01732 759725 magazine 11 BULLETIN FILING SHELF AND SAFETY Rackline, a leading UK manufacturer of shelving, mobile storage and racking solutions, has secured a place on the NHS Supply Chain framework until October 2024. As a trusted supplier of office, furniture and storage solutions to the National Health Service, Rackline is not required to tender to win projects but can supply its products and services directly. Jeff Hibbert, Sales Director at Rackline, said: “Being an NHS approved supplier gives our clients the peace of mind that we’ve been sanctioned for all the important factors such as competitive pricing, quality, health and safety and also for the supply of a range of suitable products.” www.supplychain.nhs.uk HUMAN RESOURCES BIGGING UP SMES With more than half (52%) of SME employees saying they would prefer to work at a big corporation and almost a third (32%) planning to leave their current role in 2022, Sodexo Engage has produced the SME Guide to Loyalty and Engagement. This explains how SMEs can counter the perceived drawbacks of working for a smaller company, such as lack of flexibility (cited by 45%), lower salary (43%) and increased risk, by accentuating the positives. According to Sodexo’s survey of SME workers and managers, these include more likelihood of recognition (cited by 91%), a family feel (42%), a better work-life balance (42%) and better company values (36%). Almost three quarters (74%) of SME employees say they would be more inclined to stay in their role if they were rewarded on a more regular basis. Download Sodexo Engage’s SME guide from https://bit.ly/3KoAyij WORKPLACE HOWTOWIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE COLLEAGUES The office remains vital for nurturing friendships and supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce, claims O.C. Tanner in its 2022 Global Culture Report. In its study of 38,000 employees and executives in 21 countries around the world, 63% of UK respondents said they find it more challenging to form new friendships with colleagues when working remotely; 58% said that the office is where most of their new friendships are formed. Nurturing a diverse and inclusive workforce is also easier when people are face-to-face, with 71% of U.K. workers admitting that it’s easier to make personal connections with other generations and people of different backgrounds and beliefs when working in an office environment. The same percentage value unplanned, spontaneous encounters with colleagues as a way of fostering workplace culture, collaboration and innovation. Octanner.com SME GUIDE TO LOYALTYAND ENGAGEMENT The secret to success: How the right people strategy can help SMEs thrive in a changing world MARKETING THE RISE OF THEWORKDAY CONSUMER The blurring of lines between work and life during the pandemic has given birth to what Microsoft Advertising calls Workday Consumers, people who freely switch between employee, personal and consumer modes throughout the day. Microsoft believes this is a permanent shift, citing research conducted with Forrester Consulting showing that 60% of global consumers now complete a mix of work and personal tasks during working hours, with 59% considering both to be of equal importance. Nearly half (42%) of UK consumers now spend more than 1 hour on personal tasks during worktime. The most common activity is researching products/services they are considering purchasing (56%), with 11% of respondents spending more than 3 hours on this each working day. Over the next 12 months, 44% of consumers expect to increase the number of online purchases they make during working hours. Microsoft Advertising points out most brands and advertisers have not recognized the significance of this trend and have been slow to target theWorkday Consumer. More than two thirds (67%) of global advertisers surveyed rated their own brands as novices or intermediates in building in-depth understandings of different personas; 60% say their companies don’t consider working ‘mode’ or ‘mindset’ when developing target personas, suggesting they are yet to tap into the opportunities presented by theWorkday Consumer. about.ads.microsoft.com/en-us/insights The Workday Consumer Has Logged In A FORRESTER CONSULTING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PAPER COMMISSIONED BY MICROSOFT, FEBRUARY 2022 TRAINING BECOME A DATA EXPERT Certification provider CompTIA is launching a data analytics qualification with a view to bridging the UK’s data skills gap. In a recent CompTIA survey, 60% of companies said they have increased their focus on data to understand customers better, but an investigation from the UK government revealed that 46% of businesses have struggled to recruit for roles that require data skills. At the same time, 70% of workers expressed interest in data skills training and almost half (46%) stated that the need for data skills at work has increased. CompTIA’s Data+ certification helps organisations translate data into good decisionmaking by enabling decision-makers to mine, analyse and interpret data in a clear, consistent way. In the future CompTIA plans to introduce other data-related certifications covering data science, systems and foundational knowledge. https://www.comptia.org/certifications/data
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