What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Half-way through January, most people have by now broken their New Year’s resolutions. When it comes to companies, however, it seems that not many made any resolutions in the first place. A recent AXA survey revealed that only 26% of small businesses have set New Year’s resolutions. Which is a shame because not only can they instil a sense of direction and purpose but they can ensure motivation and encourage productivity.

Interestingly, while only 26% of the respondents had set formal resolutions, many more small business have set themselves ambitious goals for 2015. For example, 34% of respondents stated that they are planning to build or improve their website and 23% plan to make a greater effort in expanding their social media presence. This clearly shows that marketing and online presence are considered key concerns by small business owners.

In addition, 28% of respondents plan to purchase new tools and equipment this year, including technology in order to make their processes smoother and ease workloads. This is great news considering the recent advances in technology both software and hardware wise. Setting goals can be difficult though so a little advice is always useful.

For many businesses, some of the most profitable goals to set for 2015 could be related to absence management. Absenteeism is the second highest cost in many businesses as it entails far more than just sick pay. Effectively managing absence can ensure a healthier, happier and more productive workforce which in turn saves costs and increases profits. This is highly beneficial for small businesses looking to expand and grow in 2015.

In light of this, we’ve devised some absence-related New Year’s resolutions:

• Implement & stick to a policy which is consistently and professionally upheld
• Encourage staff to keep fit at work and create wellbeing initiatives where possible
• Set a limit to acceptable level of absence and clearly explain this to employees
• Establish or reinforce a practice of return to work interviews
• Implement a software solution which tracks and records absence data in real-time so you always have full visibility of attendance across your company

If you want to try out a SaaS solution, which will help you set and achieve all the of above goals, start a free 30-day trial of Engage today!