As society moves forward, so does it benefit businesses to follow in its wake, or in some cases, pave the way for the future. Progressiveness and positivity can be important driving factors for successful businesses. The backlash from the public for less-than-ideal business practices and poor workplace environments has been shown to be very damaging to the reputation and, ultimately, the success of a business. Becoming a positive force in the world of business is a good aspiration for any company as happy employees, and happy customers are beneficial to everyone.
Going Green
A popular way for businesses to become more progressive is to adopt eco-friendly practices. Climate change is having a huge impact on our planet and there are many ways that companies can reduce their contribution to this, including switching to energy-efficient lighting and insulation for office spaces, reducing the need for travel, and instead choosing to hold virtual or telephonic meetings with clients. When it comes to customers and the general public, their view of your business can be improved when you take an active stance in the fight against climate change, so it’s worthwhile putting some focus on this aspect of your business.
Improving Workplace Culture
Today, many businesses are looking at improving workplace culture to suit our progressive society. One of the main reasons for this is to retain staff numbers as this has become a factor in competitive recruitment efforts. Positive cultures in the office and overall company structure are very attractive to prospective recruits, and showcasing your commitment to ensuring your team is happy and healthy is a respectable goal. Not only does this improve your ability to keep your workforce from looking elsewhere, but it also improves your chances of getting more applicants for new roles.
Marketing Focuses
A very important aspect of running a business today is marketing, especially the digital kind. Social media management is a big part of this and so it’s highly recommended that you have a social media manager or a team to run your marketing campaigns and design and schedule content for social platforms. One recent innovative marketing tactic is known as co-marketing and involves two or more businesses working together to promote each other in one campaign. This alliance has proven effective for many, and some examples include Uber and Spotify, Red Bull and GoPro, and even Volvo and Legoland.
Provide Learning Opportunities
Some businesses may be hesitant to train their staff more than required for their role due to budget restraints or even the fear that better-trained staff may end up increasing their staff turnover rates. However, the progressive mindset for a business owner is to assist their team in improving themselves wherever possible, as long as it helps the business at the same time. Providing your marketing team, for example, with access to an online marketing course where they can gain a digital marketing certificate as well as learn marketing analytics and other such skills will not only provide them with the means of showcasing their talent for future prospective roles, but it will also ensure that they have more skills to lend to your business. Helping someone improve their career prospects doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to start looking elsewhere either. What it can do, though, is show that the company cares about them as an employee and may help to strengthen loyalty and productivity too, as you will be investing in your staff and encouraging them to remain with your company for longer.
The Importance Of Social Consciousness
Like enacting green initiatives, focusing on the advancement of social consciousness and how the public views companies and corporations that champion these topics is a great way of building a strong relationship with both the customer and your employees. Using ethically sourced materials and assisting in the development of poorer communities are great choices for businesses too. Showing that you care about these important issues demonstrates the human element of your company and that you are always seeking to improve society in some way.
Accepting Alternative Payment Methods
As society changes, so do our technology. And with that also comes new forms of payments and currencies. Allowing customers and clients to pay for your products and services via alternative means such as digital and contactless payment options is a technologically progressive decision. As well as this, it also shows that you intend to keep ahead of the curve with innovation. Another possible choice would be to allow people to pay using cryptocurrency, which is a decentralized digital currency. There are, of course, pros and cons to accepting cryptocurrency as a business, but the main benefit is that they are a very secure method of payment, although they still suffer from being relatively volatile today.
Encourage Innovation
Removing the standard top-down hierarchy of traditional businesses is a great way to boost innovation and forward-thinking. Allowing your team and even encouraging them to provide feedback on the way that the company operates or the direction it’s heading in can be a very positive and beneficial choice. Remember that, while most of your employees won’t have business ownership experience, they work within your business day in, day out and should have a good grasp on what is working and what might be somewhat of a hindrance. Listen to your team, and you might reap the benefits.
