Tag: employee engagement

Wrkit’s Guide to Buying Irish this Christmas

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Now more than ever, it’s important to shop local and buy Irish. It’s also easier to do than ever before with hundreds of Irish businesses, small and large, now selling online.

 At Wrkit, we’re proud to work with fantastic Irish businesses of all shapes and sizes. With Christmas just around the corner, and shopping getting well and truly under way, you’re sure to find that perfect gift from one our brilliant partners. We’ve put together this handy guide that will help you support Irish with your Christmas Shopping this year.

Clothing & Accessories

Duck Hook

Duck Hook is on a quest to create fashionable and affordable golf apparel. We believe you should look great on the golf course and what you wear shouldn’t ever look out of place off it.

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Birthday Cufflinks

Give a gift of a piece of history with a unique handmade set of coin cufflinks, made from genuine coins using a set of upcycled coins to remember a unique event from a special year.

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Best Menswear

Established in 1948, Best Menswear is one of Ireland’s leading Menswear retailers with locations around Ireland and an online shop.

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CarveOn

CarveOn is an Irish crafts company making Personalised Handmade Goods and Personalised Leather Golf Accessories. They use a blend of traditional and modern techniques to make personalised gifts.

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Peachylean

Peachylean are on a mission to help women to feel comfy and supported in their skin with active wear shapes and sculpts like shapewear, worn as comfortable as gym wear.

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Food, Wine & Hampers

Blackrock Cellar

Blackrock Cellar is an independent fine wine and craft beer store and winner of the 2017 and 2019 National Off-licence Of The Year at the Noffla Awards.

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Gifts Direct

Gifts Direct is Ireland’s largest online gifts & hampers delivery company. Thousands of specially created gifts perfect for every occasion.

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The Green Grocer’s Daughter

The Green Grocer’s Daughter is a unique Irish Artisan Luxury Food & Gift Hamper Online Store which provides customers with exquisite food items and lasting gifts that keep on giving.

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Cloud Picker Coffee

Specialty coffee roasters seeking the best coffee on earth. The perfect gift for that coffee lover in your life.

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Hampers & Co

Hampers & Co is Irelands Luxury online Hamper & Gift retailer. For over 22 years, they have packaged, sourced designed & delivered beautifully presented hampers of exceptional quality.

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Wines Direct

Wines Direct is an Irish family owned and operated wine importers with a mission to source independently made wines directly from growers around the world.

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Homewares

Arran Street East

Arran Street East is a lifestyle brand, designing and making simple and beautiful ceramic tableware. They design and produce their hand-thrown pottery homewares in their Dublin studio.

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April & the Bear

April and the Bear is one of Ireland’s leading interior + lifestyle stores, filled to the brim with eclectic homewares, exclusive art prints, gifts and beautiful furniture.

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Rathbornes 1488

Established in Dublin in 1488, Rathbornes are the world’s oldest candle-makers. Their chandlers hand pour luxury fragranced candles, diffusers and bath and body products designed with a modern sophisticated edge.

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Woolow

Woolow is a pioneering sleep-care company that designs and manufactures a range of natural, allergy free and eco-friendly sleep care products in Ireland.

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Fitness & Health

Huku Balance

Based in Donegal, Huku Balance hand craft balance borads. Their boards are designed to aid you in developing better balance, coordination, and core strength, as well as having fun.

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Fitness Equipment Ireland

Fitnessequipmentireland.ie is an Irish company determined to supply you with the highest quality products in fitness equipment at the lowest prices on the market.

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Kuma Bikes

Kuma Bikes is an Irish electric bike company based in Dublin. Established in 2018, their goal is to offer an alternative to the traditional style electric bike.

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Spotlight Oral Care

Take care of your health by taking care of your teeth. Irish brand Spotlight Oral Care is a safe and effective range of products that consumers can trust in and use in the comfort of their own home.

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Kids & Toys

Jiminy Eco Toys

Jiminy Eco Toys is an eco-specialist toy company specialising in toys made sustainably from natural materials that are well-designed, well-made, educational, and fun.

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Stocking Fillers Ireland

Stocking Fillers Ireland is home to a wonderful selection of quality Christmas gifts and toys. There’s something for everyone in our range of Christmas goodies.

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Taylor’s Santa Experience

Taylor’s Santa Experience is Dublin’s most exciting Christmas event of 2021. End the year with this magical in-person festive event that’s sure to capture the magic and wonder of Christmas spirits.

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Zoom Santa

Book your live call with Santa direct from the North Pole. Include your friends and family on the Zoom call to see your child’s reaction.

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Best of the Rest

Tecca

Tecca is an Irish tech store located in Dublin. With thousands of electronics and gadgets including electric scooters, iMacs, smart home devices, and much more, you’re sure to find that perfect gift.

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Buddabag

Treat yourself to the ultimate lounging experience with Buddabag. Handmade in Ireland, Buddabag is known worldwide for their high-quality products.

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Mama’s Hospital Bag

Mamas Hospital Bag is an online Irish Company, providing luxury hospital bag bundles and gift boxes for mums, babies or both.

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Kambukka

Say goodbye to single-use water bottles and coffee cups, and replace them with a new, sustainable and – not unimportant – stylish alternative from Kambukka.

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Lifestyle Savings at Wrkit

You’ll find savings for all of the above partners and so much more in the Lifetsyle Savings module of your Wrkit portal.

If you’d like to learn more about how Wrkit can benefit your employees, get in touch and request a demo.

The role of the workplace in combatting loneliness

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The number of adults in England who feel lonely has been on the rise since 2017, but the last year has unsurprisingly accelerated the increase. Between 2019 and 2020, loneliness in England jumped by 44% from 2.6 million people to 3.7 million as the population was forced to stay at home and socialising in professional and personal capacities became digital.

The increase in loneliness coincides with a general decline in wellbeing, which has been in motion since before the pandemic and exacerbated by lockdowns and restrictions. These red flags around general wellbeing in the population have led to calls to measure national progress in wellbeing via the gross domestic wellbeing (GDWe) index, rather than traditional metrics such as GDP.

For many people, working from home has brought about lifestyle changes that promote a better work-life balance meaning flexible, hybrid working looks like it now has a permanent place in society, but with this, there is the potential for employees to become isolated.

Following the lifting of restrictions and the return to the workplace, employers should consider the role that their office or central space has in combatting loneliness among employees and supporting their overall wellbeing.

As we move forwards, the workplace needs to become something more than simply a place to work as many people have discovered that they can effectively work from outside it. The workplace now needs to be a place for colleagues to be together, to collaborate and to socialise. Viewing it in this way and encouraging employees to think of the workplace as more than that will help to promote social interaction and minimise loneliness.

Rather than asking employees to come into work on specific days, employers could encourage them to come in for specific events. This could be work-related, for example, a team brainstorm, learning session or company catch up, or entirely social, perhaps a special lunch or post-work drinks.

By doing this, the workplace offers something extra that they don’t get at home. Offices will then move away from being a place for stress and towards being a place to interact with others, encouraging workers to spend less time alone.

Using the workplace as a social work hub will improve overall company culture, as employees have the opportunity to bond outside the boundaries of work. As well as keeping loneliness among colleagues to a minimum, promoting a social, friendly culture will improve engagement and job satisfaction.

Loneliness is a difficult feeling for people to process and can have an incredibly negative effect on overall mental health and wellbeing. Although restrictions have lifted and many people are socialising regularly again, the new hybrid working world may make it easy for people to isolate themselves from their colleagues, heightening feelings of loneliness. Putting measures in place to keep workforces cohesive and social is a great step to take in supporting employee wellbeing and combatting loneliness.

Stress awareness with others

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Now many weeks into lockdown, most of us are adapting well to the new way of working and being social in more creative ways. It is without doubt that for everyone it has been a struggle at times and although the lockdown parameters will be loosening over the next month, it is still a very challenging time for staff, managers, colleagues, parents, families and children.

COVID-19 is a truly global experience with so many countries clearly affected and having to adapt as best they can. Each household has its own unique set of challenges with individuals self-isolating on their own, single parents working and trying their best to manage alone, large families having both parents working and juggling childcare with the disappearance of supports like school or day care and having to try and work and educate at the same time. There are also many people isolating by themselves and at times challenged by the loneliness and repetitiveness of each day.

The stress and strain on everyone is real and is being felt in all households throughout the country. So, it is extremely important to be mindful when connecting with colleagues and staff working from home, to be conscious and alert to some of what is happening for them emotionally, psychologically, and physically.

After the first two weeks of lockdown in the UK, a working from home survey produced these results:
– 60% exercising less
– 60% more fatigued
– 64% acknowledge that worry is affecting sleep
– 41% health concerns for family

Now after 4-6 weeks in, survey stats are showing that:

  • 44% of people currently working from home find they are working longer hours and finding it hard to switch off from work
  • 51% of employees find that they are interrupted during their working day by family members and that multiple roles placed on parents is very challenging  
  • 79% of employees surveyed are missing their usual working environments
  • 89% say missing the socialising with work colleagues ranked as the main reason for this

Spotting employees who are struggling or stressed

*10 Signs an employee may be suffering from stress and anxiety during COVID-19

1. Late to meetings, taking more time off work than usual or general regular lack of communication

2. Greater obvious use of substances such as alcohol, tobacco

3. Increased irritability, poor concentration, reduced productivity

4. Deteriorating personal or work relationships, as experienced directly or indicated by others

5. More ‘emotional’, moody or over-reactive to what others say

6. Acting differently or unusually, that is out of the norm for them, or not being their usual self

7. Changing of eating or sleep patterns and personal appearance such as visible hygiene indicators – consistently not caring so much about appearance

8. Physical reactions such as sweating, fast paced breathing, very nervous, talking anxiously most of the time

9. Feeling continually low, depressed, and focusing on negatives, preoccupied with Covid 19

10. Overly tired and fatigued

What can you do?

If you are worried or concerned about someone’s health and wellbeing, or have received feedback from others who are concerned, the first thing to do is arrange some time to talk with the person one to one, and in the most private and confidential setting as possible. Let them know that you are connecting with them to talk about how they are finding working from home during this challenging time.

Explore what is happening for them and specific areas they are struggling with.

Check in on their wellbeing by asking about their general daily routine and if they are making time to connect with others regularly and getting out to do some exercise.

If you have some concerns, discuss with the person what your concerns are specifically.

Let them know that you are there to help support them and explore ways of doing this. Ask them how you can best help and if they are struggling to come up with ideas, suggest somethings you can do based on the areas that were discussed. Agree a plan and offer various supports available in your organisation such as EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) and ensure you agree to meet again soon after. Agree regular ongoing support meetings for a while, to see positive change occurring.

*Ref: Hughes, R., (2013) 10 Signs an employee may be suffering from stress and anxiety, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) – adapted from.

3 reasons it pays to help employees unplug

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Technology has empower the world to connect in ways our grandparents couldn’t have dreamed. The way we work and live has changed immensely as a result of technological advancements but are all these changes for the better? Empirical evidence would suggest not. Academics researching the psychological impact of excessive technology and internet use have denoted significant negative consequences, including technostress and social anxiety.  As organisations strive to tackle the growing issue of occupational stress there is much merit to enabling a workforce to unplug and power down.

Here’s three solid reasons why businesses should review their policies and practices to help each individual limit unnecessary technology stimulation outside of working hours:

  1. Brain Recovery: In their study which analysed  multiple determinants of psychological detachment the Kansas State University identified that downtime after work is essential for stress recover. The findings suggest that “segmenting work and nonwork roles can help employees detach and recover from work demands”. By continuing to communicate with colleagues about work issues outside of office hours not employees only increases stress but diminishes the time allowed for the brain to recover.
  2. Better Focus Leads to Better Output: We’ve all been guilty of working on a spreadsheet or answering emails while trying to help a child with homework or chat with a friend. But multi-tasking doesn’t work. A 2013 study revealed those people who have a great tendency to multi task are actually less skilled at it than those who multi task infrequently. Putting policies in place that allow for employees to sperate work and home and will inevitable result a more focused and productive workforce.
  3. Technology use affects sleep and mental health: it is well documented that blue light from screens can inhibit sleep and the impact of sleep deprived workforces is gaining increasing attention from academics. Furthermore, Forbes cited a study which demonstrated a connection between technology use and psychological disorders. While personal habits may mean screen exposure before bed, organisations can regulate the work related stimulation that might spike adrenaline late at night.

Author: Sara Glynn, Marketing & Customer Success Manager @ Wrkit

References:

https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/doi/epdf/10.1002/job.760

Q&A: How to create a winning candidate experience

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Following on from our previous smart recruitment Q&A with recruitment software company BidRecruit where we spoke on the latest recruitment trends and tips for HR & Hiring managers considering investing in HR software, we caught up once again with Susan Comyn, Marketing Manager of BidRecruit.

Today’s Q&A focuses on one of the biggest trends in recruitment, Candidate Experience, and it’s importance during the recruitment process and beyond.

Question 1: What is candidate experience?

Candidate experience is defined as how job seekers perceive and react to employers’ processes during the hiring journey, including initial exposure to your employer brand to the interview process regardless of the outcome. As we spoke about previously, it has become an increasingly important trend due to review platforms like Glassdoor becoming more widely used and regarded. In fact, a LinkedIn survey found 72% of candidates have shared their experience on online employer review sites, therefore companies have to ensure candidates have a positive experience irrespective of their hiring success. According to Career Builder, 78% say the overall candidate experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its people. What’s worth remembering is, while people might talk about good candidate experiences, they will more likely talk about negative candidate experiences. So it’s worthwhile investing in processes and best practice to create a great candidate experience for all.

Question 2: Where is the best place to start when improving candidate experience?

We would first suggest reviewing your job descriptions and application process. According to Recruiting Brief, 60% of job seekers report they have quit an application due to its length or complexity. Take the time to speak with the department hiring manager to properly establish what is required and the skills, both hard and soft, they are looking to add to their team. Make sure to relay company culture and values in the job description to help attract the right culture fit, something that is key to employee engagement and retention. Next, review your application process and the number of steps needed to apply. Having to create an extensive profile and answer numerous questions that don’t relate to the position will inevitably result in drop-offs. This shouldn’t be seen as a lack of intent by candidates, in fact, candidates will see this as a lack of investment by the company to find the right candidates by creating a time-intensive process and a negative candidate experience. No two jobs are the same and the application process should reflect this, making it as straight forward as possible for candidates to apply.

Question 3: So you’ve improved your application process and you have a huge stack of CVs, what’s next?

The biggest issue surrounding candidate experience is a lack of communication during the process, with 65% of job seekers saying they never or rarely receive notice of their application status, according to Lever. As we stated previously, HR Managers state that recruitment is 25% of their job but takes up 95% of their time. When you are recruiting for numerous positions and receiving numerous CVs for each position, it’s understandable that you can’t get back to every individual with individual emails, you are only human! That’s why technology and automation is the best solution to overcome this and improve the candidate experience. Automation software allows you to communicate quickly and easily to groups of people with relevant feedback. Automation software also allows you to streamline and bring candidates through the process efficiently with constant communication, allowing you to focus on the human element of the candidate experience, the interviewing stages.

Question 4: What are your tops tips for the interview stages to improve candidate experience?

With 74% of employers saying they hired the wrong person for a position, according to a recent Career Builder survey, preparation is key. Read the candidate’s CV, research them online, prepare job description & company relevant questions along with questions directly relating to the candidate and their experience. With an increased focus on company culture and employee engagement, candidates now more than ever want an interview that is a two-way street. In an interview, both the interviewer and candidate are trying to sell each other. While the candidates are selling their skills, experience and personal fit, the interviewer needs to be actively selling the company. Finally, remember that the little things go a long away when interviewing; informing reception of incoming candidates for an interview so they receive a warm welcome, offering a drink upon arrival and establishing a relaxed atmosphere can differentiate you from the competition in terms of candidate experience.

Make sure to check out the BidRecruit blog for more tips and advice on ways to improve the candidate experience and all things smart recruitment. Join us next time where we will discuss why companies need to embrace social media when recruiting and tips on making the most of this to attract talent.

Interviewee:  

Susan Comyn, Marketing Manager @ BidRecruit

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susancomyn

About BidRecruit:

BidRecruit is A.I. driven recruitment software for HR & Hiring Managers to help you hire smarter.

More info:

www.bidrecruit.io

Connect:

LinkedIn

Facebook

International Women’s Day

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March 8th marks international women’s day, an annual celebration to commemorate women’s strength, achievements and legacies. The theme of this year’s celebrations is Balance for Better, promoting gender balance and equality across the world and different industries. While diversity and inclusion initiatives are top priorities in most organisations these days there still remains a significant gender gap at C-level with less than 5% of CEO positions in Europe and the US held by women.

Top level female representation is not merely a question of ethics but rather about business success. Research demonstrates that organisations with diverse leadership teams outperform those that do not. In fact one study conducted by Boston Consulting Group found that organisations with leadership diversity generate up to 19% more revenue.

Fostering an environment where everyone can achieve their full potential is no easy feat however there are practices which help women and men progress in their career, while maintaining a balanced life.

  1. Bias training – unconscious bias exists in many forms within the workplace. Providing bias training will help raise awareness of the issue and ensure adequate measures are in place to help overcome the challenge.
  2. Change the long term hours norm – in a recent article about resilience training I touched on the mounting evidence that long days should become a thing of the past. Changing the attitude toward long days will open up greater opportunity for career driven parents and provide better work life balance for mothers and fathers.
  3. Offer paid paternity leave… and enforce it – Gender equality works both ways. Offering and enforcing paid paternity leave encourages better work life integration for male employees. It also helps to close the gap which is often opened when mothers take time off to rear children.  
  4. Focus on inclusive leadership programmes and sponsorship – having a diverse pipeline is half the battle. Encourage female participation in leadership development programmes and ensure that the right people are sponsoring female candidates (sponsors with influence).  
  5. Celebrate female achievements – share the stories and experiences of your female high fliers to inspire others. Celebrate their journey and achievements and leverage their role model image to attract new female candidates to aspire to C-level.

Increasingly, employees are expecting organisations to have truly diverse and inclusive cultures. As the war for talent heightens those who are slow to change will lose.

Author: Sara Glynn, Marketing & Customer Success Manager@ Wrkit

References:

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
https://www.ft.com/content/1090105c-fb7b-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521
https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation.aspx
https://wrkit.com/blog/2019/02/13/resilience-training-reducing-stress-or-masking-the-problem/
https://hbr.org/2007/09/women-and-the-labyrinth-of-leadership
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/human-capital/hc-2017-global-human-capital-trends-us.pdf
https://hbr.org/2010/09/why-men-still-get-more-promotions-than-women

4 ways to optimise benefit communication

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Good benefits are something every employee wants, however not all employees want to spend time reading about benefits or tracking down the information they need. This challenge regularly presents a dilemma for HR professionals with poor employee uptake inevitably creating an issue when it comes to justifying the budget for services which aren’t being used. Getting benefit communication right will not only make budget conversations easier but might also increase employee tenure.

At its heart, benefit communication is simply internal marketing and so the same approach should be taken to communicate with your employee audience as your prospects. Here’s our expert tips to help you optimise employe.

  1. Use the skills of your workforce – first and foremost, draw on the skills of your marketing team. So often we speak with HR professionals who are sending out ad hoc email updates without recognising there are talented professionals who understand marketing strategy available to help them. Allocate the role of internal communications to the department where it will have a dedicated resource.
  2. Plan a long-term strategy – with your marketing experts, draw up a 12-month calendar, plan in key calendar events which will complement your benefit comms. For example, if you have an employee discounts platform use days like Valentine’s day to trigger action.
  3. Use multiple channels – email fatigue is a major issue, make sure to build out a strategy which leverages multiple channels. Include canteen screens (or posters if you don’t have screens), intranet, IM, social media, company apps, Forbes.com even suggests using old school post to get your message in front of people. Word of mouth is an invaluable method of communication, identify champions, engage them in regular trainings and update meetings to keep them up to speed with what’s on offer, where to find the info and how to redeem/register for available benefits.
  4. Apply the rule of seven – The rule of seven is an age-old marketing concept which says your audience should hear or see your message seven times before they will take action. The same can be said for your workforce. Over communicating will guarantee employees know about every benefit on offer to them.

Effective benefit communication is essential to make a strong business case for existing and future initiatives. Take the time plan out your goals and how you plan to achieve them applying the above tips.  

Author: Sara Glynn – Marketing & Customer Success Manager @ Wrkit.

Wrkit specialise in the creation of better, healthier working environments. Our platform connects global, remote and local teams through five modules; Surveys, Recognition, POWR, Learning and Savings. Speak to an Engagement Specialist today – info@wrkit.com

Resilience training: reducing stress or masking the problem?

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The topic of resilience at work is one which in recent years has received a lot of air time. Alarming figures demonstrate that workplace stress continues to rise, bringing with it a myriad of problems for businesses and individuals. Absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace are costing the global economy billions of dollars each year, while employees are presented with the long-term health risk associated with stress and burnout.

It is perhaps not surprising that resilience training is becoming increasingly popular as an aspect of employee development. According to Organisational Psychologist Yseult Freeney, the business rational for investing in resilience training is to empower employees to over come work stress, to persevere in the face of adversity and have bounce back ability. Undoubtably there are benefits to resilience training, however conflicting opinions question the authenticity of this “benefit”. One argument posits that companies investing in resilience training are merely masking the underlying issues of work intensification. This being the case, resilience training is not a long-term solution.

Tackling workplace stress needs to start with the root cause: how we work. A major contributing factor to burn-out is the perception that long working days equal productive working days. This mentality fuels the growing issue of presenteeism. Employees feel obliged to be present out of fear they will fall behind, or they might miss out on promotion opportunities if they don’t work late as their colleagues do. Add into the mix working weekends and the late-night emails, and burn-out is inevitable not matter how resilient the person.

Without doubt, companies should continue to offer a mix of wellbeing supports including resilience training, but for those organisations which promote and praise long days, a shift in culture is required. Research demonstrating that even in an 8-hour day, people have just a few productive hours. Furthermore, a recent trial of a 4-day week by a New Zealand company demonstrated that with improved processes employees could perform more efficiently in a shorter week, with decreased stress and increased work-life satisfaction. Hence a change in mentality will result in a more productive and happier workforce.

Getting work-life balance right is an imperative for employer branding. Exploring efficiencies and processes which might alleviate the intensity of work will contribute to reducing employee stress. Email policies too should be reviewed ensuring out of hours communication from managers is limited (if not completely eradicated). Most importantly, key influencers should drive the shift in attitude by demonstrating healthy work-life balance themselves.

Author: Sara Glynn – Marketing & Customer Success Manager @ Wrkit.

Wrkit specialise in the creation of better, healthier working environments. Our platform connects global, remote and local teams through five modules; Surveys, Recognition, POWR, Learning and Savings. Speak to an Engagement Specialist today – info@wrkit.com

Keeping cohesion among a remote workforce.

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As organisations strive to attract and retain talent, there is a critical need to differentiate through employer branding, offering something distinct from the competition. No longer do the millennial perks of table tennis and treats meet the ever-changing expectations of a modern workforce. 21st century benefits are about flexibility and facilitating work -life balance. A movement embracing remote and telecommuting workforce’s is well underway with many organisations including Dell, embracing a blended approach (part remote, part present). With new specialist recruitment services such as Abodoo offering platforms to match remote workers with employers seeking talent, it seems inevitable that remote workforce’s will become increasingly popular.

This new structure brings significant benefits to employers, employees and local communities. In Ireland, for example, the team behind Grow Remote are working with rural communities to create employment opportunities with remote employers. An initiative which will inevitably rejuvenate the economy within these smaller communities.

Beyond the benefit of work-life balance, individuals who work remotely can gain financially by living outside of cities without incurring commuting cost. Businesses too can make financial gains by embracing remote teams, reducing fixed costs associated with property rental and decreasing environmental impact costs. Additional support for the remote workforce business case can be found in the figures reported in a 2017 inc.com article which suggested that collaborative open plan offices are hampering concentration and productivity of employees.

Without doubt, there are significant arguments for a remote workforce. However, a remote model isn’t one which will work for every business or employee. Situational factors such as technology infrastructure will influence how cohesive and effective a remote team can be.

At a very basic level, technological infrastructure within a region must be in place to facilitate the possibility of remote working. For a team to work cohesively however, the required technology infrastructure of an organisation must be comprehensive, designed to connect and engage people, provide easy access to information and deliver the same employee experience to remote, telecommuting and onsite workers.

Instant messaging and video conferencing software are essential for effective collaboration. New VR and AR innovations are striving to replicate the in-person meeting experience. Further to facilitating the cohesive execution of tasks, technology also plays an essential role in keeping remote workers engaged with the company mission and facilitating workplace friendships. For example, recognition platforms allow for global, remote and even gig teams to give and receive praise, keeping the entire workforce up to date via a digital newsfeed, instilling a sense of pride and purpose.

One concern which often arises in the remote working dialogue is employee mental health. It’s difficult to notice those subtle changes in demeanour when a colleague is not physically present. So how can an organisation leverage technology to support an individual from afar? Firstly, surveys provide a method of gathering regular feedback, bite size pieces of information can generate all the information you need. Workday for example, have feedback Fridays an approach which is sensitive to the busy schedules of employees, therefore asking just one or two  different questions each week. This regular feedback provides a gauge for a variety of metrics related to job satisfaction and engagement, an approach which can be easily tailored to gather wellbeing related feedback. Further support can be found in digital wellbeing tools such as POWR, which empower employees to self-manage their own wellbeing while providing management with insights pertaining to company-wide wellbeing.

While technology alone will not result in high performing remote teams, it is one of the foundational building blocks which supports managers and teams to work at their best. Platforms provide a central point of reference where all employees can connect with peers, find information and stay up to date, streamlining the everyday experience.

Author: Sara Glynn – Marketing & Customer Success Manager @ Wrkit.

Wrkit specialise in the creation of better, healthier working environments. Our platform connects global, remote and local teams through five modules; Surveys, Recognition, POWR, Learning and Savings. Speak to an Engagement Specialist today – info@wrkit.com

Cultivating Purpose Through Recognition

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Having a sense of purpose at work is a fundamental driver of motivation. Purpose (or lack thereof) has a direct and significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of employees. Furthermore, the millennial workforce is putting an increasing emphasis on their desire for meaningful work, with a recent Harvard Business Review article stating that 9 out of 10 employees would be willing to earn less money for more meaningful work. As the war for talent heightens, satisfying the personal objectives of talent by facilitating meaningful work will be key to business success across all industries. A challenge however, lies in the variance of perceived purpose associated with different jobs. For example, due to the nature of their work, a medical professional saving lives will likely have a greater internalised sense of purpose that an assembly line worker.  

For organisations, there is a need to develop comprehensive programmes which increase the meaningfulness of work for employees at every level. When the task itself does not inspire purpose, it is important to cultivate a sense of meaning through company practices and policies. One way to do this is through effectively utilising recognition programmes, coupling company values with peer and manager recognitions. Typically, employees who say they feel appreciated have greater job satisfaction and are less likely to leave their job than those who do not. Moreover, industry research has shown that companies which foster a culture of recognition outperform those that do not. Showing appreciation for individual contributions can help increase the perceived social worth among peers, enhancing the meaningfulness and value of work for employees.

There are certain criteria a recognition programme should satisfy in order to have the highest impact.  

  1. Leadership backing – this is a standard requirement for the success of any new programmes. Company leaders need to embody the behaviour they want to see, making a point of recognising contributions throughout the organisation. The culture needs to be right for a recognition programme to enhance the meaningfulness of work and this should be driven by senior management.
  2. Connect to company values – recognising behaviours which align to company values helps reinforce the overall business objective, reaffirming for employees how they should seek to contribute to the company.
  3. Make it personal and meaningful – relevance promotes interest and motivation. Provide guidelines for delivering meaningful recognitions. For example, Wrkit Recognition allows the recogniser to choose from a list of pre-set company values as determined by the organisation, choose the type of recognition i.e. well done or great job (these are also set by the organisation) and write a personal note to the person they are recognising.
  4. Publicise praise – sharing stories of success increases the affect on social worth, further allowing peers to verbally congratulate and recognise one another. Recognition software often includes a newsfeed style notice board which is great for global or remote teams.
  5. Socialise your celebrations –create social occasions to celebrate major business achievements. It is rare that business achievements are accomplished by one individual, make sure that all contributors or contributing departments are named and celebrated.

There are of course several internal and external factors which influence how meaningful an individual perceives their work to be. Beyond organisational level practices, managers play a key role in cultivating a sense of purpose within their team. By ensuring every employee knows precisely how their contributions impact the overall outcomes of the business (and/or positively impact society), by offering regular feedback, and by mentoring individuals to achieve their career goals managers can engender greater meaning for others.

Author: Sara Glynn – Marketing & Customer Success Manager @Wrkit

Wrkit specialise in the creation of better healthier working environments. The Wrkit platform connects global, remote and local teams through five modules; Surveys, Recognition, POWR, Learning and Savings.

Speak to an Engagement Specialist today – info@wrkit.com

References

https://hbr.org/2018/11/9-out-of-10-people-are-willing-to-earn-less-money-to-do-more-meaningful-work

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/06/13/new-research-unlocks-the-secret-of-employee-recognition/#5946d4985276

Adam M. Grant. (2008). The Significance of Task Significance: Job Performance Effects, Relational, Mechanisms, and Boundary Conditions. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 93, 108-124