Banner Blog

Banner is delighted to be supporting Sal's Shoes 'Toe to Toe' school shoes initiative 2023

Since 2016, Sal’s Shoes has distributed over 4 million pairs of pre-loved children’s shoes in 59 countries around the world, including within the UK, to support families who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

Sal's Shoes was set up to collect and distribute pre-loved shoes to children, and their consignments have provided many children with a pair of shoes for the very first time.

More workplaces than ever are recognising the importance of well-being, with employees choosing to adopt practices that increase staff health and happiness. 

Beyond legislative requirements, from the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, an understanding of the productivity and morale benefits has increased ten-fold.

Being organised allows you to concentrate on what's important and prioritise your work ahead of time.

Although we all have our distractions, having a list of what you need to get done in a day can help you remain focused, especially when you have less people around during high holiday periods.

Everyone needs a break, but how can you set your team up for success while you’re away? And how can you prioritise the extra work that needs to be done?

Here are our recommendations on how to B Organised across the summer:

When working in a team there is bound to be a variety of different personalities and opinions.

Managing or being part of a team that maintains a positive dynamic isn’t without its challenges but is vital to a team working together effectively.

Having a poor team morale may impact a big project, cause a reduction in the amount of work being produced or increase stress. Spotting when morale is low can be the key to creating a more positive team dynamic, but it’s not the only way you can help to create a more enjoyable and productive working environment for your team.

Here is some advice on how to create a positive team dynamic:

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and with everyone going through a rough few years, finding the right balance for your mental health within the workplace can be tricky.

For a lot of people being isolated during lockdowns was hard, but there will be many people who will still be struggling with a hybrid working solution, or a full return to work. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if someone is having a bad day mentally or if they have a lot on their plate.

How can you help a colleague who is struggling with their mental health at work?

Global healthcare experts and virologists agree - airborne, aerosol transmission of viruses poses a significant threat.

A person can become infected through direct contact with a person or object carrying the virus or by air. 

Part of the answer is that, whilst we are programmed to clean surfaces and wash our hands, we tend to overlook something that’s more influential in causing illness: the air we breathe!  

Banner is delighted to be Supporting Sals Shoes Charity Toe to Toe school campaign 2021

Since 2016, Sal’s Shoes has distributed over 2,000,000 pairs of pre-loved children’s shoes in 46 countries around the world, including within the UK, to support families who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

We’d like to shine a light on our Banner teams and colleagues who have been busy helping their communities through the unprecedented time in 2020.

Not only have they been adjusting to the new norm, but they have been going above and beyond to help family, friends and their wider communities up and down the country.

An increasing number of businesses are currently working on their digital transformation strategies to make their company more efficient, productive, and scalable.

And yet this approach regularly contradicts and pushes the boundaries for how many organisations operate in reality.

Managers carefully select the best talent by going through a lengthy recruitment process. Once they’ve hired the right candidate, they put them in an office environment where they are statistically interrupted every 11 minutes by endless ‘quick questions’. According to a UC Irvine study, it will then take an employee around 25 minutes to get back to the place they were at before the distraction.

Collaboration leads to a more engaged and innovative workforce, however it's still not a priority within a lot of companies today.  

Getting everyone involved with decision making can help projects to run more efficiently and creates a workforce full of team players. Working collaboratively creates a buzz within the office and a culture of staff who enjoy coming to work, leading to a more productive team. Collaboration is a process which involves everyone sharing their individual knowledge, utilising their own skills and experience as well as those of the rest of the team leading to a better project outcome.