Make A Business Resolution You Can Keep...
21st December 2005
Going back to work after Christmas can be depressing for everyone. The festive season is over, the office Christmas party gossip has died down and there's not another public holiday for months.
The only good thing to be said for the first month of the year is that it offers the opportunity of a fresh start, which is why so many of us make resolutions. But why not make a resolution you can actually keep - to make your business better this year?
Sandy MacGillivray, Area Manager for CITB-ConstructionSkills in the Scotland North office, knows all about making businesses more successful and has the following tips for making your business a 2006 success story! :
- GET ORGANISED!
A messy office is a familiar, but potentially serious, problem. Staring at a mountain of paperwork or scanning through hundreds of undeleted emails can deplete energy levels, waste time and cause unnecessary confusion on a daily basis. Have a spring clean, even though it's the middle of winter! File, archive, delete, shred, bin – do whatever it takes and encourage staff to do the same. And to make sure you don't have the same problem next year by setting aside a regular timeslot for tidying up and sticking to it.
- ASSESS YOUR SKILLS BASE
The January blues can have an effect on staff morale, and it's no coincidence that January is one of the most popular times to look for a new job. Investing in training is an excellent way to encourage loyalty and make staff feel more valued – as well as making your business a more professional one. Make sure this isn't just something you do on an ad-hoc basic - start by evaluating your employees' skills, then put in place a structured training plan to address every individual's specific needs and meet your business objectives.
- THINK OF WAYS TO SAVE MONEY
Cutting down on expenditure needn't mean rationing stationery and turning off the heating. It could be as simple as making sure you meet tax deadlines, to avoid paying unnecessary fines. Another way to save is to take advantage of all the grants on offer for businesses. For example, if you are a construction company, you could qualify for a range of training grants from CITB-ConstructionSkills, which will help to cover the cost of qualifying your workforce.
For more information see http://www.citb-constructionskills.co.uk.
- GET UP TO DATE WITH LEGISLATION
It's up to every company to make sure it operates within the law and failure to do so could land you in deep water. So be sure to check up on recent legislation and find out whether there any laws coming up that will change the way you work. For example, the new EU Employment Directive, due to come into force in October 2006, will ban age discrimination in recruitment, promotion, training and retirement.
For practical tips on avoiding age discrimination at work, see the Age Positive website http://www.agepositive.gov.uk.
- BE HEALTH AND SAFETY AWARE
Health and safety is a big issue for companies of every size and cannot afford to be ignored. Over 153,000 employees were fatally or seriously injured at work in the last year alone. Neglecting health and safety can put the company at risk of legal action, but it also says to your staff that you don't care about their well-being. Manual workers should be regularly trained and assessed on their health and safety awareness, and even office workers need to have a good understanding of how to avoid being injured in the workplace. Many industries are working hard to improve health and safety awareness – for example CITB-ConstructionSkills runs a health and safety test for construction workers, which can be taken at more than 150 locations around the UK. Passing the test is becoming mandatory to work on an increasing number of building sites.
See http://www.citb-constructionskills.co.uk/healthsafety/thehealthsafetytest/ for more information.
- MARKETING MATTERS
Marketing your business needn't mean spending thousands of pounds on expensive advertisements. However, it is important to give the right message to clients and customers. There are a number of ways to prove your worth as a company – you could nominate the company for a best practice award or keep a portfolio of recommendation letters from satisfied clients. Another way is to prove the level of skills and qualifications of your workers, and a number of sectors operate Card Schemes to help businesses do this. For example, people working in food and drink manufacturing or processing can apply for a green card, which provides a record of the skills, qualifications and achievements they have achieved in the UK Food and Drink Industry. See http://www.green-card.co.uk for further information. Similarly, employees in the construction industry can benefit from owning a CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card, which details their level of competence.
See http://www.citb-constructionskills.co.uk/cardschemes/cscs/ for details.
- IMPROVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
Good communication is a must for any business - it enhances the working environment, minimises mistakes and helps staff to view themselves as part of a team. Some businesses promote teamwork by sending staff on dedicated 'bonding' weekends (think bridge building, problem-solving exercises and tug of war). However, a more realistic solution would be to organise regular company outings (even a trip to the pub counts) to encourage staff to get to know one another as people. You could also work towards gaining Investors in People (IiP) status, which will help to improve the way everyone in the company communicates and encourage staff to contribute to the way the business is run.
For more information see the Investors in People website http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk.
- TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOURSELF
There are many people out there who are great at being a chef, or a builder or an accountant, but have trouble when it comes to managing a restaurant, building company or accountancy. Be honest, is this you? If so, it might be worth looking at ways to improve your financial, leadership or management skills. Investigate what courses are on offer and identify which ones would be most useful to you, or look at where you need to get outside help, such as using a qualified accountant.
- SEEK EXTERNAL ADVICE
When you're heavily involved in a business, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. This is when external advice can be invaluable. If your company is lacking in direction, enlisting a business consultant may help. You could arrange to speak to your bank's business advisor or get in touch with someone at your local Business Link. Construction companies can benefit from the services of a CITB-ConstructionSkills Company Development Advisor, who can offer help with a number of issues, including implementing a training plan for the year ahead and applying for grants.
- PLAN FOR YOUR RETIREMENT
For business owners, it's never too early to think about what will happen when you eventually retire. Will there be someone to take over so that you can step down? Statistics show that some 17,000 companies are currently being wound up each year, but ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) says that approximately 30% of these closures are not because their business fails, but because their owners do not make effective business succession plans. One way of making sure that the person that takes over your businesses runs it in the best way could be through taking on and training your own apprentice. Not only will you get help with your business now, but they could be just the person to take over from you in the future!
