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
How to find work-life balance in family businesses
Family businesses provide a feeling of togetherness but differences in opinion can wreak havoc on relationships. Business owners share their advice.
Leadership Behaviours
Leadership & Strategy
Article
If you’re not learning from competitors then how can you ever improve?
Businesses adept at learning from competitors are always looking for ways to improve, whether that’s avoiding the mistakes close counterparts make or exploiting industry trends to stay ahead of the pack.
Leadership Behaviours
People & Team
Article
Creating team leaders to maximise sales and profitability – stories from the beauty and hospitality worlds
As a business grows it gets harder and harder to stay on top of all day-to-day activities. Nurturing and empowering team leaders helps take some of the pressure off, as Be the Business found out.
Talent development
Digital Readiness
Video
Embracing “productivity to survive” helped one firm compete with multinationals
Wanting to free up more time so the business can target winning more work, Spencer Fereday talks Be the Business through his efforts to become more productive and compete with multinationals in a very challenging sector.
Digital Commerce
Leadership & Strategy
Article
The different interpretations of vision and values in business
They're discussed a lot in terms of their importance in setting a successful strategy, but interpretations of vision and values are often unique to each company and leader. Be the Business digs a little deeper.
Vision & Values
People & Team
Article
Why hiring for passion, not just experience, can be transformational
While it may be tempting to de-risk recruitment by prioritising academic achievement and work experience, hiring for passion can help populate your company with the kind of people who will live and breathe the business.
Motivation
People & Team
Article
Making the right decisions about bringing staff back to work
Bringing staff back to work from furlough or remote working is something no business has done before. Knowing how staff feel about things will be vital.
Sales & Growth
Article
Creating a business marketing strategy that stays relevant
From selling to millennials to leveraging new trends, a business marketing strategy is a process constantly under pressure and in need of innovation. Find out how five British SMEs have tackled the issue.
Marketing & Sales
Planning
Article
Executive education is a powerful tool for leaders
Business leaders have to keep learning. Working with peers and the management team is important, but executive education also plays a crucial role.
Ambition
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
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Look to philanthropy for your company’s values
If you run a business and don't yet have a set of company values, the area of philanthropy can offer extremely rich pickings suggests Rachel Clacher.
Vision & Values
Leadership & Strategy
Article
SMEs decide if pivots are permanent or passing trends
Some businesses have responded to coronavirus by altering services or doing something completely new. We look at how SMEs are pivoting to protect revenues.
Leadership Behaviours
People & Team
Article
The secrets behind The Pig Hotel success
It’s iconic buildings and eye-catching kitchen garden food have seen it become a darling of the UK hospitality scene, but what is it that really makes The Pig Hotel stand out from competitors?
Talent development
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Creating an environment that welcomes suggestions and objective feedback
Businesses which fail to provide a way for staff to provide objective feedback on their working world are missing out on a wealth of insight that would help drive productivity.
Leadership Behaviours
Planning
Article
The secret to hospitality success? Creating a welcoming space
Many board game cafés have a reputation for being unwelcoming to gaming newcomers. Chance & Counters set out to become a different kind of business.
Create a distinct offering
Planning
Article
Coronavirus: Your company’s legal obligations
As the coronavirus outbreak continues it's important to stay up to date with how new developments affect your legal obligations as a business owner.
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
Planning
Article
Coronavirus: Controlling fixed costs
It’s always good to control your fixed costs but, during the coronavirus outbreak, it could make all the difference to the survival of your business.
People & Team
Video
Bronwen Bamber of Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses believes engaging your team brings success
Bronwen Bamber is new product development manager at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in Lancashire, a family business dedicated to making the very best handmade British farmhouse cheeses.
Motivation
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
Meet the companies reinventing the lunch hour
It's a part of the day that unites us all, whether you work on a shop floor or on a building site, but shaking up the lunch hour has proved fruitful for some enterprising businesses.
Motivation
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
People & Team
Article
Implement a flat management structure
Shadow Robot’s managing director Rich Walker was so determined to develop his nascent managerial skills that he joined a business growth development course.
Talent development
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