< Previous20 Business Link www.blmforum.net EDUCATION AND TRAINING reduces travel costs and expenses, as the training could be held in-office or somewhere close by, meaning that mileage or even hotel bills do not have to be considered. It also means that new starters could be trained from day one, rather than waiting until an external trainer is available, thus increasing the productivity of the new employee early on. Employment of internal training allows businesses to put their own stamp on training courses. It means that trainees can be educated in the unique product, way of thinking and, or working that makes the business successful and distinctive. This helps to promote a group mindset, and a consistent way of working. It also means that all employees can be highly educated on the product or service they provide, increasing their understanding and ability to utilise their own services. In house training removes the need for unnecessary mixing, as those training them are people with whom they would already be interacting. Moreover, courses can be delivered online, via platforms such as Microsoft Teams. These sites allow screen sharing for easy demonstration and have a hands-up function to allow employees to easily ask questions. As many businesses continue to operate on a hybrid basis, this could seamlessly integrate into everyday operations. Whilst taking a day out for training will result in some lost productivity, an employee who is unskilled or incorrectly trained could result in a long term lack of productivity as the potential for mistakes and having to rectify them increases. www.blmforum.net Business Link 21 EDUCATION AND TRAINING © stock.adobe.com/Andrey Popov VWA’s Auditing Courses Suitable for All Industries Verner Wheelock Associates (VWA) is renowned for high-quality food industry training. It delivers RSPH courses at all levels in Food Safety and HACCP, together with a range of food-related courses such as Legal Labelling, Managing Food Allergens and Food Defence. The company’s suite of auditing courses, however, is suitable for all businesses. “Auditing principles and techniques remain the same whatever your industry, or whatever you’re auditing,” says MD Alison Wheelock. VWA’s Lead Auditor course covers the full auditing process from preparation and opening meeting to report-writing and follow-up, enabling delegates to audit a management system. The Auditing Skills course teaches the principles of auditing and is underpinned by practical exercises, which give delegates the knowledge and confidence to perform their own internal audits. The Root Cause Analysis course teaches problem-solving techniques to prevent recurrence of common issues. Courses are available face-to-face, remotely or can be delivered in-house. Visit vwa.co.uk for details. Furthermore, businesses miss out on the opportunity to upskill employees and help them to develop new skills. This helps the business to stay current and provides the opportunity for diversification of thinking and business approach. This could entail a training programme of creative problem solving, technical knowledge implementation, and out of the box thinking. As well as increasing business productivity, it stimulates employees and motivates them to take on other responsibilities. This has the dual benefit of making them less interested in looking elsewhere. So how can a business put together an effective training programme from scratch? Firstly, it is important to conduct an analysis of the performance gaps within the organisation and base the training around this. This can be done through an ongoing analysis of managerial attention. It is imperative that regulatory and legal requirements are covered in training, and are regularly reiterated to employees, such as health and safety training. This maintains compliance and quality assurance and reduces the likelihood of legal concerns over employee and customer safety. Secondly, combining in person and online methods provides the flexibility and safety of online learning, whilst being able to have someone physically present for more challenging sessions. Recorded video sessions could also provide flexibility for employees to go through and open at their own pace, which means that there would not need to be a significant workforce drop for a period. However, it should be noted that this is not always a good replacement for hands on learning. A survey found that 33% of office workers preferred to learn by doing, whilst being guided by an expert. Training should be seen as fundamental to business growth, given the potential it provides for honing and exploring new talent and ideas for expansion. Investing in the ability to provide internal training could save the huge cost of hiring training services, as well as provide the opportunity to take stock of the workings of the business, and how they could be improved. Whilst developing a new training initiative could involve significant up-front effort, as well as the potential to hire a training manager, it will likely provide massive savings long term, as well as ensuring that all new starters are properly trained from day one. Ultimately, internal training promotes consistency within business operations, which could mean significant streamlining of work and communications internally.22 Business Link www.blmforum.net MATERIALS HANDLING The cost of materials handling accidents is high, as are the costs of recruitment and keeping staff. The region’s many distribution centres are having to contend with this and ever-increasing demand for their services. Keeping handling up withwww.blmforum.net Business Link 23 MATERIALS HANDLING © stock.adobe.com/ Pixel_B Businesses across all sectors have had to become leaner in recent years, as problem after problem hits the economy. The lockdown played havoc with distribution centres in the region because of how integral staff are to their day-to-day operations. Delays from distribution inevitably cause delays further up the line, which leads to more and more problems. This was even harder during lockdown because of the reliance on deliveries for food and goods direct to homes, which pushed the country’s supply chain to the limit. The most obvious benefit of a materials handling system is it eliminates the damage and loss caused by human error. Yet, beyond this, a truly well managed system can increase efficiency, reduces handling costs, and facilitates stock management and process flow. Understanding how to increase efficiency with materials handling is useful to know, even if you intend to use a third-party warehousing partner, so as to make an informed investment. Key efficiency indicators include time sensitivity, storage temperature, the sealants utilised and accessibility of stock. All of these issues combine to determine the speed at which the materials can be processed, and the quality of the end product. Given that Unplanned Downtime, Yield, and Inventory Turnover are amongst some of the most common Key Product Indicators measured by food and drink manufacturers, it can be seen how efficiency with materials handling can improve these indicators. Materials handling has traditionally been about safety but has expanded to efficiency with the advent of technology that has further increased how much any one human can move at a given time. Forklifts, pallet trucks and fully automated conveyor systems have removed the human element, and the human limit, and continue to be attractive in a post-lockdown economy. Automated materials handling systems allow for flexibility within the supply chain, as when a new product is introduced, it is merely a case of recalibrating machinery. If flexible walls were installed in conveyor belts, this would allow for easy manoeuvrability around the warehouse if operations were to be moved, scaled up or scaled down, without significantly increasing downtime. Given the exponential demand for consumer goods direct to our supermarkets, or even our doors, this has necessitated efficiency within materials handling, as the long-lasting nature of some of these products means that businesses can expand their operations. With increased operations, increases the need for accuracy, safety, and cost-saving process. AGVs are expected to reduce workplace accidents significantly, as driving automated paths 24 Á © stock.adobe.com/ jdarius24 Business Link www.blmforum.net MATERIALS HANDLING and the ability to inter communicate with other AGVs reduces likelihood of collisions. It is estimated that 25% of injuries in the workplace are caused by contact with objects and equipment and reducing the need for manual handling across the production process, underscores the impact of automated vehicles in reducing these incidents. Warehouse software and SCM (Supply chain management) software has also been under scrutiny of late, with lessons learned from the pandemic being that warehouses need ways to operate on skeleton staff and shortages. This has been a timely lesson, since the great resignation and a dearth of skilled workers has caused the problem to grow. Using computers alongside machines for materials handling purposes has long been the dream of companies operating warehouses, as it removes the risks for accidents and scandals, and machines can work longer hours with less breaks. However, the technology has always been inhibitive in the past compared to the traditional workforce, and however efficient machines may be, humans are more flexible, able to adapt to changes without the need for programming and keep working. This has slowly begun to change in recent years with robots becoming more affordable and widely produced, and employee wages have risen alongside this, slowly closing the gap between investment cost and sustained wages. The cost of living has put a stop to wage increases sadly, as the economy and many businesses are struggling to afford them, but it is unlikely to be something that continues. Once the economic troubles are over, whether it be through a recession or not, it is likely that employees will demand higher wages, and that the national wage will increase once more. With that in mind, it might be worth looking at automated materials handling sooner rather than later. At some point, it might be mandatory, or even the industry standard. © stock.adobe.com/ Itsanan www.blmforum.net Business Link 25 CORPORATE HOSPITALITY Christmas parties are seen by some as a hassle and others as a necessary evil, but everyone knows there are risks involved when alcohol starts to flow. C hristmas parties are designed to be fun and are important for maintaining staff, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong – it’s best to be aware of these in advance. Christmas and New Year is a key time for staff to consider whether they want to apply for another job, often at another company – so the last thing you want is for the party to leave anyone with a bad taste in their mouth. There is a lot of risk involved, however, and problems can occur when alcohol flows. Staff need be aware that the party, even though outside of office hours and often office workspace, is an extension of the working environment, both from a PR point of view and in legal terms and here lies an expectation for all to behave accordingly while having fun. Any staff members’ behaviour at an event can give rise to claims or disciplinary action so it’s Trouble at the party © stock.adobe.com/deagreez 26 Á26 Business Link www.blmforum.net CORPORATE HOSPITALITY essential to communicate expectations by circulating a considered email, a staff meeting and notices in staff rooms. The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development) states, “make your expectations clear - remind people of the behaviour that’s expected of them beforehand, including communicating your policies on dignity and respect and on drugs and alcohol misuse.” When people know what parameters are in place they feel safe and can relax and enjoy the event. Many attendees may worry what to chat about at the office party. Politics should be avoided and although it’s tempting to vent about the state of the country there are many more pleasant topics to discuss such as next year’s vacation plans, favourite foods, bands or video games. Keeping topics light and general stops attendees feeling anxious or aggravated. Ensure official talk is kept in the office and employers remain aware of expressing opinions about employees too or making promises of promotion at a party that aren’t kept as if the promotion falls through, it can end up in an Employment Tribunal based on ‘breach of trust’. Other considerations are whether social media postings are permissible, staff need to be informed on this topic beforehand as selfies are here to stay! The obvious issue that can cause problems at a party and upset others is when people drink too much, whether it’s a free bar or not – avoiding hard spirits and limiting the number of drinks per person can help this as well as providing non-alcoholic drinks such as mocktails, juices, water and tea or coffee. Also, drinking on an empty stomach is not recommended so providing finger food, a buffet or sit down meal is ideal, depending on your budget. A DJ or band can help as well as getting people moving further averts extreme drunkenness and allows people to enjoy themselves dancing, and others enjoy listening to some good tunes and watching others dance. As well as drunkenness other problems could be if an argument or fight breaks out. If this happens staff members, two or more preferably senior staff or HR personnel, should intervene adjourning © stock.adobe.com/Ekaterina_Molchanovawww.blmforum.net Business Link 27 CORPORATE HOSPITALITY to a quiet corner and offering a listening ear and non-alcoholic drink to calm a situation down, reassuring an upset attendee they are being heard. As always, if necessary, issues can be discussed in the clear light of day especially as an employee can be fired for aggressive behaviour or complain about unfair dismissal, so if in doubt about matters HR or management should offer a clear course of action. Unwanted contact, offensive or lewd remarks can also cause consternation at a party. Sneaking a consensual kiss under the mistletoe might be OK but groping and inappropriate touching can be classed as sexual harassment which could not only lead to criminal charges and could result in dismissal. In this ‘Me Too’ era, employers need to remain vigilant at all times during the festivities as the company can also be held liable. As many employees argue ‘it’s not fair being fired for actions at a company party’, so all staff should be treated equally and it’s important for a company to acknowledge when HR or an employer is to be involved in a situation as well as keeping an open dialogue for any employee wishing to discuss things they felt uncomfortable with. Luckily, many complaints are easily dealt with but for ones that aren’t, again, proper protocols must be followed and all concerned be made aware of them. Employers should ensure they distance themselves from any unofficial ‘after- party’ and highlight to staff when the company event starts and ends. No employer wants to be seen as curtailing on-going enjoyment but staff should be reminded of their expected ‘after-party’ behaviour, for example, not drink driving. This can be actively discouraged by offering secure overnight parking, taxi company and public transport information or the company providing transport. Finally, a consistent policy regarding post-party absenteeism and behaviour, if it’s a workday following the party, should be decided on beforehand to avoid arguments - how lenient or not a company is going to be regarding lateness or absenteeism needs to be communicated to staff so they are aware of the consequences and can make suitable arrangements beforehand so they can then relax and enjoy the whole night. Coming into work drunk from the night before can lead to dismissal, especially if in your work role you drive or operate machinery and nobody wants that to happen. © stock.adobe.com/BillionPhotos.com28 Business Link www.blmforum.net MOVEMBER M en don’t talk about their health and wellbeing with others. Toxic masculinity means they’re reluctant to bother anyone else with their issues, don’t want to feel demasculinised, or seem weak in other people’s eyes. Instead, they put up with pain, discomfort, and poor mental health, opting to stay silent. But it’s no exaggeration to say that this silence and inaction leads to death. How many suicides could have been prevented if that person had help? How many deaths could have been averted if men came forward as soon as they noticed a strange lump? How many men would still be here if they sought help as soon as they felt unwell? We need a cultural shift, one in which men don’t have to worry about losing their masculinity for seeking help, where men aren’t teased for having “man flu” when they’re ill, where we all support one another. Fortunately, Movember is leading the charge, changing perceptions and attitudes around masculinity whilst also helping to safeguard men’s health. The charity is nothing short of ambitious. By 2030, it aims to reduce the number of men dying prematurely from suicide, testicular cancer, and prostate cancer by twenty-five per cent. But, in order to achieve this, your support and donations are indispensable. It’s a sad fact of life that not every man can grow a moustache. For those who can, it’s a time to literally let their hair down – whether that’s with a carefully groomed tache, or a full-on beard. Don’t feel you can’t get involved if you’re moustache has never made it past bumfluff, though, as there’s a myriad of other ways to raise funds. ‘Move for Movember’ sees participants running or walking sixty miles over the course of the month – a figure symbolic of the sixty men we lose to suicide each hour, every hour around the world. ‘MoRunning’, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary, is a series of 1.5k, 5k and 10k runs taking place across the country during November (you can find your nearest one here: www.mo- running.com/locations). You can also ‘Mo Your Own Way’ and choose an epic Promoting men’s health Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men’s physical and mental health, but they can’t do it alone. If you’d like to make a donation direct to Movember, visit uk.movember.com/donate 30 Áwww.blmforum.net Business Link 29 MOVEMBER © stock.adobe.com/Lia AramburuNext >