It has been so well documented and researched that high employee engagement levels have a direct impact on the success and productivity of a company. Yet why is it an after thought when developing business growth strategies.

According to a study by Gallup, highly engaged teams show 21% greater company profitability, 17% higher productivity, and 41% lower absenteeism. What’s not to like? Not to mention that employees are happier, healthier and would likely recommend their employer as a great place to work, hence supporting the talent attraction challenges we face today.

Maybe it’s because there is a lack of understanding and experience in developing employee engagement plans. This is where HR experts come in, yes you heard that right.

Employee engagement refers to the level of emotional commitment an employee has towards their employer and its goals. Sound fluffy? When employees are engaged, they are more enthusiastic, dedicated, and willing to go the extra mile to contribute to the company’s success. High productivity equals higher profits.

On a very practical level there are several key factors that contribute to employee engagement levels, including:

1. Effective Communication: Be clear with people, build trust by sharing company information and engaging them in the development of growth plans.
2. Opportunities for Growth and Development: Employees who are given the chance to learn new skills and advance in their careers are more likely to feel motivated.
3. Recognition and Rewards: Boost morale with a simple thank you for hard work and job well done. Make the effort and recognise your teams.
4. Work-Life Balance: Supporting employees in maintaining a healthy work-life balance is vital for promoting engagement. What this looks like will depend on the company and what employees value the most when it comes to their wellbeing. Start by asking them.

Engaged employees are more likely to be proactive, take ownership of their work, and seek out solutions to challenges. They are also more likely to collaborate effectively with their colleagues, leading to increased efficiency and higher-quality outputs.

Interestingly, engaged employees tend to show higher levels of creativity and innovation, something the majority of businesses are keen to increase in todays fast moving, changeable economic environment.

Here at Realise HR we help boost company performance by focusing on people, with simple, practical and no nonsense solutions. We are an award winning and leading HR consultancy in Cumbria. We’re here to help you with our skills and passion for business growth with people in mind.

We’re here, it’s 2024 baby.

New year, new start, new beginnings. Kinda.

I’m not sure I’m a big believer in starting a completely new chapter. At least, not when there’s so much to be gained through introspection when it comes to self-development and growth. Academics continually recognise the importance of self-reflection, arguing that it “foster[s] human development and personal transformation and, ultimately, a better society” (Ardelt and Grunwald, 2018).

Yet, in our day-to-day lives, it’s easy to neglect self-reflection. I mean, when my two-year-old is insisting that we watch yet another episode of Peppa Pig, thinking about taking the time out to examine my thoughts, feelings, achievements, failures… it can be daunting, and that it’ll expend energy I simply don’t have. But it’s so important; self-reflection is influential in helping you to define, understand and track your self-concept (your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, relationships) and this directly affects your mood, judgement, and behaviours. And self-reflection is not just about us as individuals, it’s about those around us and helping us to develop empathy and appreciate the experiences of others.

And while I’m writing this in January (got to start the year off on the right foot!) self-reflection relies on consistency, discipline, and a little bit of courage. What might feel a bit awkward at first should (if approached with a little self-care and compassion) develop into a useful tool for life, both public and private. On the one hand, self-reflection can help provide comfort for grief, anxiety, stress, trauma, and on the other, can help you tune up all those skills that help make you a great leader – quite the combo. So, how do you incorporate self-reflection into your daily routine. Where do you start?

Schedule time for self-reflection

It could be 10 minutes, it could be 30, but pencilling in time for self-reflection will help you to develop a routine. It could be on the way to work, in the car, at the end of the day, whenever, but setting time aside to reflect on your experiences will help you settle in to a positive, healthy routine of self-awareness.

Journal

I must confess, I’m not great at journaling. Pen to paper feels a little alien when it comes to noting down my own thoughts. But I’ve found using the Notes app (nod to iPhone users but please translate into your platform of choice) to be really helpful in keeping a log of my current thoughts and feelings, particularly if there’s a specific challenge I’m trying to overcome. It’s great to look back and see the progress from where you were to where you are now. It also serves as a reminder when faced with a new challenge – if you’ve done it once, you can do it again!

Practise Mindfulness

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment. It’s about noticing what’s around you and how you feel in that instant. Okay, I know that might sound a bit ‘fluffy’ for some, but by centring your thoughts into the ‘now’ it can help divert your focus from the unhelpful worries and stresses that make us less productive and less able to achieve our goals. It’s a process of creating space between you and your thoughts, a space with which you can calmly reflect on situations and respond appropriately.

So, that’s my tip for smashing your goals this year. Keep taking time out. Be respectful of your own thoughts and feelings. Develop self-awareness at your own pace and without judgement. Self-observation and self-dialogue are crucial components of personal growth.”

 

University places have a significantly higher uptake among young people than apprenticeships. However, according to YouGov, just 4% of Britons think that a university degree is the best way of preparing young people for the future. As a university graduate, you might expect me to disagree (only 29% of grads feel apprenticeships are the better option) but I’ve seen first-hand how apprenticeships can revolutionise the lives of apprentices and their respective businesses. Done well, apprenticeships can create sustainable talent pipelines across a whole host of specialisms – there are 844 apprenticeship programmes currently available – and can help stem long-term resourcing issues. What’s more, they’re super cost effective and available to every business irrespective of size or scale. Yet, despite the advantages, demand continues to outstrip supply with 430,000 students expressing interest in apprenticeship opportunities with UCAS in 2023 vs only 189,000 advertised vacancies.

Why such a discrepancy? Statistics tell us that 94% of HR leaders within levy-paying employers (those with an annual pay bill of £3million +) state that there is at least one barrier to them accessing their apprenticeship levy funds. Put simply, it’s overwhelming, it’s a turn-off, and there’s a lot of other things on the People agenda to get through. But, with only 15% of businesses stating that they are ‘always able’ to recruit the talent and skills they need, I think we need to take another look at how to make apprenticeships easy to understand and easy to put in place. Government reforms aside, we’ve partnered with some of the region’s leading training providers including Kendal College, Lakes College and Gen2 to help make apprenticeship employment an easier prospect. Here are some tips:

Forget Google, just ask…

Apprenticeships aren’t actually that difficult to understand, or that difficult to manage and operate. However, Google is usually the place we all start when conducting new research, and Googling apprenticeships makes the mind boggle! Funding rules, off-the-job training, apprenticeship standards – ouch, no, no thanks. It’s much easier to ask a training provider to take you through it. Forget the 121-page rule book (yep, it really is 121 pages) and grab a coffee with someone who knows what they’re talking about. It’s fine not to know where to start and our local training providers can take you through it step by step.

Don’t be scared, you got this.

Say the word apprentice and everyone can start to get the heeby jeebies. How do we act around apprentices? What will they need from us? Do we need to treat them differently? Apprentices are the same as any other employee. The only difference being is that they’re undergoing training at the same time as they’re carrying out their role.  Assuming you already have a culture built around positive people experiences, there shouldn’t be any great departure from what you’re doing ordinarily. Show your apprentices that you care about them, their future, their interactions, and making the most of their apprenticeship. Engaging your apprentices (as you would any member of your team) is the key to success.

Assign your apprentice a workplace mentor

Irrespective of age, joining a new organisation can be a daunting prospect. Having a mentor can help colleagues acclimatise to the workplace and provide valuable support outside of the traditional hierarchy. Mentors are great for providing advice and guidance, but also giving apprentices’ a voice where they feel comfortable to share their experience and better connect with the business. Mentors can provide apprentices with the motivation they need when the going gets tough, and it also provides valuable coaching experience and CPD for mentors themselves.

The legal conundrum

Ok, so there’s a few niggly compliance and legal bits, I won’t lie. And this part is outside of all the fantastic support that training providers offer. Sadly, information on employment law when it comes to apprentices can be vague and sporadic, but it’s not to be taken lightly when the average cost of an employment tribunal in the UK is £8,500. Given our work with local training providers, we’ve created a definitive guide to make sure that employers stay on the right side of the law – contact us for more info.

“Rosie do it” says my 2-year-old.

As a doting parent, I love seeing her become more independent, and the satisfaction she takes from being able to do things for herself. With a little help here and there, she’s becoming less reliant on mum and dad, and actively wanting us to take a step back so she has the freedom to be more autonomous. If you think about it, this isn’t dissimilar to what most of us want from our workplace and our jobs. The ability to make decisions; to have control over how tasks are performed; the scope and the pace of work; we want the freedom to take positive action and make choices independent of those around us.

Speaking with candidates, they will often tell me that they want ‘flexibility’. It’s a common request and an understandable one at that, our lives are busy after all. However, nine times out of ten, what a candidate really means is that they want autonomy. They don’t want to be chained to a desk, 9 – 5, Monday – Friday, not because it’s impossible for them to do so, but because the logic behind such a working arrangement is often autocratic. This is to say, it’s being enforced from a perspective that discourages self-sufficiency and free will, a model that says “you need to be here, so I know you’re being productive” rather than trusting and empowering staff to get the job done themselves.

While a complicated concept (and not easy to get right), the latest research states that 79% of people report being engaged at work when they’re given autonomy and accountability over their performance output. So, if autonomy is what your people want, how do you give people freedom while at the same time keeping things structured and in control?

Hire the right people

If you haven’t guessed, I hate micromanagement. Personally, I don’t believe in it, I think it’s counterintuitive, and I believe you’ve fundamentally hired the wrong people if it’s a management style you need to employ. Hiring is not just about competencies but about behaviours, and while it’s important that employees are technically capable of carrying out their jobs, I’d argue that their behaviours are actually more important. A lot of the time you can teach someone a new skill, but it’s much more difficult to change someone’s behaviour. Look for those behaviours that show integrity, credibility, innovation, that someone deeply cares about their performance and about doing ‘the right thing’. These are the people who can be coached, mentored and inspired and ultimately will manage themselves.

Set clear expectations

You need to be crystal clear in your expectations. To be accountable, colleagues need to understand what’s expected of them so that they deliver what they need to and when. If the deadline is Friday, be sure they know it’s Friday, so that your priorities are aligned and everyone is working cohesively toward the same goal.

Encourage collaboration and initiative

Working autonomously doesn’t mean working alone. Leaders need to encourage the sharing of ideas and innovation with colleagues empowered to locate their own resources to achieve their objectives. In effect, everyone is instilled with the trust and the confidence to project manage their own areas, and with the safety to know that they won’t be reproached for trying something new. The holy grail here is for employees to seek out opportunities, to adapt, adjust and improve, and feedback to the business what’s working and what isn’t so we can take stock and make necessary adjustments.

Regular feedback and communication

I’m sure this one won’t come as a surprise. Feedback and communication are at the heart of good leadership. Get those 1:1s in the diary, commit to them, and offer support as and when needed around your more formal catchups.

 

— Martin Norris, Head of Recruitment

With 38% of female employees at menopausal age, we recognise the importance of breaking down barriers and supporting our workforce.

Supporting employees going through menopause is not only compassionate but also beneficial for businesses as it can lead to increased productivity, retention and overall employee wellbeing. Here are some tips for businesses to better support with menopause:

Education and awareness – Provide education and training for both managers and employees on menopause, it’s symptoms and its potential impact on work. This can help reduce misunderstandings and stigma.

Flexible working arrangements – Offer flexible work options such as adjusted work hours or remote working to accommodate employees who may be dealing with fatigue or other symptoms.

Adjust temperature and comfort –  Maintain a comfortable working environment by allowing employees to control the temperature and providing access to fans, heaters or cooling devices so everyone in the office can be happy.

Wellness programmes – Include menopause-related health information in your wellness programmes. Promote exercise, nutrition and mental health strategies that can help alleviate symptoms.

Supportive policies – Review and update HR policies to accommodate employees who need adjustments due to menopause. This may include allowing more breaks, temporary job sharing or extended sick leave if necessary. Realise can help with these if you need support.

Open communication – Encourage open and confidential communication between employees and managers. Ensure employees feel comfortable discussing their needs and concerns.

Access to information: Provide easy access to resources and information about menopause through the company’s intranet, pamphlets or workshops.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can create a more inclusive and supportive work environment for employees going through menopause which in turn can lead to a happier healthier and more productive workforce.

If you need any further assistance with menopause policies or anything else, please feel free to reach out to us.

 

 

 

AI is a big deal. The global adoption rate of Artificial Intelligence now stands at 35%. And this is only set to grow, with IBM quoting that 44% of organisations are working to embed AI into their processes and applications. Whereas once the public’s interface with AI may have been largely restricted to search and recommendation engines, advanced AI tools are now becoming more widely accessible to the mass market. So, this begs the question, does your business need an AI policy?

If you joined us for our most recent event with in-Cumbria last month, you’ll know we took a deep dive into the ethical considerations of AI with thought leaders across the region. Of the topics explored, we spoke about how most companies understand the importance of responsible AI practices but that many organisations just don’t feel equipped to regulate how AI is used. If we think about the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, it seemingly came out of nowhere to the non-initiated, and the plethora of platforms following have left many of us struggling to keep up. Unsurprising then that two thirds of companies report that they lack the skills and knowledge to accountably manage the use and trustworthiness of AI within their business. For this reason alone, it seems the very least we can do is to implement an AI policy to mitigate some of the risks. Risks including:

Bias and Discrimination

AI can perpetuate human bias as it mirrors the leanings within the data it interrogates. What’s worse, it can sometimes intensify this bias with access to historical inequities and outdated modes thought. Essentially, rather than AI improving upon human decision making, it can scale-up some of the more problematic and discriminatory decisions that we’d rather weed out in 2023. For example, Reuters reported that Amazon scrapped its hiring algorithm after finding it was favouring applicants based on language predominantly found in male CVs. By observing patterns of bias, which in this instance was a precedent of men dominating the tech industry across the previous decade and consequently submitting the majority of job applications, it taught itself that male candidates were to be preferred over their female counterparts. It became inherently gender bias.

Transparency and the Bottom Line

Of the IT professionals polled by IBM, 85% agreed that consumers were more likely to choose/purchase from a company transparent about its AI technology. However, 61% of organisations stated that at present they wouldn’t be able to fully explain AI-powered decisions. If you can’t translate and understand the decisions your AI is making, not only is it difficult to be sure that it’s making the correct call (AI will sometimes get it wrong, don’t forget) but it’s directly impacting consumer trust and ultimately damaging your bottom line.

Privacy and Confidentiality

AI databases are often filled with confidential employee and/or customer data. You need to know that this data is secure and that it won’t be inappropriately leaked by an AI algorithm. Moreover, there’s also ethical considerations attached as to how appropriate it is for AI to use personal information and where we draw the line in terms of intrusion of privacy. In 2019, several states across the US banned the use of facial recognition software and biometric surveillance technology in law enforcement body cameras. The law, partly intended to prevent ‘police states’, was also informed by the number of misidentifications made by the software, particularly in correctly identifying women or those of ethnic minority. Experimentation with comparable software by police in the UK has been subject to similar scrutiny, with reports by the University of Cambridge declaring that in sample studies, deployments failed to meet minimum ethical and legal standards. Like all technology, the question is about appropriateness without slowing development and its benefits to society.

Values & Culture

Does AI generated content truly reflect your company’s values? It might sound a lot like you, but is it you or just a poor copy? We all bang on about company culture, how important it is to us, our businesses, and our colleagues, but could all our hard work be undone in our reliance on AI? AI produced material can lack authenticity, it can feel robotic and impersonal, and this is a major turn off for customers, internal and external.

So, do you need an AI policy? In short, yes. Absolutely. But it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start. If you need the fundamentals, we can send you our AI policy for free, just drop us a message in the usual places.