38 minute read
business support
What can businesses take away from the recent lockdown?
With so many businesses transitioning certain parts of the workforce to (and from) remote working over the last several months, there has been a lot of discussion about the best way to manage this.
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There has been all the talk of the logistical elements—which computer is appropriate to use, what should be in the background of video calls, and how will everyone’s internet connection hold up.
And then there are security considerations— how secure is your video calling platform, how do you use VPN, and where are your team storing their files.
But once we got over all the practical stuff, my team and I have spent more time reflecting on our remote working experiences. What we’ve enjoyed about working from home. What we haven’t enjoyed. And how we can bring the good bits back with us when we return back to the office.
Benefits to Remote Working
Almost everyone here at OpenCRM found themselves enjoying some aspects of home working…even if it was just getting up a bit later with a shorter commute!
A lot of our developers and non-phone answering people said they found it much easier to “get their heads down” on a particular task. Working from home gave them a reduction in interruptions so they could keep focused on particularly tricky tasks.
Some others cited a more relaxed approach as their favourite thing about working from home. Now we don’t have a very formal uniform in the office, but apparently even jeans and t-shirts is too formal for some! So the relaxed dress code was a winner.
I have to say that I quite enjoyed being able to take our dogs for a lunchtime walk. It was a really nice way to unwind from the stress of the morning and get re-focused for the afternoon
Saying that, when it came to pets and kids, the team was a bit mixed in their response. We all have enjoyed getting to spend more time with our immediate families during this lockdown, but the interruptions could make things tricky from time to time.
Downsides to Remote Working
In reality, those distractions at home were the thing our team most often mentioned as making remote working difficult. In some cases, it was kids or pets, in others it was the lure of the laundry basket or washing up bowl. When in the office, those tasks can be happily put to the back of your head, but when they’re in the next room…well, it’s a lot harder. Add to that the isolation and worry for family and friends? And I would say you’ve hit the nail on the head with the biggest downside to remote working during a global pandemic lockdown: the mental health challenges.
This was something we as a company (as with every other business making the same transition) had to address very quickly.
Our shift to video calls instead of normal voice calling or instant messaging for scheduled meetings and impromptu chats went a long way to helping everyone feel connected. We also added a “tea and toast” session every morning before the start of the work day, just to take the place of all those little chats you have with your office mates when you first get into the building.
I won’t say that fixed everyone’s worries, but it did help to make us all feel like we were part of the same team. That we were all ‘in this together’.
Transitioning back to the office
On balance, there were positives and negatives to having our team all working from home. We did what we could to address the downsides, putting a variety of mechanisms in place to keep people feeling connected and on task.
But what about all those positives? How do you make sure to bring the benefits of remote working back as we all transition into a shared office once again?
business going forward. For those job roles that CAN work from home and found a benefit from it, should it be something they do a couple of times a week? Or even just a few days a month?
If you have people who are more productive when they aren’t in the office, then you certainly don’t want to lose that!
What about all those people who most enjoyed wearing loungewear while working? Well, you probably aren’t going to change your dress code to allow bunny slippers, but are there other things you can do to make your staff more comfortable?
You could institute casual Fridays, for example. Or relax the dress code for those people who are never customer facing?
The important thing to consider when returning to the office after lockdown is ask yourself (and your team) what elements of home working they’d like to bring back with them to the office? I am sure that an open and frank conversation about the pros and cons will tell you everything you need to know about what your team most values.
Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.
Lessons to be learnt from lockdown
Today is 6th April 2020. It’s a beautiful Spring Day and the country is in lockdown.
I’m writing this article from a laptop on my dining table. If you’d asked me at the start of the year what 2020 would bring I’d never have predicted this. This article will be published in a few months’ time and it’s difficult to predict where we’ll all be then. Even as I write, in these first few weeks of lockdown, business lessons are being learnt for the future, including:
Cash is king: Consider what funds your business needs to survive if for whatever reasons they are unable to trade for a period of time.
Collect your debts: Chase your debts early and effectively to ensure the continued collection of cash.
T&C’s: Consider how you engage with key suppliers, customers and banks.
In one sense these are the more negative sides of the lockdown and its ability to expose a business’s weakness, but what about the positives? One significant positive that has come out of the lockdown is that businesses have been challenged to work in different ways. These are some of the less obvious lessons I have seen from the lockdown:
Nicola Holton
Home working: Employees can work from home and the job still gets done.
Technology: We don’t need to insist on everyone being physically present at the department meeting at head office. Virtual parties, pub quizzes and cocktail hour could become the new way of networking.
Innovation: Business have adapted to survive, and some of those adaptations are here to stay. For example, cafés unable to trade are using their supplier contacts to operate as food shops and gyms forced to close are renting their equipment to customers and offering virtual workouts online.
Flexibility: Childcare is a concern for many - yes it’s a juggle and no it’s not ideal. However with greater flexibility the work place suddenly becomes an option for the thousands of overqualified parents who are either unable to find work or forced to take jobs they’re overqualified for because of the need to make the 3pm school pick up.
So, after this period of social distancing, what will your lockdown legacy be? Rather than focussing on the negatives, why not focus on the positives and use the lesson lockdown has created to make positive, and future proofing, changes to your business.
Nicola Holton, Legal Director, Restructuring & Insolvency at EMW
Please visit www.emwllp.com or email enquiries@emwllp.com, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
It’s been a challenging few months, but we’re here to help.
Discover our apprenticeship and training opportunities for your business at ccgtraining.co.uk
Will Covid-19 transform business?
Could Covid-19 fundamentally change the way businesses operate – prompting a permanent shift to more virtual working?
There is no doubt the lockdown has caused a significant drop in movement across major cities. New Yorkers were going to the grocery store 32 per cent less often at the start of the nightmare. And according to Google, London’s lockdown initially caused an 80 per cent drop in trips to transit stations.
The Automobile Association (AA) predicts a permanent reduction in the demand for travel because people will have learned during the crisis to use home-working technology. President of the AA, Edmund King, says we should invest more in broadband as a result of the reduction because the current crisis already shows the majority of companies can continue working from home and it can be more efficient.
Permanent change
Professor Greg Marsden, from Leeds University’s Transport Studies Unit, says the UK government’s projections of traffic growth underpinning the roads programme was previously one per cent a year – which would have meant an increase of 35 per cent by 2055. But, after this pandemic, there could be an actual fall in traffic, and the UK’s road expansion programme should focus instead on rebuilding public transport and switching more vehicles to zero emissions. Even before the crisis, a global survey of more than 2,000 commuters in ten major cities by the infrastructure architects Weston Williamson & Partners indicated a trend towards more remote working. It suggested there was already a reduction of travel to work between two and five per cent.
If more employees work from home permanently, maintaining productivity and ensuring security isn’t compromised are serious considerations uppermost in many company directors’ minds.
Gary Jowett, from Computer & Network Consultants in Brighton, says: “There are many solutions available for safe and effective remote working and virtual collaboration. There may still have been some resistance to rolling these out because many employers like to see people in the office. But that is no longer necessary for many jobs. Getting to a desk in central London represents attendance, not performance. Technology now enables accurate productivity measures to show whether or not someone is contributing sufficiently to your business.”
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Practical Compliance: Succession Planning
Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing new leaders who can, potentially at short notice, succeed the existing leadership in either a planned or unplanned situation.
Eight thoughts for succession planning
Here are eight ideas to consider when thinking about your own business.
1: Start early
A common problem is people not giving succession planning the time it deserves unless forced to by an employee resigning or approaching retirement.
2: Be honest
For those approaching what used to be considered retirement age, start the conversation about what they really want for themselves. Are they looking to leave as soon as possible, or would they like to carry on working, when would they like to retire?
3: Harness internal expertise
Think about how experienced staff can pass on their skills and expertise so you do not lose the corporate knowledge.
4: Develop your deputies
Deputies can sometimes be more used to working with their leader and have not had enough opportunity to be challenged in the leadership role before stepping up to the position permanently.
5: Let generations learn from each other
In addition to mentoring their younger colleagues, more experienced staff relish learning about using technology and new ideas from them. This builds cross generational trust and respect which can be harnessed to identify tomorrow’s potential leadership from staff early in their career.
6: Explore all options
Keep an open mind, it may not be a case of appointing an individual successor. It might be a good opportunity to consider how the organisation has developed over time, then redefining the role and maybe splitting it between two people.
7: Keeping it in the family might not be easy
The owners of a family business might consider a straight handover to the next generation to be the ideal succession. It may be that is not the right solution, competence and capability enter the equation as is the question if the next generation is interested enough in the business to take it on and move it forward.
8: Learn to let go
Possibly the hardest one of all particularly if you have started and developed the business from scratch. Working with your successor over a period can build the trust required to allow you to let go.
How can we help
Compliance Matters UK Limited offers cost effective and practical guidance. Contact us on 07768 422 213 or email ian@compliancematters.co.uk to discuss any needs you may have.
How to retain liquidity and protect you business in uncertain times. Most businesses will not be immune to a downturn in economic activity or indeed a crisis economy. PROTECT YOURCASH FLOW It is essential that for businesses to protect cash flow and stayasflexible as possible during the period of uncertainty. Assess howthe change inmarket conditions could affect your business and amend your forecasts accordingly. Pay specific attention to your Debtors. Many businesses will bein thesame cycle and whilst it is a good idea to extend your terms ofpayment with your supplier's, your customers may attempt todo thesame. Amending your forecasts are key. The earlier you can identify a possible problem with your future cash flow and devise a strategy to solve it, the easier it is to rectify PROTECT YOURCUSTOMER BASE Your customer base is inmany businesses a keypillar for success and is not generated quickly. Consider the implications of any changes you areconsidering irrespective of whether they are shortormedium/long term on this asset.Customers are easy to lose to thecompetition and not so easy to win back. "If you have a secure business that has been established with a sound strategy, provided you retain the key pillars in your business and can manage cash flow through the economic downturn, you will be in a position to take advantage of the upturn after the crisis subsides." PROTECT YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN A downturn in the economy will have an affect on your supply chain. Any interruption could have an effect on your ability to supply. Where you perceive weakness in the chain find alternatives as a back up. Communicate with your suppliers and work on retaining goodwill even if you need to extend payment terms. Your main suppliers are also key pillars in your business and relationships should be retained if possible. CONSIDER SCALING BACK ON YOUR GROWTH PLAN Whilst it is important to have targets for your business you may need to consider scaling back asset purchases and reducing stock levels in view of reduced business activity. Both these decisions will protect cash flow. If your targets and growth plan were created from sound principles and you protect the key pillars of your business you will be in good shape to move forward once there is a return to normal business activity. RETAINING KEY STAFF Your staff are another key pillar of your business. It is a natural reaction to look at reducing your cost base in a crisis economy, but try to protect key staff that would take considerable time to replace once normal trading resumes.
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Local firm supply Nightingale hospitals
Hastings based manufacturer of cable management systems, Marshall-Tufflex was recently approached to supply its antimicrobial cable trunking for the new emergency NHS Nightingale Hospitals, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Business Edge spoke to Jon Chamberlain, Group Sales Director at Marshall-Tufflex, about the company’s role in the project.
Marshall-Tufflex was established in 1942 and manufactures a range of cable management systems including dadomounted PVC-U perimeter trunking to route and contain cables. This trunking can also be manufactured using an antimicrobial ‘Bio’ ingredient to help prevent the spread of infection.
How did the contract come about?
Marshall-Tufflex was contacted on Sunday 29th March from Edmundson Electrical Doncaster with a requirement for Bio dado trunking. Recognising the need for a rapid response, we completely changed our production schedules to manufacture the order as soon as possible. The first batch left our plant the next morning, on Monday 30th March.
Since the first order, we have been awarded further contracts to supply additional Nightingale locations nationwide and to date, we have supplied our cable management products to the Manchester, Harrogate, Exeter, NEC Birmingham and Jersey, NHS Nightingale Hospitals, plus orders for the new Covid-19 emergency hospitals in Glasgow, Cardiff and Ireland.
What products have you supplied?
We have supplied a wide range of PVC-U cable management trunking systems of which, the majority of the specifications are for trunking with antimicrobial Bio properties. This is because at any hospital site, the cable management solution will constantly come into contact with a multitude of people, which means it has the potential to become a breeding ground for bacteria if not addressed.
The manufacturing process for our Bio trunking uses a silver ion solution throughout the product, which disrupts the key cell functions of bacteria and prevents them from reproducing. This means it will deliver ongoing antimicrobial protection, ensuring that 99.9% of harmful bacteria, including MRSA, will not survive on the surface.
Marshall-Tufflex has many years of experience in this area. We have two systems as part of our standard range that contain the Bio technology - Odyssey and Sterling Curve Profile 1 - that have been supplied to the Nightingale sites.
What challenges has the business had to overcome to meet demand?
We have never before dealt with such volumes and at such a pace. What we are seeing is unprecedented levels of demand for Bio trunking. To put this in perspective, our average use of the Bio ingredient in our manufacturing is around three tonnes every year. In the past three weeks alone, we have used over 40 tonnes. Some requests required delivery on the same day and one delivery was handed over at 2.00am in the morning, following the order just 12 hours earlier.
To meet the huge volumes and urgency, we have had to completely change our manufacturing and distribution operation. Our factory has been running 24/7 and our brilliant team have worked extra hours, including weekends and the Easter bank holiday to deliver the quantities required. Our logistics team have
transformed their procedures, often with multiple drops required to the same site per day and opening branches during the weekend and out of hours.
We are very proud to have accomplished so much in a short space of time and play a part in this extraordinary national response. We couldn’t have done this without the support of key suppliers within our supply chain - it has been a real team effort and we are honoured to have assisted in the construction of these exceptional hospitals.
About Marshall-Tufflex
A British, family owned company with its Head Office and manufacturing facility in Hastings, Marshall-Tufflex also has distribution depots in Watford and Manchester. For more than 75 years, Marshall-Tufflex has been pioneering plastic extrusion in the UK and leading the way in areas of product research, development and innovation, especially when it comes to using recycled material.
Think, rethink, revitalise.
I read an article once. Virtual working, what a breeze. Combine home with work, make your own schedule, it’s all about the individual choice. Right? If only it were that simple. Why? Because we’re social animals. We speak, listen, observe, touch, as we work. We hand things over, receive things, share things, together. We lean over shoulders, huddle around desks, we touch, observe, listen, speak. This is life. We are formed, identified by these routines.
Dr Robert Cole
Chief Executive Officer, Roffey Park Institute
The impact of Covid-19 has shattered everything. Where do I stand? Where do I sit? How does this stuff work? And, when it’s all over, where will I fit? Will I fit? Our people are stressed to hell, and many are fearful of where this all leads. What is ‘new normal’ anyway? How do we navigate to wherever this leads?
We’re talking to many organisations, across civil administration, public sector, professions and commerce. There are variations in their blend of experiences, but there are similarities. Many organisations see an in-group developing, those for whom this virtual phase is a dynamic opportunity. Conversely, there are those for whom this is a kind of horror show. The issue isn’t necessarily generational, in fact it is unlikely to be this, once we get past the clichés. It is more likely to be an issue of whether what we do is relevant to the virtual work priorities. If your people are at the margins of what is now key to survival, then it is no wonder that they fear being peripheral to the future.
For me, the biggest change facing us is to do with our understanding of competence. What virtual working clearly demonstrates is the critical value of social connection, of sharing, listening and generating know-how. I wrote to my own staff recently that the myth, the dangerous myth, of individual competence is going to be, if we think this through well, the biggest victim of the lockdown. And, not before time!
Why? Ask your IT people to calculate how much time is being spent by your workforce in Zoom or Teams (other platforms are available). It will be massive. And growing. Because when we achieve, we do so with and through each other, combining, integrating, exploring. We might measure by individual, but we perform socially, in groups, teams, communities, families. The individual competent is dead. Long live generative teams! We’ve taken a walk through the fractured landscape that is the world of work that our colleagues now occupy. Perhaps we should now look forward to some of the opportunities that we could take advantage of. appallingly low salaries. We pay people who invent financial instruments to rip people off a fortune. It is time to re-evaluate how and why we reward people. It is time to put human social value at the heart of reward.
We have the opportunity to think about work environments and how we encourage innovation, dialogue and generation. Many people in our organisations will have found new, inclusive and clever ways of being and working together. Let’s collate this and turn our organisations into a collage of collaboration and cohesion.
We can revitalise the meaning of what we do. We have the opportunity to align purpose to human health, social sustainability and environmental respect. And by respect I mean we should question every input in order to eliminate every single thing that is unnecessary in what we do.
We have the opportunity to create resilient organisations, generating leadership as its people work, enhancing and holding each other as we go through our day.
In this collective economic pause we have a unique opportunity to think, rethink and revitalise.
Getting on the right track
The benefits of a hosted platform telecommunications system are huge, as Track Eleven founder Martin Woolley knows from long experience.
Hailing from a background in selling CISCO networks, the biggest networking manufacturer in the world, Martin established Track Eleven – with its own, unique hosted platform – because “that was the way the world was going”.
The adaptability and flexibility has certainly come into its own this year. For Track Eleven’s clients, the telecommunications side of things has continued to operate smoothly and efficiently – a lifeline in these uncertain times.
Martin said: “The business has changed quite a bit since my CISCO days, mainly due to the advent of hosted telecoms.
“Back then, companies had to buy their own hardware and manage their communications system themselves. Now, there is little benefit in doing so.
“For one thing, if you had one of those older style technologies, it was quite a complex matter making it possible for people to work from home.”
Today, Track Eleven installs a network tailored to the specific needs of the individual client and then hosts the communications platform on its behalf.
“We can provide any type of solution, from a single telephone line into an office to a whole system designed to help your business grow,” he said.
With apps installed on computers and mobile phones, people could be connected to their office from absolutely anywhere.
“It’s that flexible,” he said, “and with capabilities that previously would only have been open to large companies with big budgets and in-house resources.”
A major advantage of a hosted platform is the ability to scale the service up or down as needed, while retaining access to the full range of features and functions. Indeed, Track Eleven works with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from the one-man band to companies with hundreds of users. “Even the one-man band gets the features and benefits of a comprehensive telecoms system, while only paying a relatively small monthly amount,” he said.
“Our telecoms run over the internet and we can provide the connectivity required too, so we really do provide all-round solutions, no matter the size of the business.”
Yet another advantage is that companies can have, or appear to have, sites in multiple locations, but all the telecoms come back to one location.
When considering having a new system installed, Martin’s best advice is to keep one eye firmly on the future – and plan for it!
Martin Woolley
He said: “No matter what stage your business is at, start-up or expansion, always keep your options open. You need to forecast what you are going to need before you actually need it.
“In the past, that meant paying to install the whole caboodle, but, again, the benefit of this system is that you can scale it up and down as required, as long as you’ve got the capacity in the first place.”
Security was key too, of course, and high on Track Eleven’s agenda. Documents, meeting recordings, you name it, they are stored safely.
While Track Eleven is based in Haywards Heath and the core of its customers are in London and the South East, it works with businesses all over the country.
It can cater for anybody anywhere in the UK, said Martin. Who needs to be in the same room anymore?
“No matter the size of your business or location, at Track Eleven our number one goal is the same - to find the solutions that are right for you.
“We will take care of all your communication and IT needs, enabling you to focus on what you do best: the business itself.”
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Mental health training for your workplace
Did you know that from June you will be able to train Mental Health First Aiders for your workplace via the new virtual course developed by MHFA England.
Mental Health First Aid teaches people how to recognise signs of mental distress, giving them the skills and confidence to respond appropriately, whilst taking care of their own mental health and wellbeing. The new version of the training follows a blended learning approach. This consists of online tutorials and self-directed study, using a variety of materials including comprehensive manuals supplied as part of the course.
I’m Alex Langridge and I have been delivering high quality training to support mental health in the workplace since 2010. In addition to Mental Health First Aid training, I offer a consultancy service and a range of courses which can be delivered online, including managing mental health for line managers.
Discounts are available for Sussex Chamber of Commerce members and those who have been exceptionally hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis. For more details please contact me at
alex@mentalhealthandsafety.com
Having work that is fulfilling and meaningful is known to have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. The role employers can play in influencing their employee’s health and wellbeing can’t be underestimated, employers have a duty of care to ensure their employee’s health, both physical and mental, is not negatively impacted by the work they do.
The financial impact of poor health and wellbeing at work is significant, according to the Centre of Mental Health in 2017/18 the cost to the UK economy of poor mental health was £35 billion, this equates to approximately £1,300 per employee. The HSE reports that 1.4 million workers were suffering from work-related ill health (new or longstanding) in 2017/18. Whether you employ 10 people or 1,000 people there will be a cost to your business if you ignore the health and wellbeing of your employee’s. Those costs are likely to include increased sickness absence, loss in performance and productivity, higher staff turnover, the associated costs of recruitment and the loss of talent from a business. A strategy that is integral to your business is key, one which recognises and understands both the physical and mental health risks and issues that employee’s may face. This is where an Occupational Health service can be of great value, by helping to identify those health risks and issues, advising and guiding the business in implementing a programme that will minimise risks and contribute positively in building and maintaining a healthy workforce.
Alex Langridge
Health & Wellbeing in the Workplace
www.mentalhealthandsafety.com
It can be useful to prioritise what your business needs and wants from a workplace health and wellbeing perspective, this may include reducing sickness absence levels and associated costs. You may have noticed that there are more people struggling with mental health issues but you are unsure how to support this. A good starting point is to improve awareness around a particular health topic, such as mental health, beginning with Managers and Supervisors who often are the best people who will know their staff and notice changes that could be associated with a mental health issue. Following on from raising awareness more and more businesses are recognising the benefit of having people trained as Mental Health First Aiders, who learn how to approach, respond, assess, and give support to someone who may be struggling with their mental health. Mental Health First Aiders can also play a key part in raising awareness of mental health within your workplace, helping to illuminate stigma’s that are often associated with mental health and can be a barrier for someone who may want and need help but feels unable to ask for help.
The overall benefits of managing and improving workplace health and wellbeing will also include better staff engagement and retention by contributing to your corporate reputation, with more people looking beyond their salary and job role when it comes to determining whether you are a good employer. Whatever you do, it can start small and should always evolve just as your business evolves and grows.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Mental health and wellbeing at work continues to be one of the most challenging issues that employers face. The financial cost to organisations of poor mental health is estimated to be £42bn a year; rising to nearer £100bn if you include the cost to the NHS.
What should organisations consider?
Now more than ever, employers need to ensure they promote healthy workplaces where people feel comfortable speaking to someone if they are struggling. One of the ways this can be done is through a Wellness Action Plan which provides a useful framework for discussing stress and anxiety at work; management skills training and having qualified Mental Health First Aiders.
Other factors to consider are:
Mental Health Policy - is this accessible to staff and managers? Does it clearly signpost people to internal and external resources available? Culture of Openness - how often are people asked how they are feeling, not just an update on what they are doing? Regular breaks - are employees encouraged and allowed to take regular breaks during the day to restore their mental energies? Email policy - are people expected to be on call 24/7? Sports people value their rest days as much as training days, we need to recharge our minds too. Banter - is this effective and appropriate in building enjoyable workplaces or exclude/offend people (and become a source of stress)? Clear objectives & guidance - when people know what’s expected of them, they can better perform to their full potential and use constructive feedback for future success. Coaching/mentoring - reflecting on progress and sharing insights pays huge dividends.
What causes stress?
There are many things that cause stress, and what is stressful for one person could be exciting to someone else. It is important to notice what are your stress triggers which will probably fit into one of these categories:
1. Protecting things that are important to you (e.g. family, loved ones, house, car, finances)
2. Negative evaluation - fear of being assessed or judged negatively (for some people speaking up, interviews, tests are stressful for fear of judgement)
3. Lack of control (having no say in decisions that relate to you, or factors outside of your control (e.g. train cancellations).
Recent webinar feedback: Many thanks, your webinar was the best one I have attended in a long time. It was a great session, so enjoyable, thank you! Another excellent presentation. Wonderful session once again. Thank you!
Anna Golawski
What is your stress signature?
In addition to being aware of what causes you stress, it is important to recognise what are the signs and symptoms that indicate that pressure and stress are building up. There are various signs to look out for so that you can act on them:
Supporting remote workers?
At the moment it may be difficult to pick up on the signs of remote workers who may be struggling. Here are some of the changes in behaviour to look out for on calls/webinars:
Increased worrying / Language - what words are they using
Headaches, or other unexplained aches and pains
Negativity / Are they being more pessimistic?
Loss of confidence
Apathy / Tone of voice - flat or monotone, sighing
Quality of work declining / Deadlines being missed
Lack of participation on calls/webinars (or avoiding them altogether)
How are you feeling?
Studies of 5,000 UK employees found that 76% wanted increased contact with their managers to discuss their health and wellbeing, performance and workload.
The poll found less than 24% of managers regularly check in with their employees to talk about mental health and wellbeing. And a further 43% of employees said their manager makes no effort at all to check in with them during the current lockdown, despite the duty of care employers have for the wellbeing of their workforce.
Asking someone at work how they are feeling may feel slightly uncomfortable so another way to ask about people’s wellbeing is to ask them how they are doing on a scale of 1 - 10. This can feel slightly less intrusive, it gives the person the opportunity to personally reflect on how they are and if you ask the question regularly you will be able to pick up quickly if someone is struggling.
To have a further conversation about wellbeing, the LEARN model is a useful framework:
During the lockdown, Anna Golawski is providing a series of free webinars to on the topic of mental health, stress and resilience and can provide top tips sheets and a template of a Wellness Action Plan. Please contact anna@stratuscoaching.co.uk for further information.
Sussex Chamber of Commerce is pleased to introduce AXA PPP healthcare for their business healthcare cover
Day or night, we’re here to help put your mind at ease
When you or one of your employees has a health worry playing on your mind, it can make it difficult to focus on anything else.
That’s why at AXA PPP healthcare, regardless of whether you have healthcare cover with us or not, we give Chambers of Commerce members free access to our 24/7* health information telephone helpline, Health at Hand. Our Health at Hand team is on hand to support you and your team. Whether it’s a question to do with your own health or your child’s health, our team of nurses, counsellors, midwives and pharmacists are here to help put your mind at ease.
Some of the ways we can help:
If you have a question about medication that you’ve been prescribed, our team of pharmacists is on hand to help
If someone in your team is struggling to cope with the pressures of work or home life, they can speak to a counsellor about how they’re feeling
If you have a question or a worry about your health, you can discuss the symptoms with a nurse
To find out more and to activate your free access to Health at Hand, visit axappphealthcare.co.uk/Chambers or call us on 0800 389 7413**
*Health at Hand nurses and counsellors are available 24/7. Pharmacists and midwives are available 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm Saturdays and 8am-12pm Sundays. The Health at Hand service does not diagnose or replace your own GP. All calls to Health at Hand are confidential.
**Phone lines are open 8:30am-5:30pm Monday to Friday. We may record and/or monitor calls for quality assurance, training and as a record of our conversation.
How to select the right electronic (or digital) signature for your business
The days of chasing people for signatures in person are over. Legally binding electronic and digital signatures are the new norm. But are you using the correct one for your business? Did you know that you could be at risk by using the wrong type?
A Digital Signature is a type of Electronic Signature, but not every Electronic Signature is a Digital Signature. Let’s break that down…
An Electronic Signature (or simple electronic signature) is the equivalent of your handwritten signature digitised. You can, in a couple of clicks, without any concrete process of identity verification or consent, have a document signed that is legally binding. However, there is no way of guaranteeing that the document has not been modified since signing or of establishing the true identity of the person who signed. So, while electronic signatures may be legally binding, proving that the person signed the document is a whole other issue
A Digital Signature (or an Advanced Electronic Signature), on the other hand, uses digital certificates and PKI (or Public Key Infrastructure) for authentication and encryption/hashing for security and its audit trail. Digital Signatures must:
Be uniquely linked to the signatory;
Be capable of identifying the signatory;
Be created using electronic signature creation data that the signatory can, with a high level of confidence, use under his sole control; and
Be linked to the data signed in such a way that any subsequent change in the data is detectable.
Without digital signatures, your documentbased transactions may not be legally binding, putting you and your business at risk in the event of a compliance or legal case.
How Can We Help?
SigniFlow ® can help make your workplace more efficient and secure by using our digital signature technology to protect and tamper-proof your documents. Our platform allows for a streamlined process,
and is web and mobile-based, allowing you to send out contracts, agreements, images, and more in a digital format so customers and employees no longer need to print, sign, scan and email ever again.
Is digital marketing for you?
Last week Mike Knivett turned away two prospective clients which, especially in these uncertain economic times, might seem unusual.
However, Mike’s business, Artemis Marketing, prides itself on being completely open and honest; if they genuinely don’t think they can help a client, they’ll tell them up front rather than just take their money.
This one-time accredited financial adviser pulls no punches, whoever he’s speaking to. “It’s sadly the case that many agencies have performance-incentivised sales people with targets to hit – they will say almost anything to land a new client,” he said.
“But the two businesses I turned away were just not going to work online – they were not going to get a positive return on their investment through SEO or paid search.”
In almost any industry, it took many months and a significant level of investment to achieve national or regional coverage and the coveted top results on an organic Google search.
Mike and his business partner Justin Aldridge, a former technical engineer with F1 team British American Racing, established Artemis Marketing in 2004.
Today it has 122 retained clients, many of whom have worked with the company for five to 10 years, plus an annual turnover just under £2m.
Much in the way the performance of a Formula One car is continuously improved, in small, incremental steps, clients’ websites and their content marketing are continually refined to turn them into authority sites within search engines and a great user experience, all of which leads to increased traffic, conversions and revenue.
“Most agencies think ‘how did the client do last month? OK, do a bit more of that then’,” said Mike.
“In contrast, we strategically plan and record everything we do in great detail every month, so all clients know exactly what activities are being worked on for them.”
Back in February this year, a few weeks before the pandemic broke, Mike and telecommunications expert Richard Scott launched Artemis Telecoms.
Its aim: to help clients take advantage of both the cost savings and increased efficiencies cloud-based communications systems offer businesses.
They have taken on extra members of staff already. “It’s proving very successful, even in this challenging environment,” said Mike, “but I’m delighted to say we acquired another new client yesterday.”
High speed fibre and lease lines, teleconferencing, video calls, collaboration software that enables efficient remote
Mike Knivett
Managing Director, Artemis Marketing
working and video conferencing, especially of interest in the new world of lockdown for many SME’s – the whole gamut of digital telecoms technology in other words – that is what Artemis Telecoms are offering.
“Although Coronavirus is utterly awful, it’s really making businesses take decisions they have been putting off,” he said.
“The new normal is not going to be offices crammed with staff, so new, sustainable, intelligent communications systems are a must.”
Root and branch reform was often called for, particularly for those still “paying through the nose” for legacy systems – the old fashioned landlines – that cost a fortune compared to modern, digital systems.
He said: “I have functionality in my business that many years ago I could only dream of, but I’m paying 40% less than 10 years ago for our communication systems, because the cost of calls and the technology itself has come down so much.”
Back on the marketing side, Artemis spends around £250,000 a year on research and development, analysing changes in Google’s algorithms and running tests on internal sites to assess their potential impact on clients’ search engine rankings.
The results speak for themselves and over 80% of Artemis new clients have been referred by existing clients.
