Workplace Culture

Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You: Part Two

December 13, 2019 by Michelle Ray

There is no question that organizations could mitigate absenteeism and turnover by paying greater attention to the emotional impact of drama. Understandably, many of us have a preference for avoiding difficult conversations without realizing that we are doing a disservice to ourselves. Unfortunately, when the skills, desire and intestinal fortitude needed to take charge of the dysfunction are lacking, the status quo prevails. The famous poet anonymous declared: ‘nothing changes if nothing changes.” What are you willing to do to make a difference and contribute to a happier workplace atmosphere? When individuals and teams decide to positively express solutions, everyone will benefit and engagement will increase as a result. [Read more…] about Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You: Part Two

Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You

November 14, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Imagine if it were true that the majority of people excitedly leap out of bed each work day shrieking “I can’t wait to annoy my colleagues.” Although it may be a bit of a stretch to suggest that workplace “saboteurs “exist in large numbers, the fact remains that certain individuals take great pleasure in causing chaos at work, while others are completely oblivious to the damage inflicted by their dysfunctional, drama-based behaviour. Unfortunately, the potential for drama to escalate is an on-going problem, especially when one considers the fact that stress and overwhelm affect millions of people on a personal and professional level.

If you are experiencing the brunt of the theatrics displayed by the drama “queens” (and “kings”) in your workplace, the question becomes: “React? Or not?” Are there effective strategies available to mitigate the drama? Absolutely! But first, you must accept the following premise: You cannot control other people’s bad behaviour. You can, however, manage yourself. [Read more…] about Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You

How a sense of Purpose impacts Job Satisfaction

November 13, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Have you considered the importance of linking your organizational vision to the meaning and value of all job functions? One of the most important things that we need to realize is this new reality: As far as today’s workforce is concerned, there is a direct correlation between job satisfaction and purpose. Not only does the work need to feel purposeful to your employees, it needs to be evident that there is a connection between day-to-day tasks and the big picture. When people can see the relationship between their contribution and your overall mission, engagement levels and job satisfaction are likely to increase significantly. This will positively influence your workplace culture and your business.

Leadership needs to establish clear direction and purpose. This is a key consideration for career seekers and an expectation for today’s workforce, as well as those coming into the workplace in the next five years. Employers should be cognizant of their influence when establishing and articulating the vision. The concept of clarifying values and the organizational mission… what are we doing, why are we doing it? What’s the purpose of it? How does this work matter? How does this work matter in the world, not only in our immediate community. Therefore, if we want to have a team that is highly satisfied and very engaged in what they’re doing, then being aware of what we do and why we do it and how meaningful it is will make a huge difference in keeping our workforce happy and satisfied.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOyQyyLy18M&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Michelle Ray (Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Work as an Experience for Employee Engagement

September 18, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Do we think about work as work, or do we think about work as an experience? Because today, let’s make no mistake, people are looking for an experience, and those experiences include feeling like work is fun, and being totally engaged in what they’re doing.

People wanna have the opportunity to have balance between work and life, and when they do come to work, it’s gotta be an experience that’s a positive one, where morale is healthy, and people are feeling like they’re making a contribution. Are you recognizing people’s efforts, as well as their results? As people are on the trajectory of their career path, they may not immediately be achieving the results that you expect. So, if that’s the case, recognizing the effort they’re putting in, showing them that there is an opportunity to grow, is all part of this learning experience.

We spend a tremendous amount of time at work, and we should never forget how important it is to create the right atmosphere. Every one of us contributes to the culture, every one of use contributes to the atmosphere. So, work, because it’s such a big part of our lives, let’s make it the best experience possible.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fyuDboztCU&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Predictors of Job Satisfaction and your Leadership performance

September 4, 2019 by Michelle Ray

One of the most talked about topics is the idea of looking at the predictors of job satisfaction.

So what are those predictors? Well one of them that comes to mind immediately is, of course, who is the leader? Because we want to be happy with where we’re working, and we want to be working with a leader who really shows that they care. Again, if we find ourselves in a situation where the leader is not helpful or keeping us engaged or showing interest in what we’re doing, it naturally leads to us feeling disaffected and disconnected to our work.

So one of the most important things that every organization needs to do is think about who is in that leadership role and how that contributes to the job satisfaction and the success of each team member because they have such an impact, and this happens especially when you have a lot of contact with your team members.

So it’s very important to realize that your role as a leader is gonna make a difference in terms of people feeling happy, productive, and satisfied in everything they do at work.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USt0WLyNIgY&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Lead with the Heart

July 10, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Are you a leader who cares about long-term results? And when I say long-term results, I’m not just talking about the bottom line and having a healthy bottom line. I’m talking about being a leader who really takes the time and recognizes that effort and hard work that goes into achieving great results, that it’s okay to have setbacks.

It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to not just be checking all the boxes to see whether or not you’re covering what needs to be done but also that you have your eye on the future, that you’re conscious of being that visionary and that it’s okay if, perhaps, you don’t necessarily have the results you want in the short term but that all those setbacks will ultimately lead to an extraordinary long-term payoff, and it may not necessarily only be profitability.

It can be the way that your team responds to you, that they feel a part of the culture, and this is all because long-term results are also associated with building trust. We can’t automatically get our team to trust us. It takes time for them to really genuinely believe you as a leader. So all of that will pay huge dividends as long as you are focused on being the absolute best that you can be, the best genuine, caring, authentic leader that you can be.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0huZf8w28&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Why diversity and inclusion matters in the workplace

June 19, 2019 by Michelle Ray

We do live in a world that is so rich with cultural experiences, with people who are traveling the globe, and are seeking these experiences. And it’s important to understand that when it comes to how people are seeing the world outside of work, how they are seeing the world within the workplace, that really, that delineation is becoming less evident.

In other words, inclusiveness matters whether we are not working or whether we are around our colleagues. We want to have these rich experiences. It’s important to give workers the opportunity to see different sides of the world. And that is all about what’s going on in your workplace, not necessarily outside of your workplace.

You see, people want these experiences, and they’re expecting it. And especially when you think about the generations coming into the work force, it really matters to them to be a part of a workplace that celebrates diversity and inclusion, and as I said at the outset, where there will be a time where we will no longer need to identify it as a topic and a necessity. It’ll be a matter of course.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLnFz7Db8w&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Great leaders share success and let others shine

June 12, 2019 by Michelle Ray

One of the biggest turnoffs for just about anyone at work, is to be around a leader who takes all the credit.

It’s very important, if you wanna practice authentic leadership, to share your successes with the team, to share team success, to not be the person who is only focused on yourself, and thinking to yourself, well I’m automatically gonna look good when they look good. Now that’s gonna happen. But when your total focus is on you, and wanting to look good of the sake of looking good, your team is gonna recognize that in a heartbeat. And it really does turn people off. And they notice that about you.

So, remember that getting the team excited about success is an intangible motivator. And that means it’s something that you can’t put a price on. So why would you wanna take all the credit and have people feel like they made no contribution? That can be easily remedied by taking a step back, being humble, and recognizing that people can bask in their own glory of success. And you helped to make that happen.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNVakwUu2hs&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics

January 24, 2019 by Michelle Ray

Let’s talk about political competencies as a leader. I’m not talking about you being an elected official, someone that has all the votes, but when it comes to your business, it’s all about understanding what is going on with the people dynamics, understanding when people are trying to get their own agendas heard. This is something that really does come with time and experience. When you are honing your skills as a leader and you get to understand the games that people are playing and how they’re trying to advance their own agendas, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, for you as a leader, it’s really important for you to understand that we need to manage these kind of office politics, business politics, because if we don’t, it could result in your team being very dysfunctional, and people are playing that game of trying to one-up each other, and of course, that could lead to disaster because people are constantly trying to advance their own agenda, but at what cost?

You as the leader need to really be cognizant of people trying to advance their own agenda, play the political games. What is that all about? How you manage that is really essential to keeping harmony, high morale, high engagement, and a fully functioning organization.

This article is a transcript from Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics YouTube.

Talent and your Brand (Part 4)

November 22, 2018 by Michelle Ray

All of us should look at leadership as being a mindset that’s about being the leader of your own life, and we all have the choice to be able to do that. Can your business afford to be making headlines simply because your employer brand is constantly under fire?

In their book Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management to People at Work, Simon Barrow and Richard Mosely talk about employer brand in terms of an organization’s reputation as an employer and its value proposition to its employees as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation and value proposition to customers.

For your talent management strategy to succeed, your focus on your employer brand is as significant as your focus on workplace culture. Sought-after talent is constantly evaluating your brand’s reputation. This is especially true of the millennials. The millennials are going to comprise of 75% of your workforce by 2025. That’s not very far away.

Gone are the days when scrutinizing an employee’s resume was the sole domain of the employer. The tables have turned. Candidates are doing their own research, paying close attention to the status of your brand in the global marketplace. Information is easily available, and it’s almost impossible to erase a negative brand experience.

Some of you may remember Canada’s formerly most-loved coffee franchise became, as the Toronto Star reported, a brand in crisis. Many months later, the company is still reeling from the impact of their chosen reaction to the then-Ontario provincial government’s increase to the minimum wage.

By cutting out pay breaks, changing incentive programs and certain benefits to employees in an effort to counter the wage increase, news via word of mouth spread like wildfire.

The point is that not only is your customer evaluating your brand reputation. Your potential talent is doing the same. So in summary, remember, perception is reality. Your employer brand matters. Prospective talent is watching how you manage your brand’s reputation.

Are you being honest and transparent with your customers and your employees? And developing an employee-centric vision needs to be part of your overall talent management strategy.

This article is a transcript from Talent Management Ep.4 – Talent Management and your Brand on YouTube.

Workplace Culture

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