As I start the New Year and reflect this week I feel excited and privileged to continue working with some awesome individuals all of whom are making some significant changes in their career.
Some of them approached me last year because they were unhappy and felt unsupported by their boss and/or the organisation and they wanted to plan for a change.
As I reflect I wonder how many of you leaders know how HAPPY or UNHAPPY your team members are? As the New Year starts it's a good idea to start asking the right questions now instead of waiting until you receive a resignation letter.
1.Ask yourself this week what could you have done differently last year to build up more trust in order for the individuals in your team to speak out more and express his/her difficulties.
2. Don't wait for the mid-year performance review, because that may just be too late, and remember it's not just reaching targets and objectives which keeps your employees happy.
3. Take an informal coffee regularly (even over zoom) to just ask how everything is going, how the person's family is - ask what's going well and what's not going well - often "simple is best" and it helps them feel valued and happy.
4. Ask THEM what would help them this year to feel more engaged - and treat every individual as the expert who needs to be heard, even if it leads to a more detailed discussion later.
Hard skills are important in order to perform well in the role, but there is a direct link between happiness and performance and it has been proven that in an organisation the happier and more engaged your employees are ,the happier your customers are.
As this new year approaches I hope that leaders can start with more determination than ever to make sure every individual in their organisation feels valued and supported, which in today's hybrid working environment is more vital than ever.
I would love some of you to share what you are doing today to make sure your employees are HAPPY and engaged and don't forget there are many workshops which you can hold in order to foster happiness throughout the organisation.
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