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How Employee Engagement Surveys Help You Listen To Your Team

To say that it has been an interesting couple of years in business is somewhat of an understatement!

Since 2020, we have had to transform the way we work.

The global workforce has had to adapt to a unique set of circumstances and working conditions.

And as we settle into a new kind of normal here in NZ, we realise how far we have managed to come in flexibility, adaptability and agile business practices.

So, how do your team feel about it all?

Are they coping with the working conditions, has their behaviour changed and how are their interactions?

A great way to discover the answers to these questions is via employee engagement surveys. Now, you may have been conducting these before the world descended into madness. And if you were, it’s time to check if your survey questions are still relevant.

Let’s explore the benefits of employee engagement surveys and how you can conduct valuable ones at your workplace.

How Employee Engagement Surveys Help You Listen To Your Team

What Are Employee Engagement Surveys?

Employee engagement surveys are essential to the health of any organisation. They allow your team to deliver anonymous input on how they’re feeling and get any frustrations out. Team members who are struggling with something can express their real opinions.

This channel allows for honest communication, providing a true measure of team engagement.

Engaged employees are your top performers. They set the tone for everyone else, work hard, and positively portray your brand and values to customers. Other employees gravitate towards them. On the flipside, team members who may be disengaged or dissatisfied can also affect your organisation – negatively. And the longer you let their dissatisfaction simmer, the worse things can get.

Conducting regular employee engagement surveys can help you keep your finger on the pulse of your team and gives you the opportunity to make timely changes as issues are identified.

Talking And Listening: Step It Up!

Surveys are one of the best ways for you to discover how your employees are feeling.

Most businesses perform annual surveys, often alongside performance reviews. This is a good start, but annual surveys alone may not be enough to measure employee engagement. Why hold out until your scheduled annual survey, when it may be too late to change by then?

Employees change roles frequently these days, and you can’t wait months to find out you have a team-wide problem or someone who’s deeply dissatisfied at work. It’s also valuable to know what is working well in your team and how you can develop that further.

Using short surveys to take the pulse of your team members on a more frequent basis reminds them regularly that their concerns matter and keeps you up to date on how engaged they are.

The Survey – And Beyond

So, how do you get your employee engagement surveys underway and ensure they are valuable?

Firstly, you need to get your team’s buy-in about how valuable this exercise can be. You want them to see this as a way to positively contribute to their work environment rather than a time-consuming exercise! Part of that is making sure you follow through on the feedback they provide by taking action and changing things that aren’t working as they should.

Secondly, you need to include pointed questions that will give you actionable responses. Asking something vague like, “how is your work environment” could draw any number of responses. But a more specific question like, “are you feeling supported in your work environment” will provide actual data you can work with.

Think about key questions that will help your employees give you the responses you need to develop a productive and positive workplace.

Reading The Responses

There are plenty of resources available that can guide you on what to ask your team – that’s the simple part. But it’s also worth thinking about how you’ll productively use the answers they come back with.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you review the survey responses that can help channel your survey into productive change where that’s needed.

As you’re considering your team’s feedback, ask yourself:

How has staff behaviour and interaction changed since the last survey?
What is your team’s wellbeing like?
Are they feeling supported, and do they have the right processes and tools in place to be successful?
Are we still communicating in the same ways?
Are there more people working remotely and how can we overcome disengagement in screen-based relationships?
Do we need more person-to-person time?
Do we have the right support, systems, processes, tools, and communication channels in place?

Adapting To A New Climate

Chances are the recent switch to more remote work and time off for isolation or illness may have had an impact on in-person time with your team and how you communicate. Review how this is working. Your staff may need more frequent face-to-face check ins. If that’s not possible, consider how you can step up your screen-based communications to avoid any disengagement.

Consider how to handle disputes or dissatisfactions that may have come to light via the survey. The most difficult conversations are much better done in person, so ensure you find a way to make that happen. If you need to give feedback on a negative survey response, get face to face with that employee.

Keep Talking – In The Way That Suits Your Employees Best

Open channels of communication and having opportunities to speak and be heard are essential to employee satisfaction. But everyone is different. Surveying your team can also help you to understand their different styles of communication and allow you to adapt this on an individual basis to get the best results.

Want some advice on conducting employee surveys – how, when and what to ask?

Ask the Spice Gals! We support small and medium businesses with friendly, helpful support on all things employment related. Give us a call today!

Why It’s Vital To Understand Your Team And How To Do It

Can a computer programme really help you understand your team? When it’s based on proven behavioural psychology concepts, utilises complex algorithms, and is successfully used by tens of thousands of organisations worldwide – yes, it can!

The key to building a successful team is understanding your people.

There are several ways you can do this, but Stay Interviews and Extended DISC© assessment tools help you do just that.

These assessments help leaders intentionally and intelligently understand employees while empowering workers to communicate with one another effectively.

Let’s take a closer look at what stay interviews and Extended DISC© are and and how they can help you understand your team.

Why It’s Vital To Understand Your Team And How To Do It

What Is A Stay Interview?

You’ve heard of an Exit Interview, right? Well, a Stay Interview can be even more valuable than the exit variety! At a Stay Interview, you sit down with each team member to gather information about what they value about their job and what can be improved.

By understanding what your team values, you can work to improve things in your workplace. This is going to raise employee retention rates in the long term. You may also discover some helpful tips from your team members that you can easily implement to improve culture, processes and more.

Not only that, but you are creating open lines of communication with your team, building their trust and engagement. Conducting a Stay Interview can be more effective than an employee survey as you are creating a two-way conversation situation where you can both bounce ideas and create opportunities for clarification or to answer follow up questions.

Stay Interviews are the in-person way to help you understand your team better. But, what about technology solutions?

What Is Extended DISC©?

Extended DISC© is a psychology-based assessment tool that helps organisations understand – and therefore better manage – their staff.

Based on the theory developed by psychologist Carl Jung, the Extended DISC© system is one of the most popular behavioural assessment tools in the corporate world. Extended DISC© provides insight into how individuals think, communicate, and interact using a series of questions and algorithms.

According to the science behind the Extended DISC© system, people can be divided into four central behavioural styles, indicated by the following letters:

D-style (Dominance)
I-Style (Influence)
S-Style (Steadiness)
C-style (Correctness)

The results of these assessments help shape an understanding of each individual’s strengths, challenges, and communication styles.

How Extended DISC© Assessments Can Help Your Team

Great teamwork doesn’t happen by accident. It takes patience, intention, insight, strong leadership, and the right mix of personalities to build a cohesive team.

In people management, everything boils down to personality and behaviour. Communication issues, conflict, poor performance and low productivity can often be traced back to personality clashes, misunderstandings, or incorrect role fit.

Extended DISC© offers a way for individuals not only to understand themselves better but also understand others more deeply. With these insights, leaders are better able to place employees in the right roles within their teams and manage them in the ways that mesh best with their Extended DISC© profiles.

Extended DISC© assessments help you to empower your team members to better understand their own conscious and sub-conscious behavioural styles. Discovering Extended DISC© as a team is even more valuable. Each staff member can identify and empathise with other behavioural styles, which improves communication and minimises the chance of conflicts.

Overall, job satisfaction increases, and increased performance and productivity comes with a more positive workplace culture.

Get The Best Out Of Your Team

One of the most valuable leadership qualities is the ability to get the best out of your team.

Everyone responds differently to different situations: some of your employees might do their best work under pressure, while others may perform poorly. One person may appreciate a heated debate with a colleague, while another individual could find the exchange stressful and negative. Some people are natural leaders who crave the opportunity to grow, yet others are happy to take a back seat and perform the job they’re comfortable with.

There is a place in your team for all these personality types, but you must be able to recognise each one to create a team environment that meets everyone’s needs.

Extended DISC© is a fantastic team-building tool as it can help you understand the dynamics of your team, identify where the key strengths lie and determine what gaps need to be filled.

A Valuable Workplace Asset

Alongside the in-depth Personal Analysis for each staff member, the Extended DISC© Team Analysis is invaluable.

Here’s how Extended DISC© describe it:

“The Team Analysis gives you an easy to use framework to understand complex issues quickly, solve problems and improve performance. It helps you align your business or team strategy with the behavioural characteristics of your team members.

The Team Analysis combines the results of the Personal Analysis results of your team into one report. It shows the team dynamics, the strengths and development areas of the team, and how the team members are adjusting their behaviours in the existing work environment.

Some popular applications of this tool include team development, strategic decision making, leadership development, organisational development, turnover reduction, conflict resolution and succession planning.”

What Does Team Building Look Like In 2022?

In the past, managers have made educated guesses while hiring and building teams and hoped that their people gelled well. But in 2022, team building doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Tools like Extended DISC© provide concrete, usable data to support leaders in building and managing highly effective teams.

DISC© provides a reliable framework to help make decisions and adjustments around people management while empowering staff to take responsibility for their interactions with each other.

Team building aims to create stronger bonds between team members and help them respect their differences while working towards common goals. There is no singular “right” way to achieve this – every team is different, and what works for one may cause havoc for another.

Post pandemic, managers face additional challenges when creating a strong team, such as hybrid work arrangements and remote workers. Team building may not happen as organically as it does in an office environment.

Today’s leaders need to be more intentional about providing opportunities for workers to interact – through structured exercises as well as more informal activities.

Want to know how to best manage the different personality types within your team?

Spice HR are Extended DISC© Accredited Practitioners and can help you with personal growth, team building, leadership, and recruitment. We are also masters at helping you maintain an excellent team culture with tools like the Stay Interview.

How To Tackle Hiring and Onboarding New Staff Remotely

Many things became redundant during a pandemic – travel, music festivals, alarm clock sales (yes, really!) and for many, the good old office work environment.

But businesses still need to keep moving forward. They still have to serve their customers, source their supplies, and recruit and train new staff – only, all these “business as usual” processes look a lot different now than they did pre-COVID.

At Spice HR HQ, we’ve experienced changes too: our dynamic duo has become a beautifully rounded team of five.

We personally experienced what it’s like recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new staff remotely – a process that may be daunting for those new to the world of managing remote employees.

In this blog, we’ll explore how recruiting and onboarding are done differently over lockdowns and post-COVID and offer some insight on how to approach it with your business.

But first, we’d love to introduce you to the newest Spice Gals on our team.

How To Tackle Hiring and Onboarding New Staff Remotely

Let’s Talk About Spice

2021 was a year of growth for Spice HR, which meant we were able to bring a few fresh faces onto our team.

Pre expansion, you would be communicating with the original Spicey duo, Nicole and Nichola – but now, your documents and emails may be crafted by Justine, Bianca or Nina.

Let’s do a brief intro so that you can put a face to each new name:

Justine

Justine has more than 20 years of management experience, bringing a wealth of knowledge to the team. She has a passion for helping others thrive and for encouraging equity and inclusion. She believes there are always opportunities for improvement, continued personal growth, and doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.

Nina

Nina has a new HR degree under her belt, along with a past life as a manager. She has a passion for all things HR and has come on board to help our clients with their HR projects. When she’s not neck-deep in HR, Nina is running around after her toddler or out and about exploring the best places to grab a bite to eat.

Bianca

Bianca is our Spicey queen of all things admin. With 20 years in the workforce to back her up, she’s the one taking care of all the details and making sure everything runs smoothly. Like any good Spice Gal, Bianca is always up for a challenge and will often dive into the world of HR to lend the rest of us a hand. Like most Aucklanders, Bianca is looking forward to jumping on a plane and travelling again when the opportunity arises.

There you have it – with five members, we’re now officially as big as the actual Spice Girls and well on our way to Spice Gal World Domination!

Our newest team members have been onboarded and enveloped in the warm glow of our spicey culture. If you’re wondering how that works in times of lockdown and remote work, keep reading for some insight.

Things To Consider When Hiring and Onboarding New Staff Remotely

While the fundamentals of recruiting and onboarding remain the same, the process may look a little different. Due to lockdowns or location, some managers may not meet their employees in person before hiring, but that doesn’t need to be an issue.

In fact, thanks to digital advances driven by the pandemic, it’s now easier than ever to take care of hiring and onboarding new staff remotely. Let’s take a closer look at each part of the process.

Recruiting Remotely

The right fit remains one of the most important aspects of recruitment. And getting the right fit means effectively marketing your employee value proposition. To attract an employee who embraces and enhances your culture, you must be able to describe and demonstrate that culture.

This goes further than just your job advertisement or position description. Put some thought into how your brand appears from the outside looking in, via social media, your website, and word of mouth from previous and current staff.

Share pictures and videos online of how your team collaborates, even in a remote work environment. Talk about your camaraderie in an authentic way, and work on building genuine connections between your existing employees to organically build a great culture that’s visible to all.

Virtual interviews are often more efficient than in-person interviews and can be less daunting for candidates. Zoom or Teams are usually the go-to methods here, and most people are more than familiar with how they work by now!

When it comes to paperwork, it’s now possible to do it all digitally. Even contracts can be signed virtually using a tool like DocuSign or HelloSign. That means a faster, more efficient hiring process. And if you’re lucky enough to have an HRIS, then it’s all automated for you!

Onboarding New Staff Remotely

How does onboarding new staff remotely work? You can’t give them an office tour and introduce them to your team during a morning coffee break, so what’s the procedure?

Well, setting expectations is still crucial, so it’s important for managers to communicate with a new hire before their first day on the job. This is an opportunity to provide any documents or materials that they need to understand how your business works.

Share your values and culture in ways that feel appropriate; written documents followed up with a Zoom call for a more in-depth chat is a good start.

You’ll also need to share copies of your code of conduct, employee handbook and any other documents that can help your new hire integrate into the business smoothly.

How Do You Onboard Remotely?

One on one and group video calls will be needed to introduce the team, and these should continue regularly to ensure that camaraderie and connection develops between your employees.

You may even want to set up a mentor or “buddy system” so your new hire has a closer relationship with a specific person (whether that’s their direct manager or a colleague) – someone who’s on-call to help them navigate their new role.

Bear in mind that it can take a little longer for someone to integrate into a new work environment remotely. They don’t have the opportunity to interact with managers and colleagues as organically as they would in an office environment.

Give them the time and resources they need, and don’t assume that if they’re quiet, they’re doing just fine. Managers must be proactive and check-in, ask for feedback, and be ready to provide more support if needed.

Spicing Up Your Hiring and Onboarding

It can be tricky to navigate the process of hiring and onboarding new staff remotely in this world of post-pandemic business.

If your business needs some support to recruit and onboard new team members – remotely or otherwise – the Spice HR team are here to help.

Beginning A Different Kind of New Year

New years roll around at an alarming pace.

The year only just seems to start and then before you know it, you are singing Auld Lang Syne, raising a glass, reviewing the year that has been and preparing your business for another trip around the sun.

But this new year feels unlike the others we have experienced before.

2021 was meant to be our fresh start after a rather trying 2020. Then, it pulled a total fast one on us and turned out to be worse!

So, as we cautiously begin 2022, we have none of the lofty ambitions of last year. This will not be our year to return to life as it was before COVID.

This will be a different kind of new year. But, we are no less optimistic about it!

Let’s explore how you can make the most of another uncertain new year and prepare your team for the next 12 months.

Beginning A Different Kind Of New Year

Acknowledge The Year That Was

It is pretty tempting to sweep the events of 2021 under the rug and pretend that they didn’t happen. Not only were we dealing with potential threats to our health, but we all had an additional layer of stress created by working from home. Juggling home schooling, the endless quest for uninterrupted work time, worries about job security and toilet paper shortages were no joke!

So, now is the time to congratulate your whole team for making it out the other side.

Look back on the year and celebrate the things that went well. Thank your team for their dedication in tough times and congratulate yourselves for making it work. While the year was hard, it taught many businesses that work conditions could be flexible. Now, we can continue that flexibility and use it to our advantage. Allowing your team to continue embracing flexible hours and working locations where practical, will be a great morale booster.

Maintaining Mindset

All the stresses of the last two years might have had a negative impact on your staff morale. And when morale is low, so too is productivity and output.

Helping your team maintain a positive mindset despite everything that has happened is an essential new year task. The right mindset will boost productivity, increase employee engagement, and help to retain valuable team members.

With a new protection framework now in place, we should hopefully see fewer disruptions to life and business operations. So, capitalise on that positivity by allowing your team to work when they are most productive.

Physical safety has been a huge focus in the last two years and we have the masks and hand sanitiser to prove it. But, mental wellbeing and safety are just as important. Help your team manage their schedules to prevent burnout, connect with each individual to check how they are coping, and encourage the whole team to take their breaks and holidays.

Keep The Comms Flowing

Your team have dealt with a lot of uncertainty lately and we are not out of the woods yet. It would appear COVID is here to stay, so make sure you are communicating well and often with your team.

Give them as much information as you possibly can as this will reduce some stress and build an important level of trust. While targets might move, dates might change and the goalposts might shift, your team will appreciate the transparency of regular updates and receiving up to date information.

By establishing open lines of communication from your side, your team will also feel as though they can share concerns or suggestions they might have. This allows them to feel as if they have some control over an uncertain situation. Of course, that will only mean good things for their overall morale!

Unifying Under A Collective Vision

No one can possibly predict what will happen this year, the last two years have certainly proven that! Yet, you can establish a vision for how you want your business to operate, the characteristics you value and the impact you want to make.

By creating this vision, you are providing your whole team with a roadmap for the year. While there might be some unexpected potholes to navigate or bridges to build, the end destination remains the same.

By unifying your team under a collective vision they will feel valued, important and part of something bigger than just themselves. It will help you all to move forward and stay optimistic, regardless of what the year might bring.

Make Time for Fun

In the midst of a global pandemic, it is easy for work and home life to feel very serious. With restrictions to adhere to, daily news reports to read, mandates to follow and ever-increasing stress levels, things can get negative quickly.

But, they really don’t have to. Just because there is some serious stuff going on in the outside world, it doesn’t mean your team can’t make time for fun.

Connecting with each other in a social way can lighten the mood and build a great team culture. Whether you choose to have a monthly quiz night over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, a picnic in the park with the cricket bat and beverages, or a family friendly game of Never Have I Ever, your team will be able to blow off steam and connect.

Laughter is the best medicine, so keep things fun and lighthearted where appropriate.

Looking Ahead

Rather than looking back on everything you have been through, look forward towards the amazing things you could achieve this year. That will keep your whole team focused on the future and optimistic about what the year will bring.

While things might remain uncertain, you can keep your team moving forward and unified under a clear vision and collective goals. This will ensure they maintain a positive mindset and together you can overcome any future challenges.

Want some more practical ways to maintain great staff morale during a very different kind of new year? Then we can help you do it. Full of Spice and practical, actionable strategies, our team will help your team remain strong in the year ahead. Contact us today.

The Importance Of End Of Year Workplace Celebrations (Even This Year!)

Release the virtual balloons, pop the champagne (or cider), and get the chips and dip ready to roll. The year is rapidly coming to an end, and believe it or not, there are many reasons to celebrate!

Workplace celebrations are important at any time, but after surviving another year of uncertainty and stress, it’s even more important to recognise the wins for your business – big and small.

We know you probably just want to get this year over with and move on to brighter times, but before you write 2021 off completely, take a moment to recognise your fantastic team.

Let’s chat about why workplace celebrations are so valuable to you and your team at the end of the year.

The Importance Of End Of Year Workplace Celebrations (Even This Year!)

The Value Of Workplace Celebrations

Teams that celebrate together thrive together – truly! While it’s important to celebrate success throughout the year, the end of the year is the perfect time to bring everyone together and look at what you and your team have achieved over the last 12 months.

Here’s how workplace celebrations benefit your business:

They motivate – recognition is an organic motivator that inspires people to continue being successful.
They unify and reinforce company culture and values – celebrations have a way of bringing people together, particularly if they follow times of challenge.
They build momentum – recognising the small goals provides momentum to carry on and achieve the bigger goals.
They boost positivity – it’s easy to get caught up in everything that’s going wrong and forget about what’s going right. Workplace celebrations shift the focus back onto the good things.
They reward – recognition and reward are essential to keep your team engaged and motivated. The end of year celebrations are a lovely reward for hard work after a year of trials and tribulations.
They encourage team bonding – it’s been a year of distancing, which can be hard when working in a team. Coming back together (even virtually) helps rebuild those bonds.
They provide a timeout – after a tough year, your team need space to breathe and step back from work mode so they can start the new year fresh. A workplace celebration is a great way to farewell the old and welcome the new.

What Should You Celebrate?

Feel like this year didn’t bring much worth celebrating? Think again! Even if your business has faced challenges in the last 12 months and couldn’t thrive as well as you’d like, there are plenty of things to celebrate.

Success doesn’t always have to be about reaching a goal. It can be about the process, too.

Love the way your team supported one another during turbulent times? Celebrate that!

Proud of how people pivoted to different work conditions? Celebrate their adaptability!

Did someone come up with a great way to bring in revenue even during lockdown or connect with customers even when your doors were closed? Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!

Safely Celebrating With Your Team

Just like many things this year, Christmas workplace celebrations may look a little different for your team. But that doesn’t mean they can’t still be happen!

Even as we enter the Traffic Light system, it’s crucial to plan your holiday festivities to be safe, and have a backup plan in place just in case things escalate before your team party rolls around!

Depending on where you are, you may be able to meet outdoors for a meal, or you might have to take the happy hour drinks online.

Whatever you do, make sure your entire team are considered, and make it casual and simple, because we’ve all had enough stress this year to last the next decade!

Think virtual happy hour, a socially distanced scavenger hunt, a game night, or virtual escape rooms. Most importantly, allow people time to connect, laugh, and reflect on the year’s successes because that’s what it’s all about.

Spare A Thought For The Coming Months

Nobody likes a Debbie downer, but as much as we need to let loose and celebrate, it’s also important to look ahead to what’s coming next.

As we prepare to wind down for the holidays, we also enter the next COVID framework Traffic Light phase , so it’s vital to be prepared to hit the ground running in January 2022.

The government recently announced new support for businesses transitioning into the new framework. This includes some fantastic packages around business advice and mental health support.

For many businesses, this is the light at the end of a very long tunnel. We now have a pathway out of lockdown; things are looking up, and that’s definitely worth celebrating.

Of course, new pathways bring changes. If you need help exploring what those changes look like for your people, then get in touch with us here at Spice HR. People are our speciality and we would love to help your business make easy transitions that don’t interrupt your team culture.

What Is Performance Management and How Can You Do It Well?

Managing the performance of your employees is one of the most essential and delicate aspects of running a successful business.

It is a little bit like adding the spice to a curry. Get it right, and you have got the perfect dish to keep everyone satisfied and powered-up. Get it wrong, and you are going to have a lot of unhappy people looking for somewhere else to eat!

While many managers find the concept of performance management intimidating, it’s actually pretty straightforward. Being transparent, authentic, open and honest are the keys to success.

Let’s have a look at some of the key ingredients for effective performance management.

What Is Performance Management?

Firstly, let’s cover off the main question… what does effective performance management look like?

Many people make the mistake of assuming that performance management is the appraisal process. But it goes far deeper than that. In fact, effective performance management is actually about creating an environment in your workplace where your team are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities.

As you can imagine, a lot goes into creating that kind of environment. It is not something you can leave to happen on its own – to magically create a great environment without any input.

So, these are our best tips on how to create the kind of space that enables your team to perform to the best of their abilities… and to want to do it!

Clarity

Would you send an invite to a dinner party but fail to include the date, time, and location? Only if you didn’t want someone to show up, right? The same goes for managing your staff. Be clear on what they are expected to achieve, how they should best go about it, and give specific deadlines.

A clear job description will help set the initial guidelines. That needs to be backed up by creating the right expectations on both sides of the relationship. Once your people know what is expected of them, they can really shine. It might help to set KPIs or goals in line with their abilities so they always have a target to strive for.

Follow-up

The days of formal annual performance reviews are fading away. Modern, effective managers are all about regular check-ins. They don’t have to be formal, structured meetings all the time (though it does help to schedule some catch ups of this nature). The point is to meet on a regular basis. This coaching method lets you catch mistakes early on, identify if people are on the right track, and help them shift attention if necessary. It allows for on-the-spot, timely feedback, and saves everyone’s time in the long run.

Feedback

While we all prefer to avoid or delay uncomfortable situations, managers need to give feedback promptly. Don’t save up your input (whether positive or negative) for a formal review when it is no longer relevant. A good mentor and coach will make use of teaching moments, giving constructive feedback as and when needed. You will find employees appreciate honesty (when delivered in a helpful, appropriate way).

Managers should also be setting a good example by actively asking for feedback from their team.

Future-Focus

While not every discussion needs to be sunshine and rainbows, it is important to ensure feedback is focused on developing skills for the future, not dwelling on what has gone wrong in the past.

When things go well, you can talk about how to repeat and build on these successes.

When challenges arise, look at ways to avoid and improve on these in the future without placing blame. Perhaps the employee can be paired up with another team member, receive further training to upskill, or be given more resources in order to meet their future objectives.

Reward and Recognition

Perhaps the most crucial part of performance management is getting the reward and recognition part right. Your employees need to feel appreciated for the work they do. Sometimes, this can be as simple as a heartfelt, individualised thank you. Other times, it may need to be a bigger incentive.

Most importantly, ensure that your rewards are fair and effective. Keep in mind that this is not a “one-size-fits-all” process. Different things motivate different people. Expend some energy finding out what works best for every individual.

If you are looking to get some structure in place when it comes to performance management at your workplace, then we can certainly help you do that. Get in touch with us here at Spice HR to enable your team to perform at their very best.

Why You Need an Effective Training and Development Program

Is your idea of training and development sending your team on a once-a-year health and safety course?

Then we’ve got some news for you… You are doing your business and your team a huge disservice.

Training and development are buzzwords in the HR world for good reason. Regardless of the size of your organisation, investing in individuals is an investment in the success of your business.

A well thought out, consistent training and development strategy boosts staff morale and engagement, increases staff retention, skyrockets productivity and efficiency, and even helps your company’s future growth and success.

Yes, it really is that important! Let’s talk about why.

The Benefits of Training and Development

Increased Employee Satisfaction

Employees that feel inadequate, unsupported, or under-challenged can become bored and disengaged. In contrast, providing relevant training and development opportunities shows your staff that you value, appreciate, and support them. This provides increased job satisfaction, which results in increased loyalty and retention.

Improved Performance

Happy, engaged workers are more likely to go the extra mile for your business. And they will do it because they want to, not because they feel they have to. They will do their job more efficiently with fewer mistakes. This helps your business stay ahead of the game and there will be less of a requirement for intense supervision of your team. They will be able to take pride in operating autonomously.

Develop Future Leaders

Prepping your employees for future promotion can be priceless. It gives them something to strive for, ensuring they will always enjoy applying themselves to the job at hand. A solid development program includes strategic planning to fill potential skill gaps from within. Recruiting leadership roles internally puts you on the front foot. They already know and understand your business and have proven themselves. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you can save time and money, and avoid the mistake of a costly bad hire.

Innovation and Creativity

Learning opens the mind and paves the way for innovative thinking. Just because something has always been done one way does not mean that it is the best way. Ongoing training and development creates opportunity for creativity, but also for innovation in your practices. This will help you to create a strong and dynamic organisation.

Attract Quality Employees

Job hunters are very savvy these days. They expect more than a steady pay packet. They want a great place to work. A business that invests in and cares about its employees will quickly gain a reputation as that great place to work. You will be able to attract top talent to enhance your team of go-getters.

How To Approach Training and Development in Your Business

There are some key things to remember when you are developing a training program for your workplace. Probably the most important thing is to not get caught up in the traditional definitions of training. Courses and formal training play an important role, but only as a small portion of an overall culture of day to day learning and mentoring.

The 70:20:10 rule is a popular and effective way of outlining the different aspects of employee development.

70 percent of the work happens on the job, as your employees learn by doing. Select projects and assign responsibilities that get people out of their comfort zone and challenge them to stretch their abilities.

20 percent of the time should include learning from mentors, who could be colleagues or managers. Rather than a formal development plan, this kind of training should be organic and encouraged to happen naturally in the workplace. Personalise development in response to skillsets, areas of interests, and different learning methods.

The last 10 percent is formal training, which could include digital courses, seminars, conferences, or additional certifications and qualifications. Don’t forget to focus on both hard and soft skills.

Today’s employees are looking for careers, not just jobs. Fulfilment, personal growth, and ongoing development are high on the list of priorities for top candidates. Taking the time to develop a culture that values professional and personal development will be reflected in the positive engagement of your team and the future success of your business.

If you are interested in developing an effective training and development plan at your workplace, then get in touch with us here at Spice HR. We can help you create an effective and practical plan that can upskill your team and benefit the entire business.

How to Complete Effective Performance Reviews

Do you groan when the time for performance reviews roll around?

You are not the only one!

Shocked? We didn’t think so. Managers and employees alike dread the traditional annual employee review, which has persisted throughout the business world for decades.

What might surprise you is that the traditional way of conducting staff reviews is not only a total drag, but it is ineffective, if not downright bad for business.

Research shows that a whopping 30 percent of performance reviews actually decrease employee performance. Oops!

But just because the old style of review has become irrelevant to a modern workforce, it doesn’t mean the process should be scrapped entirely. There are plenty of ways to reinvent and adapt your staff reviews so that they are quick, easy and infinitely useful for your employees and the business.

Here is what you can do…

How to Complete Effective Performance Reviews

Give Prompt and Regular Feedback

Scrap the idea that performance reviews should only happen once a year at a formal sit down. There are so many reasons this idea just does not work, such as:

It is difficult to summarise a whole year in one review, especially if items you want to discuss took place months ago
It is stressful for all parties
Feedback is commonly only from one person (who may be unwittingly biased)
There is little feedback or follow up during the year
Managers suffer from “the recency effect” (only recollecting events from the last few months rather than the entire year.)

Staff reviews should be about coaching and developing your staff, not just reviewing past performance. Employees want immediate feedback – even if it is negative. The quicker you can provide feedback, the more likely it is that you can change (or reward) behaviour – resulting in a higher performing individual.

Mix It Up

You don’t have to trash the entire concept of the annual staff review. When combined with regular informal catch-ups and slightly more in-depth quarterly conversations, it can be a valuable tool to sit down with your employee and renew their goals and aspirations for the year ahead.

Just make sure it is supplemented with those regular catch ups!

Ditch the Numbers

Trying to condense an entire person’s work ethic, success, challenges, goals and behaviours into a single number or rating is not only one-dimensional, but it is also ineffective. Numbers tell you very little about the growth or development of an individual.

Instead, focus on capturing information in a more expansive way. Don’t be limited by a score. The key is providing honest feedback on all areas of their performance. You can tell very little from a number on a page. But real constructive feedback can work wonders.

Keep It Positive

It is no surprise that 90 percent of employees are more motivated by positive feedback than “constructive feedback.” Managers who are afraid of conflict might save up all their unpleasant conversations to have at a performance review – preferring to get it all out of their system in one go. But a staff review should focus more on the good than the bad.

Take note of all the good things that your team do. Not just their work, but their attitude around the office, how they help their colleagues, even if they pitch in to clean up the break room. Positive reinforcement is really helpful and will help make performance reviews so much more manageable.

Look Forward, Not Backwards

If you are providing feedback to your staff on the spot as it is needed, then reviews can be used more as “previews.” Spend time with your employee creating goals and objectives, rather than spending an hour rehashing old material.

That switches the focus from the past to the future. Talk openly about their goals for the year if they want to upskill and if there is the chance of more responsibility and progression. They will leave feeling energised and ready to take on the year head.

Listen Don’t Lecture

This is a conversation between two people. And part of being a good conversationalist is to listen openly. Allow your employee to lead most of the discussion, and listen more than you speak. This shows them that you respect and value their opinion. It will ensure they feel a valued member of the team.

Include the Rest of the Band

Studies show that often, reviews and ratings are more reflective of the person doing the rating than the person being rated. Translated, that means the manager may have biases (even if they’re not aware of them). To avoid this, and get a well-rounded, more accurate insight into a person’s performance, bring in peers and other managers, or even request customer feedback for a 360-degree review.

If you are still groaning and scratching your head about the performance review process then feel free to get in touch with us here at Spice HR. We can help you to establish a review process that works for your workplace. Drop us a line today.