Happy New Year! It’s time to speculate on what the next twelve months will bring - a new government; sporting success in the World Cup perhaps? Given that the New Year is naturally a time for reflection and taking stock, in our first email update of 2010 we are taking a look at some longer term initiatives that will hopefully have more chance of success than our New Year’s resolution to give up chocolate!
With the economic climate still looking bleak for the foreseeable future, the innovation and creativity demonstrated by so many businesses last year to remain competitive and work smarter with the resources available is a trend we suggest will be key to setting the foundations for when things do pick up; so where better to start than with your employees…
Working with what you’ve got
Whether your organisation is still not over the worst of it or you are finding your remaining employees are suffering from an element of ‘survivor syndrome’ following the redundancy of colleagues, are you confident that your current workforce have the right skills to take your business forward or indeed have the opportunity to develop themselves to their full potential?
If not, you may be questioning how you can start to achieve this when the last thing your budget can extend to is the ‘luxuries’ of training? Well, in times like this we would suggest that it may simply be a case of giving your employees clear direction and opportunities for development through your appraisal process and making sure that these are clearly aligned with business objectives.
And if training needs are identified, the answer doesn’t have to lie in traditional ‘classroom learning’. Perhaps a blended approach to training and development may be the key. Alternative approaches such as coaching, mentoring, e-learning and online forums or a blend of different methods may prove more cost effective and better meet the requirements of your business by overcoming the challenges faced by the geographical spread of employees or different shift patterns, etc.
Avoiding heartache – literally
Whilst it is inevitable that many employees will come down with the lurgy at some stage over the year, particularly with the threat of swine flu still strong, how many of your workforce are heart attacks waiting to happen?
In the interests of productivity not to mention cost, health check assessments for employees, whilst not without expense, may prove their weight in gold if unknown conditions are detected early and preventative measures can be taken. In addition, promoting staff wellbeing demonstrates that you are investing in employees, which in turn can have a positive effect on morale – much needed in these uncertain times and through the winter months – and business efficiency.
Technophobes please try harder!
Who knows what advances there’ll be over the next couple of years, let alone by the end of this next decade, to further transform the way we do business when considering the more widespread use of technology since the Millennium and online sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc, which provide unlimited networking opportunities at the click of a button. This, along with the opportunity for the sharing of ideas at our finger tips through the likes of YouTube, means the world really can be your business oyster. Perhaps these quieter times are ideally suited to getting to grips with unfamiliar technologies and fully embracing what the virtual world can do for your organisation.
If you wish to find out more about the initiatives included in this email update, discuss training solutions, review your policies and procedures to ensure they can take you into “the tens” decade, or if you are not over the worst of it and are having to consider making redundancies, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01425 479888 / 01189 349 845 / 0207 152 4090 or contact us .
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