Do you constantly feel stressed at work? Are you burnt out and overwhelmed? Do those feelings come home with you after work and transfer to your personal life? If so, you aren’t alone. More than a quarter of workers in the U.S. consider their jobs to be the top cause of stress in their lives. Stress-related issues cost companies more than $150 billion a year.
Some organizations are great. Some organizations are not so great.
You can tell the difference between these types of organizations almost as soon as you walk into the office or sit down in an interview or meeting. Truly great organizations care about their people and create high-quality employee experiences. These are the companies that are focused not just on increasing their bottom lines, but on building communities for their employees and customers where everyone is engaged and moving forward.
Imagine walking into a car dealership and telling one of the sales representatives that you’re looking for a car. When he or she asks what you are looking for, you say that it needs to be able to fit five people, have great horsepower and torque, be painted blue, and have all the new modern features of today’s car. The dealer says they have something for you and then proceeds to wheel out a Frankenstein-like monstrosity that has five seats all on the left side of the car, a massive engine on the right side of the car, a steering wheel that’s attached to the roof, and splotchy blue paint. And they expect you to buy it! When you voice your displeasure, the dealer says the car has everything you wanted. Technically, it does meet the bill, but it is not at all what you wanted or had in mind.
Diversity is definitely a buzzword in today’s business world. But more than just a passing trend, diversity should be a core value of every business. Each week I talk with business experts on my podcast The Future of Work Podcast. I enjoy hearing what they have to say about important topics, and diversity is no exception. Here are a few things my recent guests have shared about why diversity is so important and the challenges that organizations face as they try to become more inclusive.
Long hours, bad cubicles, tedious work, toxic culture — there are a lot of reasons why people would want to make a change within their organization. Change can be something as small as getting the office supplies you need or as big as revamping the corporate culture and brand, but no matter the size, change can have a big impact on the morale, growth, and revenue of a company. Change is especially important as we march towards the future of work, as the rate of change is sure to speed up and organizations that are stuck in their ways will likely be left in the dust. But how can you really drive change within your organization that will last and keep your company at the forefront?
Everyone has sat through boring workplace training sessions that seem like a waste of time and are a drain on employees. On the other side, many people have attended useful and lively trainings where they actually walk away engaged and educated, ready to apply what they’ve learned to their jobs. How can we make every training useful and engaging? That’s a question many companies face. Each week I talk with top executives, authors, and professors on my podcast, The Future of Work Podcast. Many of my guests are experts in training and learning and have shared their thoughts on how we can improve workplace training in the future.
Workplace stress can lead to all sorts of unhealthy habits and problems that affect our bodies. Weight gain, poor eating habits, heart problems, trouble sleeping, depression, and anxiety are just a few of the common things that we can experience because of workplace stress. This keeps us from doing and being our best at work and at home. Organizations are acknowledging this shift and are doing all sorts of things to help keep employees’ minds and bodies healthy.
There’s a lot of talk in organizations about how often you should measure employee engagement. Is it best to do it every six months? Every year? Every two years?
Fairness means free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice. This isn’t an easy thing to do because as humans we all have subjective ways of perceiving people, things, and situations. If an organization is biased, dishonest, and plagued with injustice, then why on earth would anyone want to work there? Employees want to feel valued for their contributions and know that their hard work will get them noticed. Instead of relying on connections and bias, companies with cultures that value employees work to create a fair and inclusive environment.
Most people start their careers with high hopes and expectations of what the future will bring. But as time moves forward and you get settled in a job, things might not be as great as you hoped they would be, and you’re faced with the question of if you should stick it out in your current situation or move on to something new.