Sapience ‘Top Tips’

Every care has been taken in compiling these notes which are for general guidance only. These notes are not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice. If you would like any further information, please call us at our offices on 0845 602 1453, where our experts are on hand to help.

Ten Tips for Reducing Your Workplace Stress

  1. Regularly take time-out to reflect on what you have accomplished during the day.
  2. Find at least 10 minutes each working day to clear your mind. Take a walk, read the paper, phone a friend.
  3. Let colleagues know that you appreciate them as a member of the team and the work they are doing.
  4. Begin each working day with a review of priorities. Focus on what’s important and don’t get distracted by what’s urgent.
  5. Manage upwards. Responding to your boss as one of your customers will lead to stress reducing responses from him/her over time.
  6. Monitoring your intake of caffeine, sugar, and other foods which can alter your mood and anxiety levels. If possible, take a mid-day exercise break.
  7. Improve your conflict management skills. Conflict cannot always be resolved, but it can be managed in a way that leads to more win-win situations.
  8. Refine your listening skills and learn to really listen.
  9. Conduct some “spot checking” of your basic beliefs and assumptions. Cognitive psychologists have taught us that most stress arises from our own irrational and perfectionistic demands of others, and our self.
  10. Keep work in context of your life. Typically it is not life or death so get the balance right.

Ten Tips for Managing Change

  1. Be committed to a better way; strongly believe that the company’s future is dependent on change.
  2. Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Create a “shared” vision, reach people’s minds and spirits, give timely accurate information, be visible
  3. Try whatever appears promising; don’t be afraid to push the envelope.
  4. Do the right thing, not doing things right, break the rules.
  5. Walk the talk; take the same kind of personal risks you expect from others.
  6. Encourage people to be open and honest, then LISTEN. You find out more from the people doing the work then your executive peers.
  7. Be clear about expectations for behavior change, build into all your processes and programs.
  8. Hold people accountable for “getting on the train”; reward those who do, deal with those who don’t.
  9. Expect, learn and build on failures. Rome wasn’t built in a day, think BIG, and start small.
  10. To manage change you must manage transitions, the psychological process of “letting go”.

How to Manage Sickness

  1. Have clear procedures for reporting sickness absence as a minimum or a more comprehensive sickness absence policy.
  2. Ensure a sensitive approach is adopted at all times and keep all information regarding the reason for the absence confidential.
  3. Keep complete records of al sickness absence, including part days.
  4. Communicate clearly the rules regarding the payment of Statutory Sick Pay or any company sick pay.
  5. Keep in contact with your staff, particularly where sickness is for an extended period.
  6. Refer staff to occupational health or for a medical report if there are any remaining concerns regarding their health.
  7. Identify any patterns of absence or where there is frequent absence, take action, which may include disciplinary sanctions.
  8. Welcome employees back on their return. Always carry out a return to work interview to ensure your staff are fit enough to be at work, to assess whether there are any remaining health problems and to update them on what has happened in their absence.

Top Tips for Target Setting

  1. Start with the end in mind and plan backwards.  Decide on the ultimate goal and then decide on the steps to be taken to achieve this.
  2. Focus on what you want to change and make the targets precise, clear and measurable.
  3. Prioritise targets, making them realistic and challenging, not unattainable and impossible to achieve.
  4. Don’t measure what is easy.  Measure what is meaningful.
  5. Get commitment from everyone involved to achieving the targets.
  6. Recognise, acknowledge and reward improvements and achievement of targets.

Top Tips for Employee Motivation

  1. Regular communication with all staff about your business either through staff meetings, news letters or individual meetings.
  2. Recognise and reward the contribution staff make, particularly where it is over and above
  3. Give staff the chance to talk about their career hopes and aspiration through an appraisal meeting or some other opportunity.
  4. Review working patterns and the work environment to ensure these are not hindering staff to do their jobs or causing unnecessary distress.
  5. Assess training and development needs for staff and make a plan to meet these.
  6. Give staff as much authority and responsibility over their own work as possible.

Top Tips for Employee Involvement

  1. Let your staff know what’s going on in the business – future plans, developments, challenges and how they can contribute.
  2. Encourage solutions rather than problems. Use suggestion schemes, quality programmes and ideas forums to stimulate new solutions to old problems.
  3. Let staff know when they have got it right. Genuine praise is the greatest tool you have.
  4. Reward the team and the individual for a job well done.
  5. Grow and develop your people to ensure the improvement of not only your staff, but your business as well.
  6. And finally, communicate, communicate, communicate!