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Jan 26
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maintain mental health at the workplace

6 Ways You Can Maintain Mental Health In The Workplace & Why It’s Important

By Employer

Maintaining mental health in the workplace is an essential component of business success. Employees with sound mental health tend to be more productive, focused, and engaged in their work.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in five adults experiences a mental health diagnosis each year. A variety of factors, including trauma, stress and anxiety, can cause this.

While mental health is a topic often overlooked in the workplace, businesses need to understand how to recognize signs of mental health problems in their employees and provide support when needed. By doing so, companies can ensure that their employees remain healthy and productive while contributing to a positive work environment.

Benefits Of A Mentally Healthy Workforce

Employees with poor mental health often have difficulty completing tasks in the workplace. They may be less productive and exhibit diminished interest in their work. Workplace injuries and accidents caused by the inability to focus due to stress can also grow in numbers because of stress and mental health issues. 

Promoting mental health in the workplace can be beneficial for both employers and employees. It makes economic sense because it can result in the following:

  1. Increased productivity rates
  2. Lower rates of absenteeism
  3. higher-quality work and creativity
  4. Improved employee engagement
  5. Better relationships between employees and leadership
  6. Improved relationships with the clients 
  7. Increased inclusiveness

How To Promote Mental Health In The Workplace

A healthy work environment should give employees the resources they need to feel supported, such as access to mental health professionals, flexible hours, and clear communication channels. It should also promote an open dialogue between employers and employees, allowing them to discuss issues openly without fear of retribution or judgment. 

By implementing these activities, companies can help employees manage stress, build resilience, and create a workplace culture of support and understanding. This will enable employees to be more productive and engaged while improving overall job satisfaction.

1. Create Health and Safety Workplace Guidelines 

Developing a healthy workplace environment is a multi-step process that begins with establishing and enforcing policies and practices that prevent, identify, support and rehabilitate employees who experience distress, burnout, substance abuse or other mental health concerns.

 2. Make Mental Health Services Accessible

The World Health Organization has found that every dollar invested in mental health treatment returns $4 in improved health and productivity. That means that investing in your employees’ mental health can have a significant return on investment.

You are responsible for your employees’ mental health as a business owner.

It’s about more than just providing access to the proper care and support—it’s also about making sure that they know how important it is to take care of themselves.

Your team will be more productive if they feel healthy and well-rested, so it makes sense that investing in their mental health can help you make more money!

3. Encourage Employees to Take Time Off

Taking days off can be more difficult for some jobs/organizations than others. Encouraging employees to take days off and making the process easier will prevent burnout.

For example, consider adding mental health days or letting employees know that sick time can be used when they are “sick.” If your policies demand a doctor’s note for an absence. For example, that could create additional challenges for employees who may be fearful of the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

4. Build a Positive Work Environment

Creating a positive work environment is a great way to improve mental health in the workplace. Here are ways you can implement to improve the workplace environment.

  • Conducting regular check-ins
  • Prioritizing onboarding new hires
  • Developing a solid workplace culture
  • Understanding that every employee has different accommodations and needs. For example, some employees would require a different work environment to focus
  • Encouraging team collaboration and team-building activities
  • Normalizing conversations about mental health within the workplace
  • Creating a work environment that encourages open and honest communication
  • Understanding how to identify and prevent potential workplace-related emotional triggers
  • Promoting work-life balance by implementing flexible schedules and work-from-home opportunities

5. Take Steps to Support Diverse Employee Groups

People from minority or diverse groups are statistically shown to experience mental health symptoms at higher rates and face more barriers when seeking mental health. 

Taking steps to acknowledge diverse groups and support them in the workplace is essential to achieve mental health equity for the overall mental health of the workplace.

6. Offer Flexibility

Rigidity can have a negative impact on mental health at work by increasing stress on your team. Finding ways to make employment more flexible can significantly improve workplace mental health. Some opportunities to make working for your organization more flexible include:

  • Offering virtual or hybrid is the new normal
  • Making project deadlines more flexible
  • Adopting the right to disconnect policy
  • Instituting days with no meetings
  • Checking in with employees about their preferred working style and accommodating positions to suit them

Employers should make sure that they are providing resources and support for their employees when it comes to mental health. Some ways to promote it include giving access to counselling services, offering flexible working hours, or simply creating an open dialogue where employees feel comfortable discussing their struggles. Taking these steps will benefit not only the individual but also the organization as a whole.

This is a part of #BellLetsTalkDay, an initiative launched by BELL, one of Career Edge’s partners. For more mental health resources, visit this website.

Dec 12
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5 Ways to Improve your Hybrid Company Culture

By Employer

The recent shift to remote work has fundamentally changed how many companies operate. While working from home has its benefits, it can also create challenges when it comes to maintaining a positive and productive hybrid company culture. Here are some ways to maintain a positive hybrid work culture.

Read more: What is Company Culture and How to Implement it

1- Prioritize clear and consistent communication

To improve culture in a hybrid work environment, is to prioritize clear and consistent communication. This means making sure that all employees, whether they are working in the office or from home, are kept up-to-date on important information and have access to the resources they need to do their jobs effectively. This can be achieved through regular check-ins, company-wide updates, and open lines of communication.

2- Encourage collaboration and teamwork

Another key aspect of maintaining a strong company culture in a hybrid environment is fostering a sense of belonging and connection among employees. This can be achieved through regular team-building activities and opportunities for collaboration, both online and in-person.

Provide opportunities for employees to work together on projects and initiatives, even if they are not in the same physical location. This can be done through virtual team-building activities, online collaboration tools, and regular group meetings.

3- Support employee well-being

Hybrid work can be challenging and isolating. It can impact employees’ mental and physical health. Offer support to employees through employee assistance programs, mental health resources, and regular check-ins with managers and colleagues.

In addition, it’s essential to provide employees with the support they need to thrive in a hybrid work environment. This may include offering training on remote work tools and technologies, as well as creating policies and guidelines that help employees manage their work-life balance.

4- Recognize and reward employee contributions

Just because employees are not physically present in the office doesn’t mean their contributions should go unnoticed. Provide regular recognition and rewards for a job well done, such as through employee recognition programs or bonus opportunities.

5- Create a virtual community

Encourage employees to connect and engage with each other outside of work tasks through virtual social events, online forums, and other digital platforms. This can help foster a sense of belonging and connection among remote workers.

Ultimately, maintaining a strong and positive company culture in a hybrid environment requires a commitment from leadership and all employees to prioritize communication, connection, and support. By taking these steps, companies can create a collaborative and productive work environment that drives business success.

Aug 16
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company culture and how to implement it

What is Company Culture and How to Implement it

By Employer

This is a guest post by Tania Doshko 

You probably heard about company culture, organizational culture, workplace or corporate culture. It’s the same phenomenon going under different names. This notion has much to do with your business and its potential success.

Every company has a strategy, but where a strategy fails, a culture succeeds. When a company has a solid corporate culture, employees know how top management wants them to respond to situations, and employees believe that the expected response is the proper one. Employees know that they will be rewarded for demonstrating the company values.

Proper company culture ensures your company has this level of understanding between top management and employees. Indeed the process is a bit challenging and starts when you decide to set up a business. This article covers the basic concept of company culture and its proper functioning within a company.

What is Company Culture?

Simply put, it is what your company believes in practice. Therefore, it is often defined as a set of values, goals, attitudes, and practices that characterize the organization. 

Furthermore, company culture is a set of intangible, unwritten rules that drive employee behaviour throughout their professional life. Thus, your culture is how your employees work. Besides, all these traits make a business’s personality. 

Company culture influences all the company processes from top to bottom and considerably affects the company’s potential. As people tend to spend a more significant part of their lives at work, the workplace environment largely predetermines the quality of their work and professional life. If the employees work for a company with a strong company culture that aligns with their values and beliefs, they are more likely to work hard and remain with the company for a long time.

On the other hand, if employees get employed by companies sharing different values, the worst thing they can do is remain with the company and underperform. Furthermore, as company culture is difficult to define, many companies face difficulties maintaining consistency in their messages about the culture. 

Elements of a Solid Company Culture 

Undoubtedly each corporate culture is unique and encompasses many elements and factors. However, several elements are essential for every company’s culture despite company size or industry. To better understand the concept of corporate culture and be able to adjust it in correspondence to your business goals, it is essential to know its basic components and how they function in practice:

      1. Vision and values

The backbone of any corporate culture is the vision of how all these things will work for the company’s benefit. Values, in turn, predetermine the required competencies and behaviours for employees to cope with the tasks and work for the overall business goals. 

Together vision and values are the guidelines for employees and company leaders on behaving, interacting, and communicating in a workplace. 

       2. Practices and people

The people are your corporate culture carriers. In other words, your clients, prospects, and stakeholders will perceive your company culture via the people who represent it. Furthermore, the company values are of little importance if they are not enshrined in the practices. Thus, no company can build a coherent corporate culture if its values are not shared by the employees and are not turned into actions. 

        3. Narrative

Every company has a unique history. The essence of the company culture is the ability to communicate that story to the customers and craft it into a company narrative. When the elements and pieces of the company history are shaped into some objects and preserved over time, they become integral parts of the company culture. 

       4. Environment 

The environment where people work, interact with each other, and make critical decisions for the company’s benefit is a vital component of the company culture. Various geographical locations and workplace conditions bring some characteristic features to employees` communication and behaviour.

Why Does Company Culture Matter that much?

Company culture is more than just a set of values, missions, and corporate legends. It includes the elements that guide your company to success and motivate every person to do their best work. 

Thus the importance of company culture goes far beyond your office, from recruitment to workplace performance and a healthy work environment. Here are a few stats that support this statement and provide reliable evidence: 

  • A 2019 Glassdoor survey proves that most employees regard culture as more important than cash to ensure job satisfaction.
  • CultureIQ states that employees who work in a strong culture company feel like the atmosphere and overall mission are more precise.
  • 66% of job seekers consider a company’s culture and values the most important factor when considering career opportunities.
  • Companies with solid cultures boast 72% higher employee engagement rates than those with weak cultures.

A strong company culture works for the benefit of your business in many ways. These are just a few reasons proving its importance. However, they are good starting points to get you thinking about what your organization brings to the table. 

Factors that Shape a Company Culture

Now that we know company culture is a way of life for the employees and company management, let’s take a closer look at the factors that affect corporate culture and learn how to recognize them. 

● Recruitment and selection

Nothing is more important for the company’s well-being and the solidity of its culture than hiring the right employees. The future company’s success and development largely depend on whether the hired team members are motivated for continuous growth by their nature. 

● Leadership principles

How the leadership team runs the company directly influences employees’ policies, procedures, and rules. The values and philosophy guide and trickle down to the employees to bring the desired effect. 

● Business Nature

A company’s primary purpose, market, and critical business goals affect the employees’ behaviour considerably. If the company makes something meaningful via its products or services, it immediately reflects its culture and attitude to business dealings. 

● Company values and policies 

Employees are expected to develop values and qualities stipulated by the company policies. Thus, solid company culture should predetermine and outline the fundamental truths that serve as the foundation for beliefs and behaviours. 

● Rules

If you belong to some company and feel comfortable there, you share the company values and naturally follow the guidelines of the company management. While rules on safety and security are typically required, effective time management practices serve as a motivating element.  

● Clients and external interactions

Who you work with is essential for a sound working environment and solid company culture. The influence of clients and external company partners on the company culture is often overlooked, while these people directly affect the company and employees’ well-being. 

Qualities of a Great Organizational Culture

Successful cultures are those where employees have a clear sense of goals, an understanding of long-term and short-term goals, and the courage to speak up and share their ideas with others. Every company’s culture is different, and it is vital to preserve its uniqueness. However, some qualities shared by many corporate cultures help easily recognize a good one. Here are some of these qualities:

  1. Good communication
  2. Alignment
  3. Trust
  4. Appreciation
  5. Integrity
  6. Psychological safety
  7. Diversity
  8. Recognition
  9. Learning and growth opportunities
  10. Innovation 

Besides, fast and efficient delivery of services or goods is another necessary evidence of the company’s success. Business performance is similar to the work of a well-oiled mechanism. To ensure all the processes function well and the employees do not get stressed out, efficient time management should be harmoniously incorporated into the company culture. 

The overall business success largely depends on the efficiency of every employee within the company. If you want to grow your business performance exponentially, you need your employees to develop a natural sense of time and effort value. 

Tips for Establishing a good Company Culture

Believe it or not, companies that find themselves at the top of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work provide not only high-quality products or services but foster a company culture that inspires innovation, dedication, and enthusiasm among their employees.

Furthermore, a Glassdoor study found that 56% of workers ranked a strong workplace culture as more important than salary. Thus, working on solid company culture is no longer a trend but a must for those aiming for success. Here are a people of simple tips on where to start building one for your business. 

      1. Define your values

People like to believe they are a part of something meaningful. Thus, a crucial role of solid company culture is to provide the employees with a strong feeling of affiliation to a common purpose.

In other words, your employees need to feel good about what they do. Therefore, defining and articulating your company’s core values is extremely important. Your value statement should represent your vision for what you believe your company should portray.

      2. Focus on employee wellness

Creating a great company culture with unhappy and unhealthy employees will be impossible. For everything to work out as you intend, your team members should be physically, mentally, and emotionally at their best.

For this purpose: 

  • Encourage employees to use all of their allotted vacation days fully.
  • Offer access to mental health care.
  • Support an open-door policy with supervisors and managers.
  • Schedule breaks during the workday.

According to Drtracygapin.com, companies with highly successful health and productivity initiatives generate 11% more revenue per employee, 1.8 fewer days absent per employee per year, and 28% higher shareholder returns.

      3. Hire the right people

The people you hire have a direct impact on your business success. Furthermore, these people must fit the existing company culture and help make it even more solid. Therefore, make sure you hire not solemnly based on need but a culture fit as well. 

Make sure your hiring process compliment and supports your company culture: 

A diverse workforce from different age groups and backgrounds means each person brings their point of view to the table. This means more creative and effective decisions are made. 

      4. Build workplace relationships

Fostering a positive and solid company culture also means building healthy workplace relationships. If your employees’ interaction is limited and there is no effective communication within the team, culture growth is impossible. 

Companies with effective programs for communication and support are 3.5 times more likely to beat out their rivals, while well-informed employees outperformed their peers by 77%. Therefore, one of your key goals is to create numerous opportunities for healthy social interaction as part of your culture building. 

      5. Listen more

The most simple and, at the time, the most efficient way to build a good company culture is to be a good listener. Thus, according to CultureIQ, 86% of employees felt senior management listened to them in a healthy cultural environment, in contrast to 70% without a great culture.

Ask for feedback, whether it’s about the company’s values, business decisions, or a coffee brand for your office. Making sure your employees’ voices are heard is a top priority in a race for solid company culture. 

Final thoughts 

Undoubtedly there is no set blueprint for a successful company and a high-performing company culture, as each business is unique. However, having several above features associated with your corporate culture means you are moving in the right direction. 

The company culture is the only truly unique identifier of a company. Like a fingerprint, a solid organizational culture can differentiate a business from its competitors in the mind of its stakeholders. It’s the DNA that preserves the experience and knowledge through the years and is a natural guide for the future activities of your company. The best people always want to work for the best companies. A solid culture that goes far beyond the company office is the only true feature of a promising company. 

About the author: Tania Doshko is a motivated and avid content creator who believes in the power of quality writing for business success. She finds her inspiration in careful observations and amazement with the fastly developing world.

Jul 31
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leadership style quiz

Leadership Style Quiz for Team Members

By Employer

As a part of a team, you could get along with some leaders more than others. Ever wondered why?

That’s mainly because you might have a different or non-complimentary Leadership style.

As a team member, it’s crucial to understand which leadership style you work best under. This knowledge will empower you to communicate your preferences and collaborate more effectively with your leaders.

Discover the collective leadership style that drives your team’s success with our Leadership Style For Teams Quiz!

Understanding your preferred leadership dynamics can foster better collaboration, enhance communication, and maximize productivity.

In this quiz, you and your team members will answer a series of 17 questions, each offering five different answers. As your team participates, they’ll gain valuable insights into their leadership tendencies, helping them align their strengths for better teamwork.

The five main leadership styles are Authoritative Leadership, Democratic Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Laissez-faire Leadership, and Servant Leadership.

Learn more about the different leadership styles and how to match yours with leaders here.

Now let’s get to the fun part…

Please read each statement carefully and pick the closest statement you can relate to. Be honest with your answers, as this will help you better understand which leadership style you work best under.

Curious about your leader’s leadership style? Send them this leadership style quiz.

Jul 25
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leadership style leaders quiz

Leadership Style Quiz for Leaders

By Employer

Picture this: you’re a team leader, but for some reason, you work better with some members of your team than others. Some people fall into the trap of thinking some people could be lazy or micromanagers, but it all could be due to an incompatible leadership style.

So, what is your style?

Leadership comes in different forms, and understanding your preferred approach can be a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. Understanding your leadership style can determine your compatibility with your team members and leaders. A good leader will first identify their style, which can help them choose the right people for the team and also work better with existing members with different styles.

Whether you’re a decisive and goal-oriented leader or a collaborative and empowering force, this quiz will reveal the leadership style that resonates with you the most. The five main leadership styles are Authoritative Leadership, Democratic Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Laissez-faire Leadership, and Servant Leadership.

Learn more about the different leadership styles and how to match yours with different team members here.

Instead of wasting time holding grudges or trying to make sense of people in your team, take the following leadership style quiz to help you and your team members know your style and find ways to work together.

This engaging quiz is designed to help you gain valuable insights into your natural leadership tendencies.

Now, let’s get to the fun part…

Please read each statement carefully and pick the closest statement that you can relate to. Be honest with your answers, as this will help you better understand which leadership style you work best under.

Curious about your team’s preferred style? Send them this preferred leadership style quiz.

Jul 07
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hybrid work team

7 Challenges of Hybrid Work and How to Overcome Them

By Employer

Many organizations are switching to a hybrid model with no sign of returning to the good old 9-5, five days/week, any time soon. While the hybrid model has many benefits for the employee and the business. But it’s important to recognize hybrid work challenges, too, to be able to find a better structure and make it work. 

Below, we highlight the benefits and challenges of hybrid working and why it is set to become the norm for the future.

Benefits of Adopting a Hybrid Working Model 

Many organizations apply the hybrid working model since it provides a mix and match approach that offers multiple benefits. Every organization has their own reasons for adopting hybrid working, such as…

Focusing on Employee Well-being

Working from home, whether full or part-time, has become the norm. Many staff members have prioritized their well-being and family as a major perk. Employers have noticed a reduction in sick days and a boost in morale overall.

Reduced Overhead

Many companies have moved the office to smaller units, paying much less rent than previous larger office spaces.

For employees, a reduction in travel time and costs is a huge bonus, especially for those who spend half their working hours at home. 

Deliverables as a KPI

The older work model measured performance by assessing who sits most at their desks. But remote working removes the physical element. 

Performance KPIs can be measured now by delivery times and results. Hybrid work means that productivity is based on outcomes rather than behaviours, providing managers with a much clearer output.

Bigger Talent Pool

Hybrid work models opened the hiring criteria to be more inclusive than before. Job openings can now attract talented employees from far and wide, which wouldn’t be possible without the hybrid model. 

It also opened roles to candidates who require flexibility, due to childcare or other reasons. Companies can now hire the best talent with the chance to make their own working hours – which can also boost staff retention. 

Hybrid Work Challenges

Hybrid work can differ by team, department, or organization. Different roles come with varying levels of expectation for an on-site presence. 

Here are some of the most common hybrid work challenges and ways to address them to ensure that hybrid work becomes easier for everyone.

1. Employee Burnout 

Working from home can positively impact employees. Many feel more productive and refreshed without having to commute. 

In an office, taking breaks for a chat and enjoying the hour lunch break is part of the day. Meanwhile, At home, working through breaks or eating lunch in front of the computer is tempting. Overworking is a reality many faces as it can be hard to switch off at the end of the day, and the boundaries between work and home slowly disappear. 

A recent study on employee engagement found that 80% of leaders reported that a hybrid working environment was exhausting for employees – and employees said that hybrid was more demanding than either full-time remote or full-time in-office.

Solution

  • Managers and leaders must create opportunities for team members to discuss their health and well-being. This could be during one-on-one check-ins, virtual team coffee breaks, or even sessions with external wellness experts. 
  • Organizations must ensure managers have the skills to identify and support individuals struggling with mental health. Managers should not feel responsible for their team’s mental health (that’s for individual team members), but managers must know how to spot issues and what to say.
  • One of the core benefits of hybrid working is allowing employees to work wherever best suits their needs by promoting flexibility.

2. Office Space and Overhead

Handling employee costs and expenses with hybrid work isn’t quite as straightforward as fully in-house employees. For instance, keeping a dedicated office with all its perks could waste resources. 

Solution: 

Hybrid organizations must ensure that whatever office space they retain gives them the greatest ROI.

One of your best options is sharing an office space with another company. If you want to keep your offices, you can look into becoming more distributed with several smaller local offices instead of a big central office.

Deloitte is an example of companies that reduced its office space after Covid.

3- Employee Inequality 

There could be inequality in the hybrid workplace due to different reasons.

Home Office

Not everyone can work remotely. It can be not easy working from home if you don’t have a dedicated space or home office, so companies can’t ensure equality.

Recognition

Hybrid work can create an uneven playing field, where employees in the office more than others are more likely to get recognition and promotions. Otherwise, employees who spend most of their time working remotely could feel isolated from conversations and decisions because they’re not physically in the office. 

The problem of proximity bias is real and can cause other hybrid work challenges that can cause burnout, frustration, and resentment. 

According to recent statistics, people working from home were 38% less likely to receive a bonus than those working in the office.

Solution

  • Managers must ensure equality between remote and in-person performance. Without equality, the hybrid model will start to fail as employees recognize the link between being in the office and their professional success.
  • Opportunities for growth and recognition must be available to everyone, regardless of how they work. Organizations need to balance the experience for all workers and remember to offer everyone a choice. 
  • It’s vital that all employees feel included at work. Plan company events with hybrid top of mind, potentially combining more significant in-person get-togethers.

4. Communication Glitches

Poor communication slows workflow, leaving workers confused or missing out on important information. But achieving effective communication across distances can be a challenge. 

A lack of open communication hurts employee morale. Communication challenges in the hybrid workplace usually exist when there isn’t an agreed-upon policy or communication style.

Solution

  • Hybrid businesses must establish new communication channels to ensure important information is received and understood by those who need it. When the right channels and structures are found, communication is never disruptive. 
  • All formal communication should be delivered in person, written, and recorded so employees can receive the messages.
  • A few events require employees to attend in person. Creating an open connection between office-based and remote workers is essential for events. 
  • Find creative solutions to encourage team communication, such as brainstorming solutions together. Looping employees into the brainstorming process shows that you value input and collaboration. 

 5. Lack of Defined Hybrid Work Policies

A hybrid work is not a one-size-fits-all. It could be choosing which days of the week to work from home: Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday. This means weekly meetings and client presentations can be scheduled for those days. 

It can mean lots of things, creating room for miscommunication and frustration. Organizations need clear communication on hybrid policies.

Solution

For a hybrid model to work, you need a strong policy. This can vary for different companies, but generally, it involves re-onboarding your entire team. Setting clear expectations and investing in emotional connection as soon as possible is crucial. 

Including employees in developing your hybrid policy will ensure their retention. As their feedback, so the organization would know what works for them.

6. Losing Culture 

Organizational culture happens when employees enjoy the perks of working, communicating and attending in-person events. But as your organization moves to hybrid, you must build and maintain a remote-compatible culture by retaining a positive workplace culture and keeping teams connected, whether at home or in the office.   

Almost 66% of workers say that having friends in the workplace makes their job more enjoyable. A lack of personal relationships can also manifest in feelings of isolation and loneliness.

According to McKinsey, having small moments of engagement among your team is key to creating a positive work culture. Workers who have the opportunity to make connections through teamwork, mentorship, and brainstorming form deeper relationships with their colleagues and achieve higher productivity levels.

Solution

  • Companies that want to continue attracting and retaining top talent must work harder to maintain remote-compatible cultures. This will improve productivity and drive stronger business outcomes.
  • Introduce regular social interactions, both on-site and virtual. For existing employees, encourage interacting through Slack or Teams channels. Groups discussing work-related topics or interests outside work like hobbies or sports to better get to know one another lay the foundation for lasting friendships.
  • Plan a virtual meet-and-greet for new employees. Plan an easier and seamless onboarding process by assigning a work buddy to provide introductions and teach them how to log into different systems or use work tools and techniques.
  • Evaluate your strategies by asking employers for feedback. Check-in with employees continually to determine what’s working and isn’t.

7. Management and Collaboration

To successfully navigate the challenges of hybrid work, leaders need to have an agile mindset. 

Managing a Hybrid Team

Managing teams in different locations can be challenging, especially ensuring employees have the same opportunities. 

Management of hybrid employees can get tricky, both from the point of view of managers and employees. It can be tough for managers to properly do their job without in-person interaction and provide accurate feedback, collaboration, and work satisfaction.

If not executed carefully, hybrid working can lead to a misalignment between employees working in the office and those working remotely. 

Solution

  • One of the main appeals of a hybrid model is the balance between autonomy and collaboration. Promoting a culture of trust is essential to managing hybrid employees.
  • Frequent communication through well-established channels is also key. It greatly helps if you have well-thought-out management tools. 

Traditional Workplace Bias

A hybrid work environment might not be a preference (or even ridiculed) by managers and employees soaked in traditional office culture.

Remote employees can pick up on these resentment feelings, adding to the sense of isolation and lack of connection with the on-site team.

While many studies show that the average remote employee worked 1.4 more days every month (16.8 more days annually) than those working in the office, some managers still question the validity of hybrid work. 

Solution

  • Team leaders and managers must have regular check-ins and catch-ups with their employees. Not only to connect on work progress but also to guide professional development and understand employees’ stress levels.
  • For the successful execution and normalization of hybrid work, those misconceptions must end. Leaders must accept the value of their hybrid workforce and its contribution. Managers must learn to value everyone’s contributions equally. 

Establishing Collaboration and Connection

Collaboration is key to a quality and successful hybrid team. Leaders must find a way to re-establish a sense of collaboration across a distance.

Solution

One way to foster deep connections is through events and activities. Those can create memorable moments and reinforce employee bonds away from their usual working location and schedule.

Want to hire remote or hybrid candidates, start today!

Jun 01
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happy team career edge retention

8 Proven Employee Retention Strategies

By Employer

Picture this; your top employee quits out of the blue. You try to keep them, but they got an unmatched offer. 

Now, you have to rely on the remaining staff to take on more responsibility while searching for a replacement. The rest of the team feels overwhelmed, their morale is not the best, and they probably think about leaving.

The good news is that almost two-thirds of employee departures are preventable. 

So before losing another top performer, it’s time to revisit your employee retention strategies to ensure your business provides job satisfaction and employee retention. 

76% of workers want to look for a new job. In 2021, Visier’s research reported that the turnover rate was 25%.

You might be asking, what makes employees stay?

Employee retention should always be a priority—having comprehensive employee retention strategies can play an important role in attracting and retaining employees and reducing turnover and all its costs. Here are some of the ways to do that…

1. Create Professional Development Opportunities

Losing employees due to no or minimal learning or development opportunities is one of the worst kinds of employee turnover.

Because the best employees want to advance in their careers, they are motivated by challenging work and the potential of promotions. Employees who remain stagnant for an extended period are more likely to leave an organization.

94% of employees surveyed by LinkedIn said they’d stay longer at a company if it invested in their professional development. 

Here is how to develop effective learning and growth strategies:

  • Understand the learning preferences of your employees
  • Provide tuition assistance: support your employees by subsidizing their education when possible.
  • Support employees build upon their skills through stretch assignments, cross-training, and seminars.
  • Mentor employees to help them reach their full potential.

2. Ensure that Employees are Appreciated and Recognized

According to one Gallup poll, 66% of employees say they would quit their job if they felt unappreciated. Only 49% of exiting employees said they felt valued by their leaders.

Some managers don’t show gratitude, which leaves employees feeling underappreciated. In fact, employees are more than twice as likely to experience burnout when they feel unappreciated. 

Some managers would make common mistakes when trying to improve recognition, including:

  • Going around at the end of each day to thank everyone on the team one by one
  • Going from never thanking anyone to suddenly thanking everyone for everything
  • Delivering thank-yous followed by a negative comment

Tips to improve employee appreciation

  • Build a culture of recognition by celebrating and rewarding behaviours and going above and beyond.
  • Present the recognition publicly during events or on internal networks that allow you to broadcast a coworker’s accomplishments.
  • Create annual awards where recognized employees are honoured by their peers and senior management.
  • Show recognition and appreciation to employees in other ways (such as bonuses, promotions, more time off, etc.) to demonstrate your respect and appreciation for hard-working team members.

3. Prevent Burnout

A study from Morneau Shepell reported that 40% of managers and 34% of employees suffer from “extreme stress.” Researchers from Harvard and Stanford found that working for long hours increases life expectancy by roughly 20%. 

Burnout from work is experienced by 74% of employees. But overworking employees is a short-term strategy that doesn’t have a lot of long-term gains. Research shows that after a certain point, productivity declines every additional hour. Moreover, overworked employees tend to fall ill more and make expensive mistakes. Not to mention that it hurts job satisfaction over time and affects the company’s recruitment and retention costs.

Actionable strategies to prevent employee burnout

  • Facilitate an open manager-direct dialogue for workers to freely speak about their workload and request the support they need it
  • Encourage workers to take time off
  • Increase headcount or radically prioritize tasks

4. Create Flexible Working Arrangements

After Covid and having to work remotely, employees realized that they could eliminate one of the biggest pain points of the job—commuting into the office, especially when people are working from home, has proven to be as productive as those who remain at the office. 

Employees who are given ample growth and flexibility are 4x less likely to become a retention risk. Employee turnover statistics: 23% of workers have left their job due to a bad commute.

A few actionable strategies to provide flexibility in the workplace include:

  • Provide remote and hybrid options; business leaders should promote remote working and flexible hours, especially if your teamwork in terms of deliverables.
  • Consider conditional flexibility. This means the option to work from the office one to two days a week. Flexible hours allow workers to create a schedule that works for them. 
  • Offer flexibility in how employees work, by giving your team autonomy and eliminating micromanagement.

5. Offer a Fair Compensation

If your employees are putting in the full effort but feel like their pay is not fair or not consistent with the industry benchmarks, they’re likely to entertain offers from another employer who is happy to pay them more.  

A recent Glassdoor investigation found that 45% of employees who resign have done so as they were not satisfied with their salaries.

Competitive pay is more than just the paycheck; it also includes the benefits offered to employees that contribute to their total compensation—bonuses, healthcare coverage, paid parental leave, life/disability insurance, paid time off, and retirement benefits. 

Great benefits make employees feel valued, supported, cared for, and less likely to look elsewhere. 

6. Prioritize EDI 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become an expectation in the modern workplace. Managers should always think of ways to make the workplace more inclusive by eliminating bias and barriers to diversity. Leaders need to consider each employee individually and create a work environment that supports everyone’s unique needs. As employees feel seen and included, they’ll have more initiative to stay. In addition to the retention benefits, your business will also reap many other EDI benefits.

7. Communicate Openly 

Create a culture where employees can talk and feel connected enough to do their jobs well. Managers should regularly check in with employees to address issues, answer questions, and discuss future career goals. 

Employees’ insights can also provide you with the tools to take strategic, evidence-based action and improve the employee experience and retention. 

An actionable employee communication plan includes

  • Employee surveys to understand the employee experience, perception, and feedback. 
  • Creating a safe space for your team to share their honest opinion. 
  • Exit interviews and surveys to help leaders understand why employees leave
  • Having two-way feedback where managers can uncover areas of improvement for themselves and grow in their role
  • Getting insights from consultants and coaches to assess the work environment.

8. Enhance the Onboarding Process

Imagine going through an expensive recruiting of a new talent only to lose them within the first two months.

Losing a new employee potentially points to a poor onboarding process. An HR research found that 76% of workplaces aren’t onboarding their new hires properly, while only 47% believed their onboarding program effectively retained new employees.

Actionable tips to improve onboarding

Create a program that’s about integrating new hires into the company culture. Your onboarding process should: 

  • Clarify job expectations
  • Set employees up for success
  • Explain the company’s policies and procedures
  • Outline company culture
  • Introduce the new hire to their team and other teams
  • Give the new employee a chance to ask questions when they arise. 

This process can take up to a year to ensure your employees are fully immersed and comfortable with the organization. A strong onboarding plan can help employees feel connected faster, decreasing their likelihood of second-guessing their decision to join your organization. 

 

While money can retain people, it’s not the only way to retain employees. There is more to keeping employees than just paying more; in many cases, you just may need to pay attention.

Keeping your current employees happy and improving job satisfaction is the smartest employee retention strategy.

Oct 22
Love1

Virtual Trade Show Event for Diversifying Supply Chains & Celebrating Inclusivity

By Employer

This year, the OCC is using its convening power to address the equity gap in business with the Business Diversity Economic Expo, a business to business virtual trade show and networking event, putting a spotlight on businesses which are Black-owned, Indigenous-owned, People of Colour-owned, Women-owned, LGBTQ2+-owned, and businesses owned by People with Disabilities.  The OCC is inviting procurement officers and supply chain leaders from large private sector, public sector and academic institutions to attend and meet with business owners – and we’re excited to share that Career Edge will be exhibiting at the Business Diversity Economic Expo 2020 on October 22, October 28 and November 17! Read More

Oct 08
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stop celebrating diversity

It’s Time to Stop Celebrating Diversity

By Diversity and Inclusion, Employer

We need to stop celebrating diversity in the workplace. Yes, you read that right – we need to stop celebrating diversity. Here is why – diversity in the workplace is powerful, influential, and engaging…but only if we can utilize it correctly. If we do not use the skills and perspectives and experiences our diverse teams offer to create better products and services, then our diversity becomes a vanity statistic; a data point that makes us feel better and has no real impact.

So, how can we tap into diversity? Read More

Sep 02
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work life balance

Work-Life Balance Tips (as told by Career Edge staff)

By Workplace Culture
After having to work remotely for many months now, finding a healthy work-life balance can seem difficult. And for the parents out there who are in the swing of the back-to-school season and thinking about how to manage your kids’ remote learning, a healthy work-life balance can seem downright impossible.

But that doesn’t make it any less vital – to decrease stress, to avoid burnout, to strengthen mental and physical health, and so much more.

So, Career Edge’s very own staff are offering their own tried and true tips and techniques to those who are finding it a challenge keeping a healthy work-life balance right now. Read More

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