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Another year has passed in a flash.

We’ve grown older,

and hopefully wiser.

We’ve learned

from our mistakes.

We’ve been challenged

and our minds have expanded

(but hopefully not our waistlines).

We’ve made a positive contribution

to the lives of others.

What are the adventures that await us in the New Year?

Let our hearts be full of hope.

Let our heads be open to new thoughts.

Let our excitement be contagious!

Happy New Year and best wishes for much success in 2010, Joanne

P.S.  Please share your hopes for the New Year in the comments section of this blog.

For many this year (think “economy”), this Christmas may not be as abundant with respect to gifts under the tree, but there is much more to Christmas and the Holiday Season than material things, as Dr. Seuss, in The Grinch that Stole Christmas, reminds us:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ~ Dr. Seuss ~

There is plenty to do that means a little bit more than things bought at the store such as:

Tips for family fun
(that won’t break the budget)

• bundle up and go for a walk and feel the crunch, crunch, crunch of freshly fallen snow under your boots (fingers crossed for a white Christmas)
• find a hill after a big snowfall and go tobogganing
• make a batch of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows
• put on the fireplace and fall asleep to softly playing music
• have a movie night and find your old favourites to watch again
• volunteer as a family at a food bank or other charity that needs it to appreciate what you have
• get out a puzzle and work at it bit by bit
• set up the slow cooker and make a hearty soup out of turkey leftovers
• dust off your skates and go skating (outdoors preferably)
• have a board game night and play the games that are family favourites
• tell each family member the things you admire about them
• and be abundant with priceless hugs and “I love you’s.”
  

Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season at work and with family and friends, Joanne

“Bob was once a happy and motivated employee, but lately his motivator volume has been running on low.” 

 Does that sound familar?

This year has been fraught with turmoil and uncertainty. Business and people are impacted. Bob might be a typical employee in your firm, but with the holiday season here, and the end of the year Bob’s head might also be in a spin. No or little raises, no money in the budget for extras. How do you motivate your employees on a shoestring or no budget? Don’t despair; here are some suggestions:

Low Cost Tips for Motivating Employees

Link performance to company objectives
Natalie, a front line employee in a communications company says, “This is the first time in any job that I really know how my contributions are helping the company. I feel like I am making a valuable contribution.” Clarifying how individual contributions impact the business, pumps up the motivator volume.

• Create annual company goals, ask for input, and communicate to all
• Tie compensation, recognition, performance, and training to those goals
• Educate managers and employees on how daily tasks help the company reach its goals

Be creative with how the work gets done
Allowing employee more control over how work gets done is a great motivator:

• Give employees the opportunity to work from home along with set outcomes
• Allow flex hours where appropriate
• Delegate interesting work, be supportive, but don’t micromanage

Give feedback
Employees want to hear how they are doing. Not just the tasks they are doing well, but also honest constructive and developmental feedback that will help them overcome challenges and gain more skills and experience. For most people, “no feedback” is like negative feedback. Assumptions are made that aren’t always correct. Giving ongoing feedback shows you care about your employee.

• Say and write a personal thank you note for a job well done
• Keep Tim Horton’s gift cards handy to treat them to a morning coffee
• Conduct a formal review (remember this is a two way discussion) even if pay raises are not to be

Train and develop your employees
Employees crave learning experiences. Training can happen in a less formal way such as:

• Give employees with potential the opportunity to job shadow a next level manager or develop a mentor program
• Start a business book club where top business books are selected and discussed
• Arrange lunch and learns on topics from health and wellness, dealing with debt, and stress management

Create a sense of community at work
The holiday season is a great time to build the cohesiveness of your team by organizing:

• a pot luck lunch where ethnic dishes promote diversity
• a drop in event where the President and executive team serve hot chocolate and are accessible
• a food bank drive to help reinforce there is much to be thankful for.

Businesses need motivated people to succeed.

What happens if they aren’t motivated?

You get unhappy faces and people doing the minimum necessary to get by to keep their jobs. Sometimes you might even get passive sabotage – people quietly undermining the culture and objectives of the company. The cost in lost productivity and morale is huge.

You can motivate your employees with a shoestring budget. Start the New Year with renewed energy and motivated staff. Put some plans in place and invest in increased energy and productivity. Developing motivated employees is contagious and improves the bottom line. Your customers will love doing business with you.

Share your favourite business books and how you crank up the motivator volume in the comments section!

Enthusiastically yours, Joanne

Imagine that the economy recovers, to the extent that it will and always has in the past, but now all your best people are GONE.

Wake up, it’s only a dream – or should I say – nightmare! You still have time to put plans and programs in place to keep your best people with you.

There are five things you need to do right now to keep your best people.

1. Communicate on a weekly basis – Be open, even transparent about the company challenges and successes.
2. Have the President call a Town Hall where they share strategic direction for the short haul and the longer view and encourage two way communications.
3. Celebrate successes and events.
4. Continue with employee reviews – even though there might not be a raise or bonus.
5. Solicit ideas for new business, cost-cutting measures and new company slogans.

Your business is dependent on your people. Your people depend on strong leadership to tell them the truths they need to stay put, and to keep on giving you their best. This is clearly a win win.

But what happens if you don’t put these plans and programs in place?

You may save a month or two of salary but eventually the cost to find, train, and process a new hire is significant. Of course the cost of hiring the wrong person is unlimited.

HR CHECK UP

We can meet with you to do an HR check up. To write a plan for you that encourages open sharing and trust. The cost of our services is a solid investment in your sales in the short term and over the longer term.

Keeping your good people is a cultural indicator. It says:  We care about you – our employee, our people. Only then will your people care about YOU – the company and your customers. Customers and clients are attracted to and interact with an organization that is happy, healthy, and productive!  

Call us now to turn your nightmare into a different and positive reality,  Joanne

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources, Recruiting, and Training Solutions company. Joanne believes in happy, healthy and productive workplaces.

During tough economic times, what are your people thinking about? How are they performing when they are worried about the economy, just like you are worried about business? When businesses hunker down, stop investing in people, hold back raises and bonuses, scale back benefit plans, and start laying people off, how do you think the people left standing are doing? They certainly aren’t coming to work 100% focussed or 100% productive. What you have is presenteeism. People who are really “absent” during work and less efficient and productive then they can be. 

What can you do about it? This is the time when overcommunication is important. Townhall meetings need to be scheduled and some programs put into effect that will provide support for your people  and yes, to put some fun back into the workplace for the people left standing.  We can help. You can use our many years of experience to put cost effective solutions in place. Why struggle on your own?

Why not call us today to get some cost effective programs implemented quickly that can help reduce the stress and anxiety for the people left standing and get your workplace humming with positive energy and productivity today. So you can end the year on a positive note!

Best regards,  Joanne

P.S. An HR system helps organizations withstand and adapt to all kinds of situations including helping the people left standing handle changes in a positive and proactive manner. 

Joanne Royce is the Founder of Royce & Associates, a Human Resources, Recruiting, and Training Solutions company. Joanne believes in happy, healthy and productive workplaces.