How do you appreciate your employees?

We have heard it so many times – that people are the core of the business, and human capital is important but how often do the middle management and top management really show their appreciation to employees?

If you are reading this, and you are one of the management or in the Human Resource team, then maybe it is time for you to initiate! Employee Appreciation Day falls on the 3rd March annually but it is still not too late!

Here are some ways you can show your extra appreciation to your employees!

Provide Welfare

You can do this by providing massage services to employees who badly need to relax – whether is it for your blue collars who are doing your manual work or your white collars who are constantly hunched trying to coordinate your work for you.

Provide Food

You can’t really go wrong with food, as food commonly bonds colleagues and friends! Good food is awesome, but it will be even better when it is fully sponsored by the Company!

During this period, there should also not be any restrictions on lunch break! Lunch break should be if your employees wishes. It is ultimately a form of reward for all the hard work done.

You can also provide new coffee machines in the pantry, as an extra surprise to your employees! This give them the extra perk to perform better in their work anyway!

Hand written notes

This do not have to be presentable, and expensive cards to show your appreciation. Simple one or two sentences to show your appreciation will do. You can be surprised of what a few words can do!

Reorganize your office

If you have the luxury of time, you can request for your employees to give the walls a different shade of colour, and understand the request of a reorganization of office furniture.

You can even provide them a small budget to redecorate their office spaces, to feel energized!

Purchase a new computer!

This applies if you have huge budget or when your computer is old. Imagine your employee’s delight if you’re able to give them something new to allow them to be more productive at work!

You can also introduce systems to help encourage productivity and efficiency as well – to make work more meaningful and less administrative.

Be Interested

Employees would really feel appreciated if you are interested in their personal lives, apart from how they are like in the company. If bosses show interest in their families, instead of how much work have they performed – this would also reflect as an appreciation of employees.

This would be even better if you allow your employees a more flexible schedule if they are able to perform in their work. It would be one thing to share that you want them to have a work-life balance, and another if you really make it one of the priorities that has been stressed by the management.

How to assist your colleague during their challenging times

We always say that it is good to separate work from personal issues, but we also know and understand that it is not always possible. While handling Human Resources must be an objective approach, we must always remember that we are still handling people. It is good to strike the correct balance between empathetic, yet objective.

These are things you could help your employees going through a tough time. 

SETTING YOUR CULTURE RIGHT

If you think that your colleagues are going to approach you to share their problems when you have been nasty throughout the entire year, you’re wrong. You might even be the last person that they want you to be aware of their personal issues.

You must start it right by being seem as approachable and making the extra effort to be approachable and non-judgemental. By constantly engaging your peers, it will also be easier for you to take notice when you know that something is not right with them and you can approach and then lend your listening ears.

LISTEN AND SET THE CORRECT TONE

When someone is sharing their challenging times with you, you should not be asking too many private questions that one might be unwilling to share. You might want to give them the opportunity to share with you, if you’re willing. Do not be quick to provide advice or solutions – they could just need a listening ear.

SHOW YOU CARE

Not about your business, or your daily operations – but about your colleagues. Imagine after hearing about their personal issues and asking them “I understand, but how will this help you focus at work?” – how would your colleagues feel?

The questions you can ask could be “How can we assist or support you during this critical period of time?” to show you care more about their feelings and understanding what their thoughts process are.

Do your follow up with your employees if you know they are going a tough time. Conversations like this is not concluded over one time. Remind them you are available to listen when any more issues happen.

BE OBJECTIVE

The rule of the thumb is still not to be over empathetic. You would want to clear about your company policies and understand any restrictions before over promising or committing yourself to their recommendations. If you need to check and get approval, you can explain you’ll need to check before committing. You would not want a situation where you promise and not deliver.

Explaining things to someone who do not get it?

There will come a time, when you will get to meet a new colleague. The new colleague is willing to learn, expressed strong interest in staying long in the company and is determined to prove their performance in the company. You have been assigned to be a mentor, and are accountable for her to adjust to the new environment.

However, repeated questions keep coming and you suddenly feel that the new entrant might not be the most suitable for the role. You really want to help her, but you remain clueless how.

Here’s How.

Understanding the root of the problem

Different people come in with different learning capacity. Some people have a preference over a learning style over the other. It is important that you understand that fact and respect the fact as well. If you feel that your training is not effective, you might want to understand further with regards on how else the person can be more receptive to it. You can instead ask “I understand that you are still experiencing some difficulties with regards to learning. Is there any other way I am able to better help you with?”

Sometimes, the problem could be you. You could have been a terrible person to instruct, or you do not explain to them the rationale of why things are done in a certain manner. If you are a terrible trainer, you could get someone else to do the coaching and guiding.

Training Evaluation

It is always a good idea to evaluate your employee’s training to understand which of the parts of training did your employee understand the best, and which one is not the best. Through understanding that, then you could cater your subsequent training to emphasize on the one that the employee might not be unsure of.

Encourage Questions

The worst thing you would want to do is to discourage an employee from asking questions. If employees are unsure, it would be good for them to clarify by asking questions. If your culture discourages questions, employees would deem what they deem fit which could result in operational errors. With operational errors, you would then encounter all the difficulties to rectify the errors over the long run.

What can you do to ensure that your employees are not suffering from burn out?

Experiencing burn out can be constituted by many different factors. The usual factors are extra hours spend at work, the amount of quality of work expected by managers, as well as amount of work that is required to be completed within a short notice.

However, burn out can also be easily associated with employee’s morale – which can consist of unfair sentiments arising from unfair compensation – on whether someone is getting more highly paid, while performing the same duties or the salary is the same, with one having more duties and responsibilities. It can also be associated with poor management and misalignment of direction. To put it simply, imaging redoing a work several times because of changes of instructions by the management.

These are what you can do to ensure your employees are not suffering from burn out:

Listen

Regardless the amount of work load, you should always make time to engage them to prevent burnout from happening. You should listen, whether is it in an actual complain, or through subtle signs like their tone, their frustrations at work. If you do realize that they might be experiencing a burn out, you can allow them a voice to understand the root of the problem.

This strategy works best, if you empower your employees. Let them know you are always there readily available to hear complains and grievances without providing a judgement – and above being a leader, you’re also a friend.

Provide

To be fair to your employees, you should provide avenues for them to raise their unhappiness to you – whether in the form of a regular employee survey, or one to one talks with their leaders. You need to be able to provide them accessible advice and help to complete the tasks given, or a reasonable deadline for any tasks assigned.

You are also able to provide the environment which minimizes burn out – by providing more welfares such as random parties, good food and providing day offs to celebrate company’s successes.

You can also provide employees with the education on what a burn out feels like – so that employees would be more aware, and will take the necessary actions to reduce burn out.

Be Fair

Evaluate yourself. If you are making decisions irrationally, by providing unfair treatments – then you need to be the change. You must recognize effort rationally and to communicate the rationale on why decisions are made (I.e., why did you promote this person), to reduce any tensions arising from inequality.

If your employee is putting in effort, while still not delivering -  it is of no harm to provide encouragement as well and to see how you can help the employee in reaching the organization’s goals.

3 Healthy Work Snacks To Boost Office Morale

Food cheers everyone up, especially after a long day or when faced with a bad case of Monday Blues. While there are standard lunch breaks in most companies, snacks are a great way to boost the office morale throughout the day. In moderation, it can help to keep the energy levels up and help people to stay focused on their work. The ideal snacks are high in protein and fibre, and should be around palm sized each serving, so being diligent about the right amount is crucial to staying both healthy and fuelled.

However, snacks come in many shapes and sizes, and it can be tricky when considering the mess or smells. If the company is air-conditioned or the floors are carpeted, then there are certain snacks that would not be ideal for the working environment. Snacks like chicken soup and crackers, grilled cheese toast, or even cup noodles, would be too much and intrusive to the shared working space. Instead, consider these healthy and simple alternatives to bring into the office for a quick munch between tasks.

RAW/ROASTED NUTS

Instead of keeping candies on desks, nuts are healthier and taste just as delicious. Whether they are raw or roasted, they are a great and simple way to have something small around the desk to munch on and keep the blood sugar level pumped. It is high in proteins and fats, plus it makes a great combination with a handful of string cheese. Nuts like almonds or cashews also don’t require any removal of shells or build up extra waste, allowing them to be the ideal office snack that can be personally enjoyed, or shared among colleagues.

PROTEIN BARS

There are all types of protein bars available in the supermarkets, from flavours to the actual types of ingredients (for example, fruits, nuts and granola) that make up the sticky bars that have become common substitutes for proper food. They are great for fulfilling multiple pillars of nutrients simultaneously with all the different components. Easily tucked in a bag or pocket, they are designed to be super handy and easy to consume on the go. It also satisfies the appetite significantly, as a single bar can contain enough servings for an actual meal.

DRIED FRUITS

Fruits are nature’s very own candies, but fresh fruits might be a bit tricky to prepare and eat in the office. Unless you have the time to cut fruits like apples or oranges beforehand, the whole process might get a bit messy. On the other hand, dried or preserved fruits are much neater to handle than their fresh counterparts. Dried fruits like apricots are naturally sweet and can satisfy any sweet tooth craving. To top it off, most of the dried fruits selection are loaded with healthy sugar and fibre, allowing for a speedy and satisfying nosh while handling paperwork.

3 Signs That Your Work-Life Balance Is Working Out

There is a lot of stress on the importance of achieving work-life balance, especially for those who are in hectic office hour jobs, required at their desks from 9 to 5, and on their phones around the clock. Technology not only made it easier for work to be completed, it also opened up modes of communication that currently allow employers to reach their employees instantly, on a 24 hour basis.

What is a good work-life balance?

It is when work is contained during specific working hours, in the right environment at a comfortable, manageable pace, and other aspects of life — such as family, friends and personal well being – are paid attention to and properly prioritized. While it may be getting harder to maintain such an ideal lifestyle, here are some markers to see if the current work-life balance arrangement is working out:

NO EMAILS, CALLS AND MESSAGES AFTER

Step away from the constant bombardment of emails, calls and messages from work. If this step is hard for you, then there is still a lot more to be done in order to maintain a proper balance between work and life. Leave work at work, and learn to let go of your availability around the clock.

Yes, it feels really good to be indispensable. But time is something that cannot be earned back, no matter how much work you try to fit into it. Do not make the mistake of giving it all up for a speedy email reply or a 4am Whatsapp message from your boss. Instead, make the intelligent choice of investing a significant portion of it on yourself in order to better your quality of living for better work productivity.

MAKE YOUR OWN RULES

Following the rules may be crucial in the society’s guidebook, but sometimes, breaking out of these rigid standards are a good way to measure how much you rely on them previously. There is a shift in the way things are being done in the workforce today, and one of the ways to adapt to them are to make your own set of rules and go ahead with it.

For example, working at home is a great way to maintain a healthy work-life balance. On one hand, you are able to maximize the time spent between work and home and/or family, and on the other, increase the time divided among the two to ensure that nothing is left behind on the schedule. Instead of worrying about showing up at the office, concentrate on producing quality work.

RETIREMENT IS ALREADY ON YOUR MIND

It is important to have a backup plan, and a plan worked on from young is one that is bound to repay at a later date.

This will also help to determine what exactly is the goal of the everyday work. There is no point in working everyday when it is just to survive, instead, concentrate on what makes you special, such as hobbies and quirks, and find a way to infuse it into work. People who have set hobbies or pastimes will also be able to release stress better, ensuring a better work-life balance overall.

How should you handle favouritism?

The interesting thing about this article, is that it is for the one that is shown favouritism as well as for the others affected by it. How bad can it hurt right if you are the one receiving the compliments? At the very least, you know you are performing in your manager’s eyes.  However, do you want your career progression to be based on how well you are performing in the role or would you rather it be because of how good of the relationship you share with your managers?

Think about your co-workers. How would they credit your promotion? Would they have been given equal growth opportunities for career advancement? Would they have thought that performance is linked to career advancement?

Give the benefit of the doubt

Understand if this is a usual practice, by your managers. Try to understand if the treatment is specially for you, or do your managers encourage the others in their little ways as well. Is the manager showing you more interest compared to your colleagues? Do your other colleagues perceive your treatment as unfair as you deem it to be?

It is of this stage that you should also distinguish Favoritism from performance recognition. Have you been given the extra attention because of the overtime you have put into the company, or that you have went beyond what was expected to earn the confidence of your managers?   

Talk to them, Tactfully

Being the one that your manager would be more receptive to, you could have the power to recommend an objective approach. You could probably recommend justifying who should be the one who should be taken the role, or even the key client to the rest.

You could also encourage a more inclusive team, whereby you could propose names on taking up certain responsibilities, as well as be the one sharing positive reviews of other colleagues, whose effort could not have been realized by your managers

Maintain Strong Employer-Employee Relationship

Humans are ultimately companies’ assets in achieving results and success. It is one key factor that it is important to maintain a strong employer-employee relationship and such strong relationship will not bring about too many conflicts in the workplace. This will also help to keep employees focus, more efficient and more committed to work. Put some thoughts into your position and analyse if it is the same for your company too.

Keep the Motivation Going

Observe your employees carefully. What are ways they are doing to keep themselves motivated at work? I’m sure it is not just the monetary aspect that kept them coming to work. Every individual is motivated in different ways and if you understand what the motivation factor are, then it will help you manage a strong relationship with them. An example will be praising and encouraging your employees who have done well in the last quarter of the business year and let them know that you appreciate their performances and hard work.

Ensure Open Communication

Create that effective network for employees to be engaged is one way that allow them to ‘rant’ and share what they felt could have been better for the Company and them. Constantly remind them that you are to listen to them. This also allows you to resolve issues quickly and not snowball the situations and it does show employees that the Company are taking each feedback and issue seriously.

Employee Commitment

In today’s context, cost of a new employee is getting costly – from hiring and training. Keeping a committed and loyal workforce will not only help you in cutting down hiring cost and it will reflect well with your clients and other related business partners that they do not have to liaise with a ‘newbie’ and they may not be as well-trained.

Conflict Reduction

Keep the focus on the right track. Create that conducive environment which allows employees to focus on the tasks and assignments that have been assigned. With reduced conflicts in the company will also allow the people and environment be friendlier. It’s an instinct that you can feel it when you enter the workplace. That instinct can never go wrong. While employees focus on business- or work-related tasks and assignments, it’d also mean that they will be more willing to help one another when escalations from arise.