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Encourage Your Employees to Be Their Authentic Selves – And Improve Workplace Morale

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Often people attempt to conceal their personalities at work. This might mean concealing their interests or their passions, but sometimes it goes even deeper. Occasionally, people try and change their accents, or hide their sexual orientation.

Sometimes, employees are concerned that their authentic selves will mark them out as too ‘different’ or ‘quirky’ or ‘airy fairy’ to succeed in the workplace. However, this means that they might be selling themselves short – and in the process, holding back your business.

More Authentic Personalities = Better Business People

People who feel more comfortable in themselves often have greater confidence in their own ability to get the job done. They can be resourceful and quick thinkers who are able to solve problems – because they feel empowered enough to do so. These kinds of individuals are only an asset to a business.

Individuals who are in a role that involves facing clients or closing deals should always present their authentic selves to sell well. Most people can detect fakery and avoid those people, choosing not to spend time with them and trust them in a business relationship.

Fostering an atmosphere of inauthenticity will only impact negatively upon your business. Your staff won’t be happy, productive staff – the kind that are so important to getting a job done well.

Encourage Your Staff to Be Themselves

There are many ways you can encourage your staff to be more authentic in the work place. Mostly it starts by allowing an environment where people feel empowered enough to be their authentic persons, while still being respectful.

It’s mostly about fostering trust between management and colleagues and allowing personalities to shine.

Here are our top tips on how to encourage your staff to be themselves.

1. Get to Know Them

Make sure that you devote some time to each individual member of your staff at least once a month. Ask them what their ambitions are and how they want to get there.

Frequent performance reviews create an environment of trust, so staff feel more empowered to give you honest feedback – something which will only be beneficial for the company.

2. Offer the Training They Want

Staff feel happier and more fulfilled – two elements which are crucial for authentic living – when they feel they’re moving into the future with skills.

If you have ambitious staff, offering them distinct training opportunities to foster their goals and talents. This will help them feel more confident and empowered in the workplace.

3. Don’t Enforce a Strict Corporate Dress Code

You might find a couple of Patrick Bateman weirdos who love wearing a full suit every day, but most modern men and women don’t. Let your employees express their personality in their clothes without judgement.

Most people won’t turn up to the office in sweatpants even if your dress code is more relaxed. People also pick up visual cues off leaders in their environment – if most people dress smart every day, they’ll dress well too.

4. Allow Employees to Personalize Their Workspace

Make sure people feel comfortable personalizing their space in their office. Allowing people to bring in photos of their friends and family, or adding a plant really makes the space more comfortable for them.

If employees have a work phone, let them choose the best phone case for them.

5. Hold Team Idea Meetings

Don’t wait for employees to come to you with ideas. You may never know but there could just be an idea that’s about to revolutionize your company and increase your profit margins in the head of someone sat down in a cubicle in your office.

Foster an environment where people feel comfortable enough to throw out ideas, to help people grow in confidence as they know their opinions are valued.

6. Encourage Structured Growth

To really get the best out of the people you work with, make a plan for each individual’s development. Make sure everyone has a set time each week to do their training or develop their passion projects, for the benefit of the business.

Remember: happier staff can only mean better things for your business.

Top Ways to Retain Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleWhether you’re the manager of your department or the CEO of a company, it’s so important to make sure you retain the attention and engagement of your employees. When your employees go through the hiring process, they’ve proven themselves to be the best men and women for the jobs your company offers. In order for the company to do well, there needs to be a level of continuity and consistency in the workflow. One of the best ways to make sure this happens is through retaining top talent. There are a few strategies to implement in order to make sure your company holds on to its best employees and attracts more awesome and talented employees in the future.

1. Mentorship
Partner new team members with more experienced employees. It’s so important to foster an environment of mentorship. The experienced employees can teach the newer ones the ropes of the company. There’s also a level of openness regarding how to improve and facilitate a better workflow. When the company implements a mentorship system within the workplace, it takes away the vibes of competition and backbiting. Everyone is in the room with the same goal: to make the company more money and win. When everyone is on one accord, the results can be truly divine.

2. Ownership
Take note of the strengths of your employees. If they’re not already exercising them in some way, give them opportunities to thrive. Sure, there is a level of initiative employees need to take. However, as the leader, it’s important for you to make it clear that you’re open to your employees taking on new roles, growing and improving company strategies. There are many employees that have lots of ideas, but have bosses with large egos. Don’t let ego get in the way of an employee’s ability to offer more to the company.

3. Gold Stars/Incentives
Money is a major motivator, but it’s not the only one. Bonuses are amazing for helping employees stick around. An upgrade to the company benefits package, weekly lunches and telecommuting are a few of the tricks to get good employees to stick around. If the work environment is conducive to their personal and professional happiness in a very tangible way, it’ll be hard to get them to leave.

4. Accountability
It can be really detrimental to a company when an employee decides to quit abruptly. If they’re a major part of the team, their presence is essential. Design an environment where members of the team are able to check in with one another and remain accountable to each other. This will foster a level of transparency. If a person is deeply unhappy in their work, that’ll come across when they interact with other employees. Keeping one another accountable will help the company become stronger as they’ve been bonded together.

These are a few of the best ways to make sure your company holds on to the best of the best. As you progress and tweak the process, keep an ear to the ground. You’ll want feedback to learn how you can improve as the head of the team. As you gain advice, listen to it and implement the most effective practices. A company doesn’t become a well-oiled machine overnight. In many cases, it takes years of mistakes and fine-tuning. Lean in and embrace the process because the company will be better as a result of it.

Empower Your Employees: How to Encourage Staff to Take Pride in the Workplace

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Every business owner wants to create a more productive, passionate and focused workplace, but it can seem easier said than done. However, it doesn’t need to be. All you need to do is encourage staff to take pride in the workplace with a few key steps.

Communicate the Company Vision and Values

Provide your members of staff with a sense of purpose and direction to instill more pride in their position. It can be difficult for your employees to feel proud of their role if they do not understand how it affects others. Continually try to communicate the company’s vision and values to your staff, and detail what makes their role so integral to the business.

Encourage Staff to Learn More About Every Department

There will likely be many talented people on your payroll, who each help your business grow every day. Showcase the talent and passion within the company by encouraging staff to learn more about different departments, rather than them remaining inside the comfort of their cubicle and department.

By doing so, they’ll learn more about the company operations, as well as the hard work and dedication different employees’ display to achieve optimum results for the business. Your staff will gain a great understanding of the inner workings of the business, which can make them feel proud to work for the brand.

It will also educate your employees on how the quality of their work can affect other departments across the business, so they will continually strive to support their colleagues with the highest quality projects and pieces.

Ensure Employees Receive Regular Feedback

Don’t allow standards to slip or passion to diminish. Keep morale and productivity high by ensuring your management team provides regular feedback to your staff. It will enable employees to make the necessary improvements in real time. Don’t settle for annual or bi-annual reviews, which will allow poor habits to develop gradually. Encourage managers to perform monthly feedback sessions to review performances, offer advice, and set monthly expectations.

Consider Creative Rewards for Your Company’s Highest Achievers

A paycheck will not be enough to keep your employees happy and motivated in their job. They also need rewards and recognition to remain content and passionate about both the brand and their position. If you don’t look for ways to recognize your top talent, you could risk them leaving the business for your competitors.

You must, therefore, look for creative ways to reward the company’s high achievers. For example, you could send then a positive email or text message for a job well done, or you could even congratulate them for a successful project within the company newsletter.

There is also an option to offer formal rewards, such as a financial bonus or day off work. You could even choose to host a recognition ceremony to show your employees you appreciate their efforts, and you could present them with Custom Challenge Coins to instill a sense of pride in the workplace, and it will also remind them of how much you appreciate their dedication, talent and hard work every day.

Maintain a Clutter-Free Space

Did you know the average office worker spends approximately 1.5 hours a day looking for something at work? That equates to six weeks of the year. Create a clutter-free space to create a more productive environment for everyone, and a clean environment will also encourage employees to take pride in maintaining a hygienic workspace. Encourage your staff to clean their workspaces and common spaces routinely, and request they look for ways to regularly reduce mess to create a cleaner environment for everyone.

Find Out What Inspires Your Team

Many managers and business owners believe they understand what inspires their staff, but the reality might be very different. Rather than guessing what motivates your team and what makes them feel proud of their role, simply ask them the question. You can either ask employees directly or request they submit their answers anonymously, which will allow them to speak openly and honestly. As a result, you can create a workplace that continually motivates and inspires your staff, which can make them feel empowered within their role.

Offer Continuous Education

Education should not be made available for just inexperienced or underperforming members of staff. Continuous education could be the key to increasing your employees’ knowledge, improving their skill set and helping them to learn more about the current trends within the industry. For instance, continuous education allows accountants and bankers to remain up-to-date with the latest regulations.

Allow Staff to Form Friendships

Teamwork makes the dream work, right? That’s why you must proactively encourage staff to form friendships both inside and outside of work. The people they work with will determine their happiness within the business. Create a sense of pride and camaraderie in the workplace by offering team building activities, which will bring your employees together and have a little fun outside of the office. It’s a great way for people to get to know one another while working together to accomplish a goal, which could transfer to the office.

Give Pep Talks to Struggling Employees

Employees struggling with a task or project might suffer from low morale, and they might start doubting their ability. Keep negative thinking at bay by pulling a member of staff aside to give them a much-needed pep talk, which might be all it takes to inspire your staff to tick the task off their list efficiently. For example, highlight the small improvements they have made, and comment on their past accomplishments, which will support positive thinking while proving they work for a caring employer.

Expand Their Roles

Seasoned employees may know their roles like the back of their hand. A lack of challenges could ultimately lead to a lack of engagement and pride in their position. Foster a sense of engagement by providing staff with new responsibilities, which will challenge their mind and expand their skillset, so they’ll feel happier about their role and the company.

What Other Successful Business Owners Can Teach You

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Have you ever considered that, as a business owner, you could learn a lot from other business owners? When it comes to running a company, all the most successful people have learnt from others and you should too. If you’re serious about making a go of your business, you need to be willing to learn from other, more successful business owners, starting now.

You can’t know everything, which is why learning from what others have done is so crucial to your business’s success. After all, if a certain strategy worked for them, then it might also work for you. With that in mind, below are a few examples of the things that other business owners can teach you that can be useful when it comes to your business success.

Steve Jobs

Without a doubt, Steve Jobs was one of the world’s most intelligent people. On top of being incredibly smart, he was also charismatic, and in many instances, it was his charisma that got him far. He had the ability to build excitement and hype around his new products. If you believe in a project, it’s vital that you can communicate your excitement to people.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson is one of the world’s most persistent people. He believes that if you’re passionate about something, it’s crucial that you see it out. Don’t be afraid of long-term projects; be willing to work on things that you know will take time to complete, just like Richard Branson, and various other successful business owners like Fahad Al-Rajaan, do. Persistence is the key to success in business, always remember that.

Mark Zuckerberg

If there is one thing that Mark Zuckerberg is willing to do, it’s embrace change, and you should too. Every time Facebook creates a new interface, its users take a while to adapt to the changes, often bad mouthing them while doing so. However, after a few days, people soon adjust, just like Mark Zuckerberg knew they would.

Bill Gates

College dropout Bill Gates isn’t afraid to break the rules and you shouldn’t be either. When he dropped out of college to start Microsoft, he went against all the rules. It was unheard of for college dropouts to make a success of themselves, but Bill Gates did. Don’t be afraid to break the rules if you think it will help your business’s success. Be brave and take a leap of faith.

When it comes to running a successful business which has huge potential for success, you need to be willing to learn continuously. Just because your business is doing well right now doesn’t mean you don’t need these lessons. After all, if these strategies worked for some of the world’s most successful business owners, surely they can work for you too. It’s just a case of taking the time to implement them and determining whether they can aid your business and its success. Be open to trying new things and your business’s success should soar.

How to Help Employees Be More Productive

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When a business is looking to increase productivity, there are several routes they can take. Typically, it requires lots of changes rather than one big massive change in the workplace. It’s the idea that a number of small adjustments can add up and really have a big impact on the overall productivity. One area that shouldn’t be overlooked or marginalized is your employees. When you give them the tools and skills they need to be productive, the entire business will flourish.

So, what are the tools and skills needed? How can you help your employees to be their most productive? Here are some tips and information that you can use.

Limit the Amount of Stress

While there are going to be jobs that naturally come with stress, many can limit the amount of stress and pressure on employees. As Capital Wired discusses in a recent article seen here, people have enough stress to worry about nowadays. Coming into work and having more stress piled on isn’t going to help them be more productive or “light a fire” under them. Instead, it will cause them to become flustered, which can lead to mistakes and errors.

Obviously, there are deadlines and workplace pressures that can’t be avoided, but keeping things organized, prioritizing tasks, and creating a positive environment that motivates employees tends to get much better results.

Provide Employees with Support

In order to succeed, employees need the proper support, and by support, we mean adequate and sometimes on-going training, the time required to complete tasks, a budget, and other staff to work with. This support will allow employees to reach their maximum productivity.

Proper Technology and Tools

There is also the functional aspect of being productive. It’s very hard for employees to be productive if they don’t have the right software, tools, and technology at their fingertips. Investing in the latest technology is an investment that your employees and, therefore, your company will benefit from.

Encourage Employees to Share Ideas and Thoughts

Because your employees are the ones who are actually doing the job and seeing the challenges on a daily basis, it’s important they feel welcome to talk to you and share thoughts and ideas. They may have suggestions on how a process can work more efficiently, they may seem issues that aren’t clear to you, and they will have a better idea of what solutions will work best.

You need to know if they feel they can’t do their job, and why it is that they feel that way. Employees shouldn’t feel scared or apprehensive about approaching you with concerns and criticism.

Give Employees the Permission to Take Breaks and Walk Away

Sometimes, work can get overwhelming and once that happens employees will start to suffer, which affects the job they are doing. As an employer, it’s up to you to recognize that employees need to step away sometimes, take a break, and take that time to decompress. They can come back refreshed and clear, ready to take on their work with enthusiasm. Stepping away from their desk when they need that break shouldn’t be looked down on.

Each of these tips will help you to create a workplace environment that encourages and facilities productivity.