Bridging The Business Gap Between Office And Production

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No employer wants to deal with workplace divides that impact everything from efficiency to general atmosphere. It’s no wonder, then, that the majority of modern employers implement anti-bullying and discrimination policies, as well as taking fast action when disagreements do arise. Yet, despite your efforts, there may be a divide within the workplace that you’re forgetting to account for.

In businesses that deal with both office and production-based staff especially, resentments can often build due to discrepancies in the way different colleagues are treated. Production staff, in particular, often end up on the outside of an otherwise happy office bubble, especially as we increasingly focus company efforts online. But, this can cause all manner of issues considering that you rely on your production team to create the very items you’ll be shipping to your computer-based consumers.

With this in mind, it’s worth nipping resentment here in the bud before it grows, and we’ve got some pointers to help you do it.

Provide the same perks to both teams

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Bridging The Business Gap Between Office And Production

Resentment is inevitable if your office colleagues enjoy a decent aircon and the latest tech while production staff  are stuck next door in a cold factory that relies on outdated machines. Your first step for overcoming adversity and keeping morale strong across the business board is, therefore, to take time providing those same perks to your production staff. By this, we mean that you should implement heaters in the factory, and even invest in cutting-edge machine equipment as offered by companies like https://www.ceratizit.com/. Equally, making sure that break rooms and other such benefits are available to all can go a long way towards making sure no member of your team feels forgotten or pushed aside at any time.

Encourage integration

Departmental separations can be hard to overcome, hence why many managers implement open office and collaborative working to avoid them. Still, few company heads think to integrate warehouse and office staff in the same ways. They work in entirely different spheres, after all, so why bother? Actually, there’s a very good reason, and it again comes down to employee happiness. Failing to connect with every face in the workplace can cause a disconnect and a generally fragmented workforce that you don’t want. Make sure that doesn’t happen by arranging meetings that always include your entire staff and encouraging office-production nights out, etc. as much as you can.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Bridging The Business Gap Between Office And Production

Keep rules consistent

Workplace rules are essential, as is consistency when you apply them. You’ve heard the saying ‘one rule for one, another rule for the other,’ right? If you allow office staff to eat at their desks and get drinks when they want while your production staff are restricted by health and safety, for instance, you’re automatically going to ruffle feathers. Instead, make sure that office staff are in keeping with rules like no eating at work units, too. This small nod to equality might just be the final effort you need to keep both sides of your company on even footing at last.

Ways To Create A Harmonious Workplace

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Ways To Create A Harmonious Workplace

Nobody wants to come to work to be unhappy. More importantly, when you consider how much time your employees actually spend in the workplace, you can appreciate the need to need for your team to be happy at work. An unhappy and stressful work environment can have a very real impact on the mental health of your employees. As a business leader, you have a duty of care to ensure that the health and happiness of your team are maintained at a high standard.

From a business point of view, creating a happy workplace means that you will have a more productive team. There will be less sickness due to stress, and your team will work together in a more effective manner.

But, how do you prevent internal conflict and problems that stem from the way that the company is managed? Here are some ways that you can create a harmonious workplace.

Get Outside Help

If there are signs of any conflicts within the workplace, or the way that you are running the company seems to be bringing about stress and unhappiness, then this could end up being quite costly.

Seeking external help will mean that you get an outsider’s point of view. And a company that deals in dispute resolution and litigation solutions will be able to provide operational support and advice from a legal standpoint.

Have Policies In Place To Protect The Team

Many insecurities and stresses in the workplace stem from concerns over the fact that there are no policies that allow the team to feel secure. By making sure that all of their rights are taken into consideration in their contract and in the company policies and procedures will ensure that they feel secure and protected.

Foster A Policy Of Open Communication

Your employees have a right to know as much as possible about their workplace. Of course, there will be matters that they don’t need to know. However, if there are changes that may occur, consulting with your team and being open about them well ahead of their implementation will provide the time for any adjustments.

Be sure that you have an open-door policy, where you are approachable and free to answer any questions or deal with any concerns that your employees may evert have.

Encourage Your Team To Celebrate Each Other’s Successes

Success is something that should always be celebrated. You need to make sure that you create a workplace where this is standard practice.

As habits and behaviors are learned parrot fashion, you need to lead by example. Find the time each week to point out the success of the team, but also to highlight different personal successes. Don’t just focus on the same people each week though, and try and demonstrate a variety of skills and successes to celebrate.

A great way of encouraging your team to share in each other’s success is to create a noticeboard where they can leave positive thoughts about other members of the team. A ‘motivation station’ is great for building morale and making sure everyone feels part of the team.

How Much Should You Pay Your Staff?

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article, How Much Should You Pay Your Staff?

If you’re a start-up business looking to hire employees, you’ll need to consider how much money is enough to keep your staff happy without your business suffering. To stop you skimping out or overspending, here are some ways to budget for your staff and ensure they get the most suitable rate.

Know how much you can spare

Consider how much you need to comfortably live on and if you will need to make any cuts. You will need to be making enough money from your clients to cover the cost of your staff’s wages, plus compulsory insurance schemes such as employer liability and vehicle insurance if they are planning to drive. You’ll also have to account for any training and any wastage that may occur as a result of that (if it’s a restaurant you may need to prepare practice dishes resulting in wasted food, if it’s a professional electrician business you may have to pay for health and safety courses).

If after all this you still can’t afford to pay your staff minimum wage, you should reassess your business plan before making the decision to hire employees. Taking on a financial advisor or accountant temporarily may be necessary in order to budget this.

Commission or salary?

Next you’ll have to decide what kind of contract to give your staff. For businesses in which payment is not always guaranteed from week to week, commission pay may be more appropriate. In some sales jobs this can be a great incentive to make those big sales. However many employees may be put off by the uncertainty of not always being paid. Salary-based pay works best when you have a regular enough income to always assure payment to your staff. Failing to be able to provide for your staff could get you into a lot of trouble, so make sure you have that regular income to fall back on.

Account for age and experience

For young employees, the minimum wage bracket varies. This ranges from £3.40 for apprentices to £7.20 for those 25 and older. For businesses wanting to take on staff cheaply, apprenticeships are popular choice. However, apprentices are limited to what work they can legally do, and may still have to do their apprenticeship alongside a college course, so don’t look at them as a full-time solution.

It’s important to also account for experience. If you’re hiring an assistant manager, they should be getting more than your average worker. When advertising for experienced workers, make sure you’re charging more than the starting rate to ensure they don’t choose another business over yours.

Compare other businesses

A great way to gage the going rate is to find out what other businesses are charging. Job sites are a good indicator of this, as you can see what other employers are charging. For an even better pointer, you may wish to pay for a salary benchmarking and comparison survey. This involves paying a professional to review similar businesses to your own and find out exactly what they are paying their staff. From here you can set your own rate and know that you aren’t being too tight-fisted or over generous.

Incentives and bonuses

On top of regular pay you may want to provide extra incentives to keep staff happy. The most popular form of incentive is to offer bonuses to staff that perform well. This could include setting a yearly target that the whole team must aspire to or individual targets. Of course, make sure that these targets are realistic so that staff want to achieve them and don’t alter the goalposts halfway through the year – find a target and stick with it to keep people motivated (keep it on a big board or continuously talk about it weekly meetings).

Another incentive is to offer your staff stakes in the company. John Lewis is the most famous company to have pulled this off, but you don’t have to be retail giant like them – small business can offer shares too.

You can also offer other incentives such as free dental care, childcare vouchers, a company car or free lunches. Christmas parties and social events can also be provided to improve morale. These are some of the best incentives as they don’t just offer workers money but offer experiences. Such benefits are often known as employment packages. It is important to realise that these are affected by tax and NIC implications (another thing you may want to ask a financial advisor or accountant about).

Key Strategies For Increasing Productivity

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Productivity|Key Strategies For Increasing ProductivityProductivity is an area that has a direct impact on the success of a business, but it is also an area that can fluctuate drastically. When you are able to keep productivity high and find ways to boost productivity when inevitable dips occur, it can help you to take your company forward and keep your employees working at a high level at all times. This is an enormous challenge for business owners, but there are a few effective strategies that should help to increase your productivity and, in turn, help your business to find greater success and improve the performance of your team.

Increase Collaboration

One of the most effective strategies to try is to increase collaboration. People tend to step up their game when they are working in a pair or as part of the group as not to let down the other group member(s). Collaboration can also help your team to come up with different solutions, create a strong team-based mentality and lift morale.

Remote Working

Encouraging remote working can also have a positive impact on productivity. It may seem like allowing your staff to work from home would have an adverse effect, but you will find that productivity increases because morale is high and stress is lower, plus it can also be easy to work remotely thanks to cloud computing.

AV Design

Utilizing the best audiovisual and video conferencing systems can also help you to maximize productivity by creating technologically advanced workspaces that can allow you and your team to work to a high standard and collaborate with ease. Specialists like Interactive Solutions can work with you to understand your needs and then deliver high-tech, state-of-the-art spaces which will certainly have a positive impact on productivity.

Recruitment & Training

It is also worth addressing your recruitment policy to make sure that you are hiring the right people for the job. In addition to people who have the right skills and knowledge for each role, you should also make sure that you are hiring passionate workers who will come into work each day ready to perform. Additionally, you need to train your staff and give them added responsibilities to keep them engaged and on their toes at all times.

Improve Work Environment

You cannot expect your team to be productive if they are not working in a healthy environment. This is why you should take a careful look at the office environment to see if there are any improvements that could be made, such as increasing natural light, increasing airflow, allowing staff more room, or by investing in ergonomic furniture.

Hopefully, these strategies will give you a few ideas for how you can increase productivity in the workplace. This needs to be an area that all business owners keep a close eye on as there can be times where productivity will inevitably drop and so you must understand why this is. You can then take action to make improvements and maintain high levels of productivity for continued success.

Expand Your Recruitment Pool

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Recruitment|Expand Your Recruitment PoolWant to hire the perfect employee? The more candidates you have to choose from, the better your chances are of finding that ideal candidate. There are lots of ways to expand your pool of candidates. Here are just several ways to encourage more applicants so that you’re more likely to hire the right person for the job.

Advertise employee perks, not just demands

A bad job ad could put off the best jobseekers from applying. Often it’s these applicants that can afford to be picky – they have all the qualifications and experience you need and are looking for a company that sells itself to them. In order to appeal to these candidates, you need to make sure that you highlight the perks of working for your company. This could include benefits such as flexible working hours, bonuses or company-paid healthcare. Avoid solely listing demands from candidates as you could find that this only attracts the most desperate applicants.

Don’t limit yourself to local talent

Don’t always limit yourself to local talent. If someone needs to be able to work within your office, then clearly they need to be within good commuting distance. However, there may be some workers willing to relocate – perhaps even from abroad – that could be perfect for the role. You’ll need to swot up on business immigration law, but it could be worth it for expanding your options. There are also lots of jobs that can be worked remotely. For instance, a web programmer may be able to work from any location in the world and may not necessarily need to be someone based locally.

Think beyond job ad boards

Job ad boards like Indeed are great places to attract applicants – but they’re not the only place. There are many other places in which you can advertise and increase the exposure that your ads get, helping you to receive more applications. This could include advertising in newspapers, advertising on social media, attending job fairs at schools and universities or even placing posters and flyers in strategic places. Trying different forms of job advertising will involve more investment, but it could be worth it if you’re certain hire an employee that serves you well.

Use a recruitment agency

You can hire a recruitment agency to help look for talent. If you use a reliable recruitment agent, you should be able to increase the amount of applications you receive. Recruiters may even be able to handle tasks such as interviews for you to save you time.

Allow enough time

It’s also important that you’re not rushing the recruitment process. The longer you advertise for, the more applications you’ll receive. While you don’t have to advertise for months on end, you should make sure that you’re accepting applications for at least a week. Similarly, you should leave enough time to interview multiple candidates rather than just one or two favourites.