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Last week our new website went live&hellip;.. hooray!&nbsp;
I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the opportunity to tell the world about how amazing Space HR and our platform for Employee Engagement is and now we&rsquo;ve finally done it. I&rsquo;ve got a website that I can be really proud of.&nbsp;
My new website helps me convey the proposition of the business, talk about our amazing technology and showcase some of the great work we&rsquo;ve been doing with some great clients! It feels like all the hard work is starting to make sense and pay off.
I&rsquo;ve learned some pretty incredible things whilst building this website. It&rsquo;s made me think about things that I haven&rsquo;t really thought about before and its tested my skills and my knowledge as a business leader. I had a website already which was fine, but this new one is critical. It&rsquo;ll set a precedent for all my future websites to follow because it&rsquo;s the first one that talks explicitly about the Space HR Employee Engagement platform.&nbsp;
So if you&rsquo;re building a website, whether its your first or your fifth, here&rsquo;s a few of things I learned. Maybe it&rsquo;ll help you avoid a few pitfalls that I navigated along the way&hellip;.
&nbsp;
<h3>1. Building a website is hard!</h3>
Where do you start - genuine question? Well you (sadly) don&rsquo;t start with design that&rsquo;s for sure! I started with a lot of soul searching. I started asking myself some deep questions about my business such as;
&gt; Why does Space HR exist?
&gt; How do we differentiate from the competition?
&gt; What do we offer?&nbsp;
&gt; What is our mission, our vision, our values?
&gt; Who are our target customers?
&gt; How do we benefit our customers?
Once I had this down, it became a lot easier to start writing from a position of conviction and understanding based on the business I wanted to create.
&nbsp;
<h3>2. Put your customer first&nbsp;</h3>
You&rsquo;re not trying to win awards, you&rsquo;re trying to win customers. (Although if there are awards going, I&rsquo;ll take a few please!). Write your copy with your customer in mind and answer the questions that they would ask. These could include;
&gt; Is this product for me?
&gt; Why do I need this product?
&gt; What am I actually buying?&nbsp;
&gt; What is the cost?
&gt; Why you and not your competition?
&gt; What do I do next?
Then break the answers down and serve them back on your pages. Pretty obvious stuff really (once you know that&rsquo;s the aim!). But don't underestimate how long (and how many versions), it might take you to get this right!
&nbsp;
<h3>3. Align with your Category</h3>
I also did a lot of competitor research, but not because I wanted to steal their ideas. I had to make sure I was aligned with my competition so it was easier for my customers to enquire/buy. I needed to think like a customer.&nbsp;
I asked myself the same questions as in point 2 above, to see whether they achieved this. I also put myself in the mind of a customer who gets two quotes through from two suppliers. How do you begin to compare the two if they&rsquo;re wildly different in price, product, proposition, service etc? Answer-you don&rsquo;t. Do some benchmarking, make sure you are aligned with your category. If not, you might end up being discounted or discredited by your customers.
&nbsp;
<h3>4. Building a product website is really hard</h3>
Underpinning Space HR, is a platform that&rsquo;s designed to build a more engaged team. This is our product and with it comes a lot more information that makes the job of building a website even harder. There was a lot more to think about in terms of showing the platform off and talking about the product features that really make us awesome.
Focusing on benefits rather than features was crucial, as was keeping the amount of information just right to keep my audience engaged and not overloaded with info. After all, I can explain more once they&rsquo;ve enquired!
&nbsp;
<h3>5. Write, re-write, burn it and write again</h3>
I must have written about 6 drafts of content for my new website and even then it there was a lot of iteration when it came to building web pages. The first draft involved writing everything I&rsquo;ve ever known about Employee Engagement ever! As you can imagine, it got pretty boring pretty quick and I gave up this approach. Then I did a whole draft of content that explained my entire proposition, but again it was boring.
Less is more when it comes to website copy, knowing what to include and what to leave out is where the real skill is.&nbsp;I&rsquo;m more than sure our site isn&rsquo;t perfect and I will continue to change my website as it develops. Keep iterating as you learn and your copy will refine into something that starts to sound like you.
&nbsp;
<h3>6. Be more genuine&nbsp;</h3>
Just when I though I was happy, I realised it just didn&rsquo;t sound like me. I took a hatchet to my last draft of copy and took out loads of things that either didn&rsquo;t sound like me or that sounded really boring and generic. Clearly I had to leave some more obvious stuff in there, but if it didn&rsquo;t speak to anyone, it probably got the axe.
I&rsquo;m still a small business and until I&rsquo;m a huge corporate, being genuine and unique is something I can continue to be. It&rsquo;s pretty brave to put a huge picture of yourself on your product website! But it isn&rsquo;t just a product, it&rsquo;s a product supported and loved by me!&nbsp;
To round this blog off,&nbsp;I hope you love my new website. It&rsquo;s been a challenge and an amazing experience getting it live. Have a proper look through it,&nbsp;please offer feedback and refer it to your network too!
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;d like to know more about how Space HR deliver Employee Engagement to companies throughout the UK, contact victoria@spacehr.co.uk

Our CEO Victoria shares her experience on building the new site

The New Website Is Live!

It&rsquo;s one of the golden questions of the corporate working world - does giving an employee a higher salary increase their engagement? While we wish a straightforward &lsquo;yes&rsquo; or &lsquo;no&rsquo; could conclude the matter, it&rsquo;s not all that simple.&nbsp;
Like most things in the world of work, there are a number of factors at play that affect engagement rates - salary is just one of them. In some situations, a higher salary can indeed increase employee satisfaction, but that&rsquo;s not always the case, as we&rsquo;re about to discuss.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>The Link Between Salary and Employee Engagement&nbsp;</h3>
It&rsquo;s easy to subscribe to the belief that paying your team more will lead to higher rates of satisfaction, and therefore engagement. Money can&rsquo;t buy happiness, of course, but it&nbsp;can buy a certain degree of comfort, and isn&rsquo;t that close enough?
Money worries inevitably lead to&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/how-to-spot-the-warning-signs-of-stress-in-your-team-and-what-you-can-do-to-help" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stress</a>, depression, sickness and workplace conflict - things no employer wants to see their team suffer from. A 2018 study by Salary Finance found that a whopping&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://us.salaryfinance.com/uk/blog/healthy-attitudes-to-mental-health-in-the-workplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">40% of UK employees had money worries</a>&nbsp;- an abysmal statistic that&rsquo;s undoubtedly been amplified by the pandemic. The study also found that employees who were stressed about money were 2.2 times more likely to look for a new job, and were 7.6 times&nbsp;less likely to complete daily tasks.&nbsp;
Of course, none of this is good for your work culture, productivity or employee engagement rates. But it would be a mistake to assume that handing out pay rises left, right and centre will solve all of your problems. More often than not, higher paid jobs lead to increased amounts of stress, as concluded by a study conducted by&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.agencycentral.co.uk/articles/2016-10/does-stress-rise-with-increasing-salaries.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agency Central</a>. This is because employees who are paid more often bear the brunt of increased responsibility.
And if working conditions are already poor, their shiny new salary isn&rsquo;t going to make them feel any better.&nbsp;
The truth is, your employee engagement rates are affected by a number of factors, including working conditions, career progression, recognition, office relationships,&nbsp;as well&nbsp;as monetary reward. And although this isn&rsquo;t an all-encompassing list of factors, it gives you an idea of other components that are easily overlooked by employers trying to boost engagement rates.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>So How Can You Boost Employee Engagement Rates and Satisfaction?</h3>
<h4>An Increased Salary May Not Go Amiss</h4>
Although everyone has their own idea of a &lsquo;salary sweet spot&rsquo;, the polls suggest that&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://us.salaryfinance.com/uk/blog/healthy-attitudes-to-mental-health-in-the-workplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most people aspire to earn &pound;44,500-&pound;58,500</a>&nbsp;per annum to eradicate money worries. Paying your employees more&nbsp;can have a positive impact on their productivity, happiness and engagement rates, but consider or workplace factors too.&nbsp;
<h4>Improve Communication With Your Employees</h4>
Like with any other relationship, communication is key to fostering healthy workplace connections and levels of satisfaction. Invite your team to&nbsp;tell&nbsp;you what&rsquo;s going on, rather than playing the guessing game (because it never works).&nbsp;Our easy&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/platform" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">employee engagement survey</a> is the ideal way to capture employee feedback.&nbsp;
<h4>Consult Our 5-Step Strategy to a Highly Engaged Team&nbsp;</h4>
We&rsquo;ve done the hard work for you and designed a comprehensive strategy that&rsquo;s ready to implement into any workplace. Discover the first step by clicking&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/5-steps-to-a-highly-engaged-team---part-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>&nbsp;and get to work building a highly engaged team. For more HR resources and tips on boosting employee engagement rates, check out&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our blog</a>.&nbsp;

The Impact of Salary On Employee Engagement

There is a lots chatter on social media from recruiters and talent managers about the risk and challenges of mass resignations. They&rsquo;re referencing employees who have waited out the pandemic and are now looking to make a career move.&nbsp;
But there is also an equal amount of chatter about the lack of candidates in the market place and how difficult it is to find talent at the moment.&nbsp;
So which is it? We take a look at whether the &ldquo;great resignation&rdquo; is actually happening, how you can take advantage and how you can prevent it happening in your organisation.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>What is Driving the Great Resignation?</h3>
A recent&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://hr.personio.de/hubfs/EN_Downloads/202104_HRStudy_UKI.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">survey by Personio</a>&nbsp;found that 38% of respondents planned to quit their job in the next six months to a year. This shift is largely due to the pandemic making people question their priorities. Right now, more and more people are setting off to pursue their dream jobs, or are quitting working life altogether to spend more time with their families. In fact, a whopping&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.hrdive.com/news/most-employees-would-grade-their-jobs-a-b-/553087/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50%</a> of employees say that they&rsquo;d sacrifice their salary for a job they enjoyed better. Times truly are a-changing!
<h4>But why now?&nbsp;</h4>
Many people have, up until this point, felt under-valued and unheard &ndash; a key reason for&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/toxic-culture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">toxic work culture</a>&nbsp;and employee stress. And while this feeling isn&rsquo;t anything new, the pandemic has pushed many of those who were already stressed and under pressure over the edge.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Does The Great Resignation Present an Opportunity?</h3>
While &lsquo;The Great Resignation&rsquo; of 2021 may seem like a looming threat to all UK businesses, it may in fact have its own silver lining. Just as what comes up must come down, most of those who leave a workplace will eventually have to return to employment. But does that mean there&rsquo;s a pool of hot talent out there ripe for the taking? Well, yes. The only catch is that they may not want to work with you, or at least with you on a full-time, in-office basis.&nbsp;
Because many workers are now favouring remote or hybrid roles over in-person jobs, this presents companies with, depending on how you look at it, an opportunity or a predicament. On the one hand, there&rsquo;s a lot of hot talent out there willing to work on a remote or contractual basis for businesses. This allows the company in question to save on overheads and potentially employment costs. On the other hand, businesses that aren&rsquo;t willing to adapt to changing times may struggle to source the employees they need in-house, and stall as a result.&nbsp;
And it&rsquo;s not just about the office, either. Many employees have gotten so used to working from home that they realise how much they dislike their workplace in general. Office politics, bullying managers, and a lack of recognition are all factors that can play a role in an employee wanting to leave. So before you go thinking that The Great Resignation presents an opportunity, you need to make sure you&rsquo;re creating a great place to work.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>How Likely Are You to Lose Out?&nbsp;</h3>
This is an employer&rsquo;s biggest fear right now, and rightly so. While there&rsquo;s no way to accurately project how many of your employees will hand in their notice, there&rsquo;s one key indicator &ndash;&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/how-can-employee-feedback-change-your-business" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">employee engagement.</a>&nbsp;
Because The Great Resignation all boils down to employee satisfaction (or dissatisfaction), any business with a&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/what-is-enps" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low eNPS score</a> is at risk of losing a large chunk of their workforce. Employees will simply choose to work somewhere better.
&nbsp;
<h3>How Can You Take Advantage of The Great Resignation?</h3>
There are two ways you can take advantage of The Great Resignation:
<ol>
<li>Hire hot new talent</li>
<li>Give your existing workplace a much-needed shakeup and retain your current talent</li>
</ol>
In either case, it&rsquo;s imperative that your workplace lives up to&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://hbr.org/2021/05/what-your-future-employees-want-most" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the standards that a 2021 employee wants</a> to see. Because although &lsquo;The Great Resignation&rsquo; is an unprecedented event, there&rsquo;s likely been a complete shift in the mindset of the modern worker. This means that things probably won&rsquo;t go back to the way they were. Employees now want their workplaces to tick most of their boxes, and they won&rsquo;t be afraid to leave swiftly if otherwise!&nbsp;
Whether you choose option 1 or 2 from this list, one thing remains constant: great employee satisfaction rates are key to a thriving business in the modern age. Try as you might to hire that hot new talent floating around, if you&rsquo;re refusing to adapt to changing expectations, they&rsquo;ll be gone before you know it.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>How Can You Increase Employee Engagement Rates?&nbsp;</h3>
There&rsquo;s no straightforward answer to this question, because every business is different, with unique strengths and challenges that only the employees can tell you. From micro-managing leaders, to&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/toxic-culture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">toxic workplace cultures</a>&nbsp;and lack of adequate&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/duty-of-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duty of Care</a>, the list of things that can negatively impact how it feels to work in an organisation is significant. But don&rsquo;t let that scare you away from inviting your employees to share feedback. In fact, this is the most important thing you can do to boost employee engagement, and is the first step to creating a better working environment.&nbsp;
Using an anonymous employee engagement tool such as&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Space HR</a>&nbsp;can give you extremely valuable insights into how your workers are feeling. You&rsquo;ll receive honest feedback presented in a quantifiable&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/what-is-enps" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eNPS score</a>, so that you can begin to understand exactly which areas need attention.&nbsp;
While we could talk all day about what you can do to increase employee engagement, here&rsquo;s a non-exhaustive list of the things you&nbsp;shouldn&rsquo;t&nbsp;do:&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>What NOT to Do:</h3>
DO NOT Throw More Salary at the Situation
We hear the phrase &lsquo;money can&rsquo;t buy happiness&rsquo; probably a lot more than we&rsquo;d like, but there&rsquo;s an awful lot of truth within it. If you&rsquo;re&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/how-stress-impacts-on-creativity-in-the-workplace" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">overworking your employee</a>, or not giving enough back, you might assume that &lsquo;overpaying&rsquo; them will balance everything out, but&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/the-impact-of-salary-on-employee-engagement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher salary doesn&rsquo;t positively correlate with higher employee satisfaction rates.</a>&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s because an &lsquo;overworked&rsquo; employee is likely to be&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/how-stress-impacts-on-creativity-in-the-workplace" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feeling stressed</a>&nbsp;out with deadlines, undervalued for their hard work, or simply in need of a better work-life balance. That&rsquo;s what being &lsquo;overworked&rsquo; really means. Anyway, the best way to cure an overworked employee is to get to the bottom of&nbsp;why&nbsp;they&rsquo;re feeling overworked i.e. employee feedback.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
DO NOT Focus On New Things You Can Introduce, Rather Than Fixing Existing Problems
Another common conclusion that business owners jump to in order to solve low workplace engagement is to spend additional money and budget on treats and rewards. And while this sort of thing might just boost employee engagement rates in an already happy workplace, it&rsquo;s not a cure for most common causes of employee discontent.&nbsp;
Bad leadership is one of the most common issues that lead workers to resign, accounting for at least&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">70% of variance in employee engagement scores</a>. This is why it&rsquo;s imperative to&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/want-to-become-a-fantastic-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">train your managers to be great leaders</a>, rather than focusing on a superficial or aesthetic area of your business. Again, anonymous feedback really is the only way of accessing the insights you need to make positive changes within your management team.
&nbsp;
DO NOT Take For Granted The Team You Already Have&nbsp;
You need to be especially sure that you are doing enough to make your existing team stay. Things like having great recognition schemes in place, long term career paths and that all important focus on wellbeing will all ensure that when opportunity calls, your team don&rsquo;t answer.&nbsp;
If you aren&rsquo;t sure if you have people thinking of leaving, that&rsquo;s when an engagement survey can help once again. Low engagement in particular teams might be a good indication that you need to pay more attention and tackle issues before they turn into resignations.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Summary</h3>
The Great Resignation poses a major threat to businesses who for years have allowed issues to lay under the radar. Now they face an &lsquo;adapt or die&rsquo; situation, which will force them to change their workforce for the better by actually listening to how their employees feel.&nbsp;
Whether you&rsquo;re confident that your employees will stay, or you fear a pile-up of resignation letters on your desk, now is the time to act. Find out how your employees are feeling, make the changes you need to encourage them to stay, and attract hot new talent with your newly improved workplace.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Get in touch with us</a>&nbsp;to see how we can help you take full advantage of The Great Resignation.&nbsp;

Is It Really Happening? How Can You Protect Your Organisation?

The Great Resignation

Brewdog. The artisan beer that grew into a global brewery and bar chain. The success story of scale and investment. The &lsquo;Punk&rsquo; brand that defied tradition with a &lsquo;growth at all costs&rsquo; mentality.
But what will June 10th 2021 mean for Brewdog? Yesterday&rsquo;s open letter from 50 staff about the &lsquo;culture of fear&rsquo; in the business has cast huge doubt over the brand, the culture and the leadership.
But if you were diligent enough to cut through the social media hype you could see the warning signs were there for a long time at Brewdog. Articles such as&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/24/the-aggressive-outrageous-infuriating-and-ingenious-rise-of-brewdog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this</a> from 2016, which describes their entire brand as marketing spin.
Or maybe the 3.1 out of 5 score on Glassdoor - with only a 50% approval rating of the CEO. An eye catching&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/BrewDog-Reviews-E1014146.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">review&nbsp;</a>headed "soulless, self righteous liars".&nbsp;
From the outside looking in, I can see how they might have got here. You start up a cool brand, position yourself as &lsquo;disruptors&rsquo; in the marketplace and wage war on those that challenge your vision and creative thinking.
You're loving the attention, it's working! Great, let's do some attention catching stunts. Sorry employees if this makes you feel uncomfortable, we're the cool kids, you just mustn't be cool enough. &lsquo;It&rsquo;s not us, it&rsquo;s you&rsquo;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Then a rumour spins that legal letters were sent out to those who challenged their actions. You fight dirty. &lsquo;Either back us, or you're out&rsquo;.
Your revenue is still growing, so let's recruit some more people. They join and get the gist pretty quickly &lsquo;it's FIFO round here&rsquo; (Fit in, or F off). Any feedback you give will be ignored now, it&rsquo;s gone too far. Sadly, this will also be the case for new ideas, creativity and innovation - if the cool kids didn&rsquo;t think of it, it&rsquo;s unlikely to be a winner.&nbsp;
I suspect the internal feedback will have been there. The signs that things weren't right. Maybe at one time, it was there to see in the employee engagement surveys. But maybe nothing happened with any of the feedback anyone gave. So people stopped bothering. The feedback dried up, maybe the response rates dropped too.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
The evolution is complete. You're a fully paid up fear culture. You've surrounded yourself with people who like to say yes, or who are too scared to say no. The great thing now is, they&rsquo;ll do the gate keeping on the feedback for you. Those closest to you will be too worried about their jobs to say anything. So as a leader, you now don&rsquo;t even need to worry about the feedback, you have probably stopped hearing it - but it isn&rsquo;t because you&rsquo;ve created an awesome culture. It&rsquo;s quite the opposite.&nbsp;
Before you know it, your talent pool has dried up and you&rsquo;re moaning about skills shortages. You&rsquo;re wondering why no one in your business has any good ideas other than you. Wondering why your inbox is full of people asking for your approval on things.&nbsp;
If you let it get really bad, some ex-employees will take the time to collaborate and make a website on just how bad things are. You&rsquo;ll make the&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57428258" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">news</a> and be the talk of social media.&nbsp;
Maybe now your IPO isn&rsquo;t looking quite as rosey. Your subscriptions, monthly recurring revenue in the bag, have dropped and people have started to question the quality of your products. Maybe it all starts to unravel&hellip;.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>So what next?</h3>
What is unravelling right now for Brewdog is more than a PR disaster. Your people are a critical part of your brand and when they turn on you, it clearly demonstrates that your vision and values don&rsquo;t run as deeply through your business as you might have thought.&nbsp;
Building an amazing company culture is incredibly difficult, but it is completely achievable. If you do the work, put the correct processes in place early and take it seriously.&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s a few things to think about;
1. Care about your people more than your brand -&nbsp;Products don&rsquo;t just magically appear. Behind every product is a team of real people with real ideas, real passion and real situations. They made your brand. They are your army of brand ambassadors and they can make or break it. It pays to care about your team more than your branding.&nbsp;
2. Get ready to listen -&nbsp;If you need to engage a coach, or a counsellor - someone who can help you see some clarity - do it. You have a lot of personal work to do first before you can go and change a whole culture.&nbsp;
3. Actively listen - What is your engagement survey telling you? What is your exit interview telling you? What feedback have the team given you directly that you&rsquo;ve ignored? You need to dig deep on this stuff. You need to get personal. You need to be courageous in asking for this feedback.&nbsp;
4. Be prepared for this to take time - if you&rsquo;ve asked for feedback and shown you&rsquo;ve listened, maybe next time you ask, the feedback will be a bit braver, go a bit deeper. Now we&rsquo;re really getting to the heart of things - we&rsquo;re really getting to the heart of what is impacting on the engagement of your team and what&rsquo;s really going on.&nbsp;
5. Consider who in your immediate circle, you haven&rsquo;t disagreed with for a while. We all disagree and share different opinions as part of growing and being creative. If there are people you haven&rsquo;t done this with in a while, these might be your &ldquo;yes&rdquo; people.&nbsp;
6. Trust your team - in fear cultures, trust vanishes. Be bold, extend the trust back out. Ask your immediate team for feedback, show them you trust them to be honest and that there will be no repercussions for their honesty.&nbsp;
7. Make commitments and then go and get them done - if you are truly listening, then there will be things you now want to change. Make commitments to the wider team, tell them what you intend to fix. Don&rsquo;t make another stunt out of it. Then go and get it done.&nbsp;
This next point is REALLY important - if you make commitments and then don&rsquo;t deliver, this is going to get SO much worse for you.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Transformation can be achieved. You can turn it around, but you have to listen.&nbsp;</h3>
If you haven&rsquo;t already got an anonymous employee engagement survey in place, get one quickly. In advance, make the commitment that you are going to take action, no matter what the feedback is and how uncomfortable.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
If you want help to turn around your culture, check that you&rsquo;re not leading with fear or just want to avoid getting anywhere close to it - Ten Space can help. <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="http://www.tenspace.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.tenspace.co.uk</a>.&nbsp;

The Dangers Of Ignoring Feedback

The book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" had such a huge influence on me. I got introduced to it at a point in my career where I really needed it. It brought me so much clarity and renewed energy in my career and leadership style and it's continued to shape so much of my thinking from that point on.
I revisit it often, I think I'm up to 3 copies of it now! I'll often share parts of it when I'm mentoring or coaching, directing people to read parts of the book, or watch videos and lectures online.
The original version was published in 1989. But don't let that put you off, the key messages are as relevant today as they ever have been.
The book is about personal effectiveness. But it's hard to separate that from great leadership. From there, it's then hard to separate that from leading in an engaging way. I've found that the lessons that I learned in that book have naturally migrated into my work on employee engagement.
So having taken it down from my shelf to have a look through for the 1001 time, I thought I'd share just a little of what I see in the book about employee engagement. There is way too much to include in one blog, so I've gone killer content only!
I give you...&nbsp;The 7 Habits of Highly Engaging Leaders!
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit One - Be proactive</h3>
Let's start with the habit of making and keeping commitments.. So much of engagement is wrapped up in the trust and confidence employees hold about their leaders. Employees join a business and leave a manager and I've seen that playing out time and time again in my career.
This habit is just doing what you say you are going to do - every. single. time.
Are you about to change your mind, pivot or let someone down? It happens. Be proactive about telling them. Protect the trust they have in you - it'll protect their engagement too.
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Two - Begin with the end in mind</h3>
I did a 3 day course on the 7 Habits, I remember sitting in a training room and them playing a video. The video asks you to imagine yourself on your 80th birthday and what you'd like people to say about you, how you lived your life, the kind of person you were. I found myself crying!
If you're interested, you can check out the video here - tissues at the ready! (OK, maybe it's just me!).
<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" href="https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits__trashed/habit-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits__trashed/habit-2/</a>
At Ten Space, we talk about the impact of being an inspirational leader. Someone who brings out the best in their team. Who draws the outlines and lets their teams colour in the picture how they want.
I'm not sure "be inspirational" is a particularly helpful piece of advice for me to give out as a habit! But I'd encourage you to consider if you are a consistent leader, are you true to your values and do your team see the best of you? We can really see great habits on this topic play out in engagement scores and feedback.
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Three - Put first things first</h3>
Quadrant planning was a game changer for me. It made me realise that my measure of success to others wasn't on how many emails I'd sent (their urgent) - it was on the pro-active value I add (my important). It was the moment that made me get out of my inbox and start creating strategies and delivering great change instead!
I see "inbox dwelling" happening all the time in the written feedback we get from our surveys. It's the pleas for more one-to-ones, more career management, more time spent on proactive communication.
Building team engagement is about doing more than fixing issues as they come up. that's the basics. Building engagement is about doing the things that are not urgent, but are important to that employee.
So don't make a habit of cancelling one-to-ones. They might not matter to you, but they do to your employees.
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Four - Think win/win</h3>
This habit is about a mentality of abundance. "There is enough to go round". "For me to win, that doesn't mean someone else has to lose".
So how does this play out into engagement? For me, this habit is about teams. It's about great habits of collaboration, of valuing everyone's contributions. Of recognition that stretches across the entire team. Of not playing favourites with team members. I come to realise how damaging the concept of "Top Talent" is on employee engagement - but I'll save that for another blog!
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Five - Seek first to understand, then to be understood</h3>
There's another great video for this!&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 233); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits__trashed/habit-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits__trashed/habit-5/</a>
The habit we're trying to create here is listening to your team. Like really listening! It&rsquo;s one of the things I'm so passionate about with our employee survey platform. The anonymity of it allows you to surface feedback that employees might not share in another way. Once you know what's happening, you can take action. Once you've taken action, you've delivered on a promise. You've built trust and you've built engagement. Hurrah!
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Six - Synergise</h3>
The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. The habit here is about being mindfully inclusive. Of recognising the contribution that all of your team can make and bringing out the best in them.
It's about operating in a really inclusive way, that allows your team to really shine. The habit of putting your ego on hold!
&nbsp;
<h3>Habit Seven - Sharpen the saw</h3>
Last but not least, &lsquo;sharpen the saw&rsquo; is creating a habit of wellbeing and self-investment. There is no end of content about this online already, this again isn't the place for my thoughts on creating great personal wellbeing habits (but I'm happy to share them if you want to DM me!).
The habit here, which really builds engagement, is about leading by example when it comes to sharpening the saw. Your team seeing you investing in your personal development, or creating healthy work boundaries is a powerful example of what your values are as a leader. Wellbeing of the team is key to engagement, but it can get lost in translation if your words and music don't match!
&nbsp;
Franklin Covey, if you're reading this and need my bank details for a commission payment, give me a shout! Does that count as a win-win?! 🙂

7 great habits to engage your team and lead with success

The 7 Habits of Highly Engaging Leaders

Engagement in the workplace has often been thought of as a top-down approach. Leaders need to motivate their team to be more engaged in their roles and achieve the company goal.&nbsp;
This is true. But what can you, as a team member, do to increase your own engagement?
<a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">52% of employees</a>&nbsp;reported not being engaged at work. 12% were "actively disengaged" to the point of misery.&nbsp;<a href="https://insync.com.au/insights/impact-of-employee-engagement-on-profitability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research</a> shows that teams can do great things when they engage. So, what if we worked from a bottom-up approach? Engaged employees would be drawn to learn how to take responsibility for their own path. To find new and more productive ways to ask for the things they need at work.&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s some things to keep in mind when looking to increase your own engagement:
&nbsp;
<h4>Wellbeing - Do you have a physically &amp; psychologically safe workplace?</h4>
<a href="https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google</a> has found that the highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychologically safe workplaces. Psychologically safe workplaces promote healthier, more productive and more inclusive workforces. They also provide the environment in which innovation can thrive and people can perform at their best.
Are you surrounding yourself with people who will encourage you to do better? To work hard and think smart? Are you taking the steps to create a community of people you trust in work?&nbsp;
In the case of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3979855" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ethnic and cultural diversity</a>, research shows that inclusive teams perform up to 30% better in high-diversity environments. Create a diverse environment. You will be able to listen to the opinions / views of people from different backgrounds.
Are you taking the time to look after your mental health? Burnout is more common than you might think.&nbsp;<a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/07/brits-are-more-exhausted-than-ever-a-third-on-the-brink-of-burnout-16421027/#:~:text=As%20work%20and%20social%20lives,olds%20bearing%20the%20biggest%20brunt." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Over a third (36%)</a> of Brits have said they think they might be headed for burnout. 53% believe the start of 2022 has left them feeling more tired than previous years.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s easy to get lost in the work. To ensure you can be fully engaged in the workplace, you need to make the effort to look after your mental health. Here are a few tips for preventing burnout:
<ul>
<li>Take control -&nbsp;You can avoid or overcome burnout by finding ways to create more autonomy in your role. Talk with your boss to see if they're willing to let you have more control over your tasks, projects, or deadlines.</li>
<li>Learn to manage stress -&nbsp;There are several strategies that you can use to cope with stress. You could keep a stress diary to document what routinely causes you stress. Practise deep breathing, meditation, and other relaxation techniques. This can help you calm down when you're experiencing stress.</li>
<li>&ldquo;Give&rdquo; to others -&nbsp;One quick and easy way to add meaning to your career is to give to others, or to help them in small ways. When you do this, it makes you feel good. Even the smallest act of kindness can re-energize you and help you find meaning in your work.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4>Fulfilment - Do you enjoy the challenge of your role and feel proud of the work you do?</h4>
Finding meaningful and fulfilling employment has become one of life&rsquo;s greatest pursuits. Those who find it tend to lead happier lives and are more committed to their jobs.
Fulfilment can mean many things. But at its heart, it&rsquo;s about connecting work to a sense of meaning and purpose. Most often it&rsquo;s small, such as building connections with people, having fun, or being challenged.
What steps are you taking to enhance your professional development?&nbsp;
According to&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.clearcompany.com/5-surprising-employee-development-statistics-you-dont-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">research</a>, 74% of employees say that a lack of professional development is preventing them from reaching their full potential. Invest in your own development. It allows you to enhance skills and gain opportunities to move up that career ladder. Here are a few ways that you can take charge of your professional development:
<ul>
<li>Enrol in an online course -&nbsp;Online courses are a simple way of increasing your knowledge of your chosen field. Most online courses are offered on a flexible basis, allowing you to work your continuing education into your busy life. There&rsquo;s nearly an endless array of resources online.</li>
<li>Expand your scope -&nbsp;Instead of waiting for your boss to challenge you to grow, ask him or her for a new challenge. Take on a project outside your standard load. Think aspirationally. Grab every resource you can. Do whatever you have to do to learn and grow into your expanded role.</li>
<li>Find a mentor -&nbsp;Find someone you admire, either in your organisation or outside of it. Choose a leader who embodies the professional qualities you hold dear. With the help of a mentor, you'll learn more than you ever could by simply reading a book or taking a course.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4>Leadership - Do you feel inspired by your leader?</h4>
<a href="https://blog.clearcompany.com/5-surprising-employee-development-statistics-you-dont-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">38% of employees</a> don&rsquo;t feel their manager knows them well enough to understand their full potential. This lack of understanding goes far beyond leadership and management. It can have a huge impact on productivity and engagement.
When we speak about leadership, it&rsquo;s not unusual to discuss the role of a leader in supporting others. But how often do we think about how we can support our leaders? Success comes from partnership, collaboration and cooperation. Why should support be a one-way street? Maybe it&rsquo;s time to start thinking about how you can support your boss, your manager, or your leader.
Do they know what inspires you? It&rsquo;s a leader&rsquo;s role to inspire their team but often this can lead to a guessing game or a &lsquo;one type fits all&rsquo; scenario. Is there a certain skill you have that&rsquo;s useful for the team? Do you learn a certain way or take inspiration from different strategies? Be sure to speak up. It not only helps your leader, but you as well. It can be the difference between a fulfilling and an unfulfilling role.
Here are a few other ways you can help your leader:
<ul>
<li>Offer solutions -&nbsp;When things break down, focus on solutions instead of problems. Help brainstorm ideas and analyse available options. Find out what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.</li>
<li>Keep them in the loop -&nbsp;Whatever your leader&rsquo;s style of communication, it&rsquo;s always best to establish and maintain an open line. Keep them involved and informed to protect them from being blindsided. Summarise complex issues and your leader will thank you.</li>
<li>Take initiative -&nbsp;There are always numerous ways of going above and beyond at work. Look for challenges that stretch you and increase your skill set. Try to anticipate what your leader might require or request and prepare it in advance.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4>Connection - Do you feel connected to the organisation?</h4>
We asked our research panel which factors they thought had the highest impact when it came to the engagement of high performing teams.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/space-hr-feedback-500-jan22---topic-high-performing-teams" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">32% said connection</a> &amp; the communication of goals, vision, mission and values was the most important factor.
Having the same values doesn&rsquo;t always mean having the same personalities or attitudes. It helps in building great working relationships. These people carry the same goals, intentions, and passion.
Do you know what the values / goals of your organisation are? If not, where can you find them? When increasing your fulfilment, take into consideration if it is a company you want to work for.&nbsp;
Now that you've established you share the same values as the company, think about how you will demonstrate those values in a day-to-day style. While your company sets the house rules and office policies, you set your own strategy according to your priorities and own values. It&rsquo;s how you get the job done.
Here are a few things to put into practice that will help align your values:
<ul>
<li>Start a conversation -&nbsp;The company's values are no secret, so put them out into the open. Talk with your leader and your team members about the values. Discuss how you connect with them and what you think needs changing.</li>
<li>Tie personal goals into professional goals -&nbsp;Take a look into how your goals can be accomplished within the framework of your company. Take advantage of coaching sessions, 1-2-1&rsquo;s and team meetings to understand the connections between your goals and those of the company.</li>
<li>Create an action plan -&nbsp;Think about how you can exercise your core values in a constructive way. Is there a position / department in the organisation where your core value alignment would be an even stronger asset?</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
By focusing on these 4 pillars of engagement, your productivity will increase. Your personal and professional achievements will also be easier to obtain. Overall this is likely to lead to an increase in your personal happiness.&nbsp;
One way to let your leader know how you feel is through regular feedback. 1-2-1 meetings are amazing for creating personal action plans and career development strategies. Another great feedback method is through engagement surveys, you can provide honest, reliable feedback which allows your leader to work closely on the problems affecting your engagement. We&rsquo;d always encourage you take part in feedback surveys, to ensure that you can share your voice and ideas with your leaders - don&rsquo;t miss out on a great opportunity!&nbsp;
To learn more about engagement in the workplace, check out our blog on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/whats-the-link-between-engagement-and-performance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the link between engagement and performance</a>.
&nbsp;
To see how we can help you stay engaged, check out our website:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.spacehr.co.uk</a>.

What can you do to increase your own engagement? Here are some of our tips & tricks...

Taking charge of your own engagement

It's fair to say that the 2020 hasn't been the year that most people expected. Covid 19 has turned people's work and personal lives upside down.
Entire industries have been decimated, hundreds of thousands of people have been made redundant and many more jobs are being propped up by the furlough schemes.
It's not all bad news though. Many industries are thriving and many new companies have emerged, started by determined entrepreneurs backed into the corner but ready to come out fighting.
From a social perspective, one of the most significant shifts is the amount of people now working from home.
The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/coronavirusandhomeworkingintheuk/april2020">Office for National Statistics</a> recently published the following;
<ul>
<li>In April 2020,&nbsp;46.6%&nbsp;of people in employment did some work at home.</li>
<li>Of those who did some work from home,&nbsp;86.0%&nbsp;did so as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.</li>
<li>Of those who did some work from home, around one-third worked fewer hours than usual (34.4%), and around one-third worked more hours than usual (30.3%).</li>
<li>Women were slightly more likely to do some work at home than men,&nbsp;47.5%&nbsp;and&nbsp;45.7%&nbsp;respectively.</li>
<li>People aged 16 to 24 years were less likely to do some work from home than those in older age groups.</li>
<li>Occupations requiring higher qualifications and more experience were more likely to provide home-working opportunities than elementary and manual occupations.</li>
</ul>
These figures make pretty interesting reading. To see that&nbsp;86%&nbsp;of people working from home were doing so because of COVID -19 shows what a huge impact this pandemic has had on working society. We don't know if or when society might return to normal or even what normal is anymore.
&nbsp;
12 months ago I'd regularly get a train to London from Manchester for meetings, but now this doesn't seem so necessary. What else will change?
The thoughts of business leaders towards home working have shifted significantly too. I repeatedly hear things like;
"we no longer require an office if our people can work remotely"
"we can work more flexibly, with jobs being part home, part office based"
"we find our teams are getting a better work life balance at home"
"we've found that our people are just as productive working from home as they were from the office"
These statements might be true, or just the opinions of the most vocal. But are these leaders really talking to their employees to measure how they're feeling?
&nbsp;
The Ten Space engagement model has 4 pillars for engagement - Connection, Fulfilment, Leadership and Wellbeing.
In brief, we examine;
<ul>
<li>Connection -&nbsp;Do employees have a voice, feel informed, buy into your mission?</li>
<li>Fulfilment -&nbsp;Do employees feel proud to work for you, get rewarded and feel challenged?</li>
<li>Leadership -&nbsp;Are you bringing out the best in your teams and helping them to thrive?</li>
<li>Wellbeing -&nbsp;Do employees feel safe, secure, and supported, both emotionally and physically?</li>
</ul>
For some employees, working from home can have an extremely negative impact across all 4 pillars. They might lose their connection with the business because they don't have the exposure to the leaders like they did before. They my feel less fulfilled with their work and disengaged with the leadership team which could affect productivity.
Finally they might start to feel less safe and secure in their role and start to welcome conversations about other opportunities.
&nbsp;
If you let your people work from home its vital that you put the correct framework in place to make sure they remain engaged. Working from home is solitary by nature so its really easy for people to become disengaged, unhappy and unproductive. Business leaders need to work harder and find new, more innovative ways to engage with their employees.
Our top tips for keeping your employees engaged when working from home are;
<ul>
<li>Get really clear on what success looks like, set great goals, objectives, outcomes and timeframes and let your team get on with it.</li>
<li>Create time in your day / week to connect with your team. On a one to one basis, this is a great opportunity to check in on wellbeing, address any personal concerns they have, offer them support and continue any career conversation you've been having</li>
<li>On a team basis, it's an opportunity to keep the collaboration and team working vibe going and to provide them with updates on business performance and any changes that they may need to know</li>
<li>Don't forget about recognition, a little can go a long way. Recognising the heroics, the sacrifices or even just the reliability and consistency will be really valued by teams who are being challenged</li>
<li>Role model great behaviour for working from home and setting a balance; e.g. set your own working hours and stick to them - this will signal to your team you don't expect them to always be "on"</li>
<li>Keep embracing their families and their personal lives, their cats, their dogs, their goldfish and their kids. This personal connection is what great working relationships are made of and will really help to keep engagement high</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
For help and support with your employee engagement strategy, contact Victoria Bond at Ten Space - victoria@tenspace.co.uk

Maintaining engagement from the home office

Remote working in the covid era

Who are the people that influence you the most in the workplace? Who are the teams or the roles that you understand the most about?&nbsp;
They are likely to be those that you spend the most time with. Whether that&rsquo;s in person or via tech, it&rsquo;s likely that you feel most connected to the people you interact with the most.&nbsp;
This is the crux of the challenge with remote and hybrid working.&nbsp;
We can often fool ourselves that we understand what is happening in teams across the whole organisation, but we&rsquo;ve only actually listened fully to those closest to us.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Franklin Covey has a model called &ldquo;The Circles of Control, Influence and Concern&rdquo; - we can apply this to the workplace in a different way to help us demonstrate this point.&nbsp;
It shows us that those who are physically and metaphorically further away from us have the least influence on us. We may still be concerned about them, but it&rsquo;s likely that we understand the least about their day-to-day experiences.&nbsp;
If we don&rsquo;t understand their experiences, how can we know how engaged they are in the workplace?
&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s the model in action:<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fQSKnx5BNvFgmwc3caBnvgW3NEZrcbsKmOcauCW0NEWOYPgrxpsv0iFK2KB3_ZdE8KDkIAuzAy9gClfylqRe45YiBlCITtdVkxLgftawnKqPYyJlhiazuBmw4PfqU7tQuLMmauqiJPrLNwb9_8ns5rZx6t_6EnXGCLWMeZ5nzB0_OXvgflCkILU7tRHacQ" width="497" height="495">
&nbsp;
This presents a challenge when it comes to employee engagement and the experiences of remote and hybrid workers. How do we ensure that we understand their engagement and experience, so that we can enhance it?&nbsp;
How do we make them feel close to the organisation and engaged in our journey, without physical closeness?&nbsp;
The reality is that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/engaging-frontline-staff/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1/3 of frontline workers</a>&nbsp;feel disconnected from their colleagues in HQ and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/engaging-frontline-staff/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">4 in 10 employees</a> feel their management is out of touch.&nbsp;
These ways of working may cause physical barriers to engagement. We need to work extra hard with these teams to overcome the barriers.
&nbsp;
<h3>Unifying Your Teams</h3>
This is where technology and anonymous employee feedback surveys can play a role. Using a survey that is accessible to all can provide a key part of a layered feedback strategy. It creates a clear employee voice for remote and hybrid teams.&nbsp;
When developing your survey, tell your team that you value their input and that you are asking about the things that would be most helpful to them.&nbsp;
Running regular surveys, with targeted questions, means that you will have a consistent flow of insight and feedback from those that you are least likely to see. All employees can share their voice in the organisation no matter how or where they work.&nbsp;
For bonus points, you can really target the remote and hybrid employee experience.&nbsp;
Focus on what it means to work in this way in your organisation. A recent study proved a&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2022/03/research-how-employee-experience-impacts-your-bottom-line?registration=success" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">150% ROI</a> on additional investment in employee experience - so the numbers stack up.
We use email, SMS &amp; WhatsApp in our surveys. This makes them accessible to remote &amp; hybrid working teams, not just those on email - who are most likely to be in your circle of influence.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
We'd love to talk with you about how we might help if some of this applies to your current remote or hybrid model of operation or if you are switching to a new method of working.

The Circles of Control, Influence & Concern

Remote & Hybrid Working - Bridging the gap

#lockdown2uk will undoubtedly impact employee engagement and wellbeing. A hard lockdown followed by a long period of home-working has hurt many businesses.
So as we head into a second lockdown how can you make sure your team remains connected, fulfilled and inspired to uphold the mission and values of your business?
Here's our top tips to set you and your team up for success...
&nbsp;
<h4>1.Learn from last time</h4>
This time round, we&rsquo;re more prepared. Speak to your leaders, reflect what worked and what didn't work and prepare you plan accordingly.
&nbsp;
<h4>2. Address concerns early</h4>
Make it clear how you will be responding to lockdown. Communicate what it means to your business and the impact it may have. Sometimes, saying&nbsp;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know right now&rdquo; is an opportunity to demonstrate transparency and build trust.
&nbsp;
<h4>3. Connect and listen</h4>
Informally speak to your team and find out what they are worried about regarding a second lockdown. Is there anything you can solve before it becomes a problem? Is there advice you can give, or signpost them towards?&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>4. Address work-life balance</h4>
What responsibilities and life admin do your team have? Can you accommodate it? Can you make things easier to relieve some of the pressure and acknowledge their life outside of work?&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>5. Check your tech&nbsp;</h4>
Have you and your team got what you need to be a productive remote team? Can&nbsp;everyone remember their log ins?! Is everyone&rsquo;s equipment still fit for purpose. Not having the basics can be really frustrating and disengaging.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>6. Set personal boundaries</h4>
What hours will you work? Can people contact you always? Will you not take calls after a certain time? Set a great example for&nbsp;your team and role model good practice so your team can follow suit.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>7. Connecting as a team</h4>
Agree how and when you&rsquo;ll come together as a team - agree on what you&rsquo;ll use the time for&nbsp;so that it is focused and productive -&nbsp;get the dates and times in diaries in&nbsp;advance&nbsp;and demonstrate how important it is to you.
&nbsp;
<h4>8. Goal setting</h4>
Set short term goals, ensure you and the team are focused on what&nbsp;you need to deliver over the coming weeks - set some clear deliverables and deadlines if you need to, to keep everyone on track and engaged.
&nbsp;
<h4>9. One-to-ones</h4>
Plan one to ones and team updates in your diary, make them non-movables, these are important times to check in on the wellbeing and engagement of your team, don&rsquo;t let them slip - put them in your diary now!&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>10. Wellbeing warnings</h4>
Refresh your memory on wellbeing in the workplace, so that you have resources to draw on if you see any of your team struggling.
<a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/4662/resource3_howtopromotewellbeingfinal.pdf">This is a good resource.</a>
Of course, these are all things you really should be doing anyway, so why not use #lockdown2uk as an excuse to put a better Employee Engagement framework in place. The benefits will be felt far beyond #lockdown2uk as productivity and performance increases and your retention of great people guarantees an outstanding company culture.
&nbsp;
For help and support with your employee engagement strategy, contact Victoria Bond at Ten Space - victoria@tenspace.co.uk

Remain engaged in lockdown2uk 

How BEAM Fieldwork increased their survey completion rate to 94% by creating action plans using feedback  gathered by Ten Space

Case Study

Following a successful HR career, Victoria saw the opportunity to build a pragmatic product for HR teams to fall in love with. Her mission to ‘create incredible workplaces through highly engaged teams’, is underpinned by the technology and service delivered by the Ten Space team. 

CEO / Founder

Ten Space is a team of experts in employee engagement, experience and technology. Our powerful survey platform and service helps HR teams build winning businesses.

<div>Right from the start our goal was always very clear. We wanted to help businesses be the best versions of themselves.So we combined technology, support and resources for HR professionals and business leaders to gain incredible insight.We’ve built a product that’s really easy to build into your current framework and delivers feedback from day one.</div>

Our platform is designed to help you understand the real problems in your business - fast!

Insightful articles, hints &amp; tips and company news

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Employee engagement is crucial for accountancy firms as it directly impacts productivity, client satisfaction and firm reputation. Engaged employees are more likely to go the extra mile to understand client needs, provide tailored solutions and build long-term relationships. High levels of engagement reduce turnover rates, saving recruitment costs and preserving institutional knowledge.
                

Measure employee engagement in accountancy firms through regular surveys assessing factors like job satisfaction, work-life balance and alignment with firm values. Include questions on communication effectiveness, career development opportunities and recognition. Analyse survey results to identify areas for improvement and gauge overall engagement levels.

 A great employee engagement platform will give you the data, insight and feedback you need to enact real change in your organisation. Using a third-party platform adds an extra layer of trust. By segmenting the data from engagement surveys, you can uncover valuable insights specific to different employee groups. You can find where your problems are coming from and create targeted actions.

How it works

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">What is Employee Engagement?</h3>To put it in its simplest form: Employee engagement is the level of commitment, enthusiasm and dedication employees have towards their work and the organisation. Enhanced employee engagement reveals itself in employees reaching their full potential and delivering exceptional performance at work.</div>

Measuring employee engagement in your legal firm can be achieved through regular employee surveys. This first step is critical in gathering data that will help you make decisions. Ideally you should be surveying your business every month so you can quickly observe any drops in engagement and affect a plan quickly to resolve issues. Regular surveys provide the data you need to build a strategic engagement plan based on real information, not gut feeling.


Using an ‘engagement specific’ survey platform will help you gather data faster, more securely and more accurately. The right platform will also make it easier for people to submit their responses in a way that’s easy for them. You’ll be able to compare results over time to analyse trends. By segmenting the data from engagement surveys, you can uncover valuable insights specific to different employee groups. You can find where your problems are coming from and create targeted actions.

Once you’ve done your first survey, things will become instantly clearer. You’ll start to see the hotpots in your company by a variety of segmentation criteria such as team, location, gender, role and tenure. Open-ended feedback will often help provide a solution to the challenges you’re seeing. We’re always amazed how much insight a first survey provides to our customers from a high level right into the detail. Measuring consistent data-points over time will help gain a deep understanding of how to build your strategic plan.


Build your employee engagement strategy

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">High engagement means higher performance</h3>Employee engagement is a critical activity for professional services firms. Retaining your high performing people will help you build a high performing legal practice. 

But if you don’t have a way to measure engagement and understand when engagement is dropping, you run the risk of losing your top performers and a potential domino effect of top talent.</div>

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learn more about employee experience &amp; retention

An easy-to-use platform to helps you capture employee feedback simply, safely and securely.

Survey using Email, WhatsApp and SMS. Easily reach your deskless mobile and remote workers with surveys so everyone can share their ideas and feedback.

Reporting that delivers instant actionable insights, whilst offering rich detailed analysis.

The insights you need to prioritise, make decisions and track your impact. The data you need to help your team thrive.

<h5 class="heading mt-4 aos-init" data-aos="fade-down" data-aos-delay="40"> Take employee feedback to the next level</h5>If you're already gathering employee feedback but want to do more, we can show you how.

<div>The Ten Space survey platform does the hard work for you, reducing months of data collection and analysis into minutes.</div>

<div>Our survey platform delivers feedback surveys to gather responses back quickly for super-quick analysis and faster action.</div>

<div>Employee surveys, that allow you, your HR team and your leaders to focus on what they do best - building engagement and creating change.</div>

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Choose the plan that suits you

<ul><li>Access for up to 250 team members</li><li>Bi-monthly engagement surveys</li><li>Industry specific questions</li><li>Real-time results and analytics</li><li>Result segmentation, tracking &amp; comparisons</li><li>Suggested actions from experts</li><li><a href="/employee-engagement-model/">The Ten Space employee engagement model</a></li></ul>

<div class="text-center"><a>Find out more about advantage</a></div>

Fast and powerful engagement surveys

advantage

<ul><li>For all sizes of organisation</li><li>Advanced AI analytics</li><li>Build your own surveys</li><li>Distribution via email, WhatsApp &amp; SMS</li><li>Customisable data segmentation</li><li>Targeted surveys based on segmentation</li><li>Customised dashboards</li><li>Track key parts of the employee journey</li><li>Permissions based reports</li><li>Dedicated engagement managers to help you get the best results</li></ul>

For larger teams with dedicated requirements

enterprise

Build question sets unique to your business to get to the heart of the problem.

Set surveys to deliver when you want, to whoever you want, where you want.

Your business is comprised of lots of different teams that work in different ways.

Our platform is customisable to fit the needs of every part of your organisation.

Backed by artificial intelligence, our real-time dashboards give you the data you need to make informed decisions and take action quickly.

Simple, clear, easy to understand dashboards for faster desicion making.

Tag and segment data easily to identify areas of concern.

Get ahead by viewing results as they come in.

Confidently identify hidden meanings and discover trends.

Agile businesses need a flexible and inclusive approach.Ten Space gathers employee feedback via Whatsapp, SMS &amp; Email surveys so your people can respond on their terms.This leads to higher participation and a more inclusive experience, capturing the data from all your people, easily.

The Ten Space survey platform provides a data-driven approach for HR professionals to easily design, gather and analyse high-quality feedback. 

Listen to HR Director's Cut - insight into your dilemmas, conundrums and questions

Engage your team to deliver the future of your business today. From only £3 per employee per month. Whether you're starting your employee engagement journey or taking your people strategy to the next level, we can help.

Capture and utilise diversity data to enhance your culture. Capture diversity data in an efficient and safe way. Explore diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in your organisation. Ten Space supports your DEIB strategy. We can help you capture diversity data from your team in an efficent way to enhance your people data.

Elevate engagement. Retain talent. Supercharge performance. An engaged workforce helps businesses achieve so much more. The Ten Space survey platform captures the insights you need to understand employee engagement &amp; culture across your organisation. Take action &amp; drive change.

Create exceptional employee experiences. Optimise engagement. Supercharge your EVP. Let us take you on a journey.... Explore the experiences of your employees. Ten Space can help you to explore the journeys your employees take as they join your organisation, all the way through to when they leave.

Accelerate the performance of your teams to drive business performance. Explore what is driving, or holding back, your teams from delivering high-performance. We can help you explore high-performance in your organisation. Using our performance-focused surveys, we can help you uncover what is holding a team back from achieving their full potential.

Our monthly subscription fee includes our intuitive survey platform and wrap around service.

Ten Space fully supports your Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) strategy in the workplace. We offer comprehensive solutions to help you efficiently capture diversity data from your team, thereby enriching your people data. Additionally, our platform enables you to explore the topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within your workplace culture, providing valuable data and insights to inform and enhance your DEIB strategy.

Ten Space equips companies with the necessary resources, tools, knowledge and information to create the ultimate diverse and inclusive workforce. Our platform offers analytics and insights that enable organisations to develop and implement effective DEIB programs. From setting goals on equality to attracting diverse candidates during the hiring process, we provide solutions that address gender, race, ethnicity, and other dimensions of diversity.

Leveraging our data capture platform, we ensure that the process of collecting DEIB data is efficient, safe, and secure. Our platform is designed to capture data in a clean and organised manner, ready for your analysis and utilisation.

With our DEIB focused surveys, we enable you to capture the essential data and gain insights that support your DEIB strategy. We can explore general engagement across different demographics, or we can specifically focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as central themes, allowing you to delve deeper into this critical area of culture.

As a trusted third-party platform that captures feedback anonymously, we provide a safe space for your employees to share their experiences and provide valuable feedback. This anonymity fosters an environment of authenticity and trust, enabling you to build an accurate and comprehensive picture of the insights you need to drive your DEIB initiatives.

We understand that your DEIB strategy is an ongoing journey, not a one-time event. That's why we help you regularly capture feedback and insights, allowing you to track your progress over time. By monitoring and analysing this data, you can demonstrate the impact and return on investment of your DEIB efforts, ensuring continuous improvement and advancement.

An engaged workforce helps organisations achieve their goals. Ten Space captures the valuable insights you need to build a positive culture through high employee engagement. Your people managers and leaders can easily identify and address those critical issues preventing high engagement and build a culture that everyone buys into.

Ten Space empowers organisations to unlock the full potential of their employee engagement strategy. By utilising our platform, people managers and leaders can leverage their knowledge, experience and approach to drive positive change throughout the workplace. Effective communication, addressing challenges and fostering a supportive culture are integral aspects of our platform, enabling you to build a thriving organisation that values its employees. With Ten Space, you have the necessary insights and data to prove the impact of your employee engagement strategy and continuously improve the employee experience.

"Ten Space help HR teams identify and resolve retention hotspots quickly. The data helps you improve every stage of the employee journey including hiring, onboarding, probation, reviews and exit interviews to continuously improve the employee experience and reduce retention risks"

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">What is the Employee Engagement model?</h3>Some believe engagement is solely about having happy employees, but engagement goes beyond this. Enhanced employee engagement reveals itself when your employees reach their full potential and deliver exceptional performance at work.At Ten Space we use a simple model. It helps you explore engagement in your organisation. It shows you where you already excel and where you need to focus to improve.</div>

When your employees feel connected to the mission of the company, their engagement improves significantly. They find meaning and purpose in their work, knowing that their efforts contribute to something larger than themselves. They become more invested in the success of your organisation, leading to higher productivity, increased job satisfaction and a stronger sense of belonging within the team.

A great leader inspires and motivates their team members, earning their trust and respect. They provide clear direction, guidance, and support, allowing employees to perform their best and reach their full potential. A great leader creates a sense of empowerment, job satisfaction and loyalty among the team, leading to enhanced employee engagement and overall success.

 Employee engagement improves when your employees feel fulfilled in their role. When individuals find their work meaningful and aligned with their values, they are motivated to invest their time and energy into their work, going above and beyond to achieve goals. This positive mindset and attitude contribute to increased productivity, stronger teamwork and a happier work environment, ultimately enhancing overall employee engagement.

The highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychologically safe workplaces. Psychologically safe workplaces promote healthier, more productive and more inclusive workforces. They also provide the environment in which innovation can thrive and people can perform at their best.

Ten Space is the platform to gather regular employee feedback. Every month, your employees are able to offer the feedback and insight you need to create positive change throughout your organisation.

The Ten Space engagement model underpins the data. It ensures a consistent approach to capturing feedback that can be measured over time. Our platform helps you build the perfect question set to understand the real issues preventing high engagement. 

 Ten Space does all the hard work, saving you days of admin. Questions are sent via email, WhatsApp or SMS and responses are gathered back in the platform. No matter where your employees are or how they work, there is always an easy way for them to provide their feedback. 

See responses as they're being submitted. Our dashboards display real-time information for you and your managers to access valuable insights at any time. This allows you to spend less time collating data and more time taking the actions that matter to build higher engagement.  

The Ten Space way

Retaining your best people is all about understanding the individual and collective journeys they're on. Ten Space allows you to predict retention issues before they occur and prevent your top talent from leaving.  

The Ten Space survey platform allows leaders to seamlessly follow their employees' journeys within the organisation, gaining invaluable insights into their professional growth and development. The platform provides a unique ability to monitor employee sentiment through live data streams from surveys, enabling leaders to make informed decisions to enhance workplace satisfaction.

All of your employees are on a journey. Even before they work for you, they're building an impression of your organisation through the hiring process. Common experiences for all employees may include hiring, onboarding, probation, promotion and exit. Ten Space allows you to unpack the employee experience at each stage of the journey, helping you improve the experience for future employees. 

Ten Space provides a highly customised in-depth feedback loop to understand which parts of your HR initiatives and processes could be causing retention issues. Our platform sends our feedback surveys at critical times to gather sentiment and understand feeling. At every step, you'll gain a true understanding of how employees really feel and what retention risks exist.

Ten Space makes the process of collecting feedback really easy. Our platform allows you to build and launch custom feedback loops that can analyse specific journeys being experienced in all parts of the organisation. You can customise your questions to gain a deep understanding of employee experiences. And our AI summaries make it easy to analyse retention hotspots at all times.

At any time, your HR team can log into Ten Space and view our feedback dashboards. Our customer success team will hold regular reviews and insights sessions with you, so you feel fully supported. We'll help you to get the most out of the insights you've captured and support you in taking the next steps to further enhance employee satisfaction. 

The Ten Space way

Ten Space assists you in exploring high-performance within your organisation. Leveraging our performance-focused surveys, we enable you to achieve your goals and unlock the full potential of your teams. Our platform helps you identify the unique qualities that make a team exceptional, empowering you to replicate and build upon their success. Analysing performance culture team by team in organisations where performance matters.

Ten Space equips you with everything you need to drive team performance and achieve success. By leveraging our platform, you can assess and enhance the culture, communication, management, individual commitment, projects and processes that contribute to team effectiveness. Through comprehensive performance evaluation metrics and insights, you gain a deeper understanding of your teams and can make informed decisions to drive improvement and productivity.

Utilising our performance-based question sets we’ll help you understand how to assess performance in organisation. We guide you by asking the right questions to extract the necessary insights on performance evaluation for teams. Whether your team operates in creative, technical, administrative, or sales-focused areas, we tailor the process to fit your team's specific requirements.

We assist you in segmenting your team data, enabling you to gain in-depth performance insights and understand the trends that impact team effectiveness. Our intuitive dashboard helps you quickly identify key insights from your results, allowing you to focus on actionable steps and next moves.

Harnessing the power of Ten Space as a trusted third-party anonymous platform, we provide a safe space for employees to share any challenges, barriers, or catalysts that affect their performance. This way, we foster a climate of openness, encouraging individuals to provide candid feedback that can uncover valuable insights.

We can help you integrate communication and training needs analysis into your surveys, allowing you to gather ideas and solutions directly from your team members. By capturing this information, you gain a clear understanding of work expectations and where your team would like you to focus your efforts to improve performance culture. There are no limitations or holding back when it comes to taking action.

Capture and utilise diversity data to enhance your culture.

Insights to understand the engagement and culture across your organisation

Identify and resolve retention hotspots in your organisation

Capture and utilise diversity data in an efficient and safe way to enhance your culture.  

Capture the insights you need to understand employee engagement &amp; culture across your organisation.

Create exceptional employee experiences. Optimise engagement. Supercharge your EVP.

Accelerate the performance of your teams to drive business performance

Build a high performing business powered by high performing teams

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