Tough times makes bolstering employee spirits critical

By George C. Ford

Research shows that employee morale is directly linked to productivity.

The more happy and satisfied employees are, the more productivity will increase. During this extremely tough economy, keeping employee morale up is more important than ever.

Communication, education and appreciation are the top three things cited by Eastern Iowa companies when asked what they do to bolster employee morale.

“We do ‘all hands’ company meetings every month,” said Eric Engelmann, president and chief executive of Geonetric in northeast Cedar Rapids. “We review in detail what is going on, why it is happening and how it relates to achieving our goals. It’s a big deal for us to be that transparent because it gets people invested in what we’re aiming for.”

Geonetric, which provides online solutions for the health care industry, was recognized last month by Modern Healthcare magazine as the 23rd best place to work in the health care industry.

Investing in continuing education is another area that Corridor employers feel is essential to maintaining good employee morale.

“We have made a conscious decision to maintain the investment in our employees’ training and development,” said Soni Harney, senior vice president and director of human resources for MidwestOne Bank in Iowa City. “Continual learning is one of the operating principles in our company, so we talk about it a lot. We provide tools and resources for our people internally, but they have to go after them.”

Engelmann said Geonetric last year began offering an employee stipend for continuing education.

“It’s designed for conferences or training seminars, either online or in person,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of success getting people outside their normal comfort zone and encouraging them to take on training either in what they’re doing or a new aspect that they’ve never thought of before.”

At GreatAmerica Leasing in downtown Cedar Rapids, employees also receive a briefing each quarter on the financial status of the company and the financial services industry. They also find time to have some fun with themed events, like October’s annual Halloween decorating contest.

“Employees were invited to bring their children into the office to ‘trick-or-treat’ from desk to desk,” said Matt Doty, GreatAmerica director of corporate communications.

“We really get into our fundraisers for the community, whether it’s ‘Bowling for Kids Sake’ or United Way. There’s always some friendly competition that goes on.”

Harney said MidwestOne believes employee recognition is essential to maintaining positive employee morale.

“When we have a good customer impact story, we like to share it with everybody,” she said. “It gives the employees who had something to do with that situation some recognition for taking it on. Probably 75 percent of our monthly staff meetings, which involves each location calling in, are devoted to employee recognition.”

Harney said MidwestOne also has some friendly employee competition each year during its United Way campaign. This year, employees competed in a Nintendo Wii bowling tournament, with the popular game console as the top prize.

Creating an inviting work environment can be a key ingredient in bolstering employee morale, according to Geonetric’s Engelmann.

“We spend a lot of time and money making our work environment the best that we can make it,” he said. “We bring in a massage therapist every other month and we hold events like Halloween gatherings for our employee’s children and families.”

Geonetric also provides free cereal, a coffee bean grinder and espresso machine, soda and tea for its employees along with casual dress and flexible scheduling.

With tough economic times, many Corridor employers are looking for low-cost ways to boost employee morale.

Customer service associates at Toyota Financial Services in Cedar Rapids played “Battleship” last month. When employees reached a percentage of their call-time statistics each week, they had a chance to sink a battleship on the flip side of the game’s plastic “ocean” grid.

If they landed on a supervisor’s battleship, they “sank” it and won breakfast with the supervisor. If they just hit the ship, they won a candy bar or similar prize.

WarsThermostat setting can effect productivity

By Janet Rorholm

You’re hot. Your co-worker is cold. For facilities managers, it seems as if there is no pleasing everyone.

A 2009 study by the International Facility Management Association shows the top office complaint among employees is temperature settings over high noise levels, limited space or unpleasant odors. It’s either too cold (94 percent) or too hot (91 percent). Indoor air quality complaints are a distant third (25 percent), followed by too drafty (21 percent) and too noisy (16 percent).

Preferences aside, the survey also showed that many facility managers are adjusting the thermostat to higher settings in the summer and lower settings in the winter in an effort to cut energy consumption and costs.

Since a one size fits all approach rarely works, facility managers said the most common way of addressing complaints is either through the use of personal fans (66 percent) or by a change in clothing (64 percent). Popular with workers — though not always with building management — is the use of personal heaters, which 60 percent of facility professionals reported seeing used in the workplace. Many facility managers reported personal heaters are not allowed in their buildings because they present a fire hazard.

If employees think there complaints go ignored, however, they could be right. The survey showed that facility mangers sometimes say they will make an adjustment, but don’t. “This actually seems to work,” said one person.

The temperature wars have been especially difficult in downtown Cedar Rapids as area businesses lost steam heat used to regulate heating and cooling functions after the June 2008 floods knocked out Alliant Energy’s steam generating station. Businesses have scrambled to put in their own systems. Employees have had to adjust to fluctuating temperatures.

Ken White, senior manager of facilities at Gazette Communications, said when it comes to temperatures, the Occupational Safety Health Administration recommends temperature control in the range of 68 to 76 degrees year-round as well as a humidity control in the range of 20 to 60 percent. MidAmerican Energy recommends a baseline of 78 degrees in summer for cooling and 68 degrees in winter for heating.

But does temperature settings come down to just a matter of personal preference? Yes and no. Studies suggest temperatures and indoor air quality can have a direct effect on worker’s productivity levels and it seems warm workers work better, according to several Cornell University studies.

Chilly workers not only make more errors but cooler temperatures could increase a worker’s hourly labor cost by 10 percent, estimated Alan Hedge, professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University.

Hedge found that when the office temperature in a monthlong study increased from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, typing errors fell by 44 percent and typing output jumped 150 percent.

“The results of our study also suggest raising the temperature to a more comfortable thermal zone saves employers about $2 per worker, per hour,” Hedge said. “Temperature is certainly a key variable that can impact performance.”

Most companies are conscious of how they spend their money or track their inventory, but when it comes to how they spend their time, it’s not one of the key areas they track. Why? There are only 168 hours of time in your weekly inventory. How are you spending it? If you could calculate the amount of time that is lost or wasted in poorly-run meetings or casual conversations around the front desk or on tasks that could be streamlined, would you save money by reclaiming time?

Do you know how many hours a day you spend on e-mail, business development or administrative tasks? How do you determine when it makes sense to hire someone or to outsource specific activities within your business? The facts about time usage will help you make those decisions accurately.

To begin, start thinking about your time in large categories:

l Billable/client hours

l Administrative

l Sales and marketing

l Volunteer/community service

l Family/personal

In three to four weeks, you’ll see trends emerge. Analyze this information, look at each category and identify the top areas within each that you may need to track more specifically. By considering the time element, you will start making better decisions about how you spend your time throughout the day. Measure the results. It’s likely that you’ll find areas that can increase revenue for your business.

There are multiple ways to approach tracking your time. Find one that works for you and make a commitment to doing it for at least six weeks. Once it’s part of your routine, it will become easier to do and the results will continue to add value to your decision making.

Find a system that works for you. For paper people, jotting start times and end times in your daily planner may work best. You can go back at the end of the day and summarize how many hours were allocated to each category and create a summary at the bottom of each page.

For spreadsheet people, open a blank document and get started. Track your start time, end time, calculate the total time, category, project and notes regarding each entry. This will make it easy to sort and subtotal by category at the end of each day.

For software people, there are multiple options available online. Most of these programs offer desktop interfaces that are quick and easy. Many are free for single users or have free trials.

l Toggl — www.toggl.com

l yaTimer — www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer

l Tick — www.tickspot.com

l Harvest — www.getharvest.com

l Cashboard — www.getcashboard.com

l Freshbooks — www.freshbooks.com

l Time Snapper — www.timesnapper.com

l Online Stopwatch — www.online-stopwatch.com

An electronic stopwatch and countdown timer to help keep you on track throughout the day. No software required.

Keep it simple. Tracking your time each day doesn’t have to be down to the exact minute, but it should be within quarters of an hour to be useful and to give you an accurate accounting of your time.

Keep it visible. Keep your time tracker visible on your desk or computer throughout the day. It makes it easy to update and serves as a visual reminder of your progress all week long.

Lead by example. After you’ve tracked your time for a couple of weeks, consider asking your team to track their time, too. Working smarter with the resources we have is important to the bottom line no matter what your industry.

Whether you’re tracking your time, your inventory or another aspect of your business, what you pay attention to will improve. You’ll make better decisions about how to use your time when you track how you spend it.

Julie Perrine is the owner of Julie Perrine Virtual Assistant LLC in Cedar Rapids, an administrative services and training company. She can be reached at julie@julieperrine.com or (319) 743-3899.

During tough economic times it is imperative for employees to be efficient in the workplace. The capacity of increased productivity in challenging times may be the difference between staying in business and folding.

There is no doubt motivated employees are more productive. But during this economic climate, low morale is common. Fearful of being let go and gossip in the workplace can squash motivation and reduce productivity. As a manager or owner, take an active role to minimize negativity and promote a positive workplace.

Readily recognizing some non-traditional motivators can bring boundless efficiency to your organization. In particular, the old thought of life balance is now being replaced with life integration. The new and current generations of workers are looking for flexible schedules and autonomy. With the 24/7 connectivity and the ability to work from just about anywhere, employees want flextime. For instance, if they want to take a couple hours of personal time at two o’clock in the afternoon, that should be acceptable since they normally work from home or from their BlackBerry at eight o’clock in the evening. Accommodating employees’ flexible work schedules can have a huge impact on motivation.

Clear and regular communication must be evident in these trying times. Keep your staff informed on how the company is doing and provide an opportunity for them to ask questions. By initiating these discussions, you will reduce the amount of gossip traveling around the building. Moreover, when you provide information to your staff, it creates loyalty and empowers them to further support the company.

Recognize right now is the perfect time to evaluate the strengths and interests of your staff. Initiate an engagement survey. The survey extracts information concerning not only where your employees want to go but also how they feel they fit into your organization. Here are four of the 13 questions on the engagement survey we use in our business.

1. What three things must you do regularly to feel fulfilled in your work?

2. If you could be given the confidence and responsibility of doing two new things in your position, what would you most like to do?

3. “I have the tools and resources I need to do my job.” Yes or no. If no, please explain and identify exactly what resources are lacking.

4. “My talents and abilities are being fully used in my current position.” Yes or no. If no, explain and identify what talents you feel are being overlooked.

Keep in mind that no matter how stressful the financial climate may be, take care to shield your employees from your frustration. When emotions are running high, it is easy to take it out on those nearest you. Remember your employees are your most valuable asset and during tough economic times, they are even more valuable. Take care to value your employees as much as you value your customers.

Becky Esker is the president and owner of Get Organized! LLC, Cedar Rapids. She can be reached at (319) 395-7477 or becky@getorganizedcr.com

How to keep employees engaged to improve productivity, retention

By Janet Rorholm

For April Fools’ Day, Eric Engelmann, president and chief executive officer of Geonetric, a Cedar Rapids-based Web development firm that specializes in health care, sent employees an e-mail saying he was eliminating the free pop and coffee.

He also said parking meters were going to be installed and all employees were to report to the parking lot for 500 jumping jacks before starting their day.

Not everyone caught the joke at first, but Anne Ohrt, human resources and event coordinator at Geonetric in Cedar Rapids, said the company, which also has hot dog eating contests and euchre tournaments, places a high value on making work fun for its employees.

“Around here we like to keep people on their toes, wondering what’s going to happen next,” Ohrt said.

Having fun doesn’t just make employees feel good, it helps keep employees engaged, which experts say translates into company loyalty, increased productivity and efficiency as well as improved health — all highly desirable outcomes, especially in today’s economy. But with such a major distraction like the economy on everyone’s mind, keeping employees engaged is even more important and challenging today.

“This is probably the most important time to focus on employees and engagement,” said Jason Glass, human resources partner with Pearson in Iowa City.

Getting and keeping employees engaged is much more than just creating a fun place to work, said Ohrt and other human resource area professionals. It’s also about liking the people you work with, having a good manager, understanding what your job is and how your job fits in the company’s mission. It also is about being valued as an employee.

“Being valued is right up there with compensation for employees,” Ohrt said.

Another way to keep employees engaged is to invest in employee development, an area that some Corridor employers have cut because of the economy. Human resource professionals call that a bad move.

Glass calls those cuts “counter intuitive” because the programs are so important to keeping employees engaged.

“When times are good, people have options, but they think back to the times that were difficult. That’s when you make or break that relationship with employees,” he said.

Sheila Schmidt, of Sheila Schmidt Consulting LLC in Cedar Rapids, agrees.

“I liken it to advertising. When the economy is bad, those who continue to advertise, many times, emerge as leaders when the economy improves.

I think it’s the same when it comes to learning opportunities for employees,” she said. “Employees still have a desire and a need for developmental training and to learn something new.”

At Geonetric, employees continue to receive a $3,000 professional development stipend they can use to improve their skills.

“We feel that if we invest in the people we hired that they’ll stay engaged while they’re here,” Ohrt said.

She also noted that providing professional development opportunities translates into a better skilled work force.

Even if everyone is cutting back on professional development programs, you can’t use that as a crutch, Glass said. If you can keep those programs, you should do it because that gives you a huge advantage over those other companies, he said.

At West Music Co., the focus on customer satisfaction begins with employee engagement.

“I don’t think we can succeed with employees who just come to work,” said Russ Curry, vice president and director of human resources at the Coralville company. “Due to the unique nature of our business, it is essential that our employees are engaged and passionate about enriching people’s lives through participation in music. We place a great emphasis on training to help make this happen.”

To help keep employees learning new things, West Music employees are encouraged to take advantage of external training opportunities and the company’s internal “West Music University” program. For one employee that could be learning Spanish to better serve the company’s Spanish-speaking customers. For another that might be learning more about digital keyboards.

The effectiveness of the training is tracked by personal goals and milestones established with the employee’s manager, Curry said. Because of this, West Music places a high priority on training its leaders, a good move according to area human resource professionals, because front-line managers are crucial to employee engagement.

“You can have all programs in the world, but if you’ve got a leader that an employee doesn’t enjoy working for — you’re lost,” Glass said. “You have to have good leaders in place.”

There are several ways managers can figure out whether employees are engaged. The first is through observation.

“Watch people,” Schmidt said. “Are they interested in what they are doing? Do they ask to take on more responsibility? Do they perform at a consistently high level? Do they drive innovation? Do they tend to be creative in expressing their ideas for improvement?”

The second way is to give employees an engagement survey. The survey can be developed in-house, with a consultant’s assistance or a company can use some basic surveys already on the market.

An example of such a survey is Gallup’s”Twelve Elements of Great Managing” (http://gmj.gallup.com/content/811/Feedback-Real. aspx). It asks employees to rank their agreement on a scale of one to five.

With companies laying off employees, employee engagement becomes even more important.

“Employee engagement is not about retention, it’s getting full participation or that discretionary effort,” Glass said.

In tough times, the idea is to get those productivity increases not from asking people to do more with less or getting people to work more hours, but from making sure those employees are as productive and as engaged as they can be during those 40 hours, he said.

“The gap between those two people even though they are working the same hours is huge,” Glass said.

Research shows there are three types of employees when it comes to engagement: the engaged, the disengaged and the actively disengaged employee, Schmidt said.

The engaged employee want to know what is expected of her. She is naturally curious about the organization and how she fits in. She also performs at a consistently high level, Schmidt said.

The disengaged employee is neutral. He takes a wait-and-see approach and isn’t as productive.

The actively disengaged employee hates everything. His attitude and behavior are negative and he tries to undermine the work being done.

Gallup Organization research estimates that actively disengaged employees — those who are the least productive — cost the country about $350 billion per year in lost productivity. It also shows that only about 29 percent of the U.S. work force is engaged, 55 percent are not engaged, and 16 percent are actively disengaged. Since a highly-engaged employee typically outperforms a disengaged employee by 20 percent to 28 percent, it’s important to get that engagement, Schmidt said.

“There are all sorts of benefits when you have people who are more engaged. First, their sense of value as an employee and their well being is better. They are happier. They also tend to be healthier and health care is a huge concern for all companies… so it’s a win-win for the organization as well as the employee,” she said.

Stress in the workplace can be an endless cycle. Stress at work causes decreased productivity, decreased productivity causes more stress. And the cycle continues.

If you find yourself stuck in the stress cycle, continue reading for tips on how to jump off the cycle and get back on the productivity train.

Three of the most important components for managing stress are eating, sleeping and exercising. It is no secret that the better you manage your stress, the more productive you will be.

Eating nourishes your body and can counteract fatigue and irritability. The key is to eat the right foods at the right times. It is best to eat five or six small daily meals rather than only two or three larger ones. There was a reason you had snack time in grade school. Your body needed replenishing so you could concentrate and learn new things. It is the same in the workplace. You still need replenishing, so create a snack time or two at work. During snack time, eat high protein or brain food snacks such as yogurt, cheese, granola and nuts. If you are a bit tense, consider a handful of almonds as they contain natural muscle-relaxing magnesium. Bananas are also a healthy snack choice. They also contain magnesium to help relax tight muscles.

Arriving to work after a refreshing night’s sleep will boost productivity and motivation for tackling the demands of your job. Seven to eight hours of sleep every night is recommended to give your body the rest it needs to rejuvenate. If you find falling asleep difficult, consider drinking some warm milk or camomile tea. They both create a mild sedating effect. You can top off either of these beverages with some honey as honey turns off the alertness neurotransmitter in your brain. But use only a small amount of honey as too much sugar is stimulating. This is just another reason why high-sugar snacks during the day may not be a good choice if you are already overstressed.

Napping also does wonders for productivity and efficiency. A 24-minute power nap is known to increase levels of dopamine in your brain. Dopamine is the brain chemical important for tasks such as focusing, concentration, attention, memory, time-management, decision-making and prioritizing. If a fuzzy sleep-deprived brain is hindering your productivity, consider a power nap over your lunch hour or sneak out to your car for a short nap break.

In addition to the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, the benefit as a stress reliever and brain booster are significant, too. Exercise triggers three key neurotransmitters in your brain: dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. As you know, dopamine is important because it opens up and stimulates the prioritizing and concentrating part of your brain. Norepinephrine and serotonin are known to calm your mood and anxiety levels. To quote Dr. John Ratey: “Exercise is like taking a little bit of Ritalin and Prozac.” In other words, exercise creates the natural effect of helping maintain focus and calm your mood. I guess you can think of exercise as a free drug.

So the next time you find your productivity sluggish, consider eating a brain-buster snack, taking a power nap or getting in a brisk walk. All of these will help to reduce your stress level and get you back on the productivity train.

Becky Esker is the president and owner of Get Organized! LLC, Cedar Rapids. She can be reached at (319) 395-7477 or becky@getorganizedcr.com