Safety On The Job: Six Steps To Adopting A Culture Of Safety
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It’s Stressful Out There! Here’s How To Help Employees Manage
For many, the holiday season is a time for joy and celebration. However, the holidays can also be stressful, with additional costs and social expectations. According to the American Psychological Association, 38% of people said their stress level increases during the holidays. In another survey, 53% of people said they feel financially stressed by holiday spending, according to Principal Financial Group. While stress may seem like a personal battle to deal with at home, The American Institute of Stress estimates that job stress costs U.S. industries over $300 billion each year as a result of: accidents • absenteeism • employee turnover • diminished productivity • direct medical, legal, and insurance costs, and • workers’ compensation claims as well as tort and FELA judgments. Safety experts at Magid, a national PPE manufacturer and distributor, recognize that stress management is a growing concern. To help companies keep workers safe and avoid hits to their bottom line, Magid is offering free resources from its Safety Matters® Resource Center. Here’s their advice on recognizing and managing stress in the workplace. Signs Of Stress While the expectation at some workplaces is to “leave personal problems at the door,” that advice is never very realistic. And in this day of texting, social media, and a phone in everyone’s pocket, it’s even less likely. The communication age makes it more important than ever to make stress management a high priority But before you begin to tackle how to reduce stress, be sure you can recognize the impact ...
Business Management: Never Lose A Star Performer
There is one area of workforce development in which nearly every manager I’ve encountered is lacking. Certainly, many managers need to give more frequent and focused feedback, help employees discover their purpose, and better guide developmental goals. But there are many managers I know who already do a great job in these areas. Yet even these much better-than-average managers often miss the mark when it comes to whom to focus their time. As managers, we are tasked to drive performance from our team. So, when a weak link isn’t performing, managers work with them to improve. This obvious strategy can quickly become a trap for managers because of something called the Pareto principle. Pareto is the Italian economist who, in 1896, discovered the “80/20 rule” which states that 80% of an effect comes from 20% of a cause. In this context, I’m suggesting that 20% of your employees are generating 80% of the efficiency, innovation, and key business results that you demand as a manager. Put another way, your star performers (those one or two amazing employees on your team) are driving nearly all your team’s results. These people require very little coaching, minimal manager motivation, and work great independently and will often exceed their goals. So, managers act accordingly by spending most of their time with underperformers trying to coach them to better results. This is a recipe for disaster. The key to excellence is to continue to invest in what is working really well, not to focus on ...
