Marianne Withers of is an expert within the contact centre BPO market. 2021 has seen her take all her expertise and to move forward with launching her own brand The Verity Centre (15) Ltd. Marianne discussed with us how she will be taking her extensive knowledge, the high and lows of business and passion for wanting a better workplace to ensure the appropriate focus will be on the wellbeing of her staff.
"The workplace doesn't need to be a stressful place if the staff are looked after in the correct way, this is about clear leadership and direction, a defined approach to staff well being, an overall defined approach to the values of the company and ensuring they are followed. Development, coaching, nurturing and helping everyone to grow in the business and their personal lives. All of this part can be easy as long as internal politics and inequality don't get in the way."
Creating a positive culture within the workplace has been a key factor long before COVID and too many times there has been examples where this has fallen short of staff expectations, resulting in increased absenteeism and a disengagement between a business and its workforce.
Marianne says "As we are a start up, this is the perfect opportunity for The Verity Centre to focus on how we build a positive working environment for the staff and this begins at the start of the recruitment process. Staff wellbeing is a serious topic and this will be a priority for us as we prepare to launch. In my previous role as a COO the staff knew that my door was always open should they wish to talk about any subject that was bothering them, this was not limited to business, they could speak openly and confidentially to me about anything at all that was causing them stress."
People need an outlet, someone who will listen and this should start with the senior team of an organisation. If there isn't a standard set from the outset there is only ever going to be a negative outcome - Unhappy staff, increased absenteeism, a higher attrition rate and a stressed workforce not delivering results.
Stress can manifest itself in many forms - We need to ensure our teams are adequately trained to recognise key triggers within a workforce to support.
If you are currently experiencing stress within the workplace it is important that you reach out to someone.