How can you offset wage rises by increasing productivity with eLearning?

As well as impacting millions of workers at the lower end of the payscale, pay increases are likely to cascade upwards with senior members of staff expecting proportionately higher pay.

These increases could see wage bills rising by upwards of 50%, adding pressure on businesses to boost productivity levels and minimise costs – in other words, achieving more with less.

Doing more with less

The concept of doing more with less is hardly revolutionary, but as wages increase, companies that focus on productivity will have a growing advantage over their competition.

So, what options are available to businesses looking to offset wage rises? Here are some suggestions:

Reduce employee turnover

The more frequently employees leave your business, the more effort you’ll need to spend on recruitment, which comes with numerous costs including advertising, time spent assessing applications, interviewing potential candidates and performing necessary administration tasks, time and money spent training new recruits, and any agency fees payable to recruiters.

In addition are the opportunity costs arising from not having fully trained staff in place to fulfil the job roles your business requires, and even once new staff are in place it will take them a while to be up to speed.

A combination of factors play their part in minimising employee turnover levels. Studies show that the newer an employee is to a business, the more likely they are to leave, so it pays to make sure you have an effective onboarding programme in place and that new hires receive all the support they need while becoming familiar with how your business works.

Reduce onboarding & training costs

To run a successful business, your staff must understand how the business works and what is expected of them, so staff training is essential, particularly when it comes to new hires.

While some areas of training are job-specific, and make sense to be carried out by the manager or peers of the new recruit, others apply to the whole business, such as training on health and safety and data protection policies.

In either case, if your business relies on face to face training then it could be missing out on opportunities to drastically reduce costs. Every time face to face training takes place – so, every time a new hire joins, or an existing member of staff needs refresher training – the trainer’s time is required, duplicating the work.

Using eLearning enables you to drastically reduce the cost of staff onboarding and refresher training, as the work of completing the course has already been completed, so training can be delivered to thousands of people consistently and immediately, with minimal work required.

Improve staff skills and productivity

Once your staff are in place and familiar with their roles, you can still boost productivity by helping them to develop in a number of key areas.

Soft skills are often mistakenly considered to be ‘nice-to-have’ or ‘fluffy’, when compared to hard expertise in the skills directly relevant to a specific job, yet poor communication and teamwork are among the chief causes of friction in the workplace.

Offering training to all staff in areas such as internal customer management and soft skills can drastically reduce the communication overhead within your business, enabling employees to communicate more effectively and freeing up more of their time to spend on productive work.

Combine this with training managers in getting the most from their teams by setting the right objectives and managing performance effectively and you’ll ensure that every employee within your business is focused on doing the work that brings in the best results.

Reduce stress levels

UK businesses lose millions of days of work every year due to stressed employees.

Stress weakens the immune system, leaving stressed employees more vulnerable to illness and increasing absenteeism, but employees who are suffering from stress are also more error-prone and less productive as a result.

Causes of stress can differ depending on the individual, and individuals are often unaware that they are suffering from stress, so ensuring organisation-wide awareness of the symptoms, causes and management of stress is the most effective way to reduce instances of stress in your business, and enjoy increased productivity and reduced absenteeism as a result.

Implement a flexible working policy

Studies have shown that flexible working can improve employee retention, engagement and productivity.

Flexible working is an attractive benefit for employees, so businesses can enjoy the benefits of attracting talented workers and keeping them happy by allowing them to balance their work and personal commitments.

Although there are a number of benefits, flexible working does pose some challenges, so it’s important to ensure it is the right fit for your business, and the employee in question – and equip managers to handle the challenges that arise from it.

Performance Management eLearning

Our Performance Management Suite contains eLearning courses to boost organisations’ performance in a number of key areas by training managers and employees.

Health and Safety law exemptions for self-employed workers

From 1st October 2015, certain categories of self-employed workers will no longer be required to comply with health and safety law such as the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The law is in place to protect people from exposure to risks caused by the activities of businesses and self-employed individuals, and will still apply to all cases which are deemed to carry risks.

The HSE estimates that this change will exempt 1.7 million self-employed individuals from legal health and safety requirements, including writers, accountants and online traders.

While removal of some of the ‘red tape’ around health and safety is likely to be a cause for celebration for many, this ruling highlights that the vast majority of businesses, including self-employed workers, cause some form of risk to other individuals – risk which must be managed in order to comply with health and safety law.

VinciWorks have over 20 years’ experience in providing businesses with online health and safety training. If you have a business of any size, we can help you to manage and risks arising from its activities and comply with relevant health and safety legislation.

We offer a portfolio of ready-made eLearning courses to meet the most common business health and safety risks, and have produced fully bespoke eLearning solutions for clients such as Royal Mail with more specific training requirements.

How prepared are you for EU Data Protection reforms?

How prepared are you for EU Data Protection reforms?

In a recent blog post, David Smith, Deputy Commissioner and Director of Data Protection at the Information Commissioner’s Office wrote about how businesses can prepare ahead of the upcoming EU Data Protection Regulation reforms which are likely to be finalised before the end of this year.

Once finalised, there will be a two-year transition period before all data protection regulation is harmonised among the EU’s 28 member states.

When in place, it’s expected that businesses will be expected to provide greater control over data to customers, and penalties for data protection breaches are likely to increase significantly.

Start to prepare sooner rather than later

Although the final regulation is yet to be agreed, there are a number of steps businesses can begin to put in place to ensure they’ll be well positioned to comply with them once they are finalised.

These include:

  • Establishing clear processes and policies for all data-handling activities and systems which can be audited and communicated should individuals request information on them
  • Considering how those processes and policies will be communicated to staff, and how you’ll keep track of who has been made aware of them
  • Establishing a process for updating those processes and policies so that they can be updated once EU Data Protection Regulation reforms are finalised

Simplifying staff training

VinciWorks specialise in compliance eLearning, and provide a number of courses related to information governance including Data Protection, Freedom of Information, Information Security and Records Management.

These courses enable your business to rapidly-deliver training to staff online – meaning staff can complete their training when it fits in with their schedules.

And, with an eLearning platform such as Astute, which we use to deliver our eLearning, you can easily keep track of who has completed what course.

When regulations do change, ensuring your organisation is compliant will simply be a case of updating your eLearning courses – and of course, we’ll be keeping all of our eLearning courses up-to-date with any changes to regulations.

Six techniques for making compliance more than just a box ticking exercise

The consequences of failing to comply with regulations are well documented, yet we still see a wide variance in risk tolerance in businesses across the UK, from those who ignore the issue to those striving to create a compliant workplace culture.

Putting policies in place is a necessary step towards achieving compliance, but ensuring that policies permeate throughout an organisation to create a culture of compliance, rather than just being seen as a box-ticking exercise, is an ongoing and complex process.

When English Rugby’s three governing bodies asked for our help tackling the long-term risk posed to players by concussion, the aim was cultural change from grass-roots to professional level, ensuring every player, coach and referee adopted new concussion management policies.

To help achieve this, we produced a Concussion Awareness eLearning module which was completed by 100% of professional rugby players, coaches and referees at the start of the 2014-15 season, and has just been shortlisted for three e-learning awards.

Ensuring 100% completion of the module was important, but the real goal was changing the way concussion is treated within the sport. Here are some of the techniques we used to ensure the module was more than just a box-ticking exercise:

Technique 1: Show that the risk is real

Mismanagement of concussion has resulted in life-limiting neurological problems for former rugby players, so it was essential that the Concussion Awareness eLearning module was taken seriously.

To ensure this was the case, the module included a number of recognisable, hard-hitting real life examples of the consequences of concussion mismanagement to players.

In any organisation, failure to comply with regulations puts the organisation and individuals involved at risk. Showing the actual consequences, which can include fines, dismissals or prison sentences, makes sure compliance is taken seriously rather than being seen as just a liability-limiting, box-ticking exercise.

Technique 2: Develop a clear message that learners can take away

Effectively changing culture calls for a campaign with a strong, memorable message.

The Concussion Awareness eLearning module was built around the “Four R’s” of concussion: Recognise, Remove, Recover and Return, which describe the best practise for concussion management, and form the basis of rugby’s concussion management campaign.

By identifying the key messages around desired behaviours and reinforcing them through policies, communications campaigns and training, an organisation’s employees will be able to take them on board and utilise them in their daily work, creating the desired behaviours.

Technique 3: Get interactive

Rugby players are far more motivated by playing rugby than sitting in training rooms, so it was important that the Concussion Awareness module was as interactive and engaging as possible.

Interactive elements utilised included multiple choice questions, video examples of concussions and a symptom identification game, making the module far more engaging than simple text on a page.

In today’s busy working world, full of different tasks competing for learners’ attention, making training interactive is essential to engage learners with subjects and enhance information retention, ultimately leading to a greater cultural impact.

Technique 4: Elicit an emotional response

Training which creates an emotional response is more memorable and far more likely to make a lasting impact on organisational culture – the main goal of the Concussion Awareness module.

That’s why the module starts with a hard hitting video depicting the consequences of mismanaged concussion for a player – a scenario the target audience can easily empathise with – as well as concluding with a scene showing the positive results of managing concussion correctly.

No matter what the subject, delivering content in a way that creates an emotional response will help to ensure employees engage with new policies and training rather than just going through the motions.

Technique 5: Get the buy-in of senior management

When the Concussion Awareness module was launched in 2014, every player, coach and referee received a personalised letter from Rob Andrew, Professional Rugby Director at the Rugby Football Union and former England international.

Showing that the message is coming from the top goes a long way to justifying the need for policies and training, as well as helping to prevent it from being seen as a box-ticking exercise.

In businesses, this can be achieved by sending email, letters, or having senior executives deliver a town hall meeting to encourage staff to take mandatory training seriously.

Technique 6: Tailor the message to the audience

Policies affect different employees in different ways: a middle manager’s responsibilities around a subject like fraud prevention will differ from those of a senior executive or a graduate.

With Concussion Awareness, we created different versions of the module for each of the three target audiences because each has different roles and responsibilities when it comes to concussion.

While generic, cover-all-bases training may keep costs down, making policies and training as specific as possible ensures that employees engage with, take on board and put in place processes that reduce risk of failure to comply with regulations.

With eLearning, this is particularly straightforward to achieve, as all content is digital and can be tailored to meet the needs of specific groups.

How eLearning can help you eliminate bullying from the workplace

The BBC has reported that one in three employees feel they have been bullied in the workplace, and a further one in five have witnessed a colleague being bullied.

Bullying is a serious problem for businesses which can lead to loss of morale, decreased motivation and reduced productivity, as well as having a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the victim.

Businesses must therefore put measures in place to ensure that bullying is not tolerated in the workplace, and understand the crucial role of the manager in shaping corporate culture.

Role of the manager

Often, managers may not be aware that bullying is even taking place, highlighting the importance of developing open, communicative relationships which enable employees to feel confident about approaching managers with any bullying-related concerns.

On other occasions, managers may be aware of bullying taking place, but not feel confident in handling the situation – especially where it involves confronting a known bully.

However, the way that a manager responds to these situations goes a long way in establishing the culture of a business, and avoiding addressing these issues can cause problems to continue, and possibly escalate – with serious consequences to the business, as well as the victims of bullying.

Acting immediately to address the situation may be challenging for a manager, but will ultimately earn them the respect and trust of their employees, ensure the bully is aware of the issue, and hopefully lead to a positive resolution.

Our Manager’s Guide to Handling Difficult Conversations eLearning course can help managers to deal with these situations with confidence, a key factor in establishing a bully-free workplace culture.

After Amazon was described as a ‘bruising’ workplace, what kind of business do you want to be?

In an exposé published earlier this month in the New York Times, online retail giant Amazon was described as a ‘bruising’ place to work, coming under fire over allegations around its work conditions.

These included being described as subjecting its workers to “brutal exploitation” and making staff “physically and mentally ill.”

The problem has been attributed to the level of scrutiny under which all employees perform, with high minimum performance levels in place and almost everything measured – allegedly leading to work-related stress and anxiety in some cases.

The report also suggests that working less than 80 hours a week is frowned upon, emails are expected to be replied to 24/7, and even personal crises aren’t call for reduction in performance targets.

Some have defended Amazon online, suggesting that the company remains compliant with employment laws, with employees made aware of what is expected of them when they join, and pointing to the company’s large growth and continuing innovation.

And Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, came out to defend the company, saying the article didn’t describe the Amazon he knew.

Whether or not the article is an accurate depiction of life at Amazon, it raises a question for businesses: What kind of business do we want to be, and how do we achieve that?

It’s natural for businesses to want to perform to their maximum capacity, but this should include getting the most from employees – not pushing them beyond their limits to breaking point.

Our Manager’s Guide to Objective Setting eLearning course is an in-depth resource to help managers get the most out of their staff by setting the right objectives, which both push employees to reach their potential and meet organisational goals.

Taken from the course, these Six P’s of Effective Objective Setting can help any business in setting the right objectives:

  • Participate – managers and employees should work together to set objectives that the employee buys into, with the employee owning responsibility to complete the objectives and the line manager responsible for mapping out strategies to ensure this is possible.
  • Precise – objectives should be precise and logical so that both employee and line manager know what is expected. Using a SMARTER (Specify, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Exciting, Reviewed regularly) framework for objective setting can help with precision.
  • Push – objectives should push employees to the extent of their capacity, so they realise their potential and optimise their performance – but objectives must still be achievable.
  • Purpose – objectives should be aligned between individual, team and organisational goals, providing motivation to the individual while incorporating the bigger picture.
  • Pathway – there should be a clear pathway to achieving objectives to help employees stay on track. Setting milestones and combining long and short term goals which can be regularly monitored can help to achieve this.
  • Performance Feedback – managers should regularly seek and provide feedback about employee objectives, ensuring that feedback remains focused on the tasks and is based on measurable indicators.

eLearning courses are an effective way to shape the culture within your business, and make delivering consistent training to all employees straightforward and cost effective. Our Performance Management Suite contains a number of ready-made eLearning courses designed to deliver essential training in all areas of performance, which can be tailored to meet your particular business needs.

18 Dos and Don’ts for improving your recruitment techniques

A CIPD report released this month highlights the need for improved recruitment techniques in order to create diverse workplaces.

The report, “A head for hiring: The behavioural science of recruitment and selection,” suggests that there is a long way to go when it comes to recruiting the best candidates for roles, including “biases and judgment errors that may occur on the assessor’s side.”

Failing to choose the best candidate for a job, for whatever reason, unnecessarily limits the potential productivity of the role. Equally serious, rejected candidates may have a case for discrimination if the reason for them not being selected is found to have been unrelated to skills.

Our Performance Management Suite contains eLearning courses which help managers achieve the best possible results while complying with relevant employment law, and includes a Manager’s Guide to Interviewing Skills.

Taken from that course, here are some dos and don’ts of interviewing, which can help to ensure the best candidates are hired for your business:

Do

  • Review anonymised CV’s alongside the job description to identify relevant skills and experience, as well as highlight possible gaps which could be areas for questioning.
  • Agree roles with anyone else involved in the interview, including deciding who will ask which questions and who will take notes.
  • Greet the candidate, introduce yourself and anyone else involved, and offer the candidate a drink. This is your first opportunity to build a rapport with the candidate to put them at ease.
  • Signpost what will happen during the interview, providing timings.
  • Ask a variety of questions including biographical questions which explore the candidate’s career history and experience, and situational questions which explore the behaviours and skills they’ve utilised in managing different situations.
  • Ask open and probing questions which will enable you to identify whether the candidate is right for the role, asking clarifying questions to clear up any ambiguity.
  • Listen actively while the candidate is talking.
  • Answer any questions the candidate has about the role in as much detail as possible – this is a chance for both of you to identify if the role would be a good fit.
  • Record both quantitative and qualitative data during the interview which can be used to make a decision later on based on the candidate’s suitability for the role.

Don’t

  • Ask candidates about their age, or make any related questions such as enquiring about the year they finished school.
  • Ask candidates whether they have children or are planning to have children in the future, or about their marital / civil partnership status.
  • Ask closed questions which don’t invite further elaboration, such as “Do you agree?”
  • Ask questions which aren’t relevant to the skills and experience necessary for the role.
  • Tell the candidate how you personally would face a similar situation to the ones discussed – the interview is about the candidate.
  • Forget to sell the organisation to the candidate – if you make an offer, they still need to accept it.
  • Discriminate against a candidate on the grounds of their race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, gender reassignment.
  • Take your mobile phone, computer or any other form of distraction into interviews – ensure the candidate has your full attention.
  • Forget to explain the next steps at the close of the interview, including when the candidate can expect to hear back from you.

Carphone Warehouse the latest to suffer a high profile data breach

Carphone Warehouse the latest to suffer a high profile data breach

In the latest in a series of high profile data breaches, the personal details of up to 2.4 million Carphone Warehouse customers may have been stolen following a cyber-attack last Wednesday.

Notably, the cyber attack is thought to only affect the customers of three of the websites belonging to the group: onestopphoneshop.com, e2save.com, and mobiles.co.uk – leading to speculation that vulnerabilities specific to those particular sites were exploited.

Customers of Dixons Carphone’s Currys and PC World businesses, as well as “the vast majority of Carphone Warehouse customers” are said to have been unaffected by the breach, but have still joined those customers whose data was accessed in expressing concerns over their privacy and safety, highlighting the need for businesses to put consistent and robust Data Protection policies in place which reach every corner of their organisation.

Shares in Dixons Carphone, the umbrella corporation containing Carphone Warehouse, have fallen by 1.75% following the attack.

The incident will now be investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office, which has the power to impose a fine of up to £500,000 should the data protection in place be found to be inadequate.

Fines aside, it’s damage limitation for Dixons Carphone, which must now work to regain the trust of the 2.4 million affected customers, millions of concerned customers of its other businesses, and its shareholders.

Uber case highlights employers’ driving at work health and safety responsibilities

Uber, whose mobile app lets users provide and book taxi services, is facing legal action over its drivers’ health and safety rights.

Currently, Uber does not consider its drivers to be employees, but the professional drivers’ union GMB has claimed that drivers are owed the same rights as any employee is owed by its employer.

These include rights provisioned by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require employers to take reasonable measures to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees and carry out risk assessments for all employees and work tasks.

Health and Safety responsibilities

The case highlights the health and safety responsibilities of all employers whose staff drive for work purposes – not just professional drivers.

Work-related driving accounts for around quarter of road accidents in the UK, making it one of the most dangerous work activities people undertake. Whether in their own vehicle or a company vehicle, if staff drive to reach meetings, make deliveries, transport clients, or attend events then several health and safety procedures must be in place.

As described in detail in our Driving At Work eLearning course, undertaking risk assessments, checking documentation, and providing communication and consultation with employees are some of the measures employers must put in place to ensure compliance with Health and Safety legislation.

Health and Safety measures should also ensure that drivers are fit to drive, their vehicles are well maintained, and the chance of an accident is minimal.

Discussing Uber, Steve Garelick of the GMB said: “Operators like Uber must understand that they have an ethical and social policy that matches society’s expectations of fair and honest treatment,” something which also applies to all businesses whose employees drive for work.