For today's professionals work-life balance is harder than ever. As I mentioned in my prior post, companies are at the same level of production as they were before all the layoffs started, which means that people are doing more work that they did before. For companies to maintain the same levels of production, employees are working longer hours, trying to do more during their normal work hours, or both. Due to the layoffs, many other people have also found themselves in the position of having to find part-time jobs to supplement their family's income because one of the two bread winners has lost their job.
Be it whichever the case, these people are finding themselves having less time to do the things they used to enjoy. Apart from the added stress of that, they also have added anxiety from all of the work load, with no, or limited, ways to liberate it. This will have negative repercussions both on their personal life and their professional life.
In their personal life, some will spend less time with their spouse and children, which can put a strain on those relationships, which in turn will have a negative effect on their attitude and performance on the job. Some will have less time to do things that they enjoy such as playing sports, watching television, going out with family and friends, and others. These activities are essential because they allow people to relax and relieve stress. If they are not able to relax and get rid of stress, they will be less productive on the job and not as engaged.
Employees who are able to maintain a life-work balance are more productive, have a better attitude at work, feel more job satisfaction, and have better morale. A lack of work-life balance can also lead to safety issues on the job.
I read an interesting article on work-life balance. I also found another on how to help employees maintain the balance.
How can managers help employees balance their work-life balance so that they can stay engaged in their work and be more productive? Should companies limit the amount of hours an employee can work during the week? Should companies have mandatory vacation policies?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tools for Online Success
Many small businesses are looking for economical, yet effective ways to market their business and get people thru the door. Social media and the web are effective ways of doing this. I found the book "Blogging, Create and Maintain Valuable Customer Connections" to be very interesting and easy to understand and read. This thing about blogging is new to me, especially setting a blog up and posting and commenting to it. Last night I was commenting on David's blog, and after about 40 minutes of thinking and writing, I hit the Post button and nothing happened. So I hit another button, and it went blank. I had lost all of the information I had written! I was furious, but at the same time upset with myself for not knowing how to post a blog! How hard could it be?
To make a long story short, I had to rewrite it and it didn't work again, but this time I had copied it before I hit the Post button! I finally remembered the advise of Dr. Weyant- if you are having problems on the blog, use Firefox instead of Explorer. Had he not said that, I would have not completed the post.
You may be asking, what is the reason for blogging this story? What relevance does it have? Although blogs, wikis, tweets, and other online tools can be of enormous benefit to a small business, based on my experience, many small business owners don't know about these benefits, and much less know how to use these tools. To be honest, had it not been for this class I would probably have not set up a blog. I currently have several ideas of how I want to use it to enhance my job and at the same time show the benefits of it, as well as other online tools, to the small business owners I work with.
In looking for information on online tools, I came across a set of videos developed by the US Small Business Administration in partnership with Google which I found very educational and interesting. It is called Tools for Online Success. If you know of any small business owners, please share this information with them.
Are there any other resources on blogs or online tools that you have found valuable?
To make a long story short, I had to rewrite it and it didn't work again, but this time I had copied it before I hit the Post button! I finally remembered the advise of Dr. Weyant- if you are having problems on the blog, use Firefox instead of Explorer. Had he not said that, I would have not completed the post.
You may be asking, what is the reason for blogging this story? What relevance does it have? Although blogs, wikis, tweets, and other online tools can be of enormous benefit to a small business, based on my experience, many small business owners don't know about these benefits, and much less know how to use these tools. To be honest, had it not been for this class I would probably have not set up a blog. I currently have several ideas of how I want to use it to enhance my job and at the same time show the benefits of it, as well as other online tools, to the small business owners I work with.
In looking for information on online tools, I came across a set of videos developed by the US Small Business Administration in partnership with Google which I found very educational and interesting. It is called Tools for Online Success. If you know of any small business owners, please share this information with them.
Are there any other resources on blogs or online tools that you have found valuable?
World Trade Center's Newsletter Article
In the previous post I made reference to the World Trade Center of Central Pennsylvania's newsletter, but I forgot to mention where you can find the article. You can find it at http://www.strategic-briefs.com/BIB/Archives/WTCCPA081810.pdf. You will need to change the date in the address bar to 05252010, which goes before the .pdf. The title is Employee Dissatisfaction on the Increase.
Impact of the Recession on Employees
The global financial crisis has led to many changes in the way business is done and in the way companies are run. Companies have had to learn how to be more efficient and leaner. More needs to get done with less resources. In order to survive, many companies have had to restructure and they have had to find new and innovative ways to do things. Measures needed to be taken not only to survive the recession, but to position themselves to take advantage of the economic upturn and emerge stronger.
There are different things that companies can do to reorganize and reduce costs, but not too many of them have a big and immediate impact on the bottom line. For many businesses, the cost of employees and their benefits is one of the largest expenses, and in some companies it is the largest expense. For example, in the city of Reading, which is now considered a distressed city, close to 70% of their budget goes towards personnel. So what goes first? You got it, employees. Reduction of employees is the easiest way to reduce costs and has the fastest impact on the bottom line.
According to an article in the World Trade Center of Central Pennsylvania's newsletter, the Business Intelligence Brief, "productivity has been rising throughout the recession in part because business has learned to get more from their employees." It continues saying that even though staff levels have been reduced "to levels far below what was normal even a couple years ago", "for the most part, the level of business activity has remained high." In other words, less people are taking on the tasks that more people normally did. The question is, is this sustainable?
Although every employee takes a different attitude as to what is going on, over time the added pressure leads to lower morale, and less engaged, and therefore less productive, employees. According to the article in the newsletter, some employees give it their all, but expect to be rewarded when things get better. Others just can't handle it and break under the stress. A third group goes thru the motions but has checked out mentally, and a forth group has lost all morale and can barely function.
Management has to learn how to deal with these different employees to reengage them to keep moving the company forward. What has your experience been with layoffs? How has it affected your company? What other ideas may be implemented instead?
There are different things that companies can do to reorganize and reduce costs, but not too many of them have a big and immediate impact on the bottom line. For many businesses, the cost of employees and their benefits is one of the largest expenses, and in some companies it is the largest expense. For example, in the city of Reading, which is now considered a distressed city, close to 70% of their budget goes towards personnel. So what goes first? You got it, employees. Reduction of employees is the easiest way to reduce costs and has the fastest impact on the bottom line.
According to an article in the World Trade Center of Central Pennsylvania's newsletter, the Business Intelligence Brief, "productivity has been rising throughout the recession in part because business has learned to get more from their employees." It continues saying that even though staff levels have been reduced "to levels far below what was normal even a couple years ago", "for the most part, the level of business activity has remained high." In other words, less people are taking on the tasks that more people normally did. The question is, is this sustainable?
Although every employee takes a different attitude as to what is going on, over time the added pressure leads to lower morale, and less engaged, and therefore less productive, employees. According to the article in the newsletter, some employees give it their all, but expect to be rewarded when things get better. Others just can't handle it and break under the stress. A third group goes thru the motions but has checked out mentally, and a forth group has lost all morale and can barely function.
Management has to learn how to deal with these different employees to reengage them to keep moving the company forward. What has your experience been with layoffs? How has it affected your company? What other ideas may be implemented instead?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
First Post
Although I have written blogs for the Chamber, I have never actually had to set one up or manage it. It was a vey interesting experience getting this one set up!
I am interesteded in learning more about blogs for two reasons. At the Chamber we have one, but we don't have many members replying to the posts or visiting it. Hopefully thru the class I will find ways on how to make better use of it and get more traffic flowing to it.
The second reason is that I work with small businesses on a daily basis and I am interested in seeing how blogs can help and benefit them. With budgets being tight, I am interested in learning the full benefits of blogs and how small businesses can use them to their advantage.
If you have any thoughts or insights I would greatly appreciate them.
I am interesteded in learning more about blogs for two reasons. At the Chamber we have one, but we don't have many members replying to the posts or visiting it. Hopefully thru the class I will find ways on how to make better use of it and get more traffic flowing to it.
The second reason is that I work with small businesses on a daily basis and I am interested in seeing how blogs can help and benefit them. With budgets being tight, I am interested in learning the full benefits of blogs and how small businesses can use them to their advantage.
If you have any thoughts or insights I would greatly appreciate them.
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