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How Training Focused on Connectedness Improves Talent Retention

Training professionals are not always aware of how much their work is directly linked to talent retention. Yes, effective onboarding can help new hires feel adjusted and more likely to stick it out during the initial transition to their new role; and effective training builds confidence and competency. However, do these activities actually increase long-term retention?  Often times, the answer is no.

Effectively Communicating Appreciation in the Workplace

The role of appreciation in the workplace has been an increasing topic of conversation among business leaders, as reported by the BBC News and the New York Times. Recent research has indicated that hundreds of thousands of employees in the U.K. report not having received any appreciation at work in the past year.  This finding is intriguing given that over 80% of companies are reported to have some form of employee recognition program.

Making Appreciation Work – A View from the Shop Floor

Staff burnout, low morale, and high turnover have been an increasing problems in many industries, and manufacturing is no exception. Good employees are not easy to find, develop, or keep. Anyone who has lost a key team member and tried to find a replacement knows this.

Appreciation and Encouragement in the Gig Economy

In traditional employer-employee work settings, when team members feel valued and appreciated by their colleagues, significant positive effects on the workplace occur. Benefits include increased employee engagement, reduced staff turnover, greater productivity, and less conflict and negativity. But the question arises: does the concept of communicating appreciation to others apply to those in the gig economy? If so, how?

Creating a Positive Workplace Culture with Authentic Appreciation.

Staff burnout, low morale, and high turnover are increasing problems in most healthcare professions, and physical therapy is no exception. Good employees are not easy to find, develop, or keep in any environment, but it has been especially hard in the current economy and the wake of the Great Resignation of 2021.

How Appreciation Preferences Across Age Groups Should Shape Your Recognition Strategies

All workers want to be recognized, appreciated and rewarded–differently. New research reveals how to approach each age group in meaningful ways.

Why Bosses are Finding New Ways to Drive Employee Satisfaction (Your Boss Wants to Know Your Love Language)

It’s a question that plagued Shakespeare, Hallmark, Sappho and Taylor Swift, and these days it has even reached the workplace with surprising urgency: How do you show someone you care?

Why Managing Remote Employees is So Difficult

We’ve come out of the pandemic changed in many ways – we’ve quarantined, shopped local, and learned all about proper masking. But one way we may be forever changed is with hybrid working arrangements.

Understanding How to Show Gratitude in the Workplace: Examining the differences and similarities in the expression of appreciation across various work environments

We know not everyone feels appreciated in the same way. Using the five languages of appreciation as a conceptual framework, over 350,000 employees worldwide have identified their preferred languages of appreciation and the specific actions most meaningful to them.

Neutralizing Negativity in the Workplace

Neutralizing negativity in the workplace is important because it is one of the most common, and deeply ingrained, obstacles to a healthy work environment. When working with front-line employees, supervisors, and mid-level managers in a variety of industries, I’m often asked, “What can I do to create more positive interactions in my workplace? People are so negative here!”

Understanding the Dynamics of Staff Retention

Research has shown that employees start thinking about leaving before they actually decide and act on it. This is hardly a surprise to anyone. But the process of people starting to think about leaving is worth addressing because this starting point creates problems in the work-place before an employee resigns.

How to deal with return-to-work pushback

Apple’s recent remote-work flap serves as a warning to other companies eager to get employees back into the office. The author explains how to navigate this difficult limbo period with empathy, flexibility, and clarity.

Should we focus on ‘mental health’ in the workplace?

As a result of the pandemic, major social changes occurred in 2020: “stay-at-home” orders, tens of millions of workers shifted to working from home, children were educated remotely, we were required to maintain social distance from one another (and cover our faces with masks).  Family and community relationships were hindered. The practical consequences? Isolation. Dramatic changes in daily life routines. Uncertainty.

The Relationship Between the DISC Personality Assessment and the 5 Languages of Appreciation

The DISC personality assessment is a tool that is widely used in the workplace to help individuals gain a better sense of themselves and others’ personality style in interpersonal situations. Industrial psychologist Walter Clarke developed a behavioral assessment tool based on the theory of psychologist William Marston.

3 Easy Ways to Show Appreciation in Your Day-to-Day Work Life

With everything going on in the office, it can be easy to forget to stop and appreciate your team members and coworkers, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay. Workplace appreciation is critical to avoiding a toxic workplace.

The following three tips are easy ways to make appreciation part of your busy workplace’s culture:

Build a Positive Relationship, No Matter Who You Report To

In the past, an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor was found to be one of the most influential factors on whether or not the employee enjoyed their job. However, this dynamic has changed somewhat. Jared Lindzon, in this article about change and work, spoke to analyst Josh Bersin who says, “Most companies, even big companies, are much less hierarchal and much less top-down in their execution than they used to be. Leaders are finding that they have to be more inspirational, they have to be more collaborative.”

Two Major Misconceptions Leaders Hold

Recently, the emphasis has been on employee recognition, and has included published materials, seminars and commitments by companiest to help leaders and managers recognize their team members for work well done. In fact, experts in human resource management estimate that 90 percent of all U.S. businesses and organizations have some form of employee recognition program.

How to Deal With Toxic High Achievers

How do you handle an employee who’s a top performer but toxic to everyone around them? It can be a tough combination, but it isn’t all that uncommon. In fact, it’s often partly because certain personalities excel at their jobs–and know it–that they become so difficult to work with. Needless to say, these “toxic achievers” pose a serious dilemma for business owners, managers, and colleagues. On the one hand, they get the job done–quickly and usually better than their peers. They look great on paper. But they cause problems in the way they interact with others. They’re arrogant, prone to starting conflicts, and tend to push for personal exceptions to company policies. So what do you do?

Sincere Appreciation Is the Magic Ingredient for Good Morale

Staff turnover is one of the most non-productive business expenses. The loss of productivity, relational damage with customers and vendors, negative impact on staff morale and additional training time all create significant costs for companies.

Viewing Generational Differences Through a Cross-Cultural Lens

As I work with organizations across the country, the issue of understanding, leading, and working with employees from different generations continues to be one of the most common challenges leaders mention to me. Part of this problem stems from intergenerational communication issues. Research reveals that 40% of Millennial employees say that Baby Boomers are more guarded with their communication. Nearly the same number of Boomers say that Millennials are often too brash and opinionated.

Employee Engagement Isn’t Really the Goal

Employee engagement has become a core concept in human resource management – and rightfully so. Numerous research studies have demonstrated positive results for organizations when employee engagement is high – reduced staff turnover, increased productivity, improved customer ratings.   However, I want to propose to you that employee engagement isn’t really what you want to focus on. Because if you focus primarily on employee engagement, you will likely “miss the target.”   Why? Because employee engagement isn’t a behavior or even an attitude. Employee engagement is a result that flows from other targeted behaviors.      Let me give you an example from daily life. A lot of us, myself included, often want to lose weight. We want to weigh less than we do now. But that is not really our true goal – just to weigh less.

Are You too Busy to Learn How to Overcome Busyness?

I grew up in a conservative Midwestern family and within the context of a family-owned business. Cussing was not acceptable, but one four-letter word was used. The worst thing you could be was LAZY. Everyone needed to be doing something or LOOK like you were being productive. While this has proven to serve me well professionally (I have co-authored three books and authored one, one of which has sold nearly 300,000 copies), I developed a life habit of keeping busy which has NOT been helpful to me personally.

Do Remote Employees Want to be Shown Appreciation Differently?

Despite the evidence that appreciation is both desired and beneficial to both employees and businesses, not everyone likes to be shown appreciation in the same ways.   We have found that identifying an individual’s preferred language of appreciation is key to “hit the mark” and not waste time and energy doing something not valued by the recipient. Determining what type of appreciation colleagues want can be discovered by having team members take an assessment to identify both their preferred language of appreciation, as well as the specific actions meaningful to them.

Do Millennials Want to be Shown Appreciation Differently?

The workforce is changing rapidly, with the number of millennial employees expected to surpass baby boomers (individuals in their late 50s and older) by 2019 and they will comprise nearly half of the total working population by 2020. Organizational leaders and HR professionals affirm knowing and understanding your employees is critical in order to have (and keep) an effective workforce, thus, distinguishing and addressing the differences between employees of different age groups is important.

Communicating Appreciation Effectively When You Manage Large Groups

When I am conducting an Appreciation at Work training session with a workgroup, a common comment and question is similar to what Jack, a manager at a senior care living center, asked: “I ‘get’ the concept of communicating appreciation to my team and the need to make it personal and individualized.  But I have team members who report to me that I rarely see.

Why Appreciating Your Team Is Good for Business

Most entrepreneurs are good at seeing opportunities and finding ways to meet needs in the marketplace. Similarly, successful leaders are adept at creating value, managing costs, and understanding their target markets. But many leaders lose sight of the #1 asset of their business and the various ways that asset can be neglected and eventually lost. That asset? Team members.