- Unplug: while smartphones have made the daily commute more enjoyable, sometimes it’s a good idea to simply shut off your phone. Even while you’re at home or enjoying a playdate or are out with friends, switch off your data. That way though you’re accessible, you phone won’t keep pinging with various notifications.
- Exercise or meditate: Self-care is as important as spending time with family and friends. Physical activity will keep you energized, fit and healthy and meditation will give you the tools to manage your stress levels. It’ll also mean a necessary break from everything that needs your attention so you can focus on you.
- Time management: as much as possible, limit the time you spend doing work. Try not to take work home and prioritize so you get major chunks of work out of the way. For more tips on how to save time, check this.
- Stop multitasking: we think productivity increases when we multitask but it only reduces since you’re not doing anything wholeheartedly. If you’re at a family dinner, stay away from your phone. Work calls can wait for half an hour.
- Small steps: humans don’t work well with change. There is always resistance. Start small. Stay consistent. A work-life balance is a lifestyle change and it will not be successful overnight.
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]]>The Need
Work will flow smoothly when your workforce is motivated since motivated people are positive, rearing to go and enjoy their jobs. Productivity and efficiency improves and you are able to achieve your organisational goals as well as employee goals.
But how do you keep your team motivated and inspired?
The Approach
The easiest way to motivate employees is monetary and it works on the simple principle of achievement and reward.
But as Daniel Pink, an author of behavioural sciences says, “the secret to performance and satisfaction is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.”
While money is an important factor, for the human being, every action is towards reaching the goal of making a difference in the world, of leaving something worthwhile behind – that satisfaction is the ultimate motivating factor.
The Steps
The first step is always to create a motivating environment where the employee feels safe to fail, learn and grow.
Another way to motivate employees is to focus on choices and progress that is meaningful to each of them. Just as custom solutions are provided based on a customer’s needs; goals should be defined based on the experience, skills and personal goals of the employee.
And the best way to have a motivated team is to encourage collaboration. No one teaches better than peers and no one can be better cheer leaders than peers.
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]]>The need
In any successful company, employees often come from a wide range of experiences, backgrounds and skills. This diversity can be beneficial for the workforce making teamwork and collaboration so important. But the differences can also lead to difficulties in working together.
For the new age employee, job skills go beyond what is daily and routine. Problem solving, reflection and constant upgradation of skills are critical for today’s employee.
The approach
Communication: Listen more, work towards avoiding conflict, trust and respect your teammates, and ask questions when in doubt. If you don’t understand something, go to the person who does.
Clarify roles: Everyone in a team has a responsibility and corresponding authority. If you are clear on what you have to accomplish, it is that much easier to reach your goals and hold someone accountable for their actions.
Feedback: In order to grow, it is important to know what you are doing well and where you can improve. Applaud a job well done, everyone loves to be appreciated. Be firm but gentle when giving constructive criticism. Explain how and where someone can improve.
Ask for help: When you are stuck somewhere and don’t know how to proceed, ask for help. Brainstorm ideas, share opinions and analyse the discussion. Make a decision once your analysis is complete. Your result will be richer than when you were trying to do it on your own.
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]]>Today organizations are vying to be rated as “a good place to work” and the most crucial elements are the brand value of the organisation and the remuneration paid to its employees. But they seem to ignore yet another important factor which plays a deciding role, which is the work culture of the organization.Every organization has its way of functioning and carrying out day-to-day activities i.e. their work culture. It aids in retaining and creating a sense of belonging to the organisation. Right from the type of clothes employees wear to how approachable the top management is; everything forms a part of this culture.How you ‘do things’ has a large impact on:
• How employees behave
• How goals are set and met
• How loyal or sincere your employees are
• How a crisis is managed
• Who do you look up to for inspiration and guidanceWhere it comes from
Organizational culture is not just for the employees. If you leave it at that you have missed out an opportunity to create a unique working atmosphere. The employees look to their superiors: their supervisors, managers and top management to set the example.
Culture is the DNA of an organization and it is passed down from the top management and must be inculcated into every employee: engineer, executive or third-party partners
Why it matters
Organizational culture defines:
1. Employee interaction in the workplace
2. Encourages healthy competition among employees
3. Predefined policies that give a sense of direction to employees at the workplace
4. Helps in creating a company’s brand image
5. A common platform for employees coming from varied backgrounds – gives them a sense of belonging and equality
6. Clear roles and responsibilities
7. Extracts the best out of the employees by encouraging collaborations
The culture of the company must be built keeping the vision and mission in mind. It must be all-pervasive. It helps in creating an identity for the company and acts as a go-to point during crisis or innovations. It is often a factor potential employees consider before joining a new organization.
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]]>- Create an email system – it is easy to get sucked into the vortex of reading all your emails in one sitting. But this only serves to take up too much time doing one activity. Instead create folders to segregate emails. For example: action required, read later, reference material. This will optimize time spent on answering emails.
- Block time for yourself – as a manager and leader you want to be approachable and available for your team at all times. But when there’s work that you need to get done like make a deck, work on a pitch, etc. you need to block an hour or so where you can completely focus on the task at hand. That may mean looking away from your phone, telling your team you’re unavailable at such and such time, etc.
- Prioritize and delegate – you are a human being and you cannot be in all places at once. Having the month’s calendar will keep you forewarned of important touchpoints coming up and in case something that urgently requires your attention crops up, you know what you can delegate where.
- Physical exercise – find a time slot in your day that is roped off for doing any kind of physical activity that you enjoy, even if it’s a brisk walk in the office compound. More than keeping fit, exercise will also help you stay alert throughout the day.
Why is it essential?
- Increased productivity
- Ensures work gets done without you having to stretch yourself too thin
- Reduces stress
- Better work flow
- Helps build you a stellar reputation
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]]>What
Think of an activity you really enjoy doing – it could be playing a sport, talking to your children, spending time with family or friends – what do all these activities have in common? Enjoyment, yes but more importantly, engagement. When you are engaged in an activity, you do that activity with a fervour and purpose that is hard to imitate.
Just like engagement is important in personal life, it has a major role to play in an organization as well.
Why
Yes an engaged workforce leads to a happy and motivated workforce but the benefits of employee engagement go beyond simple happiness. How does it affect your business? An engaged workforce is proven to:
- Reduce employee turnover
- Increase productivity
- Work towards retaining and delighting customers
- Better profits and revenues
One of the major risk factors for any organization is to retain talented, well-performing and hardworking employees. And it is these employees who interact with customers on a daily basis. Investing in your employees is one of the smartest things organizations can do today.
How
Here are some activities that Securens has tried:
- Reward and recognition: One of our best performing employees was made head of the department for a day as a means to not only recognize his potential but to also encourage him to reach for the stars
- Celebrate together: We always make it a point to celebrate all festivals together. And every employee participates – whether it is Maharashtra day, Christmas, Eid or Diwali
- Team building exercises: We recently had full days dedicated to fun activities that helped in breaking the ice between team members and to inculcate a spirit of constructive competition
It is easy to come by personnel who are ready to work for you but difficult to find people who are ready to invest in your vision. And that can only happen if you as an organization invest in them.
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