Lunch was over.

I was walking back to our senior common room with my friends. When we reached Foundation House, we found all of the students and teachers standing outside while the fire brigade trailed in.

There was no smoke or visible flames but I saw three friends that we’d left in the common room off to one side of the car park looking sheepish.

Turns out that they’d managed to make a pseudo-napalm launcher out of a tube of Pringles, a rubber band, spray deodorant, a lighter, and a supply of biro casings.

My friends were smart but, as you might’ve guessed, had no common sense.

Whether you have students setting off fire alarms with molten flaming plastic or have a much larger accident, it’s important to know that your safety measures are up to standard.

$25 billion in damages were caused by fire in 2018 in the US alone, which should tell you how vital it is to catch fires and deal with them early before they need additional help to contain.

That’s why fire extinguisher inspections are so important.

In this post I’ll cover:

• What is a fire extinguisher inspection?
• How often do fire extinguishers need inspecting?
• Who can inspect fire extinguishers?
• Perform free monthly inspections with Process Street

You’ll also get access to Process Street’s free Fire Extinguisher Inspection Checklist in the very next section of this article!

Let’s get started.
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This is a guest post by Derek Jones from Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets, and communication. With a focus on Emerging Retail, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor costs in line, and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

One of the many factors that can help guarantee the success and growth of a business today is employee performance.

Most organizations know this. Therefore, they want employees that are as efficient as possible. However, that is easier said than done, especially in industries where activities often run at odd hours or even 24/7.

For such industries (like healthcare, hospitality, and retail in particular), one of the most important things they’ll need to manage is shift work scheduling.

Through optimization, the task of scheduling shift work will have a structure to minimizes employee burnout and improve overall performance.

Employees that work in an enabling environment have a higher chance to properly complete all important tasks – on schedule.

In view of that, in this Process Street article, we will:

• Discuss some of the issues and challenges that surround shift work.
• Take a look at up-to-date research regarding employee performance.
• Summarize 3 shift-work goals you can incorporate to optimize your shift work schedule.
• Give top tips on shift work scheduling to maximize employee productivity and retention.

Click on the relevant subheaders below to jump to that section, alternatively scroll down to read all, and find out how you can optimize your shift work schedules today!

• Schedule optimization: Using BPM in shift work
• Shift work scheduling: The top 3 shift work issues
• How do common shift work issues impact employee performance?
• Schedule optimization: 3 goals to optimize your shift schedule
• Shift work scheduling: Scheduling tips and tricks for shift work

Let’s jump right to it!
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The global economic cost of anxiety and depression is $1 trillion per year.

That is a substantial cost to an issue that is predominantly ignored.

1 in 5 adults in the U.S. will experience a mental health issue each year, with 1 in 6.8 people experiencing mental health problems in the workplace on a weekly timescale.

Work anxiety is one such mental health condition which evokes a sizable economic cost from lowered employee wellbeing and sick leave.

In this Process Street article we explain what work anxiety is – and in that sense, anxiety in general. We then provide information on how you can take action on anxiety from a personal level and at a company-wide level.

Click on the relevant subheaders below to jump to that section. Alternatively, scroll down and read all we have to say.

• Work anxiety: Mental Health Risk Assessment
• Work Anxiety: Anxious meaning
• Anxiety explained: Understanding anxiety and the biological causes
• Work anxiety: Take action on anxiety, what you can do as an individual
• Work anxiety: Take action on anxiety, what you can do as a company
• Work anxiety: Take action with Process Street

Capes at the ready, let’s conquer workplace anxiety!
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There are countless ways employees can be thrown off their A-game – from anxiety to altercations at work, pandemics to problems at home.

But how can employers improve the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of their staff?

By implementing an employee assistance program (EAP).

According to the International Employee Assistance Professionals Association, 97% of U.S. companies with over 5,000 employees already have an EAP program in place. Small and midsize businesses realize the huge benefits of EAP programs too, as 75% of businesses with 250 – 1,000 employees also make use of EAP programs.

Hasn’t your business instigated an EAP program already?

If not, it’s about time you thought about it.

By reading this post, you’ll understand what exactly an EAP program is, the history of it, why it’s beneficial for employers and employees alike, and even gain access to EAP templates created by Process Street. Make your way through the following sections to get clued-up:

• What is an employee assistance program (EAP)?
• The history of the employee assistance program
• Employee assistance program benefits
• Process Street’s EAP program templates
• Use Process Street to ensure your workforce are safe, secure, and stable

If you’re in a rush, here are the links to the free EAP templates:

• Critical Incident Stress Management Checklist
• Achieving Work-Life Balance Checklist
• Work Anxiety Resolution Checklist
• Daily Schedule Template
• Office Conflict Resolution Checklist
• Lisa A. Romano: Overcoming Negative Self-Talk
• Mental Health Risk Assessment Checklist
• SMART Goal Setting Checklist
• Records Disposal Checklist

There’s a lot at stake, so let’s get started with the rest of the post. ⏳

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Can you prove your team’s performance?

How do you know for certain that nothing is being missed?

The answer is simple; you perform an internal audit.

We here at Process Street know how difficult it can be to keep track of your internal workings. Short of documenting and tracking everything (which can be a hassle) it’s easy to lose track of the risks posed to your organization.

That’s ignoring how hard it can be to track whether your teams are performing their duties correctly.

That’s why this post will dive into everything you need to know about internal audits. These are practices that let you get an objective assessment of various elements of your company, such as this ISO 9001 process.

We’ll cover:

• What is an internal audit?
• Types of audits
• Benefits of internal audits
• Internal auditing examples
• Use Process Street to run your internal audits

Let’s dive in.
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I felt numb.

My relationship of the last 2 years had just collapsed, which was the straw that broke… well, my head. I spiraled into a mental breakdown.

I was living in Italy without knowing anyone but my (now ex) girlfriend, living in the same apartment as her, not being able to speak the language, and around $4,000 down in my bank account from when we’d moved there two months prior.

And yet, thanks to our employee assistance program here at Process Street, I was able to get back to England safe and sound, without worries about getting fired adding to fuel to my problems.

“According to the 2018 SHRM Employee Benefits Research Report, 78 percent of surveyed employers offered an EAP. Those same employers found EAPs to be a cost-effective tool to help mitigate risks involving employees within their organizations.” – New Focus HR, What is an Employee Assistance Program?

No matter how focused and productive an employee is, there will be times when they encounter personal problems that affect their work. That’s where employee assistance programs (EAPs) come in.

EAPs exist to listen to your team’s problems and help them through whatever they’re experiencing. In other words, every team should have access to some kind of EAP.

That’s why this post will take you through:

• What is EAP?
• EAP benefits
• How to set up an EAP
• Use Process Street to help battle your team’s problems

Let’s dive right in.
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“The term planning is imbecilic; everything can change tomorrow“

That was a quote made by a French manager, straight after the 1973 oil crisis.

He’s kind of right of course. Everything can, quite easily, change tomorrow. We’re living in a world where we see changes every day. Ground-breaking technology, product innovations, medical breakthroughs, economic globalization. Things change. I can’t argue with that.

But does that mean “planning is imbecilic” though?

Can planning be inflexible and slow to respond to change? Yes. Can it be reliant on poor, over-optimistic forecasting? Probably. Can it lead to bad business decisions? Definitely.

Planning can be ineffective and damaging if it’s done badly.

Good planning, on the other hand, can minimize the uncertainty brought on by change. It can reduce risk, promote reflection and encourage innovation. It forces rational, logical thinking and it helps inform good business decisions.

Don’t believe me?

Take the 1911 race to the South Pole. The race was between two explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. They each had a similar amount of experience and were the same age. Both faced 1,400 miles of gale-force winds, blizzards, and minus temperatures on their expeditions.

Amundsen meticulously planned his trip for several years. Scott didn’t.

Guess which expedition tragically failed?

Amundsen was already sailing back to Norway when Scott’s team finally gave up hope.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” – Benjamin Franklin

So, now we’ve established that planning is sensible, and not ‘imbecilic’, let’s find out why human resource planning is one of the most valuable processes a company can follow.

To do this, I will cover the following:

• What is human resource planning?
• Why is human resource planning important?
• The 7 stages of human resource planning
• Where do I start with human resource planning?
• Implementing your human resource plans
• How to use Process Street for your human resource planning

Without further ado, let’s get stuck in!

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With the market size of enterprise performance management expected to grow from $6.44 billion in 2017 to $11.72 billion by 2023, you know that to ignore it is to ignore something monumental.

Enterprise performance management lets you plan, structure, track, and improve your performance across the board.

Whether it’s through creating achievable goals that don’t leave you overreaching, improving your tracking metrics with apps like Process Street, or simply letting you know what’s going well and where the biggest improvements can be made, the practice isn’t something you can ignore.

That’s why I’ll be breaking down precisely what it is, why it’s useful, and how to use it.

If you want to dive into a particular segment, feel free to use the links below:

• What is enterprise performance management?
• What makes a good enterprise performance management system?
• The benefits of enterprise performance management
• How to carry out enterprise performance management
• Process Street: The perfect addition to your enterprise performance management software

Otherwise, let’s dive right in!
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“I am very happy tonight to be a member of this company and to feel that I have had and will continue to have, the support of such an able organization“. IBM, Quintessential Quotes

Isn’t this something you would want to hear your team say?

IBM has a refined hiring process. Employees are the best fit, fully trained and engaged within their role. By getting recruitment processes and employee onboarding processes right, IBM is happy and IBM’s employees are happy.

Like IBM, we at Process Street believe it is critical to get your hiring process right. This is why we give you every new hire checklist you will ever need, to perfect your recruitment and employee onboarding processes.

Given that 46% of newly-hired employees fail within the first 18 months, there is no doubt that a polished hiring process is what you need, to hire, train and keep your best team.

In this article, we have split the hiring process into two steps, for ease and simplicity:

1. Step one: Recruitment
2. Step two: Employee onboarding

Our new hire checklists are specifically adapted to cover recruitment and employee onboarding processes.

With our new hire checklists, your team will be singing your praises.

Shall we get started?

Click on the link below to jump to the relevant sections. Or for a full overview of our new hire checklists, scroll down.

• You key new hire checklists
• What is a new hire checklist?
• Our recruitment processes for your new hire
• Our employee onboarding processes for your new hire
• Why your hiring process matters: Real-world examples of new hire processes gone wrong
• Our hiring process for your new hire checklists
• Use Process Street and our new hire checklists today

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Business is forever changing and evolving. The things you need to do to stay up to date can be daunting but the alternative is falling by the wayside.

Plus, when 78% of millennial customers won’t give you a second chance, your day-to-day interactions count more than ever.

That’s why you need a solid knowledge management system. It’s the only way to reliably manage the resources available to your team and make sure that everyone can perform to the best of their ability.

So, today on the Process Street blog we’ll be covering:

• What is knowledge management?
• Why does knowledge management matter?
• The history of knowledge management
• Types of knowledge
• How to build a knowledge management system
• Manage your knowledge effectively with Process Street

Enough dawdling – let’s get started!
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