BCC’s most recent update on the difficulties to find workers highlights shortages in several key areas.

The February 2023 update said:

“Attempted recruitment in Q4 remained virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, with 61% of firms looking to find staff (62% in Q3 2022).

“Overall, over eight in ten firms (82%) attempting to recruit reported recruitment difficulties, up from 76% in Q3.

“While the problem is persistent across all sectors, firms in the hospitality sector are most likely to face challenges when recruiting, with 87% reporting difficulties. This is closely followed by the manufacturing sector on 85%, and the construction sector; professional services; and public, education, health sector all on 83%.”

According to research from fintech provider Nucleus Commercial Finance 68% of SMES with up to 150 employees are concerned about staffing in 2023.

So what can SMEs that are already strapped for cash do to help themselves in the short and...

It can be a challenge to recruit and retain the best staff, especially at the moment, but can offering perks really make a difference?

Online recruiters Glassdoor argues that many workers will tolerate less pay if other perks and benefits fill in the gap.

Among the top perks it lists are free bicycle repairs on site, a day off for Christmas shopping,  four free weeks of holiday for four years work, free on-site dentistry and free day-care for new parents.

But although they may be appreciated how important are they?

It is argued that a benefits package can Improve workplace morale, reduce stress and associated staff absences, boost productivity, help set the tone for your company’s internal values and ethos and can also both reduce staff turnover by helping to retain existing staff and make recruiting top talent easier.

But to be truly effective perks and benefits must offer something employees will actually value and which will help them.

In this context perhaps arguably...

In the context of rising costs of living with more and more ordinary workers struggling to make ends meet this is a question many would be likely to ask.

FTSE 100 data shows CEO pay and bonus packages average £3.4m each which equates to 103 times the £33,000 average salary for full-time UK workers.

But according to a recent survey by the High Pay Centre, more than 60 per cent of people think that chief executives should be paid only 10 times the average salary.

So it is fair to ask what makes them worth such enormous sums when Britain’s productivity, judged by output per worker, is 20% to 30% lower than most other industrialised economies.

CEO remuneration packages are made up of a combination of salaries, bonuses, and stock option packages, according to Investopedia.

In theory the package is designed to align executives' actions with company success, in other words to make it performance related.

However, this only works if the package is reduced when the company...

Insolvency Service figures show that total company insolvencies registered in England and Wales jumped by 57% year-on-year to 22,109 in 2022.

While there is no denying that conditions for businesses are currently extremely tough is it possible that at least some insolvencies have been the result of the CEOs’ mindset?

According to research published in the Harvard Business Review a CEO needs to have five essential qualities:

• Foresight: critical thinking when it comes to future planning
• Adaptability: the ability to adapt to changing markets and technology
• Reliability: A steady hand on the controls
• Teamwork: the ability to engage with the team and show them they are trusted
• Decency: essential quality to show trustworthiness in cementing relationships with shareholders, investors, employees, and the public

But what happens when the CEO is suffering from mental health issues?

According to a study in the Applied Journal of Psychology, mindsets are contagious so if the CEO is...

With trading conditions as difficult as they currently are anything that can help to safeguard your business would seem like a good idea.

One such suggestion is to collaborate with another business.

A successful collaboration will depend on several things, which can be summarised as doing the careful research before you go ahead:

• Are the two businesses a good fit, in other words are they genuinely complementary
• Do they share common values and ideals
• How sound are the finances of those involved
• How much will the set up costs be
• Don’t overestimate the time and money saved and the potential profits

Individual businesses can face several limitations when trying to compete in global markets. This may include scale and expertise.

So there may be financial benefits to collaboration in enabling the partners to tender for larger contracts and to benefit from a wider range of skills among the companies involved.

Swapping skills can also be highly valuable and cost-effective for...

It has been calculated that there are around 300,000 fewer people in the workforce than there were before the pandemic.

At the same time as employers complain about recruitment difficulties, research carried out in the autumn of 2022 by CMI (Chartered Management Institute) found that there was considerable reluctance to consider taking on older workers.

In a survey of more than 1,000 managers working in UK businesses just four out of 10 (42%) were open "to a large extent" to hiring people aged between 50 and 64 while just 18% of managers said they were open to a large extent to hiring people aged over 65.

Ann Francke, chief executive of the CMI, said the findings pointed to cultural and leadership failings in businesses of all sizes.

Yet there are many benefits to employing older workers.

Older workers are likely to be more settled as well as having better problem-solving, productivity and output, and smarter decision-making skills.

They are usually able and willing to learn new...

Imposter syndrome is when a person doubts their skills, talents and accomplishments despite external evidence and lives in fear of being exposed as a fraud.

It affects both high achieving men and women, particularly in business and while we would not suggest that it is anything other than a very real condition, in the current circumstances we would argue that it is not a good time to be trying to assess it.

Why?

Because there are so many headwinds besetting businesses from supply chain issues and shortages, to escalating energy bills and the difficulty of recruiting sufficient staff that conditions are anything but “normal”.

All this in a context where various sectors of the workforce are taking strike action.

Consequently, many businesses are struggling and it would be understandable if their CEOs and senior management were to doubt themselves.

However, many of these factors are outside of their control and it would be foolish to blame themselves for the current...

The Harvard Business School definition of business sustainability is twofold.

It says there are two things that should be measured for business sustainability. They are the effect a business has on the environment, and the effect a business has on society, with the goal of sustainable practice being to have a positive impact on at least one of those areas.

At the moment businesses are reporting difficulty in recruiting suitable candidates so anything that can help to increase applications is important.

This is where sustainability comes in.

Adobe recently surveyed its US workforce and found that almost a third of people said they would only work for an employer that prioritised sustainability.

About a third of employees thought it would boost productivity rates (35 percent), position their company as a leader (31 percent), and open more opportunities for innovation (37 percent).

Forty-three percent thought it would improve workplace culture.

Albeit this is just a snapshot of...

Should you restructure your business when it is not insolvent?

According to an article in the online publication The CFO restructuring should be viewed as a positive.

It suggests: “Companies where the underlying business is sound should look to navigate through the restructuring environment to mitigate against unsustainable debt burdens which have been brought about by the incredibly challenging economic headwinds...”

At the moment the economic situation is changing rapidly, thanks to the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, rising interest and borrowing rates and increases in the costs of raw materials.

In the last week alone, one piece of research carried out by ACP Altenburg Advisory has revealed that interest rates over the next nine months are expected to cost businesses an extra £13.6bn annually in loan interest payments.

Investors have reportedly pulled a record £27.9bn from UK funds in the last month and according to the Insolvency Service insolvencies...

Against a backdrop of soaring company insolvencies, up by 72% in the last year according to the Insolvency Service, and plummeting business confidence the new UK Chancellor unveiled a package of measures to try to deal with the current cycle of stagnation and rising costs.

The focus, said Kwasi Kwarteng, would be on growth and the measures included reversing the rise in National Insurance payments, freezing corporation tax and cutting stamp duty.

The limit on bankers' bonuses was scrapped and there will possibly be 38 new investment zones in England.

This hugely expensive package is generally called trickle down economics, whereby the hope is that with more disposable income, investors and businesses will pass on the gains to those lower down the economy.

However, it is not a new idea and dates back to at least 1972, when a similar package ushered in several years of boom and bust.

Will it work this time?

Who can tell.

Certainly the stock markets and investors were not impressed and...