High Fives to Improve Your Workplace
May 4, 2016 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Giving you high-fives with helpful tips in groups of five to handle issues, improve motivation, and inspire your team to get-along and get going. With that, here are several topics with their top five lists:
A helpful tip for managers when confronted with a problem involving people is to ask “why” at least five times in a non-confrontational way such as “Help me understand what happened” instead of “What happened here?” Generally asking “why” five times takes you down the path of:
- blame
- excuse
- symptom
- cause
- root cause
By digging down a little deeper, you can get past the blame and excuses and focus on the root cause of the problem instead of a surface issue.
- A study by U-inspire, Inc which revealed the top five motivating methods of over 250 major companies:
- communication
- growth
- respect
- leadership
- compensation
One of the major findings in the study was the need for organizations to develop a mission statement what conveys the goals of the company and to implement multiple levels of employee recognition programs.
* In the book Clash of the Generations at Work by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak, they give a simple 5-point ACORN model for managing and motivating across the generations:
- Accommodate differences
- Create workplace choices
- Operate with sophisticated management style
- Respect competence and initiative
- Nourish retention
* In keeping with the theme of fives in this post, think of yourself as a 5-pointed star. To keep your star shining brightly, follow these five easy tips from Sharing Ideas Magazine:
- Take care of your inner self and outer body.
- Shepherd thoughts that enter your mind.
- Care for your emotions and relationships with loving-kindness.
- Be on-purpose in how you invest, give, and spend your money.
- Be forgiving and grateful for the unlimited spirit of love that keeps you energized to serve others.
Spring Cleaning Stacks of Teamwork Tips
April 4, 2016 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
It’s Spring Cleaning time and you get the benefit of culling through the stacks of articles and information I’ve accumulated over the years.
- American Express Incentive Services commissioned a survey of employees to see what they wanted in a reward. They found that 62 percent wanted the freedom to choose their own reward. They wanted a say in what they received in the manner of gift cards where they could use them for a dinner out, new CD’s, DVD rentals, a BBQ set, new shoes, movie tickets, or whatever else that suited them at the time. So say goodbye to plaques and hello to pre-paid gift cards that have multiple uses.
- If you are tired of meetings where nobody is contributing their share of solutions to the day’s challenges, then tell them that their admission ticket to the next meeting will be an index card with an original idea or their take on a solution to a pre-stated challenge written on it. Collect the tickets at the door and start the meeting by reading each card to the group to generate more active participation and engage them.
- Did you know that compared to the 1970’s, people today work 20% longer hours and have 32% less leisure time? In the past 30 years, psychologists estimate that workplace stress has doubled – along with the increase in stress levels of mixing business with family matters.
- A survey by careerbuilder.com revealed that 60% of the nation’s workforce finds it difficult to be professionally successful and sufficiently involved in family/social life. Over 74% said tele-work is the most desired perk, and 49% said they deliberately sought out flexible work environments during their last job hunt. What are you doing to help your workers balance their personal and professional lives?
- In the spirit of getting along in the workplace and increasing understanding between Generation X, Boomers, and Traditionalists, here are some sites that give some insight into “What the heck do they mean and why on Earth are they acting that way?”.
General Generation info and links to other sites addressing the issues:
www.millenials.com, and www.generationsatwork.com
Veterans: www.seniornet.org and www.seniors.com
Boomers: www.babyboomers.org and www.boomersint.org
Generation X: www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/lead/genx.html and www.go.com/webdir/people/society/generationx
Nexters: www.growingupdigital.com, www.northwesternmutual.com/2001/summary-main.html, and www.millenials.com/ltm/ltm.html
- Research from ComPsych – the world’s largest employee assistance program provider shares their recent findings on employee stress at work. 48% of workers report high levels of stress mixed with extreme fatigue and a sense of feeling out of control. Among that 48%, there were 41% who cited their workload as the culprit, 31% said it was people issues, and 28% of those with high levels of stress said it was juggling work and personal life that stressed them out so much. The next group of workers, 38% cited they experienced constant, but manageable stress levels, and 14% said they had low stress levels. What are you doing to manage your stress levels or those of your team so they will be more gruntled and less disgruntled and grumpy?
Things About Energy, Empowerment, and Employee Retention that Make You Go Hmmmm
March 4, 2016 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Work-life programs are keeping workers at work and experts are attributing fewer sick days to these programs. With more flexibility to arrange their schedules and more workplace help with dry-cleaning, day-care, and car washing; workers aren’t as tempted to take “mental health days”. According to a CCH, Inc. survey of absenteeism, it declines to 2.1% as compared to 2.7% last year and 2.9% in 1999. Absenteeism costs companies more than $600 per employee per year which translates to $9000 for a 15-person operation or $3 million for a 5,000 employee organization. Research shows that only 40% who call in are really sick – the other 60% are taking care of personal business.
* According to www.realage.com, laughing can make your “real age” up to 8 years younger.
* What steps does your organization take to help keep workers at work by offering some conveniences or assistance for staff so they can handle life’s responsibilities? Some organizations: have a car detailing service 1-2 times per week in the parking lot, have a corporate concierge who arranges to meet plumbers or the cable guy at a worker’s home while the worker stays at work or makes dinner reservations or arranges for concert tickets, have a dry-cleaning operation on site, have pet-care centers, have arrangements for eldercare options, have a massage therapist come on site for breaks, or have take-home dinner options available from the employee cafeteria.
* The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that 62% of recent college grads expect to leave their first job in 3 years. What will you do to retain your top talent when they come to you with this expectation?
I wanted to share some energy boosting tips to improve your personal energy and keep stress at bay:
- Spend time deep breathing to oxygenate the body.
- Get fit in bits – even bursts of 10 minutes three times per day will help.
- Mind your posture and stand or sit straight to help your diaphragm and aid in deep breathing, it is also less fatiguing on your back.
- Sit properly with your knees at right angles and feet and back flat. Pat attention to your chair or elevate your feet to help your back – stretch and move often if you sit at your desk for long periods.
- Get outside for fresh air and sunshine.
- Learn to use acupressure points to release more energy doors for better energy flow throughout the day.
- Practice yoga for body movement and breathing techniques – it helps relax you, tone and strengthen muscles, and add flexibility to aid in energy flow.
- Laughing reduces stress hormones and invigorates the circulatory system, the respiratory system, and muscles throughout the body. Contrary to popular belief, it does not release endorphins, but it does have other healthy effects.
- Dance and since for physical and emotional release.
- Rest with intensity – get plenty of sleep nightly to rejuvenate and refresh.
- Eat smaller meals and eat more frequently to keep your blood sugar stable and your metabolism on track to help balance your energy levels.