Mindset, Learning, Collaboration

How can you benefit from employee engagement?

Whether you are an employee, self employed or employer, you will be able to identify with the word engagement. The term employee engagement is a term we all need to regognise. Its what motivates us. It is my hope you will reflect on how you can apply this to your work life.

Employee engagement is not an exact science. To determine what strategies to use we tend to use our own experience, positive psychology and a good amount of research into what is working well in other businesses.

At the core of employee engagement, similar to any company’s foundation, are some values. Company values determine the why, how and what of that company. Similarly, personal values are the why, how and what that drives their engagement with the company.

One of the things new research suggests enhances engagement is value congruence. Value congruence is the extent to which the individual can behave at work consistent with his or her own self-image. It is very difficult to experience meaningfulness in your work if you are expected to behave in ways that are inconsistent with your values. When employees find that their role expectations require behaviours that they feel are inappropriate for their preferred self-image, they feel devalued, taken advantage of, and less willing to give themselves to their work roles.

So, after doing some research on ideas which may assist managers in need of some inspiration to engage their employees here are 10 ideas I liked:

1.  Reward for alignment of company values

Reward staff where they demonstrate alignment with the company’s values. This could be as simple as a bar of chocolate for every person nominated by a member of staff or it could be every month and based on a process.

2. Team values

When you set your own game rules playing can be a lot more fun. Team synergy is not an easy objective to attain, and takes time. However, it is essential to your team objectives and to the overall output of the team. Having teams create a team culture, based on 2-3 commonly agreed values or ground rules can help nurture and speed up that process.

3. Encourage personal projects

Give employees a 1-2 h/ day window to pursue their own projects. Having people from different departments connecting and bouncing ideas can help get a new perspective. Projects and initiatives can get new directions, encouraging a creativity and energy flow that would only benefit the rest of the working hours.

4. Assign a buddy/mentor for every newcomer

An important part of the onboarding process is having someone answer some really important questions. Questions that someone may hesitate to ask their manager. Building a trustworthy relationship with someone with more experience in that company can help guide the newcomer. This way he or she can better adapt and grow part of the team.

5. Have team photos

Have photos of your team on a wall, or frame them around the office. Group photos, funny photos, events photos or random photos “snapped” when people weren’t watching. It’s a cultural element that can encourage and foster work relationships and employee engagement.

6. Encourage charity

Encourage teams to “team up” and raise money for that cause. The cause must be aligned with the company values. Alternatively, encourage individuals to nominate charities for which the Company will make a donation if they can show that the charities values align with the Company.

Better yet, encourage employees to apply to have a day to work for a charity. The application to have a day off to work for their chosen charity must explain how the charities value and the employees’ values align with the Company values to make it a win-win. The employee will receive their normal days’ pay.

7. Raise salaries or pay a bonus

Bear with me!

How much does it cost your business to recruit and train someone? How much time does it take managers and HR to hire a new employee?

Customers invest in their relationships with your staff too. How much does it cost in lost business when customers lose confidence in the business due to staff turnover and don’t come back. A company can reduce costs, increased revenues and improved the customer experience by developing employees to be more inspired and engaged. Use this cost saving and reward employees with an annual increase or service bonus.

8. Celebrate achievements- the glue

Big or small, they are the solid proof that the work people are putting in has meaning. No one can go through tasks and assignments for months, or even years without burning out. Refill their energy tanks with some recognition and celebrate their hard work. This is also a great way to glue together teams.

9. Celebrate people

A card on their birthdays, a morning tea for a retirement, a ceremony to welcome newcomers….there are plenty of important moments of showing them that they matter..

10.   Get answers from your employees as well

Last but not least…This is related to feedback but it’s more of an indirect feedback. Employee surveys are a great way to monitor and analyse your teams and the overall workspace. You’ll get some essential information into what works and what you can improve.

Start with these 10 employee engagement ideas and build on that. Whether you have employees or you are an employee, the benfits of engagement in what you are doing and aligning it with your values will determine how happy you are in your work.

If you have any other ideas share them with us.

Link- COMPANIES SUCH AS GOOGLE AND VIRGIN ARE PRIME EXAMPLES OF EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT REAPING REAL BENEFITS. FIND OUT HOW THESE, AND OTHER LEADING COMPANIES, ARE GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THEIR EMPLOYEES. http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/december/six-companies-that-get-employee-engagement-and-what-they-do-right

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Business Team NZ

Sitting disease

Sitting disease by the numbers

The term “Sitting Disease” has been coined by the scientific community and is commonly used when referring to metabolic syndrome and the ill-effects of an overly sedentary lifestyle. However, the medical community does not recognize Sitting Disease as a diagnosable disease at this time.

Whether it’s time spent working (in the office, school or home), driving, eating or watching TV, the impacts our sedentary lifestyles, often referred to as “sitting disease,” may be one of the most unanticipated health threats of our modern time.

Sitting Disease:
A term coined by the scientific community, commonly used when referring to metabolic syndrome and the ill-effects of an overly sedentary lifestyle.

Now that’s the bad news. The good news is…

…by making simple lifestyle changes we can make big strides to lead healthier lives. Mounting medical research proves that if we choose to stand up, sit less and move more, we can experience a great number of attainable benefits to our health, our minds and our bodies . If this topic interests you go to the source to read more….source:http://www.juststand.org/the-facts/

 

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Business Team NZ

www.anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz

3 ways to stay on top of your Facebook posting over the holidays


If your marketing plan involves posting to Facebook it is very important to keep posting over the Christmas and holiday period, even if you are not officially working. How can you do this and take a break?

You will need to writing as many posts as you need to get you through this period and then use one of these two options for publishing.

1. Many of you will have found that Facebook has a scheduling option. You will find this is located in the drop down button attached to the PUBLISH button. If you use this option I suggest you set up a system where you record which post will be posted on which day because it is very easy to get distracted when you are setting this up and scheduling a post. You may find you don’t remember which day you are scheduling the current post for and double up and miss a day. Have a plan.

2. Use scheduling software like www.buffer.com (see video above). If you only have one social media account it is free. If you have more it is about $10USD a month. You can enter your post straight into Buffer and it will post to Facebook when you tell it to. You can set up different times and days depending on when your audience is expecting to hear from you. Try to be predictable. You can get a plug in for Buffer for your WordPress site too so you could schedule your posts on your blog, these will go Buffer and then Buffer will post to Facebook. This is useful if you want to write big posts and you want them on your website as well as Facebook. Buffer allows you move the order of your posts around too. I like buffer as it comes with a Chrome add-on that allows me to Buffer articles I like from Google to re-share. It allows me to add my comments and then adds the post to the Buffer que. Check out this video link for more information about Buffer https://youtu.be/5hJLTuQq4WQ

3. Repurpose old blog posts. It is said that a person needs to see something 7 times to take something in or buy something. Chances are people didn’t see it the first time or may not have even been a subscriber when you posted it the first time. You need to read your post and see if it can be improved. Your blog writing skills may have improved since you wrote it the first time. You might add a different photo or change the title a little.

Happy holidays. Happy blogging.

Feedback is appreciated!

You can follow us on facebook or our website!

#Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ

Social Media – know your audience

How do you communicate with your audience on social media?

Do you know when to use # hash tags and why you need to? Do you use them on Facebook or not now that Facebook owns Instagram is a common question. The short answer is that Instagram and Twitter are the platforms to use # hashtags on and this acts as a search tool. Facebook will allow you to use some # but I recommend you only use a couple of these. It is not a search tool at the moment for Facebook but it can help identify some of your searchable topics on the other platforms to those following you on Facebook.

Here is an example of how you can communicate on the various social media platforms on the topic of Surfing.

Facebook- Man, I love Surfing.

Twitter– I am #surfing right now

Youtube– How to surf in 3 easy steps

LinkedIn– Surfing is one of my many skills

Pinterest– This is my favourite surfing locations

Instagram-had an awesome day in #hawaii #ridingthewaves #surfinginhawaii #catchingthewaves #surfing #surfcity

Google+- I work at Surf City and we love to surf

Easy when you know how -right?

If you need help understanding social media go to our website and other blogs for tips or book a Digital Kickstart session today http://anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz/digital-kickstart/

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ

Social Media tip 1- know your audience

If you are new to social media or are only dabbling in Facebook you might be feeling like this topic is in the “too hard basket”. Believe me you cannot ignore it.

The best thing to do is to learn about all the ways to market on the internet because most people are searching online before they buy these days and you want to be seen by your audience. This is not a matter of reading an article and then you know it all. Markets need to be tested and you need to understand how to be effective. This takes time.

First thing to do is to define your audience or audiences

Like anything if you want to really understand it you need to invest time in yourself to do just that. If you don’t you could end up not reaching a potential market or spending money advertising on social media targeting the wrong market or no one at all.

5 things you need to know about your audience are:

Who are they?- male/ female, location
What do they do? Job, hobby etc
Where do they hang out? Instagram, FB, Snapchat, Google etc NB: If your product/service appeals to 60+ you will have a different strategy to those who are teenagers.
What do they really want? What is their problem? What is their passion?
What’s stopping them from getting it? Time/ Money, Knowledge etc

Which Social Media platforms should you be on?

To find out which audiences are hanging out where on social media you can go to websites like this where it will show you what age groups and sexes hang our where. This is a good starting point and will help you decide which social platforms you start with.  https://www.statista.com/chart/5194/active-users-of-social-networks-and-messaging-services/ 

If you need help defining your audience and deciding what platforms to be on yo can get help from us. Book some time with us and get a Digital Kickstart. Go to our services page http://anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz/digital-kickstart/

#Kerri Bainbridge

one half of the Anywhere Business Team NZ

Time management -working from home

Kanwaljit Bakshi MP Tips on having a home office is that you can’t beat the convenience of working from home near family. I caught up with Kanwaljit at the Wild Foods Festival in Hokitika.

You cannot beat the convenience of working near your family. Kanwaljit has worked form home when he came to New Zealand from Delhi with his wife in 2001. He noted that the small business sector has many businesses working from home and this is a growing trend given the ability of those businesses to interact with there families.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi was born in the capital state of India, Delhi, where he gained a degree in Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Delhi in 1985 following his high-school at Guru Harkishan Public School.

He soon began his career in commerce by joining his family freight business and worked his way up to being a successful marketing manager. Having a prosperous 30 years business experience in India as well as New Zealand, he acquired expertise in diverse fields such as fashion and trade industry.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi married to Irvinder Kaur in the year 1989 and moved to New Zealand in the year 2001 where he and his wife considered the rising opportunities in the country that helped in growing their business and also gave a strong foundation to their two sons, Gawan and Rijak’s education. It’s a decision they always stood by.

Your feedback is appreciated.

You can follow us on facebook or on our website.

Andrew

Half of Team Anywhere New Zealand 

How to stay motivated- Motivation tips

Jen Bainbridge’s top tip is to live your dream to motivate yourself each morning! While Jim Crawthorn motivation is to make people laugh!

I caught up with Jen and Jim at the Wildfoods Festival in Hokitika.

Jen as a mother is motivated by living the dream and getting up each morning to be able to have her family around and still have a dream job for a nationwide radio show! Being a woman is about being everything you want to be and this is the role model for her daughter.

Jim want’s to make people laugh and look at the positive things. He gets up each morning trying make people laugh and if he has succeeded in that he is living the dream.


Mike


Jen
http://www.therock.net.nz

Jen Bainbridge takes over on-air from 10:00am – midday fronting the ‘Rock Workdays’ show and Jim Crawthorn does midday – 3pm which is mainly request-based.

Management tips-Motivation

I interviewed Lisa Martin. I asked her about what motivates her. Lisa explained that she has been motivated by the desire to be successful and strive excellence in everything she does!

Lisa’s main message is that self-actualisation can be achieved once basic needs have been taken care of. Self-actualisation is best explained as achieving personal and business success. This is best illustrated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as follows:

Ex Wikipedia

These are basic human needs as “the full realization of one’s potential”, and of one’s ‘true self that is in essence self-actualisation.

Lisa founded GoFi8ure in 2002, after recognizing a need for efficient, accurate, mobile and on-site financial administration and accounts management for small businesses operating in the greater Wellington region.
Through Lisa’s vision and hard work, GoFi8ure continues to grow currently with 12 staff in 3 locations geographical spread around New Zealand. Since GoFi8ure ’s inception the number of staff has steadily increased, resulting in a team with a wide variety of skills. These skills, both unique and diverse, work together with Lisa’s training and unwavering commitment to her business and clients to give you more effective financial solutions.

We can help with business planning that you can motivate yourself with this.

We are always looking for comment complete the feedback!

You can follow us on facebook or at our website!

Andrew

Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Management Tips -Goal setting

 


Lisa Martin

The definition of goal setting is the process of identifying something that you want to accomplish and establishing measurable goals and timeframes. When you decide on a financial change to save more money and then set a certain amount to save each month, this is an example of goal setting.

Firstly consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals that motivate you and write them down to make them feel tangible. Then plan the steps you must take to realize your goal and cross off each one as you work through them.

Part of the planning process, business goals describe what a company expects to accomplish over a specific period of time. Businesses usually outline their goals and objectives in their business plans.

 

We are always looking for comment complete the feedback!

You can follow us on facebook or at our website!

Andrew

Half of the Anywhere Business Network

The Art of Networking

Here are some tips for your next networking event:

  • Understand that you don’t go to networking events to be SOLD to. So, neither do others. You are there to build relationships, share information, meet PEOPLE, make connections etc. Networking is not selling.
  • Networking is 55% about what you wear, 38% about how you say stuff, and 7% about what you say.  Making a first impression by dressing the part is important then.
  • MAKE it easy for people to remember your name. Are you good at remembering names? I’m not. Make it easy for people and get a name badge. This needs to be positioned on your right above the chest because most people will shake hands with their right and looking at your right.
  • ONLY hand out business cards that are in good condition. Throw out all the ones in the bottom of your bag or in wallet. Buy a business card holder to keep them in.
  • BE excited about what you do. Don’t diminish what you do by using words that diminish it for example little, wee and small. Don’t say for example “ I have a little book keeping business.” Instead you could say “I have a profitable book keeping business” or “ I have a boutique book keeping business”
  • ALWAYS shake hands with men and women. If you have a firm handshake you may need to dial it back for some. Test it out on friends and colleagues to get it right.
  • DON’T hang around the edges of the meeting. You won’t meet anyone there. Make sure to include people if they are hovering around the edge of a group you are in. If you don’t know anyone find someone who is on their own and speak to them.
    Lastly, 87% of what you worry about never happens so go for it.

Got any networking tips? Love to hear them.

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ #