Categories
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

Employee engagement ideas for a multigenerational workforce

Nearly 90% of global businesses believe a multigenerational workforce plays a valuable role in growth and success.

Yet just 6% of employees strongly agree that their leaders can effectively lead a multigenerational team. Yikes.

It’s estimated that around 30% of 65- to 74-year-olds will still be working by 2026. As the number of workers over 65 increases, businesses need to do more to get the most out of every generation.

Embracing a multigenerational workforce and encouraging cooperation means you’ll get greater diversity of thought, leading to more creative thinking.

In fact, 87% of US workers feel multigenerational workplaces experience increased innovation and problem solving.

More creative thinking helps you stand out from your competitors to both customers and job seekers. They’ll be intrigued by your innovations and want to support them.

When it comes to hiring, you’ll attract candidates who want to work for creative, forward-thinking, diverse businesses. Further increasing your diversity efforts.

How today’s multigenerational workforce breaks down

Roughly speaking, the generations look like this:

  • Silent Generation (sometimes called Traditionalists): born 1925-1945.
  • Baby Boomers: born 1946-1964
  • Generation X: born 1965-1980
  • Millennials (Generation Y): born 1981-1996
  • Generation Z: born 1996-2012
  • Gen Alpha: born 2013-present

Obviously, members of Gen Alpha are too young to work right now, but it won’t be long. I’m a Millennial and it feels like only yesterday that Gen Z-ers entered the workplace.

Each generation makes up the following percentage of the global workforce:

  • Silent Generation: 2%
  • Baby Boomers: 25%
  • Gen X: 33%
  • Millennials/Gen Y: 35%
  • Gen Z: 5%

Different generations want different things from their working lives. For instance, Millennials want purpose and growth from their work, while Baby Boomers want security.

Your workplace benefits, therefore, need to have a wide appeal to support a multigenerational workforce. A lot of it comes down to company culture and what you prioritize as a business.

So, how do you maximize employee engagement for a multigenerational workforce? Let’s take a look:

Be flexible around working styles

Every person is different, and each generation grew up in a totally different world. As a result, they all have different requirements and expectations.

To get the most out of someone, managers need to actively ask employees what they need.

For some, this will be flexible start and finish times to pick children or grandchildren up from school.

For others in a multigenerational workforce, it may mean working remotely to manage health issues.

Avoid assumptions about each generation

When you make assumptions about someone, these pre-conceived notions can affect how you talk to them and have a detrimental impact on your working relationship. This is especially true in a multigenerational workforce.

For instance, if you see older workers as slow to learn, you may give them less to do, causing them to get bored and frustrated.

Or if you see a younger generation as entitled, you may not provide them with the praise they deserve simply because you want to bring their ego down a peg or two. Which can then impact their performance because they may not feel like their hard work is appreciated.

These assumptions are often subconscious. And why training programs in diversity and soft skills are so important. 

Training programs help everyone to not make assumptions about the people in front of them based on their characteristics, leading to better collaborations and happier employees.

Encourage connections

Whether it’s through mentoring or employee groups, encouraging employees to connect is good for not just their workplace productivity, but their overall wellbeing, too.

Older generations can teach their younger counterparts a plethora of skills that can help them in their current role and beyond. It’s a perfect workplace mentoring opportunity.

The more that different generations interact in a multigenerational workforce, the more they can learn from each other. They may learn how to adapt their communication styles based on who they’re interacting with or the type of meeting they’re in, for example.

If you’d like help connecting your multigenerational workforce, get in touch to discover how Workrowd could help boost your employee engagement.

Train communication skills

Communication skills are too often taken for granted. But there are lots of different communication styles and we must adapt ours to fit our audience. This ensures we get the most out of the interaction and don’t offend or upset anyone.

Given that 81% of workers feel the most significant difference between generations at work is their communication styles, and 38% find it hard to communicate with coworkers from other age groups, training around communication styles could be the key to a team’s success.

According to a study by AARP, 60% of workers feel the presence of generational conflict. 70% of older employees dismiss the skills of younger employees, while 50% of younger colleagues dismiss what an older employee can do.

I’ve dealt with this myself. Someone hired me to consult on a marketing project but constantly questioned my judgment. I was made to feel like my opinions and experience weren’t valid no matter how much data I provided to prove my points.

This is why teaching everyone how to improve their communication style is so important. We all have traps we can fall into; ones we don’t even notice. Sometimes all it takes is a training program to refresh our memory and improve interactions across a multigenerational workforce.

Conclusion

As the workforce evolves and increasingly includes multiple generations, businesses will have to find more and more ways to cater to generational differences. This generational diversity comes with huge benefits, too, such as different perspectives on projects and problems.

It starts by embracing and accepting each different age group. Learning their strengths, their areas for improvement, and how they fit best into your diverse, multigenerational workforce. This will ensure they have the best employee experience, and as a result, you’ll get improved employee satisfaction and engagement.

Ready to boost outcomes across your multigenerational workforce? Workrowd’s all-in-one suite of tools can help. By building connections across age groups and enabling you to track everything via real-time analytics, you can deliver a top-notch employee experience for all ages.

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or send us an email at hello@workrowd.com to schedule some time to connect.

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Categories
Wellness

Signs of burnout: How the let-down effect hurts worker wellbeing

Signs of burnout can range from quiet quitting to getting sick more often. Sickness in an office is contagious. Whether it’s a physical or a mental illness, it can have a ripple effect across the workplace.

Someone’s lack of energy or productivity can make the rest of the team feel lethargic or demotivated, particularly if the person who is ill is in a senior position.

There’s no time this is more likely to happen (other than in winter in a cramped office) than after a huge project has come to an end. This is called the let-down effect, and it’s one of the major signs of burnout.

What is the let-down effect?

The let-down effect is when you get sick after completing a big project or dealing with another source of stress like exams.

When we work on a huge project, we run on the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. They ramp up to keep us going, helping us fight off things that might get in the way of us achieving our goals, like a pesky cold.

And as soon as the project is over, those hormones stop.

And as soon as the day after, signs of burnout can start to appear and we can get sick.

The let-down effect hit me back in November. I had so much to do in October. Client deadlines, a writing class to teach, a book reading, and a book to edit. Lots of prep, lots of stress. I was excited, but I was definitely running on adrenaline.

I kept saying to myself, “just make it to the end of October, then you can rest.”

That was a big mistake.

The morning of November 1st, I woke up with the flu. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been that ill, and I’m not entirely sure I’m completely over it six months later. 

It led to infections, chronic pain and fatigue flare-ups, allergy flare-ups, new allergies, insomnia…I could fill a blog post with all my symptoms since November, but you get the point.

The let-down effect can lead to new or worsening physical or mental health symptoms. It can worsen signs of burnout, and there’s no telling how long it will take to recover.

So what can you do about the let-down effect at work?

How to avoid the let-down effect in the workplace

Stress hormones have a role in our bodies, but it should only be a short-term one. The longer they build up, the more detrimental they become. 

They can lead to chronic inflammation and a weakened immune system, which is why chronic health issues can flare up after a big project, or it feels like we have a never-ending stream of illnesses.

The people most prone to burnout are the ones who care the most about what they do. That’s because they often work harder to achieve their goals. 

When someone enjoys something, it doesn’t feel so much like work.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t still lead to stress. Everyone needs a break sometimes.

So, one of the key things you can do to manage it is to check in with your employees.

Watch for signs of burnout. Ask them how they’re doing and what they need from you.

Would they prefer to work from home, where it’s quieter? Or come into the office later and stay later?

Or do you need to have an honest discussion about a deadline because it’s just not achievable? 

It may even be a case of needing to hire new employees to help you meet a deadline or avoid signs of burnout in the future.

Encouraging employees to reduce their stress levels slowly is also vital.

Instead of doing what I did, and saying, “Just make it to this date, then I can rest,” ensure employees pace themselves during stressful periods and ease back from the situation slowly.

Activities like exercise or cold showers can temporarily increase stress levels and help to avoid the sudden shock to the body from a lack of stress hormones.

How to support employees through the let-down effect

Sometimes, employees push themselves too hard or fast even when you tell them not to. Inevitably leading to signs of burnout, and ultimately, the let-down effect.

When they reach that point, it’s important to have an honest conversation with them. Some people can’t see that they’ve pushed themselves too far until their mind or body can’t function anymore. Ideally, you want to prevent this from happening.

Encourage them to rest. Despite what society tells us, rest is good for productivity. 

This could mean taking more breaks during the working day (away from their desk, not at their desk reading news articles), or it could be a week off to recover.

It may also mean channeling their energy into something else, like a new project that’s less pressure.

Recovery will look different for everyone.

It involves a lot of patience and self-care, which can be difficult for people who are used to pushing themselves hard and fast. 

You could organize workshops to help everyone recognize signs of burnout, as well as the causes, symptoms, and solutions of the let-down effect so that they know how to handle it. 

It also means that they’re prepared to help both themselves and their colleagues.

Connection is important, too. 

Helping employees network with like-minded folks who are equally driven—but perhaps further into their journey so they know when to slow down—will teach them valuable lessons on managing high-pressure projects.

You could facilitate this through mentoring, coaching, or employee groups. Each has different benefits depending on your organization.

You could even set up employee groups for stress-reducing hobbies such as reading, meditation, exercise, or puzzles.

Conclusion 

The let-down effect can impact anyone within the workplace, particularly after a long, challenging project.

To support employees through it and manage down signs of burnout, make sure they feel comfortable telling you how they feel and requesting what they need. This could be more time off—either a day at home or a vacation—accommodations such as working on lower-pressure projects for a while, or even a new role.

Whatever you choose, Workrowd can help you organize your program and get the most out of it for you and your employees. Contact us today at hello@workrowd.com to book your free demo.

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Categories
Employee Engagement

8 strategies to reengage employees who are quiet quitting

Gallup research suggests that 59% of employees are quiet quitting or actively disengaged.

This has been a growing problem since the pandemic, a once-in-a-lifetime event that caused many people to rethink their lives and priorities.

And which happened in between many other once-in-a-lifetime events like financial crises and wars. 

All this upheaval has left many with a feeling of malaise. Which means people want more from their jobs—and their employers—to compensate for it.

So let’s see how you can reengage employees who are quiet quitting: 

Reflect on leadership

If a large number of employees appear to be quiet quitting, it’s time to reflect on what the common denominator is. And that’s often leadership.

Are employees unhappy with their managers? Or the way higher-ups choose to run the company?

Attitude is contagious, which means if your managers come across as disconnected, it can have a negative impact on employees.

It can also be demoralizing if managers put too much pressure on employees or don’t understand their issues.

Managers need to listen to their employees’ concerns and take them into account whether they’re about their roles, the company, or the manager themselves.

It’s only when leaders take employees’ concerns onboard that the organization can really make a difference on employee disengagement and quiet quitting.

Support employee wellbeing

Employee wellbeing plays a huge role in engagement. What steps do you take to ensure your employees are happy and healthy at work?

44% of employees felt stressed for most of their previous workday. This is a huge percentage and shows that businesses aren’t taking employee wellbeing seriously. With numbers like this, is it really any wonder that quiet quitting is so common?

Reflect on deadlines

Are you being realistic with the deadlines that you give your employees?

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone works well under tight deadlines.

When deadlines are too tight or there are too many at once, it can put a lot of pressure on employees. This increased pressure can cause them to disconnect or experience task paralysis, where they don’t know which task to focus on so don’t do anything.

Feeling overwhelmed is a direct route to burnout and quiet quitting.

Pay more

Pay is one of the main reasons for employee disengagement. And when you look at how much house prices have gone up compared to pay, it’s really no surprise. Our money just doesn’t go as far as it used to.

So if what an employee earns doesn’t help them reach their financial goals, there’s a possibility they may become disconnected from their role because they feel like the things we’ve always been taught to strive for—such as having a house and financial security—are impossible. So why bother putting any effort in?

Consider if how well you pay your employees aligns with the market rate and living situation in their location.

For instance, in the UK, we have the national minimum wage and the national living wage. The national minimum wage is what businesses are legally required to pay. The living wage is a higher rate based on the cost of living.

You could also offer financial advice or financial literacy classes. But beware of doing this if you pay under the market rate because it could backfire. Learning they’re being underpaid can encourage quiet quitting among employees, if not outright quitting.

Offer peer-to-peer support

ERGs are a great way to connect like-minded employees. Whether team members bond over shared backgrounds or experiences, it deepens their ties to your business.

You could also offer support, mentoring, and coaching through these groups.

In addition, ERGs can help combat loneliness in the workplace and offer employees workplace progression opportunities through the ability to network beyond their everyday colleagues.

With stronger relationships across the organization, employees will be less susceptible to quiet quitting.

Consider your company culture

If employees’ values don’t align with yours, they’re far more likely to find themselves disconnecting or quiet quitting.

It’s increasingly important to employees that their values are in line with those of their employer. But it doesn’t always happen.

To see how your employees’ values compare to yours, send out an employee feedback survey. This will help you determine what really matters to them and whether you’re on the right track.

You could ask them for ideas on a charity you could contribute to, activities you could take part in, or causes you could get involved with. 

Make sure you genuinely try to make a difference with your social impact efforts, rather than just changing your company logo or paying lip service to issues. Both employees and the outside world will see through it pretty quickly if you’re not walking the talk.

Reflect on company priorities

What do your company priorities look like? Are they out of date?

For example, what an oil company should be prioritizing now is very different from what it was looking at 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. In 2024, they need to look more at eco-friendly pursuits.

Businesses also need to think about what true diversity and inclusion looks like, and practice what they preach to get the most out of their employees and prevent quiet quitting.

Get their feedback

The only way to know how employees feel is to collect their feedback. You could do this through focus groups or employee surveys.

By keeping your finger on the pulse of employee sentiment, you can head off quiet quitting before it starts.

Conclusion

Just because there’s a current trend for quiet quitting, that doesn’t mean it’s out of your hands. Instead, make your employees feel supported and you’re halfway to reactivating disengaged employees.

Want a little help along the way? Workrowd’s suite of tools can help you combat quiet quitting and boost engagement across your organization.

With a central hub for company culture, automated surveys, and real-time analytics, you have the power to drive real change.

Curious to learn more? Drop by our site or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn more.

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Categories
Employee Retention

How to provide support after an employee leave of absence

From injury to parental leave, there are lots of instances where an employee leave of absence is needed. The longer the leave, the more challenging and intimidating it can be for that person to return.

To get the most from them, they need to feel comfortable in their role again. And that may look different from how it did before. After all, becoming a parent, having surgery, or getting a life-changing diagnosis can completely shift someone’s worldview.

So, how can you build in supports after an employee leave of absence? And how can you ensure they’re empowered to do their best after their return to work?

Consider supportive tech

Supportive tech can be a game changer for employees and even help them return to work faster.

I’ve got an injured finger as I write this. As a result, I’ve been typing on my phone and using a dictation app instead of a keyboard. This ensures I can keep writing without putting pressure on my injury, allowing me to heal faster and keep writing.

Dictation apps, height adjustable desks, screen readers, adaptable chairs, and ergonomic keyboards—there’s an option for just about every health concern.

Do some research into the employees’ health condition (if they disclosed it). Then, be sure to ask them what they want/need. They may not know what options are available to them, so it’s important that managers and HR teams are aware of them too.

Having the right tools after an employee leave of absence can make a world of difference.

Consider a phased return

Phased returns offer the chance to come back to work gradually after an employee leave of absence. This can make the prospect of returning less intimidating. It also allows the person to continue to rest and recuperate while building their strength and productivity back up.

They may need to start off with one day a week, then two the following week, three the next, and so on. 

It could be that they do reduced hours each day and gradually increase them.

The right pattern will vary from employee to employee. It will also vary based on the reason for the employee leave of absence and how long it was.

So it’s worth talking to your colleague to see what they need, rather than telling them they only have one option. That way, they’re comfortable with the solution and feel like their employer values them.

Catch up regularly

The only way to know what an employee really needs is to touch base regularly. These catch-ups should feel like relaxed conversations so that employees don’t feel like you’re spying on them or putting pressure on them because they’re not fully healed yet. 

You could do this weekly, or even daily, if your employee doesn’t feel like that’s too much pressure. 

The important thing is to have an open dialogue between managers and the employee, or HR and the employee, so that they can share how they’re actually feeling and how the current process works for them. 

If something isn’t working, look at ways you can pivot to help them get back to performing at their best.

Listen and learn

It’s really important to ask employees what they want and need rather than making assumptions.

One of the biggest contributors to our physical and mental wellbeing—that isn’t always talked about—is feeling supported by those around us.

That support starts with listening. It gives employees some control over a situation that might have been out of their hands. This is particularly true if the employee leave of absence was due to injury or surgery. 

Giving them agency back in this way can make a huge difference to their wellbeing. As opposed to taking that away by making assumptions about what will help them heal faster.

Offer flexible working options

Flexible working options such as changing someone’s start and finish time, or allowing them to work from home, can be game-changers for those coming back from an employee leave of absence. It means that they can work at a time, and in an environment, that works the best for them and their healing journey. 

It shows that you value them as a person and don’t just see them as another piece in a puzzle. This can also help them return to work quicker because they’re not forcing themselves to work when they don’t feel up to it.

For example, many health conditions, from allergies to chronic pain and anything in between, are often worse in the morning.

So while allowing an employee to start an hour later seems like a small thing, the extra hour of sleep can make a massive difference to their wellbeing.

Connect them to their colleagues

Perhaps you have a new mother returning to work. Connecting her with other working parents who’ve experienced raising a newborn further allows her to feel supported in the work environment.

One way you can do this is through employee groups. They offer opportunities for employees to get to know others with similar interests or backgrounds. Which then enables them to share their successes and their struggles.

Knowing you have a strong network when coming back from an employee leave of absence can significantly reduce anxiety.

Conclusion

It’s not just about getting employees back to work quickly that makes a difference to your business’s bottom line. It’s also getting them back in a way that supports their health and wellbeing so that they can perform at their best.

Supporting employees in their healing journeys with things like flexible working and listening to their needs are small steps that show you value them. They enable talented team members to keep working while they heal.

Returning from an employee leave of absence can be tough. Want to make it a breeze for team members to pick up where they left off?

Workrowd has the tools you need to keep everyone connected and engaged. No matter the reason for an employee leave of absence, our platform makes it easy to jump back in with strong support from day one.

Curious to learn more? Visit us online or email us directly at hello@workrowd.com to schedule time to chat.

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Categories
Employee Engagement

6 tips to boost engagement among introverts in the workplace

Less than half of the US population is extroverted. Yet it often feels like the working environment caters to people who like loud, busy spaces and people all day, every day, everywhere. Which can be really challenging for introverts in the workplace.

On top of that, qualifying for promotions often requires socializing with colleagues. Those who don’t risk being seen as weird, looked down on, or treated differently.

So why are extroverted personalities valued more in the workplace if most of the population is introverted?

When you consider that a study of over 900 CEOs found that introverts were more likely to exceed investors’ expectations more often, and studies showed that introverts made better leaders, why aren’t we supporting employees who like the quiet life more often?

Why don’t we design more processes and spaces around the needs of introverts in the workplace?

What is an introvert?

Before we go any further, let’s dispel some common myths about introverts.

Many people assume introverts hate people. But introversion and misanthropy aren’t the same thing.

A lot of introverts actually like socializing. They just need time to recharge on their own or with people they’re close to.

The best way I’ve heard it described (and seen it demonstrated by other people) is that extroverts get their energy from other people. Introverts get it from alone time.

For an introvert, this might mean reading a book, watching TV, walking the dog—whatever works for them. There’s no one-size-fits-all way to recharge.

An introvert might have enough energy for work, but not have any left for post-work socializing. Or they may find an open-plan office overwhelming.

So, with that in mind, how can you boost engagement among introverts in the workplace? 

Allow for flexible working

Different types of working suit different types of personalities. Over 80% of extroverted employees want a hybrid work model, with 15% preferring full-time remote work.

Three-fourths of introverts also want to be in the office at least part-time.

This could be because work is often a place where we socialize. Introverts may not speak to many people if they don’t go out of the house. Plus, it takes extra effort to go out (speaking from my own experience and that of my introverted friends).

Everyone is different, though, and allowing for flexible working helps you create a more diverse workforce from every direction. It can go a long way towards boosting engagement among introverts in the workplace.

Have a quiet space/ time

Open-plan offices can be extremely noisy, overstimulating places.

When I used to work in an office, someone would be playing music, someone else would have a really loud voice that carried across the room, another would be boiling the kettle, someone else would be washing their mug, cars would be driving past…it was nonstop for eight hours a day. And that was only the noise.

It usually wouldn’t take long before I needed to either get away from my desk because I was feeling fidgety, or I needed to be on my own as I was overwhelmed by being surrounded by so many people. But there was really nowhere for me to go and work quietly.

Offering a quiet place for employees to focus helps them recharge while still getting work done.

For remote businesses, allowing employees to turn off email or Slack/Teams notifications for a couple of hours is the digital equivalent.

In both instances, employees can focus on what they’re trying to do, rather than draining their energy blocking out what’s going on around them. Cutting it out can give introverts in the workplace more energy and boost their mental health.

Avoid forced/ mandatory socializing

For introverts in the workplace, socializing with coworkers can present challenges. It may instill fear that they’ll get overlooked for promotions or their colleagues won’t like them as much because they didn’t go out for drinks on a Friday night, or wanted to go for a walk on their own instead of going for a group lunch.

And the unspoken requirement to go, even if it’s not actually mandatory.

Employees need to feel like they can say no to workplace drinks without someone trying to talk them into it. Or that their career will suffer because of it. They shouldn’t need to justify not wanting to socialize with their colleagues outside of work.

Show different kinds of leadership

The stereotypical idea of leadership is often more extroverted and focuses on traits that are considered masculine.

However, studies have shown that introverted and female leadership styles are actually more effective.

This includes showing empathy and actively listening to your employees.

The more you demonstrate different kinds of leadership, the more it will benefit your employees, managers, and future hires.

Introverts in the workplace will also see a possible career path for themselves, even if they don’t fit into a typical extroverted management style.

Managers won’t feel the need to live up to false expectations, mask who they really are, or hide how they feel.

Future hires will see a business that celebrates and supports diversity, making them want to work there.

Offer different ways to communicate

Every business has its preferred way(s) to communicate. Considering individuals’ preferences enables them to get the most from a conversation.

For example, some people prefer written feedback because they can take their time to digest it. But for the person giving the feedback, a video can sometimes be quicker.

The solution? Transcribe the video!

Technology makes it easier than ever to combine different types of communication so that everyone can benefit. Including and especially introverts in the workplace.

Embrace active listening

Sometimes, someone will look like they’re not paying attention in a meeting, but they’re actually listening actively. This can have long-term benefits, allowing for other perspectives.

However, there’s often the assumption that someone isn’t paying attention because they’re not speaking up during a meeting.

Sometimes people genuinely lack the confidence to speak up—especially if they’re a minority in the room.

Other times, they’re percolating.

But it’s important to give people the space to listen, and that one person—or one group of people—doesn’t hog the conversation. Quieter members of the team should feel able to share their opinions without judgement, but likewise should be able to listen without comments that they’re too quiet.

Conclusion

When more than half the working population is introverted, it doesn’t make sense to exclude them or expect them to behave like the minority.

The most successful businesses celebrate and support employees’ differences, as these can be turned into strengths that help the business grow and develop.

In turn, this benefits employees’ productivity and confidence, improving engagement and retention.

How is your organization supporting introverts in the workplace? If you’re looking for ways to ensure employees can get and stay connected on their terms, Workrowd can help.

With employee groups, personalizable settings, automated feedback surveys and more, everything you need is in one place. Want to see how our tools could improve outcomes for introverts in the workplace at your organization? Visit us online or email us at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Employee Retention

8 strategies to boost employee attraction and retention in 2024

Employee attraction and retention perpetually rank at the top of HR’s priority list.

60% of businesses find it hard to retain employees. Given the change in cultures since the pandemic, and how many businesses now want to go back to working as if it never happened, it’s not really surprising that employees are jumping ship.

But if businesses can prevent 75% of the reasons employees leave, why don’t they work on fixing those issues?

Especially when almost three-quarters of businesses are struggling to attract employees right now?

Let’s look at some of the ways you can boost employee attraction and retention this year.

Share your values

How often do you share what matters to your business?

Are you laser-focused on green initiatives?

Do you work with grassroots organizations to improve diversity in your industry?

Whatever your values are, when people know what matters to you and your business, you’ll attract like-minded individuals who want to work toward the same or similar goals.

This will improve the quality of the candidates who apply for roles.

It will have a positive impact on employee attraction and retention because people will feel aligned with the organization.

Give employees a purpose

Employees want to feel like more than just a cog in a machine. They want to know that what they do matters.

Giving your employees a greater purpose improves their wellbeing and quality of life. It can even help people live longer.

That purpose could be tied to your shared values, or it could complement those values in some way. For instance, if diversity is important to your business, an employee could specifically focus on disability awareness in the workplace.

You could also give employees the chance to volunteer a couple days a year for organizations that matter to them. Social impact opportunities are a great way to boost employee attraction and retention.

Let your culture shine

If someone knows what your company culture is like before they join your business, they’re more likely to be a good fit because they know what they’re signing up for.

Make sure you’re vocal about your culture on your company website, social media, email marketing—anywhere you interact with customers and candidates. This will give them a clear idea of what you’re about as an organization.

It will also nurture the relationships you have with them. Which means they’ll be more primed to apply when a suitable vacancy opens.

To monitor your company culture and make sure it aligns with your values, why not send an employee survey?

With Workrowd, you can send them automatically, so you can act on the results right when they come in. Keeping a pulse on workers’ wants and needs is key to employee attraction and retention.

Ensure job descriptions match your business

One of the reasons employees leave during onboarding is because what they were sold during the hiring process isn’t what the role or company is actually like.

Job descriptions can play a big role in this. Do you euphemize how stressful the role is? Do you talk about being a “team player” when they’ll do a lot of solo working?

All job descriptions should accurately reflect the company culture and what employees can expect from the role and their team (if they’re even part of a team, or if they’re going to be a one-person band).

Otherwise, you risk attracting wrong-fit candidates who will leave sooner and mean you have to repeat the costly hiring process.

Practice true diversity

When a company is truly diverse, it’s more profitable and innovative.

There are no downsides to more diverse organizations, but the term can be met with eye rolls anyway.

Make sure that when you’re hiring, the hiring panel is truly diverse.

If the hiring panel only has one female or person of color, it can actually decrease diversity within the organization.

The underrepresented team member won’t want to look like they’re playing favorites, but the white/male hiring managers are more likely to think they’ve got diversity covered and don’t need to worry about it.

So have more than one female, person of color, person with a disability, etc, on your hiring panels. It can help tackle unconscious bias and ensure that your employee attraction and retention efforts yield the right hire.

Remember: perks aren’t everything

Focusing on perks over payment might’ve worked ten years ago. Now though, employees see perks for what they are: an excuse to not pay them what they’re worth.

Instead, focus on paying employees the market rate and valuing their expertise and knowledge. Don’t bother trying to reward them with tokens like dart boards or free fruit. Those things won’t deliver results on employee attraction and retention.

Nail your onboarding process

The more effective your onboarding process is, the quicker new hires will reach full productivity. And the quicker they can start making money for you. Plus, it can mean 69% of new hires stay for 3 years or more.

But an ineffective onboarding process can lead to confused employees who leave before finishing their probation.

It could also lead to negative reviews on sites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn.

Some things to consider including in your employee onboarding process:

  • Business background
  • About your product/service
  • How you expect employees to behave
  • What their role entails
  • Company values
  • Who to go to for different queries
  • Where to find information
  • How to use tools
  • Social media policy
  • Where to find HR policies
  • How to book paid time off, sick leave, etc.

Invest in employees’ growth

Employees want to learn more. Investing in their growth can improve your employee attraction and retention success and boost loyalty.

This could come in the form of training to make them better at their role. Or training in a related area to expand their industry knowledge.

You could also run lunch and learns or one-off workshops where employees learn a new skill such as storytelling or public speaking.

While these won’t be directly related to every role, creative skills and confidence-boosting workshops help every area of a business, and every employee regardless of rank. They’ll be more confident, persuasive speakers and having learned something new will be good for their mental health, too.

Conclusion

Employee attraction and retention is a cycle. The types of candidates you attract and hire will ultimately impact your employee retention.

It’s therefore important to communicate your company values and expectations early on, during the hiring process.

That way, candidates who are a poor fit will exclude themselves, reducing the number of resumes you need to filter through, and potentially saving you money and ensuring you hire better-quality employees.

Want to boost employee attraction and retention in one step? Workrowd has what you need. With all your employee programs, groups, and events in one place, it’s easy to showcase your culture to potential hires. And current employees will want to stick around with such easy access to everything that makes your organization great.

Want to learn more and see how Workrowd could plug in to boost employee attraction and retention in your workplace? Drop by our site or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Company Culture

How to cultivate empathy at work—and why it matters

Empathy. We’ve all heard the word. But how many of us really know what it means? Or actively practice it? Especially when it comes to empathy at work?

It’s not about walking a mile in someone’s shoes. It’s not about offering them a shoulder to cry on.

The dictionary defines it as: “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.”

Walking a mile in someone’s shoes or offering them a shoulder to cry on doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what they’re going through or share their feelings. Everyone reacts differently to the same situations.

How I’d react to an incident at work is different from how a Workrowd colleague would react, or how a stranger would respond. Despite all of us being in the same situation.

So if that’s not showing empathy, what is?

The dictionary said it best: “understanding.”

That’s the key, and that’s where most people go wrong.

Offering someone a shoulder is a sign of compassion or sympathy, but not necessarily empathy.

To feel empathy, you have to truly understand the other person’s emotions even if you wouldn’t respond to a situation in the same way.

Why does empathy at work matter?

Consulting firm EY found in 2021 that 90% of employees believe empathetic leaders increase job satisfaction. What’s more, 79% believe they lower employee turnover. Those are some pretty significant numbers.

For companies struggling to retain employees, cultivating empathy at work could make a huge difference.

Greater empathy can also lead to more innovation. In fact, 61% of employees at empathetic organizations felt they could innovate.

Just 13% felt they could at apathetic organizations.

In our ever-changing, fast-moving times, the more innovation going on in your business, the more likely you are to differentiate yourself from competitors to both customers and employees. And the more money you’re likely to make as a result.

But first, that requires a psychologically safe workplace.

And how do you build that?

Empathy!

4 ways to build empathy at work

How can you create more empathy at work? Let’s take a look:

Define what empathy means in your business

As I mentioned in the introduction, a lot of people have heard of empathy, but very few people understand what it really is.

There’s a difference between witnessing racism and really feeling its impacts in the short- and long-term.

Same as there’s a difference between seeing someone in a wheelchair and understanding the challenges that come from living in a world that isn’t disability friendly.

So, what does empathy at work look like at your organization? How will you show empathy to your employees?

Will it be through active listening?

Sending feedback surveys and acting based on the results?

Training managers and employees on what empathy at work looks like and how to use it?

Or something else?

Make your CEO human

The larger a company is, the more a CEO can feel like a mythical creature who only comes out at night.

Employees further down the ladder may have only heard their name and seen their headshot on LinkedIn. They may never have had a conversation with them.

When CEOs open up to employees and show a human side, it creates a connection that can help motivate team members, foster understanding, and set an example. Managers and employees alike can then follow this display of empathy at work.

Get managers to set an example

If a manager sets an awkward work environment, employees won’t feel comfortable in their roles. They’re also likely to subconsciously mimic this to protect themselves.

If a manager creates a welcoming work environment, everyone will feel involved and want to be a part of that team. New team members will be more likely to stay because they’ll feel like they belong.

Managers can set an example by how they talk to their team members and even how they greet them in the mornings. Everything from their body language to their tone of voice can set the atmosphere for the day.

If a manager is having a bad day, they should either tell their employees that they’re feeling off, or find a way to not let their mood rub off. Otherwise, it can ruin the productivity of everyone on their team.

Open the lines of communication

Open communication is important in any relationship. But how can employees share their feedback in your workplace?

Who can they go to if they have issues with a colleague? Or their boss?

There should be formal processes in place, as well as informal ways to discuss less serious matters.

Sending regular surveys to see how your employees really feel is another way to find out what they think. It allows you to stay informed about what’s happening within your business and analyze the results.

Seeking to understand what employees are going through in this way can really help you build empathy at work.

Conclusion

Fostering empathy at work is a key trait of any successful organization. It improves creativity, productivity, and innovation—all components that have never been more important for businesses.

Listening to what employees have to say, and setting examples, helps employees understand your workplace culture. This is especially true if instigating the new, more empathetic attitude meets some resistance.

Over time, you’ll start to see the benefits of empathy at work and your employees will repay you with their hard work and loyalty.

Ready to up your game when it comes to empathy at work? Giving employees a one-stop shop for building real connections is a great place to start.

Workrowd enables you to do just that, alongside automated surveys and real-time analytics. Curious to learn more? Drop by our site, or reach out directly to hello@workrowd.com today.

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Employee Engagement

5 overlooked causes of employee disengagement

Employee disengagement is rampant. Almost a quarter of the global workforce is “actively disengaged.” What’s more, 59% do the bare minimum, a trend now referred to as “quiet quitting.”

This is costing companies across the globe $8.8 trillion in lost productivity. That’s 9% of global GDP.

Since 2020, active disengagement has continued to grow. And to be honest, I’m not surprised. Covid changed how many of us see and experience the world. Add to that climate change, wars, and the political climate, and many of us feel a continued sense of existential dread.

Where we choose to work can make or break our mental health. We can either feel like we’re making a difference, or that we’re just going through the motions. It can seem like nobody would notice if we left.

To get the most from employees, you need to make them feel like they matter. Like their presence in your business contributes to something bigger than themselves.

So let’s take a look at some causes of employee disengagement that you may not have considered before:

Incompatible values

Many employees today aren’t just motivated by a paycheck. They want to feel like their life—and their work—has a purpose, too.

This is why your employer brand is so important. You can make it clear to potential candidates what your company values are. This will help you attract people who share those values.

As a result, anyone who applies to work for your business will have already qualified themselves. That way, you’ll be able to hire someone quicker.

On the flip side, if employees don’t understand your values before they join, and they don’t share them, they’ll be less motivated. So they won’t work as hard and they’ll be less likely to stay long term. Which will then cost you more time and money to hire and train their replacement and overcome employee disengagement.

Not being as inclusive as you think

When a business or person thinks they’re fully inclusive and has nothing left to learn about diversity, equity, and inclusion, that’s when the cracks start to appear.

Being an inclusive business requires active work. It’s not something where anyone can afford to get complacent.

It’s also not just about educating people on DEI. Those kinds of training programs can often cause employees—and even some senior leaders—to roll their eyes and treat the training as a box-ticking exercise.

To truly be inclusive, it requires:

  • Calling out microaggressions
  • Checking the language you—and your colleagues—use in emails, job descriptions, blog posts, and anything else you publish to ensure it’s truly inclusive
  • Analyzing job descriptions to ensure they use neutral language

These all help you, and your employees, keep inclusivity front of mind and support underrepresented talent in the workplace. It also helps stop employee disengagement before it starts.

Feeling unvalued

Employees want to feel like you care about them.

There are lots of different way to show them that you do. It doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive.

A simple “thank you,” or a “great job” can show someone you value what they’ve done for you.

Another way to make employees feel valued is to listen to their opinions and take their feedback into account.

Even if what they hope for can never happen, allowing them to voice their opinion makes them feel heard, respected, and valued, rather than silenced and unappreciated.

Employee feedback surveys—and acting based on the results—is one way to make employees feel heard and appreciated.

Automate survey sending and results analysis so that you can act sooner and successfully reduce employee disengagement.

Lack of growth

The more we do the same thing day in and day out, the more repetitive and boring it becomes.

Our brains crave novelty and stimulation. That means leaving the house, changing our working environment (whether we work from home or an office), working with different people, and trying new things.

When an employee feels stuck in their role and like there’s nowhere else for them to go, it can lead to feelings of frustration and boredom.

These feelings can lead to resentment and cause them to not work at their full capacity and “quiet quit” instead.

Growth doesn’t just have to mean a promotion, it can mean:

  • Moving departments
  • Expanding their skillset, such as a copywriter learning about video editing
  • Working on a different project

Finding ways to break up the working day and keep it fresh reduces employee disengagement and enables you to retain their knowledge.

Hiding health conditions

Young people now struggle with depression and anxiety at a higher rate than their older colleagues. This hasn’t happened since records began.

But someone doesn’t have to be quiet in the office to have a mental health condition. Sometimes the most outgoing, vocal, seemingly happy people are the ones who are screaming on the inside.

That’s why it’s so important to check in with your employees.

It could be that the most compassionate people, the ones who deflect conversations away from being about them, are the ones struggling the most. But they may also be the most uncomfortable talking about how they feel.

That’s not to say it’s always the case—mental health conditions look different on everyone.

Ensuring managers check in with their employees and notice significant changes in their behavior, productivity, engagement, or working patterns is therefore key. It helps prevent employee disengagement before it negatively affects people’s mental health and your business’s bottom line.

Conclusion

To avoid employee disengagement, you need to take active steps to keep employees engaged.

That means maintaining basic DEI efforts like speaking up when you see someone being disrespectful, supporting employees through their health or other personal struggles, and finding ways to keep employees interested in their jobs.

If you’re ready to make real strides on reducing employee disengagement, Workrowd’s all-in-one suite of tools can help. With everything you need to organize and track employee engagement programs under one roof, you’ll always know what is and isn’t driving results.

Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to schedule some time to chat.

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Employee Retention

Top tips to boost millennial employee retention in 2024

More than half of millennials are disengaged at work. This results in lower productivity and higher turnover. In other words, boosting millennial employee retention should definitely be on your to-do list.

In many countries, wages haven’t kept up with the rate of inflation, leaving millennials in the prime of their working lives with little hope of ever buying a house. Almost half live paycheck to paycheck, despite now being in their 30s and 40s.

Because of these anxieties, pay is the main reason millennials changed jobs in the last two years.

But they still prioritize things like work-life balance and growth opportunities alongside pay. 

So these things are still important to focus on when hiring this huge demographic.

Saying that your benefits make up for not paying people at the market rate isn’t good enough. Perks like foosball tables aren’t what candidates want. In the current economy, they’re barely on anyone’s radars anymore.

In an increasingly fractured world, we’re craving financial security and connection.

So, how can you engage the largest working demographic and improve millennial employee retention?

Offer a flexible working environment

84% of millennials want to work remotely. It provides flexibility and more time to spend reading, relaxing, or connecting with loved ones.

Workplace flexibility could involve offering full-time remote options, hybrid work options, or allowing employees to work the hours they choose so long as they get their work done.

Enabling team members to work their schedule around their life can do wonders for millennial employee retention.

Support their career growth

Just 24% of millennials are satisfied with their career progress. I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m a millennial myself and many of my friends who choose to stay in traditional employment find it hard to get up the ladder and feel stuck in their current roles.

But employees want career progression. They want to know that their employer supports their growth, too.

How can you support your employees’ career trajectory?

Some options:

  • Courses to develop new skills
  • Come up with a progression plan with them
  • Help them move into a new department

You could also ask employees how they’d like to progress during their onboarding or performance reviews.

To maximize millennial employee retention, provide options, too. Team members may not know what’s available to them.

Give them a purpose

In a world where we can feel helpless, millennials want a way to add purpose back into their lives. It’s no longer enough to work to pay the bills. That work has to mean something, too.

How can you give team members a greater purpose?

Is it offering them more responsibilities?

Helping them choose which charity you’ll support?

Getting them to run an employee group to support their colleagues?

The answer will probably be different for every employee. One way you can get answers is to ask them with an employee feedback survey.

Then, you can collect answers from employees who want to work toward the same thing, connect them, and they can work together toward their mutual goal.

Workrowd can help you send feedback surveys and get more from them. That way, you have more time to take action on millennial employee retention based on the results.

Make them feel like they belong

Employee groups are a great way to connect team members with colleagues who share things in common with them.

Whether they connect over their demographics, favorite TV shows, career goals, or something else, it’s a way to foster a sense of belonging in the workplace.

This is key to supporting employees’ mental health and avoiding common health issues like burnout.

Organizing employee groups can be a challenge, but with Workrowd, it’s a breeze. Everything employees need to connect with their colleagues is in one place. That way, you can increase millennial employee retention without the stress.

Prioritize mental health

Too many people I know have burned out because of work.

Whether that’s because they worked too hard to hit deadlines, or because they were neurodivergent and desperately trying to mask to fit in, the results are the same.

No energy, passion, or productivity.

Employers need to look after their employees. Not only should employees feel comfortable being themselves in the workplace, but employers need to support their mental health so that they don’t burn out.

Watch out for your top employees who often stay late or log into their laptop at weird hours. They may love what they do, but they’re the ones most likely to burn out. They can’t maintain that level of productivity forever. And the longer they try to, the greater their risk of burning out.

Burned out team members are more likely to leave, impacting millennial employee retention.

Actually be inclusive

Being an inclusive business is about more than education; it’s also about action. It’s about embracing employees’ differences and appreciating the strengths that come with them. Moreover, it’s about treating people fairly regardless of their backgrounds. They all contribute toward your business, after all.

Millennials are a diverse bunch. And most of us embrace that diversity. Which means we also want our employers to.

It’s not enough to not be racist; employers should be actively anti-racist. Working hard to stamp out microaggressions in the workplace.

Working hard to not just tell the world that they’re inclusive, but to show it. Authenticity is crucial when it comes to millennial employee retention.

Conclusion

To boost millennial employee retention, you need to understand their priorities. That means paying them what they’re worth while remembering that it’s about more than just a paycheck—it’s also about making a difference in the world.

To increase your millennial employee retention, giving them somewhere they can connect with their coworkers and share their feedback is important. That’s where Workrowd comes in.

Using our tools, you can help employees engage with colleagues from across your organization, share what matters to them, keep up with what’s going on within the business, and track outcomes with automated analytics.

To find out how we can partner to benefit your business, visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to schedule a demo.

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Wellness

Top tips for reducing stress in the workplace in 2024

Stress prevents around a million Americans from going to work each day. When you consider that 94% of people feel stressed at work, it’s surprising that number isn’t higher. It also really highlights the importance of reducing stress in the workplace.

Stress comes with too many physical and mental health issues for me to list in this blog post, but some of its more insidious symptoms include joint or muscle aches; shorter tempers; detachment from events/surroundings; and getting ill more frequently.

All these symptoms can impact an employee’s home life and their ability to do their job.

It’s not just employees who feel the impact of work-related stress, though. The global cost of stress, anxiety, and depression amounts to roughly $1 trillion in lost productivity.

So not working towards reducing stress in the workplace can have a huge effect on your business. 

How do you prevent your employees from experiencing stress at work? Here are our tips for reducing stress in the workplace:

Don’t treat everyone like an extrovert

It’s been years since Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking debuted. Yet for introverts, it can still sometimes feel like we’re expected to be raring to go and happy to be around people all the time.

Not everyone likes loud, open-plan offices or socializing after work. That doesn’t mean they don’t like their colleagues. It just means they need time to reset so that they can perform at their best.

What one person sees as celebratory drinks with coworkers, another may see as a trap. Whether someone drinks or not, we don’t get a lot of time to ourselves after work. For those of us who need a quiet space, those few hours between work and sleep are crucial.

Yet saying no to those drinks can mean colleagues judge us and even pass us over for promotions. All because we recharge our batteries differently.

And, while we’re at it, someone not talking in a meeting doesn’t mean they’re not engaged. It could simply mean they’re digesting what’s being said. Or they’re uncomfortable around so many people. It doesn’t mean they’re incapable of performing in their role.

Accommodating an array of different communication styles is an important way of reducing stress in the workplace.

Monitor workloads—and adjust accordingly

It’s all too easy for a manageable workload to slowly get bigger and bigger until it becomes unmanageable. And this can happen without employees or managers realizing it until the employee becomes stressed or burned out.

Managers therefore need to keep an eye on their employees’ workloads, ensuring they’re doable within their working hours and they don’t have to sacrifice personal time to hit deadlines. Unsurprisingly, employees’ workloads have a huge impact on how well you succeed at reducing stress in the workplace.

Be realistic with deadlines

While deadlines can be motivating, they can also lead to a lot of stress. It’s all too common for managers to overpromise to clients then push their employees too far and cause them to burn out.

For instance, this is especially common in the gaming industry, with what they call “crunch.”

The closer a game’s release gets, the greater the expectation that employees work longer hours, sacrificing time with their loved ones and possibly even sleep, too.

Someone I know who previously worked in the gaming industry would get home around midnight, then leave around six the following morning. For months. That’s not healthy, normal, or acceptable.

Things in the game industry are changing, slowly. And while the game industry may be bad, it’s not the only industry that pushes its employees to work harder and risk burnout to hit an impossible deadline.

Maintaining reasonable expectations is key to reducing stress in the workplace.

Keep an eye out for discrimination and microaggressions

Any time a business thinks that it’s 100% dealt with discrimination, it’s likely to slip backward.

Preventing discrimination in the workplace requires constant, active effort, in the same way that for a business to grow it requires regular effort. It is work, after all.

Just because you don’t experience discrimination in the workplace, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It could just be that it’s directed toward a different group and you haven’t seen it. Or you don’t know what to look for.

Disabled people experience the most discrimination in the workplace, for example.

People with hidden disabilities may not even share their disabilities with their colleagues for fear of negative reactions.

I’ve been told many times that I’m being a drama queen because I find lights too bright or spaces too noisy, even if sensitivity to those things affects my ability to do my job.

Those types of comments affected how comfortable I felt in the workplace and made me feel judged and less accepted in that space. It was a clear indicator that employer wasn’t as inclusive as it claimed to be.

If you see someone say or do something discriminatory, either call them out on it if you feel comfortable doing so, or if you don’t, speak to HR. When your organization is more inclusive, reducing stress in the workplace becomes easier.

Connect employees

Loneliness can be stressful. And even someone surrounded by people every day can feel lonely if the people they’re with don’t understand them.

Employee groups can help them to connect with colleagues from different departments, or even countries, who have things in common with them. This helps employees feel like they belong at work and can help new employees settle in faster.

But finding an effective way to manage employee groups can be challenging. That’s where we come in.

Using Workrowd, you can manage your employee groups in one, simple place. Employees have everything they need to network with their colleagues. And, you can measure your groups’ effectiveness with regular feedback surveys.

Conclusion

Stress, like many health conditions, can creep up on you. One minute you’re fine, the next you’re crumbling over a never-ending workload.

That’s why it’s so important to always be on the lookout for signs of stress in the workplace, in both you and your colleagues. You can then find ways to work towards reducing stress in the workplace before it escalates.

Are you ready to implement some of these strategies for reducing stress in the workplace? Workrowd can help.

With our all-in-one engagement tool suite, you can easily keep tabs on stress levels in your organization. From automated surveys to groups offering crucial support to stressed employees, everything you need is in one place.

Curious to learn more? Visit us online or email us directly at hello@workrowd.com.

Benefits of providing a positive digital employee experience
5 strategies to better empower women in the workplace
4 employee experience challenges and how to solve them