Corporate Vision April 2017

CORPORATE VISION / April 2017 5 NEWS , Neil Veitch, manag- er of the SVM UK Opportunities Fund recently comment- ed that the opti- mism of corporate UK con- tinues unabated, but warning that there’s a risk that the cur- rent cyclical upturn proves no more resilient than previous mini-cycles. Neil Veitch, manager of the SVM UK Opportunities Fund said that Inves- tors’ response to improving economic data is determined by the stage of the economic cycle. “As long as the cycle is not too far advanced and central banks appear relaxed, equities will generally move higher in response to improvements. At the moment, there are few signs of cyclical excess and reflationary pres- sures have yet to build. “The global economy continues to improve and this has begun to feed into ‘hard’ data. Jobs data across the major economies is re-accelerating and business capital spending is showing signs of improvement. “The latest results season has been positive with the majority of compa- nies either meeting or beating expec- tations. Many companies which had previously had a relatively cautious outlook are now much more opti- mistic. This optimism is particularly apparent in their order books, which began to fill-up in the second half of 2016, and year-on-year growth could improve sharply over the next couple of months. “Nonetheless, there is a risk that this current cyclical upturn proves no more resilient than the previous mini-cycles we have seen during the lacklustre recovery from the financial crisis. “The imminent triggering of Article 50 by the UK government will fire the starting gun on two years of negoti- ation between the UK and EU be- fore an ultimate Brexit. The process could be enlivened by hiring Noel Ed- monds to ask the competing parties at regular intervals whether it’s ‘Deal or No Deal’. Unfortunately, at present the strategy of both sides seems as assured as the logic used by guests on the Channel 4 game show. The UK market, and sterling, will likely continue to fluctuate depending on sentiment at any given point in the process. “Against this potentially turbulent backdrop we remain focused on disciplined stock selection. Industri- als Bodycote and Melrose were the standout performers for our portfolio over the results period. Both exceed- ed expectations and gave very pos- itive outlook statements. Bodycote’s general industrial business, which had seen a slow but steady decline in revenue over the last few years, has now stabilised and may well be about to return to growth. Should this occur, Bodycote’s high operational gearing will deliver a significant improvement in profits. “Melrose announced that the integra- tion of Nortek, its latest acquisition, was proceeding ahead of expecta- tions and that it’s now beginning to look for its next transaction. The man- agement’s acquisition track record is exceptional and we look forward to supporting the next transaction.” • The total number of working days lost due to this con- dition in 2015/16 was 11.7 million days. This equated to an average of 23.9 days lost per case. • In 2015/16 stress accounted for 37% of all work related ill health cases and 45% of all working days lost due to ill health. The main work factors cited by re- spondents as causing work relat- ed stress, depression or anxiety (LFS) were workload pressures, including tight deadlines, too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support. Here are my top tips to help leaders navigate those workload pressures before they spiral out of control; #1 Speak Up Sounds obvious, I know. If you continue as you are, nothing with change. Your leaders or manag- er will think you are OK with the set-up. You’re not! The conver- sation will take you one of two ways. Your manager not realising you are under pressure and take steps and actions to resolve this or your manager in-overtly ex- plaining this is the norm and get on with it. You have now realised maybe this job/company is not a cultural fit with you and it’s time to go. #2 Delegate or ask for help Are you doing too much because you’re not delegating or simply not asking for help? You may not have a challenge with oversee- ing the work but do you physi- cally have to do it all? Is there someone in the team who could take their share of the workload? Again, if you don’t ask you won’t get. #3 Prioritise, prioritise and prioritise again! Another obvious one, I know. But how many times do we look at our to-do list and think ‘I’ve got so much to do, I just haven’t got the time to do it all’. Whilst that might be true, the question to ask is; ‘what have I got to do today, tomorrow, by the end of the week’ Chunk up your work into man- ageable daily tasks. Close out each day with a new task list for the next day based on what you achieved that day and what you hope to achieve tomorrow. You will see the progress and more importantly will feel in control. The Optimism of Corporate UK Continues Unabated #4 Say no or reprioritise This may be easier said than done, but sometimes you may have to kick back with a no. Or, if that feels impossible, another approach you could take is to share the impact of you accept- ing that additional piece of work. For example; ‘To deliver XYX by Friday, will mean I will get ABC to you next week’. You are not saying no, but you are re-aligning new deliverable dates for existing pieces of work. #5 Switch OFF When you’re not working and when it’s your ‘downtime’ switch of phones, tablets, laptops. See- ing a flashing red light on your phone saying new email mes- sage is not going to help you switch off. Your natural curiosity will want to see who it is from and what it is about. And guess what, once you’ve had a look your mind is now switched into work world. We all recognise there will be times when the extra hard yards are asked of us - new product launch, new system deployment, a relocation - and we all put the hours in to make it a success, no questions asked. But start to recognise or look out for the warning signs; are you working later, longer hours all the time? Is this becoming the norm? Has your workload significantly increased and it’s not due to a BIG event? Do you feel you’ve crossed the line between being positively challenged and produc- tive to being overwhelmed and stressed? If any of these bells are ringing, take action now before it’s too late. Royston Guest is CEO of Pti-Worldwide and author of busi- ness growth book, Built to Grow. A proven time-tested formula full of practical strategies, tools and ideas into what it takes to build a truly high performing organisa- tion, which delivers accelerated, sustained, and profitable growth. Join Royston’s Built to Grow Facebook or LinkedIn Group and access exclusive content, articles and insights on how you can de- liver accelerated, sustained and profitable business growth. www.roystonguest.com