Motivating employees to keep up morale and create a positive work environment is important.  Here are a few small things to keep the morale up. 

1. Get to know your employees. In a small to medium-sized company this is fairly easy, and can be a bit of a challenge in larger organizations but is no less important.  Know about their family; know about what they do after work, what interests them. You don't need to pry this out of them, but taking a little time each day to learn a little about each person who works for you can make them feel much more loyal and eager to do a good job.  Be sure to be genuine, but everyone loves to feel noticed, so take notice.

2. Learn more. If you take motivation seriously keep learning more and more about the subject of motivation.   Continue to learn new and innovative ways to motivate employees.  If you have taken time to get to know your employees, you will begin to recognize what might be a great motivational tool for departments and individuals alike.  This can only happen if you educate yourself on what is available in the marketplace to keep employees happy.

3. Spend time with your employees. This will go a long way in helping with getting to know each employee.  If you only see them in the elevator or at the monthly staff meeting, you really won't know much about them.  Take a few minutes out of your day to just talk with your employees. Give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns or simply how the day is going. This will show the employee that you care about his or her happiness within the company.  Positive conversations, even on a casual level are a great way to increase employee motivation.

4. Consider the employees "feelings" about the job. Most employees start out in a job on the bottom with hopes of advancement. One way to increase employee motivation is to discuss the possibility of advancement or anywhere that they would like their career to go. Many companies never take into consideration what an employee says about their job, and often never allow employees to decide their own fate within the company.  Employers often make employees feel that if they want to do something different they must go some place else to do so.  Listen, listen, listen.

5. Share the news. You as a manager know what it feels like when a higher employee seems to be keeping something from you. Even though there may not be a secret, the boss still hasn’t informed you on what is going on. Your employees may feel this way all the time. It is very important to keep employees informed about issues that arise in the company even if it does not directly affect them. Communication is often the single most complained about problem in any workplace.  Often employees feel left in the dark, even when they are not.  Remember perception is reality, if communication is weak, rumors start and dissatisfaction is not far behind.

Ultimately it is up to you to create a work environment that is good for you and good for your employees. A wise person once said “You are only as strong as your weakest link”. Increasing motivation among employees will make each link a little stronger and make your team a better one.

"Consider the benefits of vacation"
 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

Although I no longer work in a corporate environment, I remember all too well the great lengths that companies go to in order to create a positive "corporate culture".  Corporate culture involves creating an intangible set of subtle rules and ideas that represent a singular company culture where employees feel aligned with the company mission.  We all want to feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves, and a corporate culture creates that feeling for employees and owners alike. 

Companies with a unified culture are usually effective communicators of their culture, not just with customers, but also amongst themselves. For these companies the culture is more than banners and signs that state the mission and vision and the types of values held by the company.  Corporate culture starts from the top down and permeates all employee activities.  Corporate culture is an example driven endeavor that starts with caring and thoughtful leaders. 

Companies that have a positive corporate culture demonstrate that they value their employees, and what they contribute to the company.  They want to hear their  opinions, and they'll work hard to recognize individual accomplishments.  This recognition extends well past the standard plaque under the “Employee of the Month' sign in the break room.  It is a genuine desire to place value and recognition where it is deserved. 

When I speak to an owner, CEO or HR Director, who is part of a positive corporate culture about the importance of vacation, not just to the employees but to the company, they immediately "get it".  They understand that their corporate culture is strengthened by happy, rested employees.  They value their employees enough to understand that by taking vacations on a regular basis that are restful and fun, they help them to avoid serious illnesses brought on by stress and hard work. 

For those companies who are desperately trying to improve the corporate culture, retain quality employees, and lower healthcare costs due to stress-related illnesses, the addition of an inexpensive Employee Travel Benefits program is a great place to start.  Has your company discovered the benefits of vacation yet? 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

I have recently been reading or rather listening to via Audible, "The Power of Full Engagement".  As someone who knows most of the time management tricks out there, this is a new and refreshing take on how to accomplish more in any given time span. 

The authors, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, work with clients who wish to become more productive.  Their approach however is very unique in that they first discuss how their clients manage the amount of energy they have each day. 

We all start each day with the same number of hours and minutes, but not all of us start out with the same amount of energy.  Some, those who really take care of their health, do much better in the area of energy than those who do not. 

The authors have an assessment test they use for each client to help them and the client get a good picture of the current situation and then each client is given assignments to help them with each area of life that affects their overall performance.  The ultimate goal is to become more balanced in the various areas of one's life; mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical.  The programs they put their clients on are designed to add energy, thus allowing them to accomplish more.

With their clients they examine everything from exercise and diet and how these play a vital role in energy level, to time spent with family, and time away from work. At times they suggest additional activities to already busy schedules, to be done daily or weekly because these activities add energy back into their lives just because they find them so enjoyable. 

So what have you stopped doing because you don't have time or energy?  It could be that this activity actually enhanced your productivity because of the joy it gave you.  Certainly a new twist on productivity well worth looking at. 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

If you are like me when you travel, your world is filled with "what if's".  What if it rains, what if it's cold, hot, or just cool.  What if I need to go out for dinner, what if I need to do a lot of walking and or need an umbrella?  Because many times there are many uncertainties when we travel, it is hard to know just exactly what to take. 

Not so with my husband.  His biggest decision is shorts, slacks or jeans, from there he can take a pair of appropriate shoes and a couple of shirts and be ready to go in minutes.  I think it actually helps to not care too much about what you look like. 

With all the additional cost of travel it is nice if one can take advantage of being able to carry on luggage, but it can be difficult to fit all you need in one bag.  But here are a few ideas I found while getting ready for an upcoming trip to Canada.

Separate what you need for sure, from what you MAY need. The key word here is to know what you “need”. Taking that new dress and shoes  "just in case" adds unnecessary bulk to the suitcase and may come home unused.  Before your final pack, lay out all of your clothes and then take half of what you think you’ll need. Sounds tough, but, it works. 

Pack some items to serve a double duty.  For instance, if you think you need jeans and slacks, take a pair of jeans that you can dress up.  It takes less space to pack a light dressy top and some pretty jewelry to make a pair of jeans look dressy, than to pack an extra pair of slacks and matching top.  You can also use scarves or jewelry to create a different look or feel to an outfit, also taking up less space.

If you are trying to get it all in one bag it is a good idea to make sure everything you take can be interchanged.  If you pick a color family and mix and match items around it, you can get away with relatively few items and get many different looks out of them. 

Another great idea for getting it all in one bag is the space saving travel bags.  I suggest the ones that let you remove the air because they keep the clothes from wrinkling and make the packages really small. I have tried the ones that just let you put things in many separate bags, but don't deflate, and although things are organized, they are not smaller. Rolling clothes does the same thing, but does take a little more space. 

It you are going to try and take only a carry on, then don't forget to pick up some regulation sized clear bottles to put your toiletries in or the airline will make you take them out and dispose of them at the airport. 

Even if you are going to a sunny destination, try wearing your bulkiest items for the trip.  If you want to take a pair of jeans and some sneakers, just in case, wear them on the flight and save the suitcase space.  Carry a jacket or sweater for that same reason. 

Since most airlines allow you to carry an appropriate sized carry-on plus a smaller bag, like a handbag or briefcase, make sure you put things that you will need in the smaller bag.  If your bigger bag gets sent to the cargo hold, you want to make sure you have what you need in case your luggage is lost.  These items might be, medications, minimal makeup, phone, keys, travel documents.  I always recommend carry a large purse, even if you are not a "large purse person".  I have one purse that is used only for travel, even though most of the time I try not to carry a bag at all.  You can also utilize pockets and the various products that you can hang around your neck or waist to carry some important items.  Just remember to remove everything from pockets and waist before going through the scanners or you risk upsetting other travelers by holding up the lines. 

Traveling light is a giant step for all of us who are the "always prepared" types, but with a little creativity and preparation we can still be ready for anything and put it all in one bag.  Happy trails everyone!

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

If you’re like me you love shoes and there is no better place to buy shoes than Zappos. I have heard some amazing things about the company and it’s culture. In speaking to an audience of Human Resource professions at the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference Chief Executive Tony Hsieh stated  “Our number one priority is company culture,” he explained. “If we get the company culture right, then . . . delivering great customers service or building a long term brand or business will follow.”

Mr. Hsieh has made the link between happy employees, great customer service and his bottom line. A good company culture contributes to creating employees who look forward to being at work, even in stressful jobs. (let’s face it customer service can be stressful) We all know that stress plays a huge role in health, and improved health definitely reduces costs to the employee for time lost from illness and additional costs for doctors visits or even stress related disease.

The kinds of benefits offered can greatly contribute to your employee’s feelings about the company. Many smaller companies find it difficult to offer some of the very expensive benefits, such has health care, 401k and the like, but creating a great culture can go a long way in making people happy.

Involving employees in decisions that affect them is a good way to cultivate loyalty and a sense of ownership that will be reflected in how they work with your clients. Mr. Hsieh involved his employees in developing the company mission, therefore ensuring that they would feel invested in the program.

Job sharing and work-from-home options, cost the company little, but can go a long way in improving employee satisfaction. Consulting employees about the kinds of programs that would be helpful for them in their personal lives go a long way to improving morale.

Even though it may be an employers market today, the tide will turn and proactively creating the kind of environment people are looking to work in, will make your company a place that the best and the brightest want to work. What are you doing to keep them happy today?
 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

Before I went into my own business I worked in the corporate world, mostly banking. I enjoyed my work and most of the time I enjoyed the companies I worked for, but like many people, there were days when I liked my company less. 

If you have worked for someone else you know, that like most of life, not everyday is "heaven".  There really are some days when you contemplate putting a resume out there.  But then you think about what would change and you take a breath and keep going. 

When this would happen to me, I would often make a little mental pro and con list for the reasons for looking elsewhere for employment.  I would think about the job critically at these times and think about what I would give up if I started in another job.  At that time I had earned three weeks of vacation, which may go away in another job.  I lived minutes from work and could go home at lunch time, and it was always uncertain about where the next job might be.  I had friends at work I liked and felt connected to that I may lose touch with.  I had a boss I liked and respected, and allowed me the latitude to learn new things.  The point is that I rarely thought about the "big" things like salary, health benefits, and so on, it was usually the little things that kept me in a job.

So what do your employees think about on those "less than heavenly" day that keep them in their job.  It may be an employer's market right now, but good employees, who understand their jobs and need little supervision to do it, are still hard to come by.  Does the environment that you provide for them keep them in the job?  Do you make them feel appreciated?  Is the morale in your shop what you want or could it be better?  Maybe it's time to offer your employees some benefits that make it hard to leave. 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

I am an avid member of "Audible.com" and love to listen to books while I am driving or even taking long walks.  It is a great way to stay "up" on the latest books and use time that would otherwise be wasted to be productive.  This week I have been listening to the book "The Power of Body Language" by Tonya Reiman.  It is such a good book I will likely listen a second or third time.  Lots of great information about how we all come across to people when we first encounter them. 

She had a great list of gestures that can turn people off when you are trying to impress them or get to know them.  I thought this list would be very beneficial to everyone whether you are building a business or going to a family reunion.  Do you do any of these things?

• Biting lips
• Shifting constantly in one's seat
• Crossing arms or some other gesture that says you are not interested in others
• Looking down or away when people are talking
• Standing rigidly in front of people
• Swaying or rocking
• Self touching like removing lint or smoothing clothes
• Self grooming such as fixing hair or makeup
• Twisting one's hair
• Giggling one's leg
• Biting nails
• Scratching one's head
• Constantly raising eyebrow in a look of surprise
• Not using any hand gestures at all
• Hand gestures that are too exuberant and big
• Keeping hands in pockets
• Scratching any part of the body

I found this list rather interesting and I have found the rest of the book filled with helpful ideas on how to interact with others in such a way as to make them feel comfortable and non threatened.  I was also amazed at what we inadvertently pick up about people we meet without ever having them speak to us.  I highly recommend this book to anyone. 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

I just published a couple of new articles.  Tune Up Your Motivation  a list of ideas to help you stay motivated no matter what you are trying to accomplish and Take Your Next Vacation at an All-Inclusive Resort a recount of a vacation my husband and I took at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico.  The latter article is really to help travelers understand exactly what to expect from an all-inclusive resort. 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

This is the time of year that our minds turn to vacations.  The kids are out of school, the sun is out and we are all thinking about travel and taking some leisure time for ourselves.  We are visiting our favorite travel sites and looking at some cool destinations.  Or we are thinking about visiting grandma or going someplace to "unplug".

For my family, it is fiscal year end for my husband's employer, and being in accounting, that means he doesn't go away until they are done.  Being year end, we also noticed that he left 4 days of unused vacation this year, which he will lose, due to his employer's "use or lose" policy.  Now, he does get quite a bit of time off, since he has been with the company for a long time, so it is not nearly as bad as someone who may only get a week off.  Still four days is four days!

I really never thought much about the value of a vacation until I started working with World Ventures and their Corporate Travel Benefits Program.  I mean we all love going on vacation, even if it is just a few days, but I discovered that people actually do studies about this stuff. 

According to a The Wall Street Journal  article in 2003 "a nine-year study of 12,000 middle-age men at risk for coronary disease, researchers found those who failed to take vacations had a higher risk of death from any cause, but particularly from heart disease, than those who took regular vacations."  and "a lack of vacations was a predictor of heart attacks and early death among 749 women studied over 20 years, says a landmark study published a decade ago in the American Journal of Epidemiology".  Do you think that we are working harder than we were in 2003?

Now we all know that Americans love to work and take a lot less vacations days than other nations. Apparently, almost one in four American workers have no paid vacation and no paid holidays and the average worker in the private sector in the U.S. receives only about nine days of paid vacation and about six paid holidays per year.  Feel overworked yet? 

Expedia did a study in 2009 to determine who is taking vacation in the world, and you guessed it, we did not rank very high in that study!  The study focused on the average number of vacation days that employed adults receive worldwide. It found the U.S. ranked 11th with 13 days. This was well behind France with 38 days, Italy – 31, Spain – 30, Germany and Austria – 27, Great Britain – 26, New Zealand – 21, Canada and Australia – 19, and Japan – 15.  I really need to brush up on my high school French!

The sad thing about all of this is that employers believe that when employees don't go on vacation it is money in their pocket.  The truth is it actually costs them more.  Why?  Well when Jane doesn't get her vacation she takes more sick days.  And Jane is not pretending to be sick, she actually is, the stress is killing her!  She may need to visit the doctor often, costing her boss money, and she could be treated for serious illnesses like high blood pressure, exhaustion, chronic fatigue and you get the picture.  All of this cost will come back to the employer, either through her lost productivity or her added health care costs.

So if you have been thinking about skipping vacation this year, perhaps it is time to take a second look at that decision.  We all need rest and time away from work to refresh and relax.  Maybe it's time to take a Dream Trip.

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :

We all like to know we are getting the best possible deal, no matter what we are buying.  So when I travel, as a member of Dream Trips Life I can simply go online and either pick a trip from the Dream trip section or plan travel through Rovia, and be pretty sure I can get a "good deal". So when we recently found ourselves the recipients of a cruise as a gift and I needed to plan some hotel stays and airfares around the cruise I went directly to my Dream Trips Life web site and checked out hotels and flights.  And then, just because I needed to satisfy myself that I was  "getting a deal", I checked out the competition. 

Since we were taking our cruise from Los Angeles we thought it would be nice to stay some extra time there and check out the sites.  I picked my hotel for the stay before the cruise and saved approximately $25/night by booking through my Dream Trips web site.  Then I went and checked out a hotel in the Disneyland area and found one I was familiar with and saved about $35/night using my own site. 

I even managed to save a few bucks on airfare, although no one at Rovia ever promises that, because, well, its the airlines we are dealing with.  I usually end up saving enough to be able to take a piece of luggage, but that is never guaranteed.

So now, using my own leisure travel site, I have managed to save on shoes, several very nice restaurants, a couple of movies, dog food, airline tickets and hotels.  I would say I have definitely gotten my money's worth on this membership deal! 

Sharon Schierling :Sharon Schierling :