Wellness has become a hot topic in the last few years. In the workplace, the topic of Wellness needs to be seen not only against the commercial imperatives of having well and healthy team members and the compliance risks of transgressing relevant legislation, but also in the light of the expectations that employees increasingly have in working for an organization that truly values and cares for them.

The reality is that employees’ expectations go beyond just compliance with legislation. Doing the minimum may keep you out of trouble in the event of an accident, but misses the chance for you to show that you really care about your people and that your Health & Safety program is not about begrudgingly meeting minimum requirements imposed on your business, but is rather a pro-active internal initiative that beds Wellbeing into your culture.

It is about creating a culture of care where there is a strong Wellness value backed by robust policies and actions that resonate for all employees and demonstrate to them that their employer cares about them in a genuine way.

The backdrop to the Wellness and Wellbeing momentum is the huge challenge we are facing environmentally. We cannot ignore this elephant in the workplace any longer. The people within our organisations are feeling the environmental vibrations and as business leaders we need to listen to what is being said and be pro-active in creating operational programs that help alleviate these issues that are exerting pressure on our environment.

Are you in the basic Health & Safety space where you simply comply with what the legislation demands?

Are you in the Voluntary Health space, offering programs that include providing access to a broad range of fitness and healthy living programs like assisting workers improve their fitness, reduce/quit smoking, or alcohol intake, and generally improve their personal health?

Are you are in the Organisational Culture space which is about targeting workplace factors that directly impact on the psychological health of workers and may include initiatives related to the way work is organized, flexibility, work content, the quality and meaningfulness of work, the hours, access to training and improvements to a broad range of workplace factors?

Are you looking ahead and seeing that the space that employees and organisations alike are increasingly going to move into will be the Environmental Change space which acknowledges that the welfare of employees is inextricably linked to the health of the planet? Many of our employees are already here, and many more will inevitably get here soon. Initiatives may include educating your staff by bringing in speakers on the positive value of reducing, re-using and recycling plastics, producing Company logoed re-usable cloth bags for staff, customers and suppliers, and for distribution at company PR events, having a zero tolerance program towards littering in the workplace and having volunteer work teams at local beach clean-up events followed by a Company BBQ.  Hybrid and Electric Vehicles are also becoming increasingly commercial.

These practical examples illustrate to your people that you care about them, you care about the world that they live in and that as a Company you are going to work with them to do something about it.

Creating a culture of care starts with a stated Wellbeing value that shines through operational initiatives and spans across the Health & Safety, Voluntary, Organisational and also the Environmental touchpoints in your business.

It comes down to creating a culture that engages and resonates with your employees. A culture that meets their expectations in a fast changing world, and a culture which shows them that you really do care.

Positive People have over 25 years helping businesses create a culture that engages and resonates with your employees. Call us now on 09 445 1077. We are here to help.

Hasn’t it been some start to the year??!!

After a seemingly never ending 2022, and the slow but apparent disappearance of the nasty Covid experience, most of us were looking forward to a long, relaxing, sunny Christmas break. However, the challenges just keep coming!

Being well prepared for whatever the year might throw at us is of paramount importance in 2023, as we look to settle back into the work routine and set our goals for the year.

With 2023 being an election year, we predict more uncertainty in both the labour market and with employment legislation. There may be changes to immigration settings, Fair Pay agreements may be halted, and we still haven’t seen how much change our new Prime Minister will make to current policies.

Operating in an environment where the future is unpredictable can be a challenge. The key to successfully navigating through this will be knowing what is important to your team, focusing on what you can control and doing it well.

Our predictions for what will be important in 2023 in the HR space are:

1. Wellbeing and resilience

A Wellbeing strategy is no longer a “nice to have”. With all the challenges and uncertainty in the environment, it is a critical focus area. The success of your business will rely heavily on your team’s ability to cope with change, external economic pressures, and the stress this can cause. Having a well-planned and executed Wellbeing plan will help your team navigate through this period personally and ensure it doesn’t impact their performance.

2. The talent shortage will continue.

While the labour market has cooled slightly, and even with changes to the immigration settings in some sectors, the talent shortage looks set to continue. We anticipate that the massive pay offers we saw last year won’t be repeated, as businesses start to realise the long-term impact of these, but it will still be competitive. Your employer branding and offering must be enticing and unique if you want to ensure top quality people join you and stay.

3. Culture as a priority

The ‘talent disaster’ sparked by the great resignation has highlighted how important it is for people to be aligned with the Company’s mission and values. A positive and strong Company culture is essential to attract and retain top talent. Toxic workplace behaviours have been exposed and are no longer tolerated by staff. Having a real understanding of your Company culture and what needs to change is essential.

4. Employee Experience

The recent staff shortages have turned the tables and meant a strong focus needs to be placed on what you can offer your staff. Recognition, growth, career opportunities, rewards and flexibility have become “non- negotiables” for employees. More and more staff are looking for a Company that genuinely values them and offers them what they need at work.

5. Learning and Development

Much of the personal and skill development of staff has been on hold over the past few years, and motivated team members will be keen to move forward, learn and progress their career. Continuous learning supports change readiness, and staff are more open to trying new things and moving forward. It also is a key motivator for most people. Reassessing your development programs to ensure they are hitting the mark, and that you have options across all your team will pay dividends for you as your business moves forward this year.

Now is the time to truly reflect on your HR practices, culture and employee experience.

• Do you have it right for 2023?
• Is what you offer enough?
• What do your team think?

Create a strong HR Plan

Creating a strong HR plan, which develops these aspects of HR and ensures you and your team are ready for success in 2023 will have you well placed to weather any other storms which come our way this year.

We can help with the development of your HR Plan. Working with you, Positive People have over 25 years of HR knowledge and experience. 

Call us on 09 445 1077 or email info@positivepeople.co.nz

Change is inevitable, and as businesses adapt to rapidly changing markets it is more certain and more frequent than ever before. But how do you effectively lead your team through a restructure, relocation or major system or process change? Almost as certain as the need for change itself is the likelihood that you will encounter some form of resistance.

We embrace many massive personal changes in life like moving homes, marriage and new jobs. But these are elective changes that we’ve chosen for ourselves. Imposed change can bring about quite a different reaction.

This might be due to:

• Loss of control
• Fear of losing our job, status or responsibilities
• Having to deal with ambiguity and additional workload during the transition
• Being pushed out of our comfort zone resulting in concerns about whether we have the right skills or experience to be successful in the new environment
• Loss of things that are valued

These are some of the reasons that people even with relatively minor changes proposed to their job can strongly resist.

To successfully negotiate change as a leader you must seek to understand and address the different emotional impact on each person in your team.

Most of us will move through a cycle of denial, resistance, exploration of options and information and finally commitment or acceptance of the change. Recognising where each member of your team is at will help you to move them through the process.

• Denial – allow people time and space to let things sink in, provide as much information as possible and clarify why you are making the change
• Resistance – encourage involvement, provide channels for feedback, keep communicating and reinforcing your key messages
• Exploration – share the progress that has been made and what needs to happen next
• Commitment / Acceptance – measure and celebrate successes, set short and long-term goals and focus on embedding the change and continuing to make improvements

If you’re still facing negativity and resistance, encourage your team to focus their energy only on what they can change or influence and then take action. Set up a session to discuss their concerns and divide these concerns into three groups:

• What they can change or control themselves
• What they can influence
• What is outside of their control or influence

Follow this up by brainstorming what actions they can take to change or influence the issues from these categories. You can also talk about strategies for letting go or moving on from what cannot be controlled or influenced.

Lastly – look after people impacted by change, and look after yourself!

In restructuring processes, it’s important to check in with your team regularly. Offer them support and encourage them to seek support from others in their network. This could include family, friends, a counselor, careers counselor or financial adviser. There are a number of government-funded organisations and resources available as well as services your company can access to assist and support your employees.

Remember to:

• Acknowledge and celebrate the wins – big or small
• Accept people’s actions and behaviours as their responses to change and don’t take them personally
• Take care with your own responses
• Vent when you need to – but to the right person
• Take care of yourself by eating well, getting enough sleep and making time for exercise and relaxation

In any change or restructuring process, it is essential that you follow proper HR processes.

Here at Positive People we have a proven track record in managing successful change processes that meet legislative obligations and support you to help your team feel respected, supported, involved and informed throughout the process. If we can help you with a change process, please call us on 09 445-1077.

A secure job, fair pay and good working conditions?

That would have been the most common answer some time ago. Today it is way more complex. While these may still hold true for some employees, in this changed environment there are now a variety of considerations.

Top of the list is what the employee experience within your organisation is like for each individual employee.

Does your Company satisfy the workplace needs of each and every one of your employees? Do you explore with your employees to find out what these are?

Whatever their individual workplace needs may be, the solution to satisfying these needs and therefore promoting high motivation, lies in aligning employee experience with engagement and the organisational environment in which they work.

Enhance the employee experience

From the moment a potential employee casts their eye over the job advertisement the employee experience begins. When they go through the application process, receive communication about the role, the interview, the remuneration and conditions negotiation, the offer or the regret letter, the discussion about the start date, the on-boarding process and the induction, and then the day-to-day working, the employee experience is being established and burned in for that employee. It will also establish your true employment brand and indicate to an employee if working for your business truly gives them what they want.

Lift engagement

Engagement is one of the key priorities for any employer to focus on. Not only is it about providing meaningful work that is understood and enjoyed by every employee, but it also embraces the whole culture of your organisation and how it feels to be part of it.

Creating an environment where employees WANT to be involved and committed is the key to high motivation. This responsibility rests with you – the employer. What can you do?

• Find out what your employees want from their workplace
• Find out what they think and feel about working for you

Do this through a combination of short sharp engagement surveys and discussion groups.

• Put in place some fixes that address any of their concerns
• Embrace their suggestions and improvements
• Measure their thoughts and feelings again

In these ways you will gain some understanding of how engaged your whole team is with your business. And then you will be able to take steps to enhance their engagement.

Promote a great culture

Review all your systems, processes and people initiatives to see if they truly do enhance the employee experience. You may have to introduce new or fine-tune current systems. You may have to make some big changes.

Ideally you would tie all this together as part of your People Strategy driven by a practical HR Plan.

In order to implement a program that enhances the employee experience and lifts morale and motivation, draw up an HR Plan. This sets out what you have decided to do to improve your organisational culture in a straight-forward and practical way. It gives you targets, deadlines and a way of measuring your progress.

Here at Positive People we have been assisting businesses optimize their people contribution for over 25 years.

Call us on 09-445 1077 or email us at info@positivepeople.co.nz to talk about how we can help.

It’s not that long ago when we were confronted with the conundrum of how to manage COVID-19 vaccinations at work. At the time we did our best to deal with challenging scenarios, differing views, the impact on working relationships and team culture.

We had difficult conversations with people who had to change their roles and others who lost jobs. Now we’ve come full circle. As the COVID-19 landscape changes, employment vaccination policies are once again under scrutiny.

While each situation will need to be managed carefully to reflect the unique individual, role and circumstances, here are some general pointers to consider.

• Avoid creating a perception that management are dealing with this behind closed doors. This could create a climate of mistrust and further exacerbate matters.
• Don’t make hasty decisions. There may be unintended consequences that damage your reputation and create animosity.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Consult and communicate with your team about potential changes. Genuinely consider and respond to feedback. Some may have concerns about their own health or how clients may feel about changes. Others may believe that relationships were irreparably damaged and that resurrecting the subject will be destructive.
2. Undertake another risk assessment. WorkSafe guidance indicates that a mandatory vaccination policy could be justified ‘where the nature of the work itself raises the risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission above the risk faced outside work’. Engage an expert who can support you through this process.
3. Ensure you have a reasonable COVID19 policy in place, covering health and safety protocols e.g. hygiene measures, testing, sickness absence management. You could still encourage vaccination as one potential safeguard.
4. If you change your organisation’s vaccination stance, establish how you want to manage vacancies for those who lost their jobs and could, in theory, come back on board. Do you want people to find out directly from you, or through the grapevine? Both approaches have pros and cons.
5. Put in place a fair transparent selection process with clear criteria e.g. tenure, if you have more interest than roles available. You may need to make unpopular decisions so open communication with the team will be key, even if their desired outcome is not the result.
6. Be certain about the uncertainty. None of us know what twists and turns the pandemic may take and it would be prudent to talk about potential future vaccination policies should the situation change.

In short, take your time to reflect on the situation, different viewpoints, potential implications and consider the needs of all your key stakeholders. Use the opportunity to re-establish trust and build a positive, consultative culture. Together, you will find the right approach.