Mar7

Welcome Your Employees In Style

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Welcome Your Employees In Style

Nobody wants to walk into a new office and have nothing to make them feel welcome to the team on their very first day. In any situation, it’s awkward to stand around and have to figure out where to go and what to do first. It is more so, when you are new to the team. This is why an impressive onboarding experience is a must do for any employer or manager. It will leave a great first impression long after induction has finished.

A great onboarding session starts long before your new teammate sets foot in the office. When you bring them in, you would want them to be as comfortable as possible. It’s hard enough to start a new job, so make the transition as seamless as you can.

For a smooth onboarding experience, here’s a checklist of what should be in your welcome kit:

A welcome message

The team leader or direct line manager should include a personalized note in the welcome kit. It doesn’t have to be Pulitzer Prize winning. A simple message that welcomes them to the team, acknowledging their competencies, and anticipating their contributions will do. For example: “Welcome to the team, Scott. Your experience as a senior project manager is a great addition to this high performing team and we can’t wait to see how your expertise can help us achieve our goals together.

If you want to be extra, a handwritten note from the owner or CEO closes this loop off with fireworks and makes a huge difference in making your new teammate feel welcome.

An employee handbook

This can be a physical book or a digital e-book. Essential contents include: organizational information, compensation and benefits, code of conduct, workplace safety, and policies.

Paperwork 

By this time, your new teammate should have all the paperwork filled out. So they should now receive copies of their contracts, policies, and other relevant paperwork (identification, parking passes, security and access cards, etc.). This shows you are prepared, organized, and looking forward to having them on your team.

The tools

Provide your new teammate with all the tools they need in order to transition to their new job smoothly. First up is the tech. Laptops and accessories such as headphones, monitors, etc. should be given front and foremost. These should be equipped with the tools and systems that the team uses in doing collaborative work. Needless to say, new teammates should be granted roles based access to these systems before they start.

Extra care package

Sweeten the deal by going the extra mile and providing them with a care package. If you have company merch (water bottles, spill-proof mugs, t-shirts, mousepads, pens, etc.) then that should be included in the welcome kit. If not, you can put together one yourself. It can include: healthy snacks, pens and notebooks, and other office supplies which you can pack in a company branded eco-bag.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so make it a good one. What’s included in your company welcome kit? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb28

Beat That Deadline With These 5 Time Management Tricks

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Beat That Deadline With These 5 Time Management Tricks

The thought of a looming deadline has a unique effect on each of us. Some get to work long before work is due, some procrastinate till the last minute, and some shut down completely. There are different reasons why we do this, too. While some projects are hard, boring, difficult, or have unreasonable deadlines, lack of organization and time management skills top the list of why we don’t manage to turn in work on time. So, without further ado, here are some time management tips to help us beat work deadlines:

1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew
Take a realistic look at the project and the amount of work that you have to put into it. Adjust accordingly. Ask yourself: Do I have to put other tasks on the back burner? Will I need to work through weekends? Will this take too much of my time? If a task is eating up too much of your resources, then ask for a more realistic deadline or an extension.

2. Have visual reminders of work deadlines
Yes, we still use post-its. However, there are other creative ways to keep reminders of looming deadlines. For example, you can set your screensaver to say “project deadline: March 28.” You can also set calendar reminders on your phone or your desktop. Google Calendar has excellent notification features to help you with this. The point of a visual reminder is not to give you anxiety, but to help you manage your time better. If you catch yourself slacking off or getting distracted, these visual cues will remind you to stay on track.

3. Break tasks into smaller pieces
A deadline means that all the work has to be completed by said date. You have the freedom to allocate your time in between. So, feel free to schedule work according to your workflow. For example, you have to create content for a blog post which entails some research, design, and of course, writing work. If the deadline is at the end of business day, Friday, you can create timeblocks for all the tasks involved in getting the work done by Friday. Allocate Monday and Tuesday for research, design on Wednesday, and writing on Thursday. This leaves you with enough time to polish it off by Friday and still have time to work on tasks in between.

4. Learn to delegate
Don’t assume to complete every portion of a project. If time is short, learn to delegate. Maybe you can get some help on research. Maybe you can pass on the design work to others who can do a better job at creating beautiful images. Maybe you can enlist someone else’s help on copy-editing. Look for areas where you can delegate work.

5. Set hard stops (and starts)
Start when you say you will and end when you say you will. The time blocking method teaches you to work within the amount of time you set for yourself to finish the work. Anything beyond that will leave you open to distractions and may lead to unproductivity

What are your tried and tested deadline beating methods? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb21

Happy Workers Equals Improved Productivity

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Happy Workers Equals Improved Productivity

There is a direct correlation between happy employees and improved workplace productivity. In fact, study after study after study shows that a happy worker creates a high-performing business. In one of the studies, Dr Sgroi of the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick said: “the driving force seems to be that happier workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at which they can work without sacrificing quality.”

It seems that not only are happy employees more productive, they are less prone to making errors that can cost the business money. But before we talk about how you can increase your workplace happiness factor, let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons for employee unhappiness. 

Every workplace has unique challenges, but you are most likely to see these 5 on any list of problem areas.

  • Bad bosses – micromanagers top the list of “what makes a bad boss?” I’m sure you weren’t surprised.
  • Low value work – unhappy employees feel that the work they do is not engaging or challenging so they feel unfulfilled.
  • Lack of career development opportunities – no one is happy if they feel like they’re stuck.
  • No recognition – we all have an inherent need to be recognized for a job well done or at the very least, appreciated for our efforts.
  • Zero workplace flexibility – in an era where hybrid working (remote work + in office work) is beginning to be the new normal, having no clear-cut delineation between personal lives and work is a sure formula for burnout and employee dissatisfaction.

To improve your organization’s happiness quotient, here are 3 tips:

1. Manage well and manage up

Good managers provide meaningful feedback and give recognition to a job well done. These managers equip their employees with the skills so that they can work with autonomy and get things done their way. Great managers encourage personal development and career progress so that employees understand that they have opportunities to grow and can constantly aim for the next level in their career.

2. Provide high value work

Nobody wants to feel like a cog in a wheel. By providing interesting work, managers can stimulate creativity and innovation. When workers are given high value work, they feel challenged and look forward to coming to work.

3. Give them flexibility

Having the technology and capacity to contact people via instant messaging or chat does not mean that employees are available 24/7. With so many things to juggle in this never ending pandemic, employees should prioritize a healthy work-life balance. Employers should be able to respect the time of workers with a fixed schedule. No one likes to get last minute tasks after work hours. If the company has the bandwidth to accommodate flexible or hybrid working, then by all means do so. By offering people the choice of flexible hours or remote working options, employers actually increase job satisfaction.

What are your tried and tested tips for increasing happiness in the workplace? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb14

Love in the Workplace

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Love in the Workplace

Not all of us have returned to the workplace. Some employers have encouraged their employees to keep working from home. Others have planned “The Great Return To The Workplace” but had to hold off because of the Omicron variant surge. Digital professionals definitely have the option to keep working from home indefinitely. And those who have returned to the office are busy hyper-vigilantly cleaning surfaces and staying away from crowded and confined spaces. Since close physical proximity is not an available option, is the covid crisis the last blow to office romance?

Surprise, surprise! Office romance is actually on the rise. Data from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) show that workers who are currently involved in a workplace romance have risen. One of their key findings from the 2021 survey is that approximately “one quarter of U.S. workers either began a new workplace romance during the COVID-19 pandemic or have continued an existing workplace romance that began prior to the pandemic.”

How is this even possible when co-workers only get to check in on each other through virtual spaces? SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr explains: “During a period where we’re spending more time isolated than together, workers are looking for meaningful connections.” While proximity might not be possible, care and warmth can still be felt and shown through any virtual medium. It just goes to show that love transcends time and space.

Romantic entanglements in the workplace are nothing new. It’s the stuff that rom-coms and award-winning comedy series are made of. The fan favorite movie, “Love Actually” has at least 5 work-romance-related story arcs. The hit series “The Office” had us following Pam and Jim’s love story for nine seasons. However, real-life workplace romances don’t always end happily ever after. That is why we often remind new hires during anti-harassment training that romantic relationships at work can cause problems for both employers and employees.

Office romance is an inevitable part of working and most companies recognize that. While a zero-tolerance policy for workplace romance is ideal, it is not realistically enforceable. In fact, a good 78% of employers do not require their employees to disclose a romantic relationship. However, professionalism must always prevail above all else in the workplace in order to keep working relationships and workplaces running smoothly. Since child labor is illegal, it is safe to say that we’re all adults here and do not have to be reminded that everyone in the workplace is expected to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner at all times. Therefore, public displays of affection, even in virtual settings (yes, it happens) should be out of the question.

It is in the best interest of employers, especially HR professionals, to update their implemented guidelines and policies regarding workplace romance to mitigate incidents of favoritism, retaliation, and sexual harassment and ultimately adapt to the ever-evolving workplace culture.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Feb7

A Guide For The Overloaded And Overwhelmed

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A Guide For The Overloaded And Overwhelmed

Is it just me or has the pandemic related lockdowns given us more items to add to our ever growing to-do list? Do you find yourself having to take care of more work and more personal action items? I’m sure everyone can relate. And if you’re a work-from-home parent, that to-do list may have grown into a massive one by now.

Lockdowns have limited our mobility and made it harder to accomplish tasks for both work and personal life. This means that we’d have to get creative and find new ways to accomplish tasks, or otherwise, learn to live without. Case in point, during the pre-pandemic days, most of us had systems and clear boundaries between home and work. We get to prepare our mindset during the drive or commute to work and decompress on our way back home. We get to slip in a grocery trip or a bank run after taking the kids to school. We get to declutter the house without kids running around. There are clear stops and starts to our day.

But now – oh now, it’s twice the fun. You get to do all that – corral kids, declutter, run errands, check bank statements while working from home. It’s no wonder a lot of us are feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. How can we get things under control? Here are some strategies:

1. Capture information

When you are confronted with information, distractions, work, and lots of other stuff, it’s easy to forget things. So capture information. Write them down in a notebook you keep specifically for reminders and then get them on your to-do list. If pen and paper aren’t readily available, leave important information on your phone by calling yourself and leaving a voicemail. You can always convert that to text using Google Keep or Evernote.

2. Get one thing done and dusted early in the day

Pick one thing off your to-do list, anything – and get it done early in the day. This will give you a sense of closure and accomplishment and hopefully have a snowball effect that will encourage you to keep going.

3. Put it in your calendar

Assigning a date and time to your tasks will increase the chances of getting it done by a whopping 70%. So put it in your diary or calendar and set a reminder.

4. Just do it

Nike was right. Half the battle is getting started, so start already. It doesn’t matter where you start as long as you do. Then, continue in some sort of logical order – left to right, top to bottom. Keep going till you finish.

5. Get help

Two is indeed better than one. So, if you’re struggling – get help. Another set of hands can really lighten the load, even if only to boost your morale up. Better if you can delegate tasks so you can accomplish twice the work.

What are your tried and tested tips to avoid overwhelm? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp