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Tag: confidence

  • Is the Sharing Economy Relevant to B2B Sectors?

    Is the Sharing Economy Relevant to B2B Sectors?

    The sharing economy is prompting a rethink of business practice. To address confusion, this transformative model is also referred to as the ‘crowd’, ‘gig’, ‘peer-to-peer’ or ‘on-demand’ economy. It operates within the context of digital technology and is based on collaborative consumption, allowing both individuals and businesses to share assets, products or services with one another.

    At its core, the sharing economy rests on the principle that people can utilise their possessions, abilities and time to benefit others while simultaneously earning an income for themselves. This approach allows for goods and services to be used without the user actually owning them outright, providing a more cost-effective and often environmentally friendly alternative.
    Some of the world’s largest brands have successfully adopted this model. Uber, for instance, operates as the world’s largest taxi company without owning any cars, while Airbnb, the world’s biggest accommodation provider, operates no properties.
    The UK’s sharing economy is projected to be worth £140 billion by 2025 with growth primarily driven by consumer-facing brands. B2B sectors have not yet fully embraced the principles of resource sharing, despite the many advantages it offers to companies operating in these fields.
    Applying a sharing economy approach requires businesses to identify opportunities or gaps in their market and act boldly. It takes confidence and can lead to positive disruption in established industries.

    Share in the benefits of a shared economy

    While this model is best known for its application in business-to-consumer challenges, what lessons can be applied to the world of business-to-business?

    Greater value

    The concept that companies can come together to share assets is inherently cost-effective, creating and amplifying value in multiple ways. For example, instead of getting tied into an expensive and lengthy office building lease, a business can reduce its costs by renting a desk within a co-working space. Desks can be flexibly added and subtracted according to demand.
    Not only does the sharing economy present obvious cost savings, but it can also create significant revenue opportunities. For example, warehouse owners with unused space can sell it to logistics providers looking for storage capacity or a strategic location.

    More sustainable

    In a similar vein, optimising space utilisation lowers energy consumption and reduces the need for new builds. The impact of construction is significant on the environment in terms of carbon footprint and green land irrevocably lost.

    Broaden reach and scope

    The sharing economy approach opens new and innovative ways of thinking, which may otherwise have not presented themselves. Collaborative working offers greater diversity, global perspective and inspiration to learn from. This is especially the case for companies engaging contractors and freelancers to complete work rather than adding to the workforce with permanent staff members.

    Boost agility and flexibility

    Opening access to resources and expertise through the medium of technology, liberates business leaders to ideate and focus on their product in the knowledge that sufficient capacity is available without the fixed cost and return-on-investment penalties of capital-intensive models.

    How fulfilmentcrowd applies these principles to logistics

    The traditional approach to logistics has often been coined ‘four walls’ where a provider acquires warehouse space (purchased or leased building) and resources to satisfy demand which is uncertain or, at best, difficult to forecast. The result is underutilisation or limited capacity for growth; the profitability envelope in which a warehouse could be considered operating in optimum conditions is impossibly narrow.
    The sharing economy model has enabled tech business like fulfilmentcrowd to rethink the four walls problem by accessing free space in warehouses and enabling customers to see their inventory levels through an app. Site operators generate income from their space, customers can scale-up on a completely variable cost base and fulfilmentcrowd can, uniquely, always offer capacity, a point proven during the pandemic when demand skyrocketed.
    As omnichannel brands seek ways to grow revenue, export rates are rising and this is driving demand for B2B and B2C distribution in foreign markets. fulfilmentcrowd offers these customers access to a network of modern logistics hubs in key overseas locations through a single software platform and global relationship manager supported by local expertise and parcel carriers who understand conditions on the ground.

    Conclusion

    The B2B sharing economy is developing at pace and an increasing range of services are becoming available. Collaboration underpinned by tech and common standards is a key point of differentiation, especially for those operating in more traditional markets. As these principles continue to mature and more businesses digitalise their operations, the model will continue to gain momentum.

  • How to hold a Disciplinary Appeal

    How to hold a Disciplinary Appeal

    You have managed to keep everyone informed, do everything you were asked while remaining legal and following procedure. The outcome has been given and the employee is not happy so has appealed.  You are on the home stretch; easy you think. Well yes and no. There are some significant mistakes that can still be made at this late stage especially in terms of impartiality of process as a recent Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) decision demonstrated. In this example Mr Blackburn worked for Aldi stores and raised a grievance. This was dealt with but Mr Blackburn wasn’t happy with the outcome so appealed. The problem was that the same chap who dealt with the original grievance also heard his appeal against the outcome of that process! Hardly impartial I’m sure you would agree but worse when the policy specifically stated a different manager should have been used who was impartial and ideally more senior than the original decision maker.

    The employee resigned and claimed constructive dismissal for a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence that the company had allowed this to happen. The EAT agreed stating that the right to an impartial appeal was an important feature of the ACAS Code Acas Guide on discipline and grievances at work and in this case, the employer’s own grievance procedure.  The EAT also reminded the tribunal that ‘the employer must not, without reasonable and proper cause, conduct itself in a manner calculated and likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence between employer and employee’.

    So, how can you ensure you don’t fall foul of this in an appeal? Again, here’s my guide on how to hold an appeal hearing; it’s easy as the same principles apply as for the disciplinary hearing:

    1.      Appoint an appeals officer. As shown above, this must be an alternative company representative (wherever possible, one who has not previously been involved in the case) and ideally if there are sufficient levels one senior to the disciplinary officer.

    2.      The appeals officer should ensure the employee has set out the grounds for their appeal in writing.

    3.      Then, the appeals officer must invite the employee to the appeal hearing as soon as possible.  They must do it in writing, advising the date, time and place of meeting, confirming the statutory right of accompaniment by a colleague or trade union representative and ideally giving a minimum 1-3 days notice of the meeting dependant on complexities to allow the employee chance to prepare.

    4.      The conduct of the appeal should be a matter for the appeals officer to consider, but they may call such witnesses and consider any documents as they feel appropriate. Additionally, the appeal may be adjourned to conduct any further inquiries that the appeals officer believes are necessary.

    5.      At the completion of the appeal process, a decision should be given in writing as soon as reasonably practicable. If there is going to be a delay, the employee should be informed.

    6.      At the outcome of the appeal hearing, the original disciplinary sanction may be confirmed, overturned, increased or reduced to another stage.  In the case of a gross misconduct dismissal, the dismissal should take immediate effect from the date when the decision to dismiss was intimated to the employee.  If the dismissal was overturned on appeal, the employee would be reinstated with effect from the date of the original disciplinary decision.

    And finally… it’s important to note for all involved that the appeal decision will be final and there will be no further right of appeal.  So there you have it – a series of short ‘how to’ guides for disciplinary matters. Do you feel better able to conduct these important meetings now? I do hope so.

    For more help and advice about disciplinary issues contact us at www.threedomsolutions.co.uk   or follow us on twitter @3domSolutions