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<a href="https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/survey-resignation-workers-considering-quitting-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">25%</a> of employees left their job due to toxic culture in 2022.
A workplace culture is &ldquo;<a href="https://www.predictiveindex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">typically considered toxic</a> when trust, psychological safety, and employee morale degrade to unhealthy levels.&rdquo;
Toxic cultures are extremely dangerous for both companies and employees. Symptoms rapidly spread through a workforce if not managed. They have an impact on productivity, mental health, and employee engagement.
Here are some examples of a toxic culture:
<ul>
<li>Overworked employees</li>
<li>Chronic stress</li>
<li>Workplace bullying</li>
</ul>
In the majority of these situations, the issue stems from a lack of trust and communication among those in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/organisational-structures---where-do-you-fit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">workplace hierarchy</a>.
&nbsp;
<h3>Effect of Toxic Culture</h3>
Staff turnover is typically very high in toxic environments as a result of this feeling of separation between employees and their leaders.
Those who feel ignored, mistreated, or exploited by their leaders often prefer to leave a company rather than file a complaint. They lack confidence that their problems will be solved.
Toxic cultures can have a huge negative effect on a company's performance. "Poor company culture" costs UK businesses a staggering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.breathehr.com/en-gb/resources/culture-economy-report-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&pound;20.2 billion</a>&nbsp;every single year.
&nbsp;
<h3>How Does it Develop?</h3>
Sadly, there are numerous ways for a toxic culture to emerge at work. While the root cause of the issue may change between each situation, generally speaking, a lack of communication exacerbates and hides the issues.
Negative or even abusive behaviour is permitted to continue when organisations don't take the time to collect employee feedback. It can spread rapidly throughout a company.
Companies should be sending out anonymous employee engagement surveys to mitigate this. Surveys can reveal early warning signals and red flags of emerging issues.&nbsp;
Organisations can jump in early when faced with concerning feedback or low engagement scores, reducing the likelihood of later problems.&nbsp;
When a toxic culture has already taken hold, there are some major warning signs to look out for:
<ul>
<li>Managers who speak condescendingly to their teams</li>
<li>A feeling of &lsquo;profits/policies over people&rsquo; where employees feel exploited</li>
<li>Micromanagers&nbsp;</li>
<li>Unsupportive performance appraisals</li>
<li>Discrimination or lack of diversity</li>
<li>Failure to recognise or reward employee achievements</li>
<li>Harassment</li>
</ul>
If you recognise any of the above signs in your workplace or business, it&rsquo;s time to:
a.) leave (if you&rsquo;re an employee)
b.) do something about it (if you&rsquo;re an employer!)
&nbsp;
<h3>Gathering Evidence:</h3>
Quantitative research on the culture of your firm can be useful for understanding what it's like to work there. Here are just a few suggestions for how to go about doing this:
<h4>1. Regular Engagement Surveys</h4>
<a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/blogs/employee-engagement---starting-your-survey-process" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Employee engagement surveys</a> can provide a lot of quantifiable information, including eNPS scores and real-time feedback from current employees.&nbsp;
Quarterly surveys allow you to regularly check in with your team&nbsp;whilst leaving enough time to action feedback and build trust in the process.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ten Space</a>&nbsp;offers an innovative and anonymous method of surveying through Whatsapp, email and SMS, which delivers an engaging way to survey your team.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4>2. Glassdoor Reviews</h4>
Glassdoor is a very helpful (and free) website where current and past employees can post honest reviews about their work experiences. While the findings of engagement surveys are most likely to be shared just within the company, Glassdoor provides a more public way of sharing feedback.
&nbsp;
<h4>3. Turnover &amp; Absenteeism</h4>
The average employee turnover rate in the UK is currently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.monster.co.uk/advertise-a-job/hr-resources/workforce-management-and-planning/staff-retention/what-is-the-ideal-employee-turnover-rate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">15%</a>&nbsp;a year. Absence and turnover rates among employees are telltale signs of a toxic workplace environment. Not all staff turnover is a terrible thing, but if your turnover rate is far higher than this, you may want to pay closer attention to your culture.
&nbsp;
<h3>Preventing Toxic Culture</h3>
While there isn't a "perfect" way to shape your culture, there are a number of essential components you'll need to create a healthy working environment.
Listen to employees -&nbsp;Your staff may currently have the solutions to the majority, if not all, of your problems. Utilise the knowledge that employee engagement surveys may provide and, before a toxic culture emerges, focus on its underlying causes.
Great leadership -&nbsp;Toxic cultures often stem from miscommunication and bad leadership. It's essential to develop your managing teams' leadership abilities. This comes in many different forms, so knowing what makes a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/blogs/want-to-become-a-fantastic-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bad leader</a> is key.
Develop trust - Operating transparently, doing what you say you are going to do and doing the right thing builds trust.&nbsp; A lack of trust in an organisation can quickly slow it down and impact on performance.
Employees first -&nbsp;Always put your employees at the heart of your business. You wouldn't have a brand, clients or services to offer without them. Your culture will stay healthy and thriving if you put your people at the centre of every business choice you make.
&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re committed to creating healthier workplaces - delivering employee engagement surveys through innovative technology and great service. For more information on how our platform can help your business thrive, visit our website, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">get in touch</a>!&nbsp;

Preventing Toxic Culture

Every company needs an organisational structure&mdash;whether they realise it or not. The organisational structure is how the company delegates roles, responsibilities, job functions, accountability and decision-making authority.
There are now as many as 7 popular kinds of organisational structures, each offering their own unique advantages and disadvantages.&nbsp;
Many companies are now choosing to break away from conventional hierarchies, in order to create a more diverse workplace for employees and align structures to the culture of the organisation.&nbsp;
There are 3 main kinds of organisational structures - Hierarchical, Holacracy &amp; Matrix.
We&rsquo;ll be investigating these and understand their pros &amp; cons when it comes to employee engagement.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Hierarchical Structure</h3>
Hierarchical structure is one of the most popular management structures amongst larger corporations and organisations. It involves different levels of authority within a company, starting with the CEO, then working down through directors, then managers, then individual contributors and so on.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/WEuj0QopSrpIQG7OSX-RSV52yRjMWrW6z7O-OgpxVp7sOMM1C_xFLg43OKiCyPNHmpunB8ALImlvYu4oJvuG9Sb4xZeCnCB6s85l1eBU3hIbj_1XLqdaSkMBNJR_YjnvgDVDPUxtZe55LvxF8hVcSVg" width="602.2993613902846" height="401">
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Roles</h4>
Typically, the wider the company expands, the taller the hierarchy structure grows, but it will generally always maintain a pyramid shape.
Employee roles in this kind of organisational structure are usually very clearly defined, and decision-making usually starts at the top before working its way down.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Successful Example</h4>
Amazon is a good example of a company that adopts the hierarchical structure employing more than <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/working-at-amazon/our-people#:~:text=Our%20people&amp;text=In%202021%20we%20will%20employ,1.3%20million%20around%20the%20world.">55,000 people in the UK,</a> and around 1.3 million globally. Whilst there are pockets of other structures, broadly all employees technically report back to CEO, Jeff Bezos up through the <a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/chain-of-command">chain of command</a>.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Advantages of Hierarchical Structure</h4>
There are many advantages to the hierarchical organisational structure, hence why it&rsquo;s the preferred choice for businesses small and large.
Here are some of the biggest pros:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
They typically present employees with an opportunity to &lsquo;climb the ladder&rsquo; and follow a clear, upwards career path.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Separate departments within a hierarchical structure give employees the chance to become specialists in their field, and adopt niche positions that bring on their own opportunities.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Hierarchical structures allow a clear line of communication and their operations are typically well-organised with exceptional managerial control. It&rsquo;s clear who can shape and influence the team.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Disadvantages of Hierarchical Structure</h4>
Though the hierarchical structure is typically very organised, such rigidity can actually be detrimental to larger companies.
Here are some of the disadvantages of this structure:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
The solid and lengthy chain of command can often be detrimental to collaboration across various departments, and can cause delays in communication and drain employee engagement.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Hierarchical structures are highly susceptible to bureaucracy, with a clear dis-connect between employees and their leaders.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Employee-management relationships often come under strain due to a lack of autonomy
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Hierarchical structures often come with large overheads due to an extensive chain of command, this can lead to regular restructuring, as the business evolves to keep control of costs.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
 
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Holacracy Structure</h3>
The holacracy structure may seem a little complicated on the outside, but it&rsquo;s actually relatively simple. The structure is a decentralised model, where there are no job titles, no managerial roles, and no hierarchy whatsoever.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/UX-n6wHyxKwOsJBArRARzhRpVENAYQsXY2gOiCfpCQ2E-uZVaNS_6pYL2RbIprgv7tYuISwVenQxZ3OWj0hGRSQ6kccHacdUQelQSgi8dFlOLfp3EHA3A4ZjFwnylRXDryWAMjryu6UIIMRc4hllE3c" width="602" height="401">
<h4 dir="ltr">Origin&nbsp;</h4>
Holacracy borrows its name from the Greek term &lsquo;holons&rsquo;, which means &lsquo;whole&rsquo;. A holacratic workplace is made up of a &lsquo;ring&rsquo; of employees (rather than a pyramid), where each worker is given the flexibility to choose tasks at their preference. Employees are even given the freedom to move between teams, as long as they assume responsibility and lead the company towards a common goal.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Successful Example</h4>
One of the most notable examples of a holacratic company is Zappos, who began adopting the model in 2013. And although they noted that almost <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh-on-holacracy-transition-2016-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">18% of their employees</a> had decided to quit after the switch, the company has been continuously celebrated for its <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2017/05/30/preserving-a-culture-people-love-as-your-company-grows-lessons-from-zappos/?sh=74ac0c9f712b">high employee engagement rates and thriving culture.&nbsp;</a>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Advantages of Holacratic Structure</h4>
The advantages of the holacratic structure are quite profound, largely due to their seemingly radical ways of working.
Here are just some of the advantages:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Without a traditional hierarchy, employees feel a greater sense of belonging, and often work harder towards the common goal of the company.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Due to the flexibility of roles, employees are often highly skilled in various areas, and can remove the need for recruitment of expensive specialists.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Without a chain of command, employees are invited to solve problems on their own, or collaborate with other team members. This fosters greater innovation and employs efficiency and productivity within the company.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Thanks to the fluidity of this structure, it&rsquo;s easy to implement profound changes quickly, allowing the company to evolve at an accelerated rate.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Holacratic companies often report higher levels of employee engagement, thanks to their all-inclusive approach to meetings and strategy. Everyone feels like they&rsquo;re being heard, has a voice and is making a clear contribution.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Disadvantages of Holacratic Structure</h4>
Holacracy has faced immense amounts of criticism, largely due to the lack of a &lsquo;big picture&rsquo;.
Here are some of the biggest disadvantages of the model:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
It&rsquo;s extremely hard for a large company to adopt a holacratic model. It took Zappos two years to fully implement the structure throughout its organisation.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
The reliance on your workforce to be &lsquo;all singing all dancing&rsquo; can result in higher training and onboarding costs.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
The structure isn&rsquo;t something people can easily get used to, and often involves changing people&rsquo;s entire habits e.g. those who feel like they must report to someone about a problem, or when a task is complete.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
With most of the concentration flooding into the everyday processes and smaller tasks of the company, the &lsquo;bigger picture&rsquo; is often lost, and the company can stagnate.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Some people like to have job titles - it gives them a sense of purpose. Without them, they may feel lost and end up leaving the company, driving up recruitment costs once more.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Matrix Structure</h3>
A matrix structure is a blend of two or more kinds of organisational structures, offering the &lsquo;best of both (or multiple) worlds&rsquo;. The matrix structure typically functions like a grid that&rsquo;s split into various projects, such as finance, HR, operations and marketing.&nbsp;
Employees within these projects may find themselves with two or more managers - their regular manager, and a team leader who spearheads the project.
<img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/sl1nBmofqn9uvT1w0sas8DSlORCVaGqlPRJkRp4JLNRuAV-dOJWCjK_UG1pucTk69GqMUgICSa0QQ-9GA3jUlCXlZ6diFmep3BqcybbLnC_55KXSjoL4t6zGMq8oVBefzF5foteAeJPxwRs1TqmGlHk" width="602" height="401">
<h4 dir="ltr">Successful Example</h4>
Google is a perfect example of a large corporation who uses matrix structure to manage their global workforce. The company has been commended in the past for their ability to nurture a great workplace culture by incorporating a <a href="https://fourweekmba.com/google-organizational-structure/">high percentage of flatness</a> in their management. This flatness enables employees to skip the middle man(ager), and communicate across teams with ease. This structure offers the perfect grounds for team building and nurtures employee engagement.
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Advantages of a Matrix Structure</h4>
Matrix structures naturally offer organisations a high degree of flexibility within management.
This brings with it a whole host of unique benefits:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Employee engagement is likely to be higher in matrix structure organisations, thanks to their ease of communication and collaboration across departments.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Teams are likely to feel more motivated, with greater autonomy and scope for a wider variety of work.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Costs are often lower for matrix organisations, due to the reduced need for separate departments to communicate regularly.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Matrix structures often offer career opportunities for those who want to be people managers, as well as those who would like to remain subject experts, meaning there are often opportunities for a broader range of skills
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Disadvantages of a Matrix Structure</h4>
Naturally, such a varied and flexible structure can bring its own difficulties.
Here are the disadvantages of the matrix structure:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Without a clear chain of command, some companies find it difficult to coordinate their teams.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Team members are likely to have varying degrees of loyalty toward each of their project managers, which can result in tension and/or miscommunication.
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Accountability can be tricky due to the complexity of the structure.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
It often takes team members longer to get used to working in matrix structures, which can lead to added recruitment and training costs.&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Due to the shared nature of the projects, it can be easy for some team members to neglect their typical responsibilities, which can quickly erode trust if not managed effectively.
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Understanding Engagement in Flexible Businesses</h3>
Assessing engagement and gaining valuable employee insight in flexible organisational structures requires a flexible approach with fresh technology.&nbsp;
At Ten Space, we use anonymous employee engagement surveys to help organisations take control of engagement, retention and performance whatever the shape of their organisation. Our platform is flexible, so that we can align to exactly the shape of the organisation and ensure we&rsquo;re maximising the insights from each survey.&nbsp;
Take a Holacratic structure for example -&nbsp;
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
How do you start to add an organisational structure into a platform (before you send surveys out) when there is no formal structure?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Where do you start when you want to slice and dice your data for interpretation?
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Who gets to understand what about which employees?&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
If you want your Scrum Masters to understand how engaged their scrums are, so they can maximise performance, but they aren&rsquo;t their direct line manager - the valuable feedback your teams will be giving, might not be seen by the person who can make a difference.&nbsp;
Most platforms aren&rsquo;t really built to cope with flexible organisational structures. Their reliance on structure to offer a hierarchical position to each individual before a survey goes out, often prohibits their ability to present results to the people who can make an impact.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Finding the Best Employee Engagement Platform</h3>
The Ten Space platform is different. Our tagging system allows every individual in your business to be given a unique set of tags. These could include simple tags such as gender, location and role, but can extend much further and much deeper.&nbsp;
Importantly, where there is a lack of structure, we can still provide many attributes for each person that the hierarchical approach wouldn&rsquo;t allow.&nbsp;
Once the survey is complete, these tags really come into their own. If you want to look at the specific performance of a team, cross referenced with, for example, location, gender and longevity of service, this is not a problem.&nbsp;
Also hierarchy doesn&rsquo;t need to govern who gets to see the results of the survey. Permissions in a platform are usually based on hierarchy too. With the Ten Space platform you&rsquo;ll only be served the data that you should see based on the tags you&rsquo;ve been assigned.
You can&rsquo;t fix employee engagement through structure alone. But whatever structure you&rsquo;ve chosen, we can help you to work out the best way to develop your questions, your survey and your tags to guarantee a data set and feedback that is right for your organisation - putting the valuable insight in front of the people that can make a difference.&nbsp;
Start your journey to high engagement with us by <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/contact/">getting in touch</a>. Or check out how we&rsquo;ve helped others create incredible workplaces in our <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/case-studies/">case studies</a>.

How your org structure can impact employee engagement

Organisational Structures - Where do you fit?

Are you constantly looking at your notifications? Is that red bubble above Instagram constantly on your mind? Did you know that in 2021 the number of smartphone users in the United Kingdom rose to&nbsp;<a href="https://cybercrew.uk/blog/smartphone-usage-statistics-uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">53.5 million</a>, making it 78.9% of the population?
We increasingly miss out on valuable moments when our faces are buried in our screens, documenting every thought and action on social media. If you notice any of these mannerisms in yourself, then maybe consider taking part in the National Day of Unplugging which is a 24-hour period running from sunrise to sunset on Friday 4th March 2022.
It&rsquo;s a chance to connect with friends, family and colleagues.&nbsp;Take this day to carve out precious time to unplug, relax, reflect, be active, visit the outdoors, and connect with loved ones.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>The Right to Disconnect Law</h3>
A right to disconnect gives employees the right to disconnect from work outside of their normal working hours. That means once workers are off the clock they will not receive or be required to answer any work-related calls, emails or messages.
The UK is very much behind the rest of the world when it comes to a right to disconnect with several countries introducing rules to prevent employees from working outside their allotted hours.
Portugal has introduced a law that would make it unlawful for bosses to text or email their employees outside of working hours.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/6b64a-tanaiste-signs-code-of-practice-on-right-to-disconnect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ireland</a> introduced a code of practice in April 2021 that gave workers the right to disconnect.
While employees don&rsquo;t have a legal right to disconnect, they can take action against employers at the Labour Court or Workplace Relations Commission if they feel they have been penalised for refusing to attend work to work outside normal working hours.
French employers with more than 50 employers have been legally obliged to create a charter of good conduct since 2017. That involves working with union representatives to decide the hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails.
There is currently no specific right under EU law for a right to disconnect, although the EU&rsquo;s working time directive, like its UK equivalent, sets working hour limits. However the EU directive also stipulates minimum daily and weekly rest periods.
&nbsp;
<h3>Digital Detox</h3>
In a poll conducted by<a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/tweens-teens-and-phones-what-our-2019-research-reveals" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;Common Sense Media</a>, 50% of teens reported that they felt that they were addicted to their mobile devices. A whopping 78% of the teen respondents said that they check their digital devices hourly.
&ldquo;Detoxing&rdquo; from digital devices is often seen as a way to focus on real-life social interactions without distractions. A digital detox refers to a period of time when a person refrains from using tech devices such as smartphones, televisions, computers, tablets, and social media sites. Here are a few benefits of a digital detox:
&nbsp;
<h4>Technology can be Stressful</h4>
While most can&rsquo;t imagine their life without digital devices. Research has found that technology can actually increase levels of stress.
<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1134262/negative-effect-of-tech-on-employee-s-well-being-in-the-uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to a survey</a> carried out in 2019, 86% of respondents in the United Kingdom said that the inability to switch off out of work hours was having a negative effect on employee well-being.&nbsp;
Furthermore 70 percent of respondents also said that technology has a negative effect on employee well-being due to the stress caused when technology fails.
It&rsquo;s the constant need to keep checking emails, texts and social media that is causing the majority of tech stress.
&nbsp;
<h4>Digital devices can disrupt sleep</h4>
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X17736972" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">One study</a>&nbsp;found that children who use digital devices at bedtime had significantly worse and less sleep. Researchers have also found that&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.12.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in-bed electronic social media</a> use has adverse effects on sleep and mood.&nbsp;
70% of participants checked social media on their phones while in bed, with 15% spending an hour or more on social media while in bed.&nbsp;
The results found that using social media when you are in bed at night increases the likelihood of anxiety, insomnia, and shorter sleep duration.
It is vital that in order to be productive and engaged during the day, you have to first get a good night's sleep with no distractions.
<h3>&nbsp;</h3>
<h4>Health benefits</h4>
One study conducted by&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-66" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">researchers in Sweden</a> found that heavy technology use among young adults was linked to sleeping problems, depressive symptoms, and increased stress levels. The study also found a connection between nighttime tech use and increased body mass index.
In this ever changing world, health is a number one priority. If a few days of no screens here and there can have a positive impact on your physical and mental health, then it seems like a day of unplugging is worth it.
&nbsp;
<h3>Signs you might need a digital detox</h3>
<ul>
<li>You often find yourself staying up late or waking up early in order to go on your device</li>
<li>You are afraid you might miss something if you&rsquo;re not constantly checking your phone</li>
<li>You feel compelled to check your phone for notifications every few minutes</li>
<li>You feel anxious or stressed when you can&rsquo;t find your phone</li>
</ul>
Committing to the National Day of Unplugging is a chance to relax, unwind and refresh. It&rsquo;s a time to make plans with loved ones and create more human connections with the people around us. Start your day with a coffee and a conversation with a loved one. Read the newspaper. Meet a friend for breakfast. Turn off your notifications and recharge yourself instead of your phone.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
At Ten Space, we can help you check in on the engagement and wellbeing of your team through anonymous employee feedback. Check out how we can help at www.tenspace.co.uk.

Are you constantly looking at your notifications?

National Day of Unplugging

If you spend time on social media, you don&rsquo;t need to look far to find a troll. These are people or accounts who show deviant, malicious or antisocial behaviour online. Their aim is to offend and trigger<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/28349/1/Predictive%20Factors%20of%20Facebook%20Trolling%20Behaviour_skemman.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;conflict.</a> This is an obvious and prolific form of cyberbullying.
Often trolls hide their true identity online, so it wouldn&rsquo;t be obvious if you had an internet troll in your team.&nbsp;O<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/one-in-three-australians-say-they-ve-been-trolled-online/c8ec0e27-cb88-4c94-9505-77554520b692" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ne in three</a>&nbsp;people say they have experience of receiving abuse online. Sadly, we&rsquo;re not talking about something rare and unusual.
A<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/your-online-secrets/201409/internet-trolls-are-narcissists-psychopaths-and-sadists" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;2014 study</a> showed those who said they enjoyed internet trolling had common personality traits. These included<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/narcissism" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;narcissism</a>,<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/dark-triad" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;Machiavellianism</a>,<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/psychopathy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;psychopathy</a>, and sadism. In short, trolls enjoy making you feel bad.&nbsp;
So if people are 'trolling' online, in their own time, with a hidden identity, should you care about having trolls in your team?
&nbsp;
Yes. You absolutely should.
Trolls are bullies. Their behaviour can lead to psychological damage of themselves and others. And there are many documented cases of where it has led to<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-death-twitter-criticised-for-failing-to-act-against-trolls-20140222-338z6.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;suicide</a>.
It's also very likely that these character traits and behaviours are present in the workplace (albeit to a lesser degree). Some believe that internet trolling is a way of discharging this type of behaviour so that it is less likely to appear face-to-face. Having a secret troll on your team means having someone who is unkind, aggressive and unwilling to be accountable for their actions. They aren't the ideal team member.&nbsp;
Having people that display these personality traits and enjoy spouting hate online is bad for culture and employee engagement. All organisations should have zero tolerance on bullying, whatever form it takes.
A great culture is built around a psychologically safe space, where people can be themselves and everyone is welcomed. Trolls can be hugely problematic for creating a healthy &amp; inclusive working environment.
&nbsp;
<h3>How can you protect your team from trolls?</h3>
The best way to protect your team is to research a potential recruit online before hiring them. Be careful here, this is not a forensic deep-dive into someone&rsquo;s online activity! If you can find evidence demonstrating trolling behaviour, this should be a red flag against welcoming them to your team.
More workplaces have gone remote and rely on written communication for every day interaction. This helps shape the culture of a team and build employee engagement. There is now more opportunity for people to bring their toxic habits into the workplace. The wrong thing to do is to monitor online behaviour of your employees. This can erode trust and create engagement problems of a different kind.
Allowing employees to provide regular<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;anonymous feedback is a</a> safe way for them to raise concerns. Employees can pro-actively share their thoughts about culture and engagement. This allows you to spot any signs of toxicity creeping in and address them before they grow.
In extreme cases, cyberbullying is<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/how-can-hr-respond-if-an-employee-has-been-trolling-someone-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;illegal</a>, it carries a prison sentence and a fine of up to &pound;5,000. As an employer, you are legally responsible for the actions of your employees whilst in your employment, even if you didn&rsquo;t know about it, or endorse it.
If an employee makes hateful comments online they can be traced back and may be considered to be representative of the business. Dealing with cyberbullying appropriately may be a legal obligation as well as a moral one. Many organisations are dealing with online behaviour &amp; social media in policies. If you are, it should cover trolls, cyberbullying and harassment.
The behaviours and traits of trolls and cyberbullies may creep into the workplace where they can be as damaging as they are online. Taking a zero tolerance approach on such attitudes is the only way to deal with trolls. Providing employees with a safe way to share concerns anonymously is an important way to protect the health of your organisation and its culture.
&nbsp;
To find out more about how Ten Space can help your employees to share feedback, find out more on our website<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;" href="http://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> www.tenspace.co.uk</a>.

Trolls hide their identity online, so you won't always know they are in your team - but you may notice the impact they are having on engagement.

Is there a troll in your team?

We speak to a lot of businesses that have done engagement surveys in the past and have had a bad experience. All understood the importance of employee feedback. But something went wrong in the execution.
Often they've done an annual survey that was an enormous effort to carry out. Administering the survey and getting the questions out was a big effort. Even more time was wasted getting results back. Then to make matters worse, very little action was taken as a result.
This well thought out action-plan is now languishing in a drawer somewhere. The results were never published. Nobody talks about it. And if they do they are black-bagged and escorted from the premises!
If this sounds familiar, the rest of this article should be helpful.
&nbsp;
Measuring levels of employee engagement in your business is as critical as tracking profit and loss. It helps with operating and decision making. Without it, you are working blind. You have little understanding how your team feels or what is impacting their performance.
Here's a few recommendations to make sure you don't experience the same problems next time;
&nbsp;
<h4 class="ql-align-justify">1. Make space in your business for employee feedback</h4>
Employee engagement should be a regular conversation in your business. It should be (at least) an agenda point in your leadership meeting. Data should be available and visible to view. Working out how it becomes built into the fabric of your everyday dialogue is vital. Find the time and space to discuss it and it will pay dividends.
&nbsp;
<h4 class="ql-align-justify">2. Build employee engagement into every-day conversations</h4>
Having an engaged sales team will drive better performance and better figures. If a board member calls their Sales Director they will talk about sales figures. But if they also ask about the engagement of the team they will surface this as a priority. Asking about employee feedback will drive a different action from the Director. This will encourage better results.
&nbsp;
<h4 class="ql-align-justify">3. Ask for employee feedback more regularly</h4>
Asking for annual feedback from employees doesn&rsquo;t make sense. It isn&rsquo;t often enough. Employee feedback is only powerful when used to tap into what is happening in the moment - as it&rsquo;s happening.
Asking 'how does it feel to work in this business' once in a year, can do more harm than good. It can quickly fall into a &ldquo;tick box&rdquo; exercise. To make employee feedback a meaningful process, you need to ask regularly.
&nbsp;
<h4 class="ql-align-justify">4. Share findings quickly</h4>
This one is a biggie. After you&rsquo;ve asked for feedback, share what you&rsquo;ve learned with your team and what you&rsquo;re going to do with it. Then go and do what you have said you are going to do!
Employees will feel a lot more excited about the process if they get the results quickly. Make it clear that their feedback was heard, valued and respected.
If employees have had a bad experience in the past, you might find they are reluctant to take part in your first few surveys. But taking fast action (regardless of participation rates) will quickly build trust. It will also add value into the process and should result in higher future participation rate.
&nbsp;
<h4 class="ql-align-justify">5. Choose a tool that can make feedback easy for you</h4>
Technology helps when it comes to collecting employee feedback. We&rsquo;re making it easy for businesses to collect employee feedback and make it part of their business.
Here&rsquo;s just a few ways we&rsquo;re helping:
<ul>
<li>Short surveys, carried out on a regular basis.&nbsp; Support with changing up questions as the type of feedback you need changes over time</li>
<li>WhatsApp and SMS to carry out surveys and ask for feedback - a quick and engaging experience for your teams</li>
<li>A straightforward dashboard that updates with your feedback as it&rsquo;s coming in</li>
<li>Replying anonymously to written feedback. It demonstrates you&rsquo;re actively taking part in a survey</li>
<li>A wrap-up report that you can complete and send out to teams within minutes of your survey closing</li>
<li>An action planning tool so you can keep track of progress and accountability.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
If you've had a poor experience of surveys and employee feedback in the past, don&rsquo;t give up! Hit 'reset' and take a different approach. The feedback is incredibly important to your business and can have a huge impact.
Want to talk about how employee feedback can help your business and how we can help you try again? Get in touch.<a href="http://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> www.tenspace.co.uk</a> or victoria@tenspace.co.uk

How to try again with an employee survey if it wasn’t a great experience in the past.

If at first you don’t succeed... try us instead!

After such a tumultuous year, millions of people across the UK are experiencing high levels of stress. In fact, research has shown that&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">74%</a> of UK adults felt so stressed in the last year that they felt unable to cope.&nbsp;
As it is an employer's duty of care to look out for the welfare of its workforce, it&rsquo;s imperative that stress is recognised and taken as seriously as physical health issues. Without adequate support, stress can lead to a myriad of physical problems, and will undoubtedly result in decreased engagement, morale and productivity by default.
Learning how to spot the signs of stress in your team is one of the best measures you can take to protect your team (and company, by extension). Read on to discover the four biggest warning signs to look out for in an employee or team member&rsquo;s mental wellbeing.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Taking more time off than usual or spending more time away from their desk</h3>
Stress triggers the autonomic nervous system&rsquo;s fight-or-flight response. And while many people assume this reaction is only applicable to dangerous, high-adrenaline situations, chronic mental stress will have a&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/releases/stress" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">similar effect.</a> If your team member or employee is asking for a lot of time off, frequently calling in sick, or regularly showing up late to work, chances are their &lsquo;flight&rsquo; response has been triggered.&nbsp;
Allowing your team some flexibility to create balance in their lives may help to alleviate their stress.&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://resources.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research from Owl Labs</a>&nbsp;has found that companies who offer remote working have a 25% lower turnover rate than those who don&rsquo;t.
&nbsp;
<h3>Loss of productivity or trouble concentrating</h3>
The incapacitating nature of stress is such that it often gets worse the longer it goes untreated. Chronic stress presents a vicious cycle in which the victim feels unable to cope with what&rsquo;s on their plate. As a result, their concentration and productivity suffers, leading to even higher levels of stress and worry.&nbsp;
Never underestimate the power of a conversation when it comes to mental health. Allowing someone to vent their worries to you can help them rationalise their problems and bring around a better sense of calm.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Abusing alcohol or drugs</h3>
We all need to blow off some steam during our time off. But if your team member is engaging in alcohol use a little too often, or is turning to drugs to cope, it&rsquo;s a sure-fire sign that something&rsquo;s wrong.&nbsp;
Try inviting them to do recreational activities outside of work that don&rsquo;t typically involve drugs or alcohol. Exercise is one of the most effective forms of&nbsp;<a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/exercise-stress-relief" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stress relief</a>, and the simple act of moving can help restore balance and clear the mind.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Negative behaviour towards others / deteriorating work relationships</h3>
Erratic or conflictive behaviour is one of the most common stress signals in the workplace. If it isn&rsquo;t addressed quickly and effectively, the destructive effects can create an extremely awkward environment for everyone on your team.&nbsp;
Workplace counsellors are great at helping you support employees who are acting differently under high levels of stress. If you think one of your team members is struggling to cope, it&rsquo;s important to take action before things get worse.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
At Ten Space, we&rsquo;re helping businesses look after their employees&rsquo; wellbeing by fostering a safe, secure and supported working environment, where all their needs are met. <a style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" href="https://www.spacehr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Visit our website</a>&nbsp;to find out more about what we do.&nbsp;

How to Spot the Warning Signs of Stress in Your Team, and What You Can Do to Help

If you've ever questioned the value of gathering employee feedback via a survey, it might be because you aren't making best use of the data and feedback. Used well, this insight can inform, improve and grow your business.
Here we look at some of the smart ways you can use the insight in your business, to drive improvement and growth. By the end of the read, we hope to have converted you to a raving survey fan! And if you already have feedback and you're doing nothing with it, we hope we inspire you to re-examine it and how it can help improve your business.
&nbsp;
<h3>1. Taking Action</h3>
Gathering employee feedback, then doing nothing with it can be really damaging. You have effectively ignored the feedback and wasted your team's time, which can negatively impact the trust you have with your team. The smartest thing you can do with the feedback is take action!
If you've got lots of feedback and areas to tackle from your latest survey then you might need to prioritise. Look out for key themes, repeat concerns and also some quick wins. Let your team know the top 3 to 5 things you intend to work on and then go and get them done.
&nbsp;
<h3>2. Supporting a Business Case&nbsp;</h3>
Don't overlook your employee engagement insight as evidence for your business case. If there are themes in your feedback they can be powerful to validate and support your arguments.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s consider that you were thinking of introducing a new piece of software to your business. Have you had direct feedback that there is a problem to solve in the first place? Or that this would make their working lives easier? Asking these questions first can help mitigate some costly mistakes further down the road.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>3. Company Communications</h3>
Planning a company update? Again take a look at the feedback you&rsquo;ve obtained. Is there anything in your survey feedback that your team would like to hear about?&nbsp;
Have a look where your lowest scores were, or any areas that were mentioned in written feedback. These are the areas that are important to your team and you can shape really impactful communication sessions around exactly what they want to hear. Similarly talk about success and the strengths of your team. A shot of positivity goes a long way.
&nbsp;
<h3>4. Process improvement</h3>
Broken and inefficient processes can have a noticeable impact on employee engagement. Often we see employees sharing ideas and improvements via our engagement surveys, which shouldn't be overlooked. If your customer service team is telling you via their feedback that they are frustrated, there are wins to be had by addressing their concerns, using the feedback they've already given you.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s a clear link between employee feedback scores and customer satisfaction scores. If your employees are happy and performing exceptionally, then your customers will be happy too. The answers to unlocking both are likely to be in your survey feedback.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>5. Investing in skills</h3>
Often there are good indications in a survey, about training needs for leaders. Use the data and the feedback to look at what the team is telling you about it&rsquo;s leadership. Are there key themes where you can place your investment in their skills?&nbsp;
Return on investment when it comes to learning and development spend is important, so it makes sense to use feedback you already have to identify the biggest gaps and get the most from your training budget.
&nbsp;
<h3>6. Recruitment</h3>
One of the things we often talk about with our customers is the "story" behind a survey. What are your team telling you about what it's like to work in the business? What are your strengths and what does the team really enjoy about working there?&nbsp;
This is fantastic information to share during a recruitment process. "Our team has recently told us this&hellip; lots of our team really enjoy this... we're currently focusing on this.... as it's an area we'd like to get better at" . If you want to give candidates a good flavour of what it's like to work in your business, this is great information to repurpose.
&nbsp;
<h3>7. Improving Your Induction Process</h3>
Being a new starter in a business can be nerve-racking. No matter how positive the person is, they will be constantly assessing their new employer through the entire process. The good things will be expected, the bad will be remembered!&nbsp;&nbsp;
Here you&rsquo;re looking for feedback such as gaps in information, gaps in knowledge and cracks in process. If you can address these early in an employee&rsquo;s journey with you, then you can prevent them from becoming bigger issues further down the line.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>8. Leavers&nbsp;</h3>
Last but not least, are you marrying up the data you get from your engagement surveys, with the insight you get from your exit interviews? Are there common themes? Are there any areas for improvement that might be impacting on employee engagement and causing people to leave?&nbsp;
If so, you might need to prioritise these actions or else it can become a much bigger problem in your business. Don't overlook the insight that bringing these two areas of feedback together can bring.
&nbsp;
The Ten Space platform uses WhatsApp to quickly and easily gain feedback and insight. We've got a great way to capture written feedback from your teams too, so it isn't just data - your team can tell you directly what's on their mind. We can help you create a great employee engagement process that builds constant value in your team . For more information contact alec@tenspace.co.uk

8 Smart reasons to use Employee Feedback to make big changes in your business.

How can employee feedback change your business?

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/linkedin/">LinkedIn</a> has become the go-to platform for job seekers and employers alike.&nbsp;
💡 Each week over <a href="https://news.linkedin.com/about-us#Statistics">61 million people</a> are actively looking through LinkedIn for their next position.&nbsp;
Beneath the surface of those enticing job adverts and career opportunities lies a curious gap &ndash; a gap in the frequency of Human Resources (HR) terminology used within senior leadership job postings.&nbsp;
We analysed approximately 100 senior leader roles and 50 senior people roles, and found insights that have broader implications for organisational dynamics and workforce engagement.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">The HR Terms We Explored:</h3>
We targeted three essential HR terms that encapsulate critical aspects of organisational culture and employee well-being:
<ol>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Culture
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Employee engagement&nbsp;
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Employee experience&nbsp;
</li>
</ol>
To create a thriving, high-performing organisation, we know that we need a healthy culture, high engagement and a great employee experience.&nbsp;
Responsibility and accountability for creating and maintaining this needs to be at all levels of the organisation. Including senior leaders. So we set out to uncover the extent to which theses responsibilities were integrated into the DNA of job adverts across different senior leadership positions.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Key Findings:</h3>
<h4 dir="ltr">The Culture and Engagement Disconnect</h4>
Only 21.5% of the senior leadership / board roles we looked at mentioned being responsible for culture, engagement or employee experience in their teams or organisation.
This gap reveals a disconnect between the aspirational culture-building goals, often owned and led by the HR and People team, and the actual articulation of these responsibilities within high-level positions.
<h4 dir="ltr">Functional Disparities</h4>
The extent of inclusion of these HR terms also varied significantly across different senior roles.&nbsp;
For instance, while a substantial 90% of Senior People Leader roles prominently featured culture, engagement, and experience responsibilities, other positions exhibited markedly lower percentages:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Sales Director roles: 0%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Operations Directors: 7%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Managing Directors: 16%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Finance Directors: 20%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Marketing Directors: 29%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
Operations Directors: 33%
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
CEO roles: 44%
</li>
</ul>
So if you are struggling with culture and engagement in your sales and operations teams, it may be because the leaders don&rsquo;t see themselves as responsible or accountable for it. The organisation is asking them to be responsible and accountable for it.
<h4 dir="ltr">Repercussions for Organisational Success</h4>
The absence or sparse mention of culture and engagement responsibilities in job descriptions could signal a profound challenge.&nbsp;
Our findings suggest that accountability for <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/blogs/what-is-employee-engagement-/">employee engagement</a> and culture is not being consistently woven into the fabric of roles throughout the organisation, from the top-down, and it&rsquo;s a UK wide challenge.&nbsp;
This lack of emphasis may undermine the formation of a healthy organisational culture, impeding long-term success. Leaving HR and People teams to pick up the slack.&nbsp;
<h4 dir="ltr">Shifting Priorities and Measures</h4>
Our research also revealed that the focus for leaders may be more centred on outcomes, such as team performance, rather than the inputs, such as fostering <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/blogs/how-to-measure-employee-engagement/">highly engaged teams</a>, which is the underlying aspect of any high-performing team.&nbsp;
The lack of HR terminology in job descriptions might inadvertently shift the emphasis away from cultivating a thriving work environment.
<h4 dir="ltr">Impact on Employer Value Proposition (EVP)</h4>
The <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/blogs/attract-retain-with-your-evp/">Employer Value Proposition</a>, a crucial aspect of talent attraction and retention, may also be negatively influenced by the way job adverts are crafted.&nbsp;
The relegation of culture and engagement-related responsibilities could send a subtle message about the organisation's true priorities for new and external talent.
&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">What Have We Learnt?</h3>
Our analysis of LinkedIn job descriptions highlights a striking gap in the incorporation of HR terminology related to culture, engagement, and employee experience.&nbsp;
This gap points to a larger issue &ndash; the need for organisations to consciously integrate these critical aspects of workplace well-being into their leadership roles, from top to bottom.&nbsp;
The implications of this gap are far-reaching, from influencing organisational culture and employee satisfaction to affecting retention, long-term success and even the attractiveness of the organisation to potential candidates.
It&rsquo;s imperative for leaders and HR professionals to address this gap and collectively work towards building a more holistic and engaging work environment for all
<h3 dir="ltr">One Last Thought&hellip;</h3>
So, the next time you scroll through a LinkedIn job description, keep an eye out for those subtle yet significant mentions of culture, engagement and employee experience &ndash; they just might hold the key to a company's future success. 
At Ten Space we create bespoke surveys which allow teams to share their honest feedback anonymously.&nbsp;
Our employee feedback surveys allow teams to be grouped, so you can see what is working for each team and where you might need to take a new approach to ensure you&rsquo;re getting the maximum engagement and performance boost for your efforts.
This gives leaders the chance to listen to their team, understand the problems in the organisation and work on changing things for the better.
Our dashboard gives you instant insights. We provide tools and support to help you with reporting. These enable you to take the feedback to your leaders quickly and effectively.&nbsp;
 Start your journey to high engagement with us by <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/contact/">getting in touch</a>. Or check out how we&rsquo;ve helped others create incredible workplaces in our <a href="https://www.tenspace.co.uk/case-studies/">case studies</a>.

We analysed approximately 100 senior leader roles and 50 senior people roles to see how prominent engagement & culture responsibilities were in job adverts. Here’s what we found…

Exploring the Gap: Employee Engagement Responsibility in LinkedIn Job Adverts

No matter how engaged your team is, you can be sure that occasionally people will leave. But just as you wouldn't employ a person without interviewing them, its probably not a good idea to let a person leave your business without interviewing them either. Why? Lets give this some thought...
Everyone that came to work for you did so for a reason. Maybe for the money, for the job, for the brand or for the leadership team. When you hired them both parties felt good about the decision, but over time the employee started to think differently and made a decision to move on.
So what changed? When did it change? Why did it change? How can you get these answers?
&nbsp;
<h3>The Exit Interview</h3>
Most businesses don't put enough value on the exit interview. They decide that the employee wasn&rsquo;t a good fit anymore and dismiss feedback in favour of recruitment. But understanding an employee's motivation for leaving could unlock some really good insight on how to improve your business and/or engage better with your employees. It could also stop you wasting a lot of time and money on expensive recruitment exercises.
Ask yourself the following;
<ol>
<li>Do you conduct exist interviews in your business? If yes, what value do you place on the information you get back? If no, why not? The person is leaving anyway. You might just learn something!</li>
<li>What questions do you ask? Are they helpful in extracting the information you want from the existing employee?</li>
<li>What do you do with the information afterwards? Do you feed the trends and learnings from your leaver process into your employee engagement plans and activity?</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h3>Lasting impressions&nbsp;</h3>
Exit interviews conducted at the time of leaving tend to be polarised. Typically those willing to participate have some intense opinions they want to share, or they just want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Either way, you&rsquo;re probably not going to get the quality insight and information you are hoping for.&nbsp;
But once the employee have been out of the organisation for a few months they form their lasting impressions. These are the real opinions and insights that have stayed with them - the ones they are likely to share with others, good or bad. This is the contribution they&rsquo;ll be making to your employer brand if anyone asks their opinion on your business.&nbsp;
So wouldn&rsquo;t you like to know what they are saying? Positive feedback could help you recruit. Negative can add to your engagement plan to address and improve retention.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Benchmarking</h3>
3 months in and your leaver is likely to be established in their new job. They are making comparisons, forming opinions and making recommendations. This can be really powerful information about what are they are really loving about their new employer.&nbsp;
But, now they have a benchmark what do they miss about working in your business? What is the new company getting right that you didn&rsquo;t? Do they have any recommendations for you to help you improve?&nbsp;
3 months after they&rsquo;ve left and the answers to these questions now have additional useful context for your business.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h3>Maintaining relationships&nbsp;</h3>
Getting back in touch with an employee after they&rsquo;ve left to make them feel heard, valued and respected one more time can help to establish a positive ongoing relationship. You create a highly valuable brand ambassador for your business!
This person will promote your company and help smooth the path for new colleagues to find you. If they regret their decision, it could keep the door open for a return in the future too!
&nbsp;
<h3>How to do it</h3>
We suggest you ask permission to contact the employee again as part of the leaver process. Explain why you&rsquo;d like to and get an email address to send an online survey too. Then send out a survey at the 3 month mark. Make sure it's short and won't put them off.
For this kind of survey, you may find that allowing them to write their own responses (qualitative data), rather than rating you on a scale (quantitive data), is more useful and effective. Don&rsquo;t be concerned if you don&rsquo;t get a response, some people leave and never look back, but those that do could help you be better leaders in the future and prevent the same mistakes happening again.
And as with any data you receive, don&rsquo;t waste it! You&rsquo;ve gone to the effort of collecting it, so make sure it has the impact it deserves.&nbsp;
So double-down on collecting insight from your leavers by enhancing and extending your exit interview process. Collecting data and insight 3 months after an employee has left your business, offers a clearer picture of what went wrong, what went right and where improvements can be made.&nbsp;
The feedback you obtain could be vital in helping you attract and retain better employees and put a better Employee Engagement framework in place. It could prevent the next good person leaving and help you build an outstanding company culture.
&nbsp;
For help and support with your exit interview framework, contact Victoria Bond at Ten Space - victoria@tenspace.co.uk

Exit Interviews... Is ignorance bliss?

How BEAM Fieldwork increased their survey completion rate to 94% by creating action plans using feedback  gathered by Ten Space

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Following a successful HR career, Victoria saw the opportunity to build a pragmatic product for HR teams to fall in love with. Her mission to ‘create incredible workplaces through highly engaged teams’, is underpinned by the technology and service delivered by the Ten Space team. 

CEO / Founder

Ten Space is a team of experts in employee engagement, experience and technology. Our powerful survey platform and service helps HR teams build winning businesses.

<div>Right from the start our goal was always very clear. We wanted to help businesses be the best versions of themselves.So we combined technology, support and resources for HR professionals and business leaders to gain incredible insight.We’ve built a product that’s really easy to build into your current framework and delivers feedback from day one.</div>

Our platform is designed to help you understand the real problems in your business - fast!

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See how B-Secur used their 81% completion rate to inform engagement policies and strategies through Ten Space.

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Employee engagement is crucial for accountancy firms as it directly impacts productivity, client satisfaction and firm reputation. Engaged employees are more likely to go the extra mile to understand client needs, provide tailored solutions and build long-term relationships. High levels of engagement reduce turnover rates, saving recruitment costs and preserving institutional knowledge.
                

Measure employee engagement in accountancy firms through regular surveys assessing factors like job satisfaction, work-life balance and alignment with firm values. Include questions on communication effectiveness, career development opportunities and recognition. Analyse survey results to identify areas for improvement and gauge overall engagement levels.

 A great employee engagement platform will give you the data, insight and feedback you need to enact real change in your organisation. Using a third-party platform adds an extra layer of trust. By segmenting the data from engagement surveys, you can uncover valuable insights specific to different employee groups. You can find where your problems are coming from and create targeted actions.

How it works

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">What is Employee Engagement?</h3>To put it in its simplest form: Employee engagement is the level of commitment, enthusiasm and dedication employees have towards their work and the organisation. Enhanced employee engagement reveals itself in employees reaching their full potential and delivering exceptional performance at work.</div>

Measuring employee engagement in your legal firm can be achieved through regular employee surveys. This first step is critical in gathering data that will help you make decisions. Ideally you should be surveying your business every month so you can quickly observe any drops in engagement and affect a plan quickly to resolve issues. Regular surveys provide the data you need to build a strategic engagement plan based on real information, not gut feeling.


Using an ‘engagement specific’ survey platform will help you gather data faster, more securely and more accurately. The right platform will also make it easier for people to submit their responses in a way that’s easy for them. You’ll be able to compare results over time to analyse trends. By segmenting the data from engagement surveys, you can uncover valuable insights specific to different employee groups. You can find where your problems are coming from and create targeted actions.

Once you’ve done your first survey, things will become instantly clearer. You’ll start to see the hotpots in your company by a variety of segmentation criteria such as team, location, gender, role and tenure. Open-ended feedback will often help provide a solution to the challenges you’re seeing. We’re always amazed how much insight a first survey provides to our customers from a high level right into the detail. Measuring consistent data-points over time will help gain a deep understanding of how to build your strategic plan.


Build your employee engagement strategy

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">High engagement means higher performance</h3>Employee engagement is a critical activity for professional services firms. Retaining your high performing people will help you build a high performing legal practice. 

But if you don’t have a way to measure engagement and understand when engagement is dropping, you run the risk of losing your top performers and a potential domino effect of top talent.</div>

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learn more about employee experience &amp; retention

An easy-to-use platform to helps you capture employee feedback simply, safely and securely.

Survey using Email, WhatsApp and SMS. Easily reach your deskless mobile and remote workers with surveys so everyone can share their ideas and feedback.

Access your feedback as your surveys are happening. Clear results and insights.

The insights you need to prioritise, make decisions and track your impact. The data you need to help your team thrive.

<h5 class="heading mt-4 aos-init" data-aos="fade-down" data-aos-delay="40"> Take employee feedback to the next level</h5>If you're already gathering employee feedback but want to do more, we can show you how.

<div>The Ten Space survey platform does the hard work for you, reducing months of data collection and analysis into minutes.</div>

<div>Our survey platform delivers feedback surveys to gather responses back quickly for super-quick analysis and faster action.</div>

<div>Employee surveys, that allow you, your HR team and your leaders to focus on what they do best - building engagement and creating change.</div>

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Choose the plan that suits you

<ul><li>Access for up to 250 team members</li><li>Bi-monthly engagement surveys</li><li>Industry specific questions</li><li>Real-time results and analytics</li><li>Result segmentation, tracking &amp; comparisons</li><li>Suggested actions from experts</li><li><a href="/employee-engagement-model/">The Ten Space employee engagement model</a></li></ul>

<div class="text-center"><a>Find out more about advantage</a></div>

Fast and powerful engagement surveys

advantage

<ul><li>For all sizes of organisation</li><li>Advanced AI analytics</li><li>Build your own surveys</li><li>Distribution via email, WhatsApp &amp; SMS</li><li>Customisable data segmentation</li><li>Targeted surveys based on segmentation</li><li>Customised dashboards</li><li>Track key parts of the employee journey</li><li>Permissions based reports</li><li>Dedicated engagement managers to help you get the best results</li></ul>

For larger teams with dedicated requirements

enterprise

Build question sets unique to your business to get to the heart of the problem.

Set surveys to deliver when you want, to whoever you want, where you want.

Your business is comprised of lots of different teams that work in different ways.

Our platform is customisable to fit the needs of every part of your organisation.

Backed by artificial intelligence, our real-time dashboards give you the data you need to make informed decisions and take action quickly.

Simple, clear, easy to understand dashboards for faster desicion making.

Tag and segment data easily to identify areas of concern.

Get ahead by viewing results as they come in.

Confidently identify hidden meanings and discover trends.

Agile businesses need a flexible and inclusive approach.Ten Space gathers employee feedback via Whatsapp, SMS &amp; Email surveys so your people can respond on their terms.This leads to higher participation and a more inclusive experience, capturing the data from all your people, easily.

The Ten Space survey platform provides a data-driven approach for HR professionals to easily design, gather and analyse high-quality feedback. 

Listen to HR Director's Cut - insight into your dilemmas, conundrums and questions

Engage your team to deliver the future of your business today. From only £3 per employee per month. Whether you're starting your employee engagement journey or taking your people strategy to the next level, we can help.

Capture and utilise diversity data to enhance your culture. Capture diversity data in an efficient and safe way. Explore diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in your organisation. Ten Space supports your DEIB strategy. We can help you capture diversity data from your team in an efficent way to enhance your people data.

Elevate engagement. Retain talent. Supercharge performance. An engaged workforce helps businesses achieve so much more. The Ten Space survey platform captures the insights you need to understand employee engagement &amp; culture across your organisation. Take action &amp; drive change.

Create exceptional employee experiences. Optimise engagement. Supercharge your EVP. Let us take you on a journey.... Explore the experiences of your employees. Ten Space can help you to explore the journeys your employees take as they join your organisation, all the way through to when they leave.

Accelerate the performance of your teams to drive business performance. Explore what is driving, or holding back, your teams from delivering high-performance. We can help you explore high-performance in your organisation. Using our performance-focused surveys, we can help you uncover what is holding a team back from achieving their full potential.

Our monthly subscription fee includes our intuitive survey platform and wrap around service.

Ten Space fully supports your Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) strategy in the workplace. We offer comprehensive solutions to help you efficiently capture diversity data from your team, thereby enriching your people data. Additionally, our platform enables you to explore the topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within your workplace culture, providing valuable data and insights to inform and enhance your DEIB strategy.

Ten Space equips companies with the necessary resources, tools, knowledge and information to create the ultimate diverse and inclusive workforce. Our platform offers analytics and insights that enable organisations to develop and implement effective DEIB programs. From setting goals on equality to attracting diverse candidates during the hiring process, we provide solutions that address gender, race, ethnicity, and other dimensions of diversity.

Leveraging our data capture platform, we ensure that the process of collecting DEIB data is efficient, safe, and secure. Our platform is designed to capture data in a clean and organised manner, ready for your analysis and utilisation.

With our DEIB focused surveys, we enable you to capture the essential data and gain insights that support your DEIB strategy. We can explore general engagement across different demographics, or we can specifically focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as central themes, allowing you to delve deeper into this critical area of culture.

As a trusted third-party platform that captures feedback anonymously, we provide a safe space for your employees to share their experiences and provide valuable feedback. This anonymity fosters an environment of authenticity and trust, enabling you to build an accurate and comprehensive picture of the insights you need to drive your DEIB initiatives.

We understand that your DEIB strategy is an ongoing journey, not a one-time event. That's why we help you regularly capture feedback and insights, allowing you to track your progress over time. By monitoring and analysing this data, you can demonstrate the impact and return on investment of your DEIB efforts, ensuring continuous improvement and advancement.

An engaged workforce helps organisations achieve their goals. Ten Space captures the valuable insights you need to build a positive culture through high employee engagement. Your people managers and leaders can easily identify and address those critical issues preventing high engagement and build a culture that everyone buys into.

Ten Space empowers organisations to unlock the full potential of their employee engagement strategy. By utilising our platform, people managers and leaders can leverage their knowledge, experience and approach to drive positive change throughout the workplace. Effective communication, addressing challenges and fostering a supportive culture are integral aspects of our platform, enabling you to build a thriving organisation that values its employees. With Ten Space, you have the necessary insights and data to prove the impact of your employee engagement strategy and continuously improve the employee experience.

"Ten Space help HR teams identify and resolve retention hotspots quickly. The data helps you improve every stage of the employee journey including hiring, onboarding, probation, reviews and exit interviews to continuously improve the employee experience and reduce retention risks"

<div><h3 class="heading pb-4">What is the Employee Engagement model?</h3>Some believe engagement is solely about having happy employees, but engagement goes beyond this. Enhanced employee engagement reveals itself when your employees reach their full potential and deliver exceptional performance at work.At Ten Space we use a simple model. It helps you explore engagement in your organisation. It shows you where you already excel and where you need to focus to improve.</div>

When your employees feel connected to the mission of the company, their engagement improves significantly. They find meaning and purpose in their work, knowing that their efforts contribute to something larger than themselves. They become more invested in the success of your organisation, leading to higher productivity, increased job satisfaction and a stronger sense of belonging within the team.

A great leader inspires and motivates their team members, earning their trust and respect. They provide clear direction, guidance, and support, allowing employees to perform their best and reach their full potential. A great leader creates a sense of empowerment, job satisfaction and loyalty among the team, leading to enhanced employee engagement and overall success.

 Employee engagement improves when your employees feel fulfilled in their role. When individuals find their work meaningful and aligned with their values, they are motivated to invest their time and energy into their work, going above and beyond to achieve goals. This positive mindset and attitude contribute to increased productivity, stronger teamwork and a happier work environment, ultimately enhancing overall employee engagement.

The highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychologically safe workplaces. Psychologically safe workplaces promote healthier, more productive and more inclusive workforces. They also provide the environment in which innovation can thrive and people can perform at their best.

Ten Space is the platform to gather regular employee feedback. Every month, your employees are able to offer the feedback and insight you need to create positive change throughout your organisation.

The Ten Space engagement model underpins the data. It ensures a consistent approach to capturing feedback that can be measured over time. Our platform helps you build the perfect question set to understand the real issues preventing high engagement. 

 Ten Space does all the hard work, saving you days of admin. Questions are sent via email, WhatsApp or SMS and responses are gathered back in the platform. No matter where your employees are or how they work, there is always an easy way for them to provide their feedback. 

See responses as they're being submitted. Our dashboards display real-time information for you and your managers to access valuable insights at any time. This allows you to spend less time collating data and more time taking the actions that matter to build higher engagement.  

The Ten Space way

Retaining your best people is all about understanding the individual and collective journeys they're on. Ten Space allows you to predict retention issues before they occur and prevent your top talent from leaving.  

The Ten Space survey platform allows leaders to seamlessly follow their employees' journeys within the organisation, gaining invaluable insights into their professional growth and development. The platform provides a unique ability to monitor employee sentiment through live data streams from surveys, enabling leaders to make informed decisions to enhance workplace satisfaction.

All of your employees are on a journey. Even before they work for you, they're building an impression of your organisation through the hiring process. Common experiences for all employees may include hiring, onboarding, probation, promotion and exit. Ten Space allows you to unpack the employee experience at each stage of the journey, helping you improve the experience for future employees. 

Ten Space provides a highly customised in-depth feedback loop to understand which parts of your HR initiatives and processes could be causing retention issues. Our platform sends our feedback surveys at critical times to gather sentiment and understand feeling. At every step, you'll gain a true understanding of how employees really feel and what retention risks exist.

Ten Space makes the process of collecting feedback really easy. Our platform allows you to build and launch custom feedback loops that can analyse specific journeys being experienced in all parts of the organisation. You can customise your questions to gain a deep understanding of employee experiences. And our AI summaries make it easy to analyse retention hotspots at all times.

At any time, your HR team can log into Ten Space and view our feedback dashboards. Our customer success team will hold regular reviews and insights sessions with you, so you feel fully supported. We'll help you to get the most out of the insights you've captured and support you in taking the next steps to further enhance employee satisfaction. 

The Ten Space way

Ten Space assists you in exploring high-performance within your organisation. Leveraging our performance-focused surveys, we enable you to achieve your goals and unlock the full potential of your teams. Our platform helps you identify the unique qualities that make a team exceptional, empowering you to replicate and build upon their success. Analysing performance culture team by team in organisations where performance matters.

Ten Space equips you with everything you need to drive team performance and achieve success. By leveraging our platform, you can assess and enhance the culture, communication, management, individual commitment, projects and processes that contribute to team effectiveness. Through comprehensive performance evaluation metrics and insights, you gain a deeper understanding of your teams and can make informed decisions to drive improvement and productivity.

Utilising our performance-based question sets we’ll help you understand how to assess performance in organisation. We guide you by asking the right questions to extract the necessary insights on performance evaluation for teams. Whether your team operates in creative, technical, administrative, or sales-focused areas, we tailor the process to fit your team's specific requirements.

We assist you in segmenting your team data, enabling you to gain in-depth performance insights and understand the trends that impact team effectiveness. Our intuitive dashboard helps you quickly identify key insights from your results, allowing you to focus on actionable steps and next moves.

Harnessing the power of Ten Space as a trusted third-party anonymous platform, we provide a safe space for employees to share any challenges, barriers, or catalysts that affect their performance. This way, we foster a climate of openness, encouraging individuals to provide candid feedback that can uncover valuable insights.

We can help you integrate communication and training needs analysis into your surveys, allowing you to gather ideas and solutions directly from your team members. By capturing this information, you gain a clear understanding of work expectations and where your team would like you to focus your efforts to improve performance culture. There are no limitations or holding back when it comes to taking action.

Capture and utilise diversity data to enhance your culture.

Insights to understand the engagement and culture across your organisation

Identify and resolve retention hotspots in your organisation

Capture and utilise diversity data in an efficient and safe way to enhance your culture.  

Capture the insights you need to understand employee engagement &amp; culture across your organisation.

Create exceptional employee experiences. Optimise engagement. Supercharge your EVP.

Accelerate the performance of your teams to drive business performance

Build a high performing business powered by high performing teams

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