Additional National Living Wage Costs

Now the National Living Wage means that those working aged 25 or over are legally entitled to at least £7.20 per hour how will your business absorb these additional National Living Wage costs?

Focus on improving wellbeing in your business

I believe that by far the biggest impact, for both the shorter and longer term success of your business, will be a focus on improving wellbeing. The wellbeing of the individuals and teams that create the value your business delivers.  This is because it is your people who:

• come up with new ideas that reduce costs or increase sales and productivity
• deliver the service that keeps customers coming back
• decide whether they are coming into work today or taking the day off sick
• decide how much effort they put in at work
• recommend your business as a place of work to friends, family and peers
• decide whether to stay with or leave your business

Your business CANBE better

Wellbeing has no universally agreed definition but I see it as the state people, teams and businesses achieve when they are Creating meaning, Achieving more, Nurturing relationships, Building resilience & sustainability and Engaging positive emotions.

Just one of these ideas might help you cover the costs!

Using this model here are just a few ideas to help. Some of these can be done very quickly and some take a longer more strategic approach. Applying just one of them might just help you recover the cost of the National Living Wage!

Create meaning for your employees. They’ll be more engaged, motivated and productive.

• Recruit individuals that share your company values and beliefs.
• Effectively communicate your company purpose, values and vision internally and externally.
• Give employees more freedom and flexibility in their roles and they’ll be more creative in coming up with ideas to reduce costs and increase productivity.
• Understand your employees character strengths and passions as well as their skills. Understanding employees as individuals will generate opportunities for them and the business.

Achieve more as a business through an inspiring culture.

• Ensure the business is focused on the intersection between passion, purpose, and profit. Can you get rid of business activities that have distracted from the core purpose?
• Communicate the business strategy effectively.
• Develop team and individual goals aligned to the business strategy. Are all your top people on the top projects?
• Ensure you are using resources at your disposal effectively.
• Encourage good habits. How much does your business waste (electricity, water, materials) through bad habits?  What are the bad habits of managers or leaders costing your business? Get some management or leadership coaching.

Nurture relationships that are more loyal, forgiving, fruitful, compassionate and kind.

• Encourage better listening in your business. Listen to employees, customers and suppliers for good ideas. Ask them great questions.
• Improve teamwork in your business to encourage greater creativity, effectiveness and collaboration. Get a team coach.
• Review how your business is communicating both internally and externally in respect to clarity, consistency and costs.
• Develop a retention strategy
• Keep all your promises now matter how small.
• Consider opportunities for collaboration with competitors, partners, suppliers.

Build resilience and sustainability into your business to ensure individuals, teams, your brand and the world are around for the long term.

• Develop resilience in your individuals and teams. Set up a small team to focus on potential future market changes and how the business should react to them in the future. Perhaps, if you already have one of these teams, they have developed a plan for dealing with additional National Living Wage costs!
• Consider your approach to sustainability and the environment. How might you make savings through doing things more effectively or using resources more efficiently? Take a look at B Corp.
• Review your buildings and environment to see if you can make improvements that will impact on the health and wellbeing of your people. Take a look at the Delos Well Building standard. Put more plants and greenery in your office.
• Encourage employees to take breaks away from their desks, get out into nature and exercise.

Engage positive emotions to improve forgiveness, thankfulness, enjoyment, fun, confidence and optimism.

• Set up an employee recognition scheme based around your business values and beliefs.
• Smile more.
• Write letters of thanks to employees who have worked particularly hard.
• Savour individual, team and company success by taking photos and putting them up in the office, celebrating with time-outs, events, recognising those involved in front of their peers.
• Read this article on 6 top tips for improving workplace positivity.

Improveon helps you, your team and your brand to thrive with a focus on wellbeing.  Call or contact David now for a free performance review and to find out how Improveon can help your business improve performance.