Why productivity matters
Productive companies get more out of what they’ve got, enabling them to increase their profits, pay higher wages and invest in their future. More productive businesses mean a more prosperous country. Discover why productivity matters below.
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Leadership & Strategy
Article
It’s The Small Things: PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold
PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold shares his approach to thinking small in pursuit of business improvement as part of our "It's The Small Things" podcast.
Structure your approach
People & Team
Article
SMEs need to develop career paths or risk losing staff
Small businesses have to establish viable career paths to retain staff. Three business leaders share the steps they’ve taken.
Talent development
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Your best lockdown decisions – We ask 18 business leaders to reflect
Be the Business asked 18 SME leaders to tell us the most impactful lockdown decisions they’ve made since the coronavirus outbreak began.
Sales & Growth
Article
Focus on what makes you truly unique as a business
When brother and sister team Harry and Leah Lobek decided they couldn’t put off starting a business any longer, the two knew the concept needed to stand out in a crowded market. The end result, London Shell Co., definitely hits the mark there.
Marketing & Sales
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Do you really know what makes your business remarkable?
Martin Morales, CEO and founder of Ceviche Family, shares his top tips for building a remarkable business built on memorable customer experiences.
Support your employees
People & Team
Article
Using an alternative performance appraisal can help improve staff retention
Choosing an alternative performance appraisal method can help with more than goal setting – it can help with employee retention and wellbeing too.
Performance management
Digital Readiness
Article
An opportune time to fast-track digital change
Despite causing numerous setbacks, the coronavirus crisis has given St Michaels Resort a golden opportunity to embrace digital change future-proof the business.
Digital Readiness
Article
A skills plan that works just as well for older staff as it does for younger
With the age of retirement set to hit 66 by 2020, it’s vital that companies ensure a skills plan is in place that's as appropriate to people in their sixties as it is to those aged 16.
Digital Commerce
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Joining a family business advisory board can unlock new leadership skills
Three business leaders share their advisory board experience and reveal an unexpected perk – advisors to family businesses gain as much as they give.
Improve your own leadership capabilities
Digital Readiness
Article
Prioritising new business development
Yash Dubal, founder of A Y & J Solicitors, has chosen to seize the moment and come out fighting with exciting new business development and a marketing push.
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Coronavirus: How to come up with new revenue streams
While there is lots of government business support available during the coronavirus outbreak, it may be time to start thinking about new revenue streams.
People & Team
Article
Using role-play in job interviews helps test instinct
When finding staff with a industry passion and the right customer-facing skills became a challenge for Chance & Counters it used quirky job interviews.
Recruit to succeed
People & Team
Article
What happens when you think you’ve hired the wrong person?
If you discover you have hired the wrong person should you cut ties or take time to mould them into the worker you need?
Talent development
Planning
Article
A design process tapping into customer needs to develop products
Whether it's launching a new product or improving an existing one, market research is essential. Trunki puts customers at the heart of its design process.
Change your mindset around future planning
Digital Readiness
Article
How building business partnerships with universities and research bodies can pay off
Universities are edifices of industry expertise. Building business partnerships with these institutions can create commercial opportunities and help small companies kickstart innovation.
Collaborative tools & analytics
Leadership & Strategy
Article
How leadership skills programmes helped founders find focus
Two tech founders pursued executive education to improve their leadership skills. Learning from experts and peers proved to be an invaluable experience.
Leadership Behaviours
People & Team
Article
We reward hard work with an equity stake
Opinium has taken a different route rewarding its best performing employees with an equity stake in the business, believing it is a more effective way of recognising effort.
Motivation
People & Team
Article
Successful employee evaluation schemes only work with staff buy-in
Before you look to introduce new employee evaluation schemes or to enhance existing ones you must get staff involvement explained Bertie Hubbart.
Performance management
Digital Readiness
Video
How digitally simulating your business can transform productivity
Andrew Peters tells us that using digitalisation tools to simulate your business can create step changes in productivity by helping you to see whether your processes are aligned with your value streams.
Digital Commerce
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Weighing up quick business wins with longer-burn strategies
It may be tempting to launch into a series of grand plans designed to catapult your company to the next level, but ignoring quick business wins could mean you struggle with momentum.
Leadership Behaviours
Sales & Growth
Article
Diversifying revenues through an outdoor cinema and survival courses
While it may have be tempting to focus on the core offering, Luton Hoo Hotel's efforts in diversifying revenues is a great lesson in not being afraid to experiment with new offerings, as general manager Matthew Long explained.
Marketing & Sales
People & Team
Article
Coronavirus: How to monitor staff wellbeing of remote workers
For owners and managers, perhaps the most important coronavirus question is how do you monitor staff wellbeing if you’re not in the same building every day?
Planning
Article
A successful CBILS application: Give banks as much info as you can
When Plastic Card Services set about applying for the government's CBILS funding pot, it knew overdelivering information would be the successful approach.
People & Team
Article
Linking innovative performance evaluation schemes with the company culture
Employees, especially millennials, are seeking new ways of working, so companies need to look beyond traditional forms of performance evaluation recommended Ian Hughes.
Performance management