Kirk Vallis, Google’s Global Head of Creative Capability Development, is the latest thought leader and innovator to appear on The BounceBackability podcast. Kirk has spent the last 11 years at global tech giant Google – one of the top four companies on the planet. As well as developing innovation frameworks, he’s more importantly helped colleagues navigate the right behaviours, mindset and techniques to unlock creativity, fresh thinking and innovation. It’s an approach inherent to the firm’s culture and, as a result, its employees are happier and more motivated, loyal and productive – whilst its bottom line is boosted. Needless to say,…
Author: sme-admin
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has become a top focus for many organisations as customer and shareholder demands for greater commitment grow, coupled with increasing regulatory expectation. With ESG now a strategic priority and not just an investment or marketing strategy, organisations are implementing these objectives across all business activities. Adding greater relevance to ESG context in particularly pertinent to anti-financial crime controls as there is a tightly woven relationship between the two: Environmental crimes – according to The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), environmental crimes like illegal logging, mining, land clearing, waste trafficking, forestry crime, and the illicit wildlife…
Combining working with holidays is a growing trend. A recent YouGov survey revealed that over a third of UK workers that can work remotely would take a workcation in the next twelve months. While mixing work and play isn’t the norm, it does have appeal, offering employees the opportunity to extend their international travels without booking lots of time off work. Here, Kristian Torode, director and co-founder of business communications technology provider Crystaline explores the rise of the ‘workcation’ and how businesses can help their employees to make the most of their free time. A workcation is a combination of work…
Author: Alexander Dick, CEO of Alexander Lyons Solutions During the Covid pandemic, thousands of organisations around the world were forced to switch to full-time remote working in a bid to curtail the spread of the disease. While this measure was initially intended to be temporary, the experience turned out to be a resounding success for those organisations who’d previously never dreamt of allowing their staff to work away from the office. Many even declared that they would retain hybrid working on a permanent basis, recognising the long-term advantages that doing so could provide for employee satisfaction and productivity. Others went further…
Ask any entrepreneur and they will tell you that running a small business is time-consuming, but of all the things owners do, posting to social media and creating content is one of the hardest. That’s why GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) is introducing Instant Video to help small business owners become confident content creators. Instant Video is a new AI-powered feature within the GoDaddy Studio app that can quickly and easily meet the growing need for video-based digital marketing and social commerce, all at no additional cost. GoDaddy Studio already provides all of the resources entrepreneurs need to create beautifully designed content for websites, social…
Cyber security has been a topic high on the news agenda this month, following the cyber-attack on the UK electoral register and the Northern Ireland Police data breach over the past few weeks1. As a result, many businesses may be implementing risk assessments and reviewing how protected their stored data is over the next few months. According to the government’s Cyber Security Breaches survey in April 20232 almost a third (32%) of businesses said they had experienced breaches or attacks in the last 12 months. This was much higher for medium businesses (59%), large businesses (69%). To help businesses understand how…
Author: Tony Burgess (Director – Merchant Network, fuelGenie) The UK’s fuel market may be about to reach a major turning point, with the introduction of a new government-backed scheme aimed at stopping supermarkets and fuel retailers from allegedly overcharging motorists. The announcement came after the CMA revealed that the average supermarket fuel margins rose by 6p per litre between 2019 and 2022. Currently, retailers and supermarket forecourts only provide information on fuel prices at the actual petrol stations, which makes it hard for drivers to compare costs and weakens competition. The launch of a fuel finder open data scheme would…
After reports that wages have grown at record levels between April and June this year, an employee engagement expert has warned that businesses need to think differently about remuneration to keep hold of their best staff.Ifty Nasir, CEO and founder of equity management platform, Vestd, says companies who are unable to match rising wages need other ways to engage staff as the battle for talent increases.Ifty said: “News of rising wages is great for workers in the short-term, as they are facing higher mortgage and rent payments while everyday costs continue to put a strain on personal finances.“For businesses though, and…
A year in the making, the new Lion House is now complete. Brainchild of Mammal Keeper James Welch, it’s the Park’s first major new construction since the Giraffe House was built in 2010 to commemorate Cotswold Wildlife Park’s 40th anniversary. The new Lion House will become an important focal point to raise awareness of the plight these endangered animals face in the wild. To mark the occasion, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Oxford and conservation biologist Amy Dickman was invited to officially open the Lion House with Mammal Keeper James Welch. Professor Amy Dickman said: “Lions are one of the most iconic species in the world and people…
Leading law firm, Irwin Mitchell, has recently conducted a nationally representative study into the ‘trend’ of quiet firing. Quiet firing is defined as behaviour or actions by an employer that make employees feel like they’re no longer wanted, forcing them to quit. However subtle, this gas-lighting behaviour can have concerning consequences for an employee’s confidence, performance and livelihood. This is different to ‘quiet quitting’, a ‘phenomenon’ which came in response to pandemic burnout that saw employees only doing the work they’re paid to do – shunning extra work and going the extra mile. After surveying 2475 people, Irwin Mitchell…