Kick-Start Employee Mindset With These 7 Helpful Workplace Hints
As we head into the new year, it's common to spend some time reflecting and looking into the upcoming year with a refreshed outlook and new goals. But, what about your employees? The health and well-being of your employees are an important part of running a successful business. Nevertheless, it's often easy to forget that employee mindset is just as important as physical well-being - that's why we're seeing more companies invest in employee mindset and workplace wellness programs like mindfulness training, self-awareness training, and team-building workshops.
Understand the Importance of Mindset
Mindset is a set of beliefs that influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in any given situation. It means that what you believe about yourself impacts your success or failure. It’s the foundation for all our actions and interactions. It’s the lens through which we see the world. And it’s the source of our motivation—or lack thereof. While having a positive mindset isn't always easy in an uncertain workplace environment, understanding how your employees' mindsets shape their behavior will help you develop strategies to encourage them to act in ways that benefit both themselves and your organization as a whole. Let’s look at a few ways that you can refresh your employee mindset in 2023.
How to Kick-Start Employee Mindset
Try something new
Understand individual preferences
Find ways to reward people for working well together
Prioritize employee wellness
Be a role model
Talk about tools and training that can help improve the workplace
Have a monthly mindset audit.
Try something new
It's well known that you can't keep doing the same things and expect different results. You need to constantly improve and learn so that you can try new things - and they'll likely be better than what you've been doing before.
The same principle applies to employee mindset. If your employees are going through the motions, it won't matter how many books or blogs or TED Talks you read on how to encourage innovation in your workplace: if they're being asked by leadership to do the same thing over and over again without any kind of change or challenge, then there's little hope for them being motivated or excited about their jobs.
It takes hard work and dedication from all parties involved: employees must be willing to put forth effort into cultivating their own personal growth by taking part in training opportunities; managers must understand what makes each individual employee tick so they can empower them with opportunities that match their talents; leaders have an essential role in inspiring those around them with a sense of purpose for why their work matters (beyond just providing income). The best employee wellness programs should see constant improvement over time.
2. Understand individual preferences
When you start thinking about your work environment and the way it affects employee mindset, one thing to consider is that not everyone has the same preferences. Part of being mindful is to notice our judgments, then to recognize and work towards overcoming our biases. Some people like to be organized, while others prefer to be messy, and that’s okay! Some people are introverts and others are extroverts. And some employees like working alone while others feel more energized and productive when they’re in a team setting.
Here are a few ways you can take employee differences into account when designing your workspaces for the upcoming year:
Provide multiple options for how employees can work - both alone or in groups (think standing desks, sit-to-stand desks, lounge areas with couches or bean bags)
Offer a space where people can have the private concentration to unplug, quiet themselves, decompress, focus and rejuvenate
Natural lighting can do wonders. In a study conducted at Cornell, workers exposed to natural light experienced an 84 percent drop in issues such as headaches, eyestrain, and blurred vision.
3. Find ways to reward people for working well together
So, you’re looking for a way to encourage teamwork and improve employee morale for the upcoming year. You want your employees to feel like they are part of something special, that they are valued and appreciated by their employer. And you want them to know that working together towards the same goal is not only expected but also rewarded.
What can you do? Well, one option might be creating an award or trophy for your team based on their performance as a whole. This will make them feel good about being part of the team, while also inspiring everyone else in the organization - including managers - to take notice and strive for similar results in their own departments or teams.
Fostering a workplace that values connections can greatly improve your employee's work-life balance. Another way to do this is by providing opportunities for self-reflection and connection through workshops and training. These workshops can help provide employees with a sense of psychological safety in the workplace through an exploration of mindful practices.
4. Prioritize employee wellness
In order to keep your employees happy, you need to make sure they’re healthy. Employee wellness is the process of creating a culture in which employees are physically, mentally, and emotionally well. Employee wellness programs are designed to give employees the tools they need to achieve overall health and well-being.
Employees who feel supported by their employers are more likely to be engaged and productive at work, which leads to higher employee retention rates - which in turn saves you time and money. But it can take some effort on your part if you’re not used to providing these benefits.
If you want your employees to begin 2023 with a refreshed mindset, prioritize employee wellness with new activities like walking groups or yoga classes for staff members who want them. Also, consider offering paid leave for workers who need care outside business hours (like when an elderly parent falls ill). These perks will help ensure that everyone stays healthy throughout their career at your company - and makes sure that next year's refresh feels even fresher!
5. Be a role model
If you want to help your employees develop a more mindful mindset, one of the best things you can do is to be mindful yourself. This means being aware of your own actions and always trying to act in ways that reflect mindfulness as much as possible. It also means making an effort toward mindfulness in all aspects of life, not just work, so that people around you are likely to influence their own behavior by seeing what it looks like in action. Asking for help when needed is essential, too: no one should be expected to go at it alone!
Get clear on what success really looks like. Success isn't defined by how many hours have been spent working (or not); instead, it's about quality over quantity - and this means spending time doing work that matters rather than burning out because there are too many tasks piled onto your plate at once. Remember, creating a corporate culture around the importance of mindfulness and workplace wellness starts within. Don’t neglect your own boundaries, and take the time to acknowledge and celebrate even your small victories.
6. Talk about tools and training that can help improve the workplace
The best way to get your company's employees thinking in the right mindset is through training. By providing workshops and tools that help them improve their skills, you're giving them more opportunities to grow, which can lead to greater loyalty towards your company as well as improved productivity.
Training also benefits businesses by reducing turnover and making sure workers are able to do their jobs effectively. According to a study commissioned by Amazon, 74% of Millennial and Gen Z employees are likely to quit within the next year due to a lack of skills development opportunities; if they aren't offered any or find that they're not being supported by their employers, then there's a good chance they'll look elsewhere for those experiences - which may end up costing the business money later down the road!
Schedule a call with us today to discover the different workshops and training opportunities we offer to corporations and individuals to create a healthier, more sustainable workplace culture
7. Have a monthly mindset audit
The key to keeping your employees engaged in their work and the company is to help them feel curious about evolving. One of the best ways to do that is by conducting a monthly mindset audit - a look at how employee work styles have changed over time, and what tools or resources you could use to keep up with those changes. You may be surprised by some of the insights you find as you compare employee attitudes from month to month, or even year to year!
Once you’ve had your audit, it will become easier for everyone on staff at your organization to hit refresh on their own mentalities on a daily basis.
Summary
One of the most important things to remember is that employee well-being isn’t just about physical health. It also involves looking after your mental health and helping people get back on track if they’ve had a bad day or are feeling off their game. The right tools can help managers and HR staff do this, but it’s up to everyone in your business to keep an eye out for each other - and make sure they know how much you care about them as people, not just employees.
With the right approach, employers can help their employees bring more mindfulness into their lives and become more effective in everything they do. But it’s important to recognize that mindfulness is a process, not a one-off event. In order to achieve this, businesses need to think of well-being and employee mindset as a process, not just a box-ticking exercise.