Economic instability prompts recruitment caution
Hiring activity in the UK reached its slowest rate for 17 months as businesses exercise more caution due to economic uncertainty around the economy.
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The Motivation Agency
Our core services of Communication, Learning & Development, Reward & Recognition and Digital, all drive positive employee engagement. By working closely with our clients, our specialists forge a deep understanding of their performance challenges, to create solutions that promote culture change, customer experience, sales uplift, market share, compliance and product knowledge. We create employee engagement solutions that deliver measurable improvement in business performance.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Sometimes being super organised doesn’t pay off. Two of our fabulous trainers, Ian Luxford and Amber Orchard-Webb were due to be delivering a day of customer skills training in Hull last week, trains were booked, plans made and then the RMT Train Strike hit.
Let’s put this into geographical perspective. Amber lives in Chichester, Ian in North London – they had a fair distance to travel!
With no airport in Hull, it was time to hit the road. With a relay of cars driven by family and colleagues Amber joined Ian at South Mimms service station in Potters Bar and then on they went up the A1.
The excitement for the day ahead quickly built as an MKM Building Supplies truck was spotted on the M25, a good omen many would say!
The team arrived in good time and explored the training venue, making sure everything that was needed was there and worked! The day went without a hitch – a day designed for kitchen specialists at MKM Building Supplies to help them deliver an even better customer experience.
The complete learning experience included online learning (Meerkat Selling Online and Every Customer Wants) prior to the face-to-face event. The day itself then bought the customer experience to life – activities, discussions and professional actors all adding variety and excitement to the day.
A Shared Sense of Direction
What does great employee engagement look like?
Good question. And one that we are always exploring. We get great exposure to some places where good employee engagement is spot on and driving productivity, customer service people retention. We also see places where it is not so good. There are multiple articles out there, including this piece by HR Magazine, which define why employee disengagement matters and its ramifications throughout a business*1. We want to focus on what makes great employee engagement. The strongest take-away, in all the sectors we work across, is that great employee engagement encourages, drives, and motivates people to behave in positive ways.
What's the difference between empathy and emotional intelligence?
These are two important, closely linked concepts often mentioned in the same breath. Understandably so. They are complementary and together they add huge value in the workplace. While empathy gives you the skills to work with someone to understand how they see things, emotional intelligence is about managing your own emotions, to help you see things clearly and constructively.
Why will empathy make a difference in the workplace?
Empathy in the workplace has always been needed, and this won’t change. Some may feel there are organisations that have been successful without it. Think though, about how much more successful they could have been if they had empathy.
What is empathy?
Is it ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another’? A good strong statement. And yes, this captures it nicely in exactly that, a statement.
There’s a reason why empathy is firmly on so many agendas at the moment. People talk about it improving the workplace, maximising employee retention, even tackling the Great Resignation conundrum. So, do you really know what it is and what it can do in the workplace? Because if you don’t, you’re probably missing a trick.
Incidental managers could be contributing to the Great Resignation
The saying goes that people don't leave bad jobs, only bad managers, and a lack of proper training could be costing organisations.
Speaking to HR magazine Ian Luxford, learning specialist at online learning platform The Motivation Agency, argued that inexperienced line managers may be overlooking the real reasons people are leaving.
Incidental manager or people pleaser?
Being a manager is a tough job. It’s always needed what some misleadingly term ‘soft skills’, to manage effectively; and lately the job’s been getting ever more challenging! The pandemic has certainly brought greater people management challenges. The dramatic shift in the way people work, partly because of the pandemic, means managers are now faced with significant staff retention issues. In a recent report by Emplify, nearly 73% of employees are currently open to new career opportunities — and 33% are actively looking for new jobs*1.
Tackling The Great Resignation Head On
It is true, there has been much talk about ‘The Great Resignation’. The term has been a prevalent topic for well over a year. A combination of factors, accelerated by the recent pandemic, has created a catalyst for people to take action on their careers, rather than opting for complacency. For many, their job was one aspect of their lives they could control while many other elements were being swept away. The Great Resignation may well be happening, but should it have surprised us as much as it seems to have done, given the circumstances in which it has arisen?