The Top 3 E-commerce Trends In 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has sent the traditional brick and mortar retailers across the UK into a tailspin. More than 14,000 shops According to the Centre for Retail Research have closed so far in 2020. But with every downside, there is usually an upside. This upside is called online retail. In a September survey, one out of 10 shoppers said their shopping habits had changed permanently, and would never go back to what they were pre-pandemic. I think we can see this all around us, there has been a massive take up of online sales across all demographics of the population. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced retailers’ digital transformation plans forward. They may have already been in motion at many UK retailers, but now there is a rush to implement them. Long term plans have now become a short-term priority! Retail CIOs and CTOs are being asked to find the technologies and implement them to survive in a fast-moving retail landscape. This inspired us to take a look at the top 3 growing online retail trends this year. Having done all the research for this, we were amazed to find we had written articles about two of these trends this year, so let us dig in and see what these trends are! 

1. The Growth of Augmented Reality

First up, Augmented Reality! We did a blog on this back in July entitled 'Is Augmented Reality the future of the e-commerce race?' In this article, we concluded that answer was yes, it will be a big part of the future of e-commerce. We then ended up noting that the more people experiencing AR, the more they will want to use it in their shopping experiences.

Augmented Reality (AR) helps online shoppers visualise products, giving them a sense of realism to their experience. Historically one of the problems of shopping online is the ability to touch and feel a product. A flat picture can only say so much, of course, although you can't actually touch or feel the product, being able to manoeuvre a piece of furniture within your house before buying it, or to see what you look like wearing a piece of clothing makes for quite a compelling scenario. The likes of Burberry, Apple, Lululemon, GOAT, John Lewis and ASOS are among many online retailers that decided this technology is a great enabler for sales. It's only going to go one way, and that is more Augmented Reality within our life and on our phones.

2. The Growth of Voice Search 

At the beginning of this year (2020) we wrote a lengthy article entitled ’Is voice search within fashion e-commerce the future’. Very similar to the augmented reality article that we wrote it was again a resounding yes! Of course, this not only pertains to the fashion industry, it is all of the e-commerce industry as a whole that will be enhanced by this way of searching for products. Since that article, we have had even more evidence showing voice search is on the rise, here are a few predictive stats to show you where it is heading:  

• Quoracreative stats, States 50% of all searches across the internet will be voice-based by 2020.

• Gartner states 30% of all searches will be done using a device without a screen.

• OC&C Strategy Consultants state house penetration for smart speakers is predicted to rise to 55% by 2022.

Between the likes of Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung’s Bixby we have a myriad of ways on how we can gain information by using our voice. As well as these devices being an amazing curator and distributor of information, it is also starting to become a powerful tool to be used in an online retail search. Making sure your website is optimised for voice search is now a large consideration for most online retailers. Again, we wrote another article this year entitled ‘8 Strategies On How To Optimise Your Website for Voice Search And Why To Do It’. - Okay, yes, we are always writing articles! We sort of can't help ourselves as we live in interesting times, what can we say! Anyway, back to the article, we could see how voice search was gaining momentum within the industry so we wrote a well-received blog outlining some of the strategies that can help companies improve their SEO for voice search. 

We have seen voice search certainly grow in popularity this year and a lot of e-commerce companies seem to be factoring this into their SEO solutions and strategies. In an article by lead Web Praxis Media https://leadwebpraxis.com/voice-search-and-its-sustainability-in-the-digital-world/, they mentioned that ComScore estimates that more than 50% of searches done by users in 2020 will be voice searches. They concluded by saying ‘voice search is just warming up and by 2025, it will be part of our daily lives. It is a viable disruption to the traditional system of assistance and it is sustainable in the digital world’, and we would have to agree! 

3. Growth in AI

We have saved this one to last as it is probably one of the most important technologies to hit online retail, also the two above trends have an element of this technology within them already. In fact, AI is one of the biggest growing industries as it can enhance most electronic experiences and market sectors. From medical software to predictive stocks and shares analysis, it is slowly making its way into all business sectors. So let's have a look at the online retail story for this technology!   

When you visit a traditional shop one of the upsides is that you can talk to a shop assistant. A good assistant can guide you through your purchase selection, imparting knowledge and recommendations that are tailored to you. AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning have the potential to bridge this gap in the online world. This is another critical piece to the jigsaw to make online shopping seamless and engaging, providing a positive experience and good customer service. Before the pandemic, 40% of UK retail CIOs and CTOs said they thought their companies should be investing in AI. According to a study by Deloitte UK, 72% of British businesses in 2019 had already achieved a positive return on their AI investment, an indication of the positive effect that it is already having within the industry. 

Using AI can help online retailers learn about their customers and their habits, giving them a more personalised experience and helping them with shopping solutions. There are many ways you can implement AI solutions, but, it all comes down to the collection of data with real-time insights and various algorithms built around this data. Put this together with automation like 24/7 customer support via chatbots, and you can go a long way to optimising the customers’ buying experience.  

Successful e-commerce companies are using personalisation technology to give consumers their very own experience. Personalisation for customers on e-commerce websites is achieved by dynamically showing content, recommendations and products that are all tailored by the information gathered on the person. This can be a person's growing online history, social media habits and how they interact with the website. Then liberally sprinkle with predictive AI data using purchase history, customer demographics and personas, and you have a solid bespoke experience for each customer. 

Amazon uses a lot of AI, a staggering 35% of their sales come from their recommendation engine. They make a unique homepage for every single customer that provides personalised recommendations using item-based collaborative filtering. North Face adopted IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology to help predict what jacket would be best for their customers, based on variables like location and gender preferences. According to a survey conducted by Econsultancy, about 74% of marketers have stated that targeted personalisation increases their overall customer engagement rates. So there is a drive from both software solutions companies like Google, Microsoft and IBM, and online retailers using these solutions like Amazon, ASOS and IKEA to use AI to enrich the customer experience.

The ability to ape the traditional shopping experience through a personalised customer journey will be the key to winning in the online e-commerce market. Juha Valvanne, Founder of Nosto, a tech platform that delivers personalised e-commerce experiences said: “Personalisation is the missing ingredient to a successful online shopping experience and will be key to 2020 and the future of e-commerce.” And we can see things like this working, with the likes Natori using artificial intelligence to help with their digital ad spending resulting in a 76% increase in their social media revenue. There are lots of tools being developed around AI and it will increase over the next few years. Google’s  £400m purchase of start-up DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company that specialises in algorithms and machine learning for positive impact, is a big nod towards this. Of course, with all of this comes the grey lines of how much data should companies hold about you to help you to shop. Another question for another day I feel! But to finish up I like this quote by Masayoshi Son -

“I believe that artificial intelligence is going to be our partner. If we misuse it, it will be at risk, if we use it right it can be our partner.”

In conclusion 

In researching for this document it is obvious that online retail and e-commerce is in a cycle of massive growth, pushed on by the pandemic that we've all experienced. There were lots of trends to come out of this article, but these seemed to be the top three driven by technology. There are other trends outside of the technology realm like influencer marketing, but the technology trends seem to be the most popular at the moment. 

It is definitely all about clever digital marketing together with the integration of AI, AR and voice search. In fact, to round this up I wrote a personal blog a while ago about my fantasy shopping experience, using a mixture of voice search, AI and AR! It’s available here when I wrote this I did not realise that these topics would be so currently hot! Privacy issues aside, I can't wait for my fantasy shopping blog to turn to reality, I will sit back with a smile on my face and think, no more walking around stores for me! 

Biosimilars on the horizon - gauging the impact of biosimilars on healthcare.

You cannot be in the pharmaceutical arena and not notice the buzz around biosimilars. The zeitgeist is gradually turning its gaze towards them and everyone from the major producers through to health care providers is looking to biosimilars as a viable option for treatment of a range of conditions. As with all developments of this sort though there can be a general mix of chatter and misinformation, high-level technical discussion, practical application and of course, compliance and legislative procedures, to muddy the waters. The impact of biosimilar technology is not in doubt, what that will mean in relation to health industries and the wider landscape of care in general is another discussion entirely.

Just to recap for the sake of completeness, biosimilars have been around for many years but they are experiencing a noticeable growth in visibility at the moment. This is at least partially down to increased acceptance of their use. But the main driver is the gradual releasing of the restriction on production because of expiring patents. Where the option becomes available to produce a biosimilar to replace the original biological product, interested stakeholders in medical production are moving to capitalise on the opportunities provided by expiring patents. In short, a plethora of medicines, vaccines and other treatments are currently being, or already have been, developed and this is going to impact on treatment options.

The bigger picture on biosimilars

Undoubtedly the biggest impact access to biosimilar products will have in the short term will be the reduction of cost of care. Simply put, they are cheaper to put on the prescription pad than their biological counterparts. Lower costs are attractive in any environment but for the NHS, beleaguered by cuts and the cost of a recent pandemic, anything that produces relief on the bottom line will be more than welcome. The same is true of private care providers. 

Since biologicals are frequent contributors to on-going care of long term and critical conditions, the impact of lower-cost biosimilar options is certainly impressive financially speaking. In fact, the overall financial impact of the emergence of these treatments can be counted in millions, and potentially in the billions. According to the US think tank RAND, in 2017 the expected introduction of biosimilars to replace the frequently prescribed complex biologicals, could amount to over $50billion in the US market alone. Extrapolate that number in relation to other regions and the cost reductions are staggering. 

With all talk of money aside what do biosimilars mean to healthcare in general? Well, firstly, as we all recognise, putting all talk of money aside is really not possible in healthcare. Keeping the nation in good health and treating those who are suffering is a costly business. For a care provider such as the NHS reducing the cost of treatment or effective medication of a range of conditions is not currently an option due to the requirement for biological medicines. Biosimilars doing the same work for less should literally translate into more choice of treatment options. (NHS England Reference Information) This is going to become increasingly true pretty much across the spectrum of the treatment chain. From GP surgeries through to critical care, biosimilars are increasing options and reducing costs. For patents, a biosimilar option means not just a steady and cogent treatment cycle, it could mean access to a range of possible remedial and curative medication. 

Opportunities and obstacles for biosimilars

Medical professionals are used to prescribing complex biologicals and the bottom line is that they know they work. As with any change in the medical world, moving to a new practice is more a gentle swell than a tidal wave. Faith in the treatments and familiarity with appropriate brands will require time to develop as it does with any other change in care regime. However, the promise of low cost, effective treatment is bringing biosimilars to the fore. As their popularity increases the opportunities for career growth go hand in hand. To put that into perspective the NHS has a target of 80% uptake of new options as they become available. Westminster also has a very positive view of the ongoing potential for biosimilars to be adopted into future healthcare options. In 2019, then Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Access to Medicines and Medical Devices, Anne Marie Morris, MP, considered access to biosimilar medicines as a ‘big issue’. She went on to express her view that these treatments needed to be developed in the UK. 

However, while the future of biosimilars is certainly rosy, as we have already mentioned, the path to common use of new treatments can be a slow one. While the aim of providing access to the best clinical care and the newest treatments is a laudable one, the practicalities of dissemination of the appropriate resources and information are as formidable as ever. With so much white noise competing for the attention of clinicians and other interested parties, and the continued impact of ongoing virus control measures, attracting the gaze of medical professionals is understandably difficult.

That said, the change to widespread utilisation of new biosimilars over a decade after the initial awareness of their existence is bound to become an easier process. The NHS is clearly invested in their use and the medical professions recognise their clinical value. As the patents expire, the awareness grows, and the official push to use them spreads from Westminster down. It would take a major change for anything to stop the rise of the biosimilar. As the industry surrounding the research, testing, production, and distribution of this exciting area grows it should offer nothing but increased patient choices, wider treatment options and effective medical care. To add the cream to this, it will offer all of these at a price tag that will potentially release much-needed funds for research and care programmes. The bright future of biosimilars then is truly just on the horizon.

Are Backlinks Still Important in 2020? - 11 Strategies To Use!

This is the second article in a series of articles on how to improve your SEO. Our last article 'The Foundation Steps Of How To Improve Your SEO' gave you a solid basis to move from. This article looks at another foundation step that you will encounter in SEO, 'backlink building'. So is backlink building important in 2020? Well, the short answer is yes! Google is always updating its algorithms and it amasses an amazing amount of data points to decide on what content rises to the top. In the old days, people stuffed their websites with keywords, added a few backlinks and it was an SEO hit. But times have moved on, and although Google does not lean on the backlinks like they once did, they are still a very important side of improving your SEO.  

Today it is more important to build high-quality links rather than go for masses of low-grade spammy options. Google is a lot smarter than it used to be in this area. Old techniques that previously worked, like submitting your website to web directories and getting a link in return are not the way forward anymore! They were starting to be abused, so Google stopped giving this style of link as much value. Recently, Google has actively penalised the rankings of websites who attempt the overuse of spammy techniques in link building, often referred to as 'over-optimisation'. We don't currently fully know how much link building is part of the search algorithm, but the general consensus among SEO practitioners is that it is still one of the biggest constituent parts, and remains within the top three of ranking factors of the algorithm. 

So What Are Back Links? 

Backlinks are a link created when one website links to another, usually to a piece of related content or something the other website wants to highlight. Link building is the process of gaining these hyperlinks (let's just call them links for now) This is a way for website users to navigate between pages on the internet. Backlinks are also called 'inbound links' or 'incoming links'. They are important for SEO as they represent a 'vote of confidence'. They are a signal to search engines that others hold your content in high regard. If many websites link to your website, webpage or blog content, then search engines can deduce that your content is worth highlighting. This then helps it gain a higher placement within the 'Search Engine Results Page'. So we can now build a picture of why backlinks are so important as they have a positive effect on your website's ranking position.

Building backlinks

Building backlinks will be part of your 'Off-Site SEO Strategy' which we will go more into detail in later posts. The process of gaining these links is known as link building or earning. Now, not all backlinks are cut from the same cloth! Some backlinks are a lot more valuable than others. Backlinks from in-demand, trustworthy, high-authority websites carry much more weight than backlinks from low-authority, potentially spammy websites.

If people follow links to your website and stay around for a bit, this is an indication to Google your content is valid. But even just being mentioned by a high-quality website without people following the link can give your website a major boost. That can be the difference between a high-quality link to a low one.

Understanding A Link

Search engines use links in two different ways, one to discover new webpages and the second is to help them with how well the page should rank. When they are deciding on ranking, search engines will not only look at the content of the page; they will also look at the number of links pointing to that page from external websites. So, you will be ranked on the quality of those external websites, the number of links and the quality of the content.

How do we start

Backlinks can be a time-consuming pursuit and they are often regarded as one of the harder jobs of creating good SEO. If you are new to these strategies or have known about it but just have not got around to implementing them, they can be difficult to know where to start. But mastering your backlink strategies can put you apart from your competitors. Do not fear we are here to help with some backlink strategies and tips! 

First Things First, The Rules of Engagement - Play Nicely! 

When building backlinks do not take shortcuts or eventually you may be found out and your ranking could plummet. Your backlinks should be well editorially earned, be from relevant high ranking websites and not be paid for in any way. This is a good rule of thumb. 

Secondly - Do Some Competitor Backlink Research

Let's start with the one that can get you underway quickly and give you an insight into where you should be focusing your time. Let's start an investigation into a high ranking competitor that uses the target keywords that you use. Looking at their backlinks will give you a big insight on what to do and the type of backlinks you may want to start targeting. There are many tools out there to help with this, but two such are SEMrush Backlink Analytics Tool, and backlink tool like Link Explorer. These services can help you see the important links that a competitor already has, then you can start targeting those types of links and website in your own link building strategies. You are learning by what has been successful for companies in the past, rather than guessing at what you think maybe a good strategy for you. 

Okay Now On to The Link Building Strategies

1 - Passive Resource Link Building

Now you are armed with some intel from your competitors you can start writing content that may attract these type of websites to link to you as you now know what they like to look for. This is a great way to shape your content writing for your website. Create resource pages and blogs that will earn quality backlinks from relevant website authorities. This is a slow process but after a while, it will work, then you can go out to other websites and highlight the content you are producing.  

2 - Guest Content & Blog Writing.

An oldy but goody, you now have a list of websites you would like to be on, and you know what kind of websites that like your type of content. So reach out to them and ask if you can create a guest blog post or article on a topical subject that they are covering. Supply them with great content and a link to your website and you are off at the races. If you have actioned the above point and already have built great content for your website, you can give them a link to show them the quality of your work. They may even link to some of your content in the future as they now know about you! 

3 - Link Gap Analysis

Now you have all your data from your 'Competitors Backlink Research' so find websites that link to your competitors but do not link to you. If a website has linked to many of your competitors, there is a real good chance that they will link to yours too. Reach out to them and see if you can strike up a relationship and get a link. Study why they are linking to your competitors and then put together a justification case for linking to you too, it may just work! 

4 - Business Association Links

Are you a member of any type of business association? Chamber of Commerce? Or any industry bodies and special organisations? This could be a nice opportunity to earn your site some easy links!

5 - Collaboration and Suppliers links

If you collaborate with or sell other people's services or products, you should be reaching out to them and asking if you can go on their supplier, stockists or collaboration page. If they don't have one ask if you can write some content on a subject that relates to them that they would like to link to. 

6 - Digital PR & Journalisum

PR can be one of the strongest ways to build lots of quality links. Journalists and bloggers often rely on PR contacts to feed them with stories, there is a vast appetite to create constant new stories. If you can create a great story about your brand and get it out on mass to journalists and bloggers you could earn yourself hundreds of quality links. Regularly creating these story and events can also lead you to be seen as an industry expert. There are plenty of good books out there on how to build great PR, grab one and make yourself a Chief PR Officer! 

7 - HARO & Journalistic Quotes

Slightly related to the last point HARO is an aggregator where you can give quotes to journalists who are looking for help when writing their stories. There stands a good chance that they will link out to your website and give you credit for your quote. Many journalists are hungry for a quote to go in their article. Once signing up to HARO you will be sent opportunities to respond with quotes, choose wisely and you may build some great links. 

8 - Link Building With Listicle 

In journalism and blogging, a listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure but has sufficient copy to be published as an article. You often see them with titles like '10 Best Restaurants in London". You can use Google search operators to look at listicles in your industry that mention your competitors. Then look to see if you are included. To get added to some listicles, you need to reach out to a blogger and tell them why you may be better suited to being in their list. See if you can add value in any way for them and you may just get in!

9 - The Broken Link Building Solutions

Analyse any broken external links that point to 404 pages off websites that you would like a link from. Then see if you have any relevant content that this could link to, or build your own content around the links description and page content. Then reach out to the webmaster of the website and suggest your alternative replacement link to your content. You are helping them reduce their 404 breaks, and also the time they would need to source the new information if they did this themselves! It's a win-win for everyone!  

10 - Ask for links from Brand Name Mentions 

Go to something like the SEMrush Brand Monitoring Tool and have a look if your company has been mentioned but there is no link to your website. Then you can reach out to the webmasters or bloggers who mentioned your brand and ask them nicely if they would add a link for you. Talk about how a link may help their readers with context. 

11 - Testimonials

You have probably asked for testimonials from your customers and clients in the past, but you can also build backlinks by writing them. If you write a testimonial or case study for a business that you deal with they will usually publish it on their website. You can ask that they link to your website from the testimonial as this will show the testimonial authenticity. 

Conclusion 

I have covered some tactics here and there are even more to discover. If you want a strategy that is right for you then this can depend on the time you have and the industry you are in. At the start give them all a go, see what is the most productive for you, and which gives you a good return on your time! One thing is for sure, putting a solid backlink strategy in place will reward your website with great SEO in the long term. It takes time to build, but it is a core foundation step that will see your website go from strength to strength.

Future Culture & Work Trends In A Post-COVID-19 World (Part 1)

We all know change is afoot in the world of the workplace. We have experienced booms in some business, and dramatic slumps in others. Who would have thought that the word Zoom would become as well known as Starbucks before the pandemic? And that one would be earning fewer bucks, while the other took off for the stars!

Like water, the economy has this way of finding the least path of resistance when prosperous rivers get blocked. For a while, there is no flowing water, but soon, after a build-up of pressure, there are many little streams that start emerging, eventually finding their way to the sea of economic success. Although we are suffering at this precise moment in time, we only have to look at history to show that with any crisis there is always a working way out. Eventually, we always reach new peaks and prosperous times. We have had a deep forest fire, some of the forests are still standing, but in other areas, we are now waiting for the new exciting trees to grow, and grow they will! It is what human nature has a surprising knack of doing. We are always pushing forward and have a thirst for growth. So, the economy will be back with a vengeance, but in what way? What species of new trees will flourish? The visual and cultural landscape will change, but how will this look? In this two-part article, we first take a look at some patterns and trends that are emerging in terms of company organisation, structure and culture. It will give us an indication of how the future may play out, and how we all may want to adjust to this! In the next instalment, we will take a look at the winning and losing business sectors, and what sort of new trees will grow and prosper in the future business forests.

Structural & Company Culture Changes

Increase of Employers as a Social Safety Net

In a report by Gartner, the societal role of employers seems to have grown. The pandemic has increased the trend of employers playing an expanded role in their employees’ financial, physical and mental well-being. Financial assistance, adjusted hours of work, child care and well-being support are all things that can be an effective way to promote physical health, improving the emotional well-being of employees. There look to be real benefits by improving the employee experience, especially to account for personal factors, such as family responsibilities. Also, the consideration of having a Chief Well-being Officer/Chief Mental Health Officer or advocate roles for employees will be of great importance. Considering the post-pandemic changes that everyone is facing, these support roles could be a key to a successful well-integrated, and flexible business

A Redefinition of Critical Skills

Again, in the Gartner report, organisations seem to be redefining the skills needed to meet their strategic goals. Employers are realising that there is another category of critical skills apart from those that equate directly to employees’ roles. These critical skills vary from business to business and role to role. But It has been found that there is a real advantage to encouraging employees to develop a broader range of critical skills that potentially open up multiple opportunities for their development, rather than preparing for a specific next role. New development paths and a provision of greater career diversity seems to be getting more popular. Supporting employees in critical roles who lack critical skills is a worthy investment, not only to make the business more flexible but to offer greater career development and support to employees. 

We have entered into this philosophy ourselves over the past few months. We have been using a company called Recruitment Juice to implement this strategy. Our consultants are very experienced with wide-ranging skills and great track records within their job roles. We could have just left it at that, but we wanted to broaden their skill-set even further, upskilling each individual with the latest recruitment techniques and broadening their skills to overlap and go beyond the traditional skill set for their type of role. Also, we have been using the amazing ongoing training given by our CRM supplier FireFish. Firefish has some very unique workflows in their system and in their 'FishTank' training they show recruiters how to use these symbiotically with new working practises that dovetail beautifully into their system software, The integration of both software and workflow mindsets allows a recruiter to work so much more efficiently in a modern workflow. So as you can see, we are embracing the 'Redefinition of Critical Skills' ourselves by investing heavily into our employees for their futures and for our candidate and clients. The spin-off effect of this of course is that it makes our company more diverse, flexible and dynamic. The wins are all-round!  

Empathy and Productivity

Juggling the need for empathy and productivity is a hard one. With the massive uptake of home working, businesses are considering what expectations are reasonable for managers and employees now working from home and the workplace. It seems there is a need to ensure that leaders focus on developing emotional intelligence to help employees navigate expectations by balancing empathy and performance requirements.

For on-site working advocating health and safety will be a high priority. Looking at more helpful support options like hazard pay rewards, childcare, health benefits and safety measures need all to be taken into consideration. Finally, making sure the culture is engaging and inclusive. Employees assigned to tasks and projects should be bought together in a helpful team culture. Again, these issues can be helped by a support role like a Well-Being Officer and a Health and Safety Officer to put in place balanced solutions.

Structural Business Resilience

Before the COVID-19 crisis, the majority of organisational structures were focused on increased efficiency. The pandemic shows that a focus on efficiency alone leads to breaks and fractures in testing times. For longevity, more of a focus needs to be brought to resilience and diversity. According to Gartner, lean operations created limited flexibility during the pandemic which gave a lot of organisations real problems. Critical skills and competencies need to be implemented to be able to quickly change course when adverse conditions strike. Creating flexible work systems and considering employees of all backgrounds and needs is a start to a resilient system. Designing roles, structures and processes around outcomes rather than tasks increases responsiveness and flexibility.

The Culture of Change

As we can see with the changes over the last six months a “one-size fits all” approach may no longer work. There seems to be a need for new positions that look at the bigger picture of positive culture and well-being within companies. Armed with the ability for them to implement wide-ranging support that employees will need to navigate a new working culture. We at Prestige have just experienced this ourselves with a candidate starting a new job. Although her job is absolutely strained to the maximum at the moment with her learning the role while being hit hard by the logistics of COVID-19, she is amazed by the structure and support within the organisation that she is receiving. In turn, she loves the work environment and has a positive outlook and enthusiasm in a situation that could have had the potential to be too overbearing. We have analysed this and there seems to be four key ingredients to her positive reaction to a very challenging situation.

1. Each employee is assigned an active Wellbeing & Health Officer. They are regularly helping employees with all things mind, body and spirit related, ranging from advice to yoga sessions and gym memberships.

2. They have a mentor for support and growth. Someone within the organisation that is not their immediate report that can guide them through their career path having successful experience of this themselves.

3. Funded training courses and further education is offered through a dedicated training department. There is no prescribed expectation, simply an offering of interesting educational and work advancement.

4. Worktime flexibility is not an issue; this is a massive plus point to many with family logistics to juggle.

Add to this the positive culture that is handed down from the very top of the organisation and the fact that they have a Chief of Diversity that is well integrated into the organisation, and it all gives the sense that they care about important issues and the people that work for them. Let's also not forget, that along with all the work upheaval over the last six months, we have had political upheaval over equality too. This is just another issue that has to be addressed within companies that have positive values and want to flourish for the future.

Conclusion

When we read the report by Gartner we were amazed to see where things may be heading. And with our experience with this particular candidate and her new role, we have seen first hand that some of the issues and solutions that are highlighted in the report actually do work! They have a direct impact on the loyalty, enthusiasm and flexibility of employees. Now, we are not saying every company can hit the ground running and implement these ideas straight away. But it is something definitely worth considering working towards as a concept and solution for the times we are now living in. The way we see it, with all the new challenges we face, the new trees will be planted by these exact people and companies who are well supported, well trained and hold a broad range of critical skills to succeed in an everchanging economy.

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The Foundation Steps Of How To Improve Your SEO

A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog that was well-received entitled '8 Strategies On How To Optimise Your Website for Voice Search And Why To Do It?' In this article, we went over how you could optimise your website for voice search as a future-proofing exercise. It then dawned on us; we may have put the cart before the horse! We were presuming people had already invested time in looking at their SEO, analysing it and implementing the basic concepts. Of course, this all takes time, and you may not have got around to doing this in all the hustle and bustle of running your business. On this note, we thought we would put this guide together for you that would complement our previous blog and start you out on some healthy primary Ninja habits. We have only covered three foundation steps here, but we will cover more advanced stages in an ongoing series of blogs on this subject. (Please subscribe at the end of this blog for future articles) Our advice is to make sure the foundation steps are solid first. Then you will not waste time further up the road on advanced strategies that are not working because of shaky foundational steps. So let's start from the beginning.

Starting from the very beginning

First things first, when we start on the SEO improvement path of enlightenment, we look at all the amazing advice, and there is a temptation to go all Bruce Lee on it. You know, a thousand press-ups on your knuckles, lighting matches in mid-air with your nunchucks, that sort of thing. We get it, the secret science of SEO is exciting, and the temptation is to go straight to the more complicated stuff! But why try the 1000 press-ups when you have a bad back and a dodgy shoulder!? Lets pause and see our physio first, you know, get all our joints and back aligned. Then work our way up to the starring role of 'Enter the Dragon'! What is a press-up without the core foundation being strong before you start? So what is the first foundation step?

1: Build Your Customer Personas

So what is the customer or buyer Persona? And why should we start the road to SEO with them? Buyer Personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers. You base this fictional customer on real data and research that you already have from your existing customers and your competitor analysis. Buyer Personas help you understand your existing and prospective customer habits much better. There is never just one Persona; there may end up being many that help you to understand how to drive the direction of your SEO. This then makes it much easier to tailor your SEO, keywords, content, product development and services to meet the buying behaviours of existing and potential customers. Personas are often used in content marketing. If you are writing content for the wrong type of person, then you are wasting precious marketing resources. So we usually start the whole marketing process off by really understanding our customers, delving into their attention and buying triggers by using Personas.

Although Personas used to be the preserve of inbound marketing and content creation, we feel you should always start your SEO process off with a persona building prosses too! Your building blocks of SEO must be directed in the right way from the very beginning. Doing this as a first step, it also gives you an amazing resource of information for when you do start your content marketing, which is also one of the many pillars of good SEO that we will go into in later articles!

OK, we hear you say, but I still do not get what they are, and how to create them? Well, we have you covered. One of the best marketing platforms out there is Hubspot, and it has a great article on what Personas are and how to create and use them. Have a look at the article on Hubspot here. But just as a little heads up here is a preview of a Persona template from the Hubspot resources pack you get with the article.

Now we have you safely turned on to Personas, let's get to foundation part two....

2: Audit Your Website

Yes, let's see what we are starting with, let's dig in deep under the hud of your website and make sure we fix some of the basics before we move on. For this, there are many tools out there. First up is Neil Patel's website, he has a gold mine of information on marketing and SEO, and amazing mini-courses too. His SEO checker is here, it is a great place to start and will spot the potential fundamental problems you need to fix. Also, head over to Woorank and see just what's going on with your website's performance. There are lots of services out there, just google 'SEO Website Checkers'. I like these two for a good overview of what is happening in terms of website performance and SEO fixes. They will give you a website score and highlight potential problems for improvement, these could be things like:

• Title Tags

• Meta Description

• Header Tags (H1 H2 etc.)

• Content

• URL issues

• Sitemaps Validity

• Broken Links

• Slow webpage loading

• Mobile-friendliness

• Security

• Backlink score

• Trafic ranking, and much more....

3: Analyse Your Website Data

OK, now we have a list of potential website problems that we can fix, the last piece in the foundational jigsaw is linking your google service like Google Analytics, and Search Console to your website. Have you got the tracking code on your website already? If not install it now, you will need it to analyse what is going on with your website traffic and the behaviour of your potential customers when they arrive on your website.

Looking at how people behave once they land on your site is worth its weight in gold. Google Search Console tracks data and key metrics, like the number of sessions you have and bounce rates, to name a few. You can see who your referral sources are and how people move around your website. Getting to know all this data will make you better at finding any potential problems on your website. Google Analytics is user-oriented, giving you data on who is visiting and interacting with your website. Google Search Console, is a search-engine focused analytic tool, unlike Google Analytics, which gives you customisable data in an easily-managed format. Google Search Console offers more suggestions, highlighting problem areas for improvement. If you want to crack down on SEO development, this can be a great tool to harness.

The Conclusion

There endeth your three foundational steps. The yellow belt is firmly around your waist. You have all the information you need to implement all the trick flicks and Kung Fu kicks you need to start to become the JuJu Chan or Bruce Lee of SEO. Why? Because you now know who your target audience is and how to engage with them. You are on the road to fixing simple issues on your website that can harm your search engine rankings. And finally, you can now see patterns of what people do when they are on your website. You can improve their experience and increase customer conversions. You now have the structure and customer intelligence, and these are foundational steps to build on, this is real ninja stuff!! As Bruce would say, 'Be Water My Friend!'

Do you do all this already? Would you like more articles on SEO in the future? Let us know, or subscribe to our regular blog articles HERE.

Is Augmented Reality the future of the e-commerce race?

Augmented Reality has gained popularity over the last few years due to the advancements in mobile technology. There are a lot of big companies betting their future on the technologies behind it. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google are all in the game and are pushing to be the leaders in this race. But what is the future health of this technology and should the e-commerce companies chase the super sprinter to the finishing line?

The technology behind this is making great strides with the fierce competitiveness in the market place between Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore software. We can plainly see if there is so much at stake for these companies they are going to work hard to create a market for these services. Great games and one-off demonstrations of what it can do are nice, but not enough! They know this technology needs to be used by us in a frictionless manner on a day to day basis. To do this they need to find business applications for it to become part of the fabric of our everyday life. 

The Growth of AR 

In 2019 Augmented Reality saw a record growth and AR-enabled mobile devices reached the 1.5 billion mark. It was predicted that this year (2020) would be the year that would see a marked uptake in AR growth! 

A Gartner report predicted that over 100 million users would be using some sort of Augmented Reality technology by 2020. A BRP report (Boston Retail Partners part of the Windstream Holdings) stated back in 2018 that 32% of retailers expect to add virtual and augmented reality in their shopping experience over the next three years. As of the end of 2019, this figure was at around 15%. Compare this to a report that stated 48% of customers said they would be more likely to buy from a retailer that provided Augmented Reality and all of a sudden you can see the opportunities. We can see by these figures, retailers that are early to the party and implement it well could have a real advantage. Their customers will have a more immersive experience to interact with. So the slow jog to AR really may end up in a sprint if the customers have anything to do with it. 

What Brands are Currently Pioneering Augmented Reality? 

Bringing brands and products to life is one of the known virtues of Augmented Reality. Allowing shoppers to visualise products more engagingly, together with creative ways of placing objects into real locations is the real currency of AR. The DMA’s chief executive Tim Bond said: “Mixed reality technologies, like AR and VR, hold huge potential for organisations to offer customers new ways to bring their brand to life, whether that is by transporting them to another reality or enhancing the one they’re in.” He went on to say “However, it is also important for marketers to always put the customer at the heart of these experiences and offer them something they will value. Brands must also consider how they can maintain consistency across the digital and physical worlds they now inhabit.”

This year Charged Retail quoted that nearly 40% of consumers in the UK say they have used AR or VR to test or view a product they’re considering purchasing. We can see things are speeding up since the 2018 predictions with a good adoption of these technologies from consumers. Obviously, as stated by Tim Bond, these experiences have to be of value. But if they are, it looks like consumers are drawn toward the AR experience like Usain Bolt to the finishing line. Let’s have a look at a few of the retailers who have decided to get into the wonderful world of AR! 

Retailers Embracing AR

Ikea: 

Originally launched in 2017 the Ikea Place app, it allows users to superimpose 3D digital model renderings of its products onto your smartphone, letting you see how their furniture would fit in your home.

Asos

Developed in partnership with AR firm HoloMe, Asos launched its “Virtual Catwalk” in June 2019. The concept is for users to point their smartphone camera at any flat surface allowing them to see a virtual model exhibiting the clothes on a catwalk. They have also launched an augmented reality app that allows you to see what items look like in different sizes, on different body types.

Apple

Apple’s Quick Look launched in 2018, it allows retailers to upload 3D renders of their products so users via Apple's website can superimpose virtual products into their homes using iPads and iPhones. As you can imagine implemented, coming from Apple it is a slick experience. 

Burberry

Burberry released it’s augmented reality feature this year enabling customers to view 3D renders of its products via Google Search, we will talk about Google search later as it is fully in the race! 

There are many more companies that are releasing their versions of augmented reality within the marketplace this year. We have only covered a handful here but will be looking at more companies that are releasing AR in a future blog, so keep a lookout for that! Meanwhile, let's take a look at whether e-commerce companies should be considering AR for their next website upgrade!  

Should E-commerce Companies Enter Into The AR Race?

Well, I think from the research we have to say the answer is yes! I’m sure many people from e-commerce companies reading this are well down the road of implementation. But there are bound to be those on the wall too, not too sure whether to dust their running shoes down and get in the race. 

The more people that experience AR, the more they will want to use it. So far the majority of e-commerce retailers have not yet implemented their solutions. But, with Google announcing at its 2019 developers conference that it was introducing AR functionality into its search results, that really does turn up the pace of the sprint! 

Great SEO is also a pre-requisite for e-commerce companies. By Google announcing AR functionality into its search results they will be considering this. When they dish out your search results this could start becoming an important issue. Their algorithms are always evolving and they do tend to favour websites engaging with future technologies and best website practices (Remember the move to prefer mobile-friendly websites!?). Add to that the visually pleasing, slick experience that will be engaging for customers and it looks like AR has left the blocks! It may be only at the 20 meters mark of the 100-meter race, but with the major technology players trying to be as swift as Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie, you know you’re in for a good race!

A New Podcast in the Making!

Well, we are among strange times at the moment and businesses are trying to navigate their way through the maze that is COVID-19! It's changed a lot of working practices with wide-ranging effects on all businesses. We too at Prestige have had a lot of thinking to do on how we move forward as a business to best serve our clients and candidates. Alongside this, we really needed to look at where our marketing focus would be, we have always liked to help people with our information-driven output, so we decided that it would be nice to expand this concept.

Reflection

We sat down as a business and thought how could we bring value in these times? There are lots of blogs out there and we run one, but we wanted to make more of a personal connection with people. Around a year ago we all discussed how it would be great to start a podcast, something that would be informative and interesting for our clients and candidates, that would deal with the issues they face within their lives and work. At the time we shelved the idea thinking it would take a lot of time to do it properly, and if we could not do it justice we would not do it at all. Then Lockdown arrived so we revisited the idea of this as a form of communication. We wanted something that would give great value, be personable in format and really dig into interesting topics, we decided to focus our resources on this as we felt it is a better medium for these challenging times!

The New Podcast

So, here we are, the Prestige Podcast is born! Our vision is that every month we aim to cover a wide variety of interesting topics of investigation within business, research and lifestyle. From BioTec and the new digital horizon - to self-help and mind body and spirit. The aim is to help and inform, covering interesting topics for business and personal challenges.

The first episode is out! I'll give you a guess what it's about? Well, it's 'The Guide To Survive and Prosper in the world of lockdown and homeworking.' Yes, we know it's a bit predictable, but all the news has been dominated by COVID-19 and there is a lot of adjustments people have had to make. So we thought it would make sense that our first guest would be someone that could really make a difference and help people with her advice.

Our First Guest

Sandra Marston has been an esteemed counsellor and life coach for the past 18 years. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Counselling, and as well as being a practitioner of NLP, she has numerous certificates to her name in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Critical Incident Debriefing, and a PGC in Supervision of Counselling and the Helping Professions.

Her passion in life is to help you live a happier, more fulfilling life by conquering your fears and achieving your goals in life. To realise this, she works with people on all the psychological aspects of counselling, such as self-belief, anxiety, depression and stress. We thought Sandra would be the perfect first guest to advise us on the potential pitfalls of working from home and to give us all some help in managing anxiety and stress in these challenging times. We talk about how to deal with the new world of homeworking and the general psychological effect of lockdown, giving plenty of advice on how we can overcome some of the common psychological problems this can bring. We really hope you enjoy the first show, you can find it here - First Show.

We wish everybody well at this time.

All the best

The Prestige Gang

Artificial Intelligence: The Benefits for Recruitment

Everything and everyone has become completely reliant on technology in today’s society. You can connect to the internet pretty much anywhere and do anything online without having to click a button, which has completely changed how the world can function.

One of the biggest and established systems that has only just started to revolutionise how everything can operate, is Artificial Intelligence. AI is inspired by our very own human intellect, and is designed to support people and businesses, to ensure they can work as efficiently as possible.

What Companies Are Currently Using AI?

Microsoft - Forus Health created a portable eye screening device that uses Microsoft AI. In less than a minute, AI can identify whether a person is at risk for vision loss, so people at risk can get the treatment they need.

Netflix – This streaming service uses AI to record your previous preferences and user behaviour to give you new and relevant suggestions, making it easy for you to find the next programme or film to watch in half the time.

Facebook – Social Media uses AI to record what you’ve searched for, where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing so it can target relatable advertisements and content that will interest you on your timeline.

Businesses use AI systems because they can be tailored to the business’s needs, AI features can help deliver faster services with better results as it can sort, analyse and track large amounts of data, which is why it works so well for recruitment.

How Has AI Improved the Recruitment Process?

According to Ideal 52% of Talent Acquisition leaders say the hardest part of recruitment is screening candidates from a large applicant pool.

However, there are now Recruitment Systems that can support this. These systems are built with Artificial Intelligence software to suit your style of business, by using tags and codes in your data, this allows the system to work quickly and deliver accurate results for you, by using AI at different levels.

There are lots of AI driven software on the market, but here are a few to look at:

·       FireFish

·       BambooHR

·       Freshteam

·       LinkedIn Recruiter

These systems all use a variety of different Artificial Intelligence in different ways to support your recruitment process.

We know how important it is for recruiters to be able to deliver the best and quickest service, so if you want to look at other ways you can reduce your hiring time for every part of the recruitment process, please click through to our blog here.

Automation:

Artificial Intelligence has really helped streamline recruitment; however, it can still be a lengthy process. So other systems within Artificial Intelligence that offer automated services, could give you extra support in your recruitment process.

Chatbots

Chatbots aren’t new to the technological world, however using Chatbots for recruitment purposes could really help improve your reputation. The AI Natural Language Processing system is what makes a Chatbot any businesses dream “employee”.

Chatbots can be programmed with accurate information, as well as words and phrases that could mirror your businesses personality. Which could help to transform how you interact with potential clients and candidates.

Digitised interviews

Skype, has been around since 2003, and since then has been widely used to conduct video interviews. Although Skype doesn’t use Artificial Intelligence, there are now AI systems claiming they can assess candidates based on their word choices, speech patterns, and facial expressions, to see if they are a good fit for the role.  

This can be achieved through Video Interviewing and pre-hire assessments, which is something that HireVue specialises in. They combine video interviews with predictive, validated IO science and AI to give candidates the best interviewing experience, which allows recruiters to still make confident choices about candidates.

This is just the tip of the technological iceberg, and as it is going to continue to grow, so is our research and content on this subject, so look out for more posts based around Artificial Intelligence!

We have a NEW! article that looks into How Voice Search Within Fashion E-commerce could be the Future, as well as a great blog that has been written by our Creative Director, Edward Ball and what his Fashion and Voice Search Fantasy would be, which is a great read!

As all types of technology are always developing, this would be a great time to think about how systems like AI could be beneficial for your business. Not only could it help to surpass your competition, but it could support you to have the best working practices for your business and employees.

The beauty of Artificial Intelligence is the automation and efficiency, and if you feel like your business is lacking in these areas, why not do some research to see if there is a system out there that could work for you and your business’s needs.

A Fantasy Vision of Voice Search in Fashion Retail

I think of myself as a bit of a Futurist, I love dreaming of ideas that would make my life great with technology! So, here is my take on what I feel the future of Voice Search combined with AI and AR could hold for the online fashion industry! Let me give you my vision.

I walk into my house and ask VA (my voice assistant) to put the lights on and brew me a coffee,       

VA replies "I will let you know when the coffee is ready".

I sit on my couch and decide it is time for a new Jacket. “VA, I'm in the mood for a new Jacket, show me some jackets from my casual profile”. I have 3 profiles that I have built into my clothes and body profiler app, Business, Occasion and Casual. These profiles have stored all my clothes preferences into categories from data I have added, and it learns from the clothes I purchase and websites like Pinterest. Over the years this has built up the perfect profile of the style of clothing I love. Within this app is also my body composition, you can visually scan your body with the camera in your phone or enter in your body details, size weight and height so it builds the perfect 3D body model of yourself. Of course, this is connected to your WIFI scale so the app can inform you politely that your stats may need refining. Once you have a good profile, search engines and retailers can call up the profile for information to help with the search.

The first search turns up items on my video wall, (surely, we will all have these by 2025!) with a polite voice that says, "here is your search, can you see anything you like?"

I say, “no, not really, I quite like A3, but I want more flare, look at my fresh and funky board”. Like categories, my boards are like mood boards that depict different styles and feel that I like. It just so happens if I want some kicking flares, abstract materials or wide collars, you know, something a bit different, it's all in my 'Fresh and Funky' mood board.

Straight away VA comes back and says "OK, I know exactly what you are looking for!" Fifteen Jackets appear on the wall that I mostly like. I say, “let's have a look at B2, the funky looking fitted jacket with the modern tweed and frayed patches”.

All of a sudden, a life-size 3d model of me appears on the wall in the Jacket. “Ok, I really like that VA, but I would like to see myself walking down the road on a sunny day from all angles”.

"No problems!" My trusty voice assistant says!

I appear walking in sunlight, I can see how the jacket moves, the fit and how the light affects it as the camera pans around me. Looks good I think, definitely suits my body type!

Of course, all this is achieved by garment modelling and profiling software. This is then paired with your profile app to match it to your body type. “I love this, but I'm not so keen on the brown, do they do it in a different colour?”

"Yes" says VA, "they have it in grey or mustard."

“Fit me in grey and put me in a restaurant in low light”.

"OK," says VA. And there I am sitting at a restaurant table in my new jacket. “I really like that, order it for me now”.

"OK, this will be with you by this Thursday, but before I order there is a shirt that matches this really well, would you like to look at it?"

“Go on then”. And just like that, I now appear in the most wonderful shirt with the Jacket! I think to myself this profiling business is going to cost me a fortune!

“Yes VA, please add that too.”

"Shall I now go ahead and order?"

” Yes”, I say.

"It will all be with you on Thursday before 1 pm. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

“No, have a good night VA”. With a coffee in my hand and a smile on my face, I sit back and look forward to Thursday. Just in time for the weekend! I think to myself wow; this is so much easier than back in 2020!

Well, that is my fantasy and perfect storm, it tackles a lot of the problems that I have highlighted in our article ‘Is Voice Search Within Fashion E-commerce the Future?’

I have no doubt that the Voice revolution that has just started will gain momentum and I look forward to the day I can sit on the sofa and order a new jacket with ease, without having to lift a finger!

If you would like to see more content from us about this topic and receive an email on our next article 'How to Optimise Your SEO For Voice', then please enter your details below.

Thanks for reading

Ed Ball

Creative Director

Prestige Recruitment Group

How can leaders confront burnout?

Although the term burnout has actually been around since the 1970s, in the last 2 years it’s really started to become an issue for people in the workplace. 602,000 workers reported that they were suffering from work-related stress in 2018/19 according to The Health and Safety Executive Organisation.

The rise in technology means everyone can now connect to the internet pretty much anywhere, which has increased the demand for flexible working. However as more and more people are starting to work from home, this is making it harder for them to know when to stop working.

As a leader, how can you solve this problem?

If your business allows flexible working, you need to ensure your employees aren’t overworking themselves. However, systems like Skype and WhatsApp can support this, as being able to video call or direct message your employees will help you keep track of people and ensure requirements are being met.

If you are a good leader, you need to be flexible in your approach to supporting the business and your employees. We have touched on some things below that could help to improve your employee’s behaviour and stress, if you are already doing these things then that’s great, but it’s important you are doing them to the best of your ability.

Take a Vacation

According to Direct Gov, full-time workers in the UK are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks or 29 days paid holiday a year (including bank holidays). However, according to the telegraph, a third of people in the UK don’t use all of their holiday, and in most cases lose up to 5 days a year. You need to encourage your employees to take their entitled holidays, as this is going to help them to relax. If they never have time away from work how are your employees going to maintain their standard of work?

If you have employees that need to work on computers every day, you need to ensure they are also taking regular breaks every day so they can stay refreshed and focused throughout the week. Although it is not a legal requirement to do so, it is recommended, according to The Health and Safety Executive.

Suggest Different Responsibilities

If you can see an employee is suffering from stress or burnout, be proactive and see how you can support them. Communication is key, so set up a meeting to discuss any issues they may be having and if they do need support, this is a good opportunity to openly discuss options for them.

If their workload is too much, the atmosphere in their team is an issue or if they are just generally unhappy in their role, being proactive will show that you care and that you want to invest time into their wellbeing.

For some tips on how you can support a member of staff that is under stress, click here.

Make Work More Fun or Interesting.

Encourage your employees to set up social events, as this will create a better working environment where people can have a break and socialise. Giving your employees an afternoon off occasionally will give them something to look forward too. And if they are on schedule and work isn’t too hectic, then doing so shouldn’t cause any issues.

Here are some popular choices for social events at work:

• Summer Party

• Christmas Party

• Seasonal Days – Pancake Day, Halloween etc.

• Charity Work - McMillian Coffee Morning

There is a lot of pressure to succeed in today’s society. Last year it was recorded by the Mental Health Foundation that 74% of UK adults said they have felt stressed at work. As a business, it is important that you have procedures in place to support your employees if they are struggling.

Yes, they are there to do a job, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t receive support whilst working. If people are overworked and not offered support, it is only going to have a negative impact on yourself and your business. So it is important to see the bigger picture and help people that matter.

Children’s Mental Health Week

“Children get sad, children feel bad, children think sometimes they are going mad. Children get stressed, children get depressed, children think sometimes their life is a mess. A child’s mental health is more important than any school grade, it’s up to us to give them the courage to speak up and not be afraid.”

- @allontheboard

As it is Children’s Mental Health Week, we thought this would be a great opportunity to help raise awareness for this cause. More and more children are struggling to deal with mental health issues, so it is important children know they are not alone.

The Independent claims that one of the main contributing factors to mental health in young people is social media. In the last 10 years, technology has completely revolutionised how people live, communicate and socialise with each other.

As most people are now spending most of their time online according to a report by The Huff Post, 60% of those people have said their self-esteem has been impacted in a negative way. This is due to the unrealistic connotations of people’s lifestyles and appearances.

According to The Children’s Society:

• At any one time, at least 10 million children and adults in the UK are experiencing a mental health problem.

• 75% of all mental health problems are established by the time someone is 18.

• 75% of young people who are experiencing mental health problems aren’t receiving treatment.

The Children’s Society has also found if children and young people aren’t given the support they need, their problems are manifesting rapidly. The NHS is under immense pressure which means there is also a lack of services, with an average wait time of two months according to Charity Rethink Mental. Which to any parent with a child or young adult who is suffering from mental health is simply not good enough.

This is why it is so important to come together when a system is failing you. Communities, organisations, friends and family are what help people who are suffering from mental health problems. Which is why everyone needs to spread the word and get as many people involved as possible!

For some advice on how you can support Children’s Mental Health Week or if you just want advice to support your child, click here.

As a parent it can be very difficult not knowing how to help your child, especially if they don’t know how to express themselves properly. ChillFactorE.com has some really useful tips about how you can be proactive if you think your child is struggling in any way.

By doing things such as:

• Organise fun activities.

• Ban phones from the dinner table to encourage conversation.

• Stop your child from taking their phones/tablets to bed.

• Find apps on your child’s phone that are designed to encourage physical activity, such as Pokémon Go!

• Encourage your child to be involved in a school club.

Although these are small steps that you may think are impossible to do, it is important you are consistent with them, as these steps could ensure positive changes for your child.

There’s no denying that mental health in general is rising year on year, so it needs to become a normal topic of discussion. If children are struggling and don’t understand why this is just going to create further problems. By teaching children, young adults and parents that they are not alone and that there is support out there, this will increase the chances of getting the right help and eventually learning how to manage or even overcome mental illness.

If you want to find out more about mental health, as well as organisations that are working to help support children and young adults, we have found some great organisations below:

Interview questions employers should be asking

In most interviews, there are usually a certain set of questions that you will ask your candidates, no matter what job they’re interviewing for.

• Tell me about yourself

• What are your strengths?

• What are your weaknesses?

• Why do you want this job?

• Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Although these questions will usually be accompanied by some role-specific questions, do they really give you enough information to make the right decision about a candidate? As these questions are so generic, with enough time anyone could come up with great answers, and they may not even be true. So, it might be worth changing how you get to know your candidates, by delving deeper with strategic questions for example. This could create a better interview experience for you and your candidates.  

As recruiters, it is our job to soul search and find the perfect people. Asking lots of questions is one of the most important factors in our process! So, we want to talk to you about different ways you could potentially approach interviews and find the best candidates for your business. 

Think outside the box

It is important to ask questions that will make the candidate think. For example, can you ask them something that will throw them off guard to see how they deal with pressure? This doesn’t have to be related to the business, as they will most likely have done their homework. So, something like a maths equation would do the trick, because who doesn’t love maths? Although this may seem random, it is just a test and doesn’t have to be taken too seriously.

You can also ask them what they would do if they were to be the new CEO of the company. What changes and challenges would they focus on? However, if you think this isn’t something you would want to practice, you could treat it as an “ice breaker” to relax the candidate.

Be real

Although an interview is just a chance for you and your candidate to get to know each other, it can still be nerve-wracking for them. Long-winded questions could confuse someone that is nervous, resulting in a stressful situation. So, ask questions that have thought behind them, as this could potentially increase their interest and engagement.

An example could be:

“What’s the most selfless thing you’ve done and why?”

This is a great question as it could reveal what sort of person they are. If they invest a lot of their time into helping others for example, this would be a great trait to have in business. If they haven’t done anything you consider to be “selfless” don’t hold it against them, as they could still be perfect for the job, but that’s up to you!

What do you think?

It is important that you reflect on the interview and the candidate. It could also be useful to get feedback from staff that talked to them beforehand. This could help you determine how they physically come across and if you could see them fitting into your business. For example:

• Do they fit the criteria for your company values?

• “Can I imagine working with this person, or seeing them being socially active with others outside of work?”

• Ask security or the receptionist – “How did the candidate come across to you?”

Even just one of these questions could help you if it comes down to choosing between two strong candidates. The chances are one of them would either be better suited or come across better in these situations.

As a business you need to appreciate the time candidates will put into applying for a position. This should be reflected in the interview stage, they have given you their time, so give them yours.

Return to work interviews: Why are they important

A return to work interview is put in place when an employee has been off sick or absent from work for a specific period of time. The purpose of these interviews is to discuss any absences or issues that are on record, as well as assessing if the member of staff is ready and fit to come back to work. As everything will be put in writing, this is a good way to keep track of any issues. It will be easier for management to determine what information needs to be assessed and what needs to be dealt with.

So, although it’s not mandatory for businesses to have these interviews in place, it would clearly benefit them to do so. Please see other benefits below:

·         Deterring dishonesty by conducting face-to-face interviews.

·         Reducing unexplained absences.

·         Supporting employees and planning for reasonable adjustments.

·         Transitioning employees back into work.

·         Assessing risks around the work environment.

It can be nerve-wracking for an employee to come back to work after having time off, especially if they have been dishonest about why they were absent. Although a return to work interview is completely informal, it’s a good opportunity to spot any inconsistencies or unusual behaviour from the employee, as they are not put in place to catch people out. If they are absent for reasons such as illness or “workplace tension” such as bullying, this should also be discussed openly. Having a return to work interview is a great way to offer one to one support, but they are also a good way to get the employee up to date with anything that has happened in their absence. By making sure the employee is aware of any changes or upcoming deadlines, this will take the pressure off and allow them to prepare for that.

Not only is it important to listen to the employee, but you need to be prepared to give solutions. By asking questions that are open-ended, it will show the employee that you want to engage with them. Having a conversation should make them feel like they can be honest with you, if they know you respect them and genuinely want to help, this could help reduce any future absences.

These interviews will also allow you to accommodate different types of absences, for example, if one of your employees is off work due to a disability. People with disabilities may need extra time off to go to medical appointments, these days shouldn’t be counted as sick days so a return to work interview wouldn’t be appropriate. You should have an agreement within the employees’ contract to have adjustments to accommodate their disability. However having a one to one meeting would still be beneficial, in case there are any problems.

If an employee needs support transitioning back into work, as a business you need to accommodate that and come up with a workable solution for both parties.

Finally, end the interview by asking the employee if they have any questions about what has been discussed. Although in most cases there will be procedures you have to follow when doing a return to work interview, it is important the employee feels as though they can be honest. They need to feel comfortable that any issues will be professionally dealt with, so they don’t have to feel uncomfortable when they go back to work.

Flexible working: Should the working week be reduced to 4 days?

Because of the digital transformation, people can connect to the internet pretty much anywhere at any time. This has allowed businesses and their employees to be a lot more flexible, by changing how and where they work. This is why it has become one of the top benefits employees look for in a job, 73% of people in fact, according to Insight.com.

With flexibility in mind, there has been a lot of curiosity surrounding how people could potentially work 4 days a week instead of 5. Is it possible to benefit both the employee and employer? Most businesses simply wouldn’t be able to shut for 3 consecutive days, so we are going to look at other ways a 4 day could be implemented, without putting businesses at risk.

If you think about how the retail industry structures their staff working patterns, this could be a good way for other businesses to operate too. Obviously, daily shift patterns wouldn’t work for people that have a 9-5 job, but maybe weekly shift patterns could be beneficial. For example, half of the employees could work Monday to Thursday and the other half Tuesday to Friday. Obviously, as there would be one less day accounted for, it would make sense to extend the working days to ensure valuable working time isn’t lost.

Don’t panic, because if our maths are correct, that only equates to 2 extra hours a day! Which isn’t bad going for a 3-day weekend in return!

As this is a relatively new way to work flexibly, it hasn’t been practiced within the UK yet. So, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the pros and cons of working a 4-day week.

Pros:

Employees can be Flexible

As previously stated, having flexibility within a job is something most people want. It could potentially make such a difference to people’s wellbeing if they can control when they work, as long as they work their contracted daily or weekly hours.

Enhances Company Image

According to Insight.com, over a third of UK employers don’t offer flexible working benefits. When this is compared to 70% of people in the UK that want the option, that isn’t good. Businesses that offer benefits like flexible working and social events, for example, have a much better reputation. According to The Independent, people admit that having these kinds of benefits makes all the difference in a job search, which could increase interest in your business and potentially decrease staff turnover too.

Cons:

The Risk Factor

Going back to the fact the 4-day shift pattern isn’t implemented in the UK, there is no certainty that this style of working would work. If it was to be implemented, other things would have to change in order to accommodate it. If employees have children, their childcare arrangements will need to change in order for them to work these new hours, as nurseries only operate between 9-5 generally.

Making adjustments

When a business implements a new working structure, there should always be procedures to support them. This is to ensure the structures are fair and it won’t affect employee’s productivity. So, if your employees are working longer hours, they should be entitled to more breaks to ensure they can remain focused throughout the day.

Considering all these points, people want to have a good work-life balance, which flexible working can offer. Bringing in a 4-day week structure could absolutely work, with shift patterns in place. This would ensure there are never any staffing issues and workloads won’t suffer.

Businesses need to recognise that the digital transformation has changed people’s mindset, so businesses need to do the same. Even if you feel implementing a 4-day working week isn’t right for your business, having flexible working, in general, will improve your employee’s productivity, your reputation and staff turnover!

Tell-tale signs one of your employees is about to quit.

Here at Prestige, we have extensive experience working with people on their job-seeking journey. It is crucial that we can determine from their experience and behaviors in the screening process whether they are a serious job seeker or not. We need to be able to recognise anything in the recruitment process, good or bad. If their attitude changes or they start to ghost the situation it is important to be able to work towards solving any underlying issues as quickly as possible.

Even if we find a client the perfect candidate and they get the job, nothing is ever plain sailing in life. This is why it is important to be the “middle man” between our clients and the candidates we have found for them, even after they have successfully landed the job. Even we get ghosted from time to time, so we have first-hand experience of working with people who aren’t happy. We have to be prepared for people’s minds and circumstances to change, so we can resolve these issues quickly. So, we have put some tips together for you to be aware of, so you can spot any potential inconsistencies with your employees.

Productivity has decreased

In any job, employees will always have something to work towards, whether that be targets or deadlines. In most instances, you will monitor your employee’s performance, to ensure their work is consistent. So, it should be easy for you to spot decreasing productivity. If and when this happens, you should take action straight away, talk to them in private and offer support if relevant. Taking positive actions will only create positive outcomes, but if the result is still the same and they leave, you can be confident as a business that you did all you could to support them in their role.

Acting less like a team player

Any employee should be able to demonstrate that they can work in teams and alone. If their teamwork starts to decrease, this will not only impact others but also workloads and deadlines overall. This sort of issue would need to be dealt with quickly, especially if they have high involvement in teamwork projects.  

A negative change in attitude

Everyone has those days where they don’t want to go to work and don’t have as much motivation as normal. But if this becomes a consistent issue, then you have a problem. Not only is this a sign the employee is unhappy, but this sort of attitude can impact negatively on other employees if they are around it regularly.

Frequent sick days and Leaving work early

Being able to monitor an employee’s sickness rate will indicate if there are consistent absences and a pattern will form. If there is and they are also frequently leaving early, this can indicate they are perhaps getting ready to hand their notice in.

Change in appearance

If an employee has a sudden change in their appearance, dressing smarter than usual for example, this could be an indication they are going for interviews. So, if you do spot that in one of your employees, approach them professionally and see why they want to leave or establish if there is anything you can do to change the situation.

If an employee resembles even one of the above behaviors, they may be looking elsewhere. As a manager, it is crucial that you can recognise any differences in your employee’s behaviour. If someone is unhappy in their role, sooner or later they will leave, especially if they have been unhappy for a while and not received any support from their employers. Although people will always come and go, it will make all the difference to your business if you put things in place to support them and make them happy which in turn will improve retention.

4 ways to keep your staff motivated this holiday season

Not only is it cold, dark and rainy, but Christmas and the New Year are fast approaching. This can be a lot for businesses to contend with when trying to keep their staff motivated during the festive season.

Although this can be a stressful time to some, as targets need to be hit and deadlines need to be made. By celebrating the festivities, this will boost positivity by making sure your staff feel appreciated for the year they have just worked.

So, by embracing the season it will create a much better atmosphere for your employees to complete those last-minute tasks. Whether you are a big or small company have a look at some suggestions below for how you can embrace Christmas at work!

Get into the festive spirit

If you want to reward your staff, whether your big or small there are lots of different things you can do. End of the year bonuses is a great way to keep your staff motivated for the last few weeks of the year. But, if you don’t have a big budget, small gift cards or organising a Secret Santa is a great way to get everyone involved and feeling festive.

Most companies will save a big budget for their Christmas Party, as this is a great time for everyone to get together and blow off some steam. Investing in social events for your staff is another way of saying thank you for your hard work. It’s also a good opportunity to get everyone together in a relaxed environment, where they forget about work for one day and have fun!

If your business has a social committee this is a good way to have festive-themed events that employees can get involved in. This is a great opportunity to organise charity events, with festive bake sales, or a donation to spread the joy and get people feeling positive.

Be Flexible

Making your employees hours flexible is another way to show your thanks. Whether that be giving them flexible hours and having early finishes on a Friday for example! You may have employees that need to travel far to see families over the festive period. As a business can you afford to let people have more time off, whether they use their own paid holiday or not? Little things like this will ensure your staff feel looked after and show that you care about them, which will make them want to work harder in the long run.

Communication

As the year is coming to an end, so are targets and deadlines. This is a great time to get everyone together for the last time before the new year. Doing this will ensure everyone is on the same page and that everyone will know what December will entail. Of course, this is the time to talk about schedules and if there is anything that needs to be done, but it’s also a great way for everyone to know what fun festivities will be taking place throughout the month, again to boost productivity.

Online Promotion

Even with the festive season approaching, make sure your social presence is as consistent as

ever! Although December is a festive month, promoting your business and social events will still increase your engagement. A lot of businesses withhold putting content online from social events or things that aren’t always business-focused, but statistics from LinkedIn show that this content gets the most engagement.

So, whether you’re donating to charity or you’ve found someone their dream job in December this will not only increase your employee’s motivation but also your company’s reputation online!

How to get the most out of your Middle Managers

Middle Managers are frequently described as being the "bad guys" in business, even though this role is often the key to a company running smoothly. Research from Clear Company suggests that 48% of HR executives rank mid-level Managers as being one of the most important roles for a business. This is often overlooked due to the bad reputation middle managers have for not always being that easy to work with!

When you actually think about the pressure that comes with the role, that negative reputation can sometimes be understandable, even if it isn’t always true.

Clear Company found that even though a middle management role is crucial for a company’s success, 80% don't feel prepared for their day to day business challenges. It is vital that middle managers are given frequent support to develop in their roles and that they feel valued, otherwise the success of your company and the number of employees you have will start to decline.  

Below, there are some points and tips to think about to ensure you are getting the best out of your middle managers and know they feel supported in their roles.

 Are they the right?

Obviously, it is crucial that your middle managers are the right fit for your business, as well as being good at what they do! Managing people and a number of tasks on a daily basis can be a very difficult thing to do. It is important that you have methods in place that will help guide your managers in the right direction.

Even if you have a middle manager that has the best delegation and management skills if they don’t work with others well that can create a lot of issues, so these two elements need to come hand in hand. Resolving issues within the business and potential conflicts between staff will allow everything to run smoothly.

Less delegating

Although this is a very demanding job role, you need to ensure duties are delegated fairly and give more support to middle managers. This will ensure overall performance in the business is consistent and their well-being is supported, which will, in turn, create a happy working environment.

Set expectations and goals

It is important to make sure your middle managers are always working towards something, whether that be a project deadline or a personal goal to help them develop in their role.  

If you have a great middle manager but you can see they are struggling, put structures in place for them to follow and work towards. As a business Investing in your staff is so important, no matter what level they are at. It shows you are committed to their growth with the company. 

Give them more flexibility

Flexible working is on the rise and being able to connect to the internet anywhere gives your staff the freedom to work remotely. Although it may seem unwise to give middle managers flexibility, for them to know they have the option if needed is important. For your staff to have a good work-life balance, mixing up their routines would boost their productivity. 

When you are in a business it can be hard to keep track of everyone working for you, and of course, if you’re at the top it isn’t always a top priority as you trust them to get on with it. But, without middle managers, your business wouldn’t work consistently, so it is important to invest time and money into people that are there to work hard. By supporting the “big picture” this will help your business grow.

Is PERMA the formula for employee happiness?

According to Inews, over half of the UK workforce doesn’t feel happy in their current working situation and a lot of companies don't seem to think it is a top priority to deal with. There are however simple things that wouldn’t necessarily cost any money that could make such a difference to how your business is run and seen from an outsider’s perspective.

A pioneer in the field of positive psychology, Martin Seligman created the PERMA model. This business model is spilt into 5 elements that are individually important parts of businesses, but they can come together to help people work towards a life of fulfillment, happiness, and meaning.

Although he has created this specific model, each element can be adapted to work for any type of business. To find out more, click here.

Here at Prestige, we are great believers in positive company culture and the PERMA model seems like a simple yet really effective way to achieve this, especially if it is used in the right way.

Positive emotions

Implementing and working in a positive environment makes all the difference in how your business is run and how your staff work. If something goes wrong it is important to be optimistic and resilient otherwise when your business hits its first hurdle, you are going to find it hard going. If this happens you need to be prepared to come up with new solutions, move forward and be able to regulate your emotions. 

Engagement

To engage with people, they need to have clear boundaries and know your expectations so there is no confusion. You will need to have willpower, self-regulation and be a decisive decision-maker, being mindful of situations around you. Your employees need to feel you will support and engage with them in all aspects, be it a pat on the back or giving them constructive criticism.

As long as your staff feels in some way appreciated, productivity will naturally improve.

Relationships

Continuing on from engagement you also need to be able to build real relationships with your staff, as well as being able to recognise and resolve any challenging dynamics. You need to be able to adjust your skills to meet and connect with people in lots of different ways, whether that be face-to-face or online.

Meaning

It is important to implement meaning into your business, everything in life has a purpose and it is vital to be able to build a business that people will want to work for. Expressing humanity and compassion with your employees is important too, as everyone at some stage experiences difficult situations, a good business will understand and support this.

Achievement

You need to visualise every point of your business’s growth, meaning get yourself organised and set realistic goals! By doing this there will consistency within the company and everyone will be on the same page. You will also need to be versatile because almost nothing in life goes to plan, things change and people leave, so be prepared. As long as these things are communicated clearly your employees will feel included and happy. 

All of these points complement each other and create a well-rounded formula to ensure you have a happy working environment for your staff.  These pathways will ensure employees and your business will flourish, meaning you will be well on your way to success!