How to Manage Your Employees’ Time

To ensure that your employees’ are a benefit, rather than a detriment, to your small business, this week Axis Telecoms reveals how to manage your employees’ time.

You are Paying Your Employees for Their Time

Because Axis Telecoms is a firm that seeks to make sure that small businesses across the UK receive competitively priced energy and telecoms, we understand how important it is for SME’s to save money wherever they can. Only through doing so, can they ensure they remain profitable.

That is why we want to turn our attention to the issue of time. You are paying your employees for their time. Therefore, if they are wasting time that is money draining away from your firm’s bottom line. Money that isn’t being used to generate profit.

A Few Ways to Manage Your Employees’ Time Effectively

That is why it is more important than ever that you know how to manage your employees’ time effectively; these tips on just how to do so from Axis Telecoms should get you started:

·         Give Them a Break: No employee is a machine. You’ll soon find that if you give them a series of short breaks throughout the day, they become more productive. Quite simply, it’ll cut down the amount of time they spend avoiding the tasks at hand, as they’ll have a more set time limit to complete them in.

·         Create Office Schedules: Deadlines have an amazing effect in any office. They give your employees something to work towards; increasing their productivity. That is why you should make and maintain office schedules to get the most out of your employees.

·         Cater to Your Employees Schedules: If you have an employee who needs to get off early, don’t force them to stay. Doing so will create a bad working relationship, and drive down their productivity. Make sure you cater to their schedules to get the most out of the time they do have.

·         Discourage Multi-Tasking: Multi-tasking is not an effective working method. It divides focus, which means that all the tasks at hand get less time, and they’re performed less efficiently. Therefore, discouraging multi-tasking in your office ensures that your employees are using their time in the right way.

·         Eliminate Distractions: Smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, e. are the bane of the productive employee. They take time and attention away from real tasks. Therefore, banning these distractions in the workplace, will ensure that they can’t divert employee time from the tasks at hand.

Time Equals Money

These are just a few tips to get you started. What we hope to have shown you with this article, is that time equals money. If you are managing your employees’ time effectively you are driving productivity, which in turn has a good chance of boosting your small company’s profit margins. 

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How to Know When to Fire an Employee

Staff turnover may be damaging to any SME’s bottom line, but problem employees inflict more havoc, which is why this week, Axis Telecoms reveals how to know when to fire an employee.

The Point of No Return

As an independent telecoms and energy supplier, who aim to bring the highest quality services to SMEs throughout the UK, Axis Telecoms knows what finding ways to save money means to small businesses with limited funds.

Which is why this week, we want to turn to the issue of problem employees. We can understand why you may be reluctant to fire a problem employee; staff turnover is expensive for any small business. However, there is a point where said employee inflicts more damage on your profit margins than staff turnover ever could.

Keep an Eye Out for the Following Five Signs

The trick is determining where that point of no return lies. You need to know what signs you should look for, to identify a problem employee. Axis Telecoms would suggest you look for the following five types of employee…

·         An Employee Who Lies: This world doesn’t place as much value on honesty as it should. An honest employee is worth their weight in gold. A dishonest employee, however, will sow discord and distrust, hampering your team’s ability to rely on each other, because they are never sure they are working with the facts. Extract the poison to ensure survival.

·         An Employee Who Doesn’t Try: We shouldn’t have to tell you what this means. If someone’s lost the will to work for you, just sever ties now. It’ll do you good, as commitment generally tends to lead to employees who care enough about the job to make sure they get it right.

·         An Employee Who Can’t Work as a Team: No man is an island, and no business can make it without teamwork. Teamwork brings the benefits of collaboration and discussion. If an employee consistently shows that they can’t work as a part of a team, trade up for someone who will.

·         An Employee Who’s Always Late: If they’re late once or twice, put it down to human error. If they’re late a lot more than that, that’s a lot of money you’re wasting on time they’re not doing any work. That money could be more effectively spent on someone who’ll work all the hours you pay them for.

·         An Employee with Distractive Behaviour: Does your employee gossip every minute of the day? Do they start arguments, or talk so loudly other people can’t concentrate? Those employees are preventing everyone from working, so you need to fire them to facilitate the proper working environment.

Fire an Employee Only as a Last Resort

In finishing this blog post, Axis Telecoms would like to remind you that you need to take great care when deciding whether to fire a member of staff. Always try to find another resolution to the issue at hand, to ensure the cost-effect of staff turnover doesn’t deplete your profit margins. Yet if no solution can be found, fire them for the sake of the profitability of your small business. 

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How to Save Money on the Cost of Flying for Business

If you want to use a business trip to expand, rather than contract your SME’s bank account, then read on, as this week Axis Telecoms outlines how to save money on the cost of flying for business.

The Dilemma of Travelling for Business

Axis Telecoms is a telecoms and energy supplier, who provide a quality service and listen to what our customers say, in order to ensure they save money.

As such, we understand the dilemma that many SME’s are confronted with, when afforded the opportunity to travel to take advantage of a lucrative business opportunity. It could do major things for your company’s bottom line. Yet you have to invest money in a trip that might not provide a significant dividend.

A Guide to Saving Money on the Cost of Business Travel

That is why whenever you are flying for business, you should strive to save money, and this week, Axis Telecoms tells you how, with the following guide to saving money on the cost of business travel…

Use Tax Relief Systems to Your Advantage: As SME’s are the heart of the country’s economy, the UK government wants to make flying for business as easy for small companies as possible. That is why you can qualify for tax relief on the cost of business travel, which you should use to reduce its impact on the company accounts.

Exchange Currency Beforehand: Withdrawing money from foreign cash machines is expensive, so to save money, you should calculate how much cash you need, and exchange it beforehand. Don’t do so at an airport, it’s almost as expensive as withdrawing from a foreign cash machine.

Search for Cheap Flights: Flights are where you can save some serious money. Use a low cost airline, make sure to fly economy etc. and you will save enough cash to ensure your business trip is lucrative for your company.

Eat Local: Whilst you will most likely have to dine at a fine restaurant or two for networking purposes, when you are eating simply for sustenance, you should eat local when travelling for business. Local eateries are often far cheaper, as well as more authentic. This will give you a better understanding of the people you are dealing with, ensuring the trip is lucrative for your company.

Invest in Travel Insurance: Yes it’s an extra cost, but it’s one you need to incur to protect your SME’s bottom line. After all, should you lose a company laptop abroad, with travel insurance you can cover the cost without it impacting your business’ bottom line.

Do Your Research to Lower the Cost of Travelling for Business

From there, Axis Telecoms would always advise that you do your research when you are travelling for business. After all, doing our research is how we can bring you the best deals around to save money on your energy and telecoms expenditure. Doing the same will make sure that travelling for business benefits rather than hurts your company. 

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