GreatWork Blog

Building better workplaces through compliance, culture, connection

Ever try this exercise? Envision a work world where there are no meetings. None.

What might that be like? Freeing? Awesome? Isolating? Troublesome?

In a no-meeting world would team members just float about without direction, chasing random shiny things or would we be OK? Would problems get solved anyway or would we drift rudderless through the workweek?

Emotional Capital is the glue that holds together the relationship between an identified goal, and commitment to fulfilment of that goal. It is an often overlooked, intangible asset with deep reservoirs. The return on its proper investment can yield tremendous results in employee productivity and engagement. So how does the savvy leader, manager, supervisor, or coach get an employee to make this type of emotional investment in the workplace? How do we inspire employees to take personal ownership of the tasks and responsibilities associated with their roles/positions?

To be a contender in today’s labor market, employers should think outside the box about how to approach and implement a total rewards system to enhance employee engagement, retention, and satisfaction. Additionally, ensuring fair and competitive wages are equally important and Cascade’s compensation team is ready to partner with you on those needs!

For decades, workplaces have been using the Gallup Q-12 to inform their assessment of workplace engagement. What is the Q-12? Well, it’s 12 important statements covering everything from clear workplace expectations to materials and equipment to being recognized. These 12 actionable workplace elements offer proven links to performance outcomes. Simply put, the 12 statements answered affirmatively correlate highly with strong employee engagement; answered negatively correlate highly with poor employee engagement.

Since last March we have had hundreds of conversations with our nearly 500 members about adjusting to remote work and all the disruption we have experienced in 2020. While we look to build skills around compliance, leadership and resiliency, the conversation has consistently shifted to what are employers are doing to keep employees engaged, linked-in and connected.

For decades, workplaces have been using the Gallup Q-12 to inform their assessment of workplace engagement. Managers use the tool to bring focus to the most important things for discussion with their workers. Looking through the lens of a post-pandemic, remote workplace, these Rules of Engagement start to look really different.

Before you say you believe in someone, before you encourage them to pursue their goals, it’s worth remembering: They need more than your words.

As counselors and therapists, we wanted everyone to have social connection. The research has been consistent and clear that social connection is correlated highly with happiness, contentment, engagement and positive mental health.

You’ve probably heard the one about the airline pilot who announced to his passengers the good news and bad news about their trip. Bad news – “We are lost.” Good news – “We are making very good time.”

Gallup’s Q12, a twelve question survey administered to employees to measure engagement, has been around since 1996. Since that time tens of millions of employees from 195 countries have taken it. Every single question focuses on managerial or team soft skills rather than salary or benefits.

There is a local healthcare facility we know of that has been training all of their managers in Collaborative Problem Solving – a popular model for helping groups understand and solve problems. 

I’ve been taught to ask extra questions to get to the core of workplace issues. Sometimes I forget.

It’s been said that “80% of success in life is just showing up.” But, in the world of work, we know it takes more than just clocking in to develop strong, effective, sustainable teams.

There are many ways to brighten up the workday, but holidays provide the perfect occasion to engage employees and show them work can be fun, too! Halloween offers more than one way to inspire your employees to be creative and gives you the chance to frighten some holiday spirit into them.

Workplaces have known for a long time that Performance Reviews are rarely popular, but how deep does this dislike go?

We’ve all been there: new job, new co-workers, new expectations. We walked in on our first day, sat down, and were bombarded with a stack of paperwork and policies we were expected to read and familiarize ourselves with. As the hours ticked by, we couldn’t wait until the dreaded “first day” was over and we could move forward and do the job we were hired to do.

Google the term “employee performance review” and you will quickly realize that the latest business trend is to ditch them entirely. But removing performance reviews entirely … is that really a smart business move for the majority of organizations?

Unfortunately, the U.S. isn’t in the World Cup this time, but that doesn’t mean your employees aren’t still crazed for the action taking place over the next couple of weeks. Just like the Super Bowl or March Madness, these big sporting events can impact productivity in the workplace. While it can be a distraction, it might also be an opportunity for employees to connect.

Recent studies have shown that quality of life can outshine a big pay raise when it comes to job seeking. Many people are giving up extra money to work for a company that allows a flexible workweek and/or the ability to work from home.

Can you measure a work team’s awesomeness? Or do you just know it when you see it?

It’s hard enough for many of us to summon the nerve to provide someone with constructive feedback. Ideally we’ve done some work preparing for the conversation: we’ve thought about a way to convey that we mean well from the start, we’ve identified the specific issue in question (rather than focusing on someone’s personality), and we know how to articulate our expectation for that person moving forward.

In a world where it seems like we’re always “connected” why do employers have so much trouble connecting with remote employees? Rather than focus on the reasons it happens, let’s talk about what we can do about it.

After doing a recent training on Performance Management, I’m beginning to understand why: not enough people know about it! So many of our members are still using up precious time and energy with pen and paper forms or Word docs that are outdated and ineffective. 

In my experience as a coach, a consultant, and a trainer, the number one saboteur of workplace relationships is that we make assumptions as to why someone is acting a particular way and those assumptions are almost always negative – and incorrect.

I hear it all the time . . . “one of our biggest challenges is communication”! I recently read a great article in Workspan, a publication by WorldatWork which discussed how different generations prefer to hear about company offered benefits.

Human Resources exists to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. Employee effectiveness is optimized when employees are engaged.

Years ago I conducted an experiment as a project for my psychology class where I literally gave every participant the exact same results to an assessment and then asked how accurate the reading had been.