The Orange Newsletter November 2009
HOW ARE YOUR STAFF FEELING WHEN THEY SEE HEADLINES LIKE THIS?
THE ORANGE CAN HELP YOU CREATE A MORE LOYAL, HONEST AND PRODUCTIVE WORKFORCE
In this newsletter:
- Bonuses
- Executive Travel
- Email Policy
- Green Spaces
- Workplace Bullies
- Happy Stats
Bonuses
The end of 2009 is fast approaching and with that employees are either looking forward to the December period or dreading it. Many people used to bonuses are going to face a bleak Christmas and the families will feel this. Employees need to be aware that there is no statutory requirement to pay bonuses but if they have received this in the past be aware of the impact this will have on them and the family. It may also impact severely on productivity in the New Year. We know of a company who did not pay bonuses in 2008 and the go-slow in protest of this caused a great loss to the organisation. I do believe that this could have been prevented if there had been proper consultation with the employees.
http://www.identity-theft-awareness.com/disgruntled-employee.html
Executive Travel
The end of the year often brings the promise of holidays but we need to be aware that executives are facing a growing danger when travelling. Depending on the risks that the executives face a security plan needs to be put in place.
General security tips are available on: http://www.services.gov.za/ServicesForPeople/TraveloutsideSA/adviceforsacitizenstravellingtbroad.aspx?Language=en-ZA
Email Policy
We know that people feel better if they do something for someone and today with more and more people are accessing email from home or at the office they feel that they can easily send a message of encouragement or goodwill but it is important that employees are aware of what they are doing. It is believed that any time you see an E-Mail that says forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends, sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck, you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it, or whatever, it almost always has an E-Mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and E-Mails of those folks you forward to. E-Mail petitions are NOT acceptable to Government, or any other organization – e.g. Eskom. To be acceptable, petitions must have a signed signature and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and often they are merely helping the E-mail trackers.
Green Spaces
Recent Dutch research shows that people who live within a kilometre of a park or wooded area experience less anxiety and depression. Whilst it is nice to see that people want to be closer to nature we can encourage this feeling at work and ensure that all parties benefit by:
Encouraging employees to have a view of nature from their desk – fewer headaches have been reported from employees who have a natural view from their office.
Encouraging employees to have indoor plants in their office which helps reduce the job pressure and can lead to greater job satisfaction.
Workplace Bullies
We thought that bullying was part of the school environment but recent international research has revealed that one third of the young women in the workplace are victims of workplace bullying. One of the ways to deal with this is to handle grievances quickly and not allow the issues to escalate out of control. What is often seen as irrelevant to the employers may be a real issue to the employee.
If employees feel that the company “does not care” about them are they going to care about the company? If the bullying is not dealt with the company may experience:
- Loss of productivity
- Decreased levels of loyalty
- Increased sick leave
- High staff turnover
- Reputational damage when the matter is discussed with outside stakeholders; e.g. a client
Happy Stats
1 happy employee = 1 happy customer- Happy employees will help you attract more talented employees
- Happy employees make productive employees
- Saying "thank you" to your employees makes them happy
- Happy employees feel they have a meaningful role in the company
The Orange is committed to creating Loyal, Ethical, Honest and Productive Employees
Should you require assistance in this regard please do not hesitate to contact us on info@orangebusinessboost.co.za