Future Proof Archives

Workplace Culture: The Secret Ingredient to Business Success!

Workplace culture is one of those terms you hear all the time. Everyone knows that a successful business has a strong workplace culture.

It’s not just a buzzword, we promise!

At Spice, we believe a great workplace culture is essential to a thriving business. It creates an environment where people feel valued, motivated, and aligned with your company’s goals.

But what exactly is workplace culture, and why does it matter? Let’s dive in!

What Is Workplace Culture?

When a term is used frequently, it can start to lose meaning. So, let’s clarify what we mean by workplace culture.

Think of it as the ‘personality’ of your business. It’s a combination of values, behaviours, and everyday practices that influence how your team functions. It shapes how they interact with each other, your clients, and stakeholders, how they make decisions, and how they approach their work.

Your workplace culture impacts everything from daily routines to long-term strategies. Whether it’s how you celebrate wins, tackle challenges, or support one another, your culture defines the experience of working in your organisation.

The Key Elements of Workplace Culture

A great workplace culture doesn’t happen by accident—it’s created with intention. Like a well-balanced organisation, it needs the right elements to function effectively. These include:

Leadership style – The way your leaders communicate and make decisions can influence the tone and vibe of the whole operation.
Communication practices – Maintaining open, honest, and respectful dialogue encourages everyone in the business to feel valued and respected.
Mission and values – People love working for businesses that align with their own values. Make sure your guiding principles are clear and reflected in everyday behaviour.
Company policies – Transparent and fair policies ensure everyone understands ‘how things are done around here.’
Workplace environment – Every aspect of your environment should be considered – from physical space to remote work flexibility, and don’t forget the team building aspect!

Every interaction, from team meetings to casual coffee chats, contributes to your workplace culture. It’s all about balance!

A Flavour for Every Business

No two businesses have the same workplace culture. Each one is unique, shaped by its people, goals, and industry. It’s about choosing what works best for your structure, your people and what you’re trying to achieve.

Here are a few common workplace culture types:

Collaborative Culture – Teamwork and inclusivity are at the heart of decision-making in a collaborative culture. Employees are encouraged to share ideas, work together, and support one another. This culture fosters open communication, mutual respect, and a strong sense of belonging. It’s great for creative industries and teams who work well together.
Hierarchical Culture – A structured, top-down approach with clear roles and expectations sets a professional tone. This type of structure clearly defines employee expectations and who is responsible for which tasks. It takes a layered approach where each layer has a specific role and function.
Innovative Culture – Encourages creativity, risk-taking, and out-of-the-box thinking. Fast-paced industries can benefit from an innovative culture as it allows your team to experiment, develop new ideas, and challenge traditional approaches by striving for effective change and continuous improvement.
Results-Driven Culture – If you have a team of high achievers, this may be the right approach. Focusing on goals and achieving success, your employees are motivated by clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and incentives. With clear goals to work towards, the entire team is always striving for great results for themselves and the business.
Customer-Centric Culture – Some service businesses can benefit from a culture that prioritises delivering exceptional service and exceeding customer expectations. By considering the customer’s needs, your business creates an experience that builds customer loyalty and trust.

Understanding your workplace culture helps you fine-tune it to align with your business goals and values. If you’re unsure what culture best suits your business, give one of us a call!

How Workplace Culture Impacts Performance

A strong, positive culture keeps people coming back for more! It makes your workplace somewhere your team want to return to every day.

A thriving culture:

Boosts employee engagement and job satisfaction
Improves employee retention and attendance
Enhances productivity, collaboration, and innovation
Strengthens morale, creating a workplace where people feel valued and motivated
Attracts top talent—everyone wants a taste of a great workplace!

Fostering a positive work culture can help to prevent issues like burnout, disengagement, and high turnover. Purposeful investment in your culture can make all the difference!

Crafting and Evolving Your Culture

Workplace culture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a strategic advantage. But how do you create the right culture for your organisation?

Building a great culture takes time, effort, and intentional leadership. It starts at the top and trickles down through every level of the business.

Leaders play a crucial role in shaping and evolving culture by:

Modelling desired behaviours – When leaders and key team members walk the talk, it sets expectations and the right example for the team.
Reinforcing values – Business values should be present in everything that you do. Incorporate them into your daily routines and behaviours and celebrate team members that demonstrate them.
Promoting inclusivity – People perform better when they feel like they belong. Spend time creating an environment where everyone feels respected and heard.
Assessing and adapting – Culture is not a set-and-forget kind of thing! Regularly check in to ensure your cultural practices align with your business goals and the needs of your employees.

Investing in workplace culture isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’. Instead, it’s a smart business strategy! A positive culture fuels productivity, fosters innovation, and creates an environment where your team can thrive. The result? A stronger, more successful business.

Let’s Build Your Workplace Culture Together!

Want to take your workplace culture from bland to brilliant?

Here at Spice, we’re all about helping businesses like yours build an amazing culture. We are proud to be licensed and accredited to deliver the Acentia ‘Workplace Culture Excellence Framework’, a proven approach to developing and sustaining a strong workplace culture.

This framework simplifies workplace culture development into clear, actionable steps. Through workshops covering the thirteen key elements that influence workplace culture, we help businesses design practical strategies for continuous growth.

Backed by this powerful framework, the Spice team has the expertise to help your culture thrive! Let’s chat—give us a call today!

Interested in exploring workplace culture further?

Then, check out Part 2 of our workplace culture series, where we detail some tactics and strategies for creating a thriving workplace environment in your organisation.

Read it here.

Aligning Generations At Work: Fostering A Multigenerational Workplace

Every generation comes with a reputation for how they supposedly behave in the workplace. Fair to say that some of the traits are unfairly assigned!

But these stereotypes exist due to an evolution of attitudes and behaviours over the decades.

For example, if you compare the mindset of a Baby Boomer and a Gen Zer, you’ll incur vastly different opinions.

These different attitudes can sometimes cause conflict in the workplace.

So, it’s vital that your leaders and team understand each of the generations within your workforce and how you can foster multigenerational harmony.

Let’s explore the concept of a multigenerational workplace in greater detail so that you can avoid unnecessary conflict and maximise the varying skills you have within your team.

What Is A Multigenerational Workplace?

A multigenerational workplace is one where your team is made up of people from different generations, meaning varying age groups. As many people are choosing to work into their later years, it is becoming more and more common to have a wide range of generations throughout your workforce.

The 4 main generations in the workforce at present are:

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964): Known for a strong work ethic and their loyalty, often prioritising job stability over career progression.
Generation X (born 1965-1980): With a strong element of self-reliance and resourcefulness, they prefer autonomy and a good work-life balance.
Millennials (1981-1996): Having grown up with technology they are very comfortable with digital tools, often drive technological innovation, and prefer collaborations.
Gen Z (born 1997-2012): Highly proficient in technology and social platforms they value diversity and inclusion and like to seek opportunities for innovation.

Some workplaces may even have a further diverse split and include the octogenarians of the Silent Generation and the younger teens of Generation Alpha. While there are many benefits to having all of these different skills and viewpoints in your business, it is important for everyone to remember that they will have different perspectives and communication styles. These differences can create waves if you are not careful.

A Multigenerational Workplace Looks Like…

There are a few common characteristics of a multigenerational workplace:

Diverse age groups: You could potentially have a large age range within your workforce. There may be those who are just starting out their careers and those with decades of experience. As we just mentioned, this diversity generally spans four generations, but could be up to six!

Varying Work Styles: The different generations often have varying approaches to how they work. These can range anywhere from the more traditional hierarchical manager and employee relationship to a flatter structure with a much more flexible and collaborative approach – and everything in between! These all need to be handled and managed in different ways.

Communication Preferences: The technological evolution has played a major part with how the different generations tend to communicate. Older generations may prefer face-to-face, telephone or email communication, while younger employees could prefer digital methods like instant messaging or video calls.

Diverse Expectations: Each generation will have expectations about how a workplace should operate, the balance they create between work and personal life, the amount of career progression they will strive for, and the values and culture of the organisation they choose to work for.

Navigating The Divide

In today’s diverse workplace, fostering collaboration among different generations can be challenging. That’s where a tool like Extended DISC can provide your team with valuable insights that can help bridge multi-generational gaps by enhancing teamwork and understanding. Here’s a taster…

Tailored Communication: Identifying individual communication styles allows team members to adapt their approach to suit colleagues from various age groups.

Identify Pressure Points: Extended DISC uncovers each person’s motivators and stressors, promoting understanding and a more empathetic and supportive work environment.

Healthy Debate: By revealing underlying behavioral patterns, Extended DISC aids in conflict resolution, making it easier for your team to address and resolve disagreements constructively and positively.

Leadership Style: The tool enhances leadership effectiveness, enabling leaders to understand their default style and to tailor their approach to meet the needs of a diverse team.

Build Community: Extended DISC fosters mutual respect and appreciation, as team members learn to value the unique strengths and perspectives each generation brings to the table.

By leveraging these insights and many more, organisations can create a more cohesive, productive, and harmonious multi-generational workforce.

The Benefits For Your Business

While there may be some bumps along the road to navigate when the culture collision of the varying generations occurs, there are a lot of advantages that a multigenerational workforce can bring.

Some of the most valuable benefits are:

Innovation: Different generational perspectives can lead to more innovation in your business and spawn creative solutions to problems that might arise. A diverse team will create a fascinating brainstorm and may even devise some out-of-the-box solutions. By combining traditional methods with newer ideas, you may create a new and efficient way of doing things.

Wider Skill Sets: Every generation will have skills that the others do not. So, when you combine all those strengths together, you create a more versatile and skilled team overall. Often, the older team members will bring experience and a depth of knowledge, while younger employees can bring a fresh perspective and digital flair.

More Opportunities To Learn: Professional development should always be a priority, but formal courses and workshops are not the only places to learn. Team mentorship can create just as many learning opportunities. And it doesn’t only have to be the more senior team members mentoring the youngsters. Think reverse mentoring everyone has something valuable to teach, so maximise the potential!

Better Decisions: Diverse teams make better decisions as they can consider a wider range of perspectives and experiences. This can lead to more effective and well-rounded strategies for your organisation.

Stronger Workplace Culture: By valuing the contributions of all generations, your team will feel respected and engaged in their work. This can lead to a positive workplace culture with higher job satisfaction and employee engagement – which means better talent retention and lower employee turnover.

Encouraging Intergenerational Harmony

While there may be certain instances where opinions may differ, there is no reason why there can’t be strong intergenerational teamwork within your business. Here’s how you can enhance collaboration:

Ditch the Stereotypes

People may come into the business with preconceived notions about how certain individuals may behave because of their age. It is important to squash those stereotypes by fostering inclusivity. Once people interact and get to know each other, they will realise that age is no barrier to connection.

It’s all about communication and encouraging discussions that reverse the misconceptions individuals might have about the people around them. Identify any assumptions and open the conversation surrounding them to remove barriers and create a positive and psychologically safe environment.

Shared Purpose

Uniting your team under one set of values and goals will show them that they aren’t all that different. When they are all working towards a common goal aligned under one vision, you will find there is a sense of unity that breaks down any generational divides.

Highlight the Benefits

As a leader you know the benefits that can come from a multigenerational team. But the team themselves may not realise the treasure trove of experience, innovation and ideas they collectively possess. So that they learn this valuable lesson, create opportunities for colleagues to work together and learn from each other. This could be in a mentorship arrangement or simply a collaboration of minds with complementary skills.

Build Community

Chats around the figurative water cooler are a good starting point. But you can take the social connections even further to build a strong community within your team. Informal team gatherings, communal work and community spaces or virtual meet ups will all encourage your team to connect casually and form friendly bonds.

Smooth The Way

Subtly navigating the challenge of connecting a multigenerational workforce can sometimes feel like you are walking on eggshells. But, as this is a challenge that almost every business will face, it is important to handle it well.

That’s where Extended DISC and the Spice Gals come in!

With Extended DISC we’ve helped numerous businesses navigate the unique challenges of creating a community and common understanding within a multigenerational workplace. And we’d love to do the same at yours.

Reach out to our team today to see how we can help you.

How Inclusion Is Playing A Leading Role In A Great Work Environment

Inclusivity is a buzzword in the HR field.

Of course, you want to create a space that is warm and welcoming for all team members regardless of age, gender, culture or background.

But inclusivity can be so much more than that.

Embracing the full potential of your team members and creating a positive working environment is incredibly valuable on a personal and professional level.

That’s why inclusion is playing a leading role in retention, innovation, and so many other key areas of business. Let’s investigate this further to see how you can create an inclusive environment at your workplace.

What Is An Inclusive Workplace?

Creating an inclusive workplace is not about investing thousands of dollars or overhauling the way you do things. It is simply about creating an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, heard and supported regardless of their background, identity, or differences.

Leading from the top, focusing on inclusivity is creating a place where diversity is not only acknowledged but celebrated. All individuals should have equal opportunities to contribute, grow, and succeed.

Everyone should feel a sense of belonging, no matter who they are. Age, gender, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, or economic background should not be factors – in fact, you should actively work against discrimination or unconscious bias in these areas.

Inclusion is the way, as it fosters a place where people want to be every day and encourages the desire to work towards the common goals of the business.

The Value Of Inclusion

Inclusion is a valuable thing to foster in any environment, but especially in the workplace. Here’s why:

Self Confidence

Knowing you belong and matter helps you to have greater self confidence. New Zealand is becoming an increasingly diverse place. So, it makes sense that our workplaces are becoming equally diverse. Sometimes, majority groups can make others feel excluded simply because they have a habit of emphasising what they have in common.

This isn’t always done intentionally, but it has the negative impact of making those in the minority feel like an outsider. This can negatively impact their self confidence and make them less likely to engage with their role, the business, and the rest of the team.

If everyone can be consciously aware of their behaviour and foster inclusivity, every team member can feel confident, happy and engaged in their work.

Innovation

Businesses that innovate can stay relevant and reach their full potential. That’s because they can adapt to the constantly changing environment that surrounds them and come up with creative solutions to challenges.

When inclusivity is a focus, all your team will feel empowered to speak up and offer their ideas. This is when the best solutions come to light as you can gain perspective from all areas of the business to create practical innovation that works.

Retention

When your team feel the sense of belonging, support and fulfilment that inclusivity brings, you can significantly increase your staff retention rate. If they feel valued and included within your company, then they are more likely to develop a strong sense of loyalty.

Creating a space full of equal access development opportunities, flexible work arrangements for all, fair and inclusive policies, along with a diverse leadership representation shows your team that anyone can succeed and advance within the business. This obviously sets the stage for good talent acquisition and retention.

Why Inclusion Is Playing A Leading Role

Because the world is such a diverse place, inclusivity is a big focus, and it should be. More and more people want to work in an inclusive workplace. They seek out businesses that offer this environment for two reasons. The first one is obvious, they want to feel like they fit in. The second reason is that they don’t want to be part of a company where their colleagues might feel excluded.

That’s why inclusion is taking a leading role in creating engaged and productive workspaces. When inclusion is a core business value you can get the best from your people as they all feel respected, heard and valued. Most importantly, your people will feel safe.

Creating An Inclusive Workspace

Core Values

Simply creating a diversity policy is not enough. Inclusivity needs to be embraced by everyone in the company, not simply seen as a policy to follow. When everyone embraces the concept of inclusivity, then they will all have an opportunity to thrive in an empowering environment.

This vibe should start from the top down with management leading the way. When your managers and leaders show sincerity and genuine interest in inclusivity it helps to intertwine these concepts into the daily behaviours of the business.

Seek Feedback

It can be difficult to know what your team want from a workspace unless you ask them! Collecting feedback is a powerful way to discover what your employees value. The way to produce the most fruitful results is to have them complete an anonymous employee survey so each team member can express their views without fear or judgment.

Collecting the feedback is only part of the process though. Once you have the results, it is important to make company wide changes in line with the needs of your team.

Review

Another important task is to review what is taking place in your business currently. What are some quick fixes you can enact to support a model of inclusivity? Getting some quick wins on the board will show your team you are committed to progress.

Then, it’s time to examine the more time-consuming aspects like policies, recruitment and remuneration. Employee policies should not have any barriers to inclusion. Review what policies you have in place and make changes accordingly. Clearly communicate to all your team what discrimination and harassment look like and the resulting consequences of this negative behaviour.

Your recruitment process should ensure any vacant role is equally accessible to all applicants and that no particular groups will be negatively impacted in the recruitment process.

Remuneration should be transparent and carefully structured. That way you can give guidance on starting salaries and any bonuses while ensuring pay equity is in place for all segments of the workforce.

Include Inclusion

Inclusion should be part of everything that you do. It should become part of your onboarding process so that new team members instantly feel welcome and connected to your business. It should also be part of the daily practices within your office, with meetings, activities and conversations that promote inclusion and understanding.

Don’t forget virtual inclusion either! Remote work is great for flexibility, but it can be isolating. Maintain human connection with those working remotely and ensure mental health resources are available for all.

Making Your Workspace Inclusive

No one wants people to feel excluded, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming to tackle inclusion in the workplace. Gaining the calm and practical advice of an expert HR team can take the stress out of the process and ensure nothing is missed.

The Spice Gals are the team to help you!

With extensive HR experience and a true focus on the human side of Human Resources, this is an area we are passionate about. We’d love to help ensure your workplace is a space where everyone feels relaxed, accepted and valued. Chat with our team today to see how we can help!

Social Responsibility: Are You Adapting For And Attracting Gen Z?

Generally speaking, every new generation is passionate about something in the workplace.

The Boomers wanted career progression, Gen X wanted independence, Millennials wanted flexibility, and now as Gen Z start to enter the workforce in their droves, they are passionate about social responsibility.

So, is your workplace adapting to embrace this new focus?

In order to set your business up to attract and retain this new generation of workers you’ll need to show accountability in the areas that really matter to them.

Let’s look into this in a little more detail.

Gen Z And Social Responsibility

Gen Z workers are often more socially and environmentally conscious than those from previous generations. They tend to prioritise working for companies that share their values and contribute positively to society.

Because they are passionate about social responsibilities, they will often change their personal behaviours to minimise their own impact on the environment. They want their employers to do the same. So, if your company can show accountability on the environmental front and prove you are serious about your social responsibilities then you will not only attract a new generation of workers, but you will retain employees who share your company’s values and interests.

Globally, companies are starting to invest in climate adaptation. That means, instead of trying to prevent climate change, they are adjusting to the reality that it is going to happen and what we need to do in response.

Gen Z expect your business to be resilient and prepared for environmental change. So, there are some things you will need to consider in this space to ensure you are up to the challenge.

What Is Workplace Social Responsibility?

Workplace social responsibility refers to the ethical obligation your business has to act in a way that benefits society at large. It involves considering the impact of your actions and decisions on employees, customers, communities, and the environment.

Emphasising your social responsibility can be a powerful way to attract Gen Z workers to your business. They are really interested in:

Purpose-driven work

Gen Z workers are drawn to companies that have a clear sense of purpose beyond purely making a profit. By prioritising social responsibility, you can demonstrate that you are committed to making a positive impact on society. This can be highly appealing to Gen Z workers as they are often seeking what they see as meaningful employment.

Employee engagement

As an employer, you know how important it is to have an engaged workforce. Not only do you get more out of your team, but it creates a positive working environment along with personal and professional success for everyone. In today’s climate, workers are more likely to feel engaged and motivated when they believe in their company’s values and social mission.

By giving your team socially responsible values to connect with, you can create a more inclusive and fulfilling work environment with excellent employee retention rates.

Brand reputation

Prioritising social responsibility is not just talking about your environmental values, it is about your actions too. If you can positively contribute on both these fronts, it will create a strong reputation for your brand and company.

Gen Z workers value transparency and authenticity in the companies they choose to support and work for. Building a positive brand reputation as an ethical and socially conscious organisation can help you attract top talent as well as gain the trust of your customers.

Positive community impact

What does your company do to ensure you are positively impacting your local community and the environment? Because Gen Z workers are passionate about social and environmental issues, they want to work for companies that share their commitment to sustainability and social justice.

By prioritising social responsibility, you can make a meaningful difference in your community and reduce your environmental footprint. Plus, you can resonate with Gen Z workers who are looking to make a positive impact through their work.

The Big Issue: Climate Change

The Government recently passed legislation making climate-related disclosures mandatory for some companies. The requirement applies to large publicly listed companies, insurers, banks, non-bank deposit takers and investment managers.

The legislation came about because the majority of large NZ companies provide very little information about what climate change might mean for them. By having these big businesses make mandatory climate-related disclosures it ensures the effects of climate change are routinely considered, that responsibility is demonstrated in the consideration of climate issues, and it creates a more efficient allocation of funds to build a more sustainable, low emission economy.

The purpose is to ensure NZ stays on track to achieve its target of net zero carbon by 2050. While these mandatory reporting stipulations only apply to around 200 big NZ businesses currently, it is worth considering your own business’s impact, especially as this is a key issue for Gen Zers.

So, what is your business doing to be socially responsible on the climate change front? Are you adapting your business practices to invest in the future of our country and our planet? These are big considerations for Gen Z and as such they should be considerations for your business too.

Adapting And Attracting

Social responsibility is a huge topic right now. Not just because it is vitally important to Gen Z, but because we all need to adapt our attitudes and actions to protect our futures.

How socially responsible is your business right now?

If you aren’t sure of the answer to that question, now is the time to remedy that. And our team of HR experts can help you do it. We can help you develop social responsibility policies and procedures that will not only position your business as a thought leader in this area, but also attract amazing talent from all generations.

Chat with us today.

Is Your Business Equipped With Change Readiness?

Change.

In the current business climate, it seems to be the only constant for organisations.

So, when you don’t know what to expect in an ever-changing world, how can you manage your people and your business successfully?

The secret is not to manage the change.

Rather, your organisation should focus on increasing its change readiness to better navigate uncertain circumstances.

We’ve assembled our best tips for how you can do that. So, let’s explore the concept of change readiness in greater detail now.

What Is Change Readiness?

Change can be a nerve-wracking thing. Whether it is planned or forced upon you, it has the capacity to unsettle even the most stoic team members. That’s why change readiness is a powerful tool. It refers to your organisation’s ability to effectively anticipate, plan for and respond to change.

Change can encompass many areas. It can be as large as global or nationwide change, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, or smaller scale change within your business, like operations, strategies, technologies or structures.

Common areas of change that can trigger the need for change readiness include leadership capabilities, team culture, staff rotation, and external forces like market trends, regulation changes or technology advancements.

Being ready to navigate change is a skill that every organisation needs to develop as change is the only constant in business!

What Does Being Change Ready Mean?

Is your business change ready? Do you possess the necessary capabilities to adapt to both internal and external change? Being change ready entails several key elements and they are:

Understanding Change

Humans can be creatures of habit which means that any kind of change can be hard. As a business, it is vital that you understand this and how any change might impact your team culture, morale, productivity and behaviour. Having this knowledge can help you to make appropriate decisions that empower leadership and team members to embrace and navigate change effectively.

Leadership

Like everything, the ability to react to change needs to come from the top. Your leadership team should demonstrate a clear vision for handling specific changes, provide effective communication to the entire business, and be committed to guiding the organisation through change. They also help to drive a culture that fosters resilience, innovation, and continuous learning.

Agility

Change can sometimes be fast paced, so it is important that your business and team can be agile in your approach. Yes, that means being adaptive, but it creates a real forum for innovation too. When you empower your team members to contribute ideas and adapt to evolving circumstances, you encourage readiness and evolution – two key components in handling change.

Flexibility

Successful change and flexibility go hand in hand. If your business is stuck in its ways, you can’t possibly react to change in a positive manner. If you can design your structures, systems and processes to be somewhat flexible, then it will be easier to be responsive to change. Key areas for flexibility include team and project management, decision-making processes, and organisational structures.

Engagement

When your team members are actively engaged with your business, values, and the results you are trying to generate then they will feel empowered to contribute positively. They will also feel more comfortable with change, knowing that they will have the support, training and resources to navigate whatever is thrown at them. Change may even become a good thing if they have the opportunity to develop new skills and competencies.

Resilience

Resilience is all about having the ability to absorb stress and thrive in unexpected situations. Preparing you for absolutely anything, resilience can help your business to anticipate, identify and mitigate possible challenges while also positioning you to capitalise on opportunities as they arise. Instead of seeing challenges when change occurs, resilience helps you to see the potential for learning and growth.

Awareness

It can be easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day aspects of business. This can be dangerous as it doesn’t prepare you for the potential of change. Having an element of awareness allows you to look beyond those daily tasks and see the bigger picture. This can help you to see potential change before it becomes an issue. It can also help you identify opportunities for growth or collaboration.

How To Create Change Readiness

Ready to be ready for change? If so, the following steps will help:

1: Assess Where You Are At

Knowing what your organisation needs and how you can navigate specific changes will depend on the current state of your business. So, the first step is understanding where your business is right now. That way you can have clarity about what you really need. Examine your culture, processes, structures, capabilities and readiness for change. This will give you a clear starting point.

2: Know Your Mission

When you are clear on your mission and company values, you can make sure you are acting in line with them when change does occur. Aligning with your mission will allow you to develop a clear vision for change and be able to communicate it effectively to your team.

3: Develop Your Leadership

As we just mentioned, your leadership teams should be leading from the front and understanding the impact change can have on the business and the individuals within it. Invest in programmes to develop your leaders so that they are equipped with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to positively drive any change that might arise.

4: Cement Your Team Culture

Having a great culture and team morale will help your team feel supported while they navigate change. This can be fostered through developing a culture that encourages collaboration, innovation and open communication. Create opportunities for your team to share ideas and learn from each other’s perspectives so these concepts are not foreign when change arises.

5: Promote Flexibility

Foster a mindset of flexibility and adaptability among your team by encouraging them to embrace change as an opportunity for growth and learning. Create a supportive environment where employees feel empowered to innovate and learn from any mistakes. In return, let your team know where they can access support and resources to allow them to continue succeeding in their role throughout periods of change.

6: Consult The Experts

Sometimes it can be hard to know what areas you need to focus on when developing change readiness procedures. For times like these, you can call the Spice Gals! As professional HR experts, we understand the impact change can have on a business and the individuals within it. That’s why we want to help you develop effective change readiness. Get in touch with us now to discuss how we can help you prepare for inevitable change.

Understanding The Compliance And Ethics Involved With AI

Let’s talk AI.

One of the most impactful business innovations of the last few years, you are probably already enjoying some of its power in your workplace.

But, like Uncle Ben said to Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility!

Yep, it is your responsibility to ensure your business is utilising AI without breaking any rules, laws or regulations.

It’s time to consider whether you are using AI ethically and in compliance with privacy legislation.

Let’s look into these key aspects to see if you are playing by the rules.

What Is Considered AI?

What exactly is considered to be AI? In the workplace, artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of computer systems or software that perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Because they are designed to mimic human behaviour and automate processes for efficiency, they improve accuracy and overall business performance.

These are some common examples of the kind of AI found in a standard workplace:

Chatbots or AI-powered Assistants: The components that handle routine customer or internal queries and admin tasks.
Automation: Software solutions that handle mundane or repetitive tasks like data entry, calendar management, triggered communication and more.
Machine Learning: Software that focuses on the use and analysis of data, along with algorithms to learn in the same way a human would, to improve its accuracy over time. Examples of machine learning can be as simple as product recommendations based on previous purchases, or as complex as talent acquisition and employee retention software.
Data Analysis: By using certain algorithms, AI can analyse large amounts of data quickly and accurately to identify patterns and trends that can be used for business improvement.
Predictions: The analysis of historical data can help to form predictions or forecasts for the future, allowing for insight into staff turnover, financial performance, or inventory management.

Your Responsibilities

By utilising AI in your business, it is your responsibility to ensure it is being used both ethically and legally. That means paying attention to these areas in particular:

Privacy

New Zealand has very strong privacy laws under the Privacy Act 2020. Among other things, the Act regulates how you collect, use and handle personal information. This applies to the data belonging to every individual who interacts with your business, including employees, team members, contractors, suppliers, clients, guests and inquiries.

The Privacy Act states that you need to gain consent from the people whose data you are using and only use the data for the purpose that it was collected. You also need to protect that data. So, you need to ensure that any AI tools comply with these principles.

Be mindful that simply uploading people’s private information into an AI data system may breach privacy laws. Before doing anything, check the security and privacy parameters for each individual AI tool to confirm it complies with NZ privacy standards. You might have to gain consent to use any personal data within AI technology systems.

Intellectual Property

One of the major things individuals use AI for in the workplace is content creation. Emails, marketing posts, images – all these things can be created by AI. But is it ethical to do so?

By the nature of what AI is, it draws information from many sources on the internet to form your content. That means, it harvests thoughts and ideas, even direct quotes, from content that has already been written and published. What takes seconds to pull together with AI took the original authors hours to craft. You are benefiting from their hard work before you.

Not only is this ethically questionable, it also puts you in danger of potentially breaching copyright. While New Zealand does not yet have specific laws relating to content created by AI tools, it’s important to recognise how the content is formed. Rather than copying and pasting the content that is generated by a tool like ChatGPT, it is best to use it for idea generation or a content starting point.

Business Assets

Speaking of intellectual property, it is vital that you take steps to protect your business’ own intellectual property when using AI. As many AI software solutions are new to the market, we don’t fully understand how they process the data that is input or who can access that information in the future. That’s why you and your team should be cautious about what you load into AI programs.

It’s best to avoid inputting extremely sensitive business information. Translation: don’t put your trade secrets into AI as you don’t know where they might end up! After all, we highly doubt the Colonel is going to be loading his secret ingredient blend of 11 herbs and spices into ChatGPT! That info is just too precious to risk getting into the public space.

Using AI Responsibly

How can you ensure you are using AI responsibly in your business? These are some of the ways:

Policies

Rather than blindly using AI in your business, you need to form policies around what tools you will utilise and how they will be used. Think consciously about which ones you intend to use and how they will impact the data you have an obligation to protect. Are there any risks that need mitigating or could a non-AI tool be used instead?

Then, choose tools that do not jeopardise privacy laws and be transparent about their use by documenting everything in an AI-specific policy. Once the policies are in place, the job is not done. Technology evolution always moves at a lightning fast pace, so you need to instigate human reviews regularly to ensure your AI tools are not retaining or disclosing data incorrectly.

Team Training

Your policies are only going to be effective if your people understand them! So, you will need to arrange training for your team members to ensure they are aware of their obligations when using AI tools. They need to be able to use the tools effectively and responsibly and understand their limitations.

Training should be practical, showing your people how to physically use the tool, such as inputting data and examining the results generated, along with the AI-generated decisions. But training should also delve deeper, highlighting that AI should still respect an individual’s privacy rights, their intellectual property and that it should avoid discrimination and harm.

If they feel that AI is creating any negative impact within your business, encourage your people to speak out so that it can be remedied.

Help And Support

In the greater scheme of business, AI is a relatively new technology that we are all learning to navigate. If you have concerns about the potential impact on your business, now is the time to take action. Reach out to our team if you would like assistance in forming the policies and training program surrounding AI in your workplace.

How To Become An Employer Of Choice (And Why You Should)

Do people want to work at your organisation?

Or probably the bigger question, rather than just wanting to work there, do they want to stay long term as it’s just a fantastic environment that can’t be beaten elsewhere?

If you can answer yes to both of those questions, then you have conquered an immense challenge and become an employer of choice.

If you think you might have some work to do or simply want to delight your staff, then this is the article for you.

We are going to discuss how to become an employer of choice and how to stay one so that your business can reap all the benefits that come along with this. Let’s dive in!

How To Become An Employer Of Choice (And Why You Should)

What Is An Employer Of Choice?

Being an employer of choice means being a company that is highly regarded by job seekers and employees. It is a place that stands out from other businesses as a preferred place to work due to the positive work culture, opportunities available and strong employer brand.

If you have managed to be recognised as an employer of choice, it means you have successfully created an environment where your team are engaged, motivated and satisfied with their work.

Ultimately, as an employer of choice, you will be able to attract and retain top talent, have low employee turnover rates, and have a great reputation in the job market. As well as that, you’ll typically enjoy greater productivity and loyalty from your team. You will be seen as a desirable employer and people will actively seek you out, aspiring to work for you.

Sounds pretty good, right? So, here are some of the ways you can foster this feeling at your workplace.

Your Brand, Their Choice

When it comes to being an employer of choice, reputation is everything. So, you want to develop a strong brand highlighting your company ethics, employee growth opportunities, a great culture, and stable finances.

How can you do all of that? Try some of these tactics:

Core Values

What makes your organisation different from other companies? It is your value proposition. So, part of building a strong employer brand is articulating what is unique about your business and why people will want to work with you.

Identify your core values, mission and vision and weave them into everything you do. Develop strong communication channels and ways to recognise your team’s achievements when they demonstrate these core values and help your business work towards your collective goals.

Purpose

A strong HR team can help to shape a company’s purpose. A purpose is about more than generating productivity and the work that your team will output. A purpose is about building a strong employer brand, displaying your ethics and giving your team something to connect with.

When the company and the team align behind strong values and a purpose you all become invested in something you believe in.

Connecting your company’s purpose to environmental, social and business goals and making those goals a part of your employer brand gives your company a powerful way to make an impact on the world and attract better talent along the way.

Growth Opportunities

Becoming an employer of choice will help you to retain quality team members. But, in order to retain those people long term, you will need to provide opportunities for growth and development. That can mean the chance to enhance their skills in certain areas, work on projects in their field of interest, and even ways to advance their careers.

Make sure your business offers training programs, mentorship and clear paths for progression.

Remuneration And Reward

It is important to back up your strong company culture and values with attractive remuneration. Obviously, you want to offer competitive salaries that align with (or better) industry standards. But it’s not all about money. There are other ways you can give your employees great benefits, such as flexible working conditions, rewards programs, and tailored incentives.

Being A Modern Employer Of Choice

In your quest to become an employer of choice, it’s vital to take stock of the current market conditions and what people are looking for in 2023. As we mentioned above, one of the fundamental changes we’ve seen is the importance of purpose in today’s organisations.

There are several driving forces behind this:

Demographic Changes

Both Millennial and Gen Z employees prioritise values and purpose more than the previous generations have. It’s not simply about the work they are doing, it is about the impact the business can have.

Meaning is becoming a key differentiator for company’s to retain and attract talent. A clear purpose not only helps to attract the right kind of talent, but it helps to engage your existing talented employees and boosts productivity.

Automation

We’re sure every one of you could list a boring or mundane task that you have had to complete in your working career that drove you up the wall. Thankfully, with the advancement of technology and the rising popularity of automation, those tasks might just be off your plate now.

Automation allows for repetitive, manual tasks to be handled by technology, rather than team members. And as these tasks are generally the first to be automated, they leave behind the more meaningful and rewarding tasks. Again, this gives your team the opportunity to work for a stronger purpose than data entry!

COVID

Yep, we mentioned the C word. While Covid provided a rather tumultuous season in our working careers, it actually helped a lot of people to realign their priorities when it came to their personal lives and career. As a result, the dramatic shift in feeling is that a company should have a purpose to make working life more meaningful.

Globalisation

Geography is no longer the barrier it once was. In days gone by, you had to live locally to the company you worked for or be willing to travel there. Now, it is easier than ever for companies to recruit staff or to have staff work from anywhere in the world. And there are compelling reasons to do so.

Globalisation means greater international collaboration and being able to work for an even wider purpose. So, this should be incorporated into your communication, onboarding, engagement and management strategies if you can make this happen.

Becoming An Employer Of Choice

As you have probably gathered, a strong HR presence is going to be key to becoming an employer of choice. The people are your company’s’s most important asset. And creating a strong purpose for them to unite under is the first step to becoming an employer of choice.

It can seem like an imposing task if you aren’t sure where to start. Luckily, the Spice Gals are here to help you. As experienced HR professionals and business owners ourselves, we understand the importance of uniting your team under a collective purpose.

Let us help you define and implement that purpose so that you can become an employer of choice. Book a time to chat with our team and take the first step towards purpose now.

When Automation Meets Human Leadership

It’s no secret that we are living in a world of developing technology.

And one of the biggest advancements in recent times is automation.

Incredibly helpful for streamlining processes and creating capabilities, automation is a useful tool that can aid with HR functions in your business.

However, it is important to remember that ‘Human’ is right there in the name when you are talking HR!

So, let’s explore what happens when Automation meets human leadership and how you can strike the right balance in your workplace.

When Automation Meets Human Leadership

What Is HR Automation?

HR automation refers to the use of technology and software to streamline and automate various Human Resource processes. This can include tasks such as record management, employee onboarding, performance management, payroll, and other administrative tasks.

There are a variety of HR automation tools available, with the most popular being an HR Information System (HRIS). These tools can help businesses save time and reduce errors by automating routine HR tasks, enabling employees to self-serve certain HR functions, and providing managers with better insights into employee performance and engagement.

Some of the benefits of HR automation include improved efficiency, increased accuracy, reduced administrative burdens, and better compliance with employment laws and regulations. Additionally, by automating certain processes, businesses can free up their HR team to focus on more strategic initiatives, such as employee development and engagement.

How To Use HR Automation

HRIS can help enhance engagement and productivity when it comes to the HR functions in your organisation. An HRIS can offer transparency and real-time data to allow for better feedback and reward and recognition.

Here are some of the benefits of using an HRIS in your business:

Easier onboarding

An HRIS can help to streamline your onboarding process as many of the manual tasks (like paperwork, orientation scheduling and sending welcome emails) can be automated. This can save your HR team time and creates an efficient process where nothing is missed. Onboarding progress can also be tracked, ensuring new team members are always fully onboarded and ready to start work.

By having a central platform that employees, managers and new hires can communicate through, it reduces confusion and ensures everyone is on the same page. Generally an HRIS also integrates with your other HR systems, such as payroll and recruitment platforms, so it makes it easy to have your new team member accurately set up in all the necessary systems and onboarded effectively.

Better training experiences

Even though automation is a big part of an HRIS, you are still able to personalise training programmes within the system, allowing managers to create tailored learning plans for individual team members based on their roles, skills and development needs. This is especially helpful as it means each training module is then relevant and useful to the individual employee, creating a more effective learning experience.

Having an HRIS that your team can log into means training material is easily accessible in one location, and everyone’s progress can be monitored.

Performance reviews

The automation capabilities of an HRIS can streamline your performance review process. Automate the tasks of scheduling review meetings, sending reminders to employees and managers, and collecting feedback from the right people to create an efficient, consistent and standardised review process.

Your system can also help you deep dive into performance data to identify high performing employees and areas of improvement. This helps with remuneration and creating plans for additional training and support where needed. Helpfully, this can also integrate with your payroll system too!

Having the review process standardised allows for timely feedback to be provided.

Staff engagement

You can use an HRIS platform for sharing employee appreciation and recognition. You can also track and monitor employee engagement outside formal review times via pulse surveys.

A wealth of data

Over time, an HRIS becomes a repository of HR documentation and employee history. It means you will always be able to lay your hands on specific HR detail when you need it.

It also allows for quick and easy reporting on HR data, creating the opportunity for analysis and prediction of trends that might influence your people strategy.

This data portal is not only of benefit to HR, it also has self-service elements to ensure leave requests and employee information remain up to date.

Keeps people connected

Workplaces have evolved in the last few years. While we used to all sit side by side in the office, things are quite different now. So, your HRIS can be used as an internal communication hub. This provides a seamless connection for all team members, whether they are in the office, working remotely, or a hybrid of the two.

Considering Human Leadership

Technology is clearly a massive part of our daily functions. But, we can’t rely solely on robots yet! There are simply some things that AI and automation systems cannot do. We still require strong human leadership to complement technological advancements.

Employees still want to be able to connect with their leaders on a human level. They don’t want leaders who are emotionally distant. They need connected, empathetic leaders who value investing in relationships with their team members.

Part of that is creating an environment of positive role models. It’s also about creating a great team vibe and leaders who provide personal and timely feedback on employee performance. Finally, today’s team members don’t simply want to work for managers, they want to collaborate on projects together and work for common business goals.

Leaders may need further training in soft skills to facilitate all of this. This will help them to develop trust and share accountability with their team. Remember that “Human Leadership” prioritises employee wellbeing and corporate culture. There is no longer a cookie-cutter approach to managing humans.

Balancing Humans And Automation

Creating the perfect working environment is about balance. You want to incorporate the benefits of automation that an HRIS offers, but ensure that your team is still backed by strong human leadership.

Need some help striking that balance?

Then the Spice Gals are here to help you do it. Have a chat with our team today!

Staff Retention: Why It’s The Key To Your Business Success

As an employer, what should be your biggest goal this year?

Bigger profits? More sales? Adopting AI?

While these things might be important, we strongly believe you should be putting your focus on another area of your business … staff retention.

Staff retention will be crucial for your organisation’s success as it helps to build continuity, reduce costs, increase productivity, improve customer service and SO much more.

So, how do you achieve good staff retention?

Let’s look into that concept now.

Staff Retention: Why It’s The Key To Your Business Success

The Importance Of Staff Retention

Good staff retention is excellent for your business, especially during the trying times we are currently living in. Here are just a few reasons why that is:

Saves Money: Recruiting and training new team members costs a lot in time, physical spend, and potential downtime for your business. That spend does not need to happen if you retain your current skilled staff.
Boosted Productivity: Experienced team members are more productive than brand new ones as they have a better understanding of your business goals and objectives. They are also more familiar with your culture and processes, allowing them to get on with their work quickly and effectively.
Great Customer Service: Being with an organisation for an extended period of time lets you get insight into the needs of the customers. This insight helps your experienced staff to deliver top level customer service; in turn, building customer trust and loyalty.
Knowledge Retention: By retaining your experienced employees, you also retain the knowledge they have developed while working with you. This knowledge is difficult to replace and can be critical to the ongoing success of your business.
Team Cohesion: High staff turnover is not good for team morale. It creates disruption and a situation where a continually changing set of personalities needs to find a way to work together harmoniously. Staff retention builds a more stable and cohesive team allowing for powerful collaboration.

These elements will be vital to the long-term success of your business.

Encouraging Good Staff Retention

With a potential recession looming, the last thing you want to be doing is replacing good employees because they are not feeling heard or valued. If your key employees walk out the door, then it will cost you a lot of time and money to replace them.

Retaining your key talent should be top of your priority list!

Here are just some of the ways you can do that:

Stay Interview

The Stay Interview is here to stay! But what is it? Well, a Stay Interview is when employees sit down with their managers to discuss their job satisfaction, goals and motivations. The purpose of the interview is to gather information about what is keeping them in their job and what factors might cause them to leave in the future.

The interview can be conducted at any time that the team member is working with an organisation. Its aim is to address any issues or concerns your employees might have and to set actions that will remedy those issues.

By taking the time to gain feedback from each of your employees, you can identify any areas of the business that might be problematic. Then, you can take steps to improve those areas and retain your vital team members. Those steps could be anything from training opportunities and providing more support to a change in job responsibilities or work environment.

Progression Pathways

With less time spent in the office, some skills are becoming obsolete and other roles are evolving. Employees are returning to the office after working remotely for some time. You will want to ensure that the role they were employed for still exists in the same capacity and whether their skills are still right for that job.

It’s time to take a deep dive into your business and the people you have working with you to create the right structure for everyone. You want to make sure each role is best suited for the employee undertaking it! So, talk with your team about valid career pathways so that everyone is in the best-fit role.

A really helpful tool for this is Extended DISC assessment. DISC is a form of psychometric testing that establishes each employee’s personality type. You can use the results to aid personal growth and to improve self-awareness, communication and teamwork. Here at Spice HR, we are Extended DISC Accredited Practitioners, so can help you get a true understanding of what makes your team tick.

Let Them Be Heard

Sometimes in an organisation, it can feel like there’s a disconnect between the team on the ground and the management team. Communication is the key to fixing any perceived divides.

You want your employees to feel heard, so the first step is to listen. This can be done in a range of ways. It can be as simple as a 10-minute one-to-one meeting where you give individual employees your undivided attention, or as complex as a companywide engagement survey.

Don’t forget that you actually need to do something with the feedback you receive from your team. Take steps to action any practical requests and look for ways to address issues.

Bring The Benefits

There are plenty of ways that you can implement initiatives that don’t cost a whole lot but can increase productivity and engagement hugely. Some of these are:

Flexible start and finish times
Create a wellbeing space in the workplace with accessible resources
Wellness challenges
Recognise awesome work with a company shout out page, brag board, or ABCD (above the call of duty) card
Offer mentorships with complementary colleagues
Discussions about career pathways and leadership opportunities
Offer longer break times
Bring your Pet to Work Day
Regular virtual meetups with fun activities like games or quizzes
Increased autonomy
A feedback box for input and suggestions from team members
Lunch with the boss days
Offer a 4-day workweek if that’s a possibility for your business. While team members are in the office for fewer hours, research has shown that their productivity is usually higher with a whole day of downtime up their sleeves.

There are also further benefits you can offer, but these ones will carry a cost for your business:

Extra leave
Give them their birthdays off work
Subsidised childcare
Bonus schemes
Professional development and training plans
Health insurance
Increased superannuation contributions
Regular remuneration reviews
Regular team lunches or outings
Wellness initiatives like courses, vouchers or partner discounts
Tickets to shows or sports games
Personal house cleaning
Employee anniversary celebrations

Encouraging Staff Retention

As you can see, there’s a lot to like about staff retention. But there is an awful lot that goes into retaining your high performing staff members.

So, if you know you need to retain your team, but would like a little bit of help doing it, the Spice Gals are here to help! Experts in people management, DISC assessment and building successful team morale, we can help you introduce simple retention initiatives that work.

Get in touch with our team today.

Future Proofing And Upskilling Your Team For The Year Ahead

The new year is always a great opportunity for a new start.

It is a time when most businesses set goals. But this year, your goal setting might look a little different.

2022 was a more challenging year than anyone anticipated. We were expecting it to be our return to normalcy and a time to find our feet again.

Instead, it was something quite different. Many of us reached the end of the year tired and burned out. 2023 looks like it may hold a whole new set of challenges, so let’s explore how you can future proof your business and your team by having a people focused approach for the year ahead.

Future Proofing And Upskilling Your Team For The Year Ahead

Set Your Focus

In previous years, your business goals were probably based on practical elements like growth and revenue targets. While you might still be setting these kinds of goals for 2023, it is also important to think about your key asset – the people element of your business.

Everyone has experienced a rough couple of years. While Covid restrictions have been lifted, life has not returned to the way it was before. As a result, people are tired and they are looking for more in their lives than simply going to work to earn a living. So, you’ll need to keep this in mind when setting your focus for the year ahead.

Your workplace should be a destination that people want to come to each day. Consider how you can make it a great, welcoming space and uphold a positive team morale. One way to do that is to build a focus on investing in your internal staff to retain the great talent you have.

Here are some ways you can do that.

Invest In Your Team

If you have amazing people in your team, your 2023 focus should be retaining and developing that talent. Why? Well firstly, you want to keep that great team!

Obviously, it is far easier to retain the amazing staff you have than it would be to hire new employees. Apart from the monetary cost to your business of advertising, hiring and training new staff, there is also an opportunity cost of losing great people. You may not be able to recruit others of the same caliber or those that work together as well as your current team do.

Plus, investing in your team is greatly rewarding. Not only do the employees you know, like, and trust gain greater skills and further their professional knowledge, but they also become more productive, loyal and motivated. This can only mean good things for them and for your business.

So, how do you do it?

Upskilling For All

In the last few years, it hasn’t felt as if there’s been much time for progression. The focus has been more about treading water and staying afloat to weather the current storm.

With many businesses starting to look to the future, what do you want that to look like for your team?”

The answer should be a happy, healthy, empowered team who enjoy their work. Some of that comes down to creating a great team environment to work in. But, another element is the chance for progression. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean promotions for everyone. Progression of skills and opportunities is also really attractive.

Types Of Upskilling

This 2023, factor in how you can upskill your staff. This can include team-wide skills training via workshops, conferences and training days. But, it can also include encouraging your staff to pursue individual interests via short courses and study programmes. These could be both free and paid courses to support the progression and growth of your team.

A vital area to include in your training programme is financial literacy. While this might not be pertinent to an employee’s professional role, it will certainly help them in a personal capacity.

Current economic predictions are quite bleak, so helping your team navigate the impending situation is not only responsible, but helpful for maintaining a calm workplace that is free from as much stress as possible.

Training The Trainers

Much of the internal training within a company falls to leaders and management. So, don’t forget to factor in training for the trainers!

Of course, that means the usual forms of professional development that you would usually have in place for your leaders. But, it also means exploring what it means to manage a team in a post-pandemic environment.

Consider what new ways of working mean for your company. Things like handling hybrid working and leading a remote team might be new for some of your management team. They might have leadership skill gaps that need plugging.

Implement training and development to address these areas and support them to confidently lead hybrid or remote teams and everything that comes along with working in 2023.

Ready to tackle 2023 head on? As we mentioned above, this year is likely to be a lot more people-focused than in previous years. You may find you need to revisit your HR policies and procedures.

If you need help with policies and procedures, upskilling, engagement or any other HR related questions the Spice Gals are here to help you!