Blog
Employee Perks ..... Hitting the Right Buttons
19 April 2008
Simply throwing money at high flyers is no strategy for retaining them……according to a recent report, the key to keeping talented people is to invest in factors that drive them to achieve….and some carrots cost very little. When the purse strings are being tightened, we may need to think of more creative ways to hold on to our top performers and rising stars.
It seems that organisations can spend anything from 15 to 30% of their payroll on additional benefits and non salary rewards, but rarely communicate the true value of these benefits to their employees.
Research on employee engagement shows that pay is still important…….. employees may change jobs based purely on salary because they do not understand their total benefits package. When all the benefits are taken into account, the overall offer can be less than the existing package.
Whilst nothing can replace the more intangible aspects of why people join and stay in an organisation, like Company culture, leadership and opportunities for development ,’works perks’ can help to tip the balance in the ‘war for talent’.
There is a huge variety of perks out there, one enlightened employer gives an annual ‘health and well being allowance’ of £500 to spend on whatever makes their employees happy….. others give benefits such as childcare vouchers, store discounts, duvet days, extra holidays, on site massages and gym membership. Many may give the more traditional benefits such as private healthcare, and pensions, but are they pushing the right buttons for their people…….. should they be offering them a menu to choose what benefits they would prefer, they may choose gym membership to private health. It could be a very interesting exercise to take a fresh look at our own benefits costs and evaluate if we have the right recipe for our own people.
(Written by Louise Hewett for Worcester News - Business Pages)
Email Louise directly: louise@hewett-recruitment.co.uk
Times Top 100 Award for Local Co...
19 March 2008
Businesses are being told to hold on for a bumpy ride – in a climate of housing market jitters, oil and gas price inflation, violent currency fluctuations and vice like credit conditions – there are bound to be some casualties along the way.
Perhaps we should take some advice from the star performers in the recently released Top 100 Best Companies to Work for Awards. It may not surprise us that looking after our people reflects well on the bottom line – in the past five years the listed companies in this ‘Best Companies’ survey have performed twice as well as their FTSE 100 rivals – and even better than that in some cases.
The methodology devised for this Top 100 contest means that no amount of window dressing by human resource departments can help companies triumph. All the organisations involved have been placed there by their own employees who have been asked to give feedback on how they feel about their work/life balance, colleagues they work with, benefits, personal development, management, leadership, the company and its standing in the community as a whole.
Worcestershire based Foster Care Associates have achieved the extraordinary accolade of being placed 43 in the Top 100 Awards and secured two star ‘outstanding status’ for its Best Companies Award.
David Oldham, Foster Care Association Chief Executive explains "Achieving this level of recognition demonstrates the commitment which FCA continues to invest in it’s employees and the workplace. We believe this is a true indication of the professionalism and positive ethos FCA staff uphold across the organisation." He continued "Investment in people and shared company vision is central to our long term success. We approach everything as a team and it is this culture which ensures we can continue to deliver quality foster care provisions to meet the needs of the fostering sector.
Many of us have seen turbulent times before and yes we need to watch our costs and keep a tight reign on our credit control, but its our people who contribute to the profits we make. Cutting corners with them is false economy. Investing in and motivating our teams and giving them the tools and knowledge they need to offer excellent customer service in a tightening market – goes a long way to riding any storm.
(Written by Louise Hewett for Worcester News - Busienss Pages
Email Louise directly: louise@hewett-recruitment.co.uk
Neuro Linguistic Programming
27 February 2008
We know that Communication is of utmost importance in every organisation and at all levels. In Customer Services we need to have the skill to identify the immediate and pressing needs of our customers and then satisfy [or hopefully exceed] those needs accordingly. Understanding what motivates individuals is the first step to being able to manage them effectively. In sales, the ability to build instantaneous rapport with potential customers comes naturally to high performers, but these skills and techniques can be acquired or improved through a method known as Neuro Linguistic Programming ….or N.L.P.
There is nothing new about this process, it has been incorporated within Training and Development strategies for some time and forms part of coaching, sales training, leadership and development, team building and personal development programmes.
Building rapport is the cornerstone of persuasion and influence. Outstanding sales people have a belief that everyone they meet will be interesting. They expect to have rapport with anyone with whom they come into contact and are ‘super alert’ to tuning into a persons patterns of moving, body language and tone of voice. N.L.P. helps us to develop these skills and ‘get on someone’s wavelength’ by matching and mirroring their physiology people unconsciously begin to identify with us. Understanding whether a person prefers to communicate in a visual, auditory or Kinaesthetic [touchy feely] way enables us to put our point across in a method they will appreciate.
A visual person will want to see the presentation clearly in front of him….an auditory person will want to hear it and so on.
According to a report from the C.I.P.D. NLP is a way of modelling the best and reproducing that talent. What most people do not realise is that the excellence they have in some areas can be mapped across into other areas……… Improving the natural abilities of our people, must be good for business!
(Written by Louise Hewett for Worcester News - Business Pages)
Email Louise directly: louise@hewett-recruitment.co.uk
Keeping our brain in shape...
27 January 2008
The year ahead in business is never easy to predict – but we’d all like to be as sharp as we can be to face the challenges and maximize the opportunities as they present themselves.
We may have made resolutions to improve our fitness, go to the gym, take up yoga, lift weights or go for more walks – but the chances are that we have ignored the three pound super computer that is our brain and just trust it to do its job. After all, our brain is the command and control centre for running our lives. It determines who we are, how well we think on our feet, how we perform at work and in life generally.
There is certainly more to boosting our brain power than simply partaking in the odd crossword – although that certainly helps. My interest in the subject was aroused when my daughter gave me a computerised ‘Brain Trainer’ for Christmas. Being a competitive soul I became completely engrossed in beating my own score and determined to improve my brain age – which believe me did need improving – no comments please!
Having indulged in some research on the subject, it seems that there is a general consensus on brain boosting activities we can all try to stimulate the old brain cells and avoid the fog descending!
Aerobic activity gets the blood pumping and is excellent for new cell production – in particular ballroom dancing – more specifically the Tango – mastering those steps in time to the music – researchers tell us – is a great brain work out, even more challenging if you have two left feet like some of us.
In general, taking ourselves out of our comfort zone or routine and doing something completely different gets the brain cells jumping.
It goes without saying that a good balanced diet with plenty of Omega 3 oils is recommended but a high level of saturated fat is said to reduce the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your brain and slow down the production of glucose the brain needs to function effectively.
If you are facing a challenging presentation at work – previewing key information the night before and then sleeping on it increases retention 20 to 30%. According to Cathryn Jakobson Ramin author of ‘That Memory Book’ unless you get eight hours sleep or close to it, your brain feels the pinch. Sleep deprivation affects sustained attention and reaction time. In short it hammers every one of our cognitive abilities.
Unfortunately we know that alcohol kills brain cells and I’m sure many of us have been guilty of a little annihilation over the festive season. Still on a lighter note we might choose to take another recommendation for boosting brain cells – listening to Mozart – lots of sex and a little dark chocolate – all at the same time?
(Written by Louise Hewett for Worcester News - Business Pages)
Email Louise directly: louise@hewett-recruitment.co.uk
