By Guy Osmond
Running an SME is a demanding job. Fulfilling some or all of the roles of CEO, Finance, Quality, Estates, Facilities, Occupational Health, Health & Safety, Fire Officer, First Aider, Transport Manager and Housekeeper fills a long day! However, as the business starts to grow, it is possible to delegate some (and, eventually, most) of this responsibility.
Even so, it might be forgiven if staff wellbeing slips down the daily agenda. Fortunately, the culture of most SMEs supports many elements of wellbeing by default (and probably by accident in the first instance). It is very often the case that SME personnel enjoy their employment, work well with their colleagues and strive diligently to do a good job and provide great service. It is a simple fact that smaller businesses have to provide an outstanding proposition just to survive, whereas some enormous organisations seem to lumber on serving their customers poorly just because of their size and momentum!
SME owners know that their people are their most valuable asset and want to do everything within their power to look after them. Finding the time and the support to do so, may be a different matter.
We have been working with much larger organisations for over 25 years. We have observed government and commercial employers with thousands of staff. We have seen what they do well, where the reality does not match the theory and, in particular, how culture is central to achieving any long-term change.
Now we are ready to apply that knowledge to SMEs. Obviously, our starting topic is workplace ergonomics and we can explore how that helps and improves individual wellbeing. From that foundation, we can look at wellbeing from a broader perspective. We can talk about how workplace design impacts individual performance. We can explore topics like ‘Agile Working’, ‘Neurodiversity’ and ‘Biophilia’ in language everyone can understand.
In simple terms, we have gained vast experience from our large-scale clients and, whatever the project size, smaller employers get all that knowledge for free!
Contact us for a chat about how we can help.