Category: Business

The past year is evidence that the way we live and work is changing. Things that used to be normal are not normal now. Among all the other turmoil the pandemic has brought, it has forced companies to analyze their priorities and change them as needed. Today we’ll discuss 9 trends shaping work in 2021 and beyond.

Employers Will Continue to Shift From Managing Employee Experiences to Managing Life Experiences

As the pandemic has pushed employers further into employee lives, leaders learn that making sure employees have good personal lives makes them perform better at work. This year will be the year companies begin paying more attention to their employees’ mental, physical, and financial health.  

More Companies Will Announce Opinions on Political and Societal Issues

In today’s world, employees want to work for companies that align with their own belief system. Since many people believe that companies should take a stance on political and societal issues, CEOs will be forced to keep up with the trend. Failing to do so may mean that they won’t attract the best talent.

The Gender-Wage Gap Will Rise

As organizations shift toward a hybrid workforce where some employees work in the office, some are working from home, and others are at third party locations, many think this will cause the gender-wage gap to further increase. Most think this will happen because men will return to offices while women will stay home. Some managers believe office workers are higher performers than remote workers.

New Regulations Will Dampen Employee Monitoring

New legislation to control just how much an employer can monitor an employee is likely to be introduced this year. Most experts believe this will happen because many companies recently bought new technology to monitor employees, but the areas in which it can be used are mainly gray.

Flexibility Will Refer To Time Rather Than Location

As a whole, 2020 showed that many people could actually do their job from a remote location. Since the work location has already shifted, it’s expected that the time of work will be next.

Companies Will Buy Large Quantities of COVID-19 Vaccines And See Lawsuits

Leading companies are interested in offering the COVID-19 vaccine to employees for the sake of retaining and attracting talent. While many people will welcome receiving the vaccine, others are likely to file lawsuits against companies that are requiring them to be vaccinated before returning to work.

Mental Health Will Join The Conversation

Within the last few years, many companies have realized that an employee’s mental health matters. Companies will continue to offer new benefits and ways to help employees with this.

Companies Will “Rent” Employees

Companies are requiring more skills for employment than ever before. So, rather than spending money on all the necessary training, employers will begin using contract services to “rent” rather than hire employees.

States Will Focus On Attracting Individuals Over Companies

States have finally realized that they have to offer companies large incentives to entice them to relocate there. Most of them now know that it’s cheaper to attract individual people than it is to focus on entire companies.

For more on this topic, check out this recently published article from Harvard Business Review

Working from home (WFH) sounds great in theory. That is until you realize that everything you do is at home, and you begin to miss life in public. While everyone hoped that the new calendar year would make us forget 2020, it hasn’t been easy. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with safety precautions still in place, many find themselves still working from home. So, how do you help your team overcome WFH burnout?

Burnout According to the Latest Findings

The Harvard Business Review recently published an article discussing this very topic. They reported that unmanaged “chronic workplace stress” is at an all-time high. The group suffering the most is working mothers. There are many caring for their children while also working from home. It’s estimated that 25% of these women are suffering from burnout. They are 28% more likely to suffer from it than their male counterparts.

Furthermore, people of color are also experiencing disproportionate impacts both with the virus and in their workplaces. For instance, Latino and black workers are more concerned about the future of their employment status than white workers.

Here’s What You Can Do

Here are three easy steps to help your team overcome WFH burnout:

Conduct Regular Checks on Your Employees

The truth is some employees will keep their needs and wants to themselves. So, take time regularly to check in on each employee. Ask them how they are doing and if there’s anything they need.

Offer Flexible Schedules If Possible

Just because an employee is working from home doesn’t mean they have flexibility. Some companies insist their employees work specific hours. This may surprise you, but the average employee workday is longer during the pandemic than it was before. So, if you can allow your employees flexibility with their hours, it’s a great idea to do so.

Respect Time and Mental Breaks

When planning meetings, be sure to consider choosing a time that works for everyone on the team. The last thing you want to do is continuously schedule meetings at times that are not convenient for everyone. It can help fuel resentment and burnout. Also, be sure your employees are taking short mental breaks during the day as needed. This alone will reduce burnout, improve creativity, and recharge the energy to get tasks done.

Even though it’s a new year, the pandemic is still around. So, circumstances aren’t likely to change any time soon. The only thing you can do is lead your team and help them with burnout when you sense it’s present.

Giving a good presentation is more than just your delivery; substance matters. Let’s face it; few people are born giving amazing presentations; it’s more a skill that’s learned over some time. So, rather than throw your hands in the air and say, “I can’t do it,” keep reading for our take on how to give a killer presentation (as first found in the Harvard Business Review).

Frame The Story

Good talks contain good information that’s been framed and conceptualized correctly. To give a killer presentation, you’ll need to create a journey for your audience that you’ll travel through together. Failing to frame your story will take value away and diminish the point.

Plan The Delivery

Once you have the story framed, it’s crucial to spend time planning the delivery. There are three ways to deliver a presentation: Read it from a teleprompter or script, memorize it, or you can write bullet points on an index card.

Develop Stage Presence

Inexperienced speakers commonly find themselves suffering from stage fright. This step usually requires a little coaching but is worth it. Some things to keep in mind include not moving your body too much, not moving your body enough, make eye contact with the audience, and keep your nerves in check. No one is there to judge you; they just want to hear what you have to say.

Plan The Multimedia

No killer presentation is complete without multimedia. You can consider adding photographs, videos, or slides. Just remember to not overdo it, especially with a slide presentation. It should complement your words, not take from them.

Put It Together Properly

If you know a speech is coming up, ideally within six months, start planning immediately. Experts begin prepping speakers six months in advance. This provides plenty of time to memorize the information enough that you won’t even need index cards.

In the end, giving a killer presentation is all about planning and spending ample time putting it all together

In today’s society, it’s not uncommon for people to work for numerous employers through their careers. So, when an employee leaves your company, only to try and come back a short time later, should you hire them back? This is a popular question, so today we’ll discuss if rehiring an employee who left is a good idea?

What are Your Company’s Priorities?

One of the first things to consider is what your company’s priorities are regarding long-term and short-term goals.

If you’re looking to fill a position and need to cut costs where you can, a “boomerang employee” can be a good option. They save on costs because they are already trained, and their job performance will be better from the start than someone who’s a new hire.

Alternatively, if your company wants to reduce turnover and prioritizes long-term job performance numbers, then it may be a better choice to hire externally or promote internally.

A Closer Look at Boomerang Employees

At one time, companies didn’t see value in hiring employees who left the company and then tried to come back months or years later. However, this is beginning to change as there are some benefits.

We mentioned that they are already trained, which is a major bonus. Yet they also know what they’re getting into, so some find that boomerang employees are more loyal the second time around. In fact, some even show performance and skill improvement when they come back, thanks to experiences they endured while away.

The Harvard Business Review recently published an article discussing a study that set out to answer two questions:

1. Does a boomerang employee’s job performance decline, improve, or remain the same the second time?
2. How do a boomerang employee’s job performance and turnover rates compare to other traditional hiring methods such as new hires?

Here’s a brief overview of what they found:

Performance seemed to remain the same after rehiring.

• Performance seemed to remain the same after rehiring.
• External and internal hires showed more improvement overtime than a rehire
• External and Internal hires had lower turnover rates than rehires.

The bottom line is, this is a situation you will need to assess. If the person was a rock star before they left, and you’d like to take advantage of that for as long as possible, then go for it.

However, if you are looking for employees who are loyal and more likely to improve over time, then go for someone new!

As demands of the workplace continue to rise, the majority of people respond to the situation by working longer hours. This will eventually lead to burnout, which costs the employee and the company. At the same time, people are taking the fuel used to do the work for granted. What is the fuel? Their energy, of course!

If you want to get more work done both better and faster, then you need to find ways to maximize energy levels. Unlike time, energy is not a finite resource. Instead, it has “springs” that feed it – the mind, body, and emotions.

Energy Renewal Program Components

Wachovia Bank was one company that tried an energy renewal program for employees. The concept was relatively easy. They divided the participants into two groups – participants and the control group. The findings were overwhelming. The participants involved in the energy renewal program had higher increases in both loan and deposit revenues.

Let’s take a look at the components of their system:

Physical Energy – The Body

The first focus is physical energy. It’s no secret that not getting enough sleep, rest, exercise, and nutrition can diminish energy levels. Still, many employees fail to practice healthy behaviors with so many other demands. Encourage employees to exercise by providing memberships or dedicated space for a “wellness room.” The other part of this is allowing your employees to take breaks often. Studies have found that those who work for a set amount of minutes and then take a break are most productive.

Energy Quality – Emotions

When you take control of emotions, it improves your energy quality, no matter how many external pressures are present. To improve this component, it’s important to become aware of why you feel the way you do at various times through the workday and how these emotions impact your effectiveness to get the job done.

Focusing Energy – The Mind

Many professionals think multitasking is a necessary skill. However, what if we told you that it undermines your productivity? It’s true! Distractions cost you a great deal of time. Any time you temporarily shift your attention to something else, it can cost you as much as 25% more time to complete the original task. It’s better to focus for 90 to 120-minutes, take a real break, and then move onto the next task.

To read more about Wachovia’s program, check out this article on The Harvard Business Review.

They say teamwork makes the dream work, but it’s not always that simple. Let’s face it; some teams simply do not perform. So, what the secret to great teamwork? A recent article published in The Harvard Business Review set out to answer this very question. The following information is a brief overview of their findings.

Teams today are different from those of the past. Ones found today are more dynamic, dispersed, digital, and diverse. However, regardless of how drastically teams change, the hurdles remain the same. The team’s success relies on a set of core fundamentals for group collaboration.

What does this mean? Well, one pioneer found that when it comes to collaboration, it’s not about the behavioral styles, personalities, or attitudes of the group members. Rather, teams need certain conditions to thrive

Teams need direction, structure, support, and a shared mindset.

Clear Direction

The best foundation for any team is a clear direction that engages, energizes, and orients each member. Simply put, a team will lack inspiration if the members are not sure of the goals.

Structure

Another essential quality of a good team is having the right number and mix of members. So, when creating teams, be sure to think about including a balance of skills, diversity of views and knowledge, and a combination of races, ages, and genders.

Support

Finally, an effective team needs the right amount of support. This can take many forms, such as a reward system, information systems, or educational systems.

Shared Mindset

The easiest way to ensure that your team is effective is by choosing members who complement each other with a shared mindset. Leaders need to focus on fostering common identities and understanding among everyone.

Evaluate Your Team

The four enabling conditions we discussed above are the ingredients needed to build a great team from scratch. However, even if you inherit an existing team, you can use these four simple fundamentals to set the stage for success.

If you want to know if your team is working, there are three areas of criteria at which to look. These three things are the development of each member, collaborative ability, and output.

These areas of interest are not only great for determining the effectiveness of your team but also for helping calibrate it occasionally too.