Why aren't you using Qryztal Consulting?

What are your reasons for not using Qryztal Consulting?

"I don't know anything about you"

• Take a look at our Facebook page - and follow us on Twitter

"What can you offer that other people don't?"

• We're flexible, responsive, innovative and disruptive
• We're free to respond to your needs in the most appropriate way
• We don't have any of the encumbrances of traditional consultancy

"What do you actually do?"

• We offer everything from person-centred coaching to business consultancy

 "What experience do you have?"

• We've developed a visual management system for a management team
• We've written and delivered bespoke Windows 10 training for a new enterprise
• We're providing ongoing support to a startup
• We're helping a business set up a charity
• And how about 15 years experience in personal advocacy?!

The problem of presenteeism

When people show up for work, that's good, isn't it?

It's fantastic when fit, healthy, enthusiastic people show up for work.

But it's terrible when unwell, sick, tired, bored, scared people turn up at the office day after day.  Here's what they achieve:

• They pass on their germs and illnesses
• They make their colleagues fearful about going off sick with what they've got
• By turning up for work when they're unwell, they make everyone else think they should do the same

Why on earth do they do this?  Why would anyone ever think they should come to work when they're unwell instead of staying at home?  Maybe it's because of:

• Draconian HR policies that put people in fear of dismissal if they take too many sick days off
• Tracking 'average working days lost' rather than caring about the people concerned
• Overwork, and fear of a backlog building up
• Inability to ask for help
• Workplace culture

As you can see, one thing feeds off another.  Plant one seed of fear in someone's mind, and you can watch it take over not just their way of thinking but potentially your entire workforce.

How to stop it?  You need to break the cycle somewhere.  Value health, value wellness, value wellbeing - but above all, value your people.

For help with employee engagement and breaking the presenteeism cycle, get in touch with Andrew at Qryztal Consulting.

Phone/WhatsApp: 07398 200318

Email: info@qryztal.com

Why is work/life balance important?

Why should we bother about how many hours we work? Why does it matter?

There are 168 hours in the week.  Assuming an eight-hour sleep period each night, we spend 56 hours asleep.  So that leaves us with 112 waking hours.

The Working Time Regulations (in the UK) set a limit upon working time of 48 hours per week.  This is time spent at work, excluding travel from home to work.  One simple way of understanding it is that it limits you to 6 working days of 8 hours each.

Suppose you have one job in which you work 36 hours per week, and you take on another job.  You are limited to a maximum of 12 hours per week in the second job.

After doing this, you are left with 64 hours per week.  But before you get too excited about all this time, think about all the other things you need to do: get up, wash or shower and get dressed, eat something, travel to work, have your meal break at work (meal breaks aren't included in the 48 hours), travel home again, prepare and eat a meal - and finally get ready for bed.

For someone with a long-ish commute, the working day could look like this:

Morning routine - 1 hour
Travel to work - 1 hour
Morning at work - 4 hours
Lunch break - 30 minutes
Afternoon at work - 4 hours
Travel home from work - 1 hour
Evening meal etc - 1 hour
Evening routine - 30 minutes

This totals 13 hours.  Add in 8 hours sleep, and you get 21 hours.  In theory you have 3 hours free time per day, for 6 days of the week - and the remaining day is free for you to use however you wish.

However, if you have commitments outside of work, or if you are working on building up a business in your spare time, you can expect to have conflicting demands on your time.  And as one of our directors discovered, you need to manage your free time assertively, otherwise it will be stolen from you.

Hence work/life balance, and the importance of blocking out time for yourself and your family and friends.

But... what can you do with your free time?  Here are some suggestions:

• Something that sparks your imagination
• Something creative
• Some sort of exercise
• Something social

We've deliberately avoided recommending specific activities.  However, if you don't currently read much, a tip from our senior consultant is: read something (anything - preferably a book) most days.  The more good writing you consume, the better your own writing will be.

If you have any tips of your own, we'd love you to share them with us in the comments.