Apprenticeships have been hugely successful since they were made part of government policy in 1997. In the last year, over one and a quarter million apprenticeship applications were submitted online and over one hundred thousand vacancies have been advertised.

The traditional view of apprenticeships as something distinctly working class, only applicable to certain industries and supporting young people into trade or manual work is being overturned as the government and many large companies are changing this perception, and schools are following suit.

As the new tax year is approaching, there are a number of changes to employment law which you should be made aware of if you are not already.

Statutory Redundancy Changes

If you are unfortunately in the position where you may have to be making staff redundant, or if this could be a possibility in the future, then you need to be aware of the changes to statutory redundancy compensation this month.

Economic uncertainty can be devastating especially for smaller organisations, as you often don’t have the same tools and resources that large companies have to manage change. According to consulting giant Accenture, following these guidelines can assist you to manage uncertainty.

Businesses large and small often find it challenging to get employees to comply with certain behavioural patterns essential for running a successful business. These may include things such as completing expense reports on time or even providing good customer service.

People and their skills are the cornerstone of running a successful business and growing the economy. During this time of recession and uncertainty unemployment figures are constantly rising, yet many businesses report a shortage of skills as a major barrier to sustainable growth. Unfortunately when investment in skills is at an all time low due to business and government cut-backs, bridging this gap becomes increasingly difficult.

The FSB ‘Voice of Small Business’ survey revealed that small businesses still have difficulties finding suitably skilled staff despite a steep rise in unemployment. In order to solve this global crisis, businesses will have to look at new flexible approaches as a knowledge driven work environment makes it much harder to find the right person for the job, regardless of geographical location or business size.

Quite some time ago the Government announced that it will introduce new legislation that will persuade individuals to build a private pension. The legislation will start to take effect next year with the largest employers. Smaller businesses will have up to four years to implement the change.

The marketing landscape has changed significantly in the past few years with the shift mainly driven by new technology, changes in customer needs and the evolution of consumer tolerance.

A few years ago marketers were talking about customer relationship management and brand management to drive loyalty and retention. Fast forward a few years and the new buzz words are customer engagement and brand experience. So you may ask, what is the difference? Notice that the words management has evolved into less authoritative terms, engage and experience.

Receiving the dreaded ‘At Risk’ letter has the ability to put your life into a complete tailspin (in my case this was a TUPE notice that we all knew would lead to redundancy). I remember the ice cold chill that flushed down my spine, followed by a feeling of complete disbelief that all my hard work over the last few years has been for nothing.  After I got over the initial shock and evaluated the situation objectively things looked significantly better.  Most people will go through a phase of dismay, it’s normal.

The ultimate outcome of an effective CRM strategy should be customer loyalty and increased customer life time value, which will positively contribute to your bottom line.

As a rule it is more expensive to recruit a new customer than to re-serve an existing customer, as the relationship of trust already exists. It therefore makes good business sense to spend some time on developing a CRM strategy that engages your customers.