TEAM STRENGTH
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Show (1856-1950) Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright.
The biggest victories always start small
It should be noted that every “big” thing will always start small. Small cases, small products, small firms, small markets, small systems, small number of employees: they are often the beginning of something great. However, we rarely recognize it. Our attention is usually, and normally, focused on the already existing big and not on the obvious trends of the small phenomena. We usually do not notice anything until it is big, when its growth slows down. Some people make a fortune by joining the growth when it is still small and on an accelerating track. Even those who experience growth do not realize its importance or its ability, what the sure opportunity is to attract, engage and retain employees.
The quantity of work is much less important than its quality, and the quality depends on the self-management of the workers and, above all, on their motivation.
The winner takes it all
If you realize that your company is getting back more than it has invested in staff, you and your company are in a winning position, and you can raise the stakes at the same time. Similarly, if you see the opposite, you can easily eliminate losses.
The economic trends affect engagement
One of the main reasons why employees are not as engaged is that they have concerns about issues outside of their work. It’s understandable that personal problems can get into the workplace and affect people’s motivation and productivity.
We’d like to share some recent survey results with you. Do you know that:
® 35 percent of employees are worried about their financial situation and can’t focus on their work because of it?
® 31 percent of employees feel less motivated to work hard because their employer has not made efforts to provide additional financial support?
® 34 percent of employees express their disappointment that their employer has not done more to support their rising costs?
This shows a clear correspondence between the cost-of-living crisis and things like motivation and productivity. As an employer, the support package you offer can have a big impact on engagement – and therefore the performance of your business.
While businesses want to help their employees financially, it’s important to strengthen them. In other words, let them take control of their personal situation.
Furthermore, in tough economic times, it’s good to look at what you’re doing with your existing budget and make it more valuable for your staff.
Creative methods to help employees with their cost of living
a) Analys the benefits
As a provider of executive benefits and rewards, you would probably expect us to mention this. But there’s no doubt that offering certain employee benefits can have a big impact on people’s financial wellbeing – without straining company budgets.
Take discount platforms, for example. These allow people to save money throughout the year – for larger, one-off expenses later on. Having this is an essential safety net, and people know they can always rely on it to increase their salary.
b) Change the way employees are paid
The salary is obviously the most important way to help employees, but pay rise may not be an option for all businesses at the moment. One option, however, may be to look at solutions such as other pay structures saving tax costs. Rather than giving employees a pay rise, you can offer them a solution that will make a big contribution to their future personal well-being and your company/business spends much less for tax costs compared to the payment public charges imposed on wages.
c) Make rewards comparable
This is a particularly important moment. Many people are reluctant to do so because of the potential imbalance in the workforce, but the Pareto principle (Vilfredo Pareto 1948-1923, Italian engineer, sociologist, economist and philosopher) applies here too, i.e. 80% of your company’s/business’ output is generated by 20% of its employees. So, traditionally, the last quarter is the time when companies/businesses like to evaluate the performance of their employees in the given year and reward them for it in the form of extra appreciation.
By giving your employees a choice, you can ensure that the rewards are tailored to their individual lifestyles. What’s more, feeling the empowerment will help to boost work ethic and retain your best employees.
Five methods to support employees
Employee retention means a huge priority for businesses, a strong employee support package has never been more important. But what does it mean in the praxis?
Today’s workforce expects to be looked after – financially, physically and mentally. At a time of rising costs, this should be even higher on the agenda.
Here are the five things you need to focus on.
a) Payment package: how much and how often?
Let’s start with the obvious. One of the best ways to support financial well-being is to pay your staff fairly. It is important to be up to date with the average salary ranges for different positions and the impact of inflation on your employees. Nowadays, many businesses are stretched financially themselves, so a pay rise is not always possible. In such a situation, you can help people by changing the frequency of payment. One option could be a negotiated pay structure.
b) Discount schemes
This is a creative way of helping employees who are struggling with rising costs. In fact, when we asked employees about what financial support they would like from their employer, other than a pay rise, the practice of discount schemes was the second most popular option (behind the tailored rewards and benefits).
It is a useful safety net for people to know that their salary can be increased in other ways. The cost-of-living crisis ultimately requires employers to help their employees in various ways.
c) Benefits of physical and mental well-being
Everyone has their own individual well-being challenges. For example, some people want to lose weight, while others want to improve their strength or flexibility. For some, their own health is important, while for others, their family’s health is a priority. Give your colleagues the tools that can help them when and where they are in need.
d) Coach program
The coach program is a key part of the support scheme, alongside benefits schemes. This is particularly important for those who have a large number of employees or more than a few of the employees work remotely.
Regular check-ins should be an integral part of the working week, but it is equally important that you, as a company manager, know what to ask. It’s more than just discussing projects and goals. Below are examples of questions you should ask:
® How do you feel currently the work/private life balance within your company?
® Are there any challenges you have to currently face with?
® What is the one thing we could change at work that would help you?
® Is there anything that really motivates you currently?
® Is there anything that demotivates you currently?
® Is there anything else I can do to support?
e) Work and private life balance
Working from home, varying working hours and a better work-life balance are important for all employees, as they contribute to physical, mental and financial well-being. It allows them to take breathe. It also greatly reduces the risk of burnout.
Obviously, for your company/business, all or some of these alternatives should work, but they will differ from industry to industry. However, the more flexible you are, the better for the welfare of your colleagues – and the more likely you are to retain them.
Our job is to create solutions to help company managers/company owners in this new world of work, including of course the dramatic increase in the cost of living.