Are you Flexibly Friendly?

This is the final week of our July focus on Health and Well-Being. This week we are looking at flexible working and family friendly policies.

When I speak with Entrepreneurs about the reasons why they started their companies, flexibility almost always comes up, whether it is to able collect the children from school, watch their favorite teams home and away games or take a holiday 8 times a year!

Obviously if you are the boss, you can make your day work for you, but that may be different for those that work with and for you. Being able to work flexibly is a really great perk to offer your staff and for more and more individuals it is becoming a deal breaker.

All employees has a legal right to ask for flexible working once they have completed 26 weeks of employment. Flexible working can come in many forms including:

• Job Share – Splitting a role between two individuals
• Working from home – Performing all or part of their role from home
• Part time working – Reducing the contractual days or hours a person works
• Compressed hours – Working the same contractual hours in less days
• Flexi-time – Working core hours, but flexing the start and end times

Employers have to reasonably consider the application and make a decision within 3 months.

If the request is agreed, it should be confirmed in writing, with a start date and any contractual amendments made.

You can reject applications for the following reasons:

• Extra costs that will damage the business
• The work can’t be reorganised among other staff
• People can’t be recruited to do the work
• Flexible working will affect quality and performance
• The business won’t be able to meet customer demand
• There’s a lack of work to do during the proposed working times
• The business is planning changes to the workforce

Again, this would need to be communicated to the individual in writing. While there is no obligation to allow an employee to appeal the decision, it would be best practice to do so, as you could be taken to employment tribunal if an individual believed that their applications wasn’t being treated fairly and it would be good to be able to evidence a best practice process.

Giving your staff some flexibility around their working times and location, can reap massive benefits for your organisation from a point of view of motivation, retention and work quality.

What flexible policies do you currently offer to your team members?

The link to the blog on this subject is here.

This is the last blog on health and well-being. Do let us know which subject has been most useful for you this month and what changes you have implemented.

For August we will be looking at building our leadership skills.

Is your working environment inspiring or demotivating you?

The environment in which you and your work is vitally important and it’s not just the colour of the walls, locations of windows or if you have the latest Nespresso machine!

Your work environment consists of your geographical location, physical location and the people around you.

If the mere sight of your working space fills you with dread and overwhelm, it isn’t going to be conductive to creative, effective and efficient working.

When I worked corporately they called me Monica from Friends; stacks of papers, dirty coffee cups and rubbish could not be in my eye line, I often ended up washing up everything in the sink, instead of just my plate and fork at lunchtime!

I also had the same problem when I started out as an entrepreneur, working from my dining table! I had to tidy the house before I could start working, but also I lost quite a bit of time on the phone and WhatsApp, because being home alone all day is lonely.

Now I work from a lovely co-working space at least twice a week. It’s clean, tidy and well lit. I get to be surrounded by entrepreneurs from across London and feel like part of a community.

How does your current working environment inspire you and your team? Here are some tips to help you improve your working environment so that you and your team will be more productive and creative:

Location

Location isn’t just the street that your office is based on and the shops nearby. Sometimes just moving your desk so you can see out of a window and get some natural light makes a big difference.

Furniture

Being flexible about working space is a great way to improve the environment. Think about a section where you can work standing (I often use a standing desk set-up at home), having non-tradition ergonomic chairs (backless chairs/balls) or having a break out space, with comfy chairs or bean bags.

Working Equipment

There are some basic things that should just BE in a workplace. Safe working machinery, no trailing wires or other trip hazards. Ensure your work area is clean, tidy, with ample storage and the provision of a good coffee machine, fresh fruit, water and snacks will always help.

Noise levels

If you have a department or individual that is loud or spends the majority of time on the phone as part of their role. It’s important to organise your office space in a way that contains the sound and providing a separate area for telephone calls, is a good idea if you have the space for it.

You can find the Vlog for this subject here.

Let us know what improvements you’ll be making to your working environment, in the comments section below.

Are you Managing Your Stress or is Your Stress Managing You?

Everyone has Stress in their lives and while there is no universal definition of Stress. Put simply, Stress is the way that your body physically responds to mental or emotional pressure. Your job, relationships, family life, money and other commitments can all contribute to your levels of Stress.

The challenge isn’t removing instances of stress (that would be impossible!), it’s recognising when there is too much pressure and what we do to address it in ourselves and our teams.

I like to say people can be either problem solvers or problem multipliers. I once had a manager who would always up the pressure, when she had a run in with her boss; it was as if her way of dealing with stress, was to stress everyone she came across! It wasn’t an endearing quality in a manager, so soon grievances and sick notes became a common occurrence!

The most important thing you can do for yourself and your team, is to keep the lines of communication open and think out of the box when it comes to how you can support your team at times of stress.

Signs to look for in yourself and your team include:

• Negative or depressive feeling
• Disappointment with yourself
• Increased emotional reactions - more tearful or sensitive or aggressive
• Loneliness, withdrawn
• Loss of motivation commitment and confidence
• Mood swings
• Confusion, indecision
• Can’t concentrate
• Poor memory
• Changes in eating habits
• Increased smoking, drinking or drug taking 'to cope'
• Mood swings effecting your behaviour
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Twitchy, nervous behaviour
• Changes in attendance such as arriving later or taking more time off.

Techniques of stress management include:

• Developing an understanding of Stressor's
• Time management (including delegation)
• Conflict resolution
• Adopting a more Positive attitude
• Talking to others
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Exercise
• Altering your diet
• Taking more regular and effective rest

You can get more information on stress management, from The Health and Safety Executive here

The Vlog on this subject can be found here.

Health and Well-being

Someone asked me what do when I’m stressed and what I do to de-stress, my response was clean, run or clean and run!

I’m a runner, I often say it keeps me sane and if I haven’t run for few days I feel out of sorts and not as clear of mind.

I am an entrepreneur, wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, friend and volunteer – my time is always short. My faith keeps me centered and my 5 am runs give me breathing space – I’m not great if I haven’t run at least twice a week! I know what it takes to keep things on an even keel so I can be productive and not burn out. It’s a formula that works for me.

Do you know what you need to do for yourself? And for your team? Beyond ensuring you all actually use you allocated annual leave and do not work while you are on it!

Did you know that you have a duty of care for the stress management of your staff?

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states that organisations must ensure the health safety and welfare at work of their employees. This includes minimising the risk of stress-related illness or injury to employees.

It is your responsibility to:

• Monitor factors that might suggest there is a problem with stress-related illness in the business, for example, high rates of absenteeism, staff turnover, poor performance, conflict between staff
• Ensure there is a health and safety policy that addresses the issue of stress in the workplace, including, if appropriate, a stress management strategy
• Ensure effective risk assessments have been carried out, are monitored regularly and any recommendations are being implemented and adequately funded
• Plan for stress-related risks when embarking on significant organisational change.

Where you aware of this regulation? What are/will you do to ensure you are legislatively compliant?

Our Vlog on this subject can be found here

Putting Your Talent Management Strategy into Action

This is the last in our series on Talent Management.

Week One – We discussed the Importance of having a Talent Management Strategy and the benefit it can add to your business.

Week Two – We started creating your Talent Management Strategy, by identifying your Talent.

Week Three – We looked at the types of interventions needed to engage with your Talent and get them to where you need them to be, to grow and develop your business.

This week, it’s about putting your plan into action.

It’s easy when business is busy to focus on the here and now, delivering to your clients, making sales and ensuring that the day to day stuff happens. But only focusing on the here and now, will not get your business to grow and scale.

Remember that a wise man (Benjamin Franklin) said

“If you Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail”

It’s hard to losing a vital member of your team for a day a month, let alone more, and it may seem risky but you will reap the benefits.

The way to get your plan to work is to plan your activities and communication plan so that interventions are well spaced and allow for business as usual activities to continue.

You can provide training and staff engagement activities in 1-3 hour modules, so that they can be undertaken, first thing in the morning, at lunchtime or at the end of the day, to limit interruption.

Also, if there is essential training that all members of staff need to undertake, do it in batches, and consider train the trainer courses, so that you can deliver the training

The important is that you are communicating and engaging regularly with staff and that they know there is a plan and where they sit within it.

If you implement these steps, you will have a more engaged and motivated workforce, with reduced turnover.

A basic example plan, can be found here, it's main use is to ensure that you have a timeline that you can stick too, with not too many interventions happening at once. Once this plan has been agreed, it can be broken down into a gantt chart, to keep track of progress and critical delivery dates.

Creating an Effective Talent Management Plan – Part 2

Last week we spoke about the data you need to gather to ascertain who your ‘Talent’ is.

Once you have identified your talent you need to engage with them, so they know you think they are awesome and that they have a career path within your organisation. Then you need to provide them with the tools and opportunities that they need to achieve their full potential.

Here are the things that you need to put into place:

Engagement Activities:

Communication Plan - How do share information with your top performers?

Events – Lunchtime learning's, Audience with the CEO, Invited Speakers, Leadership event

Awards – Unsung Hero, Team Player, Volunteer of the Year

Training and Development Plan:

As part of your review process, both formal performance appraisals and regular 1-2-1’s you ought to be identifying any training needs. You need to add into those the training for the skills that you need your staff to have going forward.

This should be documented and agreed with the individuals.

Mentoring Scheme

A lot can be gained by having a mentoring program. A mentor should not be a manager of the individual, their role is to help them achieve their aspirations, NOT focus on their current tasks and responsibilities. Open doors for them, share knowledge and introduce them to some movers and shakers.

Opportunities to work on cross functional projects

Project work helps staff to develop their skills in negotiating, communication, time management, stakeholder management and more, all that will benefit you when they return to their regular role.

Sabbaticals

Time off to travel or volunteer can add to an employee’s skill-set. Also, from a well-being point of view, a break from work can prevent a resignation.

Secondments

Secondments to other departments within your organisation or externally, provides a new perspective and an opportunity to learn from how others work.

There is a requirement for both a time and resource investment, but it is a lot cheaper than having to hire and will definitely pump fresh life into your employees. You don’t have to do everything a once, but a plan with specific timelines, that are communicated with your talent, lets them know that you are thinking of them.

Let us know your thoughts or questions in the comments section below.

Next week, we will look at how you implement your plan.

Creating an Effective Talent Management Strategy – Part 1

In my last blog I explained why having a Talent Management Strategy was important and the value that it can bring to your business.

The CIPD definition of Talent is:

"Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organisational performance either through their immediate contribution or, in the longer-term, by demonstrating the highest levels of potential".

The first task is identifying your talent, by doing the following:

• Identify what skills and expertise your organisation currently needs – Do you have the right skills to keep your clients happy, or enough people with those skills for smooth delivery?
• Identify what skills and knowledge are needed to achieve your medium to long terms business plans – Are you planning to expand? Or Diversify? Is there new technology on the horizon?
• Identify those individuals currently making a signification contribution to your organisation (especially those who have a unique skill, what I call a single point of failure) – don’t just look at your senior team, look throughout your organisation
• Identify those with Potential to make a significant contribution to your organisation in the future – Who is displaying the values and ethos of your business, Who has shown their ability and desire to be great?

Depending on the size of your organisation, these tasks may take a while.

Stick to reviewing staff identified based on their current skills and knowledge, and their ability to develop into the skilled individuals that you will need for the future, not your gut.

The Vlog on this subject, can be found here.

Next week, we’ll look at part two of creating your Talent Management Plan.

Let us know how you get along and if you have any questions the comments section below

What is Talent Management and Why is it Important?

At one of the Corporate Consultancies that I used to work for, there was a period of staff reduction, following 5 years of rapid growth. Restructures with the insecurity of job losses are always stressful, and so we spent a long time working out the strategy for change. How to communicate with staff and what support to give to those who would be displaced. We ran the programme well, and at the end of the process, achieved our goal and reached our savings target.

However, in the 6 months following the restructure we received resignations from a large number of highly valued, well performing staff. When we attempted to retain these individuals, the feedback we received was that they didn’t feel secure in their role and that they didn’t feel valued or invested in. They certainly hadn’t realised that they were considered part of the top 10% of the Company.

This company DID NOT have a Talent Management Strategy! They didn’t invest in ensuring that their top performers were happy and motivated.

So, What is Talent Management?

The CIPD describes Talent Management as ‘the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles’

3 key reasons why Talent Management is key:

• Staff turnover will be reduced
• Client delivery will be improved
• Your organisation becomes a ‘employer of choice’

The Vlog on this subject, can be found here. Let us know how you motivate and retain your top talent in the comments section below.

Next week, we will cover how to start creating your Talent Management Strategy.