Make your employees your brand ambassadors

Exceptional customer experience is what all companies aspire to deliver, and one of the keys to achieving it lies in having a high level of engagement between their employees and their brand.

How many businesses are aware of just how crucial internal brand engagement is to customer service and satisfaction?

According to research by communications agency Involve, almost half of marketing, brand and customer experience directors believe that their own internal brand engagement programs are ineffective.

While they understand the value of engaging their employees, they see external marketing activities as more prestigious and influential. In fact, many companies are failing to invest or measure the success of their employee brand engagement programs. Read more on theguardian.com

How to Start Fitting Work Into Life (and Stop Fitting Life Into Work)

Finding work-life balance can be challenging, especially for entrepreneurs. Sometimes, we fall prey to the illusion that personal time is another name for time we can put to better use by working. We might even feel that we'd be more productive if we could only forgo rest to work more. But our bodies will likely overrule us on that one.

And that's a good thing because the truth is, we can’t do our best work if we stay plugged in 24/7. To cite an age-old example, Isaac Newton spent plenty of time working, but he didn’t truly understand gravity until he rested under an apple tree.

What's more, there are benefits to spending time on things other than work and sleep. We don’t just take downtime to distract ourselves from responsibility: Time away from work actually makes us work harder and smarter during the hours we dedicate to working.

Work hard; play hard.

Technology has fundamentally changed the workplace: it's actually difficult to get away from work what with cell phones in our pockets and laptops on our coffee tables. However, to get the full benefits of recharging ourselves (not our devices) during our time off, we have to make sure that that time off truly is "off."

We accomplish this by being fully present in everything we do. That means no cursory glances at email under the table and no quick texts to employees when no one’s watching. Blocking off time for leisure makes this easier.

If I want to eat dinner with family, grab a drink with friends, exercise or read a book, I schedule some uninterrupted time to focus on that activity. Setting parameters helps me eliminate the guilt of not working while getting the most from my personal time.

This is more than just what you “should” do. It’s a complete priority shift. While shifting mindsets sounds like a daunting task, we can make the transition easier on ourselves by following a few simple steps: Read more on Fox News

Survey: Half of Americans worry about work while on vacation, then return stressed

More than one-third of U.S. employees (39 percent) don't believe their bosses encourage them to take allotted vacation days, and almost half (45 percent) say their bosses don't help them disconnect from work while on vacation, according to a Randstad US Employee Engagement Study released this week.

Forty-one percent of survey participants said work-life balance is impossible to achieve.

“Employers who proactively maintain positive relationships with employees and encourage them to utilize allotted vacation time are more likely to boost company morale, reduce turnover and increase productivity, all of which can positively impact a company's bottom line,” Atlanta-based Randstad US said in a statement about the study.

The Employee Engagement Study also found :

Vacations can be stressful: Forty-nine percent feel stressed after they return from vacation. Forty-six percent say they worry about work while on vacation.

Hold the vacation: More than one in three employees (38 percent) believe taking fewer vacations makes them look better in the eyes of their boss.

Change of plans: More than one in three employees (36 percent) have had to cancel vacation plans due to work. Read more on bizjournals.com

Imagine that for a second. More than 40% believe that work-life balance is impossible to achieve? How on earth is it possible to engage employees under this scenario? It is any wonder then that employee engagement levels in the U.S. are at all-time lows and job burnout is soaring. But you can’t change what you don’t measure. If you’re not doing some sort of employee survey, whether satisfaction, engagement, pulse, or something else, then you have no idea how to improve things.

3 Things Bosses Can Do to Support Mental Health at Work

More people are starting to speak out at work about the importance of mental health.

 

Among them, according to The Wall Street Journal, are members of a new organization called the Stability Network, which is dedicated to promoting professional support for Americans who suffer from mental illness. Another is entrepreneur Indigo Triplett, founder of Careers in Transition, a human resources consulting firm, and an Inc.com columnist who writes about mental health at work.

 

Many functioning professionals are afraid to admit to a disability for fear of discrimination. They may struggle to find a workplace where their diagnosis does not define them. They often don't disclose it until they are comfortable that the work environment will be supportive.

 

Employers are legally required to make accommodations after an employee discloses a mental or physical disability. Mental health advocates are seeking to encourage employers to go beyond mere accommodation and build in proactive, purposefully inclusive workplace policies and procedures.

 

Here are some best practices for business owners and managers seeking to cultivate a more inclusive and supportive work environment for mental health. Read more in INC.com

Design Your Office to Fulfill Employees' Most Basic Needs

 

In the war for talent, savvy companies understand that office space is both a key component of their recruiting strategy and a platform they can use to amplify their culture. One way to design a space that will become a competitive advantage is to understand exactly what it is that your employees need to be happy.

 

And for help on that front, you might think about Abraham Maslow’s 1950s theory about human motivation and his hierarchy of needs.

 

How can something like office design aid in fulfilling those needs? Answering that question is key to helping companies design spaces their employees love. After all, the same principles that apply to people should also be considered when designing for people. Here are four to consider. Read on Foxnews.com