Alpaka Blog

HR Insights

SMB Staff Scheduling with Rotas

Afternoon Phill good to be talking again, today we’re doing rotas. So what do business owners want to achieve in creating rotas. Um. ...

Phill RodgersAugust 24, 2020

HR Insights

What criteria do you use when choosing new software?

Pay peanuts and get monkeys. We recently moved house, we got quotes from two different moving companies, they quoted to do the same ...

Kate RodgersAugust 17, 2020

Case Study

Implementing Tech Saves Care Home Employees Time

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine You run a busy and successful care home/hospice/domiciliary care provision. Your staff are efficient; they know what ...

Kate RodgersAugust 17, 2020

People Data & Analytics

SME Time and Attendance Challenges

Presence Not Presents! James and Phill discuss some of the significant issues that SME owners face when running an hourly paid workforce manually, ...

James BennettAugust 17, 2020

HR Insights

Dreading Work?

Dreading work? Do you find it hard getting on with some of your colleagues? Is it difficult getting through the week without pulling ...

Kate RodgersJuly 7, 2020

HR Insights

Are We Nearly There Yet?

Everyone loves the summer… long warm days… sunny evenings. It is just that it can feel like work gets in the way of ...

Kate RodgersJuly 7, 2020

Wellbeing

How to Avoid the Summer Blues at Work

Everyone loves the summer; sunny days and long warm evenings. It is just that it can feel like work gets in the way ...

Kate RodgersJuly 7, 2020

Wellbeing

How Do You Get a Good Nights Sleep?

Sleep deprivation costs UK businesses £40bn a year. This figure is based on tired employees being less productive or absent altogether. We all ...

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

Performance & Culture

Let’s Hear It for the Stay-Cation!

Christmas is well and truly over, and attention has turned to holidays and losing weight to fit into the swimwear. Holiday adverts are ...

Kate RodgersJuly 6, 2020

Wellbeing

Busyness

The Busyness Badge of Honour: “I’m so busy I did not even have time for lunch today!” Are you always the first in ...

Kate RodgersJuly 6, 2020

Hiring

How Do I Screen CV’s to Find the Perfect Candidate for My Vacancy?

As a busy business owner, we know you don’t have time to sift through endless CV’s to shortlist suitable candidates for an interview ...

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

HR Insights

How Do I Manage AWOL Employees?

If one of your employees doesn’t arrive at work one morning, what do you do? Maybe at first you aren’t concerned, you know ...

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

HR Insights

Going Digital in the Workplace

With the government’s announcement that from April 2019 businesses, self-employed people and landlords (who turnover £10,000 a year or more) will need to ...

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

We all do it. You're sat waiting for a meeting to start, at a bar with a friend and they go to the loo, on a bus or train, waiting for your child's swimming lesson to finish, the list goes on. Basically any time you are waiting for something to start or finish what do you instinctively do? You probably pick up your phone and start thumbing through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You only checked it a couple of hours ago so surely not that much has changes it is all blah, blah, blah anyway. Rather than engaging with what is going on around us, we get lost in the world of our phones. We will probably know what a friend we have not seen in 10 years had for lunch today, but we know nothing about the person we meet in the ballet waiting room every Thursday. Wouldn't life be more fulfilling if we interacted with the people around us more? I was waiting for my train to arrive at the station yesterday and a couple stood next to me with five suitcases between them. Rather than just standing there waiting for my train with my face stuck in my phone, I had a little chat with them and asked where they were going. They were so excited to be going to Paris to see their niece's new baby and said how the suitcases were full of clothes for the new arrival. Finding out about their journey and seeing the happiness and excitement in their faces filled my heart with joy that stayed with me for the rest of the day. That two-minute conversation was so much more fulfilling than seeing what someone who lives 100 miles away had for breakfast. Do you think ditching your phone would increase your enjoyment of your working day? Why not give it a go and see. Instead of checking Facebook to see that your friend is enjoying a cocktail on the beach and feeling sorry for yourself because you are stuck at work, chat to your colleagues while you are waiting for the meeting to start. Getting to know your co-workers more will develop a greater level of trust, therefore helping you work better as a team. Having a working environment where everyone gets on better and feels valued would also mean you are happier to go to work. This should in turn mean that employees take fewer sick days, putting less strain on the colleagues that have clocked in that day. Let's face it, if we can all have a little laugh or giggle while at work, the day is bound to pass quicker. So, when your alarm goes off tomorrow say good morning to the world and pause for a moment to take in what is actually happening around you rather than checking the virtual world on your phone. If this blog has got you thinking you could brush up your communication skills the link below has a quick quiz and some top tips. How Good Are Your Communication Skills? Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading Effectively This site details the different ways we communicate both verbally and physically. There are also links to some e-books that you might find useful. The Importance of Good Communication Skills

Performance & Culture

Ditch the Phone and Chat to the Person Sat Next to You!

We all do it. You’re sat waiting for a meeting to start, at a bar with a friend, and they go to the ...

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

HR Insights

Alpaka vs Fonejacker

Phill RodgersJuly 6, 2020

HR Insights

Effective Staff Absence Planning

What can SME’s learn from Ryanair’s recent “Significant Management failure”*? What we learn from the current state of Ryanair’s employee/manager relationship is that ...

Kate RodgersJuly 6, 2020

HR Insights

10 Ways You Know You Need a New Process at Work

The new year is a perfect opportunity to think about how things are going at work and what might need a little shake ...

Kate RodgersMarch 6, 2020

Performance & Culture

A New Year, a New Start

Who sets themselves unrealistic New Year’s Resolutions every January and then by February feels deflated that they have already failed to stick? All ...

Phill RodgersDecember 28, 2019

Case Study

Care & Communication Webinar

A Cambridgeshire care community has turned to new and innovative technologies to enhance its internal operations, as it takes bold steps to reinforce ...

Phill RodgersOctober 18, 2019

Wellbeing

Learning to Have Fun Again

After a recent family trip to Centre Parcs I felt exhilarated, relaxed and I’m sure I had fewer wrinkles, despite spending hours in ...

Kate RodgersJuly 6, 2019

SMB Staff Scheduling with Rotas

What criteria do you use when choosing new software?

Implementing Tech Saves Care Home Employees Time

SME Time and Attendance Challenges

Dreading Work?

Are We Nearly There Yet?

How to Avoid the Summer Blues at Work

How Do You Get a Good Nights Sleep?

Let’s Hear It for the Stay-Cation!

Busyness

How Do I Screen CV’s to Find the Perfect Candidate for My Vacancy?

How Do I Manage AWOL Employees?

Going Digital in the Workplace

Ditch the Phone and Chat to the Person Sat Next to You!

Alpaka vs Fonejacker

Effective Staff Absence Planning

10 Ways You Know You Need a New Process at Work

A New Year, a New Start

Care & Communication Webinar

Learning to Have Fun Again

Posts List

How to Avoid the Summer Blues at Work

Not Enough Hours In The Day

Implementing Tech Saves Care Home Employees Time

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