Wellness
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MAXIMISE YOUR TEAM’S POTENTIAL – GET YOUR HR SET UP RIGHT

Running a medium-sized business is demanding, every which way. It’s all about customers, it’s all about marketing, it’s all about strategy, it’s all about cash-flow, it’s all about product, it’s all about supply chain, it’s all about quality, it’s all about innovation, it’s all about health and safety, it’s all about compliance, it’s all about administration, it’s all about delivery.

And, it is absolutely, definitely, all about your people and their productivity.

Our experience tells us that many of the sleepless nights are the result of “people problems”.

So, the questions to ask, and answer are:

  1. How does a business owner minimize employee issues and also optimize their productivity?
  2. How can this best be done in a cost effective and efficient way?

We all know from experience that the people in your business really do make or break you, so the decision to elevate HR matters closer to the top of your priorities becomes imperative to your success.

Two options exist.

Some owners feel that HR Software systems will do it all – allowing for ease of access to information, hence making the management of team members easier. This is true. However, the danger in this is that HR software systems only make the administration of records and systems easier. They do not provide the relational contact that lifts productivity.

And this is where, in addition to having a great HR Software system, there is a need for deep HR.

What is deep HR?

Deep HR takes hold of the culture of your business and gets everyone involved and engaged in your business. Effectively it elevates all employees, from top to bottom, into the position of looking after the business for you. It builds engagement, enthusiasm, pro-activity, energy, thoughtfulness, common sense.

All the things that you wish your employees had.

What is involved in deep HR?

It is not as complex as it sounds. As a medium -sized business owner, you will not be wanting a complicated HR system that is time-consuming, expensive and difficult to introduce and maintain.

What you will be looking for is an approach and way of running your HR that minimizes your risk and also gets your team humming, looking after your business for you.

What to do

  • Establish where your stand with your current HR systems and approach
  • Identify shortfalls
  • Develop an HR strategy that will support and promote your business
  • Develop a realistic and affordable staged HR program
  • Allocate the time and resources to make it happen
  • Monitor progress and fine-tune as appropriate

You want your people to be really working for you.

Here at Positive People we have been in this business of assisting medium sized businesses optimize their people contribution for 25 years.

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

 

 

 

 

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HR Trends in 2019

HR Trends in 2019

Becoming an Employer of Choice

Increasingly, building an Employment Brand is essential to attract and retain the type of employee you want. Taking action to enhance your organisation’s ability to become an Employer of Choice stands at the centre of attracting and retaining the people who have the skills to advance your business. This involves developing and implementing a deliberate strategy to build an Employment Brand that sees your organisation established as a sought after employer. Having employees lining up to work for you is the goal.

Values Stand Tall

Values in the workplace matter more than ever. Having organisational values that stand tall in the market place encourages potential employees to self-select your Company as a place to work. This makes your job of ensuring the “fit” is right so much easier.

Collaboration

Employees expect to be consulted with and involved on projects. This is particularly the case at senior levels. Collaborative platforms allow for connection between team members, which improves both effectiveness and efficiency of operation, as well as improving morale.

Total Wellbeing

Having a Wellness program that includes exercise and diet is no longer enough. Total wellbeing is now holistic and includes the complete wellness of each employee, including looking after the mental health of employees. It has elements of inclusiveness and belonging.

The March of Technology

Technology in the HR space continues to advance, none more so than the practical application of AI, with a blend of humans and robots being the trend where it makes sense. Also under the technology umbrella, recruitment technology has blossomed. People analytics is a focus along with the increasing use of data for decision making. Digital workplace strategies are increasingly common.

Recruitment

New levels of recruitment experience are emerging. With the skill and talent shortages there is a battle to win over passive candidates and LinkedIn has become a key tool for recruitment. Allied to this is the importance of the Employment Brand. Building a talent pool waiting in the wings is also favoured

Atypical Working

Flexibility is mainstreaming. All organisations need to creatively develop working patterns and approaches that accommodate the flexibility of work that employees now expect.

Individual Learning and Development

An individualised learning and development experience is what employees want. It has to suit their needs and aspirations.

Working with Positive People will ensure you are ahead of the curve when it comes to HR. Contact us on 09 445 1077 or info@positivepeople.co.nz to start implementing proactive HR initiatives that really work.

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Mental Health and the Workplace

Mental Health and the Workplace

Recently there has been a lot in the news regarding mental health. The passing of Greg Boyed prompted an outpouring of tributes by his journalist colleagues. One, by Rawdon Christie, called for managers to take more responsibility for the wellbeing of their employees.

There are some important reasons to make mental health a priority in the workplace:

  1. In NZ one in five adults experience some form of common mental health issue in any year. Almost two in five adults have experienced a mental health issue over their lifetime.
  2. Employee health affects the workplace and the workplace affects the health of employees. It is important for employers to understand the difference between pressure, which keeps us all going and makes us productive, and stress, which makes unmanageable demands that damage both employees and the business. There should also be an awareness that life outside of work affects the wellbeing of workers when they are at work.
  3. Workplaces are legally required to take all practicable steps to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, workplaces have a role to play in the prevention of harm to all people at work. This includes mental harm caused by work-related stress.
  4. A healthy work environment increases productivity and reduces employee turnover, stress, and personal grievance claims
  5. Workplaces feel the effects of poor mental health of employees through increased absenteeism and increased ‘presenteeism’ – when employees are at the workplace but not mentally engaged with work. It is estimated that on average, employees have nearly three times as many ‘presentee’ days as absentee days

Source: www.mentalhealth.org.nz

Your role as a manager

It’s crucial that managers are equipped to act or know where to turn if they have concerns about the mental health of an employee. There are a number of onsite and offsite courses from a variety of providers that teach the basics of ‘Mental Health First Aid’.

In addition to crises management, it’s also important to consider:

  • What support can and should you provide when an employee is struggling with their mental health?
  • How will you manage misconduct or disciplinary processes when there are mental health concerns?
  • How will you manage the return-to-work of an employee after time off due to a mental health issue?

Once you’re ready and prepared to support employees experiencing mental illness, then it’s time to consider how you can proactively promote mental health in the workplace. This might be as simple as organising a shared lunch, entering a team in a local sporting event, or organising a charitable donation for some of your team to deliver on behalf of your business. Check out five ways to wellbeing for employer resources, put together by the Mental Health Foundation.

Contact us to find out how we can partner with you to implement a mental health and wellbeing programme that suits the needs of your business and employees. 

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Performance Reviews

Performance Reviews:

Staying in-touch and in-tune with your individual team members

 

Performance Reviews are hard to get right!

Whether you are the manager or the employee, there is often a sense of trepidation, dread or duty attached to them. Equally, we all know that they are important and are also highly valued by many employees.

As a result of these commonly held love/hate feelings, Performance Reviews bubble away as a current topic. Their worth is constantly being questioned and processes fine-tuned in an effort to improve engagement and generate a more positive perception.

What is the secret?

It would be fair to say that most people, to a lesser or greater degree, want some attention to be focused on them. Traditionally, Performance Reviews are conducted either annually or bi-annually. To stay in touch with team members’ personal feelings about their work, as well as their workplace aspirations, and their performance on the job, more communication than this is required.

Day to day interactions are, of course, important. They tend to be very much operational and concerned about the job at hand. They are necessary and facilitate and provide support to meet the demands that arise daily. But this is still not enough.

The most important key to unlocking great performance is to

Link the

Day to day inter-actions that occur between a manager and employee

with the

Performance Reviews

by holding

Regular scheduled one-on-one meetings with each person in your team.

This cyclical communication approach means that you are in close contact with your team members throughout the year. If you think through and conduct your individual One–on–One meetings in a standard way with regular topics up for discussion, then you will find that you are in-touch and in-tune with each team member throughout the year. You will be able to canvas all the important topics that are covered in Performance Reviews.

How do One-on-Ones actually work?

  • Decide on a standard format for your One-on-Ones
  • Customise this format to suit each individual member of your team
  • Work out the most appropriate scheduling of meetings that works for each individual relative to their need and the seniority of the job. Some need weekly meetings, some fortnightly, some monthly
  • Hold the meetings regularly!
  • Act on what is decided.
  • Cover the topics on a by-exception basis so that the One-on-One meetings are short, punchy and useful

By regularly holding the One-on-One meetings, the Performance Reviews simply become a more in-in-depth extension of them. One-on-One meetings provide a non-threatening and natural forum for current work issues, as well other important matters beyond the daily grind, to be raised, discussed and resolved. Come Performance Review time, discussion flows and real benefit from the annual or bi-annual “stand back” review is the outcome.

Introduce a system of cyclical one-on-one communication and performance reviews, and watch performance improve.

Keen to learn more? Positive People have tried and tested systems and formats across both Performance Reviews and One-on-Ones to help you improve performance. Contact us today at info@positivepeople.co.nz or 09 445 1077.

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360-Degree Feedback Surveys

360-degree feedback surveys:

Forming a rounded view

What is 360-degree feedback?

360-degree surveys are a tool that allows employees to receive performance feedback from their manager, peers, direct reports and other internal or external stakeholders. It provides a rounded view of the individual and usually results in employees accepting the feedback, as it is validated through coming from a range of people and angles.

People who are chosen as feedback providers are selected in a shared process by both the employee and their manager, with support from HR. Generally, they will be people who regularly interact with the employee who is receiving feedback.

What is the purpose?

The process aims to assist the employee to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to provide insights into where there are opportunities for development.

360-degree feedback surveys can help an organisation to:

  • Get better quality employee feedback that is more accurate and insightful than only considering feedback from an employee’s manager. Also, if there is a personality issue between the employee and their manager, multi-source feedback reduces the risk of this impacting their relationship and performance assessment
  • Highlight gaps in perception between the employee’s own perspective (demonstrated through completing the survey themselves) and the perception of others
  • Improve leadership strength by including employees in the leadership feedback process
  • Gauge the relative strengths of a team through gathering comparative peer related information
  • Identify individual and organisational development needs, so learning and development spend can be more effectively allocated
  • Help team members to work more effectively together – improving communication and processes
  • Empower the employee to take responsibility for their own development and career
  • Improve the level of customer service the organisation is providing where external stakeholders, like customers, are included.

How do you implement a 360-degree?

For a 360-degree feedback survey to have a positive impact on your organisation, it must be integrated into the learning and development goals of the business and your performance management and review system.

It’s also important that the feedback is shared with the employee by a trained coach. This allows the employee to understand the feedback by discussing unclear comments or seeking more information about the ratings and their basis. A good coach will also help the employee to focus on the positives and how they can build on their strengths, rather than dwell for too long on the negatives. Where areas for development are identified, a coach will support the employee to find solutions and make positive change.

360–degree feedback surveys are a powerful but under-utilised leadership development tool. Improve performance and ask us about them today.

We support businesses to implement effective 360-degree feedback systems. Contact Positive People today to discuss how we can help you introduce this valuable performance enhancement tool. info@positivepoople.co.nz or 09 445 1077