Staff Motivation – healthy staff are happy staff

Don’t you just love it when you arrive at work and are greeted (if at all) with grunts; when water cooler conversation is complaints; when the boss barks his biddings at you and when you long for the last letter of each day!  No?  Well, not surprisingly, neither do employees or employers generally; yet it happens all too often in workplaces I have known.

So with the New Year ... let’s get 2017 off to a great start.  Let’s plan a new approach to each other.  Forget about the past and how it was last year; instead focus on what we want it to be.

That’s all very well, you say, but it all starts with the boss.  My response: so tell me, which came first the chicken or the egg?  Does the boss grimace because of your attitude or is your attitude because of the boss’ grimace?

Here’s a thought: Happy staff are more motivated, more engaged and hence more productive!  (I’m not analysing statistics – but it does make commonsense.)

So what makes staff happy?  I suggest it is a combination of them being healthy; reasonably rewarded and provided with the tools/resources (including time) they need to do their job.  What follows are some suggestions as to what you can do (as a boss or as an employee) to help health (or wellness) at work (I’ll write about the others another time).

I’ll make four points:

Get (bosses: Allow) enough rest.  (I’m grateful to my long-time friend, Jane of www.pipsy.ch for this)

  • Take time to disconnect from work; allow 10 min power naps during the day
  • Put boundaries around your work; don’t expect staff to check emails or texts at home
  • Plan levels of multi-tasking; allow people to focus

Make use of (bosses: Ensure) a user-friendly working environment.

  • Take regular rest breaks
  • Take exercise during breaks – provide office pilates etc
  • Ensure that work stations are ergonomically sound (including lighting)

Obtain (bosses: Encourage) regular health checks.

  • Regular simple checks for heart conditions; diabetes and others can save lives and $$$ of health/sick leave costs for you
  • Consider joining a corporate health care plan – talk to your local medical centre

Use (bosses: Enable) de-stressors.

  • Allow employees to fit their work into their schedules so that they are most effective (you may need some creative means of monitoring productivity – but generally you will know how well someone performs)
  • Consider remote working, where appropriate
  • Treat everyone as a unique person – respect can be the biggest de-stressor of all

And a final critical point – Good Employers can and do allow these things – but it takes responsible, trustworthy employees to make it work.

Do you want to be a chicken or an egg ... or do you just want to show your boss you can be trusted?

Need help managing staff?

Mike has a wealth of experience advising on every aspect of the employer-employee relationship. I can give you per-phone guidance or work along side you to make things happen.

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