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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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
Leadership & Strategy
Article
A day in the life of former Cisco CEO Phil Smith
While the average working day of a top-level CEO is hard to nail down, Cisco’s Phil Smith had some tried and tested strategies to ensure his hours in the office and on the road were as efficient and effective as possible.
Leadership Behaviours
Article
From an experienced leader to a new one
Liz Smith, MD with LG Printing, looks back to her first difficult years as a leader and offers some leadership advice to her younger self.
People & Team
Article
Software helps us track staff performance daily
Brain Lonsdale has invested in project management software to help better monitor staff performance, and now has daily productivity insights.
Performance management
Digital Readiness
Article
Delighting consumers with an innovative customer service strategy
From providing a direct link to the CEO to incentivising feedback, innovative customer service approaches are worth taking the time to devise and execute – as Be the Business found out.
Digital Commerce
Sales & Growth
Article
From the coal face: Speaking up saw one digital content executive rewrite her job spec
Realising there was an opportunity for the company she worked for to better leverage digital content, Clarissa Bloom took an idea to her boss and has now undergone a comprehensive job role overhaul off the back of it.
Marketing & Sales
Sales & Growth
Article
How pop-ups provided a gateway into new cities
Board game café business Chance & Counters took the leap and opened a second site after 18 months, but not before some clever pop-up related research.
Identify target markets
Sales & Growth
Article
Five SME leaders explain how they picked the best social media platform for their business
From LinkedIn to Pinterest, picking the best social media platform for your business comes down to aligning it with the values, interests and demographic of your customers.
Marketing & Sales
Planning
Article
How one founder is giving a helping hand where it’s needed most
When one of his clients ordered more work, Jublo founder Joshua Atkins saw the chance to do his bit in a time of crisis.
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
Be innovative to retain your best staff
Keeping talented staff members in your company means accepting that traditional working conditions and standards may no longer apply, believes entrepreneur Callum Negus-Fancey.
Talent development
Digital Readiness
Article
Let Google train your team in Google Analytics
While most SMEs agree that Google Analytics is a vitally important data tool founder of marketing agency Digital Clarity, Reggie James says that more than half of all companies are not very clear on how they should be using it.
Digital Commerce
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
Digital Readiness
Article
Successful business process outsourcing comes down to asking the right questions
Whilst it can be tempting go all in on business process outsourcing to keep internal costs down, decision makers need to think about where knowledge gaps exist and how the situation might change as a company expands.
Digital Commerce
Digital Readiness
Article
An online retail response to the coronavirus outbreak
Mohammed Patel, MD at Kiddies Kingdom, explains how his online retail business has tinkered with systems and processes to ensure it can continue trading.
Digital Commerce
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Struggling SMEs brush up on survival skills
A look at SMEs which are struggling to survive following a decline in revenue and a drop in customer demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
Leadership Behaviours
Digital Readiness
Video
VIDEO: Why easyJet embraces a curious, not critical approach
Eager to uncover how it can better serve its diverse customer base, easyJet ancillary revenue director Andrew Middleton explained how the airline is iterating and evolving through constant feedback.
Collaborative tools & analytics
People & Team
Article
Tried and tested approaches to deal with staff missing targets
Be the Business spoke to three forward-thinking SMEs about the strategies employed to both identify when staff are missing targets, and get them back on track.
Performance management
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
Leadership & Strategy
Article
33 deliverables to stand out in the hospitality sector
Strategic planning is crucial to succeed in the competitive hospitality industry. Jon Yantin, a senior hospitality strategist at Stake Concepts, shares with us his framework for launching new businesses and reinvigorating existing ones.
People & Team
Article
Getting the best out of a workforce means not pigeonholing staff
Giving employees specific titles, roles and tasks may be tempting from an operations point of view, but by not pigeonholing staff two particular businesses have unlocked creativity and cultivated a collaborative approach to working.
Talent development
People & Team
Video
Making the employee appraisal process about personal development targets
Rather than making the appraisal process about how staff are performing by measuring them against metrics and targets, SC Group is prioritising personal development.
Talent development
Planning
Article
Help de-risk business growth by taking these simple steps
Ambition needs to be tempered with practical steps to de-risk growth. Entrepreneurs share the approach they take to balance growth and sustainability.
Ambition
Planning
Article
Cash flow management: You know how to do it, but can you do it in a crisis?
Our crib sheet brought together 15 steps to cash flow management best practice. Now, we've asked some finance experts what they're saying to SME clients.