Is your business at sixes and sevens as people have worked from home for the last 15 months and perhaps felt disengaged from the business?It’s worth taking a little time out to assess how you can get things back on track. Here’s how to get it back on track and firing on all cylinders as we return to a sense of normality and perhaps go back to the office.
Get your team re-engaged with your Vision and Values
Many things have changed over the last 15 months and as a business, you may have had to do a total u turn and adjust your priorities and ways of working dramatically or you may have just had to make some small tweaks. But how many of you have communicated your new vision, this change of direction, no matter how small, to your team?
Your team may be feeling disconnected from the business anyway, having spent the last 15 months sat at their kitchen table or possibly working from their bedroom! Now is the time to help them to re-connect to the business and be clear about your Vision and where you are going and how they will all be part of this.
It’s also a great time to remind people of your values. As we have all been working alone for so long, we have also forgotten how to be sociable and how to socialise, so integrating back into the team will be easy for some but harder for others. Maybe doing a quick activity with the team either online or together to reconnect them to your values would be a great reminder of what’s important about your values and your culture and it will remind them of why they joined you in the first place!
Reassess goals and priorities at individual and team levels
All bosses like to think that their staff have stretching but achievable milestones to work towards, and they know exactly what’s expected of them when it comes to carrying out their day-to-day roles. But when was the last time you spoke to all of your staff to make sure everyone’s on the same page?
Now’s a great time to consider whether current objectives are fit for purpose and ensure your managers are getting together with their teams to regroup and prepare for a different year and different priorities.
Check that all your policies are still fit for purpose
Up to date policies aren’t just a ‘nice to have’. If something goes wrong in your business, they can be the difference between you carefully navigating out of the situation with the least possible amount of fuss and causing a load of irreparable damage to your budget and your reputation.
Don’t wait until you’re faced with a problem. Take some time to look at your people policies, and ask yourself whether they are still relevant, compliant with any new legislation, and clearly communicated to your workforce. For example, have you amended your contracts of employment if people are going to be working from home on an ongoing basis and have you got a working from home policy in place?
Give yourself some Oxygen and room to “breathe”
Keeping on top of people management issues in your workplace can be tricky. You want to be a good employer, you want to get the most out of your staff, and you want to make sure that your business is a great place to work. But between client meetings, managing the business, sales and marketing and everything else that needs your attention, it’s easy to take your eye off the ball!
The last year has shown us, how valuable it can be to have your HR Expert on speed dial. There is always the option to call upon HR help on an ad-hoc basis, and there can be real value in that approach. But if you’re ready to get your business back on track and give yourself the valuable gift of peace of mind along the way, then it might be time for you to start a retainer relationship with us at Meraki HR. This could be the HR secret weapon that you need to help you get through 2021!
Here’s what Faye Pressley, COO at Vanti had to say about the retained support we’ve provided to them this last year;
“Vanti are a small growing technology business who put our people at the heart of everything we do. We started working with Meraki in March 2020, and they have been fundamental to our growth over the last few months. Not only do they have extensive HR experience and know-how, they are also the type of people that can clearly see when you’re up against it and how / when to offer extra support. Emma’s heart is genuinely in the place of wanting to see good people and good businesses thrive and will do all she can to help with that, including challenging you in healthy ways if you need it (which we did!). The team are flexible, responsive and quick when it comes to meeting last minute and urgent needs and their advice is always backed by extensive experience and research. Whenever we had an odd query, concern, missing documentation or when we’ve just needed a sounding board, they’re always there and never make you feel like ‘just another client’.
There is no way we would have made it through 2020 as smoothly as we did, had it not been for their support. Having Meraki as a partner enabled our core team to focus on really giving time and care to the wider team and individuals, that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”
There are many other benefits of signing up to our Oxygen retainer service, such as an annual audit of your paperwork, preferential rates with our Partners; Breathe HR, Hireful and OK Positive, as well as access to an Employee Assistance Program too.
Want to know some more? Then why not book a chat with Rachel here:
