Resources

Did the Going Get Tough? Keep Employees Engaged!

We’ve recently spoken with a few clients who, unfortunately due to economic difficulties, have had to lay off some of their workforce. Now, they feel as though the remaining staff is not confident about their future in the company, and as a result, have become disengaged. This turned into a great opportunity for us to discuss ways to engage employees during difficult times.

Engaging employees after a reduction in force (RIF) was a hot topic about three years ago, at the height of the economic recession. Unfortunately, many businesses are still suffering the effects of the recession. After doing a little research in a few blogs, websites, and discussion forums, I compiled some advice and steps that you, as leaders of your company, can take to ensure that employees feel secure and engaged. Here, I will outline how to use Kudos in conjunction with the three steps to dealing with a difficult time suggested by Leadership Beyond Limits, LLC: Healing, Hope, and Health.

Five Quick Tips for Building Team Communication - Don’t Play Telephone!

Do you remember playing ‘Telephone’ when you were little? A message was passed down the line, whispered from person to person, and by the time it reached the end, the message was so different from the original that it had everyone giggling hysterically.

In the corporate world, trying to communicate with an enormous team can be exactly like playing Telephone... Only most of the time, it’s a lot less funny, and a lot more damaging.

So, how do you streamline communication? How do you connect the disconnected?

ReCOGnition: Now That’s Engaging!

We’re always curious to know how our clients use Kudos to increase employee engagement in their organization. Kudos is a simple yet comprehensive recognition platform that allows users to create their own programs to engage and reward their colleagues. We encourage all our clients to get creative and Thank Different!

A great way to get employees excited about Kudos, is to start off the program with a bang! Organize a fun team activity to explain the purpose of the program, and any rewards associated with it. This will get the team excited and help them understand how sending kudos helps build a culture or appreciation. Kicking it off with the right foot is key to a successful recognition program! Columbia Orthopaedic Group did just that! They implemented the Kudos program in their organization with a fun activity that involved all their employees!

Employee Motivation is Essential for Success

 Employee motivation is the elusive Holy Grail for most businesses. The truth of the matter is most organizations and leaders do not know how to motivate their teams in a consistent fashion. They try to ply people with rewards if they achieve goals, they offer sage advice to try and inspire team members and they try to lead by example. They may see short burst of productivity only to have the team fall right back into their normal routines and level of efforts.

We all think we want to create employee motivation but what we are really talking about is the desire to create employee engagement. You motivate people to excel in short bursts, to overcome challenges or to reach a specific goal but we engage to create a culture that transcends extrinsic motivations. When you nurture and develop trust and passion for the company’s vision and goals, you engage team members based on their intrinsic motivation.