Saturday, January 15, 2011

Unlocking the Morale Issue

 

The biggest issue for any organization, large or small, that stumps growth is worker productivity. With economic volatility currently impacting profits, productivity issues can wreak havoc already on the brink of zero margins. In addition, when worker productivity falters, costs are higher. 

The rationale for not attending to the issue is that senior officers and human resource personnel are too busy, lack the funds, and lack time to focus on it. However, dismissing the issue only brings about added workforce stress. Boosting worker productivity with a focus on morale improvement leads to improvement in the bottom line: productivity and profits. 

The reason that worker productivity and morale are so vital to every organization includes the following: 

It leads to lower attrition. The concern is not a loss of individuals; it is the loss of knowledge. The concept of "brain drain" in organizations is imperative in a knowledge-based economy. 

It leads to less infighting. Suffice to say there is much argument in organizations. However, when the culture is more collaborative and there is internal customer service, more things get completed on time and on budget. Examples include Zappos, Best Buy, and FedEx. 

It leads to proper hiring. Great production stems from having the right individuals on the team. The only method of employment assurance is measuring your best performers from the average. Albeit there are few recent studies, but, in 2007, the Gallup Organization estimated that 22 million actively disengaged employees cost the American economy as much as $350 billion dollars per year in absenteeism, illness, and other problems. 

Just to be clear, there are numerous issues that impact worker productivity and morale. Hiring, great management, communication, all lead to a great organizational culture. There is little reason to spend huge sums of money or hire new employees; yet, it is important to make some subtle changes to help alleviate costs and eroding profits. 

The trend now is that many employed individuals that survived layoffs are seeking new opportunities. They are burned out from lower wages, doing more with less, and a mechanistic organizational culture. According to a March 2010 study from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, employees are voluntarily leaving jobs at a larger pace than terminations. The impact can be devastating to organizations. 

"Replacing a manager costs an average of 2.5 times an executive's salary, and 2 times a manager's compensation," according to a survey of 262 companies by OL Partners. 

With costs in mind, here are some recommendations to rectify the morale and worker productivity issues in your organization. 

1. Constant Communication. Research on worker productivity for over 20 years states the importance of employer/employee relationships. Individuals do not leave companies, they leave poor managers. Relationships begin with simple and direct communication. Morale will fail when managers fail to communicate with their employees. Take the time to know who is on your team.

2. Crucial Confrontation. The inability to confront individuals about performance has undermined organizational performance. Morale diminishes when underperforming employees continually diminish performance. It is important when managers confront employees who do not meet expectations.

3. Focus on Feedback. Confrontation begins with feedback. It must be timely, candid, and accurate. This includes both good and bad feedback. Catch employees doing something good and tell them; need something corrected, tell them.

4. Create Collaboration. Employees respond better when they are part of the organizational process. They desire to be a part of the process and have a voice. Luis Arzua (the last Chilean miner) took control from underground and asked each trapped miner to contribute to the health and wellness of the team. Every man had a part in the rescue. Each added to the relationships, best practices, and most important survival! It is simply a matter of placing the best individuals in the proper positions; everything else simply falls into place.

5. Remember to Reward and Recognize. Employees invest over 50 to 60 hours of their waking life for organizations. Money is not the alternative for reward. Individuals desire commendations for good work. They are more apt to remember compliments and commendations then a one percent raise the previous year. 

Organizations are in a battle for survival from not only recessionary issues but worker productivity. Aside from customers, the greatest asset of any organization is its employees. Organizational leaders must become vigilant and create a conscious effort at creating synergies that instill a better culture and working environment. Now is not the time to avoid the issue, it is time to focus on it acutely. 

Thanks to Drew J. Stevens Ph.D.



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Women Vs. Men: The Science Behind How We Fight

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Ever wonder why your husband doesn't seem to care as much as you whenever you get into an argument? Women can be quick to judge a man by his reaction during a fight, labeling him as emotionless, stoic, and uncaring. But the truth is, his lack of an emotional response to stressful situations like fights may have more to do with his brain chemistry than his personality.
According to ScienceDaily.com, a recent study by University of Southern California researchers revealed that men looking at pictures of angry faces had diminished activity in regions of the brain responsible for understanding others' feelings, while women experienced increased brain activity in those same regions.
This suggests that during arguments, men have a more difficult time processing facial expressions, preventing them from giving what women consider the "right" responses.
As ScienceDaily.com reports, "These are the first findings to indicate that sex differences in the effects of stress on social behavior extend to one of the most basic social transactions -- processing someone else's facial expression," said Mara Mather, director of the Emotion and Cognition Lab at USC.
"Under stress," Mather told ScienceDaily.com, "men tend to withdraw socially while women seek emotional support."
Now that you know what goes on in men's brains under stress, perhaps the next time you and your husband get into a fight, keep in mind that how he deals with the stress of the argument may have something to do with the chemicals in his brain. If seems like he doesn't care, –it might just be because his brain works a little differently.

Thanks to ThirdAge

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Sugar And Bipolar Disorder

 

Lots of people consider a pint of ice cream the perfect cure for the blues. Others indulge in sugary snacks as a way to get an energetic high. But for people with bipolar disorder, sugar and other simple carbohydrates may harm more than help.

Carbohydrate cravings in bipolar patients are legendary, so much so that increased intake of sugary treats is considered a clue to bipolar disorder during diagnosis. People who are depressed munch on sugary snacks to make themselves feel better and then, in the throes of a manic high, mindlessly devour high-carb junk food.

The question is, should those with bipolar disorder put the brakes on sugar intake?

Bipolar Disorder: Sugar and the Brain

Blood sugar and carbohydrate intake are very important to the brain. Your brain runs on glucose and depends on carbohydrates to supply the energy it needs. But for bipolar patients, carbohydrate intake also prompts the production and release of important neurotransmitters. The body produces tryptophan, an amino acid that the brain converts into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin creates a feeling of calm and well-being and reduces depression. So people with bipolar disorder are indulging in a form of self-medication when they eat sugary snacks during depressive lows or manic highs.

Doctors believe that people use this natural reaction to try to ease their bipolar symptoms when they have depression or mania. Eating large amounts of sugar can soothe a deep depression. It also can take the edge off a manic high.

But compulsive sugar intake is not an exact form of treatment, and people who eat too much sugar may find their mood swinging wildly — a terrible prospect for people with bipolar symptoms. They also face an inevitable "crash" following the intake of simple carbohydrates like sugar. Sugary foods burn hot and fast through the body, and their effects on brain chemistry and other bodily processes tend to be immediate, intense, and abrupt.

Bipolar Disorder: Getting the Right Carbs

Bipolar patients should not cut carbohydrates out of their diet. Because they are linked to the mood-controlling neurotransmitters, carbohydrates are important to managing bipolar symptoms. Instead, swap out simple sugars in the diet for more complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates burn slow and long, ensuring a more controlled release of neurotransmitters to the brain. Complex carbohydrates are also healthier for you overall, keeping your blood glucose levels more stable and preventing the development of type 2 diabetes.

To help eliminate sugar cravings and maintain good blood sugar levels and healthy brain chemistry, you should:

  • Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which are rich in complex carbohydrates.
  • Be sure to eat enough protein, which can improve alertness without the rush of a sugar high. Lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and low-fat dairy products are good, healthy sources of protein. Poultry, oil-rich fish, baked potatoes, beans, oats, nuts, and seeds are protein sources that have the added benefit of being rich in tryptophan and can help the brain produce serotonin in a controlled, healthy fashion.

It might help to create a food and mood journal for keeping track of when you eat, what you eat, and any abrupt changes in mood you experience. These notes could hold the key to determining if certain foods are influencing your bipolar symptoms in a positive way.

Thanks to Dennis Thompson Jr. / Medically Reviewed By Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH / Everyday Health, Inc

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5 Ways to Win In Any Business Situation

 

Steve Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, said "Think Win-Win." Jim Camp, author of Start With No, calls win-win "… the seductive mantra used by the toughest negotiators to get the other side to compromise unnecessarily …" He says those negotiations end up as win-lose.

Want to know who's right? Well, determining the best approach to any business relationship or negotiation is very much situational, but still, relatively straightforward. Whether it's a job opportunity, a consulting opportunity, a potential vendor or customer, an internal relationship, whatever, it's more common sense than you think.

That said, it does confuse and confound a lot of people, even senior executives and business leaders. For example, a post by Niland Mortimer on BNET starts out like this:

The rules of business decision making more often than not are based on the principle of "I win. You lose." Companies, and their employees, proceed invincibly down the path of unilateral rightness. Compromise is out of the question. Collaboration is tantamount to defeat. I win. You lose. Damn the consequences.

Now, I'm not going to say "I win - you lose" never happens. Sure it does. In fact, it makes complete sense … in certain situations. For example, it's the only way to approach competitors because market-share is more or less a zero-sum game. But otherwise, that's neither the way to win nor the way it works in the real world. Frankly, I don't know where Mortimer's assertion comes from, but it's not consistent with my experience.

So, to clear up all the confusion and distinguish between the different approaches, here are 5 Ways to Win in Any Business Situation:

  1. Internal relationship between coworkers. Win-win, collaborate, all the way. Anything else is dysfunctional. Sure, the dysfunctional stuff - back stabbing, taking credit for someone else's work, sugar-coating BS, CYA - all exists, but don't fall into that trap. You either have to play it smarter or find a company that doesn't accept that kind of crap. 
    Goal: Win-win
  2. Boss-employee relationship. Again, Win-win, collaborate, all the way, same as with coworkers. Companies don't exist for you, your boss, or your employees. They exist for two reasons: to provide a product or service to customers, and to provide value to shareholders. All employees at every level should be aligned to do that, simple as that.
    Goal: Win-win
  3. Competitors in the marketplace. I win - you lose. Period. Market competition is a zero-sum game, simple as that. To suggest otherwise is idiotic. And yes, you should befriend your competitors, call them frienemies, hang out and party with them, anything you like. Just listen more than you talk. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? 
    Goal: I win - you lose
  4. Customer-vendor relationship. Customer-vendor relationships should always yield the perception of a win-win, especially if you want an ongoing relationship. That said, when you approach negotiations, your goal is to get the better deal while the other guy thinks he did okay too. I think of that as "I win - you don't lose." Camp provides a pretty good approach for doing that. It's not easy at first, but you do get better at it with experience. 
    Goal: I win - you don't lose
  5. Job or consulting opportunity. It's important to note that, in this situation, you all have to live with each other after the fact. So, whichever side of the equation you're on, don't overpromise and risk underdelivering or underplay your hand and risk losing the gig. Best to be genuine. That said, when it comes to negotiating dollars and cents, it's the same as customer-vendor. 
    Goal: I win - you don't lose

Hope that helps to clear things up. Now go negotiate something!

Thanks to Steve Tobak / BNet
 
 


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