Six ways to raise your leadership game this year . . .

· by Emma Browning
The beginning of the year is often a really useful time to take stock of your business; your objectives and priorities, and how you’re going to achieve them. It’s very possible to raise your leadership game in 2021, by making just a few manageable changes. If you’re ready to step up to the challenge, then read on. We’re going to look at six practical game-changers that you can get to work with right away. 1.Leave some unplanned time in your diary   If you take a look back over your schedule…

Thrive with Meraki HR

· by Emma Browning
At Meraki HR, we have always been here to help and support clients with their immediate people problems. Being able to deal with these issues quickly and with the minimum of fuss and impact to your business, allowing you to get on with what you do best – running your business!  However, most of our work with clients has been around helping them create great places to work; where their people are happy, motivated, engaged and highly productive. We appreciate that there are a lot of immediate issues and problems…

Coaching for Success

· by Emma Browning
Given the myriad examples of successfully coached sports teams last Summer, I wonder how many of us have taken the very large hint that it may well be very worth investing in some training for your managers to help them to become coaches? You can help your employees improve their current performance, or in the case of an already effective employee, help them become even more effective. Performance coaching is a powerful tool when managers take advantage of its usefulness. There is no doubt about it – effective coaching can…

The 7 things you need to know about managing employees

· by Emma Browning
Have you built or are you building a successful business?  It’s stressful isn’t it?  Especially when you have to deal with tricky day to day employee matters. I’ve managed my own teams for over twenty years, and HR teams can be some of the hardest people to manage – I can’t imagine why! So I thought I would share my 7 tips on how to effectively manage your employees. What you should know about managing employees … So, you decided to start your own business because you’re creative, or you’re…

Engage for success

· by Emma Browning
We know that healthy, happy workers lead to healthy, happy and successful organisations. Are your people delivering the results you need? Is your business performing as expected? When was the last time you asked your people what they loved about their job? If your employees feel unhappy or unappreciated, you can be sure as eggs is eggs that they won’t be giving their all to the business that employs them. Just as in life, being engaged with something leads to so many great things including high energy, happiness, motivation and…

Are you ready to take the advice of Richard Branson?

· by Emma Browning
I talked about mentoring and coaching recently and for many of us, when you think of influential people from the world of business, Richard Branson is a name that’s likely to feature pretty high up on your list. He has talked many times about mentoring and recently quoted at an event hosted by Purple Cubed, ‘I am often asked what the link between a promising business person and a successful business person is, and mentoring always comes to mind. Giving people advice on how to achieve their goals is often…

Are you attracting the right people to your business?

· by Emma Browning
This week I am talking about recruitment. A 9-5 working week, 4 weeks holiday a year, and a corner desk were once considered perks to a job, creating satisfaction and loyalty. Not anymore. Today’s businesses need to be much savvier if they want to attract and retain key talent. These days prospective employees are searching for a better work/life balance, and a greater sense of fulfilment from their jobs. They are more discerning. The structure of work has broken down and shifted, and small business owners must take note of…

Engage for success

· by Emma Browning
Are your people not delivering the results you need and your business not performing as expected? Consider for a moment, the findings of research conducted by employee services provider Personal Group, which revealed that almost half of UK workers are unhappy with their job. The same survey showed that happy employees are a massive 12 per cent more productive than those unhappy with their work situation. Hands up anybody who would like to see a 12% increase in productivity in their business this month?! So, if your employees feel unhappy…

Would you ignore Richard Branson’s business advice?

· by Emma Browning
When you think of influential people from the world of business, Richard Branson is a name that’s likely to feature pretty high up on your list. With a multi-billion-pound empire that has included transport, music, and even his own private island getaway retreat, he certainly knows a thing or two about creating and sustaining huge success. With that in mind, it might pay to carefully consider his latest comments on the value of mentoring. Speaking via a recorded message to an event on mentoring hosted by Purple Cubed, he said:…

Want to be a Highly Effective Manager?

· by Emma Browning
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Are you new to managing a team and worried about what you can/can’t do or say as you don’t want to fall foul of employment law? Do you find that you keep hiring the wrong people with the wrong attitude who just don’t “fit” with your culture? Feel like you might as well just do the work yourself – its easier than having to explain it over and over? Are you an experienced manager but don’t know what you should be doing…