Make Your Workplace More Hybrid Friendly For 2022

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Make Your Workplace More Hybrid Friendly For 2022Let’s set the scene.

After spending months on end working at home throughout the various lockdowns, your employees might finally be coming back into the office with a different mindset. The pandemic has ushered in a change to workplace expectations and, predominantly, a successful transition towards remote working.

Looking ahead to 2022, employees are keen to carry on their work in a more flexible manner, dividing their working week between spending time at home and in the office.

At first, you – as their employer – think this is a great idea, getting staff back inside and gradually reintroducing them into office life. But then, over time, you start to notice difficulties and issues starting to arise with this remote hybrid working setup.

You question what you can do to resolve it and start to grow increasingly concerned at how much it will cost – both financially and morally – to set up the hybrid working arrangement your office requires.

You turn to the web for answers and it is that which brings you here. Well, we have some good news – we are here to help.

Hello hybrid working

If the above situation sounds familiar, don’t worry.

From making a few technological upgrades here and there to simply learning to trust your hybrid staff, there are a number of ways you can create a workplace that is as hybrid-friendly as possible.

Listed below are just a few ideas to get you started:

1. Consider investing in training

Hybrid working is still a new concept to a lot of employers so there is no shame in consulting an expert for their help.

Rather than you going for a gung-ho, trial-and-error type approach, hybrid management training coursesare designed to provide you with all the skills you need to not only firmly understand what hybrid working is but, more importantly, how to prioritise your affiliated workers.

Plus, with the world of work looking like it’s heading towards remote working for the long term, investing early could be a great port of call, allowing you to stay ahead of the competition, attract better employees and establish a much sounder workplace environment.

2. Prioritise communication

When the coronavirus pandemic first struck, many business owners and managers scrambled to find new ways of effectively communicating important information both internally and externally.

Whether it be via Slack, email, Zoom calls or some other form of messaging service, it’s important to continue to share information in this way so that nobody – especially your hybrid workers – feel like they’re being excluded.

If anything, you should try to over-communicate at every opportunity and make every effort to maintain online meetings as you normally would have. That way, you will help ensure all of your workers receive the information at the same time, creating a much more spirited working atmosphere.

3. Re-consider your benefits package

For hybrid workers, many of the perks of working in the office are often missed out on. So, from cakes in the canteen to in-house gym memberships, whatever your current benefits package may be, it could be worth revising it to make it more appealing to hybrid workers.

Say, for example, you have employees on your books who work miles away from the office and would struggle to commute in and out on a regular basis. By subsidising a gym membership cost in their local area instead, or providing them with the opportunity to come to you with their ideas, this could make a big difference to both their happiness in the role and their level of productivity.

4. Consider the mental health ramifications

Working remotely can be a challenging experience, especially for the more extroverted of your employees. Therefore, it’s important to normalise discussions around how hybrid working feels, providing your employees with a platform to open up and, ultimately, manage their mental health.

Whether it be through setting up a virtual meditation room, a social hangout space or simply hosting regular one-to-one meetings with your staff, the more you can do to demonstrate to your hybrid workers that they’re in your mind as much as your in-office workers, the harder they are likely to work as a result.

5. Collaborate and keep everyone online

The foundation of any successful hybrid working team is having consistent collaboration between employees. Without it, staff can quickly start to feel undervalued and seek fresh opportunities where they will be more appreciated.

Therefore, to prevent this from happening in your workplace, make sure to always keep your hybrid workers in your way of thinking, always listening to their ideas even when they can’t attend the in-office meetings.

What’s more, to encourage this concept of sharing ideas even further, make sure everyone is always online and visible at the same time as one another.

Just because your in-office workers will have their colleagues to interact in person with, hybrid workers may feel a little left out in the cold without having the opportunity to freely communicate with their fellow colleagues online.

Future workplace trends

The coronavirus pandemic has forever changed the world of work, not only leading to questions over whether the traditional five day working week is still viable but also steamrolling the transition towards remote and hybrid working.

While it still seems very much a new workplace trend, looking ahead to 2022 and beyond, hybrid working appears to be here to stay. Therefore, the more you can do to ensure your office is set up correctly and your staff’s needs are met, the more productive and hybrid-friendly your business will be in the future.

Rewarding Your Team Members When They Do A Great Job

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Rewarding Your Team Members When They Do A Great Job

Working hard is an important part of life for a lot of people. It’s common for people to dedicate a lot of time and energy to their job, but it can be a challenge to do this when you don’t feel like you are getting enough back. Business owners work hard because they can see the results of their work, but those who work for someone else don’t always get this benefit. So, how should you show your employees that they are doing a great job? Let’s find out.

Verbal Rewards

Telling someone that they have done a good job is one of the best ways to encourage them to continue working hard. Many bosses neglect their employees’ needs in this area, and it is very common for workspaces to lack this entirely. Simply taking a minute to let someone know that you are very happy with their work can make them feel great. Of course, though, you need to make sure that this is spread equally.

Development Plans

Development plans give your employees the chance to assess their own work and come to conclusions on their own. You will work with them to build their plan, but they will be responsible for putting it into action. While this can highlight the poor aspects of their work, it can also help to drive them to improve.

Awards & Incentives

Offering awards and incentives for good work is a great way to encourage people to work hard for you. Many companies take this approach in the modern world, giving their team members custom medals to show them that they have done well. Different employees will respond better to different incentives, making it worth taking the time to experiment with this.

Group Rewards

Rewarding a single person is a good way to highlight their work, but whole teams often deserve recognition within a business. Giving group rewards, like meals and nights out, can be a great way to make your whole team work better together. Many companies take this approach in the modern world, but you have to make sure that those who do the most are recognized.

Free Time

Having free time during a workday can make life feel much better. You can’t let your team have time off all the time, but you can give them the chance to take longer breaks or even finish early when they work extremely hard. This can help to push them to work harder, as they will know that there is a chance that they can get out of work early.

As you can see, making sure that your employees feel rewarded for their hard work is easier than you might expect. Many companies work hard to give their team members the recognition they deserve, and this can have a very positive impact on your company’s productivity in the long run.

How to improve mental health and happiness at work

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Mental Health|How to improve mental health and happiness at workApproximately one in four people in the UK will have a mental health issue each year. These statistics alone should serve as a reminder of why it is so vital to take care of yourself and check up on those around you – we all need help now and again!

Last year, the government published a Thriving at Work study, which found that many workers with mental health issues experience stigma at work. This research was intended to ensure that employees receive the assistance they require in their communities and continue to succeed.

Employees who are satisfied in their jobs outperform the competition by 20% and salespeople that are happy close 37% more deals, giving you a significant advantage.

Here are a few things that Bulldog Digital Media does to keep its spirits high. This will be an excellent starting point if you want to enhance mental health at your workplace.

Introduce team days out

It’s normal for anyone to experience stress at work. While it’s sometimes unavoidable, knowing when to take a break is essential so that you can appreciate all of your hard work! To guarantee that you are connecting over non-work topics, organise regular team outings. These events are always enjoyable and go on for hours as a result of the laughter.

Introduce bring your dog to work day

Dogs have shown to have a favourable influence on those who suffer from anxiety, sadness, and/or tension. You should think about bringing these dogs to your job! Dogs are much more than adorable fluffy animals; you should consider adopting one!

Employees listen to each other

Feeling valued at work is critical. If you have the opportunity to develop and learn new skills while doing something you love, you’ll be in a beneficial atmosphere — an atmosphere that you really want to be in 5 days per week! At the end of the day, if your team isn’t happy, your business will not run effectively. Teams should therefore be a top priority when it comes to investing in them.

Employee skill training

Your team should be inspired to achieve greater heights through training courses, conversations with more experienced teammates, seminars, and anything else. Not only that, but our apprenticeship program gives prospective employees with little expertise a chance. Tiring job hunting may have a significant influence on your mental health, and apprenticeship programs do indeed relieve a great deal of stress.

Other factors might also play a role in mental health issues, but one person at a time, we can all make an important impact. Have a nice day and take care of yourself!

9 Ways To Show Your Employees You Care

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Show Employees you Care|9 Ways To Show Your Employees You CareEmployees that feel valued are more productive. People who feel appreciated are more likely to go above and above for the company. They’re more likely to consider themselves responsible for their contributions to a project. Above all, they’re happy in their jobs, which means they’re less inclined to quit.

Leaders who ignore opportunities to engage with their team and show appreciation to their staff are robbing themselves of a valuable tool for establishing a loyal, long-term workforce.

Employee Appreciation Day is the first Friday in March each year, but don’t wait until then to show your appreciation for your most valuable asset. Make employee gratitude a daily habit rather than an annual occasion. Here are nine excellent methods to express your gratitude to your employees:

Take Small Steps That Add Up To A Significant Difference

Appreciation does not necessitate grand gestures. Send a handwritten note of thanks, an email, or a phone call of support. Even the smallest gestures can leave a lasting impression. Even providing details for services such as workers’ comp can go a long way to showing you care.

Open Up New Possibilities

Giving your staff as many possibilities as possible is one of the finest methods to win their hearts and minds. Allow them to take on major tasks, such as a high-profile project or a new leadership post, or pay for a workshop or conference.

Make It Unique And Personal

Make your statements of gratitude and recognition as detailed as possible. Don’t just say “nice work,” but elaborate on what impressed you. “Thank you for having the bravery to speak up in the meeting,” for example. When everyone else was afraid to talk about the subject, it made a tremendous difference in breaking the ice.”

Demonstrate That You Have Faith In Them

It sends a powerful message to your staff when you can demonstrate your trust in them. In other words, you’re telling them that their work is good enough that they don’t need you to keep an eye on them.

Make Modifications On The Inside

Ensure that your team gets the tools they require to execute their jobs, including up-to-date technology, adequate lighting and HVAC, and comfortable, ergonomic furniture. Consider adding features like a break room or a lounge based on suggestions.

Make Time To Communicate With Them

Leaders have a lot of responsibility, and it’s easy to become engrossed in your work and neglect your team. Making the time to connect with your staff is one of the best ways to show them you care. Find out how they’re doing at work and in their personal lives.

Make Mentoring A Part Of The Organization’s Culture

There are newer employees in almost every firm who would benefit from being matched with an experienced colleague. There’s no better way to transfer important information and give beginners a support system right from the start than to develop a formal mentorship programme or a more casual buddy system.

Assign Ownership To Them

Giving employees the keys to a project that is relevant to their knowledge and interests is a certain method to push them to do their best. Allow the project to be based on the employee’s ideas if at all possible. Other employees will be encouraged by seeing their colleague’s inventiveness rewarded, not simply because the employee will be empowered to grow and achieve.

Be Open And Honest

Honesty should be expected, although it is more difficult at times than others. Many people assume you shouldn’t discuss bad news, yet such conversations–as tough as they may be–show you care enough to share even the most difficult truths. Honest and straightforward feedback will earn you respect and help you achieve your goals.

The bottom line is that if your employees understand how much you value them, there is nothing they won’t do to help you and your team.

Six Ways To Help Your Employees To Develop

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Help Employees to Develop|Six Ways To Help Your Employees To DevelopWhen was the last time you looked into the activities that foster happiness for your employees? One of the most important things that you can do for your employees is make sure that they are happy with the way you are running things and managing them. Those in management shouldn’t be in management at all if they are unable to look after their staff, and that’s on you to do that.

The way you run your business is important but it’s so much more important to make sure that the people who work within it are able to feel confident and calm in their roles. From using techniques to improve your performance management skills to ensuring that the people working for you are growing in their careers, you need to do all that you can to help your employees to develop well. So, how can you do it? Below, we’ve got six ways to ensure that you can do just that!

  1. Put your money where your mouth is. If you want to do more for your employees, you need to think about funding performance growth. Personal development funds will help you to ensure that you can help each individual person working for you to grow into their role. You could push that money to training, education and classes, but you can also push it into pottery classes and gym memberships, too!
  2. Always be flexible. Your business is important, and your employees are important for your business to continue working. If you want your employees to be happy, flexibility will really help you with that. Be the employer who says yes to flexibility and working from home. Trust that your employees can get their job done and that you are behind them 100% of the time. The more flexible you are, the happier your staff will be and the more loyal they are as a result.
  3. Add more incentives. Do you have staff members straddling giant student loans? You could add tuition reimbursement as an incentive to the salary program that you offer, and you’ll be able to see that your employees will be bringing new knowledge and skills to the workforce because they will be happy to be reimbursed.
  4. Offer training. Offering the right opportunities to educate your employees will make a big difference to their future. Performance management is much easier when you are helping your employees with a step up from time to time. Staying up to date on the best possible training is vital for their wellbeing, and it’s going to advance their careers at the same time.
  5. Give people choices. If you offer your employees their own participation in their learning and growth with your company, you can do better for them. Taking different learning styles into consideration is vital, and you can provide many different options while you allow your staff to work at their own pace.
  6. Ask what they need. One of the best things that you can do to help your employees to develop is to ask them what you can give them to make their working life easier.