Workplace Blog

EU Referendum - Pros and Cons of a "BREXIT"

Posted on February 04, 2016

Like it or not, the EU Referendum has lately been on telly, radio and basically everybody's mind since the Conservatory election victory earlier this year. That's how Steve Miller, the MD of The Workplace Depot came up with the idea of running an EU Referendum Survey in our office. We will tell you our results, don't worry but first let's go through a couple of important questions that need answering before one should take part in the EU Referendum that's likely to take place in June this year...

A Day in the Life of... an eCommerce Executive

Posted on January 26, 2016

This week is Steven's turn on our A Day in the Life of Series. If you are keen to jump into digital marketing or eCommerce, or simply looking for a new challenge in this area, Steven's Day in the Life of... can perhaps inspire you. Morning @8.45am…. I start my day, only living 10 minutes away I have no excuse being late. Once I arrive, I put my lunch away, grab some much needed morning caffeine and get to work (unless it’s a Friday, I spend 5 minutes persuading the warehouse lads to fetch breakfast)...

Business Lessons from Star Wars: Types of Fire Protection Systems

Posted on January 21, 2016

Fire protection systems refer to residential or commercial systems that have been put in place to reduce the negative effects of fire. One of the most important business lessons from Star Wars trilogy is that when a fire is burning in a building, the most logical course of action after evacuating people from the building is to suppress or extinguish the fire. Fire protection systems help to minimise the impact of fires on buildings, surrounding infrastructures, and people...

A Day in the Life of... a Warehouse Manager

Posted on January 12, 2016

In case you though we've forgotten all about our A Day in the Life of Series, you would be relieved to know we haven't! After last week's A day in the life of... a Finance Manager, today Ben has granted us access into his daily work routine. Morning @8.30am First through the door, our warehouse team opens up the premises so that the company can open for business! My first priority is to designate the orders which have been placed late the day before and overnight, so that these can be prioritised before the days proceedings begin. Completing these tasks first sets us up for what ever challenges the day may bring. @9.30am At 9.30 we expect to have caught up with any carried over tasks. At this...

A Day in the life of... a Finance Manager!

Posted on December 29, 2015

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year and as some of you might be already trying to get back on track, we thought a new blog post on our A Day in the Life of would be a good idea! So far we've covered A Day in the Life of... an Operations Manager. This week we are getting on with Steve, our Finance Manager. He agreed to share with us some of his daily work routine. Morning @8.45am ....I arrive at work give or take 5 minutes -, after hopefully negotiating the early morning madness that is Nottingham rush hour. Usually channel hopping between local Radio station to find out the news and sport. Then settle on some music as I near to work...and always very high volume @9.30am.... look at early morning e-mails , especially China and reply to questions or plan future deliveries. Answer any further e-mails and then prioritise reports and prepare f...

Workplace Depot Gets a Visit from Elf on the Shelf!

Posted on December 15, 2015

Around the office, we’ve started to notice some… instances. Some of the staff have noticed a peculiar new visitor in our shelving warehouse, and they seem to be enjoying him greatly. Sitting impishly on our retail shelving, metal shelving, and even on our container shelving, Elf on the Shelf has made itself at home on the many, many, many shelves Workplace Depot has to offer. The Incidents Begin At first, we didn’t notice our new little visitor. He looked right at home nestled on top of our selection of storage shelving. After all our shelving is designed to handle 545 kg per shelf, and the elf’s...

A Day in the Life of … An Operations Manager

Posted on December 10, 2015

This week we are offering you an insight into what the life of an Operations Manager might be like, in an industry where effective operations are paramount. We've asked Michelle, our Operations Manager to outline what her day to day tasks might include. Michelle has been with us for not less than 16 years this December! A Day in the Life of ... an Operations Manger Morning @8.45am .... Arrive, unless on the early shift in which case I would have already been here for an hour. First thing I do is log into to all the platforms I need for the day ahead so our order processing system, our website, and various emails Once these are logged in and ready all emails are checked and replied to @9.30am...Have a look at my contact management system to see who I need to speak to and why, this could be a call to check a customers order has been delivered ok, to chase a supplier, to discuss a quotation or just a general call to see how they are doing @11.00am...Deal...

Christmas Tree Up! The Workplace Depot Gets Festive

Posted on December 03, 2015

December is here so this can only mean one thing. Getting the much awaited Christmas tree up becomes a priority! We almost made our own Christmas tree out of kick steps and kerb ramps and decorated with plastic chain, but managed to resist the temptation and opted for a 14ft Christmas tree with real branches instead. We thought we could get a little festive this year and spoil ourselves during the Christmas season. Luckily, Dee and Shantel volunteered to coordinate the entire process of putting the Christmas tree up. Decorations were ordered. Twice. Who knew we'd need that many baubles? Stepladders proved to be handy while trying to get the star top on. So did the cable...

Stock Take Procedure - How to by WPD

Posted on November 19, 2015

Here we go... Christmas Holidays are fast approaching, so what better time to organize our stock take for the upcoming busy period if not now... said our keen Warehouse Manager! So we (the web team and the Finance Manager) had to give him a hand on a cold November afternoon and get things done counted in the warehouse. We've put the high vises on, or at least intended to and cracked on. After carefully assigning us to teams, Ben gave everybody warehouse maps and to do lists. Some of us were lucky enough to work inside the warehouse office... Some had to g...

The Importance of Breaks at Work

Posted on October 20, 2015

You are a dedicated employee and you enjoy your job. So, you sometimes skip lunch break and breaks at work because you want to do a great job. Well, guess what! You can do an even better job if you know the secret of and the importance of taking breaks at work. How Work Breaks Help Your Productivity According to a study headed by John Trougakos, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Toronto, when employees take lunch breaks at work, they become less fatigued and have more energy to offer their employers. They also increase their ability to focus and problem solve. Trougakos’ study also found that taking time off during breaks and interacting with your coworkers made for a more positive work environment for everyone. A more positive work environment equates with less stress for you. Less stress leads to higher productivity and problem-solving abilities for everyone. ...

Using Team Building to Develop a Successful Team

Posted on October 08, 2015

Building a great team starts with great leadership. A great leader has many positive attributes such as correcting the course when necessary, making tough decisions, and setting performance standards. Team building and leadership requires ego management, recognition, and continuous development among other things to work well over the short and long term. Businesses that invest in team building are often more successful and have enhanced rapport among team members. It also makes team members feel like contributors to the overall success of their team or company. Leadership’s understanding of team building and team building activities is essential to effectively fostering team synergy. Team building activities are a great way to develop and foster the health o...

The Importance of Work-Life Balance

Posted on October 06, 2015

With today’s cutting edge technology, the work-life balance lines are starting to blur. When something big happens, it is available on social media almost immediately. If you are in any business where breaking news or important announcements come after standard work hours, you know the importance of being able to make the announcement as soon as it happens. In a world like this, distancing yourself from work can be quite the challenge. But maintaining a good work-life balance is important. Not only does it give you a chance to recharge, but taking a true break from work often makes you more focused when you return and you are more likely to work harder to accomplish set goals. Why Such an Emphasis on Work-Life Balance? Maintaining a good work-life balance goes beyond just the need to constantly be present in your work life with new technology. It can be the difference between h...