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Measuring-Productivity

Measuring productivity and why it is important

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In the current difficult economic climate how well a business is performing may be crucial to survival.

Measuring its productivity is therefore important.

Productivity is the measure of production against efficiency, and it is especially important in an era of remote or flexible working patterns.

According to Opus Energy, 86% of UK SMEs believe productivity is an issue, yet one in five (22%) businesses are not measuring productivity at all.

Measuring productivity is not a straightforward calculation of the numbers of items produced, the cost of production and the number of staff producing the item. That may be relatively straightforward for the manufacture of a product.

However, as an example, “One hour spent on the phone resolving a query from an unhappy customer could be worth a lot more than one new sales call. Why? An unhappy customer can do more damage to your business.

The key to measuring productivity is to set a number of benchmarks against which performance can be assessed.

This includes identifying expected work outputs for each position, defining and measuring tasks not hours worked, setting clear goals for staff and placing values on the quality of work.

There is a useful guide to assessing productivity for SMEs here.

Mini-Budget

Will the mini budget help your business?

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There were several items in the mini budget that the Government claims will help businesses.

They include:

  • 45% higher rate of income tax abolished for England, Wales and Northern Ireland taxpayers
  • One single higher rate of income tax of 40% from April next year
  • Reverse recent rise in National Insurance (NI) from 6 November
  • Cancel UK-wide rise in corporation tax which was due to increase from 19% to 25% in April 2023
  • IR35 rules – the rules which govern off-payroll working – to be simplified
  • Annual investment allowance, the amount companies can invest tax free, remains at £1m indefinitely
  • New and start-up companies able to raise up to £250,000 under scheme giving tax relief to investors
  • Setting up investment zones with 38 local areas in England

It has been argued that most of these measures will help those at the top end of the economy, but the government expects the benefits to “trickle down” to the rest of the economy.

Only time will tell whether it will work.

Spyware-Increase

Use of spyware has been rocketing across Europe

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Commercially produced spyware has been used increasingly to target businesses and organisations across Europe.

That is not to say that UK businesses are safe, especially those that trade within Europe.

It is used to gain access to phones, emails and records for a variety of purposes from targeting individuals to gaining access to sensitive business or political information.

It makes sense to ensure all security protocols are up to date and to limit access to information on phones and in emails.

Using two factor authentication for passwords and keeping sensitive information offline are obvious precautionary measures.

Making sure employees are trained in staying safe online is also crucial and keeping them regularly updated on new scams is crucial.

Online-Only-Services

Online-only services are predicted to leave some people behind

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Partly because of the Covid pandemic lockdowns there has been a significant growth in online-only services covering everything from banking to restaurant menus.

According to a Wired article in the UK “the number of bank and building society branches fell by a third between 2012 and 2021.”

This is all very well for those who are comfortable with technology and mobile phones but there are worries that these developments will leave behind some particularly vulnerable groups in the community.

Not only this, but there are concerns, says Wired, that “the technology is often terrible”.

Having a basic broadband service and mobile internet is becoming a necessity. But what can people do if they live, say, in a rural location where the services are patchy?

Similarly, there are some groups such as pensioners or those on a low income who may not be able to afford these services, regardless of whether they are tch literate or not.

According to Wired “An estimated 2.9 billion people—37 percent of the world’s population—have never used the internet, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ IT agency”.

Clearly, there is a need for governments to set a basic level of service for all citizens regardless of income or access to technology.

SME-Growth

SMEs are engines for growth

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Recent research reveals that SMEs are major contributors to business and economic growth and therefore to job creation.

It is argued that successful SMEs often contribute to the success of other SMEs by partnering with, or outsourcing, some parts of their business, such as marketing, design and accountancy.

The effect has been most noticeable in retail, where two years of Covid lockdowns have forced more retailers online leading to an increase in online marketplaces from which to sell their goods.

But this has not meant the total death of physical retail outlets so much as to a change in their purposes and adapting to the changing needs of their consumers.

Partnerships, agility and collaboration are all part of helping SMEs to grow and to take others with them, ultimately for the benefit of all their stakeholders whether they are customers, staff or shareholders and investors.

Climate-Change

Climate change action requires collaboration

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Climate change action requires collaboration and partnerships of all kinds

The damage that has been done and continues to be done to the environment across the world is rarely out of the news, along with its consequences in affecting people’s lives.

But, according to an article in Wired, tackling and reversing the damage is going to require collaboration by all sorts of people, from individuals to scientists to businesses and governments.

It argues that social media and AI will have a significant part to play in both raising awareness and in action:

“AI models, including those that Microsoft is developing with research teams and academia, are revealing the perilous pace at which we are destroying our environment.”

It suggests that collaborations between the developed world and developing countries to share insights and come up with sustainable practices will be needed.

Sharing technology, will help to develop sustainable practices in everything from farming to forest conservation, not to mention government policies across the world.

With technology companies as key partners, it suggests, there is an opportunity to not only share best practice but for new businesses and production systems to develop for the better future of countries and their environments around the world.

Post-COVID-19

Covid restrictions may have gone but the pandemic has not

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Covid restrictions may have gone but the pandemic itself has not

The pressure on businesses is considerable as a result of the pandemic, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.

It has all meant rising costs and on top of that a shortage of employees to recruit.

So it is more than ever important to try to keep existing skilled staff.

One issue that may be affecting your business is the ongoing pandemic, where people are being advised to isolate for five days if they test positive.

But now that the rules on state-funded sick pay have returned to normal, this means that many will now only get two days’ sick pay as it only kicks in after three days.

While most businesses will undoubtedly still be doing everything they can to keep staff safe, they will still be faced with some off sick while the virus is still circulating.

Perhaps it is worth considering introducing some short-term financial help if your company does not have its own sick pay scheme?

Of course, all businesses are struggling with cost pressures but introducing something like this could signal to your employees that they are valued and that you understand their difficulties and may help you retain them.

Back-to-the-Office

Back to the office or flexible working?

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Back to the office or flexible working?

With the end to some of the Covid restrictions imminent many people who have been happily and productively working from home have been called back to their offices.

This is despite the fact that it has been proven that people could work responsibly—and often more efficiently—from home.

However, an analysis by Wired, has suggested that in the UK the legislation needed to protect employees in newer employment models such as hybrid and remote working is much in need of an update.

The article highlights some of the issues.

It says: “Currently, after 26 weeks of service with their employer, every employee has the right to make one flexible working request a year. Once a request has been made, if it’s rejected, the employee must wait a year before submitting a new request”.

It cites evidence that as many as 42% of working mothers, for example, are afraid of even requesting flexible working either because the request would be rejected or because they think it would adversely affect their employment chances.

“The majority (86 percent) have faced discrimination and disadvantage because of their flexible working arrangements.” It says.

There are currently eight grounds on which employers can reject requests for flexible working, most of them, according to the TUC, are too wide and too vague.

Then there are the problems with finding affordable childcare, which may effectively deter people from even taking a job.

These are just a few of the issues that need addressing by government if the newer flexible working arrangements are going to be workable.

Merry-Christmas

Christmas Greetings

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We wish all our customers

A very

Happy Christmas

and a

prosperous New Year

Go-Paperless

Why is the paperless society not yet a reality?

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The use of the PC, cloud storage and other technological innovations has led many to predict that the future of the office and of society would be paperless.

Yet 40 years since the term was first coined this is still some way off.

There are many possible explanations for this.

Often people, perhaps rightly, do not trust technology and prefer a physical record or letter rather than an email which could be mis-directed or lost, a problem if it contains sensitive information.

For some, the increasing use of hacking and phishing scams suggests that many IT systems are still not sufficiently secure for the storage of sensitive data.

Similarly, if a system crashes many of us still feel safer if we can resort to a physical record of any important documents even if we have been careful to back up anything important externally.

In some cases, there are legal reasons for keeping physical documents, especially when they refer to sensitive health or personal information needed by various agencies, but also in business where there can be legal requirements for keeping documents for specified a minimum amount of time.

Nevertheless, as concerns about the environment and climate increase we are likely to see ever more pressure to minimise our use of paper and save trees.

On the other hand, it has been calculated that technology, accounts for a whopping 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, very close to the amount produced by the airline industry.

Also, there is no denying that hardware and software can be cruelly expensive for new companies or individuals especially in developing parts of the world.

Scientists have also researched our ability to retain information based on the format by which it is delivered and here, again, it has been found that we remember far more information that we have read in printed form rather than on screen.

It seems, the move to a paperless society is a lot more complex than we think.