Tag: employee morale

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Steps To Building A Positive Company Culture

company culture, workplace culture

After years of research, renowned psychologists and leaders compiled enough data to determine that a positive workplace culture is the bedrock of a successful business. It’s understood that a culture that supports employees’ growth as well as values them is imperative in today’s job market. Company culture reaches far beyond the behavior of its employees; it’s more about how people interact and function within an organization when no one is watching. In this blog post we discuss six steps to help your business build a positive company culture.

1. Set Clear Expectations

What are some of the ideal characteristics that you want to incorporate into the current company culture? There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach; each company will be different based on the organization’s priorities. Developing policies and procedures around new ideas can help you get started.

2. Establish Trust

Most effective leaders know that creating a healthy work culture requires establishing trust with employees from the outset. Motivating employees to improve using honest lines of communication goes a long way. Aligning your behavior with company values will naturally reflect a top-down leadership role. Keep in mind that trust is earned over time and takes consistent effort.  Begin by determining your current workplace culture. As a leader, your perspective might be wildly different from your employee’s. It’s best to understand this from a broader perspective and invite an open discussion to help with the process. If you still face challenges, sometimes hiring a third-party consultant can offer some much-needed clarity.

3. Increase Employee Engagement

Employee engagement can be measured through quantitative factors such as loyalty, emotions and satisfaction. A recent Gallup poll notes there is a direct correlation between low engagement, high turnover and poor performance. Improving engagement helps companies outshine their competition. Creating a productive and inclusive company culture is more vital than ever. 


Take Google for instance; they employ thousands of people a year. Google sets the bar high when it comes to company culture and they track employee happiness through an annual survey on culture, salary, managers and career opportunities. Creating a positive environment where everyone feels included and important is no easy task, but when done well, every individual feels that they’re working toward something bigger than themselves.

4. Focus On Learning

A culture of continuous learning can be pivotal for keeping employees engaged. By allowing your employees to develop certain skills, you express a commitment to their development and prepare them for greater responsibilities. Scheduling one-on-one meetings or check-ins with workers to offer feedback is a reliable resource and a motivator for employees. By encouraging them to accept the idea of continuous learning, they are more likely to make valuable contributions.

5. Conduct Employee Surveys

Feedback surveys can provide valuable information as to why employees leave an organization. It’s possible that the poor performance lies with them; it’s also possible that there’s an undercurrent of dysfunction that you’re not aware of. Until you begin performing exit interviews or conducting surveys, it’s likely you’ll remain in the dark. In addition to manual surveys and check-ins, there are quite a few employee engagement tools that can offer assistance. One resource available is TINYpulse. This tool enables businesses to customize surveys and even generate analytics based on the results.

6. Set The Tone During The Onboarding Process

Sharing your company culture with employees from the beginning allows them to manage expectations and understand their role and the roles of those around them. Many organizations adopt onboarding across all departments so that workers don’t feel siloed. It’s also essential to involve new hires in team meetings from the outset. All of these strategies send a clear message to your employees that they’re part of something bigger —a part of the team. Of course, being warm and welcoming goes a long way too. 

There are also a lot of third-party resources, known as collaboration software, to welcome new hires. If this isn’t an option, you can develop your own checklist for employees to get better acquainted with the company. The principle here is to give people ample tools to feel supported and comfortable along the way.

The various constituents that make up company culture can be as narrow or broad as a company envisions. Determining how to engage employees is a win-win for workers and managers alike.

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Incentives Or Ownership: How to Best Motivate Your Team In 2022

Team motivation is important for success.

Team motivation is essential to a well-running organization. Whether you work in retail, education, health or any other field, team members motivated to perform to their highest potential are a cornerstone ingredient of any successful company. How can aspiring managers effectively inspire team members? Here are some helpful hints for cultivating a motivated team atmosphere.

Offer Educational Opportunities To Inspire Team Motivation

Providing educational opportunities is an effective way to encourage employees and offer options for team members to grow. Encouraging further growth allows each employee to invest in their own future while empowering each individual to strengthen their skills. Presenting paths for further development is a powerful incentive to motivate your team.

Encourage Employees With Leadership Opportunities

Everyone wants to feel valued. By providing pathways for leadership development, organizations inspire employees to take greater responsibility in their workplace environment. Offering opportunities for leadership development shows employees they are valued and that their contributions to the organization are noticed.

Motivate Employees By Prioritizing Work-Life Balance

Burnout is one of the greatest threats to a motivated team environment. Burnout happens when employees feel overwhelmingly stressed with their workload. To ensure employee satisfaction, engender a company culture that promotes a work-life balance. Employees will feel more motivated to work when they aren’t entirely exhausted by what they do. To create a strong work-life environment, make sure your employees have a manageable workload, clearly defined expectations and effective support from supervisors.

Raise Team Member Morale By Implementing An Incentive Program

Employee incentive programs are an effective tool to target team motivation in a positive way. These programs are powerful ways to reward employees for their efforts. According to the Incentive Research Foundation, a study found that incentive programs increase employee performance by as much as 44%. A few types of incentive programs are points-based recognition, social recognition and tuition reimbursement.

Encourage Ownership To Motivate Team Members

Want to further improve team morale? Encourage employees to take ownership of their work! Studies show work autonomy significantly raises employee satisfaction. In other words, employees are happier when they feel empowered to make meaningful choices. Allowing employees the freedom to work the way they prefer as long as they get the job done is a powerful way to motivate your team.

To Empower Ownership And Inspire Team Members, Explain Why The Work Matters

Everyone wants to feel their work makes a difference. To inspire your team to take proactive action, explain why their work is important. How do their duties contribute to the overall success of the company’s vision? By thoroughly showing our employees that their work matters, we motivate team members to take responsibility for their own piece of the puzzle.

Want A More Motivated Team? Ask For Feedback

Listening and responding to feedback is a powerful method to motivate a team. Show the team that leaders listen by gracefully accepting feedback from your employees. What works? What doesn’t? Is the team satisfied with the implemented incentive reward program, and why or why not? Are team members satisfied with the work-life balance?

Opportunities for feedback allow employees to feel heard and to provide work-changing ideas that might have gone unnoticed otherwise. Furthermore, team members feel valued when they can see their feedback makes a difference in the workplace.

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How Businesses Managers Can Retain Employees During The Great Resignation

Business managers must learn how to retain their employees

As waves of workers walk out on their employers, business managers need to understand how to retain employees during the Great Resignation. Consider the immense cost of replacing an employee. Advertising job openings, interviewing and selecting the right candidates, training and waiting for them to reach the same productivity level as the previous employee all requires a large amount of time and money, not to mention the added stress to you and the other employees who need to pick up the slack after every job vacancy. Hiring new employees is much more expensive than retaining employees who are experienced and fully trained. So what’s required of businesses to prevent employees from leaving? Below are some practical tips for how to retain employees during the Great Resignation.

Increase compensation

It’s imperative that your employees receive the right amount of money for their services, especially as the cost of living increases. If raising hourly or salary wages seems infeasible for your company, Harvard Business Review writers recommend paying out bonuses, student loan reimbursements, work-from-home stipends, travel compensation or other valuable benefits as strategies to retain employees.

Offer benefits for employees and their families

The past two years have put tremendous burdens on families. Consider an employee who needs to cover child care costs and medical insurance for their family. Offer subsidized day care, medical and dental coverage and additional paid time off if you want to retain employees. 

Provide opportunities to grow during the Great Resignation

Rather than starting from scratch with a less experienced new hire, offer a path forward for your current employees. Perhaps some of your employees have other skills they want to utilize in their role. Instead of searching for another job to realize their potential, offer opportunities for your employees to grow where they are now. Additionally, provide upskilling training for ambitious employees looking to expand their repertoire.

Improve company culture to retain employees 

Despite the shift to remote work, it’s crucial that you maintain positive relationships with and amongst your team. Per Boston Consulting Group’s research, “employees who reported satisfaction with social connectivity with their colleagues are two to three times more likely to have maintained or improved their productivity on collaborative tasks.” Team-building activities and celebrating achievements are additional ways to improve company culture and retain employees.

Be flexible with your employees’ needs

Before the next employee turns in their resignation notice, sit down to learn what they need to stay at your company. You might discover how to retain employees during the Great Resignation by listening and adapting to your current employees’ needs. They have the answers; it’s time to be flexible with your team in order to sustain your business.

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4 Stages Of Becoming A Valuable, Competent New Employee

A young man is becoming a competent employee

You’ve spent weeks arduously crafting your resume, filling out countless applications, preparing for multiple interviews and you’ve finally accepted an offer. While the job search may be over, it’s important to prepare for the learning curve that lies ahead. As you start a new job, especially if you switched industries, you may not be as competent as you’d prefer, a discouraging fact for many. What follows are four phases you should become familiar with as you acclimate to your new job and strive to become an impactful,  competent employee.  

Stage 1: Starting a new job is exciting 

At this initial stage you’re relieved to be finished with applications and excited to prove yourself as a competent employee. As such, you display a high level of enthusiasm to your managers and coworkers. Perhaps you show up to work early, dress to impress and maintain an optimistic attitude at all times. You also progress through job training and learn about your company’s products, services, management style and culture. As the honeymoon experience reaches its peak, however, ominous clouds of anxiety may start to form as you begin to comprehend how much more you need to learn to become more competent at your job. 

Stage 2: Starting a new job requires commitment and learning

During the second and most difficult stage, you’ve confronted the reality of how much you don’t understand in order to perform your job duties competently. It may discourage you by how often you make mistakes or appear unknowledgeable. This discouragement can negatively impact your motivation to work. After all, no one enjoys being an incompetent employee. But rest assured, supportive managers will be patient and encourage you during this phase. 

So, what should you do during this phase? Despite the letdowns, it is crucial that you as an employee learn from your mistakes quickly and persevere through the emotions that come with failure. Your future professional self will greatly benefit from sticking it out. In the meantime, find consolation in your increased competence thus far.

Stage 3: Becoming a knowledgeable, confident and competent employee

In this third stage, despite any initial misunderstandings, you’ve learned a tremendous amount about your role in the company, how to mesh with your coworkers and the overall work environment. You probably feel more confident as you look back on your work journey and see how much you’ve grown. Your manager and team members find you a more competent employee, who they can rely on to complete tasks in a timely manner and with much less assistance.  

Stage 4: Commitment transforms you into a competent employee

Congratulations on becoming a highly capable employee! After all the time and effort you’ve put into the new job, you can complete much of your work automatically. Your manager is confident that, when delegated tasks, you will deliver results without a lot of additional detailed directions. As a competent member of the team, perhaps it’s time you start asking for more responsibility or working toward a promotion. 

Becoming proficient at your profession takes time and hard work. The beginning stages in your new job will be challenging, but do your best to learn something new everyday. Every piece of knowledge will bring you one step closer to becoming a competent employee and team member in your company.

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How To Boost Employee Morale During A Pandemic

For the more than half of employed Americans working from home during the pandemic, the sudden switch to remote work wasn’t without its challenges. From having to quickly get up to speed on remote technology to navigating a very new work-life balance, the transition has been anything but easy and overall employee morale reflects it.

In an August 2020 survey of 1,500 employees by FlexJobs and Mental Health America, 75% say they are experiencing burnout brought on by the pandemic. Their top reasons include a lack of separation between work and life, crushing workloads and worries about job security. 

This is enough for employers to worry about their teams and step up by boosting employee morale. To improve the atmosphere, try implementing these creative methods from Lucy Leonard at Namely to your team.

1. Host Virtual Social Time

Set aside an hour of time once a quarter or month to virtually get together with your team. Beforehand, decide on an activity or plan of how the social time will go. A few creative ideas would be to have a virtual ice cream social; have everyone go out and buy their favorite ice cream and enjoy it all together online. You could do the same sort of activity with any food of your choosing. 

You also could buy a craft for everyone to do and mail them to your employees. Have everyone complete the crafts online together and enjoy looking at your team’s masterpieces.

2. Dress Up Fridays 

Whether it be fancy Friday, football team Friday or some other occasion your team enjoys, try implementing a dress up day every other week. Feel free to try once a week, but if you see a lack of participation creep in, reel it back to once every two weeks. The last thing you want to do is create more work or stress for your employees! 

3. Create A Meme Channel

If your team uses a program like Slack or has some other sort of content outside of work, create a meme channel. Let this be a space where your employees post their favorite funny memes of the day. You could even implement a weekly vote on the best one! 

4. Exercise Challenge

Have your team download a free app to count their steps and create a friendly competition. Exercise is a proven way to boost employee morale! 

5. Virtual Trivia Night

You can try hosting a virtual trivia night for your team! Not only will this serve as  an ice breaker, it encourages friendly distraction and discussion! 

6. Care Packages

“We sent care packages to our employees’ homes to help them adjust to remote work. The care packages were tailored for each individual, and they included self-care items such as cozy socks, chocolate, herbal tea, craft kits, puzzles, books and board games. We also included some essential office supplies to ensure our employees have everything they need to work remotely.” – Stuart Cook, Marketing Manager at My Baggage.

7. Thank You Notes

“We keep employee morale high by sending out thank you notes to our employees who are currently working from home. It is a small token of appreciation, but our employees have expressed that they really appreciate the recognition.” – Darryl Smith, Founding Partner at Florida Car Accident Lawyer Team.

We know how important your employees are, so make sure that even during the hardest of times, that they do too. Not only will your team notice and appreciate your efforts in bringing them together, it will ultimately boost employee morale. 

For more recommendations on increasing employee morale at work, check out these additional articles on our blog today!

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Six Ways You Can Boost Employee Morale

As you probably know, your team is your greatest asset. They’re what keeps your business afloat! How can you pay your team back and keep their daily work from growing stale? 

It’s important to motivate your employees to be as productive as possible, without pushing them too far and stressing them out. Team happiness ignites productivity, and by making your work environment a ‘happy place’ you can take care of your team and encourage them to get more done. 

Here are seven ways you can improve your place of work, and ultimately inspire your employees!

Decorate With Color

Color will brighten the office space and create a cheerful atmosphere. After all, you and your employees spend a large portion of your time there, so it’s important to not hate the space. Life Hack suggests making your office feel like home! Employees need a workspace that is separate from home to maintain that all important work/life balance, but that doesn’t mean work can’t be cozy and homelike.

Celebrate Holidays

There are many ways to acknowledge a holiday, whether that be by decorating the office, dressing up or having a potluck, celebrating holidays is an easy way to mix up the everyday office experience. 

Smile

When you, the boss, are in a bad mood, all of your employees can feel it. Whether you realize it or not, your demeanor drastically affects each one of your employees. So the next time you may be feeling down, smile through it and let your team know they have your full support! 

Open The Seating Plan

Life Hack suggests implementing coworking! Coworking brings an open seating plan and office structure that encourages the collaboration of your employees. Instead of the same 5 employees seeing each other every day, coworking spaces allow them to mingle with the rest of the team. 

Have A Fun Dress Up Day

Whether it’s Halloween, the Super Bowl or a random day, implement a friendly competition between your employees for best dressed. Use topics like “my favorite college,” “my favorite celebrity” or whatever else you see fit to use.

Get An Office Dog

A recent study from the Virginia Commonwealth University found that employees who brought their dogs to work experienced lower stress levels throughout the workday, reported higher levels of job satisfaction and had a more positive perception of their employer. Many bosses will assign their dog the role of Office Greeter, a friendly face who increases employee productivity.

The next time you’re wondering how to boost employee morale, refer back to this list, and be sure to comment and let us know what works best for you.

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How To Increase Productivity At Work, No Matter Where You Work

Whether you’re preparing to enter a busy quarter, catching up on work or just trying to make the most of your day, there are always steps you can take to become more productive. Productivity at work may seem like an overwhelming topic, especially when everyone is inspired and motivated differently. So what are the easiest ways to stay on task through a long work day?

The methods to  increase productivity at work are not one-size-fits-all. There are numerous factors including the type of person you are, where you work and what your limitations are. For example, the suggestion to brighten your work space might not come so easily for those working from a cubicle in a corporate office. Read on to find a strategy or two that you can incorporate into your work day.

Tips For Staying Productive While Working In An Office

  1. Plan ahead. Get to your desk 15 minutes early and write out a list of tasks to get your work day started. Highlighting your top three tasks can also help you stay on track to accomplish your daily goals.
  2. Time chunk desirable tasks to help space out your day. Lori Lynn Smith, a Lifehack author, says that by shifting your focus between tedious and repetitive tasks and those that are more engaging, you can keep yourself happily involved in your work throughout the day. Give each task category a time frame and alternate back and forth between them for better productivity at work.
  3. Listen to music. Did you know that music can help you settle into your work routine? Low-volume music or a trusty set of earbuds can drown out noises in the office without interrupting your coworkers. Choose music that helps you focus without distracting you. It has been shown that while listening to classical music your IQ actually increases—you might want to give it a try!

Tips For Staying Productive While Working From Home

  1. Plan phone calls and meeting thoughtfully. Unless you live completely alone, you don’t want to have loud children or a barking dog in the background of your conference call. Not only is it unprofessional, but you might miss something important while trying to silence those around you. Plan your calls according to the daily hustle and bustle of your home.  
  2. Have a designated office space, even if you don’t have a private room for it. Having an office space can increase your productivity at work. Productivity Writer and Author Kayla Matthewssays that this will help put you in “work” mode, as well as prevent you from seeing things that might distract you, like that pile of dirty dishes you ignored last night or a hamper full of clean clothes waiting to be folded. Giving yourself a designated space often means a higher rate of productivity at work.

Whether you work from home or in an office, increasing productivity at work doesn’t have to be a challenge. 

For more recommendations on increasing productivity at work, read additional articles on our blog today! Or, if you’re looking for a new position, see our current job listings!

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5 Healthy Snacks That Will Increase Employee Engagement

Remaining consistent in healthy eating habits while at work can seem like a second job! With all of the time, energy and planning that goes into preparing healthy snacks, hitting a drive-thru can seem like the easier option. Although opting for convenience may sometimes feel like the better choice, after eating a high carb meal energy and productivity levels pay the price. By keeping healthy snacks on hand in the break room, you and your employees will be able to conveniently stay on track and on task. 

By keeping healthy snacks at the office, you will likely notice an increase in employee engagement and productivity. Here are 5 easy healthy snacks that can be left out for your staff to enjoy throughout the day.

1. Dried Fruit and Nuts

Nuts and dried fruit make for a healthy, non-perishable snack mix. This filling combination has an outstanding balance of all three macronutrients, with healthy fats and protein from nuts and good carbs from dried fruit. Both of these snacks are loaded with fiber, which will leave your team feeling full between meals. By keeping your staff’s carbohydrate intake low, you will likely see a jump in employee engagement.

2. Greek Yogurt with Granola or Fruit

It’s sometimes difficult to peer into the fridge and look past what could be a delicious, but energy draining snack and opt for the Greek yogurt instead. But by offering a healthy alternative, you give your staff the chance to choose a snack high in protein and calcium. If you keep granola and fresh fruit on hand, employees can customize their Greek yogurt even more, too! There are numerous options for different types of granola, meaning each day they can incorporate a different flavor into their plain Greek yogurt.

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4 Easy Office Decor Tricks That Will Boost Employee Engagement

Do you enjoy what you see when you gaze around your office? How about your employees? Is their work space reflective of who they are and what they do? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it might be time to think about adding some inspiring decor that will not only please the eye but will boost employee engagement. Bring on the plants, colors and natural light, your staff may need it more than you realize. 


Kelly Weimert at The Spruce explains, “There are several incredibly simple and economical decor tricks you can integrate into your office that will leave you and your employees feeling energized, inspired and motivated.” Whether your office is large or small, you can apply these tips to optimize your company’s employee engagement.

Decor Tricks to Boost Employee Engagement

1. Brand Your Work Space

When you look around your office space do you see your brand? Is your logo proudly displayed? Does the office theme match your mission? Is your team part of the branding? Your office is not only a representation of the business, but it also represents the employees and managers who occupy it. Frame a team picture, get your employees branded coffee mugs, etc. Do whatever is in your means to let your employees and guests know that this is an inclusive space.

2. Maximize Lighting

Soft, natural light is inspiring and will increase employee engagement more than many other strategies. Find ways to incorporate natural light into your space, rather than the typical harsh, bright lights you usually find in offices. If your team is looking at their computer screens all day, the softer light will help them to not strain their eyes, resulting in a healthier staff and more consistent productivity.

3. Add Inspiring Greenery

According to researcher Lewis Humphries at Lifehack.org, studies show that the presence of plants in the workplace can significantly reduce stress and blood pressure. It was also revealed that workers surrounded by plants were able to complete computer-based tasks with a reaction time that was 12 percent faster than alternative test groups. The research also suggests that the process of tending to potted plants can help improve focus over the course of a typical working day, increasing the concentration and attention to detail in the process. Not only will adding greenery to your work space improve employee engagement and decrease staff stress, but the plants also purify the air and provide opportunities to customize and enhance your interior with decorative pots and vases.

4. Get Organized

Do you have an office organizational system for files and important documents that your employees need access to? Organization is not only a time and frustration saver, it can also be aesthetically pleasing, resulting in higher employee engagement. Browse fun websites like The Container Store to get inspired and let your creativity flow!

While decorating adds a few touches of beauty to a space, it also benefits the company in multiple ways. Take a look around your office to see where you can easily implement the above tips; they will inspire your staff and improve employee engagement overall.For more recommendations on increasing employee engagement, read additional articles on our blog today! Or, if you’re looking for a new position, see our current job listings!

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5-Minute Team Building Games Your Employees Will Actually Like

Team building exercises should be both educational and enjoyable for your staff. By implementing five-minute games into your meetings, your employees will develop their communication and problem solving skills while also growing and learning about one another. We have outlined our four favorite team building games for you to try at your next staff meeting. 

Four 5-Minute Team Building Exercises For Your Staff

1. Play a Quiz 

Create a quiz with five to 10 team building questions on it about your company history, future company goals, the boss’ background or any other relevant topic. Once your employees have finished the quiz, go through the questions and reveal the correct answers. If an employee gets an answer wrong, they are out. The last one standing wins!  

2. Describe and Draw 

Pair off your employees into teams of two. One person on each team will start with a blank piece of paper and the other’s paper will have a shape (e.g. circle, square, triangle, etc.) on it. Whoever starts with the paper with a shape, will need to describe the shape to their partner without saying the name of it. Their partner will need to listen and draw their interpretation of whatever they think their teammate is describing. At the end, have a short de-briefing and learn how each employee communicates and receives messages differently.

3. Object Memory

Create a list of at least 30 words. They can be related to a topic of your choice or random. Display the list for your employees to view for one minute while they try to memorize as many words as possible. After one minute, hide the list and ask everyone to write down as many words as they can remember. See who remembered the most. Repeat this game with a new list of 30 words, and let your employees try in teams. They will quickly see that they can remember more words when they collaborate. Debrief and discuss assumptions about working individually vs. collaborating. 

4. Purpose Mingle

This is a quick and easy team building game that will improve your employees’ productivity and get them thinking about how they will contribute to an office meeting. Before your next meeting, have each individual walk around and share what they hope to contribute to the meeting with as many of their colleagues as possible. If applicable, you can offer a prize to the employee who shares with the most people, and another for the employee who successfully contributes what they intended.

Developing an efficient team doesn’t have to be tedious or an overwhelming challenge. Most leaders and managers today are beginning to understand that we get more out of our employees when they feel valued, and team building activities are an easy way to get employees recognized. Entertain your employees while reinforcing company values in an engaging and lasting manner. 

At Josephine’s Professional Staffing, we offer solutions to staffing, retention and productivity issues. For more recommendations on building your team, read additional articles on our blog today! Or, if you’re looking for a new position, see our current job listings!