Mar 7, 2016 | IT
We recently reported on a study that was undertaken by London’s Chartered Management Institute, that showed the impact that management and leadership has on an individual’s health and well-being. The impact that technology is having on Managers was a prominent theme throughout the results of the study. The study also demonstrated that long working hours are having a significant adverse effect on Managers’ health and well-being; and the implications of poor management strategy became prevalent. Here we recommend ways that you can improve the well-being of your Managers and help them to manage the pressures of the role more effectively.
Empower Staff and Encourage Productivity
The study found that the biggest factor that influences motivation a positive well-being is a manager’s ability to decide how they will get their jobs done and complete tasks and projects, with a staggering 74% of respondents stating that this is the most contributing factor to job satisfaction. Give your staff autonomy – structure job position to allow a degree of autonomy and allow your managers to set their own goals with good reason. Self-chosen goals create intrinsic motivation – the desire to achieve goals for their own sake. It creates a higher level of determination and persistence and will enhance engagement levels. Empower your staff through rewarding and recognition of their achievements and support personal and professional development.
Switch Off
Allow employees to switch off from work emails during non-working hours. Duties should be kept to working hours if you want to maximise the productivity levels of your staff. It is a clear indicator, with 61% of respondents claiming that technology makes it hard for them to switch off, that this is an issue that needs to be reviewed by employers. You may want to review your communication policy to reduce the likelihood of managers resisting to the temptation of accessing emails out of work. 39% believe that out-of-hours remote access to emails should be restricted by their employers – this may be a wise move in a bid to reduce stress, heighten productivity and increase job satisfaction.
Develop Better Line Managers
You need to develop line managers who have a capability to encourage and engage. Providing feedback to managers on what areas they perform well in and what areas could benefit from improvement will greatly enhance a manager’s quality of working life. Ensure that managers seek feedback on how their management styles are perceived by colleagues. Providing development opportunities to help managers to reflect on their own styles will enable them to develop and enhance their own management styles. Creating more opportunities to learn will always greatly benefit employees. Supporting this, 92% of Chartered Managers say that becoming chartered increased their self-awareness.
Improve Change Management
Managers’ assessment of how senior leaders are managing change is at a low point. A high number of managers are saying change initiatives are failing to deliver business benefits. With change becoming commonplace across most organisations, addressing this should be a priority. During a culture change, strong leadership is necessary, along with improved communication and a level of trust between leaders and managers. It is vital to measure and monitor the impact that change within the organisation is having on managers.
Make Well-being a Focus
With Managers’ time being taken over by long working hours and heavy workloads, time to focus on exercise and personal health is compromised. Implementing a wellness plan for all employees may be beneficial in order to contribute towards eliminating negativity and improving Managers’ health and well-being. Emphasise the impact of poor health and well-being to Managers, and the cost implications it can have to the business in order to get 100% buy in to your wellness plan. Improving well-being means tackling any stigmas that may be attached to the discussion of health. These may be issues regarding mental health, physical illness or stress. Providing information and encouraging discussion about these issues give your staff the confidence to seek if and when needed, help for their health.
Ann Francke, Chief Executive CMI commented on the results of the study:
“There is nothing wrong with hard graft, but only if you’re well supported. Accidental managers who lack the professional skills to deal with the causes of burnout are a threat to their health and others health at work. Productivity will also continue to suffer unless employer’s train their managers.”
If you are struggling to manage the health and well-being of your staff and need a HR professional to join your team, then please call us on 0207 788 6600 and one of our expert consultants will be on hand to help you find the right candidate.
Mar 7, 2016 | IT
Internet of Things (IoT) is quickly becoming a phenomenon that is taking over our everyday lives. Mundane objects such as vehicles, household appliances, office appliances and even buildings are now becoming digitally connected, enabling intercommunication and autonomous machine-to-machine data transfer. The growth of IoT is moving at a dangerously fast pace, and it has recently been suggested that the number of active wirelessly connected devices will exceed 40 billion by 2020. Rapid adoption of IoT means that these devices are attractive targets for criminals.
Recent vulnerabilities in IoT devices, continue to highlight the seriousness of enhancing and improving the security of these devices. Earlier this month it was reported that a number of baby monitors were being compromised, enabling hackers to change camera settings, monitor live feeds and provide access to other hackers to monitor live feeds. The security of internet-connected cars was also under scrutiny recently, when it was revealed that a number of malicious activities enabled hackers to take control of entertainment systems and even shut down cars in motion. Malicious actives such as these are now also posing great threats to health. Wearables such as the Apple Watch, and Android Wear are being compromised to enable hackers to use the motion sensors within these devices to steal information and even health data. Some hacks involve medical devices which could have consequences on patients’ health.
It is not the first time that these sorts of issues have arisen. When the US introduced RFID tags to passports, personal data could be accessed from 30ft away, using a device that was easily available on sites such as EBay for as little as £180.
IoT security is now an issue of high importance and concern. Figures from a study undertaken by Strategy Analytics that looked into IoT system security, revealed that 70% of IT departments spend less than 20% of their time securing corporate network and data assets; while 56% agreed that their firms had or may have experienced a successful security breach.
Laura DiDio, SA director of IoT Systems Research and consulting and author of the report stated that “the survey results are a huge wake-up call.” DiDio furthered this, “IoT environments exponentially increase the size of the attack vector since companies have so many more devices, end points and applications to secure.”
What is being done?
Manufacturers and security firms are now trying to secure the world of IoT before it spirals out of control. Leading tech firms such Vodafone and BT have set up the Internet of Things Security Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, designed to vet internet connected devices to identify vulnerability and offer assistance in security. Ben Azvine, global head of security research and innovation of BT said that the foundation will help IoT tech go mainstream without compromising privacy. Other founding members of the organisation include Imagination Technologies, Royal Holloways University of London, Copper Horse Solutions, Secure Thingz, NMI and PenTest Partners.
John Moor, director of the IoTSF, said the foundation was set up to meet an urgent need. “With so many concerns and a new complexity of security in IoT, it is important that we now start the necessary work in earnest to address known, yet not always addressed, and emerging vulnerabilities,” he said. “The scale and scope of the issues are formidable and as such they require a formidable response. This can only be achieved effectively by working together”.
Additional efforts are being made in order to tackle the issues in IoT security. Platforms such as Google’s Brillo, the Qualcomm’s AllJoyn platform and Apple’s HomeKit have been designed to enable large networks of IoT devices to identify and authenticate each other in order to provide higher security and prevent data breaches.
What’s next for IoT Security?
More still needs to be done to ensure a safe user experience to all who integrate these internet-connected devices into their day-to-day lives.
Gateways that connect IoT devices to company and manufacturer networks need to be secured in addition to just the devices themselves. Repositories where IoT data is stored are also attractive targets to hackers who use big data to make money- the security of these data archives also needs to be considered. Security updates both manual and automatic are still risky, safeguards need to be implemented in order to prevent updating interfaces from becoming security holes themselves.
It is inevitable that IoT is soon to play a far more pivotal role in our day to day lives, and will revolutionise the world of technology. But this major issue needs to be addressed and efforts need to be made by all in technology to ensure a safe user experience by all.
Let us know your thoughts on the topic. Will IoT revolutionise the world in the way in which it is meant to, or will it leave users open to serious risk and compromise of privacy? Tweet us @ITRecruitment or join in the conversation on our Facebook.
If you need help in hiring the next best IT professional to join your team, then call us today on 0207 788 660 and one of our friendly expert consultants will help you with all your recruitment requirements.
Feb 29, 2016 | IT
A recent study into the quality of working lives, conducted by London’s Chartered Management Institute, produced some startling results. The aim of the study was to explore the well being, motivation and productivity levels of Managers; to determine contributing attributes that affect these factors; and to provide a solution to these issues. The report demonstrates the impact that leadership and organisational structure has on health and well-being. The results from the study aim to provide lessons and insights into what managers can do to improve their working life, and what line managers and directors can do in helping managers achieve a healthy working environment.
Some of the key issues that became apparent within the study is that digital presenteeism is having an adverse effect on managers; long hours are increasing stress levels – and even cancelling out annual leave entitlement; and workload is impacting on health and well-being. This being said, job satisfaction levels have increased from 55% in 2012 to 67% in 2015.
The Age of Digital Presenteeism: High connectivity = High stress
61% of Managers reported that they find it difficult to switch off from work commitments due to accessibility to emails. Remote access and connectivity to office functions, have been widely appraised by Managing Directors in a bid to reduce lost working hours due to absenteeism and unusual circumstances e.g. weather, however remote access is having adverse effects on Managers. 61% say that technology makes it hard to switch off, furthering this – those who struggle to switch off reported lower productivity levels and job satisfaction, and more frequent stress. In a bid to reduce the adverse effects of technology, 39% believe that out-of-hours, remote access to emails should be restricted by their employers.
Long Working Hours Cancels out Annual Leave Entitlement
A staggering 92% of managers work longer than their contracted hours. ‘Always on’ management is beginning to take its toll on UK Managers, with a staggering average of 29 days extra work a year in additional unpaid overtime, annual leave entitlement is being cancelled out by overtime all-together. 54% of Managers stated that long working hours are having a negative impact on them, however this is a 5% decrease from 2012. It is reported that stress is 3 times more common among those working longer hours, supporting this, 20% of those working over 3 hours extra per day said they often feel stressed.
The Effects of Workload on Health, Well-being and Motivation
The majority of Managers’ report a negative impact on their health and well-being due to workload. The list of health implications that workload is having include mood swings, lack of appetite and overeating, and even depression and panic or anxiety attacks. Sleep loss tops this list with 57% reporting insomnia and muscle aches, followed by headaches and constant irritability. Managers in the public sector are currently facing significant organisational challenges including low motivation, productivity and job satisfaction. Motivation in private sectors, however, remain higher. This also applies to those organisations experiencing internal growth.
The Implications of Poor Management Strategy
The worst perceived management styles generate 4 times more stress than the best perceived management styles. According to the report, the ‘worst’ styles include secretive, risk-averse and authoritarian management styles; however, accessible, empowering and trusting methods of management come out on top as the most favorable styles of management. The favored methods drive job satisfaction levels up to 2.5 times more than the less-preferred methods. It was reported that the top engagement drivers are as follows:
- The sense of achievement you get from your job
- Your sense of feeling part of a team
- Your relationship with your manager
- Your ability to decide how to complete your projects and tasks
- Your prospects for career enhancement.
Job Satisfaction on the Up
In contrast to the disheartening figures and statistics, job satisfaction is improving. 67% of managers overall are satisfied with their job – a significant increase from 55% in 2012, and a further 62% in 2007. One would wonder how this can be the case, given the unfavorable figures. However, there are some factors that significantly contribute to satisfaction. 39% reported that their satisfaction was down to growth of the organisation. 79% feel that their line manager trusts them, with a further 61% stating that they feel fairly treated by their employer. And finally, 76% say they are proud to work for their employer and believe in the values of the organisation.
Read our 5 steps to improving Managers’ well-being here.
Feb 19, 2016 | IT
You’re recruiting for a new employee and you want to really get the most out of the process and hire the best candidate in the most effective and efficient way. You have your hiring goals and business objectives in mind and obviously want to do what’s best for your organisation. However, it’s important to remember that your candidates are interviewing you too. They’re testing out whether your company is a good fit for them and whether the role you’re offering matches their expectations. To help you attract the best and keep the attention of the best candidates, we’ve suggested a few pointers.
Good Communication
One of the frustrations of candidates during the hiring process is the lack of communication from employers. Spending time perfecting a CV, completing an application form and particularly preparing for an interview takes time and effort, so if they’re not successful or there is a hold-up of any kind, keep them updated and offer a proper explanation. Once you have selected your interview hopefuls, providing them with adequate information to allow them to prepare is only fair. Do you have any further resources that would allow your candidates to swot up about your organisation? Or could you provide details on what to expect during the interview?
Make Them Feel Comfortable
Your interview candidates are your guests, so making them feel comfortable in a situation where they’re likely to be nervous should allow them to open up and enjoy the experience as much as possible. A friendly tone and attention to the small things can make all the difference; for example offering candidates a drink or explaining what’s going to happen next should help to put them at ease. Initial icebreaker conversations and chit-chat are another way to help your candidates settle in, offer introductions to everyone they will be meeting that day, don’t rush and try to minimise distractions.
Show Them You’re Interested
Treat each candidate like they’re you’re best candidate. If a candidate has a bad experience at an interview or is not made to feel welcome or valued they’re less likely to want the job, but also less likely to speak positively about the company to others. So do your research, read their CV or application form and don’t duplicate this information when asking questions; if you ask what university they went to, they’ll know you haven’t done your research.
Provide a Realistic Job Preview
The interview is a great time to show candidates around, allow them to meet the team and get a real feel for your business culture. So as well as going into detail about the role and its requirements so candidates know what they can expect if successful, it’s a time to really sell your organisation.
Ask Open Questions
The kind of interview questions you ask will depend entirely on the role you’re recruiting for, however open questions that encourage candidates to tell a bit of a story are often well received. Questions such as “what is something you’d be happy doing every single day for the rest of your career?” or “what’s the biggest decision you’ve had to make in the past year and why was it so big?” give candidates an opportunity to talk about something they’re passionate about. Their answers may also give you a good feel for their personality and charisma.
For support and advice during your organisation’s interview process contact Langley James’s recruiting experts who are available to help you every step of the way.
Feb 15, 2016 | IT
It was reported last week that a recent study showed that women are better at coding than men. It comes from a study into the service GitHub – an online software building service of which over 12-million people use to “discover, fork, and contribute to over 31 million projects.” (GitHub, 2016). The study suggested that pull requests – or suggested code changes – made by women were more likely to be accepted, with a 78.6% rate, than those made by men, with a mere 74.6% rate. Gender information is not requested, and often unidentifiable, however was identified for the study through profile information or email addresses cross matched with Google+. The study suggested that there may be a bias when it comes to gender. Women’s acceptance rates were higher than men’s, however only when using gender neutral profiles within the developer community of GitHub. The figures dropped drastically to 62.5% when their gender is identifiable.
This mirrors the current employment climate. Huffington Post Tech UK, 2015 reported that only 17% of the IT industry is made up by women. This is an unsurprising figure, given than women reportedly earn around 25% less than men in the IT industry. Pair these stats to the fact that the current skills gap is due to increase to 745,000 by 2017, and 1-million by 2020, it becomes appallingly evident that this is not just a diversity issue, but an economic one too.
There is no easy solution for the issue. Gender imbalance is one that has been ongoing for centuries, and unfortunately the commendable efforts and initiatives aimed at tackling bias seems to be failing to reduce these gaps. In a bid to close inequalities, encouraging women into technology from an early age is crucial. Egnyte CSO Isabelle Guis commented on education, “I believe a major reason that we are seeing more men than women working in the technology industry is education. There are fewer women in technology graduate programmes and in the marketplace because STEM subjects are still perceived by some to be ‘male’ subjects.”
Although the figures may appear disheartening, the discussion of women in technology has been far more prevalent in recent months, and the skills gap has truly brought to life the urgency of encouraging people of all ages and genders into the tech industry. These figures certainly give women wanting to pursue a career in tech the push they may need, and the technology industry reason to open doors for women, whilst contributing to narrowing the ever growing skills gap. Could 2016 see a boom in women in technology?
Feb 9, 2016 | IT
The core challenge of business intelligence has always revolved around a debate of holding onto centralised IT systems that deliver complete control and governance, and the solutions of tomorrow that can deliver better intelligence, although requiring a release of the typical governance control that older systems provide. This choice is then a stark one, yet these four reasons make the case all the stronger for moving away from legacy systems.
- Businesses will outgrow their systems
The pace of change within the modern business is only becoming ever faster; manufacturing departments can require the processing of thousands of parts, components and materials, dealing with an innumerable amount of suppliers; this department is supported by logistics planning that depends upon supplies where commodities fluctuate hour by hour, and HR departments need to account for millennials and the younger generations who are entering the jobs marketing and contributing to higher rates of employee churn. The strain of all this upon IT systems of old is unbearable, with these old school solutions failing to deliver the complex analytics that such business operations command.
- The analytic capacities of desktop tools that work alongside legacy systems are not only lacking, but leading to potential business disasters
The analytics solutions that have been tacked onto legacy systems have been designed to meet the needs of varying departments, however such systems have placed the importance of speed over and above accuracy, as well as aesthetics and ease of use over capability. Quite simply put this will lead to intelligence that is incorrect, resulting in business decisions where the incorrect choices are made.
- Legacy systems are simply throwing good money after bad
Legacy systems are inherently difficult to maintain and manage, and whilst transferring to a modern business intelligent solution comes along with what can be an intimidating price tag (as well as extensive soft costs, most significance of which is training) the eventual costs, both in terms of implementation, as well as the implication upon business decisions, come in far below the option of continuing with an outdated alternative.
- CIOS have the chance to opt for a data-driven culture, rather than data that lacks integrity
CIOs have a chance to truly drive for change, they can drive down cost whilst investing in BI solutions that deliver value; this compares to continuing with legacy systems that will only continue to provide ever less accurate data, leading to their companies falling behind within the commercial world. What’s more within this newly established data-driven culture, and with the right platform, the previous pressure placed upon systems by reports and analytics can achieve saved resources that may be better spent upon other projects.
James Langley are the go-to recruitment specialists for IT talent that delivers the business intelligence solutions tomorrow, today; through the right people, placed within the right positions, they are helping their clients ensure that dated IT systems are a thing of the past.
Jan 29, 2016 | IT
Glassdoor recently ranked ‘HR Manager’ forth in a list of the UK’s 25 best jobs. Based on the number of job openings, career opportunities and earning potential, HR Manager may not seem the glamorous or high-flying role you’d expect to see near the top of this list but there’s more to working in human resources than is often given credit for. Generally a stable profession with an average base salary of £50,000 for HR Managers the human resources department is often overlooked by other members of the workforce. A CIPD survey reported that a quarter of employees ‘don’t know’ what the department really does – a surprising figure considering the function is so central to so many business decisions. However, it’s time HR stands firmly in the limelight – it’s not only an essential piece of the organisational jigsaw, but some would argue it’s the most rewarding.
Creating Positivity and Changing Lives
A large part of your role as HR manager is to improve employee welfare, whether that’s sensitively managing a workplace dispute or ensuring everyone has the most appropriate equipment to do their job safely and comfortably. Constantly striving for a better, more positive environment for the organisation as a whole will help employees to enjoy their time at work as much as possible. HR teams may also be required to assist with more personal issues where the right help and advice could really play a part in changings someone’s life.
Long-term Opportunity
As well as an above average salary, a career in HR will usually be a stable one that will see you through to retirement. There are many avenues to explore in the field of HR such as payroll, employee training and development, workforce planning or employee relations and there’s often the option to switch industries fairly easily too. Similarly, if you did ever fancy a change of career you’ll have built up many transferable skills that may allow for a step sideways. Companies will always need an HR department, and although there are continual technological advances in software and HR management tools this people-focussed role is by no means at risk of being taken over by the machines any time soon!
Being Involved
Although in some cases unfortunately HR is still hiding its light under a bushel, or more accurately sitting quietly in the corner of the office, if the function is running successfully you should be a truly integrated member of the whole team, at the heart of the employee hub. You’re involved in hiring and have an influence on who joins the organisation, as well as helping these new team members integrate and develop. You’re in a position of trust to many and will have the opportunity to speak to and work with employees from across the whole organisation. You may also be involved in the organisation of social activities and team building.
Of course, there’s the tough side to working in HR too, making decisions about redundancies and cutbacks will never be easy, and the profession can come under fire when it’s often the one handing out the bad news. However as a field, HR is constantly evolving not only technologically, but legally, economically and in terms of diversity and cultural awareness. This means you’ll handle issues, meet people and deal with situations you may never have expected, always learning and growing with the role and its responsibilities.
If you’re an HR manager and you’re looking to grow your HR team, we can help. We’re in contact with many HR professionals across the UK looking for new roles.
Jan 29, 2016 | IT
CRM systems have been around, in one form or another, since business began. In the pre-computerised world there were record cards and good old fashioned one-to-one interactions where personal relationships where built. However in the global operating world things are a whole lot more complex. The management of what may be millions of customers and prospects is tasked with the challenge of making marketing and trade personal, and as an answer to this has been an uprising of literally thousands of CRM options, each with something different to offer the company with a sales team that must perform in order to drive growth.
Recent research into this area found that a staggering 25.5% of companies have implemented a sales enablement department, with a further 6.7% planning to do so in 2016 (CSO Insights 2015). These figures give more than enough reason for businesses to take a look at just what sales enablement is and how it may be valuable to them in this, the year of CRM investment.
Defining sales enablement
Let’s begin by first defining what sales enablement is; first, it isn’t sales operations, and it may best be summarised by Tamara Schenk, of CSO Insights:
“Sales Force Enablement: A strategic, cross-functional discipline designed to increase sales results and productivity by providing integrated content, training, and coaching services for salespeople and front-line sales managers along the entire customer journey, powered by technology”.
This definition highlights just how tall a task sales enablement is, and as Jim Dickie reports on Destination CRM, companies almost universally recognise the need for technology in order to achieve sales enablement. Dickie then goes further to highlight the five core areas that will sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the choice of CRM and how effective they are within the modern world:
– Collaboration: This will demand the streamlining of sales enablement cross department, from sales operations onto training and product management and everything in between.
– Tech-enabled training: Training across the board, from those on the front sales line to those within social media marketing, should be delivered through e-learning solutions.
– Content management: Content management spans every form of internal sales tool, from account plans through to selling scripts, as well as the tools that are customer facing, such as proposals – all managed within a single CRM.
– Virtual coaching: For the large corporation virtual coaching is the cost effective solution to the one-to-one coaching that sales teams need.
– Analytics: The CRM of 2016 should provide for robust analytics that is produced from a variety of systems, from ERP, customer support and onto external sources, this will guide business plans and secure the growth of tomorrow.
All in all these five investment areas each serve as significant costs to a business, even when taken on singularly. However the ROI from such an investment is simply staggering, as the SPO study found that such companies that had already forged ahead with these plans had achieved revenue performance attainment rates of 10.2% higher than those who hadn’t.
Langley James is the answer to sourcing the right people to harness the most innovative of technology; from creating the right digital content and training for the business challenges of today, to harnessing all that CRM analytics can deliver – we have the right people for the most demanding of positions.
Jan 28, 2016 | IT
Over 80% of IT professionals place high importance on companies investing in the latest releases of technologies. With the current jobs market far more stable than previous years, UK workers ultimately have a far greater choice over where they work, who they work for; and have a greater level of trust in their future in employment. Employer branding is a phenomenon becoming ever more prevalent as the job market continues to grow. When we talk about retention strategies, we usually place a high emphasis on the main components that contribute to retention such as reward, L&D, engagement and satisfaction. But we often fail to recognise the relevance of technology in relation to employee retention.
Having seen a significant rise in the number of IT professionals looking to move on from their current role, it became clear that the reasoning for this was more than just the annual January trend. It is no secret that out of date technology impacts heavily on workflow, productivity and results, but it seems that these issues are beginning to take its toll on workers, and they have had enough. It has become evident that a significantly large number of workers in the IT sector want to leave their current position because they are using old technology at their place of work. This may appear extreme, but with technology playing such an integral part in modern society, people are consequently relying more on efficient technologies demand the most effective processes, and this is swiftly beginning to filter into the workplace.
With technology growing and evolving at such a phenomenal rate, it is unsurprising that technology is now establishing its role in contributing to both retention and employer branding. Investing in the most current technologies will certainly give you a competitive edge, and will undoubtedly enhance your employer branding. A large majority of IT professionals have stated that they will “lose their value in the marketplace if they don’t keep up to date with the latest releases”. The benefits in utilising the latest technologies are endless, and if you fail to move with the times, you will fail revolutionise.
Do you agree that technology now has a far greater input into retention levels?
Do you value companies more if they invest in the latest technologies?
Let us know your thoughts on this issue.
Nurturing your businesses starts with developing the health of your organisation. Through solid processes and up-to-date technology, you can create an efficient and well-constructed working environment. If you need to recruit a BI expert to help in BI solutions, contact Mark or Dave at mark@langleyjames.com or dave@langleyjames.com; or call us on 0207 788 6600.
Jan 25, 2016 | IT
Uber: It is the digital taxi platform that has sparked London cabbie revolts and calls upon the Government to crack down on a business that has disrupted the market so much that their hundred-year-old industry is under threat.
Amazon: This is a company that has been built up from a humble online book store and is now a global company; today turning over almost $89 billion [Business Wire 2014]), having acquired a staggering array of businesses and investments and, as of 2015, became the US’s most valuable retailer (New York Times 2015).
These two global giants have well and truly shaken up a digital revolutionising within their markets. So it seems more than pertinent question to ask: just how did these two once fledgling start-ups do it?
Amazon and Uber: Two completely different powerhouses – one solid strategical approach
The staggering successes of Amazon and Uber have actually been built upon one pretty simple strategical notion – having a solid understanding of their customer, and harnessing the right digital tools for a truly customised experience. Sounds simple, right? Well perhaps not so much, as this process requires a solid CRM to feedback all-important customer information for the eventual optimisation of sales, marketing and service processes. What’s more even a comprehensive grasp upon this isn’t enough, and as Amazon an Uber so adeptly demonstrate, there must be customer experience management (CXM) that goes far beyond any CRM exercise.
CXM – The key to digital strategies such as Amazon’s and Uber’s
CXM must factor into any businesses digital strategy when it comes to replicating the Amazon/Uber model. It is the experience beyond, or before, consumers use your services – where they journey through the sales funnel, where they interact with your social media and wherever they externally come across your brand. The key to success here is being able to seamlessly integrate this in a way that provides for a coherent plan.
Goldenberg from Destination CRM puts forward a strong case for employing the hub and spoke model here in order to achieve this. He argues that the hub should be the customer profile, which feeds back relevant information in, ideally, real time. The CXM then serves as the spokes, which include social media, next-best offer deals, customer journey and mobile apps. Each of these spokes is fed with data from the CRM in order to enhance, streamline and ultimately make for the most effective customer engagement rates. The system is then completed with the spokes acting as data senders themselves, where information can be learned upon social media and fed back to the CRM’s consumer profile. This holistic approach is defined by its duel information sharing, and it is very much what Amazon and Uber have been empowered by.
At Langley James we have an unshakable grasp upon how businesses can be empowered with the right IT staff, in the right positions. We know of the solid business growth that can be achieved through innovative digital tools and technology. And we’re the right partner for those who, like Amazon and Uber, seek to harness the world of IT to supercharge their business growth.
Jan 25, 2016 | IT
The recent floods that devastated much of the UK just after Christmas turned lives and businesses upside down, and goes to show that this kind of extreme weather can strike at any time. In order to try and prevent and minimise damage, having policies and procedures in place and ensuring all your employees are aware of them could make the world of difference when faced with emergencies like the weather-induced chaos of storm Desmond, Eva and Frank.
Bad Weather Policies
Having an official bad weather policy in place ensures everyone knows where they stand. It may seem like you’re stating the obvious by telling staff what they need to do if the weather takes a turn for the worst, but unusual circumstances may leave employees not knowing what to do for the best.
Your employee’s safety is your number one priority. If the weather means it’s too dangerous for them to travel to work they need to know who they need to contact and by what time. Travel disruptions might also cause employees to be late or stranded elsewhere. There is no obligation for an employer to pay an employee who does not turn in, so consider how you want to handle this.
One option in situations like this is to allow your staff to work from home where possible. Of course in industries like distribution and manufacturing this won’t work, but for IT and other office based professions cloud-based software makes it possible.
Common Sense Prevails
Sensible HR advice and a flexible approach will usually help you through difficult times. If it’s going to take an employee hours to get into work and they’ll have to leave early to travel home again, this is wasted time with the chance of them becoming stranded somewhere, so working from home seems sensible. If you’re allowing home working you’ll need to be clear about the practicalities. The likes of Dropbox and Google Drive make things considerably easier, but there is also equipment to think about. Do employees have work laptops or will they need to use their own? You just need to make sure all systems and equipment have the right security requirements for your business.
Being Prepared
Some severe weather events can be forecast hours before they arrive, allowing time to prepare and advise, but sometimes there is no warning. In either case being prepared, even if the worst happens, will help to keep everyone safe and hopefully minimise damage. Conduct a risk assessment, educate employees and update plans and procedures based on the lessons you’ve learned previously. Circulate the policies when you update them or perhaps at the start of winter if it looks like snow is on the way, ask for feedback and keep your employees involved.
Jan 25, 2016 | IT
It’s no doubt that awareness of cyber security is increasing. More people now know more about the risks, or at least the basic steps they need to take to cover themselves and their organisations. However, as the world becomes more connected than ever, hackers are becoming more inventive and more sophisticated in their attacks. It’s important that companies can move with these developments and changes to create a culture that adopts an up to date, risk-based, multi-layer defence framework.
Attacks on the Sonys and Experians of the world may seem far away from small start-up firms or even more established SMEs, but the potential for a disastrous attack or breach of security is only clicks away. Over 30,000 websites are being compromised by hackers every day according to figures from Sophos and can cost smaller firms a considerable amount of money, not to mention stress.
Support is Out There
Following our article last year ‘SMEs Urged to Take Cyber Attacks Seriously’ where we looked into the Government’s plea for SMEs to train, educate, review and prevent risks, it seems many organisations are stepping up to the challenge. With the help of the Government and their 10 steps programme that emphasises basic good practice, as well as many experts raising awareness of threats, those in the know are keeping ahead of the game.
However, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales recently warned Sky News that cyber security is ‘incredibly important’ and explained that governments sometimes don’t understand IT enough to fully interpret the risks. He explained that governments need to strike a balance when considering their desire to monitor information.
Predictions for 2016
Cyber security predictions for this year include attacks through aps. Aps can access your emails, contacts and more, so attackers are exploiting this as best they can. Also, as the internet of things continues to grow, so do the amount and type of threats to our mobile devices. Some also predict phishing attacks will worsen and get more personal. In the majority of cases the goal of the cyber hacker is to steal or exploit sensitive data such as personal information or credit card details, yet this year experts predict more destructive, cyber-terrorism type attacks, aiming mainly to threaten.
A Continued Threat
Although many firms are taking positive steps to secure themselves, the fact is smaller firms have less to spend on security, they’re also busy with the day to day of keeping customers happy and dealing with admin. The most recent government figures suggest SMEs with over 100 employees spend around £10,000 per year on IT security and that the smallest firms, with less than 20 employees, spend around £200.
The installation and regular upkeep of anti-virus software, firewalls, spam filters and keeping devices up to date should defeat the majority of the low level threats. It’s also important for organisations to have a good knowledge of where their data is going and who uses it – this can significantly help to limit any damage. Following the Government’s guidelines and keeping up to date about new threats and challenges will continue to keep you ahead of the game.
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