Month: January 2017

As it’s still January, the time of resolutions that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the year; we’re going to explore a number of ways to stay happy, healthy, motivated and performing to the best of our ability at work.

It all starts with a good night’s sleep. When we’re tired, our performance takes a real hit. Not only are we low on energy and unable to focus, we become more irritable and less able to deal with stressful situations. There is also a strong correlation between sleep deprivation and the onset of high blood pressure, depression and heart disease. To combat the detrimental effects of employee sleep deprivation, many organisations are introducing sleep-friendly areas for short productivity naps. Could anyone else do with forty winks right about now?

This one may take some getting used to, especially if you’re like me, somewhat zombie-like before that first morning cup of coffee! Studies suggest that exercising for around twenty to thirty minutes in the morning improves concentration, memory capacity and the ability to think outside the box. Morning exercise is also a potent stress reliever and effective in overcoming mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. We’ve all heard the saying healthy body, healthy mind!

Breaks help to recharge the energy batteries and avoid symptoms commonly derived from sitting at a desk, looking at a computer such as general aches and pains or eye strain. Although lunch breaks provide the opportunity for a time-out and a change of scenery; it is advised that shorter breaks should also be scheduled throughout the day. A common opinion is that people ought to take a break every forty minutes or so but this is unlikely to make you very popular with your employers. Start by stepping away from your desk for a couple of minutes at certain points of the day to avoid work overload.

How we use our free time can also have a considerable impact on our workplace morale and productivity. While we all like to relax and unwind when we’re away from the office; it is important to plan activities that will give you something to look forward to. Whether it’s a summer holiday, mini-break or just a game of tennis after work; make sure that light at the end of the tunnel is bright!

Developed by ELF Productivity, Ceequel® Software Suite is a true workforce management solution. Our intelligent time and attendance systems deliver streamlined clocking to payroll processes and comprehensive labour planning platforms. All shift patterns, overtime, flexitime, holiday allocations and breaks can be configured swiftly, to the highest degree of accuracy. For a free-of-charge consultation, please contact ELF Productivity.

We’ve all been there on the first day of a new job; taking a tour of our new workplace, being introduced to everyone, reciting an oath of office followed by a gigantic parade…

Okay, maybe not all inductions are the same but the initiation a new employee usually follows a series of organisational procedures.

On January 20^th 2017, the ultimate induction takes place, The Presidential Inauguration. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States and we thought that we’d celebrate by learning more about Inauguration Day.

Since 1937, The Presidential Inauguration has been held on the following January 20^th after an election. If January 20^th falls on a Sunday, the incoming President will be sworn in privately before repeating the oath at a public ceremony on Monday 21^st. Most inaugurations are held at the Capitol Building in Washington although alternate venues have included: Federal Hall in New York, Congress Hall in Philadelphia, The Old Brick Capitol and the White House.

And now without further ado, here is the Inauguration Day order of proceedings:

Morning Prayer – Introduced by Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933, six Presidents have attended their morning prayer at St John’s Episcopal Church.

Old meets new at the White House – The incoming President and his predecessor have a meeting before travelling together from the White House to the Capitol.

The Vice President is sworn in – The oath of office is recited by the Vice President.

The President takes the oath – The main event of the day! The President repeats the 35-word oath, usually read to him by the Chief Justice of The United States.

Speech!! Speech!! – The new President delivers the Inaugural Address, a tradition carried out by every President since George Washington.

Out with the old – Usually, the outgoing President makes a high-profile exit at this point. Helicopters are often the preferred mode of transport although cars, trains and jets have also been used.

That’s the formalities out of the way, time for LUNCH! – The Capitol’s Statuary Hall hosts the Inaugural Luncheon which includes: speeches, gift presentations and food reflecting the home states of the President and Vice-President.

Inaugural Parade – After the luncheon, the President and Vice-President head to the White House followed by a convoy of ceremonial soldiers, marching bands and floats. The President, Vice-President, spouses and a selection of special guests then view the parade from the Presidential Reviewing Stand.

And finally, It’s time to P-A-R-T-Y!! – A series of glitzy, black-tie Inaugural Balls are held across Washington DC in the new President’s honour who will attempt to attend every official ball. The record number of attended Inaugural Balls is 14 by Bill Clinton in 1997.

The New Starter Wizard available through Ceequel® Human Resource Management Software delivers a comprehensive automated solution to facilitate the induction of new employees. Relevant documentation is instantly accessible for new starters while departments such as IT and Payroll receive automatic emails containing all necessary information regarding a new employee. If you would like to learn more about Ceequel® Human Resource Management Software, please contact ELF Productivity.

Working from home is a nice thought on a rainy Tuesday in January, isn’t it?

According to recent figures, over 1.5 million people throughout the UK agree and have swapped the office for their humble abode!

Over the last decade, the number of employees working from home has increased considerably, a trend which shows no sign of slowing down. Of the aforementioned, record-high 1.5 million employees currently working from home, approximately 900,000 are male. The number of female home-working employees represents the highest growth in the trend, increasing by 35% to around 600,000. Furthermore, a staggering 4.2 million employees split their working time between home and the office.

Two surveys, investigating the opinions of UK workers and college leavers, further emphasised the growing significance of opportunities to work from home with regard to staff recruitment and retention. Of the 1,000 workers surveyed, 90% expressed desires to work from home, outlining the importance of a healthy work-life balance. 80% of the 500 college leavers researched, listed home and flexible working opportunities as a key factor in deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.

Now that we’ve established the growing popularity of working from home; what are the benefits for employees and employers?

From an employee’s perspective, not only are they spared of the dreaded morning commute; working hours can be scheduled around other commitments such as caring responsibilities for children or other family members.

Interestingly, a number of large employers who enabled their employees to work from home experienced increases in employee productivity and decreases in absences. The productivity debate is particularly intriguing. Which is the optimum environment for productivity; an office full of chatty co-workers and supervisors keeping you in check or your own home and all the potential distractions that come with it? The fall in staff absences was attributed to a lack of opportunity for infections to spread and reduced stress levels.

While some employers are unable to discard the notion that working from home is an excuse for employees to sit in their onesies all day; others would be willing to trial such working processes but lack the necessary technical infrastructure to do so…

That’s where we come in!

Leading UK Time and Attendance Systems provider ELF Productivity offer a diverse range of solutions to facilitate employees working from home. Our award-winning Ceequel® Software Suite delivers real-time information, enabling organisations to monitor the attendance of employees working remotely. Dynamic web-based platforms, accessible from PC’s, laptops, smartphones or tablet devices are available for both employees and managers. Employee productivity can also be analysed using intelligent activity tracking software. For a free-of-charge consultation, please contact ELF Productivity.

Productivity is defined as the rate of output per unit of input; in other words, you get out of it what you put in. If only it was that simple….

Here are seven tips to improve your productivity at work:

Create Processes Instead of Goals – Rather than setting targets such as landing two new clients per month or improving customer service; consider how you will achieve those goals. In order to land two new clients per month; you may increase the number of daily outbound sales calls or introduce monthly email campaigns. To improve customer service, you could obtain some customer feedback regarding any areas for improvement and revise your processes accordingly.

Realistic To-do Lists – You may ask yourself sometimes, ‘why have I only completed seven tasks out of twenty on my daily to-do list?’ The problem could well be the list! When creating a to-do list, you should start small, select three or four activities which must be completed before the end of the day. Secondly, estimate how much time each task is likely to take and lastly, rank the activities by order of importance or level of difficulty. Once the tasks have been ticked off, add some more. Never-ending to-do lists are demoralising, don’t fall into the trap!

Stop Multitasking and Schedule ‘Niggling’ Tasks – When you are performing several tasks at once, none of them have your full attention and that’s how mistakes happen! Stick to the old, tried and trusted principle of ‘taking one thing at a time’. Another productivity killer is the spreading of small or menial tasks throughout the day around more pressing matters. It is good practice to chunk all those niggling tasks together and allocate a specific time of the day or week to complete them.

Eat a Healthy Lunch – What we have for lunch can be crucial to our afternoon productivity. Healthy lunches keep us sufficiently fuelled for the rest of the working day, heavy lunches have the opposite effect. Who else just wants to fall asleep after a big meal?

Drink Water – Probably the oldest trick in the book, but it works! Drinking water boosts your metabolism, provides energy and makes you feel less hungry. I feel more motivated already!

Avoid Perfectionism – While there’s nothing wrong with setting high standards, striving for perfection can be a real productivity killer. Very few things in life are perfect; all you can do is work hard, try your best and get it done.

Track Your Time – Knowing how much time it takes you to complete specific tasks can be invaluable. Not only can you manage your time more effectively, you will also be able to identify non-productive or wasted time.

ELF Productivity is a leading provider of workplace time management solutions. Our award-winning Ceequel® Time and Attendance systems significantly enhance the accuracy and efficiency of an organisation’s administrative processes. For a free-of-charge consultation, please contact ELF Productivity.

A new year is here and with it a new wave of trends predicted to reshape the human resource management landscape in the not too distant future. While it can be difficult to keep track of all the advice provided by contemporary HR gurus; a number of frequently recurring elements present some interesting food for thought.

Firstly, Millennials are becoming the dominant species of the working population and many HR experts believe that traditional motivational techniques must be adapted to manage Millennials effectively. In keeping with the new year theme, a recent investigation into the morale of junior managers revealed that around 65% return to work demotivated following the festive period. Although the ‘January Blues’ are certainly not uncommon, companies are advised to consider staff retention strategies to deter junior managers from seeking pastures new. When quizzed on the key ingredients of job satisfaction, a large number of younger workers listed ‘career development’ and ‘the opportunity to learn new skills’.

Millennials are also less likely to respond to traditional annual performance reviews compared to their Generation X and Baby Boomer counterparts. When delivering appraisals to Millennials, managers are advised to assume the role of ‘coach’ rather than ‘supervisor’. This ‘coaching’ perspective involves more frequent feedback regarding the employee’s individual development, outlining specific areas for improvement and training opportunities. Interestingly, this ‘coaching’ philosophy is also an effective motivational tool in reverse. If younger employees are encouraged to share their expertise and knowledge with more experienced colleagues, they will view themselves as valued members of staff as opposed to underlings.

Take control of your organisation’s training and development activities with Ceequel® Human Resource Management Software. Our intelligent training, skills and resource matrix enables HR professionals to identify the training needs of employees, schedule appropriate training activities and compile detailed on-screen records of employee training history and relevant internal and external training providers. If you would like to learn more about Ceequel® Human Resource Management Software or any of our other industry-leading workforce management solutions, please contact ELF Productivity.

According to findings from The Markit/CIPS UK Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey, UK manufacturing sector growth reached a two-and-a-half year high in December 2016 with demand for goods increasing at home and abroad. A headline reading of 56.1 was the highest since June 2014 and a welcomed improvement on the 53.6 posted in November 2016.

A weak exchange rate in the aftermath of the Brexit vote which has seen the pound fall 17% against the US dollar and 14% against the euro, has been identified as the key driver behind the surge in new business volume. While the domestic market remains a strong contributor to the order books of manufacturers, the attractiveness of British goods to international markets such as the US, Europe, China and India is undeniable.

Employment in the UK manufacturing sector also rose for the fifth consecutive month as organisations strived to cope with growing production levels, with SME’s in particular looking to increase staff numbers. Although larger producers recruited on a more moderate scale, UK manufacturing sector employment accelerated at its highest pace for over a year.

Despite Britain’s manufacturing industry and economy as a whole, performing better than expected following the EU referendum; there are a number of causes for concern. Firstly, the aforementioned weak exchange rate is truly a double-edged sword for UK-based manufacturers. While demand in international markets for cheaper British exports flourishes; manufacturing rates of inflation are among the highest in the survey’s history. As a result, consumer spending is predicted to take a hit as factories are under pressure to increase selling prices.

Caution is also advised due to a lack of consistency between PMI survey results and recent figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which revealed a 0.9% fall in UK manufacturing output in October 2016.

All things considered, the UK manufacturing sector begins 2017 on steady ground. However, with rising inflation rates likely to trigger a downturn in consumer spending and an upsurge in oil and steel prices; great challenges are ahead.

Ceequel® Software Suite is the ideal workforce management solution for manufacturers. Our intelligent time and attendance systems provide streamlined clocking to payroll processes while our dynamic shop floor data capture and employee tracking software modules deliver comprehensive real-time insights into the efficiencies of a manufacturer’s shop floor activities. For a free of charge consultation, please contact ELF Productivity.