Five Principles of Design and Why You Should Care

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Whether you’re running a one-person or 1,000-person company, you’ve got a brand. And all brands need to be maintained and protected to do their job. With the importance of social media and digital marketing, your brand plays a significant role in your company’s relationships. It’s the face of your organization, setting the tone for your conversations and directing the attention of your prospective buyers and prospective talent.

When protecting your brand, you need to have a grasp on what to look for when evaluating your visual content —whether it’s a website, case study, or social card. It doesn’t matter if you have an in-house designer or work with a contractor to help you develop your branded content; either way, use a clear set of basic standards to evaluate the quality of your digital or print content.

Understanding these concepts has become even more crucial as DIY graphic design programs like Canva have cropped up, making it extremely easy for anyone to create branded/designed content regardless of training. Here are five basic design principles that will help you evaluate the quality of any design.

1. Consistency

One of the most fundamental concepts behind a brand is that it’s made up of similar, recognizable visual concepts. This means that brands must be repetitive in their designs to make it easy for others to recognize them and create a visual harmony that ties each piece of content together. Visual consistency and repetition help your audience identify that the individual pieces of your content belong to a larger whole.

Everything should be strictly defined—the typography/font you use, the colors, and the types of shapes and images. If your brand only consists of two colors and you need an accent color, pick one and stick with it across all your digital and physical platforms.

2. Contrast

A simple yet crucial part of design is contrast. Ask a graphic designer, and they would tell you contrast is when two strictly different elements are used together to create impact and direct the gaze. But for branded and digital content in general, contrast plays an even greater role—accessibility.

Yes, content should be visually balanced and not chaotic. It should also be clear, easy to understand, and (hopefully) visually interesting. But you should also make sure that anyone, regardless of their physical ability, can read and understand your content.

And that means ensuring high contrast between text and the background it sits on. Text shouldn’t be placed over patterns; it should be a color on the opposite end of the spectrum from the background it sits on. If you’re ever unsure, ask yourself if the text you’re looking at is as easy to read as it would be if it was black text on a white background.

The same rule should go for your logo. When used, it should always be in the highest possible contrast with the background it sits on.

Design Principal Examples

3. Alignment

Another fundamental yet significant piece that will impact the quality of your designs is alignment. To make things easy to understand, you need to use consistent and intentional alignment.

Think about the text, for instance. If you’re using center-aligned text, consider where it is on the page. Does it have a visual component it should align with? Elements can be aligned to any side they share. This could mean all elements are aligned to the left, right, top, bottom, or middle. When reviewing a piece of content, consider whether the design elements are properly and consistently aligned.

4. Hierarchy

Hierarchy in design is exactly what it sounds like, the order in which different design elements should be given importance. Most often, hierarchy refers to size. It is what helps your audience organize the content on the page. Your first instinct might be to make your logo large, but ask yourself, is your logo the most important thing you want people to see? Or is it the message, call-to-action, or image?

When everything appears visually important calling for attention, then nothing is. Use hierarchy to help your viewer receive the right information in the right order.

5. Balance and space

Consider balance and space within the design. Are there elements that feel cramped? Does each element have enough space to ‘breathe’? Web designers would tell you that white space is crucial for helping viewers absorb the content presented to them. If you try to cram too much information into one space, you’ll lose their attention because that information becomes difficult for them to translate. As a rule, each of your design elements should have enough ‘white space’ around it so that it’s easy for someone to absorb the element at a glance.

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Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by kengssr1980

Cultivate a Culture of Peer Recognition

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Employee recognition is essential – true, but what about peer recognition?

Too many organizations rely on recognition to flow downwards, trusting their managers will see their employees’ accomplishments and voice appreciation. When leaders are the only ones practicing recognition, there’s a lot of great work that goes unnoticed. If appreciation is the most important job element for employees, why leave it to only the leaders? Peer recognition allows appreciation and gratitude to flow in all directions – across departments and locations, and even upwards.

Start cultivating a culture of peer recognition by understanding the importance, benefits, and tips to facilitate recognition in your organization.

Importance of peer recognition

There’s no need to abandon traditional top-down recognition – employees value appreciation from leadership. Instead, complement it with peer recognition because this newer, more collaborative approach has different benefits that help individuals and organizations thrive. The most common benefits are that peer recognition:

Strengthens teams and relationships

When people rely on top-down recognition, it creates a competitive environment. On the other hand, peer acknowledgment fosters a sense of team spirit and cooperation that increases the probability of a constructive team culture by 2.5x! The shared gratitude sets a positive attitude for the company culture, encouraging everyone to work together and achieve company goals.

Improves confidence and self-esteem

When employees receive feedback from a fellow team member, it holds an increased level of validation and pride. They recognize their worth and impact, boosting confidence and self-esteem in later projects. Public recognition also allows leaders to see what they may have been missing and enhance the value of each of their employees’ skills and abilities. The cycle of positivity sustains confidence and produces high-performance teams.

Increases positive emotions and well-being

Peer recognition and gratitude are regularly associated with happiness. So it makes sense that it’s one of the simplest ways to make employees happy, optimistic, and satisfied at work.

The positive emotions affect people’s work lives and also enhance their well-being because happiness increases health. You’ll notice employees have better physical health, sleep better, and feel less stressed.

These benefits help organizations thrive because employees become more engaged, productive, present, and efficient. Most importantly, peer recognition leads to satisfaction and can help reduce employee turnover, as 75% of people say that recognition makes them want to stay at their current job longer.

Create a culture of peer recognition

Companies need to cultivate a culture that values and encourages employees to practice peer recognition if they want to experience the benefits. First, consider setting guidelines for giving praise and then implement a peer recognition program that reflects these guidelines. This could be a platform, such as Slack or Teams, specifically designed to assist peers with giving and receiving recognition or feedback.

Companies can also encourage employees to recognize others through LinkedIn endorsements. Let’s say a team works well together; they can go to each other’s profiles and validate the skills listed by “endorsing,” writing a recommendation, or using the “Celebrate an occasion” option when creating a new post. These are quick and simple steps that show appreciation and can help an employee in their career path.

Leaders should also engage in the peer recognition program’s celebrations because they provide important validation and show that the company cares when they’re involved. Leaders’ involvement is a great way to remind team members of the value and impact they can make when they recognize their peers.

Tips to apply

Recognition and appreciation don’t come easily to everyone. Some people may be “recognition champions,” while others need to be coached on how to give recognition effectively. You can help guide your team by sharing and modeling these best practices for giving recognition:

Timely: One golden rule for recognition is to share appreciation as soon as possible. Effective recognizers don’t sit on it for weeks; they observe and congratulate others right away. Praising someone in the moment is powerful because it shows that you’re paying attention and care.

Genuine: Adding scheduled recognition to your calendar becomes a transaction or chore. Recognition should be authentically earned and given, not something to check off your to-do list. Genuine gratitude makes sharing more effortless, and people will notice your sincerity. 

Specific: A simple note saying, “Great job on that project!” can make a person smile. What if you were more specific and said how they did a great job? You’ll put a smile on their face for days! A helpful tip is to connect their success with why it matters to you, the team, and the organization. The more specific, the more impactful the message will be.

Public: Peer recognition is best when done publicly. You can do this within a department, team, or across the company. The public spotlight turns the moment into a heartfelt experience of gratitude and encourages others to hop on the bandwagon. It also helps leaders be aware of the great work they can’t see every day and shows others what the company values, inspiring them to do the same.

Help people and company culture thrive

Leaders cannot do and see everything, especially when the company is growing and expanding. This makes it even more important to emphasize peer recognition in their company cultures. Recognition is not only your responsibility—it’s a gift to share and encourage throughout an organization.

When companies practice peer recognition, everyone is more aware of the great work around them. Feedback starts to flow freely throughout the organization, and the atmosphere of gratitude and appreciation creates a transformation. People begin giving themselves wholeheartedly, freely, and cheerfully.

Consider finding ways to weave recognition into the fabric of your organization and be ready to see a snowball of benefits that help individuals and the organization thrive!

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by fizkes

Why (and How) You Should Care About Employee Health

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The month of May, deemed Global Employee Health and Fitness Month (GEHFM), is a time to observe how the benefits of health and a healthy workplace make a difference in employers’ and employees’ lives. Employees in good health, both physically and mentally, are more likely to give their all to their organization. When employees have health-related issues, and nothing is done to help them, it affects their lives and costs businesses money. An estimated $530 billion a year, in fact.

The good news is that improving employee health is not an impossible feat. It’s quite possible! Show your employees you care about their health and wellbeing with these tips you can implement in your workplace.

Give employees autonomy

Research done by McKinsey Quarterly shows that the higher someone’s rank is in a company, the lower the instances of health issues such as stress and cardiovascular disease.

Why? The higher the rank, the lower the stress and chances for illness.

But why?

Even though these high-ranked employees faced many demands in their job, they enjoyed more control over their tasks, how they did them, and when.

This kind of autonomy needs to apply to all your employees. Instead of looking over their shoulders and being a helicopter, give your employees control over their tasks. You can still provide priorities and task deadlines but let them choose what tasks to work on during their day—and how they do them.

Encourage physical activity

A sedentary lifestyle at home and work can lead to health-related issues such as back pain, which 8 out of 10 people experience at some point in their life. Encourage your employees to get up and move during the day—taking a walk, stretching at their desks, and doing yoga are all good options. If your office is onsite, provide workstations with ergonomic chairs and standing desks. If your employees work remotely, consider giving them a stipend that they can use to make their at-home workstation ergonomic.

Help avoid digital eyestrain

Thirteen hours. That is how much time the average person spends daily in front of a digital screen (computer, phone, television), including both personal and work screen time, according to the Screen Time Report. In the same report, 71% of employers estimate their employees spend three or more hours staring at a screen—and 10% estimate their employees spend ten or more hours staring at a screen.

Your employees are locked in to some kind of screen during most of their day, so encourage them to give their eyes a rest by following the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a break and stare at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Give a shoulder to cry on

Having social support—family and friends you can count on—directly affects health. The same is true for workplace support. Having a competitive culture that pits people against one another weakens social support. Also, having a transactional culture, where people feel like they’re just a number instead of a valued employee, further weakens that support.

Let your employees know that you and their fellow employees have their back and make your company culture one of support and empathy. This lets them know they can trust one another and leads to happier employees.

Don’t make people choose

Life is a trade-off between work and family commitments. Parents have school and sports commitments for their children; people have aging relatives they might need to take to doctor’s appointments. But for many people, these are stress-inducing events because they feel forced to choose between one or the other—work or family.

Make sure your employees know that family and other personal commitments are a part of life. Give them flexible schedules so they don’t miss out on important moments or appointments—because when people feel happy and fulfilled at home, it will reflect in their work.

Encourage employees to actually end the day

 

Multiple studies show that the number of hours worked does not necessarily equate to productivity. Once the workday is done, encourage your employees to clock out and enjoy their evenings and weekends with their friends and family. If your employees work remotely, encourage them to do the same and to log off their computers when the workday is done.

Invest in your employees’ health

When you show that you care about the health and wellbeing of your employees, they will notice. Give them access to health insurance, health and wellness programs, annual health screenings, and health education with practical, straightforward advice that your employees can put into practice. By providing these, you give employees the chance to take charge of their health.

Try “office recess”

Remember recess as a kid? It was a time to play, recharge, and have fun. Office recess is the same concept, where you encourage employees to “take a recess”—to pause and do something for themselves. This gives employees a mid-day energy boost and gets them started on the path to relaxation.

Be healthy, be happy

Employee health is a good investment. When you take the time to make sure they are healthy and happy—both physically and mentally—they will remember it and give their all for you. Use this month to spend time considering how you can make positive, forward-thinking changes to your company that promotes the health and wellbeing of your employees. Even small changes can make a difference. As you work to make these improvements, empowering employees to make healthy decisions for themselves, your culture, productivity, and internal relationships will improve—along with employee health.

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by eakrinr

Be A Self-Aware Leader in the Face of Stress

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We’ve all felt the pressure of heavy deadlines and important projects pulling our attention in too many directions. An entirely stress-free workplace doesn’t exist, so how do we set our organizations up to best handle the inevitable stress that’s bound to affect your team? One of the biggest barriers that prevent regular stress from becoming a driver of burnout is company culture. A strong culture will subtly work to create an environment where employees can handle stress in a healthy, sustainable way.

This type of company culture comes directly from leadership and is nurtured, maintained, and fiercely protected by everyone in a leadership position. Without leaders’ support and constant attention, the culture will waver and fade. It’s not that individual employees don’t play significant roles in protecting, promoting, and creating a positive culture, but their tone and approach only affect them and those closest to them—not an entire team or organization.

Leaders must be especially aware of their responses to stress because their reactions and approach will set the tone for everything.

The attitude trickle-down effect

 

Whether we like to admit it or not, employees must be constantly attuned to their direct manager—interpreting signals, communication, and behavior to ensure they’re meeting expectations. It isn’t the most comfortable thing to admit, but it’s true. It’s built into the social structure of our organizations. Whether they like it or not, leaders within organizations have a much more significant impact than simply helping their team meet deadlines.

The way leaders manage stress will be directly reflected in their team’s behavior. We naturally pick up on the energy of those leading us—it tells us whether we need to be rushing or taking our time. It sets the tone for how we feel about our tasks and how we approach them.

If leaders are responding to stress by:

  • Becoming accusatory and looking to place blame on others
  • Cutting people off and rushing communication
  • Micromanaging other peoples’ responsibilities
  • Working extreme hours
  • Becoming scattered and disorganized

Then their team will begin to respond to stress in the same way.

The harder it is to do, the more important it is to do it


No one is perfect, and leaders are no exception. They must learn to navigate their own unhealthy tendencies while continuing to be strong leaders for their teams. That means cultivating self-awareness and tools and resources to lean on to help them maintain a healthy leadership style in stressful situations.

The harder it is to maintain healthy responses to stress, the more critical it is to do so. Because if it’s stressful for the leader, you had better believe it’s stressful for the team. And when a leader poorly responds to stress, the team is forced to deal with the added and unnecessary burden of their leader’s stress on top of what stress is already there.

As leaders—and anyone for that matter—it can be helpful to practice some techniques to help catch themselves before they fall into unhealthy stress responses.

  • Check in with yourself. Use a mindfulness practice like journaling or daily self check-ins to keep track of your emotional pulse. The faster you can identify that you’re feeling stressed, the easier it is to remind yourself of the tools and resources you have access to.
  • Communicate with consistency. Set boundaries around how and when you communicate. Avoid communicating in the middle of the night and during personal time. If you find that you’re compelled to do so, ask yourself if it’s going to help or if it’s just your stress making you feel like it will help.
  • Pause before getting involved. If you feel compelled to check over someone’s work or ask them how things are going, slow down and ask yourself if it’s for a good reason. Stress can often trigger us to want to control or take over a situation, even if capable people are already on it.

Be consistent

As leaders, it is crucial to have the self-awareness to realize when we are exhibiting signs of stress and take steps to manage it appropriately. Sometimes we make mistakes, and it’s just as important to take responsibility for them after the fact as trying to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Knowing yourself and your tendencies is the first step to appropriately responding to stress. A cool, calm, and collected leader generates a balanced and sustainable workplace that can handle obstacles and challenges with confidence.

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by ammentorp

Tips and Tools for Hybrid Work

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Many people have settled into the new remote work routine and have created a balance between work and personal life—especially during the pandemic. Now that 46% of US companies continue to allow remote work, companies that offer remote work options are more attractive to talent.

One type of remote work is hybrid work, and it has become more popular, as 83 percent of US employees want to work for companies with this kind of model.

With these stats in mind, employers need to consider whether a traditional 9 to 5 onsite work schedule is the best option. If you’re considering a hybrid work option, start by learning the different types, benefits, and tips/tools to apply.

Different types of hybrid workplaces

Many people enjoy social interactions and office shenanigans, and others may feel more productive in a non-office environment. Luckily, there are three types of hybrid work schedules to meet these needs:

  • Employees have total freedom to choose when they come into the office or work from home.
  • Employers decide what days employees can work from home or in the office. Google, for example, has employees spend three days in the office and two days wherever they work best.
  • Departments or teams decide which days to be in the office.

When deciding which type of schedule to choose, consider the factors that make an option less effective, such as employees’ location, company size, technology, tasks and projects, and team size.

The benefits of hybrid work

The best part about the hybrid work model is that it benefits both the employees and the company. Imagine the increased talent you can access when there are fewer dependencies on geographical area. You’ll also find that the benefits your team experiences benefit your company! These benefits include:

Increased productivity and efficiency

A hybrid work model offers your team flexibility and autonomy, which boosts productivity. Think about employees who need peace and quiet to focus or those who thrive in the office. When you allow them to choose their preferred work setting, you give them a choice to work where they’re most productive.

This choice also increases efficiency by eliminating factors like commuting time and can provide people with extra time to spend on self-development and learning. Both are essential in strengthening their skills that can further influence productivity.

Improved employee satisfaction

Flexibility and autonomy increase productivity and are also the key to employee satisfaction. You’ll see employee satisfaction skyrocket if you provide freedom and decision-making on where, how, and when people work!

Improved work-life fit

Work-life fit is a vital aspect of any healthy work environment. Allowing the flexibility to work at home or in the office (or both) enables each team member to fit their work and life together in a preferable way.

Consider this – work leaks into life. But does life leak into work? Allowing people an option to work from home will enable them to balance their work and personal life. If it’s a beautiful day out and someone wants to walk their pup, they can because they have the freedom to finish their work later. You’ll be surprised to see how little things like this can reduce stress and prevent burnout.

Mastering hybrid work

If you want to reap the benefits, you need to strategically plan and sustain a successful hybrid work model. Success is dependent on enabling employees to do their best, which includes providing them with leadership, guidance, and an appropriate toolset. To create an effective hybrid work model:

Encourage meaningful connections

Remote work of any kind can reduce human interaction, so it’s essential to create opportunities where relationships can flourish. Consider requiring team members to put check-ins on the calendar so they can continuously get to know each other better. After all, connected teams thrive!

Also, encourage people to make the most out of each trip to the office. Suggest that they ask others out for lunch or other small activities that allow people to connect face-to-face. 

Emphasize accountability

Trust is a must! Preach the importance of accountability, and you’ll find people fostering independence while staying conscious of deadlines. Still, it’s a challenge to track performance and impact, so employees need to remain accountable for managing, completing, and reporting their work. Consider:

  • Requiring check-in calls with employees to discuss their work
  • Using a software tool to track performance
  • Setting KPIs or goals for employees to reach

Provide the right tools

Whether at home or in the office, a digital and physical workplace is critical for any hybrid work model. Use tools to ensure your team is effectively performing, communicating, and collaborating, including:

  1. Project management software – You can use project management software to bring order and accountability to your hybrid team. A tool such as Asana can help your team people track projects, assign tasks, and collaborate from anywhere.
  2. Scheduling and calendar tools – Scheduling tools, such as the Zoom integration, allow people to sync and schedule meetings across calendars. Have your team share their calendars with each other to make scheduling easier.
  3. Collaboration and communication tools – Invest in tools like Slack or Zoom to enable people to work efficiently and collaboratively no matter where they are.
  4. Cloud-based software – Cloud solutions let your team access and save documents on any computer. Tools like Dropbox or Google Drive let people share files, maintain, update, and change documents—and document changes sync across all devices.
  5. Physical tools – No matter where people work, they need a physical workplace to help them perform their best. Provide a stipend to your employees so they can purchase items like cameras, microphones, or standing desks.

Be transparent

Employees must consider which setting is most appropriate for productivity while being transparent, so others know how to contact them. For example, employees can set their status in Slack or add their hybrid schedule to their calendar.

Change is inevitable

Hybrid workplaces are here to stay. Take this opportunity to get ahead of the game and evaluate how to plan for this change. You can take your organization to a new level of productivity, empower employees to balance their work and personal lives, and attract new talent while sustaining employee satisfaction.

Change is constant – we all know this! The real question is will you avoid change, or are you willing to adapt to the future of work?

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by andreypopov

Why Employee Benefits Are Important

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Employees are the backbone of your organization, the people that keep things running smoothly and keep your clients happy—and a generous benefits package goes a long way toward keeping employees happy. But long gone are the days when only employee compensation, free lunches, foosball tables, and nap rooms met people’s needs.

The pandemic happened. And with it came the Great Resignation, where 4.5 million US workers left their jobs voluntarily in 2021. Wanting a different lifestyle, high healthcare costs, rising inflation, the financial challenges posed by the pandemic, and needing to feel rewarded and appreciated for their work are a few reasons people left their previous positions.

People want and expect more from their position and employee benefits and believe they can get more, so they are. It’s time to start paying attention to the current feelings behind employee benefits—and why you should offer not just good but great benefits.

Employee attraction and retention

Let’s throw some percentages up in the air: 49%, 78%, and 40%.

  • 49% of your employees will start looking for new work in the next 12 months if they aren’t happy with their job or benefits.
  • 78% of them will stay with your company if your benefits package is attractive.
  • 40% of potential new employees will seriously consider your company if your benefits package addresses their wants and needs.

Employees want to work in a caring company culture where they get more from their job than a place to work and a paycheck. With excellent benefits, you show you value people, and you will not only attract new employees but also retain your current ones.

Work/life balance

Blending the demands of work and life can leave employees feeling frazzled at the end of the day. There are projects to finish, deadlines to meet, dinner to make, sick kids to take to the doctor —all these demands can feel like balancing a wobbly stack of plates ready to crash.

With the rise in remote work, people are spending more time working than ever; nearly 70% say they are spending more time working on the weekends because of the pandemic and the transition to remote work. Also, 45% of people now spend more time at work than ever before because of remote work. Providing substantial employee benefits like flexible schedules and paid time off gives them the support needed to help build the bridge between work and life.

Overall mental health and wellness

One in five adults will have mental health issues, but only one in three who need help will get it. And when employees don’t get the help they need, their work suffers: The World Health Organization estimates that mental health issues cost companies $1 trillion a year in lost productivity, but prioritizing employees’ mental health gives a return of $4 per person in improved health and productivity.

Despite money lost or money gained, people want a more open culture surrounding mental health and training on where to find assistance or resources. Focusing on overall mental health and wellbeing helps with overall morale.

Increased productivity

When employees wake up and come to work each day, you want them to feel fulfilled and ready to tackle any projects and challenges that come their way. When there is a robust benefits package to take care of employees, they will feel that they’re taken care of and will give back to you by being productive in their roles, providing excellent customer service, and being more engaged.

Improved financial security

Whether your employees are just starting their career or thinking about retirement, they want to have their immediate, short-term, and long-term financial security assured.

  • Immediate: Vital parts of immediate financial security are an employee’s paycheck, tuition reimbursement for their learning and education, monthly stipend reimbursements, and quality health insurance. Providing these immediate financial needs pushes worries to the back of your employees’ minds and gives them comfort and focus.
  • Short-term: This kind of security comes with offering a disability and life insurance plan. If your employees have family and the unexpected happens, the ability to earn income will be stalled or lost entirely. A disability and life insurance plan is important for when life, well…happens.
  • Long-term: Employees will, in the years ahead, want to fully retire or work part-time, which naturally leads to a reduction in income. Offering a good retirement plan (either a 401(k) or an IRA) builds up an employee’s net worth and gives them a solid nest egg to fall back on.

Giving employees assurance that these three forms of security will be taken care of is important—employees bring their home life with them to work, along with their worries. Alleviating those worries goes a long way.

Show them you care

Actions speak louder than words. A company should have values written down and also put those values into practice to show employees they care about them and their wellbeing. Giving employees a robust benefits package complements those values, leading to a positive culture and a pleasant workplace for all.

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by fizkes

 

Three Employee Benefits to Help Your Employees Achieve Their Dreams

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When employees feel supported by their organization, they’re much likelier to want to stick around. They’ll also feel more comfortable being themselves at work, which will help your company’s culture and sense of belonging. People who feel like they belong will work harder to protect and uplift their community than those who feel uncomfortable and unseen.

One great way to build trust and reliance that leads to long-lasting employee/employer relationships is enabling employees to pursue their personal goals outside of work. Employee benefits can play a vital role in helping you achieve this. Here are three benefits to consider that will make a lasting positive impact on the lives of your employees.  

Family planning benefits

Choosing to start a family is one of the biggest decisions a person can make during their life. Starting a family is expensive and scary—to build a healthy family, you need time and money. And without support from your job, it can be stressful to maintain a career. Making it easier for your employees to start a family can reduce stress, give peace of mind, and create stability. Offering these benefits to all your employees, regardless of relationship status or sexual orientation, is a great way to improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within your company.

Whether it’s paid parental leave, adoption aid, or fertility treatments, benefits that make it easier for your employees to start a family send a clear message: You care about the personal goals of your employees and want to make it easier for them to get what they want out of life.

Student loan support

Last year, a study found that the likelihood of high school students going to a four-year college plummeted by almost 20%, from 71% – 53%. People are worried about the cost and want to avoid debt. Since 1980, the cost of going to college has risen by 169%, yet the average pay for workers between the ages of 22 and 27 has only increased by 19%. It’s harder than ever for people to justify going to college, considering the debt they can expect to accrue.

Student loan or tuition support can make or break someone’s dream to go back to school. This benefit will not only empower your employees to educate themselves without the burden of debt, but also education will make a lasting impact on the rest of their lives, opening doors that would otherwise be shut.

Community engagement

 

When people volunteer and engage with their community, it can have positive effects on their health and mental wellbeing. It also gives them a sense of purpose that can be hard to get otherwise.

Consider offering benefits such as paid time off for community engagement. This will make it easier for your employees to set aside volunteer time. Finding the time to volunteer at their local voting office, old folks’ home, animal shelter, or community garden can be difficult with only two days off a week.

Offering paid time off specifically set aside for community engagement will give your employees that extra room to go do something they’re passionate about, whether it’s protesting, cleaning up their local nature reserve, or helping out a neighbor in need.

Their happiness is your success

 

The more fulfilled your employees feel, the happier they’ll be, and the stronger their relationship with your company will become. Creating an organization that empowers people to build their dreams isn’t just a fantastic way to leave a positive legacy in the world— it’s how powerful businesses are made. Talk to your benefits advisor to learn about other employee benefits that will help your employees achieve their goals.

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by pandorapictures

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in the Workplace

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70% of people will experience imposter syndrome – the gut-wrenching feeling of self-doubt and belief that they are not as competent as others believe them to be despite their experience, education, and accomplishments. They feel like a fraud and await the moment they are “caught” or found out. Even when others praise their talents, they still cannot shake their feelings and write off achievements as “dumb luck.”

People will pressure themselves to work harder and strive for perfection to avoid getting caught as an imposter. What if, instead of coping with imposter syndrome, people learned how to put an end to it?

Take the first step in ending imposter syndrome (IS) in the workplace by understanding the types of IS and implementing strategies to help others overcome the phenomenon.

Five types of imposter syndrome

IS is not “one size fits all”—it can appear in several interconnected ways. The five most common types are:

  1. The perfectionist: Perfectionists are never satisfied. They always believe they can be better and do better. Since perfection isn’t always realistic, they start fixating on their mistakes rather than their strengths. Even minor errors reinforce their belief that they’re putting on a facade.
  2. The superhero: These people link competence to success and commonly feel inadequate. So, what do they do? Push themselves to the limit. All the hard work and effort still do not resolve their feelings of “imposterism.”
  3. The expert: Experts always underestimate their expertise. Since they are never satisfied with their level of intelligence, they want to learn everything there is to know on a topic. These people may devote more time to a task because they spent too much time on their quest to “know it all.”
  4. The natural genius: These individuals pick up new skills with little effort and believe they should understand new information and processes right away. Their belief that competency equates to picking things up naturally makes them feel like a fraud when they face an obstacle.
  5. The soloist: These people are very individualistic. Their self-worth stems from productivity, and they tend to see asking for help as a sign of weakness. In their eyes, if they can’t succeed solo, they’re unworthy. If they accept help, they’re showing others they’re phony or inadequate.

 Do any of these sound like you or someone you know?

Overcome imposter syndrome head-on

Both leaders and team members can experience imposter syndrome and the negative feelings that impact their work and environment. Fortunately, you can implement strategies to help overcome IS.

Share your feelings

Talking to someone about your distress can help you get outside context on the situation. Maybe you’ll find someone you can overcome IS with as you share strategies and challenges you encounter.

Build connections

Avoid the urge to do everything solo. Turn to your peers to create a network of mutual support, and you’ll find your network can offer guidance, validate your strengths, and encourage your growth efforts.

Assess your abilities

Make a realistic assessment of your abilities in social and performance situations. Write down your accomplishments and skills, then compare that with your self-assessment (what you think about yourself). You’ll find that the realistic assessment of yourself is the one that shines!

Challenge your doubts

Ask yourself, “Are my thoughts rational?” Does it make sense to believe that you are a fraud, given everything you know is true about yourself? When IS feelings emerge, consider whether the facts support your beliefs.

Avoid a “comparison competition”

Whenever you compare yourself to others in social situations, it can turn into a “comparison competition” where you will find issues that fuel feelings of inadequacy. Everyone has unique abilities. You are where you are because someone recognized your talents and your potential.

Be a mentor and help others

It’s hard to encourage someone to see their unique talent, achievement, and creativity when it doesn’t align with their self-perceptions. Here are several strategies for mentorship that can help:

  • Normalize imposter feelings: If someone confesses feelings of IS, welcome them to the club! Feeling like a fraud at times is normal. Remind them it’s okay to say “I don’t know” and ask for help.
  • Be relatable: Go a step further and share your imposter stories (if you have them). It goes a long way for a mentee to discover that their mentor has also tackled the feelings of IS and pushed through.
  • Positive affirmation goes a long way: Affirm and encourage your employees. The key here is to affirm the individual as a human being by acknowledging their inherent worth and then affirm them as professionals. Persistently call out their achievements and celebrate them.
  • Counteract stereotype threats: Stereotype threats are when a person feels at risk of conforming to negative stereotypes about their race or gender. Marginalization can make people feel like imposters, regardless of how self-assured, smart, and confident they are. These feelings can be mitigated by reminding the mentee that their role is not affected by race or gender and never will be.
  • Give and take credit when deserved: People with IS are more likely to attribute their success to luck or give credit to someone else. You may even notice them downplaying their talent and achievement. If you find someone doing this, give them the recognition they deserve and explain why!

Be who you’re meant to be

If you’re in the 70% of people with IS, remember your accomplishments are not a product of dumb luck or efforts to maintain the “illusion” of your success. Genuinely recognize and acknowledge where you are today, not how you think you got there. That was all you!

Don’t stop your journey there. You can always become an excellent leader and mentor who helps others overcome their IS feelings. With warmth, affirmation, and patience, you can help your team members see themselves through your eyes!

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by airdone

Power Your Business, Empower Your People

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The world of business is changing—and changing quickly. Whether in the form of marketing, sales and prospecting, company culture, or employee satisfaction, new solutions and practices are sprouting up everywhere. Competition has always been at the heart of company culture but keeping up with many moving parts can be a challenge.

So how do you keep your business moving and growing in a constantly changing environment without breaking the bank? You take full advantage of the resources already available to you: your employees.

Your greatest resource, driving force, and differentiator—each of your employees, have their own set of experiences and tools they bring to the table. By developing a company culture that enables employees to expand to their fullest potential, the pool of resources you have access to grows larger and more readily available. And in doing so, you invest in the future of your employees, enabling them to grow farther in their careers while building strong, mutually beneficial relationships.

So how do you design a company that can tap into the greatest potential of their employees, and thus the company itself?

Here’s where to start:

1. Fail with grace

Creating an environment where failure isn’t discouraged, but celebrated, is key to making people feel comfortable trying new things. Failure is a symptom of having tried something, which is in itself a success. Teach your employees not to fear retaliation for trying something new. Instead, celebrate their initiative and use it as an opportunity to learn how to do better next time.

The more people feel free to try out new things without negative repercussions, the more willing they will be to give their ideas a shot. And the more opportunity you all have to develop ideas and practices that create wins.

2. Embrace change

Embracing innovation means there will be change. It’s core to the definition of change itself. Consider the many roles of your employees. Have you structured your company to keep people in place or created a more fluid organization that allows for the flexibility and movement of your employees?

When you bring people onto your team, do you talk about how their roles might change, or do you simply give them their handbook and leave them to it?

If you allow your employees to get too comfortable doing the same thing over and over again, they will resist change. It makes sense, right? Change is difficult and takes work. If employees aren’t used to being asked to adjust to new ways of doing things, they’ll get frustrated and push back.

Train your employees to expect change from the get-go. Get them excited about how their roles may develop and evolve and encourage them to think critically about how things might be improved.

That way, you have a team full of people who aren’t afraid to go ahead with new initiatives, technologies, and systems. You’ll also attract employees who are big thinkers and value a rich, ever-evolving office discourse.

Does that sound like the people you want working for you?

3. Lead with purpose

You probably know that company culture comes from the top down. It isn’t enough to expect your employees to come up with new ideas. Leadership also needs to devote time and energy to thinking critically and looking for new solutions and opportunities for growth.

Without the motivation of leadership, the energy and momentum needed for innovation will dwindle. There’s no problem solidifying what you’ve already got—especially if it works. But it’s just as essential to keep your eye on the future. How will your company stand out from the crowd? What can you do to optimize your processes, expand your audience, and grow your business? What big new idea are you bringing to the table?

The long-term outcome

An innovative company can keep up with changing markets and evolving competitors. Investing in practices that cultivate and nurture innovation in your company is investing in your company’s present and future.

 

People want to be a part of something engaging and are inspired by a company that values a healthy exchange of ideas. You never know what you can accomplish if you design a company with an open mind: flexible, open to new ideas, and poised for growth.

 

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by langstrup

Recognize Employee Stress—and Help Them Manage It

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Stress seems like a way of life, whether it’s positive (preparing to move to a new house), negative (dealing with a chronic illness), or work-related. Eighty percent of Americans deal with some form of work-related stress—and half of those workers say they need help learning to manage it. This affects not only workers but managers too, as 68% of managers reported moderate or high levels of stress.

National Stress Awareness Month, which takes place in April, encourages people to recognize what stress is and how to manage it. A company culture that encourages employees and employers to talk about and manage stress is key to everyone’s wellbeing, but only 17.6% of workers say they have a culture that encourages them to open up and talk about it. 

Weaving stress management into your company culture shouldn’t only be because of National Stress Awareness Month. It should always be a priority to help with employee retention, as well as overall wellness and organizational strength. Here are some ways to include it into your company’s culture and daily routine.

Recognize the signs

Stress can cost U.S. businesses the health and wellbeing of their employees, as well as time and money—$300 billion a year annually, in fact. As an employer, you need to spot and recognize the signs, such as:

  • Decreased productivity and quality of work
  • Work/life imbalance
  • Poor physical and mental health
  • Low morale and motivation
  • Impacted workplace relationships

It’s also important to recognize when employees are putting too much pressure on themselves, whether it’s real or self-imposed. When you recognize the signs and see frazzled, stressed employees, pull them aside and take time to listen to their concerns. You can help them with decreased productivity, for instance, by easing up on deadlines and giving them permission to prioritize projects.

Check in when necessary

Along with recognizing the signs, it’s essential to check in and get as much information as possible about what causes your employees to feel stress at work. Be prepared to also intervene, where necessary, and manage certain stressors—for example, when a project is pulled off track for any reason and you see people start to get stressed, sit down with them and brainstorm how to get it back on track.

Give them time—and space

Stress can’t be completely avoided. But you can ensure your employees have some time and space to step away from work for a bit and destress. In an office space, this can include providing things like:

  • A small room designated as a nap/lounge area
  • Outdoor benches/gardens
  • More extended vacations or PTO
  • Encouraged breaks
  • Strong boundaries around work hours/ hours of availability

Also, whether you’re in an office or offer remote work, consider including No Meeting Days into the schedule. Encourage employees to block off time on their calendars to focus on their tasks and keep from getting bogged down or overwhelmed by many meetings. Giving employees time and space to themselves lets them reset, refocus, and recharge.

Encourage workplace wellness

Exercise and healthy living are some of the best stress-busters out there. Exercise improves mood by releasing happy calming hormones called endorphins and eating healthy helps people feel more energetic and at their best because, as they say, you are what you eat.

If you work on-site, this could mean having office yoga days, walking breaks, and offering healthy snacks in the break room. If your company is remote, this could mean providing employees with benefits like access to health and wellness apps. When employees know you’re looking out for their health and wellbeing, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Provide advice and opportunities for counseling

Almost half of U.S. workers say they need to learn to manage stress better. Teach your employees how to better manage stress by providing on-site or distance counseling/training or setting time aside for your employees to get together with you or their coworkers to brainstorm stress management techniques. Just providing the option for them to talk prepares your employees for whatever may come their way.

(Don’t) feel the pressure

More and more people are feeling the pressure and experiencing high levels of stress. Helping your employees manage stress in the workplace lets them identify triggers and gives them the right tools to protect their health and keep them calm—no matter when, or where, stress might hit.

 

Content provided by Q4iNetwork and partners

Photo by stokkete