Employee Recognition – 6 Ways To Show Appreciation To Your Hard Working Staff.

Employee recognition doesn’t have to be all about paid bonuses and monetary rewards, sometimes it’s the smaller things that can be more meaningful and make employees feel more appreciated. However it can be hard to think of ways to incorporate recognition into the workplace so here are a few ideas:

1. Show Appreciation In Team Meetings 

A lot of the time, people overlook verbal praise as a way to show appreciation. Set aside just 20 minutes a week to meet with your team. Talk about their strengths of the week and remind them of how much you appreciate the work that they do for the team.

Everybody loves to hear about the “great job” that they’re doing and to be quite honest, good feedback from a manager can sometimes lead to an employee working even harder because they want to make you happy and continue to be recognised. It’s a very important cycle. If you are happy with their work you and you let them know, they will be happy with you for giving that feedback and they will work hard. The cycle will continue.

2. Reward Special Achievements 

Show that you recognize someone’s overtime hours by giving them extra free time during the work day. Offer a 2-hour lunch, a late arrival or an early finish. Most of our Three Q Team love an early Friday! It costs you nothing but it goes a long way in communicating your gratitude. It will also push other employees to work hard because everyone will want to be rewarded!

3. Send a Deserving Employee Snail Mail

Admit it, it makes you feel good when you see a letter in your mailbox (not your e-mail – your actual mailbox) with your name on it (When you know it’s not a bill, that is). So imagine you get that envelope, and you open it to find a letter from your employer, singing your praises. How good would YOU feel? So why not?  Use this in work for employee recognition. It takes absolutely no time to write a short note and it’s all for the cost of a stamp, but it will make a big statement.

4. Everyone Loves A Meme 

Catch your staff off guard by creating a funny, personalized meme about them and e-mailing it out to everyone. Choose your image and type a funny message that includes the recipient’s name and a congrats for all the great work they have done. This one takes a little creativity but it’s free and it’s funny and it will make your employees happy. So just give it a try!

5. Motivation Mascot

Provide your team with a mascot! Buy a big, cheap, silly object and make it a symbol for the employee of the week! Every Monday, put it on a different person’s door or desk to show that they are the chosen one. Don’t fear if, at first, your staff acts like it’s cheesy because it is but within a couple of weeks they’ll be anxious to see where it is at the start of every week.

Here at Three Q, we ring a bell when a team member wins big! The individual themselves will ring it and the team usually come running to see and hear what there win is! We love to celebrate our successes as a team!

6. Reward With A Duvet Day

The joy of sleeping a little longer and working in pyjamas cannot be overstated. So let this be a reward! Choose an employee that has been going above and beyond and reward them! It would be interesting to see just how many of your employees follow suit! You’ll have your whole team on their best behaviour battling for this reward no doubt!

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what you do to show your appreciation. Rewards and gratitude can take just about any form. As long as you show that you have noticed the hard work within your team. These ideas are not revolutionary, but if you utilize them frequently, they could have a dramatic impact on relationships and productivity.

Nurses – Put Yourself First For Once And Unwind With Yoga!

Nurses are extremely skilled and are great at taking care of others. However, more often than not, they forget to take care of themselves.

It’s been proven that taking part in yoga consistently, has positive effects on stress relief and emotional health. A study carried out in 2015, found that after completing an 8 week yoga intervention, the participants reported significantly higher levels of self-care and less emotional exhaustion. Before you take care of anyone else, you have to put your own health first!

So for all of those days that you are taking care of everyone around you, don’t forget that you’re allowed to be selfish and take care of #1 first! (That’s you by the way!)

So why not take even 30 minutes a day. Just for you to unwind. Any time, any place that has a flat surface and just breathe.

Here are some of the ways that Yoga can help you do just that!

Here are some of the benefits of Yoga:

• Increased Flexibility.
• Stress Relief – Modulates perceived stress and anxiety by slowing down rapid breathing and heart rates, lowering blood pressure and increasing heart rate variability.
• Increased muscle strength and tone.
• Improved respiration, energy and vitality.
• Maintaining a balanced metabolism.
• Weight reduction.
• Cardio and circulatory health.
• Improved athletic performance.
• Protection from injury.

Regular Yoga practice during stressful weeks can also improve mental clarity and concentration, making nurses more likely to manage their stress and pressure more effectively.

Never done yoga before? Hakuna Matata, my friend because there are so many styles of yoga that you can try as a beginner. Hatha Yoga is often recommended for beginners for the following reasons:

• It’s gentle,
• It has a slower pace
• It encourages people to focus on correct alignment and form, to support their bodies.

The best-known styles of Yoga include Hatha, Bikram, Kundalini and Ashtanga Yoga. It is important to find a class that suits your work and lifestyle and discuss benefits you want with the instructor before signing up.

I don’t have the time or the schedule for Yoga classes every week!

I thought we might run into this problem! Don’t worry you don’t need to go to classes because there are so many great channels on Youtube that you can watch and learn from in your own time and for free! I highly recommend Yoga With Adrienne for a great 30 day yoga challenge!

The importance of training plans for employee morale cannot be over estimated.  Happy employees are motivated employees and this leads straight to your bottom line.  Training plans ensure that employees have a better understanding of what is asked of them and ensures that whatever you see as fit for their role, is known to them. It makes employees much more confident in their role and in turn gives you confidence in your employee’s abilities. Here is a few points to think about when adding training to your company.

1. Stress training as investment. The reason training is often considered optional at many companies is because it is thought of as an expense rather than an investment. While it’s true that training can be costly up front, it’s a long-term investment in the growth and development of your human resources.

2. Determine your needs. As you probably don’t have unlimited time or funds to execute an employee training program, you should decide early on what the focus of your training program should be.

3. Promote a culture of learning amongst employees. In today’s fast-paced economy, if a business isn’t learning, it’s going to fall behind. A business learns as its people learn. Communicate your expectations that all employees should take the necessary steps to hone their skills and stay on top of their professions or fields of work. Make sure you support those efforts by providing the resources needed to accomplish this goal.

4. Get management on board. Once you have developed a prioritized list of training topics that address key needs within your company, you need to convince management to rally behind the initiative.

5. Start out small. Before rolling out your training program to the masses, rehearse with a small group of users and gather their feedback. This sort of informal benchmarking exposes weaknesses in your training plans and helps you fine-tune the training process.

6. Clarify connections. Some employees may feel that the training they’re receiving isn’t relevant to their job. It’s important to help them understand the connection early on, so they don’t view the training sessions as a waste of valuable time. Employees should see the training as an important addition to their professional portfolios. Award people with completion certificates at the end of the program.

7. Make it ongoing. Don’t limit training solely to new employees. Organized, ongoing training programs will maintain all employees’ skill levels, and continually motivate them to grow and improve professionally.

8. Measure results. Without measurable results, it’s almost impossible to view training as anything but an expense. Decide how you’re going to obtain an acceptable rate of return on your investment. Determine what kind of growth or other measure is a reasonable result of the training you provide. You’ll have an easier time budgeting funds for future training if you can demonstrate concrete results.

Source: www.allbusiness.com/ten-employee-training-tips-1465-1.html

The next time you are conducting a job interview, be sure to pay attention to the job candidate’s body language.  Their non verbal cues could make or break the deal.  Here are some tips for reading a candidate by their body language.

Before the interview

An excellent way to get a snapshot of people’s true inner feelings and attitudes is to observe their “resting face,” the expression worn when they’re not interacting with anyone. A negative resting face, among other things, makes someone less approachable to others.

Come in to my office
An applicant walking in tall and taking fairly brisk strides, shows some confidence and enthusiasm. Candidates dragging or shuffling their feet or taking short choppy strides are less assured.

The handshake
When someone offers you a firm, palm-to-palm handshake accompanied by direct eye contact and a pleasant smile, this shows the person to be confident, interested and sincere. An affable smile sets the stage for a congenial interaction, sends a positive message and adds some warmth to what can feel like a cold process.

Have a Seat
Confidence; interest and alertness are projected when prospective employees sit tall in their chair. Someone who leans slightly forward while you’re speaking is usually engaged in what you are saying. Slouching in a chair can be a sign of indifference. If someone is perched on the edge of the chair, that person is probably nervous or overly eager. Leaning or tipping back in a chair, especially with hands clasped behind the head, is a gesture of arrogance and disdain.

Eye Contact
A desirable job prospect maintains good eye contact. When someone fails to look you in the eye, it can mean that individual is nervous, introverted, disinterested or even dishonest. On the other hand, if someone’s gaze turns into a stare, it may signify aggression or fear. Applicants who stare blankly are showing disinterest in actively participating in the interview process.

Hands, Arms, Feet and Legs
Job prospects who place their hands calmly on their lap are confident and relaxed. When an applicant articulates with open hands and palms visible, this is an indication of sincerity, openness and warmth. Crossed arms send a negative vibe and show the person to be closed off, defensive or in disagreement with what you are saying. Crossed arms and legs together may convey a very reserved and suspicious nature. If someone rests an ankle on the other knee, this reflects an arrogant or overly casual attitude.

It ain’t over till the applicant exits
You can tell a lot about a job candidate’s genuine self by observing that person in closing. When they get up out of the chair, and walk to the exit, are they still confident and comfortable? Or are they hesitant and slumped?

During the job interview process, never underestimate the value of nonverbal communication. Being able to read body language can be significantly instrumental in finding the right candidate for a particular job.

Source: www.businessknowhow.com/manage/body-language.htm

Be sure to read our tips on identifying a positive working environment and how to identify a hostile work environment too.