Category How To

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.

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

Project Management Tips
Project Management: Are you biting off more than you can chew?

You have a grand idea, product, service, event, or project to pull off. Everyone is excited. You have a project to manage. But there’s a problem. Project management has always created problems for you. How can you assure you are not biting off more than you can chew? How do you set yourself up for success by making a project manageable to begin with?

  1. Tent Pole Project: This is the big project. It usually has a firm deadline or drop dead date associated with it. There is some sort of clear consequence tied to not meeting this date. The date is firm and is usually controlled by something outside of yourself (even if that something is just a pressure to get it done).
  2. Sub Project: These are time sensitive projects that exist within the tent pole project. They might be a little more movable in deadline than the tent pole project itself. However, too much movement on a sub project and the outcome of the tent pole project can be put at risk. Example: You are attending an event, but you need to reorder your business cards because you are out.
  3. Milestone: Tent Pole Projects can be milestones if they are under a larger tent. For example, I have a client who is speaking at a TedX Event. This event is one project inside a larger tent pole of a direct to consumer toy industry product launch. The TedX Event is a milestone for her. The development of her web site as well as the manufacturing of the product are also milestones until this major tent pole project of the direct to consumer campaign.

Project Management Tips

Then, you need to get real.

Where leaders get hung up on this in the perception of time and what can be realistically achieved in a time frame. This is where it helps to have a clear handle on start dates, completion dates, project types, costs, and responsible parties. Business will do its thing and interfere with your projects. Knowing where you are in your timeline will help you manage expectations and set yourself up for success as your project moves along.

Need help?

Do you need project clarity? Do you feel stuck? We may be a fit for you. Depending on the size of your project, one consulting hour with us could save you millions. Contact us to receive a 30 minute complimentary consultation to see if we can help.

In a sea of sad feeling, you can still shift and be happy.
3 Steps to Change Your Mood and Energy

In a sea of sad feeling, you can still shift and be happy.

Have you ever just felt, blah? Like, you felt so blah you couldn’t shake it? The solution to shaking the blahs is literally in what you do with your body. And, yes, that mean shaking it!

You can change your mood and energy, as long as you are willing to do three things.

  1. Recognize your attitude sucks. Yep, you have to get real with yourself and occasionally others to shift. I have gone into situations totally stiff and then when I opened up about my commute, my day, my challenge du jour, I felt lighter. Try it.
  2. Decide how you want to be. You have total control over how you show up in the world. You just have to identify how you want to feel and then take steps to feel it.
  3. Take action. You have to do the stuff to feel the good stuff, whether that is peace, energy, enthusiasm, connected, sexy (yep, I said sexy), powerful, or anything else.

Watch my video on it.

Try this.

Stop right now and check in. Really check in with yourself and see how you are feeling. Check your body. Do you have a headache? Check your emotions. How are you feeling? Check your vibe – are you sending out a good one or a bad one? This check in will help you get a grip on what you are dealing with.

Consciously level up. Close your eyes and use that big beautiful imagination of yours. Did you know your body doesn’t know the difference between imagination and something that is really happening. That’s why your palms sweat and your heart rate goes up when you imagine bombing a date or interview. Guess what? Your body thinks you have already done it! So imagine success, get real with it. Feel it, taste it, smell it. Let it level you up.

Breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth, this is breathing in a conscious way. Follow your breath down to your stomach. Observe it inflate. Follow it up and out of your mouth. This exercise brings you mind to a single focal point. It can pull you out of reaction. This practice of following the breath has saved me from doing some stupid stuff!

Post your results in the comments. In many cases, they are immediate!

News: What Works Recruitment Recruits Top Talent

Today, What Works Coaching officially opened the doors to new direct recruitment contracts through its sister company, What Works Recruitment.  What started as the fulfillment of a consulting client need has grown into its own division specializing in locating specialized and educated employees for today’s complex companies.

We recruit to fit your culture.

We interview every client company to determine cultural fit needs, screen resumes, and hire for select positions on a flat rate basis. We’ve eliminated the disincentive of negotiating salary when dealing with a recruitment agency by instituting a flexible flat-rate structure and per-position agreements. That’s right, we don’t have to handle all your recruiting. But after we send our superstars your way, you might want to!

Never impersonal. Always supportive.

What Works Recruitment is supported by a team of supportive, caring, and best of all, personal recruiter who truly focus on the applicant and their fit with our client companies. Plus, every applicant is supported with 30 minutes of complimentary career coaching once you decide to interview them! It’s a unique model which assures we deliver well-screened, talented, and capable individuals for you to interview.

Pure talent sourcing.

What Works Recruitment does not do testing, drug/alcohol screening, or other HR procedures at this time. What we do is save you time and money in sorting through applicants and give you great candidates to interview.

Companies: Contact Diane Dye Hansen to see if our service is a fit for you.

Applicants: Connect with our lead recruiter, Heather Douglass, on LinkedIn to see if we have a position which fits your skill set!

horse
Productivity: Live a Full Life Through Work and Play

Once upon a time, there was young woman who loved her business. She loved it so much, she worked on it night and day. When she worked with others, she expected them to love her business as much as she did. She didn’t understand when people would take vacations, or breaks for that matter. She ate her lunch at her desk. She was dedicated! She was proud of her work ethic and the fact she would “do what it took” to succeed. After awhile, she was also burned out. No matter how hard she would try to sustain her performance, she just didn’t move as quickly as she wanted to. She lost her energy. And, then, she started wondering why she was working on her business at all. She had a full life. It was just full in ways that drained her.

It’s a nightmare of a fairy tale.

Yet, day after day, this is what many business owners do to themselves. They push hard. They lack working boundaries. Soon their life becomes work until one day someone asks them about their hobbies. The answer becomes, I work.

Awhile back, I wrote an article called “7 reasons why down time is not a waste of time.” This is a continuation of that article. Not only is downtime not a waste of time, it’s essential to re-energize, receive inspiration, and stay healthy. According to Psychology Today, workaholism is a disease. Those who work, regularly, in excess of 50 hours a week without extended time off or regular breaks are more likely to get sick. Additionally, relationships are affected and (gasp) they make less money, not more.

There are two types of full life: 1) the type that is full just to be full and busy, it’s mostly work, and 2) the type that fills your heart and spirit, it energizes you versus drains you.

So what’s a motivated person to do?

You have to work. But, what would happen if you told yourself, “I have to play?”

Step 1: Calendar it out. If you love your calendar, use it to help you build your new habit of play. Pick a color that represents play to you. Mine is bright yellow.

Step 2: Start slow. Remember, it’s not about running away from it all. It’s about taking time away to recharge, get some new ideas (no, you aren’t forcing these ideas by traveling with a way to take notes).

Step 3: Sabotage yourself. Go somewhere its not necessarily convenient to work, a beach, a lake, hiking, horseback riding, somewhere where thoughts can come of their own accord but you have to stay present. Persistent working is a hard habit to break. So set yourself up for success by making sure its hard for you to fall back into old habits.

Step 4: Enjoy. Allow yourself to get into what you are doing. Part of the benefit to play is the release of endorphins and dopamine. It’s that feel good formula that leaves you energized versus tired.

Step 5: Observe. Without trying to make anything happen you will see something is! You are sharper at work. Your body may feel lighter. You may be inspired. You might have more energy overall. And (oh no) you might want to do it again.

I would love to hear how your play experiments go. Drop a comment below. If you need help structuring this full life experiment for yourself, schedule 30 minutes with me. I swear it will be productive.

Daily Greatness Accountability Coaching
Mindset: Discover Your Daily Greatness Through Accountability

The Daily Greatness Business Journal costs $50, but you can get it for free when you schedule accountability services with What Works Coaching.
The Daily Greatness Business Journal costs $50, but you can get it for free when you schedule accountability services with What Works Coaching.

A year ago, I began using the Daily Greatness Yoga Journal. I can’t believe it has been in a year. In that time, my relationship with myself, my health practices, and how I schedule myself has completely changed. I dropped 25 pounds. I feel better. This year, I started applying the Daily Greatness Business Journal to the business practices of What Works Coaching. The result has been more strategic partnerships, more content for you to enjoy, and building a family of superstar clients. It’s only been two weeks!

What’s the secret? Accountability, process, and flexibility. The three work hand in hand.

Stop me when this sounds familiar.

Example: You want to commit to accountability but you skip a day. You feel like you’ve blown it. You can’t hold to this new habit, practice, discipline for a week or two without messing up. The stick comes out and you start beating yourself up. Whatever you’ve been trying to do gets put on the shelf.

I know I relate. Do you?

Success comes with process and flexibility.

Fortunately, the Daily Greatness journals don’t have hard dates attached to them. I have “blown it” for a month or more and come back into my accountability practice. Overall, in the sum of the year, a month or two of oops is still majority win.

So, I decided to reach out to Daily Greatness to let them know I would like to start coaching my clients using their Daily Greatness Business Journal. I didn’t hear back directly. But, I did get this nifty discount code.

Then, I had an idea.

What if, I gave clients (new or existing) who booked my most popular accountability package the Daily Greatness Business Journal for FREE? I decided I would do it. And, I would structure my already popular text and email accountability program around What Works Coaching practices and using the journal!

What’s in my accountability package normally?

  • An hour long coaching call to address your challenges and apply them to how you will use the journal.
  • Five days a week of emails (48 hour response time)
  • Five days a week of texts (24 hours response time)
  • Use every day or just one or two. How you use it is up to you!
  • An hour recap coaching call to review your progress, fine tune anything that needs it, and send you off for success.

I am so excited about doing this. I can pilot this with 20 CLIENTS. That’s it. I’ll even start a very neat Facebook mastermind group with it, during the pilot phase, for no extra charge. So, book a customized accountability package and get a Daily Greatness Business Journal for free (A $50 value)! As soon as I see your order come through, I will order your journal. When it arrives, our work begins! What a great way to get a journal that will guide you for the rest of the year (or two, or however long it takes you to finish) and a solid month of coaching to kick it off!

Get Accountable – Schedule Here