long time. Saving a fortune on staff turnover.

To Make Important Relationships for the Future

It is fair to say that eventually, well trained, knowledgeable and experienced staff might want to move on. Your small business might no longer be able to offer them what they need. They might want to start up on their own. When this happens, let them go with grace. Knowing that they might be a vital connection for your business in the future.

How and when you train your staff depends on the size of your company and how you want to do things. Some managers choose only to offer further training when legislation or company policies change, or when new developments are made, or new systems and technology introduced. Others are always on the lookout for new ways to educate their staff. Some level of training becomes a regular part of work, and they utilize staff meetings, extra shifts and one on one sessions to offer as much education as possible. Then, there’s location. Some employers prefer to do all of their training in-house. They even employ full-time trainers as their company grows. This allows them full control over what is being taught and when and gives them a little more flexibility in the structure of training sessions. Others prefer to book their team onto relevant training courses from external companies. This gives them access to a greater knowledge base and gives their staff the chance to learn from qualified professionals and experts from different fields. It gives them a broader knowledge.

Of course, there are no hard rules on this. Find a system that works for you and your team.

Perhaps even a combination of different approaches. Allowing your staff to learn without affecting the quality of your business. But, whatever you do, make sure you develop your team as much as possible. It’s well worth it.

Is Your Team Firing On All Cylinders?

July 3, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Most business owners depend on a team of people to keep their company ticking over. If you’re an employer, getting the best out of your team should be high up on your list of priorities. If you feel that you could be getting more out of your employees, or you’re looking for tips to create a more cohesive workplace, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some steps you can take to ensure your team is firing on all cylinders.

Team Management

Prioritizing clarity

There’s nothing more frustrating for employees than working on projects or programs that aren’t focused on clear objectives. If you get to work every day and you’re not 100% sure about what you’re expected or required to do, this can create confusion and affect productivity. As the boss, it’s your job to ensure that every member of the team understands exactly what their job entails, and to create strategies that make it easier to achieve goals and targets. If you’re working on a group project, for example, organize regular meetings and monitor progress on a continual basis.

Providing the right tools, technology, and equipment

Many jobs in this day and age require access to tools, technology, and equipment. If your team would benefit from access to machinery or technology that you don’t currently have, consider buying or hiring equipment, and think about ways you could improve the way you work. If you have an office, for example, and your team is reliant on computer systems, the technology you employ should speed up processes and make it simple to reach goals. If your technology is more of a hindrance than a help, consider looking for an agency like Kosh Solutions that offers IT support and consulting. An expert can help you identify areas for improvement, increase efficiency and cut costs. If your team has access to everything it needs, it should be able to get the job done faster with minimal stress.

Creating a positive environment

If you’re a company boss, you’ve probably come across sayings like ‘a happy team is a productive team.’ As an employer, it pays to try and create a positive working environment and foster team spirit. If you dread work, you’re probably not going to give your job your all. If you look forward to getting into work, you’ll try harder. You don’t have to fill the office with slides or ping pong tables, but try and inject a little fun, and make sure your employees feel valued and respected. Promote collaborative working, encourage teamwork, and reward hard work and endeavor.

As an employer, it’s natural to want to get the best out of every single employee. Everyone has off days, but you want your team to pull together to fulfill its potential. If you’re struggling to achieve results, think about how you could increase productivity and improve morale. Eliminate unnecessary stress from the working day, ensure your employees have the resources and equipment they need to succeed and encourage your staff to work together and help each other out.

Factors That Affect The Productivity Of Your Employees

June 20, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Every successful business owner understands the importance of productivity in the workplace. It helps to keep your customers happy, which generally leads to an increase in sales, it saves you money, because you’re getting more done in less time, and it keeps morale high, as your employees benefit from the increased profits and you have less to be stressed about. Your employees are human beings, so it’s natural for them to feel unproductive now and then, but you should still do all you can to prevent it. Here are four factors you should take into account if you want to improve employee productivity.

1) The Tools

If you want your employees to be as productive as possible, then you need to make sure that they have the proper tools to get the job done. If they don’t, then they’re going to struggle, which, of course, means that the tasks they have will take a lot longer to complete. You should also ensure that you maintain and upgrade tech tools, like computers and smartphones, when needed. Many companies fail to do this in a bid to save money, but slow devices will slow down your employees, which means you end up wasting money anyway.

2) The Workload

Delegating work to your employees is part of being the boss, but that doesn’t mean that they should have to handle every task you don’t want or need to complete. Giving your staff a huge pile of work to do each day is only ever going to cause stress, which will have a negative impact on the productivity of the entire team. Instead, you should consider which tasks aren’t as important, and outsource these tasks to freelancers and other companies. This will free up time for your employees to focus on the more essential work.

3) The Workspace

You might think that your office is a great place to work, but, chances are, there is something wrong with it that affects the productivity of your employees. You should speak to your team and see what they have to say. Once you have some insight, you can find ways to address the issues. This could mean changing something as small as the colour of the walls, or it could mean finding a new space and carrying out a complete commercial fit out. This, of course, would be a lot of work, but it’s worth it if it improves your working environment.

4) The Attitudes

If your employees view you or your company in a negative way, then they’re not going to be as productive as those who love their job and are completely happy. This means that it’s important for you to do what you can to improve your employees’ attitudes towards work. You should take an interest in their lives, offer praise and rewards for meeting targets, and just generally show that you care about them, rather than just what they can do for you. All of this takes very little time and effort, but can really give your team a boost.

If you want to improve the productivity of your employees, then make sure that you address the four factors listed above.

Simple Ways to Make Your Auto Business Greener

May 28, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

While you probably have a lot to think about already, the idea of making your dealership greener can actually boost your sales significantly. Customers are becoming increasingly interested in buying the most environmentally friendly cars and ensuring that the carbon footprint they leave behind is as small as possible – by allowing your business to do exactly this, you might be able to gain an advantage over your competitors.

Business Greener

Here are a couple of ways you can make your automotive business a lot greener and friendlier toward mother nature so that your customers can feel a bit safer about choosing you over your competitors.
Greener car manufacturing

In the early days of green initiatives, car manufacturing was sorely lagging behind. Until the incorporation of recyclable materials into car productions, that is, as well as choosing fuel alternatives that allow companies to reduce their fossil fuel intakes. Today, it is actually quite simple for your business to provide customers with green alternatives when buying a car as many of its parts will be a lot more reliable and environmentally friendly.

Aluminum is an example that quickly comes to mind when considering recyclable material that makes the car lighter on fuel – and there are, of course, all the electric cars on the market which significantly reduces our carbon footprint. You can have a look at Flowmeters.com if you need some other ideas on how to make your business as green as possible and remember that you can easily find tyres that will be lighter on the environment as well.

Don’t know where to begin? Just start small

Going green may seem like a daunting task, especially when you already have a successful auto business up and running. Luckily, you don’t actually have to do an entire remodeling to build a more sustainable business; just start small and work your way up instead. The idea is that, by making an effort and giving your customers what they way, you are also boosting the morale of the community and showing them how easy it actually is to get started.

Try to limit the number of balloons and decorations you have on your next event; it will save you money too, by the way. Swap out the regular paper cups for coffee cups from recycled material, for example, or make an effort to go paperless.

However small it may be, the work you put in it will make a difference, in the long run, and you can pride yourself on having a business that works with the environment instead of against it. Check out Allaboutimports.com for even more ideas on how you can make the repair process a bit greener as well.

The great thing about the auto industry is that it is one of the few that have realized the fault in its ways and is making an attempt at correcting it. Surely, other businesses in your community will catch up with the green wave sooner or later so make sure your company is at the forefront of it.