Author: Shannon Cassidy

5 Signs of a Positive Work Environment

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positive work environment

Whether looking for a new job or considering ways to increase fulfillment within your current company, a positive work environment is crucial in determining how successful a company will be in the long run, as well as how content and motivated a team of employees will remain. Though all companies have their own unique work environment, there are five key signs that indicated whether an organization truly is healthy and able to thrive.

Open Communication

Whereas nearly all organizations claim to value open communication, many do not maintain it. A positive workplace consists of leaders who are dedicated to setting aside time to communicate clear goals and expectations, and then offer and invite honest feedback that seeks to better employees and the company as a whole. Most truly healthy organizations have implemented an open-door policy where leaders are ready and willing to listen to concerns in a non-threatening manner, and then actually address those concerns. A strong atmosphere of trust is established when open communication is a key function of a company.

Opportunities for Development

People who are given opportunities to grow and learn in an area where they can personally and professionally grow are highly motivated to put their new skill-sets to work and therein make a company more productive. Businesses that offer opportunities for employees to grow and learn are filled with empowered and content employees. People feel cared for as employees and they then tend to remain loyal to the business that helped them to grow and advance. Companies that offer opportunities for development tend to be filled with ambitious employees who feel appreciated, thus creating an upbeat, thriving work environment.

Recognition

Positive work environments are those characterized by leaders who take time and energy to recognize the efforts and successes of employees. Organizations with an atmosphere of recognition boast employees who are satisfied and motivated to produce results. An environment where goals are set, achieved, and celebrated is one that going to be measured as healthy and desirable to work with and for. This type of environment harbors employees who feel valued and who want to contribute to the overall productivity of the organization.

Flexibility

People who are able to have flexible work arrangements that help them balance out all aspects of their lives are proven to be happier, and therefore more productive and engaged at work. Studies are showing that individuals who are employed by companies that offer flexibility in hours and location to work on and complete tasks have reduced stress levels at work and in their family life. They feel valued and cared for by their company, and the work environment, as a whole, is exceedingly favorable.

Teamwork

A company whose departments actually work together as a team is most often one that effectively solves problems, uses resources, and produces results significantly more efficiently than businesses without that sense of team. A positive work environment is one where people enjoy working together, and where employees offer help to each other. Ultimately, this type of work climate is populated by people who feel a stronger sense of purpose as they are surrounded by a team of employees working toward a common goal.

Which of these traits can your company work on to adopt a more positive work environment?

 

 

How Hierarchy Takes You from Surviving to Thriving

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chain of command hierarchy leadership

Many leaders believe an effective leader’s subordinates consider them a friend. They feel uncomfortable with hierarchy and/or chain of command and feel everybody in the organization should be treated equally.

While these misconceptions aren’t entirely wrong (your subordinates should believe you respect and appreciate them and everybody in the organization is immensely valuable), when leaders adopt these trains of thoughts, their teams suffer. An established, structured, well communicated, and enforced chain-of-command can eliminate confusion and frustration when it comes to conflict resolution or employee grievances and improve morale and productivity. The word hierarchy may not be well received by leaders or staff, but its effects are positive and necessary for organizational growth.

Some of the benefits you can expect to see when you establish and implement a chain of command include:

  • Improved morale. Employees are more likely to see the direct results of their suggestions or grievances when they have addressed it at the closest level first. Leaders are more apt to follow up with their direct employees regarding their grievance. Employees trust that if their supervisor has failed to respond, they have further options for resolution, which improves morale as well.
  • Decreased legal risk. When policy outlines clear guidance for grievances, employees have an obligation to take the steps recommended to resolve complaints. When the grievance or chain of command policy is followed, the organization has increased opportunity to address issues before they reach a judge.
  • Lower turnover. Employees who see action following an appropriate grievance or suggestion are likely to enjoy their jobs and stay on board longer.
  • Increased productivity. Satisfied employees work hard and feel personally vested in the organization. They look for efficiencies and solutions and are driven by quality results.
  • Lower costs. When your turnover and legal risk decrease and your productivity increases, your bottom line goes up. That should provide the justification you need to get your chain-of-command idea past upper management.

What are the characteristics of an effective chain of command?

  • All employees report directly to somebody who has overall responsibility for their results. Supervisors who are responsible for the results of their team are personally vested in the performance and productivity of their employees, understand the processes, know the staff, and have the authority to address concerns appropriately. They also have several levels above them for support and guidance.
  • Few employees report directly to upper management. Those reporting to upper management have only one option when it comes to grievances. Only the most professional people in the most independent positions in your building should report to the president or CEO.
  • All employees are trained upon implementation and then annually and upon hire regarding the structure of the organization and the grievance process. All supervisors are trained to manage authoritatively – to take personal responsibility for the performance of their team. In order to do so, they must be comfortable directing and correcting their team when necessary (remind them to balance reward and constructive criticism).
  • Everybody must be willing to say, “Have you addressed the right person with these concerns?” before they act on concerns that do not come from their direct subordinates. This enforces chain-of-command and provides maximum opportunity for resolution.

If you choose to establish and implement a chain-of-command, it is vital that your employees understand that it dictates who has the authority to make which decisions and where they should go for help, not who has value within the organization. Employees often view authority as value and poor morale results.

Furthermore, your leaders must own their authority. Weak or inexperienced leaders often feel that they are no more valuable than anyone else and therefore should not delegate or correct. While their value remains equal, their authority makes them different – and this authority is vital in order for the organization to operate as it should. Leaders must feel comfortable correcting their subordinates.

If you are struggling with employee morale, legal risk, poor productivity or attendance, or high turnover and you are not yet utilizing an established chain-of-command, consider moving forward with a chain-of-command policy. The cost is in the time it takes you to establish and the benefits far outweigh the investment.

Hiring for Success: The First Step in Teambuilding

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team performance hiring

While team building is a key concept in HR management, hiring managers often forget that team building exercises only help employees whose goals and values closely match those of the organization.

Adequately screening and carefully selecting employees is the first step in team building.

Characteristics of employees who make good team members and who would receive team building exercises and suggestions well include:

  • They value their position in the organization and feel a personal connection to the work they do.
  • They desire to make a difference in the organization.
  • They willingly accept change and understand the drive behind it.
  • They respect their coworkers, clients, and managers and value their opinions.
  • They see criticism as an opportunity for improvement and embrace suggestion.

Of course, most candidates will make an effort to present themselves as all of these things during an interview. How do you separate the great employees from the great pretenders through the interview process?

The key is to learn how they have responded to challenging situations in the past. Because these questions ask about personal or professional experiences, candidates are unable to recite an answer from a textbook and are more likely to be honest. Hiring managers find that candidates whose behavior didn’t match the values of the organization typically do not acknowledge that by filtering their answer. More simply put, they believe they handled the situation well and accurately share their experience even when the hiring manager views their behavior as unfavorable.

Some examples of questions that may reveal helpful information include:

  • How many times did you take an unplanned day off of work in the last twelve months?
  • Tell me about a time you’ve been asked to do something you didn’t agree with and how you handled it.
  • Have you ever had to work with somebody you don’t get along with?
  • Tell me about a time you’ve had too many things to do at once and how you organized your tasks.
  • Have you ever been disciplined or terminated from a position before?

Hiring managers often feel pressure from every direction to fill positions quickly, but it’s important that both upper management and directors or supervisors support selective hiring. Hiring the first candidate or the candidate who can start the soonest makes creating and maintaining a positive work culture difficult if not impossible. Furthermore, organizations often find that terminating “bad apples” with limited legal risk can be a long and tedious process. During this process, which takes months on average, damage to morale occurs that can be lasting and difficult to repair.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when making hiring decisions:

  • Keep in mind that in order to find the right team members, you may have to make some sacrifices. Choose your sacrifices carefully; for some positions it may be acceptable to sacrifice experience and certifications (these things can be taught) but an organization should never sacrifice dedication, ability to work well with others, or values that align well with those of the organization.  
  • Every hiring decision should be made by more than one person. A great team is an HR representative and the person directly supervising the position, and a good rule of thumb is that if both parties don’t agree to hire, an offer is not extended. This ensures that you take those gut feelings seriously and can save you from hardship in the future.
  • Having an established mission statement and evaluating candidates against that mission statement can prove to be helpful in selecting the best fit.

In summary, investing in the hiring process and choosing patience and selectiveness will contribute to more effective teams, more productive players, and better end results.

5 Characteristics of an Effective Performance Appraisal

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Performance Review

Performance appraisals are a vital tool in increasing accuracy, productivity, and engagement in every organization. Organizations who utilize performance appraisals correctly acknowledge an employee’s strength and win while challenging the employee to continually evolve and improve. Unfortunately, however, many organizations fail to execute a useful motivational performance appraisal and instead realize negative results such as confusion, decreased engagement, and increase turnover. Following are 5 vital characteristics of an effective performance appraisal:

1. An effective performance appraisal is comprehensive. Performance appraisals should not be used in response to specific errors, omissions, or incidents. They should instead be scheduled periodically as specified in policy (most organizations choose to do appraisals annually or twice annually) and reflect upon overall performance over the entire specified period of time. It is also important to schedule the discussion several days in advance to give the employee an opportunity to prepare their goals and input before the discussion takes place and to prevent catching an employee off-guard or at a bad time.

2. And effective performance appraisal looks forward. All opportunities for improvement can be addressed in one of two ways:by focusing on an unchanging past or applying the lesson learned to future performance. For example, an ineffective appraiser might say, “Your presentations really miss the mark. We really expect more sales to result,” while an effective appraiser will say, “Okay, so your presentations haven’t been landing the sales. Let’s talk about what you’ve learned through this process that might improve your next presentation and close the deal.” An effective performance appraisal results in clear, attainable short- and long- term goals and doesn’t reprimand or discipline for past failures.

3. An effective performance appraisal is honest. Supervisors who consistently check the “exceeds expectations” box for every competency and every employee aren’t contributing to the success of their employees or their department. Instead, they contribute to a do-the-bare-minimum culture, which results in bare-minimum work and ultimately reflects poorly on the supervisor’s ability to lead and motivate. Employees appreciate honest feedback and most employees feel energized by new goals and challenges. While choosing “needs improvement” may not be accurate, it’s okay to select “meets expectations” and then add in the comments section that the employee has demonstrated through-the-roof potential and you would like to see them work toward a new goal, a new position, or take on additional responsibility.

4. An effective performance appraisal is accurate. Depending on the size and structure of your organization, it’s possible that the person completing the performance appraisal does not always intimately know the employee’s role, work history, or character. In these cases, the organization may consider implementation of a 360-degree feedback policy. If the organization deems 360-degree feedback to be a poor fit or unreasonable, it’s vital that the person completing the evaluation seeks input from peers, first-line supervisors, and available data. Has the organization received customer complaints or compliments on the employee? Is he or she arriving for scheduled shifts on time and prepared to work? Do coworkers value his or her knowledge and skills? Has he or she been placed on a work improvement plan in the past year? Only a performance appraisal that accurately reflects the employee’s performance can provide the right guidance, acknowledgement, and motivation.

5. An effective performance appraisal goes both ways. Not only is the performance appraisal a good time for supervisors to share their comments with their subordinates, it’s also a great time to receive insight from staff regarding their working conditions, their perception of workplace culture, and their overall engagement and satisfaction. In a busy organization, one-on-one time with employees in every role should be maximized and utilized. In an effective performance appraisal, employees are given the opportunity to set goals for themselves and their departments. They are asked if they have adequate education, resources, and support to perform to the best of their abilities. They are asked if their working conditions are safe, comfortable, and free from harassment and discrimination. They should be given the opportunity to share their ideas for process improvement. Integrating this additional time into your performance appraisal process always pays off; it improves employee morale, helps you identify and resolve issues, and might even help you simplify or improve processes.

Training supervisors to master the performance appraisal is an investment in the future of your organization. Employees who feel challenged strive to raise the bar; those who feel appreciated go above and beyond to excel; and those who feel valued and supported in their roles enjoy coming to work. And, of course, when your employees enjoy coming to work your organization excels.

Still have questions? The team at Bridge Between is here to help.

The Art of Saying No in Business

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Saying No

Saying no, whether to your boss, to your team, or to a client, can be an awkward and uncomfortable endeavor. However, whether for your own personal sanity or for the effective completion of your current efforts, saying no is sometimes necessary in business. Yet Consider the following tips to say no artfully while still contributing to the productivity of your workplace:

Understand the request

Before saying no, ask for clarity. Whereas often time we see our obligation to a request as larger than it is, other times the requestor does not fully grasp the magnitude of what he or she is truly asking. Before determining your decision, be sure that clear communication regarding what the goal of the request is, as well as how it will be met, are understood by all parties involved.

Ensure validity

There are some tasks we just don’t want to complete, and others are simply out of our comfort zone. A no that is perceived as “just because” can decrease trust in you as a businessperson, can weaken current or potential relationships, and can even limit your own growth in a company. Ensure that your reason for saying no really is justified, and include validity for your “no” in your explanation.

Define your boundaries

It is important to know and set your own boundaries so that you are no overwhelmed and so that you can competently and effectively complete that which is required of you. Once your boundaries are determined, you should communicate and adhere to them to that when requests come your way, you are not perceived as unreasonable or unwilling.

Weigh the benefits

What are you giving up and what opportunity could you be gaining? Ensuring that the reasons for “no” outweigh those for “yes” can lessen your own personal guilt and give you confidence, both in confirming your decision and in setting future boundaries.

Offer context

Without relaying every last detail, your “no” should offer your valid reason to the requestor; no is much better received when the constraints that you are facing are relayed. Whether time, budget, or competitive restraints, include enough information in your explanation that you are not perceived you as smug, bothered, or unwilling to partner and engage.

Include positive in your negative

As you say no, see the requestor as a human being with a reasonable appeal. While saying no, be sure to explain how positively you feel about the individual making the request so that he or she feels like you are not saying no to the person, but rather to the possibility of fulfilling the task.

Be clear

Do not waver in saying no. Once you have determined the importance of saying no, clearly communicate that there is not a possibility for you to honor the request. You can do this politely and professionally, but being strong in your conviction is a must.

Is there any reason you aren’t able to now say “no”? No? Great! That was the answer we were looking for.