Categories
Company Culture

Culture add beats culture fit any day: 5 reasons why

We’ve all heard of culture fit, where businesses hire employees based on how well they fit into the company culture. This can help businesses run more coherently and lead to less tension in the workplace. But it can also lead to groupthink. That’s where culture add comes in.

If everyone’s experiences are the same, and they all feel the same way about something, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes never get challenged. Which makes it harder for employees to think creatively and solve problems. This can mean it takes longer to get things done. It can even put you behind your competitors.

Culture add, on the other hand, enhances your company culture while avoiding groupthink.

What is culture add?

Imagine a five-foot wall, with three people trying to look over it. The first person is six feet tall and can see over it fine. The second person is five foot, so they can’t really see, but they can on tiptoes. The third person is four foot and can’t see at all.

Culture fit is hiring only six-foot-tall people, so you don’t realize the wall is an obstacle to some.

Culture add is hiring those people who can point out that there’s a problem, and therefore help you find a solution because they see the world differently.

You’ve probably come across the equity meme where three people look over the wall, and the two shorter people stand on boxes to see over the wall. Culture add in a business is a real-world equivalent of that.

Benefits of culture add

So, how can focusing on culture add benefit your business? Let’s take a look:

More creativity and better problem solving

When you hire someone based on culture add, rather than culture fit, it brings in fresh perspectives.

Someone with a more creative background might not be a typical choice for a software developer, but if they have the right soft skills, they’ll pick up on the hard skills they need to succeed.

Hard skills can be taught. It’s not impossible to teach soft skills, but it isn’t as easy. And it usually takes longer.

But if you hire someone who shares your organizational values, such as a growth mindset, alongside your existing, talented employees, you get to experience the benefits of their innovative ideas.

The more diverse a group of people is, the more creative that group will be. Everyone will bring new perspectives to the table based on their life experiences. This leads to better—and faster—problem solving, and increased innovation.

Think about it: if a company is full of men, they have no idea what problems women face.

So they can’t tap into that market as efficiently or as well as a team that includes equal amounts of women in decision-making roles.

The same is true of race, religion, disabilities, and other communities.

The more you embrace diverse backgrounds, and look for culture add, the more creative problem solving you’ll get from your employees.

Happier (and more productive) employees

Culture add increases workplace diversity, which helps employees experience different cultures and ways of living.

With a more inclusive culture, employees will be happier and more productive in their roles.

They’ll want to come to work because they’ll feel like valued members of the team.

Less bias

Hiring for culture fit risks bias creeping in. If hiring managers only hire people who think like them, over time it may lead to them overlooking talented candidates who think differently but are equally capable of doing the job.

When a team is already diverse, there’s less chance of bias taking over because more perspectives will be involved in the hiring process. Moreover, hiring managers will already be used to working with a range of different people.

Increased diversity

Many businesses these days have diversity targets. While these can sometimes feel like lip service, they actually work.

A study found that companies with gender diversity targets didn’t end up hiring incompetent women. Instead, it weeded out the incompetent men!

When you look for culture add, you’ll open your talent pool up to a much wider range of candidates.

You’ll get to embrace people’s differences and utilize the strengths that come with those new perspectives.

Improve your employer brand

High-quality candidates know their worth. They won’t apply for a role at a business where the culture feels unwelcoming or off to them. If something makes them uncomfortable when they’re going through the hiring process, they may drop out. Meaning the hiring process could take even longer.

A welcoming company culture, where you focus on culture add, creates a more welcoming work environment.

This comes across in how employees talk about you on review sites like Glassdoor, social media sites like LinkedIn, and among their peers.

Since one of the best ways to hire new talent is from employees’ networks, if they’re singing your praises, their peers will want to work with you. And if you’ve put the work in to create a diverse team, you’ll attract more diverse candidates, too. Your positive employer brand will give you an ongoing advantage in the talent market.

More revenue

Every business wants to make more money, right?

Well, companies that focus on culture add make more money. 33% more money, in fact.

This extra revenue could be used on business growth, employee development, talent acquisition, or even rewarding employees for their hard work with pay raises.

Conclusion

Culture add creates a better workplace culture and generates more revenue for businesses. It’s the next step beyond culture fit—finding people who complement your working environment, not just people who fit in because they think like everyone else.

Once you start hiring for culture add, it’s important to ensure your new team members feel welcome and included. That’s where Workrowd comes in.

Give your people one-stop shopping for everything culture and engagement, so they can find community and tap into what’s important to them from day one. Plus, with real-time analytics, you can stay agile and quickly make any changes needed to keep everyone thriving.

If this sounds useful for your organization, visit us online to learn more, or send us a quick note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Learning & Development

The 7 most important soft skills to cultivate in your workforce

Only 31% of employers provide important soft skills training to their employees, yet 85% of career success comes from having well-developed soft skills. Talk about a big difference.

92% of talent professionals believe soft skills are just as important—or even more important—than hard skills when it comes to hiring.

So it’s really no surprise that 80% found they’re increasingly key to company success.

Here are some important soft skills to cultivate in your workforce to ensure your business—and your employees—can reach their full potential:

Growth mindset

A growth mindset is all about being open to learning and treating failure as a learning exercise, not a reason to give up.

There are many businesses and people out there who still have a fixed mindset and don’t see opportunities for growth.

But the brain is neuroplastic: it can learn new things, and embrace new things, at any age. You very much can teach an old dog new tricks.

When businesses cultivate growth mindsets, employees aren’t afraid to fail because they know they can learn from their mistakes. As a result, they take more risks—and you can experience bigger rewards.

Listening

Listening is a lot harder than we often think it is. But ultimately, it’s one of the most important soft skills you can cultivate.

The next time you’re in the office or even on public transport, listen to someone else’s conversation.

How often do they interrupt each other?

How often do they actually reply to what the other person has said, rather than saying what they want to say?

Do they change the conversation to be about something they want to talk about instead?

We often underestimate listening, assuming it’s the same thing as having a conversation with someone. But they’re two very different things.

Listening means not interrupting the other person. Not just talking about what you want to talk about. Accepting what the other person says, ideally without judgement.

Then, once they’ve finished saying what they need to say, responding to that without making it about you.

Giving and receiving feedback

We’re not taught communication skills in school, and sometimes we’re not taught them at college. So if we’re not taught strong communication skills at work, where can we learn them?

Giving and receiving feedback can be hard. Even people who are trained to give feedback often focus only on the bad things, which can create an atmosphere of negativity.

When giving feedback, make sure you compliment things as much as you criticize them. That way, the person on the receiving end knows what they’re doing right—and wrong.

Hearing feedback isn’t always easy, but it’s one of the really important soft skills needed to grow as a person—and as an employee. We need to know how to receive comments graciously without getting angry or taking that feedback personally.

Leadership

Leadership skills aren’t just about being able to lead a team. That’s a part of it, but it’s also about being able to set an example.

There will be leaders within a team who’ll guide the rest of the members through their actions, through their encouragement, and through their attitude, rather than direct instructions.

Many successful leaders in sports, business, and everything in between attribute their success not only to their own skills but also to the role models within the team. These role models helped everyone embody the right attitude by setting an example for them to follow.

Modeling productive behaviors is among the important soft skills that don’t require advance training. Anyone can start doing it at any time.

Time management

Whatever barriers you may face, there are ways to ensure that your time management skills are top-notch.

For instance, my mom used to set her clock 10 minutes early so that she left on time for work every day.

You could use calendar reminders, notifications on your phone, or time management apps. You could ask your colleagues to remind you about something important. 

Time management isn’t always easy, but there are ways to make it easier, especially if you embrace technology.

Teamwork

Part of being a great employee is being a great team player. Whatever your business, your employees need to get along and have healthy debates without getting upset or angry with their colleagues. Even if they have conflicting personality traits or communication styles.

This requires everyone to have a strong work ethic, putting business success over their own pride. Effective communication helps here, because they can discuss ideas in depth without letting their feelings get in the way. 

We’re never going to get along with everyone we work with, but teamwork skills ensure employees know and understand how to be a good team member and come to a mutual agreement or compromise. Being able to find common ground is one of the important soft skills you shouldn’t overlook.

Problem-solving skills

Problem solving is hard. To do it efficiently requires creativity and objectivity.

This is why a diverse, modern workplace is so important: the more diverse your workforce is, and the more comfortable people are speaking out, the more likely the team is to come up with a solution to a problem. And the faster they’re likely to do it.

Conclusion

Any soft skill is a transferable skill that can improve employees’ work lives and their personal lives. Providing important soft skills training can boost employee well-being, improve their work day, and elevate how they interact with their colleagues.

Regardless of someone’s long-term career path, important soft skills will improve their emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and communication skills. All things that will help them succeed as people and employees.

Looking to do more to foster these important soft skills in your workforce? Look no further than Workrowd.

With our all-in-one platform, you can easily connect team members to opportunities to build important soft skills through employee groups, programs, and events. Plus, our automated analytics ensure you always know how each initiative is helping you reach your goals.

Sound interesting? Drop by our homepage to learn more, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

Family-friendly workplace policies to drive inclusion for your team

While it would certainly make life easier if the only thing your employees had to worry about was their job responsibilities, that’s rarely the case. Team members have hobbies, friends, and perhaps most importantly, families to think of, too. Accordingly, it’s never too early to start implementing some family-friendly workplace policies.

Caregivers, whether parents or those supporting older relatives, bring a unique set of skills to the table. They’re great problem solvers, negotiators, and communicators.

However, family commitments can make it harder for these individuals to find a job. They’re often not offered the flexibility they need to succeed at work.

So, if you’d like to make your organization more welcoming to this rich talent pool, here are some tips for implementing more family-friendly workplace policies:

How to create more family-friendly workplace policies

Ask your employees what they want

The scope of a team member’s caregiving role will influence what they need, and can provide, at work. The best way to find out what those needs are is to ask your employees. 

You could create a survey, do a focus group, or even ask in Slack or on Workrowd.

The more places you ask, the more information you can get. Of course, as a result, the better your future family-friendly workplace policies will be.

Research what others are doing 

You do research to find out what your competitors are doing and what the key to their success is. So, why not do the same for family-friendly workplace policies?

You need to know what others are doing—and if it’s working. That way, you can streamline your own processes and avoid the pitfalls others have faced.

Bring in a consulting firm

Another way to streamline creating family-friendly workplace policies is to bring in a company that specializes in helping businesses implement effective practices.

This is more expensive than doing the research yourself, so it may not be suitable for a smaller company. That said, it can save larger companies a lot of time and effort that they could use on other things.

Trust your employees

Creating more inclusive and family-friendly workplace policies requires trusting your employees to do their jobs.

Since everyone works in different ways, the more rigid company rules are, the less likely you are to find someone who’s compatible with that way of working. And the less likely you are to benefit from increased company diversity.

To implement things like flexible working or remote working, you need to trust your employees.

You need to trust them to not let you down, to perform at their best, and to be upfront and honest with you.

For that to happen you need a culture where employees feel trusted and where they trust you.

Trust and respect work both ways. If employees have even the slightest whiff of something being off, or feel like they’ll get judged for something, then they’re not going to be as open with you or their colleagues and it will negatively impact your company culture.

Ways to make your workplace more family friendly

Implement flexible working…yesterday

There’s no better way to say you’re a family-friendly company than with a flexible working policy. 

It tells caregivers that you don’t mind if they need to come in later or leave earlier because of caring responsibilities. So long as they get the work done, that’s what matters.

Trust your employees to work remotely

Do you allow employees to work remotely?

Flexible work is one thing. Allowing employees to work at home, or where they’re most productive that isn’t the office, can make a huge difference to how inclusive your workplace is—and how much money you lose to your employees’ childcare and other responsibilities.

Remote work allows caregivers more time to spend with their children or relatives. Being able to work from home means they’re not losing an hour or more each day to their commute. 

They can use their lunch break for quality time with family members when they’re home. Or, even for a little bit of much-needed time to themselves.

Update your parental leave policy

Does your parental leave policy only cover new mothers? Or does it cover new fathers, too? What about trans or non-binary individuals?

Your parental leave policy should be inclusive and not make assumptions about who will return to work first. It should also consider parents’ needs as well as legal requirements.

Consider, too, your policies for parents of newly adopted children. What do they need? How can you help them?

Offer family healthcare

When employees know that their family’s healthcare is covered as well as their own, it can make things a lot less stressful if someone gets sick or even just needs a new pair of glasses. 

Family healthcare is a simple way to show employees that you don’t just view them as someone who produces for your company, but you value them and their family’s long-term health as well.

Provide family medical leave

Sometimes someone gets sick and it’s not possible to work remotely and care for them at the same time.

Offering some sort of family medical leave, where people can look after their relative without worrying about work, or using up their paid time off, gives them the head space they need to help their relative.

Subsidize childcare

Childcare can get expensive really fast.

I live and work in the UK. Some of our friends struggle to work even though they want to because childcare is just so expensive.

If you can subsidize employees’ childcare costs, so that their child can enjoy educational and fun activities while they’re at work, or when they need a break, it helps your employees focus, and it benefits the next generation.

Conclusion

Family-friendly workplace policies make your business more inclusive. This attracts a wider range of candidates and means you get to benefit from the unique assets caregivers can bring to your business.

Being family-friendly could even be a differentiator for your business that you use to grow your employer brand and customer base.

If you’re ready to better support parents and other caregivers with more family-friendly workplace policies, having a central hub for employee info is a great place to start. With Workrowd, it’s easy to ensure employees always have the information they need to make the best choices for themselves and their families.

Plus, the platform offers an easy way to manage and measure employee resource groups for parents and caregivers and other effective support initiatives. Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Employee Engagement

Keeping employees engaged through organizational changes

Change can be scary. It’s even scarier if it happens at work and it feels like there’s nothing you can do about it. Keeping employees engaged during these times can have a huge impact on the outcome of the changes.

Whether it’s a merger or acquisition, organizational restructuring, a change in strategy, or something else, it can be hard for employees to wrap their heads around change and accept what’s happening as the new norm.

18% of employees would consider leaving their job if a big organizational change occurred.

While I haven’t experienced this in a job myself, I have seen a couple of companies my friends worked for go through big changes.

It resulted in turnover so high that pretty much everyone who’d been there pre-transition was gone within a year or two. That’s a lot of money wasted on hiring because the change led to super disengaged employees.

Change in any part of our lives can be stressful, so it’s hardly surprising that 73% of employees affected by change say they’re suffering from moderate to high stress levels. That can have a big impact not just on employee engagement, but on productivity, retention, and even mental and physical health. It’s really unsurprising so many of my friends’ colleagues left.

And, when you consider that 75% of transformation efforts don’t deliver the results change-makers hoped for…it makes you wonder if it’s even worth it.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

Here are five ideas for keeping employees engaged through organizational changes:

Make leaders visible

The biggest reason employees resist change is a lack of trust in leadership. That can only improve when leaders are visible and clearly communicate with employees.

How can they do that?

There are endless ways, whether you’re in an office or remote:

  • Posting internally on Slack, Teams, Workrowd, or whatever your company uses (not just to criticize or complain, but to compliment or even just initiate small talk)
  • Posting regularly to social media on somewhere like LinkedIn to humanize you to employees
  • Hosting ask me anythings (AMAs)
  • Making an active effort to talk to as many employees as possible and get their views
  • Holding live video streams for company updates

The more you openly and honestly communicate with employees, the more likely they are to trust you. The more they trust you, the more successful you’re likely to be at keeping employees engaged.

If they think you’re opaque or inaccessible, warning signals are going to go off in their minds and they’ll be less accepting and trusting as a result.

Be transparent

Keeping employees engaged through transitional changes isn’t just about making leaders visible. It’s also about being honest with employees. They need to know what’s happening.

So, share as much information as you can with them.

What’s the reason for the change?

Which departments will it affect? How and when will they be impacted?

Will there be new functions or ways of doing things going forward?

The more you can share with them, the more accepting they’re likely to be about the change.

It may help to have regular meetings with employees to keep them informed of how the change is going, since it won’t be a one-day thing.

Team members will appreciate your honesty and transparency and reward you with their loyalty and trust. That alone will go a long way towards helping you meet your goal of keeping employees engaged.

Let employees express their opinions

One of the ways you can make change less scary for employees is by making them feel like their voices are valued. Just by allowing them to voice their concerns, they’ll feel a little more in control. And, crucially, more valued in the workplace, so that keeping employees engaged will be easier.

For a successful transition of any kind to happen, employees need to know what’s happening and feel heard.

You don’t have to like what they have to say, nor do you have to act on it, but you have to give them a way to share their thoughts.

If they feel like they’re being silenced or ignored, they’re less likely to accept the change.

Sometimes, all people need is to get something off their chest. Once they’ve done that, they’re more likely to get onboard.

You could collect their feedback via a questionnaire or survey; host a Q&A; organize a drop-in session for them to speak to senior leaders; or ask team leads about what their employees have said to them.

The more avenues you use to collect feedback, the more likely you are to get a clear picture of how employees really feel about what’s going on. And what steps you can be taking towards keeping employees engaged.

Don’t censor

While negative feedback is never comfortable, censoring employees’ negative comments about the transition will only fuel the fire.

They need to feel heard and supported, otherwise they’re going to feel angry and silenced.

And the more angry and silenced they feel, the bigger the risk of a backlash, whether that’s through mass resignations, negative reviews, decreased morale, or something else. Regardless of how it manifests, it’s inevitable that dissatisfied employees will impact your bottom line.

Set an example

Employees will follow the lead of their managers. So, by leaders setting an example, it can help put employees at ease.

They could do this by:

  • Being open about how they feel about the change(s)
  • Adopting, and embracing, new behaviors or attitudes
  • Listening to employees’ thoughts on how things are going (and passing on any feedback)
  • Making employees feel psychologically safe at work

Conclusion 

Change at work can be scary for employees and lead to them feeling increased levels of stress. This can present some big challenges when you’re focused on keeping employees engaged.

By clearly communicating with them about what’s happening and allowing them to voice their concerns, you’re far less likely to suffer from the negative consequences that can come from organizational changes.

If you’re ready to make keeping employees engaged more of a ‘set it and forget’-type effort, Workrowd’s suite of tools can help. With streamlined communications, program and events management, and automated surveys and analytics all under one roof, you can easily support your workforce through all sorts of ups and downs.

Sound useful? Drop by the homepage for more info, or send us an email at hello@workrowd.com to learn more.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

8 employee event ideas to deepen belonging for your workforce

You know that keeping employees engaged and connected can go a long way towards driving retention. Events are obviously a great way to do this, but who has time to constantly come up with new employee event ideas?

40% of people feel isolated at work. I’ve been there, and it’s a horrible feeling that doesn’t just impact your working life, but your home life, too. Your mental health. Your physical health. And even your ability to enjoy your hobbies when you’re not at work.

When employees feel like they belong in the workplace, it can lead to a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% decrease in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days. 75%!

For a company with 10,000 employees, this would result in an annual savings of over $52 million.

Just let those numbers sink in for a moment.

$52 million.

All from employees feeling like they belong where they work, instead of feeling like an outsider in the place where they spend most of their time. Coming up with employee event ideas seems like a pretty small lift when you consider that kind of payoff, right?

The relationship between employee events and diversity and inclusion

Businesses in the US spend almost $8 billion per year on diversity and inclusion initiatives. Unfortunately, they often fail to include one key element in these efforts: belonging.

To fully reach your DEI goals, you need to create an environment where employees of all backgrounds and identities feel included.

There’s no point educating employees on what diversity looks like if you don’t take steps to make your workplace more inclusive. This could include offering ramps and elevators as well as stairs to your office, or transcripts for video meetings. Small changes like these can add up to make a big difference to your employee experience.

As many businesses embrace remote or hybrid working, it’s important to find alternative ways to ensure employees can connect with their colleagues.

One simple option for fostering connection and increasing employee belonging is with these employee event ideas.

Employee event ideas to drive deeper belonging for your workforce

Here are some employee event ideas you could try in your business:

ERGs

Employee resource groups (ERGs) offer a simple, employee-led way for team members to connect with coworkers who share their interests or backgrounds. 

When people have someone at work who shares commonalities with them, they’ll feel more connected to what they’re doing and their place of work. They’ll feel less like an outsider and more like they’re a part of something. They’ll also have someone to go to with concerns that may be related to their disability, race, gender, religion, etc.

Of course, your organization’s employee resource groups can also be a great source of employee event ideas if you’re stuck. Don’t hesitate to consult and partner with them!

Team retreats

When working remotely, having the opportunity to meet up with colleagues every few months can re-engage employees and help generate new ideas.

I’ve seen some businesses organize retreats in different places every time. This allows employees to experience different cultures while getting to know their colleagues. It’s a great way to introduce them to other ways of working, scenery, culture, and even food!

Hackathons

A hackathon is a challenge for a group of employees where they have to put together a product or service in a set amount of time. There’s usually a theme of some sort, whether it’s vague like “time” or something more specific, like a scheduling app.

Internal or external hackathons test employees’ skills in a fun way. They also appeal to people’s creative and competitive sides.

Hackathons can be an effective way for teams to bond outside of their day-to-day tasks. Or for new teams to form and get to know each other.

You can also reward employees for their hard work with prizes at the end. Hackathons are one of those employee event ideas that’s often overlooked, but can make a big impact.

Escape rooms

Escape rooms build team bonds, develop problem-solving abilities, and play to people’s strengths. They can even help employees discover new skills along the way!

Movie nights

Pop culture is a really good way to bond with other people. You’ll never find a movie that everyone loves, but watching something together can spark conversations and new connections.

Sometimes people’s tastes might surprise you, too, or you might introduce them to a whole new genre.

Volunteer days

Employee volunteering programs are becoming increasingly popular. They’re a good way to boost employee morale and engagement.

If you have several employees who live near each other, you could organize for them to all volunteer at the same place on the same day. That way they’ll get to know each other while working together for a common cause.

Partnering with community-based organizations is a great way to tap into a steady stream of new employee event ideas to engage your team.

Classes 

Whether it’s a lunch and learn, or an afternoon during a team retreat, offering classes is a great way to encourage employee bonding and teach people something new.

Some options include:

  • Poetry or spoken word
  • Painting 
  • Pottery

Go for something that has a low barrier to entry and is accessible to as many employees as possible.

And remind them that it’s meant to be fun—no perfectionism or pressure required! 

Team meals

Meals are a great, low-effort way to get to know someone. If you don’t know what to talk about, just talk about the food!

When booking somewhere, look for a restaurant that can cater to individuals’ nutritional needs or preferences. There’s nothing worse than turning up to a restaurant to find that their only vegan option is a side of fries, or they don’t even know what gluten-free means.

Part of creating a culture of belonging means considering people’s dietary needs, too, even if you don’t have any requirements yourself.

Conclusion

Effective employee event ideas come in many forms. The common factor though, is that they help employees of all backgrounds feel appreciated and included in the workplace. 

This has huge benefits for businesses of all sizes, reducing sick time and increasing profits. 

It also increases the impact of any diversity and inclusion initiatives, because it’s not just talking about diversity and inclusion, it’s actively creating it.

If you’re ready to free up more time for dreaming up awesome employee event ideas, and spend less time juggling all the logistics, Workrowd has your back. With all the tools you need to market, manage, and measure your events and programs, you and your employees can enjoy the ease of having everything in one place.

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

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Employee Experience

9 steps to building a world-class employee volunteering program

Workers are five times more engaged when their employer offers an employee volunteering program. And 88% of consumers prefer brands that are socially and environmentally conscious.

Yet only 60% of companies offer employees paid time off to take part in volunteering programs. 

A further 21% of companies want to implement an employee volunteering program by 2024, but planning to do something, and actually doing it, are very different things. 

Even if all those companies did implement an employee volunteering program, that leaves a gap of almost one fifth.

So, if you’re planning to build a world-class employee volunteering program, what steps should you take?

Pick your purpose

It’s impossible to do everything we want to do or help every cause in the world. Which is why focusing on one or two initiatives will get you the most success.

Consider what ties into your greater business purpose or mission.

For example, if you run an animal-related business, could your employees volunteer at their local shelter? Or could you start an initiative with a chain of shelters to help them, perhaps offering dog-walking services?

If your focus is on sustainability, what volunteering opportunities could you provide your employees which relate to that?

Jot down a bunch of ideas, or better yet, ask your employees for some! This way, they’ll feel invested in the program from the start, which means they’re more likely to participate and help you reach your goals.

Get leadership buy-in

It’s a lot easier to engage employees in something if their managers are on board, too. 

Managers have to be comfortable with their employees taking time from their day jobs to help other people. If they’re not happy about it, employees won’t feel comfortable volunteering.

If managers do want their employees to join in, employees will feel supported doing so and be more likely to volunteer their time.

Partner with relevant organizations

If there’s a particular organization that’s relevant to your cause, why not partner with them? This creates a mutually beneficial relationship, helping you both further your goals.

You could also use this as a PR opportunity for both businesses, increasing your reach into new areas through joint social media content or press releases.

Consider cultural differences

Different cultures have different priorities and pursue them in different ways. So, if you have a global workforce, consider this before starting your employee volunteering program.

You could create different initiatives for each territory you operate in, with each area managed by a different person. That way, they’re aware of the cultural nuances in a way that someone located elsewhere may not be.

You could also collect team members’ opinions before you start an employee volunteering program to find out what matters to them and where they’d like to spend their volunteering time. If it’s a cause that resonates with them, people are far more likely to participate.

Decide on your KPIs

What do you hope to achieve through your employee volunteering program? How will you know if your scheme is successful?

Like any business initiative, you need to have goals or KPIs to help you monitor your program’s performance.

Some things you could track include:

  • How many employees take part
  • How much time they donate
  • How many organizations they serve
  • How much money they raise
  • The total value of volunteering time

You could also track bigger-picture things like:

  • Impact on employer brand
  • Employee retention rates
  • Employee engagement rates
  • Connections with other businesses/organizations/causes
  • Employee morale
  • Employee mental health

Choose a volunteer coordinator

Someone needs to oversee putting all this together, whether that’s in a part-time or full-time role.

If you’re a small organization or starting with a small scheme, having this as an additional part of someone’s job, much like organizing an ERG, may keep them engaged and invested in your business.

It doesn’t have to be someone from HR or marketing. What matters is that they’re invested in the cause and can pass their enthusiasm on to other people. Skills can be taught, enthusiasm can’t.

Collect feedback

It’s important to check in with your people periodically to find out what they do—or don’t—like about your employee volunteering program. 

Things change quickly. What worked a year ago may not work now. You won’t know unless you ask.

Market your efforts

If employees don’t know your scheme exists, nobody will sign up for it!

Some ways you could market your employee volunteering program:

  • Write about it in your employee newsletter
  • Include it in the onboarding sequence
  • Reach out to individuals who’ve been involved in similar initiatives before
  • Share the results of activities on internal and external social media
  • Give it a memorable name
  • Write a press release about its successes—this will build your employer brand for candidates and get employees to see the difference it makes
  • Follow up with employees who show interest in taking part but don’t

Recognize participants

How can you recognize or reward employees who take part? 

Could you offer them a gift card? 

Or post about the difference they’re making on social media? 

It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something to show that you appreciate the difference they’re making to their community.

Conclusion

An effective employee volunteering program shows the world you’re invested in doing good as well as making money. Demonstrating this can improve your employer brand, helping you attract more candidates with similar values.

And offering employees the chance to make a difference through volunteering will help with engagement and retention.

If you’re ready to drive real impact with an employee volunteering program, you need the right tools. Workrowd enables you to organize all your employee volunteering efforts in one place, and makes it easy to track results. Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Wellness

9 surprising benefits of employee wellness programs

Most job candidates now look for, and prioritize, companies with employee wellness programs.

As well as helping you attract more—and better quality—candidates, employee wellness programs can improve employee engagement and retention by reducing stress and lowering the risk of burnout.

What are employee wellness programs?

Employee wellness programs are schemes focused on supporting employees’ physical, mental, and emotional health.

They should contain a variety of options to support different needs. This could include:

  • Discounted gym membership or an in-house gym
  • Meditation app subscription
  • Discounted therapy
  • Nutritional education
  • Exercise classes
  • Stop smoking programs

The benefits of effective employee wellness programs

So, what benefits could your business experience as a result of employee wellness programs?

1. Get access to a wider talent pool

87% of employees consider health and wellness offerings when choosing an employer.

Just offering one that aligns with your values, and that reflects what your target personas prioritize, can improve your employer brand. It’s a clear way to show the rest of the world that you value employee wellbeing and what your company culture is like.

2. Reduce absenteeism

Absenteeism occurs when someone takes time away from work for illness or non-illness related reasons, such as transportation or childcare.

If someone comes into the office with a cold, this can increase your absenteeism rate as they pass their germs on to others.

Educating employees on how to avoid spreading those germs to their colleagues (such as sneezing into their elbow, not their hand—or better yet not going into the office when they’re ill) is a simple way to reduce absenteeism. 

Introducing employee wellness programs reduces absenteeism by up to 19%. That’s a lot of working days that could boost your business.

3. Reduce healthcare costs

72% of employers saw a reduction in healthcare costs after implementing employee wellness programs.

And it makes sense—taking a proactive approach to health can reduce how much time, energy, and money we lose to managing existing and future health conditions. It can also help to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

4. Improve employee health habits

The reduction in absenteeism makes sense when you consider the difference preventative healthcare can make.

In his book, “Food for Life,” Professor Tim Spector says that diet could account for around half of common diseases. If everyone ate healthier, it could prevent or delay the disease burden of arthritis, cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and even infertility.

Despite this, the British diet consists of more than 50% processed foods. In the US, processed foods make up 57% of the daily diet.

Unfortunately, most people don’t know what makes something a processed food because we’re not taught it. So unless we actively seek out that information, how will we know how these foods could impact us?

Sharing with employees how to build healthy habits, and the benefits of those healthy habits, can help motivate them to take better care of their short- and long-term health.

Which means you get to experience all the benefits of their healthier lifestyles.

5. Get more engaged employees

Over 80% of employees whose employers are invested in their wellness say they enjoy work.

And, as we all know, when employees are more engaged, the business reaps the rewards.

6. Lower employee stress levels

Prioritizing wellbeing through exercise, meditation, or something else, reduces stress levels. 

And let’s not forget that when we show employees we value their mental health, they’re less likely to work to the point of stress or burnout. And they’re more likely to feel like they can talk to their manager if they’re having trouble.

7. Experience higher employee morale

Morale plays a big part in how effective employees are in their roles, and how they feel in the workplace environment.

If employee morale is high, it has a ripple effect on the rest of the business. It can improve your company culture and your employer brand, even boosting your customer service quality and reviews.

Investing in employee wellness programs, especially during times of transition, can ease the stress caused by significant changes and reassure employees who are struggling.

8. Increase employee productivity

Whether it’s hay fever, a mild cold, or an argument with a friend, there are lots of “minor” things that can impact employee productivity.

In the grand scheme of things, these issues may seem small, but they can feel gargantuan when someone experiences them. And they can have a huge impact on workplace productivity.

When employees are taught how to look after their physical and mental health, they have coping mechanisms in place that they can use when they’re having a rough day. As a result, they’ll feel more able to cope with difficult days and ask for accommodations if they need them.

And employee wellness programs really can make a big difference—84% of employers reported higher performance and productivity from their employees because of them.

9. Experience a six-to-one ROI

When you consider the increased productivity and lower absence rates, it should come as no surprise that the average return on investment (ROI) for employee wellness programs is six to one.

Conclusion

Investing in employee wellness programs can positively impact every area of your business.

In addition to growing your employer brand and company culture, it can also improve absenteeism and employee engagement, resulting in higher productivity and profits.

If you want to maximize the impact of your employee wellness programs, the first step is ensuring everyone knows about them! Providing access to important information, programs, groups, and events all in one place makes it easy for team members to get involved from day one.

Plus, with everything under one roof, you can easily track the impact of your employee wellness programs and compare across your initiatives. Sound interesting? If so, drop us a line at hello@workrowd.com, or visit us online to learn more.

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Company Culture

7 ways to improve employee communication for a better culture

Communication forms the backbone of pretty much everything we do in life. So it shouldn’t be any wonder that taking steps to improve employee communication can do wonders for your company culture.

The Dunning-Kruger effect occurs when people overestimate their skills or knowledge in a particular area. Frequently, this happens when they don’t have many skills or much knowledge on a subject.

This can also be true for the opposite end of the spectrum, where high performers underestimate their skills (imposter syndrome, anyone?).

Knowing how to communicate the good and the bad—and everything in between—is imperative for a better company culture.

It prevents written or verbal communication being misinterpreted, and ensures every employee knows what’s expected of them. This keeps everyone focused and boosts employee engagement.

So, how can you improve employee communication, and with it, your company culture?

Set an example

Employees follow the examples set by their superiors. If you want to improve employee communication, it starts by looking at how you communicate with employees from the top down.

How do you speak to them? Is it with respect and an open mind?

Do you subconsciously project your bad moods onto those around you?

If you’re not sure, ask your employees—at every level—for their feedback. How do they feel in your presence? When you send them an email? In a meeting?

If you want to get some really honest feedback, you could ask them to submit their comments anonymously. That way, you know you’re getting answers that will really help you improve.

When asking employees for feedback, be sure to act on it, even if you dislike what’s been said. Most business don’t act on feedback they get from their employee surveys, which leads to people feeling like they’re a waste of time.

To create a positive company culture, you have to show that you’re willing to listen to good and bad feedback, then make changes accordingly.

Create guidelines

Clearly explaining how employees should communicate helps everyone understand the best way to talk to their colleagues and grow the company culture.

Your people will be much more able to understand how to communicate if you show them examples in different contexts rather than telling them to do this or that.

The more examples you can show, the more employees will come to understand the types of communication that are the most effective in the workplace.

Remember: it’s a skill

Many people forget (or don’t realize) that communication is a skill. We have to actively work to get better at it.

Sometimes, we can learn bad communication habits from our family, friends, or job.

Every business has different expectations of their employees and how they work together. This results in every business having subtly different communication skills, and employees taking those with them when they leave and go somewhere new.

Teaching employee communication should therefore be treated like any other skill an employee might have to learn. 

Including it in your onboarding is a great way to show how you expect everyone to communicate in your business. It’s also one of the easiest ways to improve employee communication from day one.

Hold workshops

Another way to improve employee communication is by holding workshops. 

If you’re short on time, this could be a lunch and learn, or even a series of lunch and learns with each one focused on a different area, such as:

  • Spoken feedback
  • Written feedback
  • Writing emails
  • Effective meeting conduct
  • Storytelling
  • One-on-ones
  • Body language 

If you’re unsure, you could send an employee survey to get people’s thoughts on what areas of communication they’d most like help with.

Suggest some reading

Recommending a book is a subtle way to show your employees the kind of communication you want to encourage in your business.

When it’s a nonfiction book, it can also reflect your values and give employees key takeaways for the workplace.

An example is “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott. This book talks about how to effectively communicate in an open and honest way without causing offense.

You don’t have to share recommendations via a structured book club. That said, if you do, it’s worth setting up an employee group to connect everyone.

You could offer recommended reads as part of your onboarding process, or share a recommendation during a meeting.

To make these recommendations inclusive, try to only suggest books that are easy to read and have an audiobook available. Extra points if it’s available from libraries (or employees can request it to their library).

Encourage the use of plain English

Many people assume plain English means boring, but it doesn’t. What it actually means is cutting the fluff from your writing. 

Not the personality, but the long sentences; the in-depth descriptions; the sentences without punctuation.

All these things make your writing less accessible and harder for someone to understand. 

The most popular newspaper in the UK has an average reading age of eight, despite its audience being adults, for a reason. 

If you can make people do less mental work, even if your employees are highly educated, they’re more likely to understand what you say and take action. In turn, this will help them tailor their own writing, so you can improve employee communication on two fronts.

Don’t forget body language

It’s not just our words that speak—our body language does, too. However, we’re not always that good at interpreting it.

When I first started doing poetry readings, my university lecturer said that the audience will look disinterested not because they’re ignoring me, but because they’re concentrating. 

He was right. Eyes were closed; arms were crossed. I felt like I’d lost them. 

But at the end, they all smiled and clapped and complimented me. So they had been listening, even though they hadn’t been sitting on the edges of their uncomfortable plastic seats.

Body language can also be cultural, or even related to someone’s health issues. 

So, consider the bigger picture when judging someone based on theirs, and don’t make assumptions.

And don’t forget that your employees may misread your body language, too. 

For instance, if you sit with your arms crossed, they may see you as defensive or inaccessible. It could be that you’re really just cold though because you sit under the AC!

Conclusion

Effective employee communication is at the heart of every business. The more you seek to improve your communication skills, the more your employees will follow your example and get better at communicating with each other, too.

If you want to improve employee communication in an organic way, giving your team additional space to interact and grow is important. If people only interact with their direct team, they’ll only learn that one communication style. Connecting everyone through an all-in-one hub ensures employees interact with a wider circle of colleagues.

Plus, Workrowd makes it easy for team members to start initiatives that improve employee communication like Toastmasters groups, lightning talks, and more. If this sounds useful for your workplace, visit us online to learn more, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Employee Engagement

6 ways to use employee feedback to fuel engagement

65% of employees want more feedback at work. When companies invest in employee feedback, they have 14.9% lower turnover rates than organizations that don’t provide it.

That’s not the only benefit, though.

Four out of ten employees who receive little to no feedback are disengaged at work. 

Considering feedback is a way to show we care about someone and their career progress, this statistic doesn’t surprise me. 

Nor does the fact that 69% of employees would work harder if they felt their employer recognized their efforts through feedback.

43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week.

All this shows that providing employee feedback can significantly improve engagement. And of course, we all know that comes along with a slew of additional benefits.

So, here are some tips on how to improve your employee feedback and increase employee engagement as a result:

Share positives and negatives

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when giving employee feedback is focusing too much on the negatives.

This risks hurting the recipient’s confidence when all they receive is negative feedback. Plus, it also risks them fixing things that don’t need it.

Sometimes, it’s only one element of a project that needs amending. But if you don’t tell someone that’s the only thing that needs fixing, they may break other areas in an effort to fix the one that was originally broken.

Not only this, but if employees don’t know what you’re looking for, how are they ever going to achieve it? It’s therefore just as important to highlight the things you like as much as the areas for improvement.

Tailor your feedback to their skill level

The more advanced someone is in a skill/career, the more in-depth feedback they can handle.

If someone is new to something, they’ll find too much in-depth feedback complicated, overwhelming, and potentially off-putting. So, you want to balance the feedback with where their skills lie.

That way, you build their confidence and their skills, allowing them to continue to flourish in their role.

Watch your tone

Some employee feedback, particularly when it’s notes on a digital document, can unintentionally come across as aggressive, negative, or passive-aggressive.

I’ve seen many first-time authors get hurt by the tone a professional editor uses when annotating their novel. They interpret their tone to mean the editor hates them/their book. Ultimately though, that’s just how many people give feedback—even those of us who have professional training. After all, we’re taught how to pick things apart, not how to pay a compliment.

Now, imagine if you were in the workplace and you’d sent something to a colleague for them to review. When they wrote back, their feedback had a passive-aggressive tone. 

You may feel like they hate your work, they dislike you, you’re not good enough, etc. It can really impact your feelings of belonging in the workplace.

At least with a freelance editor, a writer can choose not to work with them again. People can’t do that at work.

So, be mindful of your tone.

Consider how you’d feel if you were on the receiving end of that feedback. Would it make you uncomfortable? Afraid? Angry? Hurt?

Or would you feel supported? Appreciated? Challenged to grow your skills?

Keep it simple

Many businesses—particularly older or larger ones—still like to write in business-speak. They favor long, inaccessible sentences that sound like they came from a politician or a 1960s fantasy novel.

If you want engaged employees who feel like they belong, plain English is your friend. More employees will understand what you’re saying, and therefore will be more likely to act on the feedback you give.

They’ll also feel more valued by you because you made the effort to talk to them in an accessible way. They wouldn’t be so receptive if you excluded people by using unnecessarily verbose language.

Save the sandwiches for your lunchbox

I’m sure you’ve heard of a compliment sandwich. It’s where you compliment something, say something negative about it, then provide another compliment. 

The logic is that the recipient will dwell less on the negative feedback because it was in the middle. 

But it’s become increasingly transparent and can come across as disingenuous. This is especially true if there aren’t two positives for you to remark on, so you’re forced to find them. Just be honest and upfront with employee feedback, and watch your tone instead.

Evaluate mistakes—and look ahead

It’s important to evaluate mistakes from an objective point of view. It isn’t an occasion for employees to beat themselves up. Or, for you to berate them and make them feel worse. But you do want to make sure any mistakes don’t happen again.

Once you’ve looked at what went wrong, look ahead: what can you do to stop this from happening again?

This also puts a positive, productive spin on mistakes and helps to prevent employees from ruminating on them.

Focus on their hard work, not the end result

When you praise someone for their hard work, not the outcome, they’re more likely to work hard and keep growing. It encourages a growth mindset. 

This benefits their personal growth as well as your business growth.

It also encourages employees to experiment, seek to develop their skills, and learn from their mistakes instead of hiding them.

Conclusion 

Employee feedback is an important tool to help employees grow and keep them engaged in the workplace.

For it to work, you need to tailor your feedback to their skill level and share both positives and negatives.

You don’t want to overwhelm someone with how much feedback you provide. At the same time, you want them to feel like you’re paying attention to what they do. You can do this by offering the feedback and also taking the time to listen to them. That could be in person, on a call, or in written form.

Providing employee feedback is clearly really important, but it also needs to be a two-way street. You should be gathering feedback from employees, too. Workrowd automates the process of collecting employees’ thoughts and opinions, especially when it comes to the programs, groups, and events you offer.

Sound useful for your organization? Send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn more, or drop by our site to schedule some time to talk.

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Employee Retention

A list of incentives for employees that cost little to nothing

Compiling a list of incentives for employees that drives retention but doesn’t break the bank is a serious challenge.

89% of employers assume that their employees leave because they want more money. Yet only 12% of employees earn more money at their new jobs.

This shows a real disconnect between what employees want and what their employers offer.

For instance, a little recognition can go a long way towards improving employee morale. 59% of employees feel under-appreciated at work, but 69% say they’d work harder if they felt more recognized.

You don’t have to spend lots of money to make employees feel appreciated. Your company culture plays a big role.

If you have a culture where employees don’t feel like you value their time or presence, they won’t put as much effort in. And they’ll be less likely to stick around long-term.

But offering a thoughtful list of incentives for employees is a simple way to show you care.

In fact, the right employee incentive program could increase your employee performance by up to 44%.

In an increasingly competitive market, this is a massive difference. Especially when you factor in that companies who offer a list of incentives for employees see a 79% higher success rate when it comes to achieving their goals.

So, why don’t you check out this list of incentives for employees that are low or no-cost? Let’s take a look:

ERGs

Giving employees the opportunity to interact with colleagues who share their identities and experiences helps them make new friends.

Employee resource groups can also reduce loneliness, particularly if your team works remotely.

As a result, these communities can improve mental and physical health and increase employee performance. 

Flexible working hours

There’s no scientific basis for the traditional 9-5. It was introduced by American labor unions in the 1800s. Henry Ford took it mainstream in the 1920s. It’s been the standard working day for millions of people ever since.

But as the world learns new and different ways to do things, one of the simplest ideas on this list of incentives for employees is to empower them to work when they’re most productive.

The standard 9-5 just doesn’t work for some people. That doesn’t mean they’re not good at their jobs. They may even be more productive if they worked fewer hours, meaning you make more money. 

If you want to get the best out of everyone you hire, and retain them long-term, you need employees to work on the schedule that’s best for them.

Productivity breaks

Regular breaks can improve focus and make us more productive. Especially if your team works long hours and/or in a fast-paced environment.

Allowing employees to take breaks when they feel the need shows that you value them. It also shows that you trust them to get the work done, even if they’re not at their desks every single second.

And it shows how important their mental and physical health needs are to you, helping you build a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

Quiet spaces

Open-plan offices aren’t always the easiest places to concentrate in. I find it almost impossible to concentrate in them, particularly if it’s noisy. The more time I spend in them, the less work I can get done. I need somewhere quiet to recharge (and sometimes to work).

Offering a quiet space where office-based workers can go to recharge gives them more headspace to focus on their tasks without the distractions that come from other people.

This applies to the virtual noise that comes from remote working, too. Constant notifications from messaging apps or emails can make it difficult to get things done, especially if you have a busy inbox.

In many cases, these notifications aren’t urgent. Most things can wait until the task at hand is done.

If you’re worried about urgent requests, you can create protocols that regulate them. This could include having different managers disconnect at different times.

Mental health days

We’ve all had days where we’ve woken up and felt unable to take on the world. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a natural part of life that can be influenced by everything from not sleeping well enough, to personal challenges, to the weather. 

Offering employees the opportunity to take a mental health day shows that you value their mental health and the contributions they make to your business.

If someone had to work on a day when they were struggling, it would impact their productivity. It may also impact their colleagues, bringing overall employee morale down, too.

So why not allow employees time to recharge so that they can come back to work when they’re better able to perform?

Prioritizing their mental health like this will improve employee satisfaction and retention.

Social media shout-outs

When someone gets a shout out in public, it shows them, and the rest of the world, how much you value them.

You could give an employee a shout-out for successfully completing a project, highlight your long-term employees, or celebrate new hires. 

There are lots of ways to reward and recognize employees on social media, and most only take a few minutes to put together.

You’re likely to get more engagement on these types of posts than typical sales posts, too. Sales posts always get less engagement on social media, but when people see that you appreciate the hard work your employees put in, they’ll warm to your business. As a result, you could attract new customers and improve your employer brand.

Conclusion 

Establishing a list of incentives for employees that actually gets results doesn’t have to be super expensive or complicated. Incentives are about showing employees that you’re grateful they chose to work for you. And that they continue to spend their time and energy helping you grow your business. 

And of course, the higher your employee engagement and satisfaction are, the greater the rewards you, and your team members, will experience.

If you want to easily promote your list of incentives for employees, look no further than Workrowd. Our one-stop shop brings all your employee events, programs, groups, and information together in a single, user-friendly hub.

That way, every team member can tap into the best your organization has to offer from day one. Visit us online to learn more, or write us at hello@workrowd.com.

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