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How C-Suite Leaders Can Manage Occupational Stress and Stay Motivated

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

By Alex Hattingh, Chief People Officer at Employment Hero

 

Occupational stress refers to the ongoing and progressing stress that can be experienced due to the responsibilities, conditions, environment or other pressures of the workplace. Occupational wellness or ‘occupational health’, on the other hand, is the sense of fulfilment and happiness that those at the C-Suite level can find in their professional life.

Loving your job and having a poor sense of occupational wellness aren’t mutually exclusive, and leading your team can sometimes be a challenge when finding the motivation to roll out of bed and motivate others. That being said, there are ways that senior and leading executives can stay motivated when managing a team or workforce:

 

Set yourself KPIs

By setting Key Performance Indicators, you’re able to align your team with multiple ambitious goals that are designed to enhance motivation. The beauty is they allow you to not only set broad objectives but also to think of each key step needed to accomplish a certain goal. By having something to work towards, you are more likely to stay on track and be more motivated to hit the ground running. Set objectives that are challenging and inspiring for you and your team.

 

Be sure to reward yourself

It’s important to give yourself a pat on the back when you’ve been successful in your role. It can be easy as a leader to focus all your energy on celebrating your team’s achievements while allowing your own to fall by the wayside.

 

Maintain a work/life balance

Having a healthy balance between your working and personal life is essential in preventing yourself from becoming demotivated and burnt out. This most certainly applies to leaders. When you’re running around catering to everyone else’s needs, it’s easy to forget your own. If you neglect to find a healthy balance between the two, you’ll soon find yourself running out of puff.

 

Recognise when to delegate tasks

Whether it is five or fifty people working within your team, leading a team will always involve carrying additional pressures and responsibilities on your shoulders. If you find yourself lacking the motivation to complete a task that your team members are capable of handling themselves, don’t be afraid to delegate.

Just because you’re leading a team does not mean you’re a superhuman capable of finishing everyone’s work. Try not to be so hard on yourself. Too many responsibilities can suffocate creativity and force you into a downward spiral of demotivation.In these instances, brainstorming and problem-solving techniques are at an all-time low, and your teams will be left wandering aimlessly.

 

Become a Mentor

It’s no secret that over time our work can become a little stagnant and repetitive. Finding that passion you had on the first day of the job can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. That’s why we recommend spending time with someone who is just getting started. Guiding, mentoring and passing on your experience to someone new can help clear out any cobwebs and provide a sense of motivation for the kind of work you do. Watching someone learn and grow within your team is an inspiring feeling in itself.

As a leader, it’s essential to keep employees feeling pumped up and ready to work. However, without your own motivation, your team’s overall performance will start to decrease. No matter who they are or what they do, every person is capable of an off day. There’s nothing wrong with losing heart, feeling tired or drifting away from your work for a period of time, so long as you know how to motivate yourself to get back on track.

Understanding the Pros and Cons of Background Checks of Employees

Posted on | by root

Whether you are an employer or an employee, you’ve likely come across the topic of background checks. A large number of jobs require this type of check prior to the beginning of employment, but the idea can be nerve-wracking to those who don’t understand what’s happening.

What is a Background Check?

A background check is essentially a thorough screening of a person’s private and public records, including but not limited to: employment, criminal record, and education.

Most employers will use a FCRA-compliant consumer reporting agency (CRA) to gather information on a potential employee that can verify they are who they say they are. The contents of the background check are required to align with the reason for the check itself. If you are applying for a job in the financial world, as an example, educational and criminal background check details would be applicable.

When is a Background Check Necessary?

For the most part, employers are not required legally to conduct a background check, meaning that it technically is never necessary. However, companies that deal with sensitive information with the ability to make a serious impact on society or the economy will almost always utilize a background check. With that said, 93% of firms globally report using background checks to vet potential employees, going to show the importance of being ready to partake in one.

What You Should Know About Background Checks

Before applying for a job that requires a background check, you may want to know what’s involved with the process. The majority of background checks will include:

  • Criminal Felony and Misdemeanor searches
  • National Sex Offender list search
  • National Criminal search
  • Educational background
  • Employment history

The amount of time the background check covers depends on the agency that is running it. For the most part, background checks will cover at least 7 years of history. If you’ve ever used an alias in the past or had a maiden name, the background check will still pull the results of your information. Whether you’re an employer or an employee, there are a number of benefits and drawbacks to be aware of:

Pros for Background Checks

Workplace Safety: By running a background check, employees can rest assured knowing everyone around them is not a violent offender who may pose a risk to the workplace.

Hires are more likely to be qualified: Anybody can lie on a resume but lying about your educational background will be discovered with a standard background check. This can save a company time and money from having to rehire a new employee after the first doesn’t work out.

Protection against cybersecurity risks: In the modern day and age, cybersecurity breaches are on the rise like never before. In fact, a hacking attempt occurs every 39 seconds, meaning that employers need to be sure the person they’re hiring isn’t trying to set up an attack.

Cons for Background Checks

The Time and Expense: Background checks are not free, and they certainly aren’t cheap to run. Background checks can be hundreds of dollars per employee which, for larger corporations, may not be as much of an issue. However, if smaller companies would like to ensure the safety of their workplace then they will need to pay large sums of money. Additionally, the turnaround time for background checks is not overnight which means a potential candidate may join another organization if it takes too long.

Bias Against Potential Employees: An unfortunate side effect of background checks is that they can be used to unfairly judge an individual. In some cases, a person with a criminal background who has turned their life around may have trouble receiving a job offer due to their past. Rather than judging the results of a background report from a first glance, it’s best if employers consider all scenarios.

The pros for running a background check will outweigh the cons for most organizations. Protect your company by ensuring the safety of your workplace, but be sure not to make rash judgments off the results of a background check.

Keep your organisation protected when hiring

Ensuring your employees don’t have any skeletons in the closet can help protect your organization from lawsuits and other legal issues. As an employee, keeping your history clean will help reassure employers that you are capable of bringing everything that you offer to the table. Background checks are extremely common and are nothing to fear, provided you have nothing to hide.

Is Mining Crypto Profitable And How Will It Impact Tech CEOs In 2023

Posted on | by root

Within a decade of their emergence, cryptocurrencies have taken the world by storm. The value of Bitcoin, the first-ever cryptocurrency, currently sits at over 20,000 USD.

However, crypto is not immune to the highs and lows of the market. In recent times, the value of cryptocurrencies has been tumultuous, prompting experts to wonder if mining crypto is profitable anymore. It has also impacted tech companies in major ways.

Is Mining Crypto profitable and how will it impact tech CEOs in 2023

Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have always enjoyed high value in the market. But in recent times, their values have been extremely unstable. This, coupled with the rising prices of energy has made it very difficult to mine crypto and turn a profit from it.

Crypto tracking website Bitinfocharts.com reported that the profitability of Bitcoin sank to the lowest in months in July 2022. As there are various factors that determine the profitability of crypto, there isn’t a simple answer to whether mining crypto is profitable or not for tech CEOs in 2023.

Understanding crypto mining

In simple words, crypto mining refers to the process by which a cryptocurrency is verified as well as recorded in the blockchain. It is mined on a custom-built complex computing system. Miners earn the crypto by validating it and solving a hash.

There are a variety of factors that affect the profitability of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. However, not everyone has to mine to earn cryptocurrency. You can simply purchase one without getting involved in the complex logistics of mining cryptocurrency.

Buy Bitcoin with PayPal to invest in the biggest cryptocurrency and boost your portfolio. You’ll be able to hold, sell, send or spend your Bitcoin as you please. You might even swap or donate it, making it a multiple-use currency.

Whether you mine cryptos or invest in them, you want them to be a profitable venture, especially if you are a tech company. Cryptos are majorly impacting the tech world and you need to be knowledgeable about their mining and profitability to extract profits in the market.

When it comes to mining a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, there are some crucial elements involved:

Hash rate — It is the speed of processing transactions on a blockchain. The more miners enter the market, the more difficult it becomes to ensure the quantity produced remains the same.

ASIC — Application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) are the system on which crypto is mined. They’re the single most important elements in crypto mining. Your ASIC determines the profitability you’ll achieve by mining.

Difficulty rate — An automatic system is in place to adjust the difficulty of mining based on how many miners are in the market at the moment. The higher the difficulty rate, the more difficult it becomes for individual miners to succeed in mining.

Profitability of crypto mining

At its core, mining a cryptocurrency can be profitable. Many people as well as corporations are profiting off mining Bitcoin as of now. The profitability of mining crypto majorly depends on the equipment used for the process.

After that, you take into account other components such as hash rates and networking. The equipment itself can help you adjust the costs as many equipment and computing systems used to mine Bitcoin over the years have adapted themselves to lower mining costs.

In simple words, crypto mining is similar to the mining of physical assets such as gold, silver, and diamond. The higher the price of the asset is, the more profitable it becomes to mine it. Moreover, miners don’t even need to be as efficient to make a profit.

Consider the following the major contributors to the profitability of a cryptocurrency: Mining Equipment

Mining Equipment You’ll need to assemble a system made up of various equipment to mine crypto. The price of the systems often varies greatly. However, their prices suffered an all-time low in 2022 when the high and mid-tier ASIC dropped their price to 70%.

The drop in price has allowed smaller miners to get their hands on a good quality ASIC and turn profits. This drop in price and newer minors joining in with vigour have bolstered blockchain production.

The price of crypto

The price of many cryptocurrencies has been extremely volatile, especially in recent times. This has led too many established and efficient miners to leave production.

This is timed with the drop in equipment prices, leading to many small miners jumping into the arena and mining crypto. This has ensured that the crypto mining business is well and running, regardless of who comes and goes.

Crypto mining’s impact on tech CEOs

Crypto mining has a positive impact on tech CEOs. More and more CEOs are coming forward with their companies to be a part of the crypto revolution and crypto mining gives them an opportunity to get involved.

Crypto mining gives you an opportunity to find success for your company as crypto becomes more and more mainstream. An example of that could be seen when the crypto exchange platform FTX’s CEO promoted crypto in front of the massive audience of the Super Bowl.

Mining Crypto as a tech CEO in 2023

Cryptocurrencies have been a sensation in the market ever since their inception and continue to rule it today.

Even though their values have seen highs and lows, mining crypto remains a profitable venture if you do it right. As a tech CEO in 2023, you can gain majorly from both mining crypto such as Bitcoin and investing in it.

Invest well in the equipment you use to mine crypto as it plays the most crucial role in deciding your profitability. It can tremendously help you in your tech endeavours as well.

How to Become a Better CEO: 5 Helpful Tips

Posted on | by root

Figuring out how to become a better CEO is important both for entrepreneurs who didn’t start out as managers and who took on the role of the leader of a startup and for established company heads who want to make a bigger impact on their organisation.

For companies like Huge Supplements who want to back up their product with stellar leadership practices, it’s crucial to know the key things that impact your company and how to invest your attention in improving the big picture a priority.

These 5 tips will help you become a more effective CEO by encouraging you to think deeper about your company’s goals and direction by focusing on stakeholder values, crafting a quarterly game plan, and taking actionable steps to ensure that your teams’ contribution is using every day to act on communicated vision, steps, and goals.

1. Focus on What’s Important for Your Company’s Vision

The first thing to do when you’re trying to become a better CEO is to nail down the things that matter the most to your company.

This means solidifying your mission or your why as a leader and as an organization. It can be hard to define your purpose. Think back to what you wanted to achieve when you started your company. Your purpose or mission statement should be a powerful reason why your company exists in the first place.

Ask yourself, what’s the reason that you’re in business? What (including and beside financial success) are you trying to achieve? Ask yourself what your mission is to your customers, your team, and the world.

What ways can you engage your team and inspire them to get passionate about this mission so that they believe in your company rather than just watching the clock for a pay check?

Having a strong sense of purpose and learning how to embody and communicate it so that you inspire those who work for you and those who buy your service or product is foundational to becoming a great CEO. In fact, companies who demonstrate a clear social initiative have outstandingly outperformed the S;P 500 during the past two decades.

Once you know your powerful purpose, it’s your job to focus on that vision, lead with purpose, and let that inspire your employees’ wellbeing, and build brand loyalty. Use your purpose to develop your strategy to focus on areas of your company where you want to improve and make your purpose shine clearly. This can include company culture, customer service, and shareholder expectations.

2. Cultivate Intentional Company Culture

Your company culture is the invisible force that informs your team’s decisions and behaviour when no one is overseeing them. Team culture is crucial to attracting and keeping great talent that is an asset to your company. Your team culture can either leverage or limit your capacity to produce successful results.

You can’t do amazing things if your company has a poor team culture. One of the most important ways to invest your time is to intentionally build the kind of culture that you want for your company.

This means using the right people to build and develop your leadership team. Think about the kinds of people that you will eventually need to manage and lead and start grooming them for the role. Check for any gaps, issues, people, or behaviours that fracture your team and work to upgrade it.

3. Don’t Forget Stakeholder Value

It’s all too easy to immerse yourself in your passion for what your company does and lose sight of the people that you serve. A great CEO knows that an organisation’s drive comes from the value that it provides to stakeholders, whether that’s for customers, investors, or your team.

As you solidify your goals and work to hit them each quarter and year, it’s important to recognise that your job as a CEO is not about getting as much as you can from people. Instead, it’s about asking them what they need from you and serving them more than they serve you.

Tap into feedback about customers’ needs, what your shareholders are looking for, and what your team needs to do their job effectively. Once you get the facts about how your service process can improve, take concrete steps to make things happen.

4. Create a Quarterly Action Plan

Many companies think about what they want to accomplish in a year. The problem is that this is too broad a goal. If you want to become a better CEO and help your company flourish, you’ll need to draw up a quarterly plan of action and go over this every quarter.

A quarterly action plan can help your company define its priorities and develop an actionable strategy to propel the business forward towards its goal. A simple one-page action plan delivered every quarter helps keep everyone on track. It also breaks down big goals into smaller, actionable steps which are crucial for a small or midsize company.

After you draw up your plan and work towards meeting those goals for several quarters, it’s a good idea to gather your top department leaders and ask them to craft a one-page quarterly action plan for their own department as well.

This step has two major benefits. First, it breaks down the actions that will make a big difference for the company at a departmental level. It also creates an accountability blueprint to check in on how their department is carrying out your company’s vision and goals.

5. Set the Standard for Accountability

A good CEO knows how to delegate, but he or she also knows how to set the ultimate standard for your organisation.

Stay true to yourself and your defined goals. This doesn’t mean that you stick inflexibly with old techniques. Instead, listen to the feedback from your managers, employees, and customers. Get multiple perspectives, but invest the company’s time, money, and energy in the right places that will make the most impact or achieve the most results.

At the end of the day, a CEO is the gatekeeper for a company’s goals, priorities, and values. Hold yourself, your leadership, and teams accountable to use every day to act in accordance with these stated goals.

Conclusion

This list of best practices is just a start when it comes to becoming a better CEO. Great leadership starts with honing in on your mission and how you can best accomplish it for all involved. Your financial performance flows from your company’s vision and mission and that comes down from you to your team.

It takes self-reflection and confidence to lead a company successfully. It means looking inside, connecting with your customers, stakeholders, and team, and acting from there. Most CEOs want to avoid major mistakes and may not stretch themselves or their team as a result.

If you want to become a better CEO and see greater returns, then you will need to step you, manage yourself and others, and avoid becoming stagnant. Work to fulfil your vision and seize the best opportunities that will drive strategic growth.

While it’s important to break down big goals into small, actionable steps, your company goals shouldn’t stay small. Set big and bold goals that will challenge yourself and your team to reach your highest potential.

Employee Benefits

The 5 Biggest Employee Perks for 2023 After Demand Reaches All-Time High

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

2023 is set to be the biggest year yet for employee perks, after new research from Seniorcare by Lottie (an eldercare benefits solution) has predicted the best benefits for workplaces to invest in.

From childcare to support for caregivers in the workplace, Seniorcare by Lottie’s experts have analysed our online searching habits over the last 12 months to predict the best perks to offer your employees.

“As we start the new year, it is clear that more people are prioritising their wellbeing and a healthy work-life balance, so there’s no surprise that more businesses than ever before are attracting new team members through offering the best perks,” shares Seniorcare by Lottie Lead Ronan Harvey-Kelly.

“By analysing the UK’s online searching habits, our team of experts have predicted the most valuable and trending employee benefits to adopt this year.

Benefits offered in the workplace are at the forefront of people’s minds, with a 75% increase in online searches over the last 12 months for ‘top employee benefits’*. During the same time period, we’ve seen a huge surge in online searches for childcare support, flexible financial benefits, and many more.

“More business owners are investing in unique perks that genuinely support employees in need. In doing so, they’re attracting the best talent and lowering their employee turnover. From coping with the rising cost of living to juggling work commitments and caregiving responsibilities, the UK workforce are coping with a wealth of added stress, anxiety, and worry,” concludes Ronan Harvey-Kelly.

 

Revealed: The 5 Biggest Employee Perks For 2023

  • Flexible financial support
  • Invest in physical and mental wellbeing
  • Childcare benefits
  • Support for caregivers
  • Green initiatives

 

Flexible financial support

  • 39% increase in online searches for ‘financial wellbeing’*
  • 22% increase in online searches for ‘employee financial wellbeing’

 

As the cost of living continues to rise, employers should raise awareness of the importance of being financially healthy. Financial wellbeing isn’t about the money you have, it’s more about how secure you feel about your financial situation, and whether you feel you have enough money to fulfil your needs.

Employers have the power to build financial resilience by creating a culture of support, sharing useful resources, and providing essential help when needed.

Offering staff training about how to talk openly about financial wellbeing can help, too. Another great way to reduce any financial pressure for your employees is by providing financial perks, including access to special discounts, and budgets for expenses like transport or lunches.

Samuel Lathey, CEO from Financial Wellbeing provider Bippit, adds, “The truth is that financial matters are the ‘elephant in the room’. Something that’s affecting all of us, but something that very few of us are comfortable talking about, and that’s why it’s so important for employees to have a safe, confidential space where they can access support and have an expert to talk to.”

 

Invest in physical and mental wellbeing

  • 33% increase in online searches for ‘physical wellbeing at work’
  • 23% increase in online searches for ‘employee healthcare’

 

Your team’s physical and mental health is hugely affected by their workload and work environment. As we begin the new year, businesses must step up and be a positive influence on employee health.

Many workplaces are a major contributor to sedentary behaviour. Previous research by The Workplace Movement has found that physically inactive workers lose up to 4 and a half working days per year, compared to those who are active, through absence and presenteeism.

From providing mental health support to offering discounted gym memberships, you’ll reap the rewards as a business owner if you prioritise your employee’s health. They’ll likely be happier and more productive, and you’ll retain top talent.

Sançar Sahin, Oliva’s Co-founder & CMO, says, “We spend at least 8 hours of our lives at work each day. So to say that us employers have a responsibility to support our team’s mental wellbeing is an understatement.

How many times have we taken a day off because we lack the mental energy to turn up? And how many times have we turned up but had our minds somewhere else; thinking about a sick relative, a recent breakup, or something more debilitating like depression, OCD, or trauma. Healthy people = healthy business.”

 

Childcare benefits

  • 27% increase in online searches for ‘workplace nursery benefits’
  • 22% increase in online searches for ‘shared parental leave’

 

Childcare benefits are becoming a huge factor for many working parents when deciding on their next job. Over the last 12 months, there has been a 600% increase in online searches for ‘childcare issues and work’, with many parents struggling to open up to their workplace about their struggles.

Jobs that provide support for parents and parents-to-be are at a huge advantage of retaining staff, raising morale, and improving attendance. More parents are also keen to share parental leave, which is a huge trend for employers to focus on.

Some businesses have set up on-site nurseries for employees or offer greater flexibility through remote working and flexible hours for parents. What’s more, companies could focus on helping parents with back-up childcare, for when their children are unwell or off nursery.

 

Support for caregivers

  • 75% increase in online searches for ‘being a carer and working full-time’
  • 50% increase in online searches for ‘trapped caring for elderly parent’
  • 40% increase in online searches for ‘giving up work to be a carer’

 

An ageing population means more people are living longer, and many employees are finding themselves caring for older, disabled or seriously ill relatives. This means more employees than ever before are caring for an elderly loved one in the UK and beyond – whilst working full-time – leaving them at risk of mental health struggles and financial worry.

Employees who are juggling the additional demands of caregiving are more likely to experience stress, absences from work and health problems.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to raising awareness and sharing support for caregivers in the workplace. As a leader in your workplace, take the time to listen, understand and empathise with caregivers in your organisations. Simply being aware of caregiver needs is a huge step that bridges the gap between caregivers and their employers.

One of the best ways to support a caregiver at work is to provide practical support. You can offer support in several ways, including offering advice from experts on finding suitable care for your elderly loved one, whether that’s home-care or in a care home setting.

Giving employees access to expert care and impartial advice will enable them to be more productive, whilst providing their elderly loved ones with the care they deserve.

 

Green initiatives

  • 86% increase in online searches for ‘sustainability in the workplace’
  • 25% increase in online searches for ‘best cycle to work scheme’

 

Your benefits aren’t just how you attract and retain talent – they’re how you demonstrate your company values. Businesses who are genuinely investing in a more sustainable workplace are offering their employees an opportunity to make a positive impact.

From using only electric vehicles as company cars to adopting a new tree planting initiative, there’s lots of ways businesses can quickly become more environmentally conscious.

Team Management

Three Key Benefits of Having a Diverse Workforce

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

It’s time for organisations to understand the importance of diversity and inclusion in their hiring practices. But if your business has never really focused on equality and diversity, what are those benefits?

Here, we’ll delve into the benefits a diverse workforce brings to businesses.

 

You can understand your customers better

A lack of diversity can impact your clients and the output of your business in many ways. For example, hair companies may produce products for afro hair without really understanding the specific needs of that type of hair. Or, across many sectors, accessibility provisions may take into account physical disabilities but not mental ones.

When people from diverse backgrounds come together, they can offer viewpoints that may not be considered by a more homogenous group. We know from current political events in the USA that when these voices aren’t heard, decisions are made without considering their needs. This applies to businesses, their employees, and customers too. An IT consultancy firm or UK call centre will stand a better chance of attracting and delivering an excellent service to customers with a diverse workforce.

 

Attracting and retaining top talent

Boards and senior management teams in the UK are still overwhelmingly male and white. As we go down the ranks, diversity increases, but many businesses are still seas of uniform faces.

Predominantly white businesses may struggle to attract BAME workers, while research has shown that 40% of women qualified in engineering will leave their roles because of “unwelcoming social barriers” that include being perceived as incompetent, being sexualised, and being excluded from social events.

Inclusive measures are also important for those with both visible and invisible disabilities. We’re aware that people who require mobility aids will require ramps and lifts to access certain parts of our buildings, but what about those with arthritis or chronic pain? Are your offices designed with developmental disabilities like autism in mind, or are they potentially overwhelming? Factoring in the needs of people from diverse backgrounds will show that your business cares about diversity and equality and can help you attract and retain so much more talent.

 

Better staff well-being

Employees who are surrounded and managed by people who share similar characteristics to them are likely to feel more welcomed and included. If a company is dominated by straight white men, it can sometimes contribute to a ‘laddish’ culture that can exclude women, LGBTQIA+ people, and those from different ethnicities.

A happy workforce is already a major benefit to businesses, but it also brings with it plenty of additional advantages. Businesses with a diverse set of happy people have a lower turnover and higher productivity and can even be more profitable. It pays to be diverse.

Diversity should always be a priority for businesses. Offering opportunities for people from different backgrounds is important for societal change and social mobility, but it’s also critical to business success. So if your organisation doesn’t yet have an equality and diversity policy in place, consider these three points and make them a priority.

Interior meeting room in modern space office

Redesign your Office as a ‘Third Place’

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

By Jeff Dewing CEO of Cloudfm

As a young lad I was fortunate enough to always feel a sense of community and belonging everywhere I went, whether this was seeing my local neighbour at the youth centre or my parents’ friends at the library, there were communal spaces available.

Unfortunately, due to austerity and budget cuts, physical community spaces have been lost and digital communities have taken precedence. Nevertheless, physical spaces will always be necessary, as preserving communities can improve people’s lives.

 

Given only 21% of employees are engaged at work and the increasing levels of stress among staff, I decided to revamp my office space into a collaborative hub that could be used whenever necessary by my team. I think that business leaders have a responsibility to rebuild community hubs where they can, and this is why:

 

We are losing our ‘third places’

Through the years, I’ve witnessed the steady deterioration of the so-called ‘third places.’ These are spaces where people go to unwind, different from their homes (referred to as first places) or their workplaces (second places). Third places provide a space to connect with the local community, often at no personal cost.

The defunding of places like youth centres by the government has had a damaging effect on our communities and we shouldn’t underestimate its repercussions. With the rising cost of living and the ongoing aftershocks of the pandemic, employee well-being is being put to the test. This is not only a moral issue but a financial one as well, with low engagement costing the global economy a staggering $7.8 trillion.

Business leaders have an opportunity and a duty to make a genuine difference in employee wellbeing. In my experience, redesigning my office space with emotional well-being and collaboration in mind has delivered excellent results and is something all business leaders should consider.

 

It’s time to rethink our office spaces

Not only do physical community hubs provide a dedicated space for employees to collaborate, but they also provide a place for employees to take a break from work and interact with their peers in a more relaxed setting. This can help to reduce stress levels and create a positive work environment.

Additionally, physical community hubs can help to build a sense of belonging and connection among employees. This can lead to greater involvement and engagement, resulting in improved productivity and higher morale.

The design of an office space varies depending on the type of business it is used for. It’s essential to consider the specific needs of your industry when designing the layout. Nevertheless, there are some key elements that should be taken into account regardless of the business.

With hybrid working becoming the new standard, it has become more vital than ever to foster meaningful interactions between colleagues. To do this, offices should be redesigned with the intention of promoting collaboration and communication. They should have comfortable areas with couches, TVs and refreshments such as tea and coffee. Additionally, it should be a place where employees can make memories and have fun that cannot be replicated working from home. This could include activities like darts, Xbox gaming and karaoke nights, which can provide a break from the day-to-day and help to ease the financial strain of socialising in the current cost of living crisis.

Opening the office 24/7 to our staff has been hugely beneficial. We’ve used it for after-work events and even for a weekend daycare for coffee catchups. Our team is more connected than ever and we have re-energized a feeling of togetherness in the area. Kids who would not have been able to meet each other are getting together on weekends and my staff can meet their colleagues’ friends when appropriate. I urge other business leaders to think of your office as a third place for your team.

Common Misconceptions About CEOs

Posted on | by root

With responsibility for just about every single person in a business, there’s no doubt that CEOs have a lot on their plate.

There are certainly plenty of rewards that go with the packed in-tray but another consideration for those looking to climb to the very top of the corporate ladder is the number of myths and misconceptions about the role.

Here we’ll attempt to shed some light on the truth behind the headlines.

All that glitters is gold

The glamorous life of the CEO, eh? It must be all about buying the next holiday home, buying a fleet of supercars, and struggling to choose an insurance policy for a new yacht, right?

The truth is this is rarely the case for the large number of people across the world who hold the job title of chief executive officer.

Sure, there are some high-profile CEOs who might live extravagant lifestyles and court the media’s attention. But these are very much in the minority across the board.

Most CEOs are following their passion and dedicated to making their company a better place to work, more attractive to invest in and a leader in giving back to the communities that have been their foundations

The CEO owns the business

In large numbers of cases across the world, this is not the case.

Of course, any publicly traded company that appoints a CEO is owned by its shareholders. Now, the CEO may well be one of those people (and may be a majority shareholder to boot) but conflating the two can often place unfair expectations on CEOs who may answer to others.

In the case of limited companies, a CEO may be appointed by an owner who wishes to remain out of the public glare and task their top exec with making difficult decisions, such as formulating responses to ongoing disruption in the job market.

CEOs certainly wield a lot of power in any business, but it is far from accurate in the case of many to suggest that they, and they alone, have the final say over all business matters.

Net worth figures

Each and every day you might see news stories focusing on high-ranking executives with claims that they are worth millions, if not billions. There are even entire internet sites dedicated to reporting the ‘net worth’ of others.

This leads to immediate misconceptions that this monetary figure must be instantly available to an individual. Even though in reality, it’s a reflection of a present market value and not a realised sum sitting in someone’s bank balance. It may even compromise their safety if they are perceived publicly to be wealthier than they perhaps are.

If they are even accurate in the first place, most likely these sums relate to entire portfolios that might include property, stocks and shares, among other assets. It’s also important to point out that should a high-net-worth individual such as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk decide to sell all of their shares in their respective businesses, they would almost instantly crash the value of their stocks as well as affect the value of their sector.

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Five Ways to Take Your Company to the Next Level

Posted on | by root

When you are a leader of a large corporation, the pressure is on you to deliver. The success of the business falls squarely on the shoulders of leadership. There are benefits and drawbacks to this kind of responsibility, but one of the best things about the consolidation of leadership is that if it’s you, you can make big decisions to take the company to the next level. If it fails, you will face the consequences but if you succeed you receive the praise. When you are trying to take the business you are leading to the next level, below are five ways to take your company to the next level.

Focus on Equity

There is a lot of talk about equality these days, but often the wider conversation isn’t about equality—it’s about equity. Here is a quick example of equity in the workplace. If one part of your business isn’t as successful as the rest is, elevating that part of the business could make a huge difference. You need every part of the company to perform at its optimal level. It isn’t just about racial and sexuality diversity, it’s about the ability of every aspect of the company performing at its most productive level.

Cultivate Culture

When a company becomes large, the culture begins to degrade. Take a lesson from Google. Company culture matters. Company culture is one of the most important components of a truly great business. When the staff is cohesive, you will be more successful. The work will be easier because employees will be on the same page. It’s worth spending the time and effort on creating a comprehensive culture within the company—no matter how large. It’s worth spending time with both the people who are close to you and the ones you don’t know. Understanding the dynamics of each individual team will help you in the long run.

Overhead vs Profit

You already know this, but the relationship between overhead and profit is instrumental to the success of any company. How many employees do you have? Do you need all of them? What team isn’t performing? Can some of the company work from home? What about establishing a partial work-from-home program? You could also move from your current offices to a smaller property. Send some people home to work. Thin the herd.

Lower production costs if you can but try to skimp on the quality. Are you a primarily digital business? Thinking about new ways to make money could provide profit to warrant the overhead that you currently have. This is a balance you are surely familiar with. When you are trying to take your business to the next level returning to this mindset will prove fruitful.

Innovate, Innovate, Innovate

The odds are, you are leading a company that deals in technology or something adjacent to it. In these businesses, there are few things more valuable than innovation. Innovating is what changes the game for a lot of companies. If you are lacking innovation in your business—whether you are in tech or not—investing in people and technologies that can elevate your business is typically worth it.

Pivot into a New Direction, Diversify

If you have new ideas about how to take your business into a new, more profitable direction, you should begin testing these ideas. You don’t need to go all in at once, but you should start testing various products, services, and ideas. When you are at the helm of a large corporation, it’s important to identify when things aren’t working as well as they used to. Sometimes it’s merely a matter of size. You don’t need to turn180 degrees. Instead, you can diversify. Look at the data. What’s working? Turn slightly in that direction.

Leading a large company isn’t easy. It requires a lot of work. It requires steadfast diligence, a vision for the future, and an understanding of who and what you are dealing with. Whether you are in technology, finance, or something else, there are plenty of ways to take your company to the next level. It all depends on the overhead, the profit, the culture, and the outlook. If you can balance all these things, further growth and success may be around the corner.

8 Women CEO in the Forbes 100 List

Posted on | by root

Eynat Guez, co-founder and CEO at Papaya Global

For the last seven years, Forbes has published a list showcasing the 100 CEOs who are leading the world’s most successful privately owned cloud companies.

The Cloud 100 is a diverse list that is global in its scope and includes enterprises at all stages of growth, sales and valuation. It reflects the growing importance of cloud-based tech and is compiled using a variety of criteria, with a panel consisting of 26 assessors from within the sector and fellow CEOs.

A significant point that highlights the ever-increasing prominence of this sector is that the companies on the 2022 Cloud 100 list have a combined market capitalization of $100 billion greater than those in 2021.

More women CEOs in the top 100

One of the most significant features of the 2022 Cloud 100 list is that it features 8 women CEOs, up from 6 in 2021. It can of course be argued that women are still significantly underrepresented at the helm of tech companies, but the albeit small increase can nevertheless be seen as a positive, although there is still much more to do when it comes to women in executive leadership roles.

Below we look at the eight women who have crashed into the top 100, their achievements, their companies’ valuations, and what they have done to foster such significant growth and success.

Eynat Guez

Papaya Global

Papaya Global founder Eynat Guez is ranked at 74 in the Cloud 100 list, and under her leadership the company is now valued at $3.7 billion, having raised $250 million in a Series D funding round in 2021.

The Israel-based global payroll provider is also leading the way when it comes to women in tech, with the workforce being more than 50% female. The company has built its success on supporting organizations of all sizes and across sectors to expand into new markets, hire freelancers, and manage payroll globally.

Laura Behrens

Shippo

The eCommerce shipping platform Shippo is headed by co-founder Laura Behrens (no. 85), under whose stewardship the company raised $50 million in new funding in 2021. Now valued at more than $1 billion, Shippo has successfully expanded internationally into Germany, France, the UK, Canada and Australia, and is looking to go even further afield in the coming years.

One of the key reasons for Shippo’s success has been that it enables owners of eCommerce sites to use virtually any shipping provider globally via a single API.

Bernadette Nixon

Algolia

Coming in at 39 in the Cloud 100 list, Algolia CEO Bernadette Nixon has seen the company’s valuation grow to $2.25 billion, thanks in part to a $150 million Series D funding round in 2021.

This is Nixon’s first appearance on the list, and her API search and discovery platform has significantly grown its global customer base to more than 17,000 users since its founding in 2012.

Karen Peacock

Intercom

Intercom founder Karen Peacock is placed at 35 in the Cloud 100 list, and she has been at the helm as the company has raised over $240 million over 9 funding rounds.

Now valued at $1.25 billion, the Intercom communication platform supports companies in the management of their customer relations, and has more than 25,000 clients around the world, including major corporations such as Amazon, Webex, Meta and more.

Edith Harbaugh

Launch Darkly

LaunchDarkly CEO Edith Harbaugh is at number 34 on the Cloud 100 list, and under her leadership the California-based software feature management company is now valued at more than $3 billion.

Over eight rounds, LaunchDarkly raised $330 million in Series D funding in 2021, and now works with over 4,000 clients across a diverse range of industries, including Square, AMC, Intuit, Adidas and NBC.

Rachel Romer

Guild Education

Guild Education is a unique platform designed to make it easier for employers to enhance the range of economic and career opportunities it provides its employees, primarily through increasing access to education.

Co-founder and CEO Rachel Romer (no. 32 in the Cloud 100 list) has a number of industry awards to her name, and under her leadership the company is now valued at $3.75 billion, having raised over $634 million in a Series F funding round in 2022.

Melanie Perkins

Canva

Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins is the highest ranked woman in the Cloud 100 list, coming in at number 3. Canva, the online graphic design platform that she co-founded in 2012, is now valued at $40 billion and has more than 3,000 employees worldwide, with around 45% of the workforce being women.

Canva has also made a number of acquisitions, and has been highly successful throughout its history at attracting major investors, such as Sequoia Capital, Felicis Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, and Tiger Global Management.

Mathilde Collin

Front

Number 100 on the Cloud 100 list is Mathilde Collin, CEO of Front, a business communication hub that personalises customer relationships and makes it easier to ‘humanise’ messaging and other interactions with customers.

Front offers plans and packages for enterprises of all sizes, and under Collin’s leadership, the US company is now valued at over $1.7 billion, on the back of a $65 million Series D funding round in 2022.

2023 Trends

10 Leadership Trends You Are Likely to See In 2023

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

By Thom Dennis, CEO of culture change and leadership development specialists, Serenity in Leadership.

After another incredibly tumultuous year and a recession on its way, leaders have been trying to steady the ship to navigate through the difficult times, but many are choosing to do more than survive and are aiming to get back to thriving beyond the profits, by focusing on culture, innovation and taking a long term view. These are the trends in good leadership you are likely to see in 2023.

 

1. Visionary Storytellers. I recently interviewed Dean Carter who led global HR and Shared Services at the ground-breaking company Patagonia and is now a Director of Griffith Foods, the global traceable and sustainable food ingredients experts. He said: “A leader for me is someone who has a compelling view of the future and their way of looking at the future is a very compelling thing to align behind. They also know their vision always has to be possible and the team need to be able to clearly see the actions that can be taken to get there.” Dean argues that visionary leaders have a better way of communicating their mission and objectives and can harness their narrative in such a way that it makes people want to be a part of making that vision happen.

 

2. Walk The Walk. Leaders will regularly need to re-examine if they are on track and are still aligned with their mission statement, values and purpose, and leading clearly with those at the forefront. During tumultuous times we need responsible leaders more than ever. A recent study of nearly 700 US companies showed scant correlation between stated company values and employee perceptions of the organization so this will have to change in the very near future.

 

3. Superb Tacticians For the Future. Leaders understand they need to re-create a hybrid workplace where workers want to be, to see friends, explore ideas, make a difference, learn and find meaning. Do these things well, and retention problems will be eased. You have to make money to stay in business, but you keep employees during otherwise difficult times if they are engaged, learning, and increasingly enjoying themselves. As Dean said about culture: “If we’re talking about making it fun, it probably isn’t fun”, and advocated for CEOs who don’t take themselves too seriously.

 

4. Nurturers. This means taking a firm line on sharing the burdens, reducing toxicity and burnout in the workplace, and wanting the best for colleagues’ mental and physical health. Being individual-employee-centric and offering flexibility and support are key.

 

5. High Cultural Intelligence. Senior executives and partners serve as a model for vision, purpose, and company culture and there is a 750% differential in profits at companies with aligned and mature cultures versus those that fail to cultivate their cultures. CQ is an easily learned and developed, but extremely important skill.

 

6. Build Better Teams. Leaders who have high-performing C-Suites say they are 42% more effective at managing complex initiatives, 31% more effective at delivering stakeholder value, and 30% more effective at attracting top talent. During times of transition, such as a merger or private equity deal, the quality of a business’s management team is the most-cited reason for deal success and second for deal failure.

 

7. Innovators. Technology is always evolving, offering new opportunities to CEOs looking to transform their business. That’s especially true when pursuing net-zero. It is also true for companies that are making the shift to put software at the heart of their business. Leaders will be looking for innovators with software experience and who want to explore the use of AI in the context of responsibility, trustworthiness and ethics. The trend is for an increasing number of members of the C-Suite to have software experience.

 

8. Empowerers. The best leaders are those who enable their people to make good decisions. Admiral Horatio Nelson is still today recognised as an inspirational leader and an incredible tactician. He knew that once the battle started, there would not be any possibility of communicating between ships so instead he empowered each of his captains to take decisions and risks. He did this by sharing his strategy and communicating in depth with them so they could act with autonomy because they really knew each other and understood the desired outcome. There has been a trend in leaders towards autocracy in recent years – this rarely works over a period of time and makes succession extremely difficult. Leaders need to empower, build morale and make their teams feel entrusted.

 

9. Clear Succession Plan. The leaders of 2023 understand that they need to listen and learn from others to improve and grow themselves. We simply cannot do it all ourselves. These leaders also know that at some stage someone is going to do it better than them and power sharing is in the best interest of everyone, including ourselves. Successful leaders will surround themselves not with sycophants but with people who will question them and provide alternative opinions, feedback and solutions.

 

10. Authentically Support Important Causes. In 2016 Patagonia announced that it would donate 100 percent of its global retail and online sales from the shopping event on Black Friday straight to grassroots organizations that work in local communities to “protect our air, water and soil for future generations”. They made a record-breaking $10 million in sales during the event, a figure five times greater than expected, along with massive media coverage. As the cost of living and environmental crises rage on in 2023, expect to see leaders take bigger, more courageous and more meaningful leaps of faith to support important causes.

Business Trends To Look Out For In 2023

Posted on | by root

Businesses have experienced a lot over the last year – 2022 presented many economic challenges and the new year provides the opportunity to learn, grow and bounce back.

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, we’ve listed the predicted business trends for the coming year that you should look out for.

Fintech and the potential of blockchain

The fintech phenomenon is progressing rapidly, with brand-new finance apps becoming available on a daily basis. Managing your money digitally is now seen as the way forward, allowing you to easily budget, save and process payments with just a few taps.

However, the arrival of blockchain technology is set to revolutionise various areas of finance, as well as transport, entertainment and healthcare industries.

With both advancements combined, blockchain technology can help to transform financial processes within fintech law firms, banks and other organisations. Using a fintech ecosystem, transactions will no longer need an external source present, making them capable of completing payments instantly.

Global economic downturn

With forecasts predicting that global growth will start to slow in 2023, businesses are aware of rising inflation and are learning how to deal with this to prepare for the coming months. This unfortunately means lower job opportunities and in certain cases, this will also mean job losses.

Organisations will have to think on their feet, making quick yet lasting decisions on the future of their business. Ultimately, businesses will be reviewing budgets, reassessing financial stability and growth forecasts, and in other cases, offer greater recognition to employees who may be suffering as a result of rising costs.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence has already seen many manual jobs taken over. It’s said that this technology could start to provide challenges for a number of professions, disrupting high-skilled areas.

With the economy in turmoil, businesses now more than ever are looking to increase efficiency and reduce costs where possible. AI can be used amongst a number of professions, performing various tasks such as reviewing contracts, conducting research and drafting documents.

AI models are continuing to become more advance over time. They are trained on large amounts of data and can read human handwriting.

With the increased demand for efficiency and automation, AI technology can handle high volumes of work in short amounts of time, appearing the more viable option than their human counterparts. By removing human stress and high pressure, why wouldn’t businesses want to use this advanced alternative to get the job done?

Sustainability

The need for more sustainable businesses continues to grow. Many organisations are investing more into their sustainability strategy, as it’s known as one of the biggest incentives to change consumer behaviour.

Global warming is a key issue affecting every nation around the world and so companies who take a conscious approach in their operations to address this will be able to gain more credibility.

Consumers are looking for affordable yet sustainable options, so it’s time to embracing change and become transparent with customers in order to progress in our ever-changing world.