It goes without saying that the past two years have been, for the most part, unpredictable. In both our professional and personal lives, we’ve all had to pivot and adapt to situations we never thought imaginable. In fact, according to the World Uncertainty Index (Ahir) we’re living in the most uncertain time in human history. 

Initially, burnout was a term coined for the helping professions like nurses or doctors, but has now been extended to include others. It can affect anyone, from corporate workers to small business owners, celebrities, overworked employees, and stay-at-home parents.

This week marks National Worklife Week, a national event celebrated to raise awareness of workplace wellbeing and worklife balance. As we look beyond 2021, businesses must make employee wellbeing initiatives a focus. Providing access to health services, promoting work-life balance and career progression opportunities, are all steps employers can take to boost employee wellbeing.

Times are changing, and the world is tilting towards working remotely rather than working in an office space. There have been waves of coronavirus that led employers to make the difficult but urgent decision to make employees work from home.

We all know how important it is to get that right work and life balance, but as an entrepreneur it can be difficult. As this week is National Work Life Week, we wanted to highlight the many factors that can contribute to your high-stress levels, some such as lack of sleep and getting sick. But did you know that all three of these actually go hand-in-hand? 

Many businesses across the world will be celebrating International Week of Happiness at Work this week, which focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of all employees within a business.

Accounting for 99% of all companies and 77% of the workforce, according to McKinsey, small and medium-size enterprises are, by far, the largest commercial segment in the UK.

Team leaders have a lot on their plate: not only do they have to skilfully manage the egos, personalities and collective focus of a group of people, they also have a responsibility to their boss to deliver results.

Work-life balance is my lover and spreading its joy with others is one of my reasons for living (we are in a very open relationship, please join). But we’ve not always been so close.

In what has been both a mentally and organisationally testing period for many, businesses need to ensure they’re taking every action to support their employees’ mental health and encourage employees to make decisions that prioritise their mental and physical wellbeing.

Mental health charity, Oakleaf, which is based in Guildford and supports people through training and wellbeing social activities, has partnered with Professional Training Solutions (PTS), a provider of employability, apprenticeship courses and training programmes. PTS works across London, Surrey and the South East, and together they will deliver an employability programme to help individuals get started or return to a work environment. 

There’s a common misconception that exporting services and goods are reserved for the big leagues. In fact, from natural teas to blue-light blocking screen protectors and men’s cosmetics, there are thousands of small businesses in the UK that are going global and sharing their products with the rest of the world.

Having decided that the entrepreneurial life is for you, it is then necessary to think about how you will actually make that best happen. The specific legal structure that you choose is only the vehicle used to transform your ideas into reality, and your theory into sales and profit. 

Important conversations surrounding mental health have grown, particularly over the past year, however this is not always translating into meaningful actions that support and protect everyone in the workplace. 

For anyone starting a business there is that delicious and intoxicating mixture of excitement tinged with fear. Both these are driven by stepping into the unknown and doing something new. Doing anything new or different will always present new challenges, and the further outside of your personal experience or comfort zone any new enterprise is, then potentially the larger those challenges will be.

Today, we all live a fast-paced life, rushing from one place to another, one task to another, one thing to another, and so on. This hasty lifestyle has introduced a lot of stress in our lives and the year 2020 further added a lot of anxiety to our already stressful lifestyle with the global spread of the pandemic. If life has turned into a challenging affair for you because of the pandemic or any other reasons and you are eager to find peace, hope, bliss, and inner joy again, it’s time for you to embrace mindfulness.

Autumn is already upon us and the nights are drawing in - Christmas is only just round the corner. However, this isn’t always a reason for small businesses to celebrate. The calendar year-end can often coincide with tricky cashflow gaps for smaller companies which can lead to some less than silent nights for business owners. Here are some tips on why it may be worth thinking ahead now and looking at company finances in advance, to avoid getting some unsightly lumps of coal in the company stocking instead of a winter celebration. 

The past few decades have been all about the myriad physical benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise. We all know about the improvements in our cardiovascular health, not to mention decreased blood pressure and much lesser risks of developing various diseases. 

According to Edays, 41% of respondents felt that their workplace has had a negatively impact on their wellbeing during the pandemic.

With 1 in 4 of us actively looking to move roles right now, how can businesses minimise the risk of losing the best of their team to the ‘Great Resignation’? It starts with wellbeing.