< Previous East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk MEN’S HEALTH men dying prematurely from suicide, testicular cancer, and prostate cancer by twenty-five per cent. But, in order to achieve this, your support and donations are indispensable. It’s a sad fact of life that not every man can grow a moustache. For those who can, it’s a time to literally let their hair down – whether that’s with a carefully groomed tache, or a full-on beard. Don’t feel you can’t get involved if your moustache has never made it past bumfluff, though, as there’s a myriad of other ways to raise funds. ‘Move for Movember’ sees participants running or walking sixty miles over the course of the month – a figure symbolic of the sixty men we lose to suicide each hour, every hour around the world. ‘MoRunning’ is a series of 1.5k, 5k and 10k runs taking place across the country during November (you can find your nearest one here: www.mo- running.com/locations). Owing to the pandemic, the event went virtual, with people participating from their own homes, and this continues again alongside in-person events. Not everyone is comfortable running in front of others or are precluded from doing so because of mental or physical health issues; but this way, people can take part at their own pace alongside thousands of others around the world. You can also ‘Mo Your Own Way’ and choose an epic adventure challenge, whether that’s physical endurance or your own wildcard ideas, it’s a great way to use your physical strength, stamina, and good health to help others (and offer an encouraging example of positive masculinity in the process). For something a little less intensive, you can host a ‘Mo-ment’. Here you can put your own spin on things by organising an event, virtual or otherwise. This option is particularly suited to corporate environments to get the whole team involved (not just the ones growing moustaches). Whether it’s a simple get- together, a coffee morning, or even a teambuilding weekend, there’s a plethora of ways to host a shindig to raise money. Of course, you can just donate direct to the charity, be that a one-off or an ongoing monthly basis. With the money raised, the charity funds ground-breaking projects across mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Since 2003, it has raised £598 million and funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world. Last year, to help address some of the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, it announced funding for thirty-four projects supporting the mental health and wellbeing of men and boys. A mass media behaviour change campaign aimed at encouraging millions of young men to talk about their mental health was also successfully launched. Despite the emphasis on men’s health, Movember is all about inclusivity. In 2016, for example, it partnered with Australia’s National Breast Cancer Foundation to fund research to transform A marathon to remember: Summit 53 Lincolnshire business Systematic is a proud cheerleader for Summit 53 – a mountain-sized, marathon-length challenge that team member Jill Bell embarked on with her friend Kate Brown. It culminated on Sunday 1 October in Caistor, the market town that Systematic is proud to have called home for 48 years. The Systematic team appreciate that struggling with a mental health issue feels like climbing a mountain too. Their Managing Director Chris Robey tragically lost the battle with his own mental health in September 2022. Chris was a respected businessman, a pillar of the Caistor community, and a running buddy for Jill and Kate. Through Summit 53, Jill, Kate and Systematic are supporting the critical work of Andy’s Man Club, a national suicide prevention charity. It helps men to get on top of their feelings through the power of conversation. The aim was to raise at least £5,300 for the charity, to help fund their peer-to-peer support groups and awareness events. This target has been surpassed significantly, with over £15,000 raised. Runners Kate Brown (left) and Jill Bell (right) on one of their many training runs www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link MEN’S HEALTH © stock.adobe.com/pressmaster the lives of both men and women. And women, dubbed ‘Mo Sisters’, are invited to take part in fundraising activities to support the charity and, by extension, their male relatives and men all around the world. However, it’s important not to forget trans men in all of this. They may not biologically possess prostates or testes but deserve mental health support as much as any other man. They therefore have every right to participate in every kind of fundraising, especially growing a moustache for those taking testosterone who are able. From humble beginnings in Australia when two mates met up for a beer in 2003 and came up with the idea for the movement, to becoming the foremost men’s health charity in the world, Movember is an important institution, one with major industry and media backing, but one which needs your help. How are you going to help? Donate If you’d like to make a donation direct to Movember, visit uk.movember.com/donate East Midlands Business Link MATERIALS HANDLING All goods need to be handled but all employees need to be paid. Minimising handling wherever possible frees up staff and expenses. T he concept of materials handling is traditionally about safety but has expanded to efficiency with the advent of technology that has further increased how much any one human can move at a given time. Forklifts, pallet trucks and fully automated conveyor systems have removed the human element, and the human limit, and continue to be attractive in a post-lockdown economy. Automated materials handling systems allow for flexibility within the supply chain, as when a new product is introduced, it is merely a case of recalibrating machinery. If flexible walls were installed in conveyor belts, this would allow for easy The handling issue 34 Á© stock.adobe.com/swissa East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk MATERIALS HANDLING manoeuvrability around the warehouse if operations were to be moved, scaled up or scaled down, without significantly increasing downtime. Given the exponential demand for consumer goods direct to our supermarkets, or even our doors, this has necessitated efficiency within materials handling, as the long-lasting nature of some of these products means that businesses can expand their operations. With increased operations, increases the need for accuracy, safety, and cost-saving process. The most obvious benefit of a materials handling system is it eliminates the damage and loss caused by human error. Yet, beyond this, a truly well managed system can increase efficiency, reduces handling costs, and facilitates stock management and process flow. Understanding how to increase efficiency with materials handling is useful to know, even if you intend to use a third-party warehousing partner, so as to make an informed investment. Key efficiency indicators include time sensitivity, storage temperature, the sealants utilised and accessibility of stock. All of these combine to determine the speed © stock.adobe.com/Marcus Jacobiwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link MATERIALS HANDLING at which the materials can be processed, and the quality of the end product. Given that Unplanned Downtime, Yield, and Inventory Turnover are amongst some of the most common Key Product Indicators measured by manufacturers, it can be seen how efficiency with materials handling can improve these indicators. AGVs are expected to reduce workplace accidents significantly, as driving automated paths and the ability to inter communicate with other AGVs reduces likelihood of collisions. It is estimated that 25% of injuries in the workplace are caused by contact with objects and equipment and reducing the need for manual handling across the production process, underscores the impact of automated vehicles in reducing these incidents. Warehouse software and SCM (Supply chain management) software has also been under scrutiny of late, with lessons learned from the pandemic being that warehouses need ways to operate on skeleton staff and shortages. This has been a timely lesson, since the great resignation and a dearth of skilled workers has caused the problem to grow. Using computers alongside machines for materials handling purposes has long been the dream of companies operating warehouses, as it removes the risks for accidents and scandals, and machines can work longer hours with less breaks. However, the technology has always been inhibitive in the past compared to the traditional workforce, and however efficient machines may be, humans are more flexible, able to adapt to changes without the need for programming and keep working. This has slowly begun to change in recent years with robots becoming more affordable and widely produced, and employee wages have risen alongside this, slowly closing the gap between investment cost and sustained wages. The cost of living has put a stop to wage increases sadly, as the economy and many businesses are struggling to afford them, but it is unlikely to be something that continues. Once the economic troubles are over, whether it be through a recession or not, it is likely that employees will demand higher wages, and that the national wage will increase once more. With that in mind, it might be worth looking at automated materials handling sooner rather than later. At some point, it might be mandatory, or even the industry standard. East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk EDUCATION AND TRAINING A ccording to fresh research from the Office for National Statistics, staff shortages are everywhere, from farming, haulage, hospitality, health and social work sectors and all are causing pressure on businesses throughout the UK. With the lack of staff increasing pressure on a company’s ability to operate at normal levels due to reduced stock and supply chain disruption, nearly a third (32%) of businesses with 10 plus employees expressed a workforce shortage, add to this strike action affecting 13% of businesses, recovery still taking place from the pandemic and an increasing number of people absent from work due to stress or long term illness - things look bleak. The Government’s Lincolnshire Employment and Skills Strategy Report 2021-2023 stated that, of 1,200 regional businesses approached, 35% were having difficulty filling vacancies and that this was mainly due to skills shortage, especially as Lincolnshire, in relation to the UK, has a huge employment requirement in food & drink manufacturing, wholesale & retail and agriculture, but also struggles in the smaller markets of professional services, finance & insurance and information technology. Finding staff is hard and keeping staff can be harder, and businesses across the western world have also seen a rise in what many are calling “lax standards” among new employees. This may be that employees aren’t prepared for the working world, don’t understand it, aren’t motivated by money or just aren’t as “hard-working” as they used to be. Some of this may undoubtedly be true, but some of it is doubtless also exaggeration and unreasonable expectations by employers. It’s always easy to complain of how things were better in the “good old days” when they were younger. Yet more of it is undoubtedly the shift toward employees valuing their free time more and their bank balance less, caused in no small part by the cost of living and the simple fact that a lot of young people couldn’t afford a house even if they worked to the point of collapse. So, if you can’t achieve your dreams through hard work, why bother? The feeling of Retrain to retain High staff turnover combined with difficulties in recruiting is making business more challenging than ever. Could training and skills development not only help fill niches, but keep staff from looking for work elsewhere? www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link EDUCATION AND TRAINING being just another cog in an uncaring machine doesn’t help, which is where training and development can come to the rescue. Many younger employees are coming out of schooling or university and many employers are complaining that their new recruits don’t have a “working attitude”. In all fairness, this is understandable. The transition from school to employment is not easy, and it would be strange if someone did come out of school with the full mentality of an adult working a 9- 5 job. That simply isn’t how school is. Training, be that in-house or external, is used as a means to help bridge the gap and prepare a new employee for their role. A new job is stressful and training is supposed to give them the tools they need not only to perform it, but to feel confident and relaxed in doing so. Stressed employees may make mistakes, and will always be unhappy, which can lead to high staff turnover. The problem comes from training being seen by many managers as an unnecessary step, or something to be rushed through. It’s easy to say, “this job is easy; they should be able to do it” and then bulling through training and unleashing them on your customers, but such methods © stock.adobe.com/Rawpixel.com 38 Á East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk EDUCATION AND TRAINING inevitably lead to poor performance and poorer mood. In a recent survey, 56% of UK workers stated that they would leave their current role if their workplace stopped providing training. 31% of those surveyed had in fact left a position after experiencing this. The fact that over half of individuals expressed the idea of leaving if their workplace training stopped is a clear indicator of its value, and yet many continue to believe in the idea that employees will be content to stagnate in the same role for 10+ years without ever wanting more for themselves. Employers espouse the desire for “ambitious go-getters motivated by money and ready to work hard” and then turn around and expect them to accept stagnant work with no opportunities to grow their skills and earn promotion. It’s double standards. In house training removes the need for unnecessary mixing, as those training them are people with whom they would already be interacting. Moreover, courses can be delivered online, via platforms such as Microsoft Teams. These sites allow screen sharing for easy demonstration and have a hands-up function to allow employees to easily ask questions. As many businesses continue to operate on a hybrid basis, this could seamlessly integrate into everyday operations. Whilst taking a day out for training will result in some lost productivity, an employee who is unskilled or incorrectly trained could result in a long term lack of productivity as the potential for mistakes and having to rectify them increases. Furthermore, businesses miss out on the opportunity to upskill employees and help them to develop new skills. This helps the business to stay current and provides the opportunity for diversification of thinking and business approach. This could entail a training programme of creative problem solving, technical knowledge implementation, and out of the box thinking. As well as increasing business productivity, it stimulates employees and motivates them to take on other responsibilities. This has the dual benefit of making them less interested in looking elsewhere. www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link EDUCATION AND TRAINING © stock.adobe.com/F8 \ Suport UkraineNext >