Author: Molly Billings | The Caraires Recruitment Consultancy

5 simple ways to improve your work-life balance

28th November 2019 by Molly Billings

There is a certain expectation on bosses to push themselves as hard as physically possible.

However, despite their increased position of power within a company, bosses should be held to the same level of welfare as any other employee – as they’re just as susceptible, if not more so, to succumbing to the same mental and physical well-being issues as their workers.

Statistics from Wellness & Lifestyle Management stated that because of the immense pressure of their workload, CEOs are at a 58.97% higher risk of having cardiac issues, 35% more likely to have high blood pressure and 23.08% more likely to have high cholesterol.

The biggest killer worldwide especially amongst executives, accounting for over 60% Medicare costs and deaths, is heart attacks. According to statistics available from Apollo’s Computerised Health Scan over ten per cent of CEOs had survived a heart attack in the year under review.

These shocking statistics highlight just how essential it is for business leaders to consider their own work-life balance a priority. But what can they do to make this key change in their lifestyles? These five points present not only key ideas for change, but also a road-map of how to implement drastic changes for improved health and to ensure that work also improves.

Establish your priorities

Of course, increasing your work-life balance means reducing workload, but this doesn’t mean that productivity has to falter. A significant amount of the work that CEOs do is low priority or can be passed onto others. The first step to making this key change is by ranking your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks by order of priority, therefore separating the essential from the non-essential. This doesn’t just apply to work-life; the same logic should be applied to your home life, therefore making more time to concentrate on your wellness, fitness and mental well-being.

Account for the time in your day

So much of your time is likely to be taken up by disorganisation. By truly accounting for your time and planning your days properly, you can not only save time, but create some mental clarity which will help you achieve success going forward.

Make friends with the word ‘no’

If you’re a leader, it’s likely that you often take on the stress and workloads of others to offer what you perceive to be stability. However, this isn’t true stability. Good leaders help actualise change in other, they don’t simply accept their team’s workloads. Start saying no, and make it a regular part of your vocabulary. This will prevent you from being the target for those looking to unload, and free up more time for essential tasks.

Stop seeking perfection

There’s no such thing as perfect, yet most leaders search for it, meaning that projects are drawn out, often changed dramatically and time is wasted on seeking the un-achievable. For your own sake, and the sake of your team, stop searching for perfect, and set your sights of exceptional – or in less-valuable projects, simply a pass.

Switch off

The temptation in the modern world, where our work emails are constantly available at the touch of a button, where we give out personal numbers to clients and where work-chats send messages instantly, is to stay plugged into that work mindset 24/7.

However, this is actually extremely detrimental to your well-being and productivity. By switching off, you open yourself up to the possibility of a fresh perspective when you return. You also truly unwind and decompress, giving you greater mental clarity. By making the resolution to switch off when not in work, you’ll enjoy your personal time more, and be more productive when you return.

Top tips to stop high employee turnover

22nd November 2019 by Molly Billings

Employee turnover has always been a challenge that organisations are keen to correct. There are many reasons for this. Losing a high calibre of talent is detrimental to the business and this can impact the bottom line.

According to research, an oft-cited reason for high turnover figures is due to poor line managers. Gallup research found that 75% of employees had voluntarily left a company because of their manager. If employees feel like they aren’t valued or respected, and really given the opportunity to flourish at work then employees may feel leave for a more stimulating role at a competitor brand.

So, what can managers do to prevent high employee turnover?

Coaching

Managers should never undermine the power of coaching. An important deciding factor for employees wanting to walk is whether they believe that their company offers development opportunities.

What this means for managers is that they can develop an approach that involves continuous feedback so that employees can work on their weakness and play to their strengths. Setting goals will help encourage employees to get better rather than giving them a spiel of negative criticism.

Involving employees in decision

While the traditional, autocratic style of management has effectively got the world to the place that it is today, the nature of working is changing and employees are continually demanding for their voices to be heard at work.

Therefore, involving employees in the decision-making process will help with engagement and encourage people to stay at a firm for longer.

Striking up meaningful conversations

Having frequent discussions with the team will help create an engaging company culture. According to John Kanoski, CEO of Legal Files: “Regular conversations help keep our team members aligned with organisation-wide goals. Our managers seek to connect personal aspirations with the bigger overall vision of Legal Files.” Therefore, conversations that bring the team together and help them connect not only helps with moral but it positively influences the bottom line too.

5 ways to boost productivity in the workplace

19th November 2019 by Molly Billings

The goal of any leader is, ultimately, to increase output. In the current volatile business climate simply maintaining allows other key players in the industry to gain advantage.

However, simply brandishing a whip and telling your team to ‘work harder’ is far from a sustainable way to truly up productivity. Whilst you may see a small increase in output in the short term, of course any leader worth their salt will know that this simply cannot last, or will be at the detriment of quality and diligence.

Truly increasing productivity isn’t down to one thing; like most elements of effective leadership, the concept should be approached with finesse and an overarching view of the business’ key functions – one of which should always be to ensure that workers are treated well and with respect. Simply pushing them to their limits will lead to high turnover, poor well being and ultimately a complete breakdown in function.

But then what works? How can leaders actually up productivity without compromising other areas? Read on to find out…

Review functions

Most workers aren’t performing as well as they can, but the truth is that it’s not their fault. Often, good workers simply pick up small voids left by others. This may be as simple as watering plants, or fixing the printer when it jams, yet these little incremental tasks take them away from their actual jobs and waste time. It may take just five minutes to fix a printer jam, but this one task takes them out of whatever they were doing and it may take more than half an hour to get back into the productivity ‘zone’. If you want to ensure that all workers are operating at 100%, take away the fluff that surrounds their core function.

Promote breaks

It sounds counterproductive, yet ensuing that workers are taking the time to mentally decompress between big tasks is massively beneficial to productivity. A survey conducted by Tork in the US last year found that those who took a fifteen-minute break between big tasks to decompress were not only 38% happier at work, but also 22% more productive; the study also found that the quality of their work was better. So, to do more, professionals must work less.

Set small goals

It’s all well and good aiming for a grand company objective – yet often this is vague and sets no roadmap to strive for. Your workers don’t need to know that they’re aiming for ‘excellence’ in customer service. This is a given, and provides absolutely no aide in getting there. Instead, set smaller, far more achievable goals with tangible roadmaps to success. Instead of ‘excellence’, why not ‘Upsell THIS service to 10 customers today’. This is easily achievable, and ups productivity through proper guidance.

Consider work-life balance

No professional is at their best when they can’t mentally divide themselves for their work. Burned out workers get ill, they let things slip and their wellness evaporates, along with their drive and purpose. ONS research suggests that work-related stress was the single largest cause of workplace absence last year. And if you’re their manager, it’s your fault, not theirs. Fight this by ensuring that they aren’t messaged about work outside of work hours, that they go home on time every day, and that they don’t work in evenings and weekends. By dividing these two worlds, they’ll be far more refreshed and ready to work.

Promote collaboration

Good teams work together to achieve goals, and as a worker, knowing that you have a vast network of expertise that you can call upon if you’re stuck is a massive advantage. But this doesn’t come naturally. Workers are far more likely to simply try and keep their workloads to themselves – so it takes the promotion of collaboration from managers to make it happen.

Ways to diversify your workforce

15th November 2019 by Molly Billings

Companies are always striving to challenge and improve their workplace diversity. It takes focus, time, and investment – but there are ways to approach it that make the task much easier and better.

Businesses can massively benefit from creating a varied workplace, from output to innovation. Here are five ways you can do this in your company:

Create a decision-making team

A Forbes study conducted over two years and with over 600 businesses found that those with inclusive teams make better business decisions 87% of the time. This being said, creating a decision-making team to hire people not only helps boost inclusion in the company, but also increases your chances of diversifying your company in a less-forced way, steadily and with the help of employees. The same Forbes study found that these teams outperform individual decision-makers 66% of the time. Forming boards and teams throughout the business is a great way of integrating employees and encouraging discussions and better work relations.

Educate employees and managers

It’s imperative to make sure that managers understand the importance of creating a diverse workplace through their hiring and management of the employees. They are the primary point of contact between the C-Suite and workers; managers are the first people to go to when talking about developing a more diverse workforce.

Assessments of facilities need to take place, as well as ways to celebrate a varied work structure for employees. According to Josh Bersin research, a leading industry analyser, inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be classed as innovative and a leader in their field. This starts with management.

Build diversity-friendly workforce policies

The best way to diversify your workforce is to make people feel comfortable and happy working for you. A good way to do this is to allow employees to take work off for religious holidays that may not be associated with the company as standard, as well as have some flexibility with hours so that employees feel like they are welcome in what is being promoted as a culturally diverse company.

Mentorship programs

Mentoring is a great way of ensuring that everyone in the company has the opportunity to advance in the business. Employees with high potential should be offered mentors who will guide them in learning key skills and elevating them through the company. This way you can take on a larger range of workers from a diverse background and develop the top prospects, hopefully creating more diverse departments at every level of the company.

Ask employees for referrals

A great way to get on new talent from different backgrounds, races or age is to ask for referrals from employees. Tell the employees that you are looking for an individual who has a set of skills and are willing and ready to pick up more. Including them in the process expands your recruitment net and can help find those hidden talents that help to diversify your workforce.

Leaders feel isolated at work

12th November 2019 by Molly Billings

Managing a team of skilled people is the dream for many professionals. In fact, one in five Brits believe that managing a team is a sign of success in the workplace, a survey from CV-Library revealed, however, this success comes at a price.

According to CV-Library research, 27.2% of senior leaders admit to feeling lonely in the workplace with 40% claiming that people’s attitudes towards them changed after they moved into a more senior position.

The study of 300 senior members of staff from across the UK discovered that loneliness also permeated into their personal lives. So much so that over half (56.8%) stated that their home life had suffered as a result of work. In addition, 54.7% said that it’s not worth it to be where they currently are in their professional career.

“Reaching the top is an attractive goal for many, but even the most senior employees need support in the workplace. Particularly if you’re working long hours and shoulder huge levels of responsibility” said Lee Biggins, Founder and CEO of CV-Library.

“Naturally, as a senior member of staff, you’ll have to remain neutral towards your teams, but this can result in feelings of exclusion. Moreover, you’ll have a responsibility to provide support to your employees, but don’t forget about yourself! Seek help from other senior members of staff, especially in the transition period after being promoted.”

The research went on to reveal that senior leaders are most likely to feel lonely in the workplace because they have little in common with colleagues (42.7%), work in an office on their own (34.4%) and because their peers are much younger than them (24.4%).

When asked what they think are the best ways for employers to prevent loneliness in the workplace, senior leaders suggest the below:

Put appropriate support in place (49.2%)
Have more office socials (34.5%)
Hire a diverse team (32.9%)
Construct an open-plan office (28.2%)
Improve the on-boarding process (27%)

Biggins added: “As a senior employee, you may feel unable to talk about any feelings of loneliness because of your status in the company. To combat this, it’s important to prioritise your own well-being and work closely with other leaders.

“Whether you organise company socials to blow off some steam away from the workplace, or have regular catch ups with fellow manager, it will help you to forge stronger working relationships. In turn, this should encourage a more open and supportive atmosphere.”