If you want your business to continue to succeed and reach ever greater heights, then there’s simply no way around the fact that you need to keep up to date with the latest developments in your industry and in the corporate sector as a whole. The world of business is constantly changing and evolving, and as a business owner, it’s your job to ensure that your organisation takes stock of these changes and adapts the business accordingly.
Time is understandably tight for many business owners, so here are some important ways in which you can actively work to modernise and future-proof your business, ready to tackle everything that 2019 has to offer you.
Equal Pay
Equal pay and the gender pay gap are big topics in corporate circles at the moment, and it’s important that your business does not fall foul of the equal pay debate. No matter whether you have five employees or fifty, these people all deserve to be paid fairly and as the business owner, the chances are that you will be at least partly responsible for employee salary. If you feel that you have room for improvement in this area, conducting an equal pay audit can be a good way to get a feel for any differences in pay between your employees, helping to standardise your pay rates.
Flexible Working
While flexi-hours won’t suit every business or every individual, more and more businesses are ditching the traditional 9-5 working day in favour of adopting more flexible working habits. Flexible working is instantly more attractive to the majority of employees and it can also be a lifeline for parents trying to fit a career around caring for their children. Flexible working hours needn’t be something to avoid – in 2019, why not give it a try before deciding whether or not you want to roll them out to everyone?
Communication
It might be a cliché, but the fact of the matter is that communication really is key. Whether it is communication between team members, departments, or clients/customers and your staff, good communication leads to increased productivity and, overall, a more profitable business. Team building days offer a great way to get employees bonding and fostering strong workplace relationships, whereas updating your business’ communication channels and systems is also an effective method of speeding up the customer experience and streamlining your business processes.
Humanisation
While a brand that tries to be your best friend may not be the best approach, adding a human element to your customer service and online presence is an increasingly important way to make your business more consumer-oriented. This is all about transparency and good business practices, promoting authenticity rather than hiding behind corporate jargon and impersonal customer service techniques. Social media is always a great way to add a more human touch to your business – just make sure that the content you post is always relevant and complimentary towards your organisation’s core values and ethics.
Out-the-Box Thinking
While out-the-box thinking may not be the most modern concept in business, it is certainly an effective one. Creative and innovative business ideas are often the ones that are best-placed to drive the company forwards, reaching ever-greater success and growing into new markets or sectors. Listen to the ideas of your employees and work collaboratively to bring about a more successful future for the business and every employee – this ties into many of the other points above, so is definitely worth considering this year.
Is your business ready for 2019? It’s never too late to make a positive change, so consider how you can better your business this year.
