TALK PEOPLE BEST PRACTICE
People power The Chemistry Group, expert in solving people problems, has composed a list of three key practices that could improve productivity, efficiency and staff wellbeing in your business
he Chemistry Group believes in practicing what it preaches, so the business practices listed here are all currently used internally, to great success.
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1. Staff development Staff development is an essential aspect in creating a motivated and capable workforce. People are key to a company’s success, and while many companies will make the claim that it is their staff that makes them great, not enough truly give employees the time and space for sustained personal development. At The Chemistry Group, every member of staff is given six hours a week on personal development; this time is spent on non-client related work, and can be used to learn a new skill, catch up on industry reports, or simply to meditate, if that’s what helps them grow.
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2. Hire right An essential factor in building and maintaining a strong workforce is hiring the right people. Recruitment is too often seen as time consuming and boring; this can lead to hasty hirings that often turn out to be disastrous for a business. The Chemistry Group estimates that about 75% of corporate hiring is inaccurate, which simply means that businesses are not spending enough time defining what “good” looks like for a particular role. 3. Holidays are essential A key practice every business should adopt is: go on holiday. Some workers pride themselves in not using up their annual holiday allowance; here, that’s a real no-no. From observation and internal staff feedback, the company finds that being well rested directly correlates to increased levels of creativity and innovation. These steamroll
Being well rested directly correlates to increased levels of creativity
into boosting morale levels across the workforce and creating a climate of success within the business. Salim Earle, business analyst at The Chemistry Group, comments: ‘It’s all too easy to neglect personal development when there’s work to be done. However, the impact of not developing staff will be directly linked to the amount of work you will have in the future, because businesses can’t be sustained, and certainly can’t grow, unless their people are growing with them. Resist the urge to focus on client work and think about your own development and subsequent upward movement in business.’ Loz Makepeace, head of “amazing” at The Chemistry Group, said of not taking all your annual leave: ‘Too many people think that not taking a holiday is going to help them succeed within their business. In fact, it is going to have exactly the opposite effect, because not getting enough rest and time away will directly impact on your performance at work. The old epithet of recharging your batteries really does run true, and is something that should not be ignored. It is not cool to not use your holiday; it is there for a reason.’ Contact: thechemistrygroup.com
AUGUST 2013
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