Working remotely has its perks. With groceries at home and no daily commute, you can save some serious cash. Plus, you can attend meetings in your sweatpants. What’s not to like? Well, a few things. For starters, your at-home setup may not be equipped with some of the many in-office supplies, accessories, and attributes that create a productive working environment. While your home can’t be turned into an exact replica of the office, you can make it a positive working environment with a few simple tips and tricks. For instance, investing in a pair of quality wireless headphones can block out external noise and help you focus. Speaking of wireless tech, a wireless keyboard and mouse (and propping your computer on a stand), can make for a much more ergonomic workspace than using a laptop alone.
Check out the graphic below to learn about the best office accessories for productive and comfortable remote working.
Archives for July 2021
How Age Differences Between Employees Can Affect Team Performance
source: pexels.com
Bridging the age gap is an essential skill managers and executives must master to maintain workplace harmony and lead a high-performance team.
Not one or two, but five distinct generations (from the Traditionalists and the Baby Boomers, all the way to Gen Z) coexist in today’s fast-paced labor market. They follow different trends, nurture different values, and use different technologies.
The challenges posed by those differences make managing multiple generations effectively all the more essential.
This article will provide you with helpful information about the generations working together in your office and warn you of some pitfalls a multigenerational team faces in their everyday work.
It will also help you understand why age-diverse teams can be an unstoppable force.
The Five Generations at Work
For the first time ever, no less than five generations populate the modern office.
In the twentieth century, technology progressed so rapidly that people born mere decades apart grew up with entirely different life experiences.
Additionally, aging has slowed down. This means that workers are more and more likely to stay employed well after the traditional retirement age of 65.
The generations that constitute today’s workforce are:
- Traditionalists—born 1925 to 1945
- Baby Boomers—born 1946 to 1964
- Generation X—born 1965 to 1980
- Millennials—born 1981 to 2000
- Generation Z—born 2001 and later
Furthermore, the proportions of the generations in the workforce are constantly changing.
Currently, the most prominent generation at work are the Millennials, who make up 35% of the workforce. On the other side of the spectrum, Traditionalists represent only 2% of all employees.
They are gradually phasing out of the workforce into well-deserved retirement.
Obviously, such a diverse workforce presents employers with a few challenges.
Members of different generations expect to be managed differently and will require agility and diversity in approach.
For this reason, managers need to learn as much as they can about what makes each generation tick.
Different Generations, Different Motivations
Employee needs and expectations vary according to what age group they belong to. By taking this into account, you have a much better chance to motivate your team to do their best work.
Millennials, who grew up in the shadow of the Great Recession, understandably value job stability and appreciate training opportunities.
Similarly, members of generation X are most likely to prioritize balancing work with parenthood. So it makes sense that they would respond well to day-care programs and work-life balance.
It’s also interesting to note how technology impacts work engagement.
Baby Boomers have had to adapt to the widespread use of new technologies. Substituting face-to-face communication with digital channels can make them feel disengaged at work.
On the other hand, Gen Zers are full digital natives.
It comes as no surprise that around 49% of Gen Z employees report that they feel more engaged in a digital work environment, compared to 41% of Millennials.
Adapting work benefits and requirements to the employee’s age group can do wonders for increased engagement and motivation at work.
However, the work doesn’t end there. Significant age differences can cause substantial differences in opinion. Be on the lookout for intergenerational workplace conflict.
Ageism, Stereotypes, and Intergenerational Conflict
Bias against people of different ages represents one of the biggest challenges to optimal performance in age-diverse teams.
In addition to causing conflict between colleagues, stereotypes and prejudices can cloud your judgment and prevent you from hiring the best candidates and promoting deserving employees.
We’re all familiar with age stereotypes.
Boomers are dinosaurs and too set in their ways, Millennials are lazy and entitled, and Gen Z can’t do anything without posting about it on TikTok first.
We forgot to mention Gen X, but everyone forgets to include them anyway.
Age stereotypes can be harmful. They wreak havoc on workplace relationships and have a detrimental effect on mental health.
In fact, ageism, or the practice of discriminating against older coworkers, has become such a problem that workers aged 40 and older are now protected under US legislation.
It works the other way too.
Younger employees face discrimination because of a perceived lack of experience. This can bar them from promotions and managerial positions, which breeds frustration and resentment.
Instead of focusing on perceived deficiencies, such as fear of technology in Baby Boomers or inexperience in Gen Zers, employers should focus on the strengths each generation can bring to the table.
The truth is, teams that use their members’ age to their advantage are unstoppable.
Age Diversity Is the Key to Success
With good management, age-diverse teams have the potential to deliver the best possible performance.
Age diversity is cognitive diversity.
Mixing people of different ages is beneficial to team performance because it allows every task and every problem to be examined from multiple points of view and solved using a broader set of skills.
Working together, older and younger generations also enjoy higher work satisfaction and emotional wellbeing.
More experienced employees enjoy passing on their expertise, while younger team members gain to learn a lot by having a mentor.
It comes as no surprise that some of the world’s top companies seek ways to bring older and younger generations together to boost the productivity and the happiness of their employees.
An interesting example can be found at Mastercard.
Several years ago, the credit card giant founded a mentorship program for older employees to learn about social media from their younger colleagues.
That way, employees had a chance to learn a new skill while promoting intergenerational solidarity.
Diversity in the workplace is always the way to go. This holds true for multigenerational teams. With a bit of good management, there is nothing they cannot achieve.
Conclusion
With no less than five distinct generations in the workplace, managers and team leaders really have their work cut out for them.
Age differences among team members require agility and variety in approach to make sure everyone’s needs and expectations are met.
Unfortunately, age-based bias and intergenerational conflict are a danger to the performance of the team.
However, with the right guidance, an age-diverse team has the potential to become an unstoppable force of innovation and productivity.
When putting together a team, make sure you include perspectives and skill sets from as many age groups as possible. The results will be well worth the effort.
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Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate techie. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie devours the news on the latest gadgets and binge-watches his favorite TV shows. Follow him on @bmorepeters.
5 Ways You Can Boost Your Employees’ Safety
As an employer, you want to make sure your employees are safe. There are many ways to help your workers feel secure and happy in their work environment, but the most important thing is how much time and effort you put into creating a positive work culture. These are five easy steps that will help increase employee safety for your business!
Don’t Skimp on Quality Tools and Equipment
The best way to keep your employees safe is by providing them with the proper tools. It means more than just giving them their safety equipment, but also making sure they have all the resources they need! The better equipped an employee feels at work, the less likely they will take risks that could lead to injury.
To achieve this, it can be as simple as making sure they have a good pair of gloves for the task at hand or providing them safety equipment like vests. You also need to ensure that the project area is also well protected against any anticipated injuries. For example, in rigs, you need to get casing elevators, safety clamps, links, or hand slips to give the employee more protection and confidence in their work. By prioritizing quality, you are also ensuring their security, and that will make your employees happy!
Provide Insurance
Another way to keep your employees safe is by providing insurance. By having some coverage in place, they are more likely to feel secure and reassured that it would take care of them if something does happen (like an injury). A feeling of security leads to happier workers!
Types of Insurance Covers
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
This insurance covers an employee for medical expenses if they get an injury at work. It is a legal requirement and is paid for by the employer as part of their compensation coverage.
Employer Liability Insurance
This injury protects your company against personal injury or property damage lawsuits resulting from accidents on the job.
Offer Regular Safety Training
An excellent way to make sure your employees are up to date with all the latest safety requirements is by offering regular training. They need to know how to handle themselves in dangerous situations, so be proactive about this!
Promptly Address Onsite Concerns
It’s not always easy to address issues that arise at work, but you and your employees need to do so. Promptly addressing these concerns will help ensure a healthier environment with more minor accidents happening in the future, resulting in a successful project. If something happens, and there was negligence on behalf of an employee or employer, you can address the problem accordingly!
Conduct Regular Equipment Repair and Maintenance
Regularly conducting equipment repair and maintenance will help to ensure your employees are safer, as well. You need to check on items like a truck’s brakes or the safety harness for cranes on construction sites!
Regular checks on site will also help you identify which items or equipment need adjustments. Thus, it will help you to act beforehand, thus averting an accident or an injury. Additionally, you can check on your employee’s adherence to the safety rules and regulations, thereby sensitizing your employees on the importance of safety.
Hopefully, these tips will help you in boosting your employees’ safety.
Health and Wellness Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs
While being an entrepreneur has so many wonderful benefits, there is one thing that you are going to realize quickly. That is, running your own business and forging your own career path is going to take up much more of your time than you realize.
You may find that many busy entrepreneurs will tell you that one thing in their life that seems to slip is taking care of their own health and wellness.
Considering the fact that things will always be busy for you as you run and manage your business, how do you then make sure that you look after yourself the best that you can? To help you, we have put together our top health and wellness tips that busy entrepreneurs can put in place.
Make sure that you have a comfortable working environment
While many of these tips are going to cover how you can manage your time away from work. It is just as essential to make sure that you are as comfortable as you can be during those working hours. One of the main places to focus on is your working environment. Of course, it isn’t going to be as comfortable as relaxing in your front room, but there are plenty of things that you can do to ensure that while you are working, you are free from aches and pains.
One of the main things to think about when it comes to your working environment is purchasing yourself ergonomic furniture. These chairs and desks are designed to ensure that you are in a position that works best for your body. It is also a good idea to look at the glasses you wear while you are at work because the right prescription will make life a whole lot easier, or if you don’t wear them, checking that your vision hasn’t changed and you will need a glasses prescription.
Start your morning in the right way
One key aspect of taking care of your health and wellbeing is making sure that you get your day off to the best start possible. You should never underestimate the importance of your morning routine and how it can influence the rest of your day.
The way you choose to start your day will really depend on you and your likes, but you should always aim for your routine to include something that makes you feel great. This could be taking the time out to read a book, sitting and enjoying a hot drink in peace and quiet, or even just repeating some positive affirmations to yourself in order to remind you of the good around you.
Exercise when you can
Another key part of your health and wellbeing is ensuring that you are active as possible. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy and work it into your daily routine. Not only will this help you to feel motivated to get up and moving, but it will also ensure that you do this regularly.
See yourself as important as your clients
How important are your clients? The chances are that they are significant to your business, and you do your best to take proper care of them. While this is a fantastic work ethic to have and will definitely take you even further in your chosen career path, it is just as important to see yourself in the same light.
If you treat yourself as just as important as your clients, you will be ready to take proper care of your needs, and you will feel all the better for doing so.
Have fun away from work
Life can be serious, mainly when you spend a lot of your time working, which means that it is all too easy to forget just how important it is to have some fun and let your hair down. All work and no play is never good for anyone, so give yourself the time and opportunity for fun.
Depending on your personal circumstances, this could be time with a partner or friends, or it could be some quality time with your family members. The main aim is to make sure that you give yourself time to have some fun and bring a smile back to your face.
Take a breath
When you feel stressed out and simply cannot face taking on anything else in your life, the time has come to take a breath. We know that this can be easier said than done, but sometimes you just need to remind yourself to stop and calm. This doesn’t have to be huge amounts of time.
Just enough to allow yourself the space to calm down and think about where you are in the present moment. This simple act is often enough to allow you the freedom to think about what is causing you the stress and to find ways to counteract it or even come to a solution.
Eat the right foods
Being busy means that you are often going to need to grab food on the go. The issue with this is that quick and easy foods are not always the healthiest options, and while they may be a quick fix when you need them, they won’t give your body everything it needs.
The odd treat will not harm you; however, you should try the best that you can to choose healthy snacks and meals throughout the day. There are lots of different recipes out there that you can try out, which are not only easy to prepare but are also going to take proper care of yourself.
If you are still finding it hard to make the right choices during the day, ensure that the other meals you eat are as healthy as possible.
Get some fresh air and take a break
Taking a break from your work can be easier said than done. However, this is something that you need to do at regular intervals throughout your day. While a quick cup of tea or coffee will move you away from your screen, you also need to make sure that you find ways to get some fresh air as much as you can.
This could be in the form of taking a walk (which also means that you are exercising too), or if you are finding it hard to spare that much time, then you may want to consider simply sitting outside in the garden and letting yourself recharge for 5 minutes.
The most important thing is that you are moving away from your workstation and taking some well-earned time for yourself. Even better if you are spending that time in the fresh air.
Be kind to yourself
Above everything else, when you are an entrepreneur and trying to run your own business, you need to be as kind as you can to yourself. You are going to be under a lot of pressure, which means that putting yourself under any more strain is going to cause you to feel overwhelmed not only in the short-term but the long term too.
Not only could this impact you in the day-to-day running of your business, but also in your interactions within your personal life, such as with family and friends.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways that you can try to improve your health and wellbeing, even when you are the busiest that you have ever been. Things can be challenging at times, but being able to work on your own success and secure positive things for your future well, will make all the hard work 100% worth it.
5 Things to Make Your Business Website a Success
Having a business website is an essential part of having a small business. It doesn’t matter what type of company you have, everyone from butchers shop to a mobile dog groomers can benefit from having a website. With this in mind, here are some ways to help make your business website a success.
It is part of your brand
If there is one way to let people know who you are and what your business stands for, this is the place to do it. This is the opportunity to let all of your potential clients know who you are and what your business stands for. It can hold all of the information that you want it to, from your business hours to pictures of your projects. This is the place to showcase your brand and your business.
Have a good domain name
A good domain name is a surefire way to make sure people find your website. Your domain name can give your business instant credibility. Try and find one close to your business name, but if you can find the exact name, even better! If your business name is long, see what way you can shorten it to make it more memorable. Short names, including website names, are easier to remember than longer ones.
Improve your website design
When it comes to your website design, it’s the face of the brand. It’s the digital first impression that any potential leads will get when coming onto the website.
With that in mind, improving the web design is a must. It’s important that the user’s experience is one that’s memorable in all the best ways possible. Consider a WordPress speed service for your website to optimize the site’s speed potential. Improving page loading speed is a major contributor to helping users get the best experience from the site.
Don’t rely on social media
If you have a business, it can be tempting to do everything through social media. Don’t get us wrong, social media can be a great place to help build those connections, but you are at their mercy. They choose your reach, they can shut your business page down if they want to. In fact, there are so many reasons not to use social media, it’s surprising that people still do. Having your own website allows you complete control over the content.
Think twice about building your own website
As tempting as it might be to throw something together to pop online, building a website can be a complicated process. Even with the mountain of help available online, it is still possible to mess it up. Hiring a seo company to build content can save you a lot of issues in the future, especially if you want to build traffic to your site. You also need to remember that your website needs to look professional, otherwise it could put off potential customers.
Have a contact page
Contact pages are a great way for customers to get in touch with you and allow two way communication. Maybe you would like a form on the website for people to fill in. Or you could simply list the different ways that they can get in contact with you, including your business address and phone number. Some places have instant messaging available, some only allow contact through email. The choice is up to you and how you would like to stay connected.
These are only a handful of things that you should consider when you are creating your website, and it is important to remember that your site will be unique to you and your company.
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