Ethical Employers Bristol

Kim Stoddart, managing director of ethical media relations company Blue Rocket (www.bluerocketgroup.com) looks at what it takes to be an ethical employer and the benefits that being one will have on a company.

An ethical boss is one who treats their staff well and never forgets that a workforce is the heart and soul of every business. Who doesn't want a motivated, hardworking workforce that is dedicated to your business? Let's face it, this is every employer’s dream as well as a key ingredient in the recipe for a successful company. It is also perfectly achievable if your workforce is happy and knows that they are valued.

Include not exclude

Having ethical practices in place that include, rather than exclude your employees, is a positive step that ensures that your company has a working culture that people want to be part of. Building a reputation as a great place to work will not only help you to attract high quality candidates, it will also lead to high staff retention, which in turn is good for your clients and will ultimately benefit your business.

Keeping staff updated on company developments and involving them along every step of the way will ensure everyone understands the bigger picture of where your company is heading and feel very much part of this. Asking employees of all levels, not just senior management, to contribute is very important. As well as making everyone feel valued it means that you get a different perspective on things. Obviously not all of the ideas that people come up will be relevant but it's like a breath of fresh air to any business and encourages innovation and creative thinking.

Taking care of your people

Ensuring that everyone has regular appraisals is extremely important and makes sure that people are focused in the role they are carrying out and motivated to progress further within the company. This regular contact also provides an opportunity for the employee to ask any questions, or chat through any problems they are having and it enables your management team to work closely with them to overcome any issues early on. Appraisals also help to identify any ideas staff have for the company, or areas of the business that they would like to get involved in.

Providing people with incentive and reward programmes also goes a long way. This can work on many different levels and include everything from company bonuses and regular pay reviews, through to much smaller but equally popular incentives that people have expressed an interest in. For example, at Blue Rocket every full time employee is given a choice of a massage or treatment per month. Another popular but inexpensive incentive is 'Chocolate Friday' where yes you’ve guessed it, everyone gets chocolate on Fridays.

Simple and inexpensive ideas such as this are a great way of getting the best out of your workforce, treating individuals with respect and creating a community of shared success.

Having open communicat...