Category: In Business

I have children, two in fact, so had two maternity leave periods. On the whole it was not too difficult an experience as the companies I worked for were quite forward thinking and progressive in their approach and understanding of such matters.

To start off, let’s be quite clear about what we mean by your brand. It’s not just your name – it’s what people think of you as a business. Companies can spend years – and millions of Pounds – building their brand online. For online only businesses like mine, it is truly crucial.

For those of us on the SME front line, the idea of “negotiations” can sound a bit remote. It conjures up images of corporate lawyers in flashy boardrooms haggling over a million or two here or there.

The new Health at Work Index created for the British Heart Foundation by CEBR has highlighted that more than a quarter of the UK’s workforce has had a health problem which has lasted more than a year. The index has been created to provide a picture of the nation’s health problems in the workforce.

Making a list and checking it twice? That’s not going to cut it for achieving your toughest goals.

Stuart Walker from GrowthAccelerator, the service that helps ambitious businesses achieve high growth through tailored coaching and the provision of Leadership and Management training, looks at how small and medium sized businesses can improve employee engagement, embed innovation, enter new markets, improve customer service and drive their business forward… simply by investing in their leadership teams.

What separates the master networkers from the amateurs? The former tend not to make these mistakes.

I have a very close friend who has two beautiful children, is happily married with fantastic friends and family around her, she had a well-paid, challenging job near to home with people she really enjoyed working with and part time hours.

Not so long ago your company’s website was designed for and used by people with desktop PCs. Now, some figures claim, that up to 50 per cent of all internet searches are carried out from mobile devices and this means companies could be missing out on vital customers.

Many leaders don’t know how to say no. Others say it almost reflexively. How to get the balance right.

Think of those you know who make good leaders. Are they innovative and creative? Are they analytical and concise? Are they good at juggling shareholders and banks? Most leaders are at least one if not all of these and more. However, these talents are of little use if they cannot be communicated well.

Becoming the leader of an existing team can be challenging, but taking over from an incompetent leader is more difficult.

A client of mine has two people who work side by side. They look like they do the same job and I question it every time; ‘why is he paid more than her?’ and I get the same answer – ‘because he has more skills than she does’.