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How Leaders Can Recognize and Prevent Quiet Quitting with Empathy and Understanding

Quiet quitting is a phenomenon that can manifest in the workplace when leaders fail to take the time to understand their team members. It’s a type of resignation, but one that often goes unrecognized and unchecked, leading to an unhappy work environment and decreased productivity. In this article, we’ll explore what quiet quitting is, how it started, and how leaders can recognize and prevent it from happening. We’ll also share some golden nuggets of advice for leaders who are looking for ways to create a more positive work culture.

What is Quiet Quitting?

Quiet quitting is a type of resignation that occurs when an employee intentionally underproduces due to a lack of enthusiasm for their job. This may happen for a number of reasons, including feeling undervalued or unappreciated, lack of job satisfaction, or lack of communication from leadership. Quiet quitting can be hard to recognize at first because the employee slowly fades away from their job responsibilities, eventually leaving the organization or slipping by day to day in a state of underperformance.

How the Phenomenon of Quiet Quitting Started

The concept of quiet quitting was first introduced by organizational psychologist Emma Seppälä in her book The Happiness Track. According to Seppälä, quiet quitting occurs when employees choose not to communicate their feelings about the workplace with their superiors or colleagues. Instead, they simply start doing less work until they eventually leave completely without making a fuss. Sometimes they do not provide notice. This differs from regular quitting where an employee maintains performance and typically informs their employer and other team members within a reasonable amount of time before officially leaving the company. Quiet quitters are often fired due to non-performance.

Why is it Important for Leaders to Recognize and Prevent Quiet Quitting?

It’s important for leaders to recognize and prevent quiet quitting because it can have a negative impact on the team’s productivity, morale, and ultimately the company’s bottom line. If left unchecked, quiet quitting can spread across the team or department and create a toxic work environment. It can also lead to high turnover rates if employees feel undervalued or unappreciated.

When quiet quitting occurs, it can have negative effects on the entire organization. Not only are resources wasted, but morale also suffers since current staff might become aware that someone is not pulling their own weight – leading them to feel stressed and undervalued. Thus, it’s important for leaders to recognize these behaviors so preventative measures can be taken and future occurrences minimized as much as possible.

Recognizing Quiet Quitting Behaviors

There are certain signs that leaders can look out for when trying to identify quiet quitters on their teams.

1) Decreased motivation levels

2) Difficulty focusing in meetings and conversations with coworkers

3) Lower quality output than usual in terms of work produced or fewer hours invested into projects than usual

4) Decrease in engagement with tasks assigned.

Taking Preventative Measures and Retaining Employees Who are About to Quiet Quit

Quiet quitting can be eradicated through active connection with your employees. This includes:

  • Regular check-ins
  • Confidential/Anonymous job satisfaction surveys
  • Action plans based on employee data collection
  • Career growth initiatives

The net net of this is, if you invest in your employees, they will invest in you.

Empathy as a Retention Tool

As a leader, it’s essential that you cultivate empathy among your team members so they feel valued and appreciated no matter what role they play within your organization.

1) Ensure everyone has access to clear goals/objectives and open pathways for communication

2) Assure performance metrics and expectations are clear

3) Give everyone enough room needed express concerns openly while still respecting each other’s respective roles within the organization

4) Develop effective feedback loops to help foster empathetic relationships between coworkers

5) Show appreciation whenever possible (even small gestures like saying “thank you” go a long way here)

Positive work cultures minimize the risk of having key team members quietly exit without warning. If you need help executing measures that help with quiet quitting, reach out to us for a complimentary consultation.

Read More About This Topic

Here are some backlinks that will support this article:

  1. “The Happiness Track” by Emma Seppälä: https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Track-Science-Accelerate-Success/dp/0062344006
  2. “Recognizing and Preventing Quiet Quitting” by Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2021/06/14/recognizing-and-preventing-quiet-quitting/?sh=3d4a4b0c7f19
  3. “How to Recognize and Prevent Quiet Quitting in the Workplace” by The Balance Careers: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-recognize-and-prevent-quiet-quitting-in-the-workplace-4161819
  4. “Why Leaders Need Empathy More Than Ever” by Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2020/04/why-leaders-need-empathy-more-than-ever
5 Leadership Skills to Drive Empathetic Organizational Change

To create organizational change while still maintaining trust and empathy, leaders must have a deep understanding of their organization and its people. This article highlights five essential leadership skills that will help you drive empathetic organizational change: self-awareness, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and emotional intelligence to drive lasting organizational transformation.

#1: Self-Awareness

The first essential skill for driving empathetic organizational change is self-awareness. Self-awareness involves understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as having an understanding of the people around you. Being self-aware will help you become a more effective leader and foster better relationships with employees, stakeholders, and customers. Additionally, it will help create an environment of trust within the organization by allowing you to understand different perspectives and empathize with those affected by changes.

#2: Empathy Mapping

The second key leadership skill that helps drive empathetic change is empathy mapping. This involves collecting and analyzing data to gain insights into employees’ needs, wants, attitudes, and behaviors. Doing so allows leaders to understand how employees interact with each other and the organization’s products or services. This will aid you in making informed change management decisions. Additionally, empathy mapping can help identify areas where further research may be needed in order to understand employee needs more deeply.

#3 Communication

Communication is another vital leadership skill when it comes to driving empathetic organizational change. Leaders need to use active listening and storytelling techniques in order to build trust with stakeholders throughout the entire process of organizational transformation. Whether communicating through email, meetings or other means of communication, leaders must ensure that they are communicating their message clearly while also showing empathy toward everyone involved in the process.

#4: Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is another important skill for leaders who are driving organizational change initiatives. Systems thinking allows leaders to consider how different parts of an organization work together in order to achieve success in any given project or initiative. With systems thinking, leaders can take a holistic approach when making decisions about changes that need to be implemented within the organization.

#5: Collaboration/Co-Creation

Finally, collaboration and co-creation are essential leadership skills for driving successful organizational change initiatives. Leaders should strive to empower employees at all levels by encouraging collaboration among teams working on specific projects or initiatives related to the overall goal of organizational transformation. Co-creation also gives employees a sense of ownership over the changes taking place within their organization – leading them to feel more connected with their role in the transformation process.

Quick Summary

Empathetic leadership is essential for driving successful organizational change initiatives as it encourages trust among stakeholders while also creating an environment conducive to collaboration across teams within the company. By leveraging these five key skills – self-awareness, empathy mapping, communication, systems thinking, collaboration & co-creation – CEOs and COOs can lead their organizations toward transformative change without sacrificing empathy or transparency along the way.

WWC can help you increase your awareness as a leader. We conduct research and empathy mapping to help you understand the current state of your organization and how to communicate with your employees. We act as a trusted advisor to guide you into systems thinking so you can collaborate, co-create, and innovate to increase your revenue. Contact us now for a complimentary consultation.

References

  1. The importance of self-awareness in leadership – https://hbr.org/2018/01/to-be-a-great-leader-you-have-to-learn-how-to-delegate-well
  2. Empathy mapping as a tool for understanding employee needs – https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/10/lean-user-research-solving-the-wrong-problem/
  3. Effective communication techniques for leaders – https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2017/06/18/building-a-trust-based-culture-is-easier-than-you-think/?sh=6b4d0a9c6b1e
  4. Systems thinking and its role in organizational change – https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-role-of-leadership-in-organizational-change
  5. The importance of collaboration and co-creation in driving organizational change – https://hbr.org/2018/03/how-to-create-an-innovation-culture
How Becoming a Learning Organization Can Help Your Business Succeed: Reduce Resistance, Improve Innovation & Increase Adoption of New Initiatives

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations must become learning organizations to remain competitive. Learning organizations are characterized by a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and a reliance on employees’ collective knowledge as an organizational asset.

Learning organizations reduce resistance to change through increased collaboration and communication, improve innovation through continual learning and development, and increase the adoption of new initiatives through shared decision-making. Through outlining the benefits of becoming a learning organization and the steps needed to achieve this goal. This article will provide COOs and operational leaders with the skills necessary to lead their organizations into the future.

Reduce Resistance to Change

The most obvious benefit of becoming a learning organization is the reduction in resistance to change. Becoming a learning organization encourages employees to take an active role in their learning, which increases their sense of control and responsibility for outcomes. This builds trust and engagement between employees and management, allowing for open dialogue about proposed changes.

Learning organizations also foster collaboration and communication amongst employees, which reduces barriers to change due to a shared understanding of why changes are necessary. These shared values create an environment where everyone is on the same page when it comes to adapting to new processes or initiatives, making them more likely to be adopted.

Improve Innovation

Beyond reducing resistance to change, becoming a learning organization can improve innovation as well. By providing employees with access to continuous learning opportunities such as online courses or mentorships, companies can create an environment that encourages creativity and innovation.

In addition, by emphasizing a growth mindset over fixed mindsets within teams, companies can ensure that everyone can contribute their ideas without fear of judgment or failure. The collective knowledge gained from these ongoing opportunities allows for new ideas and solutions that may not have been available before.

Increase Adoption of New Initiatives

Finally, by implementing collaborative decision-making processes within the organization’s structure, companies can increase the adoption of new initiatives much faster than traditional top-down approaches. When team members are involved in the decision-making process from the beginning they feel ownership over any new process or initiative being implemented and thus are more likely to stick with it long-term rather than try short-term fixes that may not provide lasting results.

Additionally, having multiple stakeholders involved in the decision-making process ensures that any potential issues are identified early on so they can be addressed before implementation begins.

How to Create a Continuous Learning Culture

Establishing a culture that values continuous learning is essential for any company looking to become a learning organization.

  • Prioritize employee development through training programs and mentorship opportunities
  • Build skills but foster relationships between teams working together on projects or initiatives Invest in upskilling opportunities such as online courses or conferences
  1. Encourage team members to learn best practices from other industries
  • Develop methods to help teams stay current with changing technology trends in their particular field of expertise
  • Encourage communication between teams so information is shared effectively throughout departments rather than siloed away into individual roles

Transform Into a Learning Organization

The changing nature of businesses requires adaptability for businesses to remain competitive. This means taking steps now towards becoming a learning organization rather than waiting until it’s too late down the line when customer needs have changed or competitors have already taken the lead with innovative solutions. While there’s no one size fits all answer for how best to become a learning organization, here’s how you can begin to transform your organization into one.

  • Focus on creating an environment where employee growth is valued and encouraged, communication is open and honest, and decisions are made collaboratively
  • Leverage technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) robotics, and virtual reality (VR), to creatively approach organizational challenges

In conclusion, becoming a learning organization has many benefits, with the three most impactful being:

  1. Reduced resistance toward change
  2. Improved innovation
  3. Increased adoption rates of new initiatives

Implement this within your business model in order to ensure your company remains competitive in an ever-evolving marketplace. Need help transforming your organization into a productive learning organization? Schedule a complimentary discovery call now.

Unlocking the Power of Inclusion and Belonging: Four Ways Leaders Can Foster Teamwork and Drive Performance

Leaders can create a spark to ignite a culture of inclusion and belonging by intentionally creating an environment where all employees feel valued and respected. A culture of inclusion and belonging drives performance, unleashes creativity, strengthens teamwork, improves communication, and builds trust among colleagues. This article explores how organizational leaders can foster an inclusive team atmosphere and create a sense of belonging for their employees. By doing this, they can go beyond checkbox DE&I tactics to strategically unlock the power of inclusion and belonging to drive organizational performance.

To truly create a culture of inclusion and belonging in the workplace, leaders can take several steps to ensure everyone feels welcome and included.

#1: Create a Psychologically Safe Environment

The first step is creating an environment where open dialogue is encouraged among team members. This groundwork can quickly become a checklist of to-dos without a strategic groundwork of psychological safety, where an effort is made to increase comfort in communication.

Leaders can foster this atmosphere of openness by:

  • Modeling good communication practices themselves
  • Actively listening to others’ ideas and opinions
  • Asking questions to get more clarity on the issue at hand
  • Avoiding assumptions or judgments about other people’s experiences
  • Respecting differences in backgrounds or opinions.
  • Establishing ground rules for communication at the beginning of meetings or group conversations

These tactics can help ensure everyone feels heard and respected during discussions.

#2 Commit to Developing a Sense of Belonging

The second step toward building a culture of inclusion is helping employees feel like they belong in the workplace. Feeling like you belong somewhere contributes greatly to better performance outcomes for everyone involved – when people feel accepted and appreciated within their organization, they are more likely to take initiative on projects or tasks without feeling intimidated or discouraged. Leaders should look for ways to provide individual recognition for accomplishments or successes but also celebrate collective achievements as well.

#3: Communicate Performance Expectations

Thirdly, organizational leaders should make sure expectations are communicated throughout the organization so that there is no confusion around roles or responsibilities among team members. When expectations are communicated effectively from the start of any task or project, it not only helps reduce stress levels but also creates an inclusive work environment where everyone feels included and valued for their contributions.

Additionally, having transparent communication across departments will enable employees to stay up-to-date with changes in procedures or policies that may affect their job duties in some way. This ensures everyone is on the same page regarding processes within the organization’s operations.

#4 Understand Diversity Transcends Race

Finally, organizations should recognize that diversity isn’t just a reflection of racial variety – it’s something that must be cultivated to develop acceptance as a norm. Leaders should celebrate differences between employees rather than see them as weaknesses or hindrances to productivity. Open-mindedness is an important factor in embracing different perspectives from diverse backgrounds. This mindset leads to improved team problem-solving and improved customer service experiences when dealing with customers from outside individuals’ familiar demographic groupings. Everyone should feel accepted regardless of external variables like race or age orientation.

Creating a diverse workforce isn’t always easy. However, organizational leaders need to understand that inclusion and acceptance are essential parts of any successful business model.

Taking active steps to unlock the power of inclusion and belonging looks like this:

  • Fostering trusting relationships between colleagues
  • Setting clear expectations
  • Recognizing individual contributions
  • Celebrating diverse perspectives
  • Encouraging open dialogue among team members

By doing this, organizational leaders can unlock the power of inclusion and belonging within their workplaces—leading toward enhanced performance outcomes throughout the organization.

Are you looking to understand your employee experience? Curious about the current inclusion, belonging, and performance environment in your organization? WWC can help. Connect with us now for a complimentary consultation.

References

Grant, A. M., & Parker, S. K. (2009). Redesigning work design theories: The rise of relational and proactive perspectives. Academy of Management Annals, 3(1), 317-375.

Edmondson, A. C., & Lei, Z. (2014). Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 23-43.

Cox Jr, T., Lobel, S.A., & McLeod Jr., P.L.(1991) Effects of ethnic group cultural differences on cooperative and competitive behavior on a group task. Academy of Management Journal, 34(4), 827–847.

Nishii, L.H. (2013). The benefits of climate for inclusion for gender-diverse groups. Academy of Management Journal 56(6):1754–1774.

Homan, A.C., et al. (2019). Diversity in work groups improves team performance because it increases informational diversity. PNAS116(30):14835–14840.

Why are OKRs and KPIs Important?

The Importance of Communicating Performance Expectations to Employees

As a business leader, it is essential to ensure your employees understand the performance expectations that are set for them. Not doing so can result in confusion, poor performance, loss of morale, and higher turnover. By communicating performance expectations clearly and regularly, you can help your team stay on track and reach goals. Performance metrics, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are all important tools you can use to set and measure employee performance.

What are Performance Metrics?

Performance metrics are used to measure the success of an individual or team in achieving specific goals. They provide a way to track progress over time and identify areas where improvement is needed. OKRs are objectives that are set with measurable key results. They provide a framework for setting goals and tracking progress toward those goals. KPIs are indicators of how well an organization is performing against its objectives. They provide a way to measure the success of an organization’s strategies and initiatives.

Why is it Essential to Communicate Performance Metrics?

By communicating performance expectations to employees, you can help them understand what is expected of them and how they can best contribute to the success of the organization. This helps create a culture of accountability and encourages employees to take ownership of their work. It also helps ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and that resources are being used efficiently.

Communicating performance expectations also helps build trust between managers and employees. When employees know what is expected of them, they feel more comfortable taking risks and trying new things. This can lead to increased innovation and creativity, which can benefit the entire organization. Additionally, when employees understand their performance expectations, they are more likely to be engaged in their work and motivated to do their best.

Finally, communicating performance expectations helps ensure that everyone is held accountable for their actions. This creates a sense of fairness within the organization as everyone knows what is expected of them and there is no room for ambiguity or confusion about roles or responsibilities.

In Conclusion

It is essential for business leaders to communicate performance expectations to their employees in order to ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them and how they can contribute to the success of the organization. Performance metrics, OKRs, and KPIs are all important tools for setting and measuring employee performance, so it is important for business leaders to use these tools effectively in order to get the most out of their teams.

If you want to get the most out of your teams, an objective third party may be helpful when it comes to developing your OKRs and KPIs. Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation to learn more about how What Works Consultants can help. WWC also develops maturity models which can help you develop objective versus subjective performance measures to create more consistent performance metrics within your organization.

Reference

Performance metrics, OKRs, & KPIs [Blog post]. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/strategy/performance-metrics-okrs-kpis-03144890

How CEOs Can Leverage OKRs and KPIs for Superior Performance Management

From the corner office to the point of service, performance management is a key factor in determining an organization’s success. As a CEO, you need to ensure everyone in your organization is focused on the right objectives and delivering results. To do this, you must understand how to leverage OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

By linking the KPIs of each role within the organization to specific organizational OKRs, you can deliver superior performance management by better-monitoring success metrics. In this article, we’ll look at how CEOs can use OKRs and KPIs to enhance performance throughout their organizations.

The Basics: What are OKR and KPI?

The acronym OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results.” It is a system used to set, track, and measure goals within an organization. In this system, objectives are high-level goals that define the purpose of your team or project. These objectives can be strategic, operational, tactical, or anything else related to the specific area you are measuring. Once you have established your objectives, you define key results which are measurable indicators that signify progress toward achieving the goal. When these key results are met, it means that the objective has been achieved.

KPIs are “Key Performance Indicators” which measure progress towards objectives in an organization. They provide insight into performance by tracking certain metrics such as customer satisfaction ratings or sales figures over time. KPIs help organizations gauge how well they are doing in terms of meeting their goals. By tracking KPIs regularly, executives can identify areas where changes need to be made in order for their teams to reach their desired performance levels.

How To: Establish Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

Setting OKRs starts with understanding the objectives your organization wants to achieve. If you have already completed a strategic plan, your organizational objectives are documented there. If not, you will need to think strategically about what a successful organization looks like to you. This will help you align with the key results (metrics) you need to see across the organization. These metrics are often measured quarterly and become the benchmarks of organizational performance. Boards LOVE a CEO who knows what performance looks like and how to measure their progress to get there.

Activate Your OKRs: The Power of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

For every OKR set within an organization, there should be a corresponding KPI associated with it in order to track progress over time. This helps executives, middle, and front-line management better understand if their teams are reaching their desired outcomes or if certain strategies need tweaking along the way in order for them to meet their overall objectives. When leaders communicate role expectations using KPIs, it provides a framework that gives employees more clarity. This helps them understand how their daily tasks contribute to organizational success as a whole, a proven way to boost morale across all departments within a business.

Tracking Metrics: Tying It All Together

By combining OKRs and KPIs with thoughtful management strategies and quarterly measurement of success metrics, CEOs can create an effective framework that will not only increase productivity but also motivate employees at all levels of the organization Furthermore, with clear objectives linked directly back to measurable outcomes, performance management becomes much easier. Executives have an easier time identifying both successes and areas for improvement. This aids them in making timely decisions geared toward the achievement of bottom-line results. With this combination, CEOs can ensure sustainable success throughout their entire organization

How to Get Started

Performance management requires strategic planning and thoughtful execution in order for it to be successful. Understandably many executives may feel overwhelmed when first implementing such systems. That’s where What Works Consultants comes in. Our OKR/KPI service extracts OKRs from your strategic plan and executives. We help you identify success metrics, build a system for tracking them and work with your CHRO or COO to communicate aligned KPIs to the field level. Schedule a complimentary Discovery Session now to learn more.

Uncovering the Secret to Employee Retention and Satisfaction in High Turnover Industries

Employee retention and satisfaction are closely linked issues. This is particularly true in industries with high turnover, as they often struggle to keep up with the demands of a highly competitive job market. Especially in these industries (hospitality, restaurant, and construction especially), employee retention and engagement strategies can be difficult to implement. But research shows that certain key metrics can be used to improve employee satisfaction and higher levels of employee retention. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these metrics and explain how they can be used to create long-term employee engagement and satisfaction in any industry.

Metric #1: Positive Work Environment

When you cultivate a positive work environment, you intentionally create a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and respected. It also involves setting clear expectations, providing feedback and recognition when employees go above and beyond, and offering rewards for good performance. All of these actions can help to foster an atmosphere of trust and respect amongst employees, which will in turn lead to increased levels of motivation and job satisfaction.

How to measure: Employee engagement surveys conducted on an annual basis can measure positive work environments and provide insights that drive continuous improvement.

Metric #2: Competitive Salaries and Benefits Packages

Competitive compensation is especially important in industries with high turnover rates as it helps to attract and retain the best talent available. Employers should ensure that salaries are competitive within the industry, taking into account location-specific costs of living, as well as offering attractive benefits packages such as health insurance or flexible working arrangements.

How to measure: An employee engagement survey can be tuned to measure satisfaction with pay and benefits. However, you should benchmark your organization against your top talent competition at least once a year.

Metric #3: Fostering Professional Growth Opportunities

Fostering growth opportunities could involve offering formal training programs or mentoring programs to help employees develop their skills and knowledge within their roles. Additionally, employers should look for ways to offer career advancement opportunities such as promotions or cross-functional projects which help to keep employees engaged with their work while also providing them with new challenges.

How to measure: Develop a career path for employees and communicate development resources at a regular cadence. Your employee engagement survey can tell you if employees feel they have enough professional growth opportunities in your organization.

Create an Engaging Culture

Engaging cultures encourage collaboration between team members both within departments and across different teams. This could involve implementing regular relationship-building opportunities. Such activities can help create a sense of unity amongst colleagues which will ultimately lead to increased job satisfaction and productivity levels. Culture goes far beyond team building, though, and completes the sentence, “The way we work around here is…” If the completion of that sentence does not align with your company’s mission and vision, you have some cultural work to do.

How to measure: Your employee engagement survey can be tuned to measure the expression of your culture again your organization’s mission, vision, and values. You can also measure if your culture is producing a climate that is anabolic (positive emotions) or catabolic (negative emotions).

Utilize Technology for Collaboration

Utilizing technology can enhance collaboration and communication between teams. Utilizing video conferencing software, project management tools such as Trello or Asana, or cloud-based file-sharing services such as Google Drive can all help streamline processes by making it easier for teams to collaborate on projects remotely without having face-to-face meetings every time there’s an issue that needs resolving.

How to measure: The employee engagement survey can measure comfort, discomfort, and utilization or non-utilization of software. However, you should also conduct a technology audit to assure adoption across purchased systems. A gap analysis between desired and actual usage can help

Create Retention Incentives

Companies should strive to reward long-term staff members who have consistently provided value by offering raises or bonuses whenever possible to show appreciation for their hard work over the years. Furthermore, employers should aim to provide flexible working arrangements including telecommuting options so that they can accommodate changing life circumstances among staff members whilst still ensuring that they remain productive throughout any period of transition in their personal lives such as parenthood or caregiving duties for elderly relatives, and so on.

How to measure: The impact of a retention incentive can only be measured with a pilot test. A qualified consultant can help you take the pre-metrics and post-metrics of the test as well as help you with a cost-benefit analysis of a retention incentive policy.

Conclusion

By considering these six key metrics when planning employee retention strategies in industries with high turnover rates, employers can set themselves up for success in driving employee satisfaction levels above average levels across the sector whilst also reducing turnover rates over time thus providing long-term stability within their organization’s workforce structure overall.

Additional Strategies include:

  1. Ensuring all staff members feel valued within the workplace environment
  2. Instituting positive reinforcement measures such as appreciation events or monetary rewards
  3. Encouraging collaboration at all levels
  4. Implementing effective communication tools
  5. Offering competitive wages and benefits
  6. Providing ongoing training & development opportunities
  7. Exploring alternative work arrangements

By doing this, employers will be able not only to retain current staff members but also to create highly satisfied ones too! If you need help with this, go to www.whatworksconsultants.com and schedule a FREE CONSULTATION. We would love to help you engage and satisfy your teams.

References

  1. Research on employee retention and satisfaction in high turnover industries – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13678868.2018.1448295
  2. The importance of a positive work environment for employee satisfaction and retention – https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/the-importance-of-a-positive-work-environment.aspx
  3. The impact of competitive salaries and benefits on employee retention – https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-to-hold-on-to-your-high-performers
  4. The role of professional growth opportunities in employee retention – https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2019/04/22/the-key-to-employee-retention-is-professional-growth-opportunities/?sh=6d7a400770ba
  5. The importance of culture in employee engagement and satisfaction – https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/culture-important-employee-engagement.aspx
  6. Utilizing technology for collaboration and communication between teams – https://www.cio.com/article/2383123/collaboration-software/collaboration-
Preparing Your Organization for The Great Retirement: Optimizing Employee Retention Across Generations

The Great Retirement is here. As Baby Boomers retire in droves, HR executives are now tasked with navigating the complex task of optimizing employee retention across multiple generations. With the rise of the gig economy and an ever-changing job market, younger workers have new expectations when it comes to work styles and employer loyalty. This poses a challenge for organizations hoping to retain key talent, let alone attract new ones. In this blog post, we’ll explore how your organization can prepare for The Great Retirement by retaining your employees, taking a look at the work styles of different generations and how to best retain them.

What is The Great Retirement?

The Great Retirement is the phenomenon of Baby Boomers—the generation born between 1946 and 1964—who are aging out of the workforce. With this shift comes a change in the available talent pool, as well as an increase in competition to attract and retain top talent.

How Does It Impact Employee Retention?

This has made employee retention a top priority for HR executives, who must find ways to keep their best employees happy and engaged while meeting their organization’s needs. Organizations must find ways to maintain or improve employee satisfaction in the Boomer generation while keeping an eye on generation-centric retention strategies.

Engaging Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers are approaching retirement age but still have much to offer businesses that seek their wisdom and experience.

Organizations should focus on helping Boomers feel RESPECTED.

  • Flexibility by allowing them to choose shifts that fit into their lifestyle or offering part-time positions so they can transition out of full-time roles gradually if desired
  • Mentorship opportunities, since many enjoy teaching others what they know best—especially if it involves passing down knowledge from one generation of workers to another!

By leveraging this wealth of knowledge while showing appreciation for Baby Boomer contributions, organizations can keep these experienced professionals engaged even as they near retirement age.

Leveraging Gen X Talent

Gen Xers (born 1965-1980) tend to be more independent than other generations which can make them difficult to motivate at times. They also often feel overlooked in favor of younger generations who have more fresh ideas or up-to-date skillsets.

To better leverage Gen X talent, they must feel CHALLENGED.

  • Focus on providing autonomy while still offering support when needed
  • Recognize Gen Xers’ experience and achievements by giving them responsibility within your organization
  • Challenging them with exciting projects that will push them out of their comfort zone
  • Offering competitive salaries with incentives like bonus rewards

Retaining Millennial Employees

Millennials (born between 1981-1996) are now the largest generation in the workforce and have different expectations when it comes to employment than previous generations. They prioritize work-life balance, meaningful work, recognition from their employer, flexible working hours and other perks that go beyond just salary or benefits packages.

To effectively recruit and retain millennial employees, they must feel STIMULATED.

  • Focus on creating an engaging work environment
  • Provide opportunities for growth and development
  • Deliver feedback frequently and with empathy

Maintaining Successful Intergenerational Teamwork

Organizations today must be able to accommodate different generations working together in order to stay competitive in a changing job market—which is why technologies that enable collaboration across generational lines are key! Utilizing video conferencing tools or virtual training programs can help bridge gaps between workers who have different approaches due to varying levels of experience or technological prowess. Additionally, understanding generational differences is an important way of ensuring team members from all walks of life feel respected within your organization’s culture—and leveraging each group’s unique talents can create powerful results when managed correctly!

Need Help?

Need help understanding your intergenerational workforce? Our customized intergenerational engagement study might be the right fit for your organization. Go to www.whatworksconsultants.com and click on FREE CONSULTATION to learn more about how we can help your organization.

References

  1. The impact of Baby Boomer retirements on the workforce – https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/as-baby-boomers-head-into-retirement-americas-workforce-remains-dominated-by-millennials-and-gen-xers/
  2. The importance of employee retention across generations – https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2020/09/22/how-to-optimize-employee-retention-across-generations/?sh=5d0e9bde7f80
  3. Engaging Baby Boomers through flexibility and mentorship opportunities – https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/how-to-attract-and-retain-baby-boomer-workers.aspx
  4. Leveraging Gen X talent through autonomy, recognition, and exciting projects – https://hbr.org/2019/05/how-to-get-more-out-of-your-gen-x-employees
  5. Retaining Millennial employees through an engaging work environment, growth opportunities, and frequent feedback – https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-attract-and-retain-millennial-talent/
  6. The importance of intergenerational teamwork and collaboration in the workplace – https://hbr.org/sponsored/2019/10/generational-differences-in-the-workplace-how-to-leverage-strengths-and-overcome-challenges
How to Create a High-Performing Healthcare Organization: Strategies for Improving Employee Experience and Job Satisfaction

As healthcare organizations continue to face changing market forces, the ability to attract and retain talented employees is essential for success. In today’s highly competitive environment, it is no longer enough for executives to focus solely on performance metrics. Instead, they must be proactive about fostering an environment where employees feel valued and engaged. This article will explore key strategies small healthcare organizations can use to improve employee experience and job satisfaction, helping them create a high-performing organization.

#1: Create the Right Culture & Values

Every organization’s success is dependent on its culture and values, which are the foundations of how people interact with each other and carry out their work. It is important for small healthcare organizations to create an environment that reflects their core values and promotes job satisfaction. This can be done by encouraging open communication between management, staff, patients, and providers, as well as providing opportunities for employees to give feedback or voice ideas on ways to improve operations. Additionally, it is important to recognize achievement and reward success in order to motivate team members to do their best work every day.

#2: Encourage Effective Communication & Collaboration

Employees need to feel like they are part of a team in order to foster collaboration and promote a sense of company loyalty. To ensure effective communication within the organization, management should place a priority on creating an environment where different perspectives are valued and respected. Holding regular meetings with staff members can help ensure everyone is up-to-date on projects and provide them with a forum for sharing opinions/ideas. Implementing an open-door policy can also encourage employees to share their thoughts directly with management without hesitation. Along with these strategies, it is important for executives to regularly communicate company goals/vision so that everyone understands how they contribute towards achieving them.

#3: Provide Training & Development Opportunities

Any organization looking to stay competitive in today’s market must invest in learning opportunities for employees. By providing training courses or workshops on relevant topics, small healthcare organizations can help enhance employee engagement, productivity and morale while preparing staff members for future challenges within the workplace. Not only does this give employees the chance to grow professionally but it reinforces the commitment from leadership towards developing their staff; something that goes a long way in creating satisfied workers who remain loyal over time.

#4: Establish Employee Recognition Programs

Recognizing employees for their hard work helps build morale, improves motivation levels and reinforces positive behavior within the organization. Small healthcare organizations should consider implementing recognition programs such as awards/incentives or praise delivered publicly or privately depending on the individual preferences of each employee. Other simple forms of recognition include sending out personalized thank you cards or hosting events/activities outside of work time where team members have the chance to connect socially while still getting credit for their contributions at work.

#5: Exploring Flexible Working Arrangements

The demands placed upon healthcare professionals have grown significantly over recent years making flexible working arrangements increasingly attractive; particularly among younger generations entering the workforce. For instance, allowing telecommuting options or adjusting hours when needed throughout the year could support a positive employee experience while still ensuring high-performance results from all team members.

In summary, there are several strategies small healthcare organizations can use to improve employee experience within their workplaces.

1) Create a culture that reflects core values

2) Establish effective communication channels

3) Invest in learning opportunities

4) Implement recognition programs

5) Explore flexible working options

All of these steps combined will help leaders create a high-performing organization with satisfied team members.

ABOUT WHAT WORKS CONSULTANTS

What Works Consultants helps organizations committed to the health of their communities create productive organizations. We help executives with internal research, process improvement, and internal communications, leveraging the power of people operations to create positive outcomes. www.whatworksconsultants.com

TrendSpotting: Research as a Department

Big Idea Shaping the Workplace of 2030: Adding a Research Department to Increase Utilization of Insights

The trendspotters at WWC see Research as department that Human Resources, Operations, and Marketing can go to for insights. This department will save companies money by decreasing guesswork. This is especially important when executing change within an organization. The research department would provide an objective third-party look at data. It would also provide reports to key departments to inform decision-making.

Why Research is Important for Organizations

Empathetic change management is the wave of the future. We believe that positive organizational change will only be made possible when change agents recognize the impact of internal research, process, internal communication, and people operations.

When companies execute change without objective insights it can result in costly missteps that could have been avoided by asking a few critical questions. This creates data-driven organizations responding to real-world insights, attitudes, and emotions. Change is more likely to stick when it is executed empathetically. Executing empathetic changes makes dollars and sense.

The Alternative: Utilizing Consulting Firms for Research

Companies will increase their usage of small consulting firms in the absence of a research department providing an objective source of data. This will help them understand their internal state to make vital business decisions.

Testing a change idea? Think you might need to research internal or external stakeholders before you innovate? Are you thinking of starting a research department? Dip your toe in the water before going all in. Connect with our Chief Management Consultant, Diane Dye Hansen, for 30 minutes to assess your research needs related to the change you are executing.