Tag: Business Culture

7 Common Mistakes New Technology Leaders Must Avoid

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Technology leaders are responsible for sharing IT strategies and visions that support their companies’ goals. It is also crucial that they maintain a budget that makes it possible to implement such decisions and make them fully actionable. Technology is significantly changing and improving business operations, from task automation to advancements made to enhance time-consuming activities.

Unfortunately, there are numerous mistakes that technology leaders make that might translate to high turnover rates and negatively impact revenue creation. Some include underestimating the political nature and impact of their role and trying to implement too many changes at a go. A better part of these mistakes is due to bad habits, stress, poor preparation and internal and external pressure. Here are some of the common mistakes that trip up new technology leaders:

Related: 6 Mistakes That Rookie Leaders Make Which Can Cause Them To Fail

1. Trying to implement too many changes too fast

Innovation and change are one of the top responsibilities of technology leaders. These professionals are considered the lead change-makers of business strategies and technology initiatives. Consequently, this can put too much pressure on new technology leaders, leading to drastic changes. New technology leaders are tempted to implement too many changes, often leading to potential challenges. Generally, business organizations can only absorb a specific amount of change at a time. Therefore, new technology leaders must set realistic expectations for ultimate success.

2. Using inaccurate and unreliable data sets

New tech leaders should learn to detect and avoid faulty data sets as early as possible. This is because flawed data sets generate inaccurate results in the final algorithm’s output. New tech leaders should go above and beyond to ensure proper parameters are defined and reliable data is presented. After all, starting their technology initiatives with inaccurate data can translate to misalignments of goals, objectives and targets, causing a wide range of decision-making and implementation challenges.

3. Poor communication

How technology leaders communicate with their teams can make or break a project implementation process. Leaders can choose to share face-to-face or electronically. If you are a new tech leader, you should remember that just because the information is clear from your perspective does not mean it is the same for the entire team. Besides precise details, you should provide specific communication guidelines that your team will accept. Take time to lay down your proven schemes, but remember they should be all about mutual understanding, and you cannot impose them on the rest of the team. Fortunately, the technology industry boasts state-of-the-art and practical tools, including project management tools and instant messengers, to enhance organizational communication.

4. Implementing technology without a clear goal

So, how will the new technology help enhance your organization‘s daily operations and productivity? Most new technology leaders start piloting and implementing new technologies without a clear goal or vision. Note that you will be stuck in the theoretical stage without a clear view of the expected results. New technology and strategies must be modeled to enhance the company’s productivity, revenue generation and solving real business problems.

Related: Become a Better Leader by Improving Your Communication Skills

5. Being afraid to let people go

In their first 100 days, information technology leaders might find it hard to clean the house and try hard to keep everyone on the payroll. They feel that no employer deserves to be fired, but in some cases, there is a great need to let some people go. Understandably, the leaders want to make an excellent first impression and maintain the status quo with the team. Therefore, they do not want firing people to be one of their first moves. New technology leaders should take the time to evaluate the existing team, identify any toxic personality that pulls down the organization’s productivity, and let them go. That is among their top responsibilities as leaders. If you ignore it for too long, the problem might get worse.

6. Relying on technology as the ultimate problem-solver

Contrary to popular belief, technology cannot solve all organizational problems. Technology should be implemented as an effective way to serve you, not the other way. Therefore, tech leaders must stay on the lookout to ensure everything is flowing and working as it should. Start slow, and do not ignore anything, as people have different levels of understanding and retaining information.

7. Failing to access the business culture early on

If you are a technology leader, you have probably come across the “culture eats strategy for breakfast” quote from Peter Drucker, a renowned management guru. However, that is not always the case. One of the most common mistakes of new technology leaders is the failure to analyze and understand their organization’s culture and fabric. While most new leaders are all into their 100-day plan, the fact is that the pace of business technology composite and method will vary with different organizations. They should therefore take the time to assess their teams, peers and overall business structure and culture before embarking on an excessively aggressive approach. After all, organizations win when they have the best and most well-connected teams.

With that in mind, by understanding your business culture early on, new technology executives will know when and how to adjust and implement changes to help them remain effective moving forward. While there are several leadership styles, your business culture will determine what works best.

Related: 4 Things the New Leader of an Organization Should Do Right Away

From trying to fly solo and leaping without looking, there are numerous mistakes that new tech leaders should avoid. They should understand that authentic and effective leadership goes beyond giving orders and expecting things to go their way. Technology leadership is about setting clear, attainable goals, being open to challenges and new ideas, investing in training, providing enough tools and resources and encouraging teamwork.

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Steve Taplin

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November 11, 2022
Why Founders Need Coaching in Each Stage of Company Growth

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As organizations grow and mature, they go through predictable stages, each of which requires a different form of leadership in order to drive success at each stage. Coaching ensures that leaders are supported and growing exponentially in order to support this rapid evolution.

We can refer to the stages of venture capital funding as a roadmap to match leadership and organizational dynamics. Each stage of organizational growth requires distinct skills and mindsets, and they are surprisingly different.

The shift from being a contributor to a leader brings in the human factor, and managing others who are doing the work becomes primary over doing the work yourself as a founder. This is accompanied by increasing pressure from the market, board and associated complex decisions that involve many other humans for the first time. The best investment a leader can make is in having a place to actively develop in an effort to meet the different needs of each stage. Coaches can support the transformations that are required.

Related: Coaching: The Best-Kept Secret to Growing as an Entrepreneur

Early stages (pre-seed to A)

At the earlier stages, from pre-seed to early A-rounds, the work is hands-on, intensity-driven and revolves around key decision-making with co-founders and other early-stage employees. Leaders are individual contributors, and the work is both creative and technical. This stage requires moving very quickly, focus, ruthless prioritization and sharp hiring practices, as each new hire can be existential. That is, based on its small size, the company can either thrive or struggle based on one person. All of these efforts are focused on establishing the core product and service.

This stage is fairly existential: The company is literally being born, and most decisions have a big impact. Keeping things focused and moving quickly is paramount; people report that this stage is fueled by energy and the passion of the founder. A coach can help a founder focus, prioritize and learn about the beginnings of their business. At this stage, coaches frequently counsel the entire team; their effect is systemic and broad as they help the team work through designing early management processes, provide feedback to each other and learn as they make critical decisions. They can also help quarterback other key resources and advisors who assist in the success of the business.

Related: If You Haven’t Hired a Business Coach, You’re Holding Yourself Back

Growth stages (B to C)

The beginnings of the growth stages, sometimes from the A-round but peaking at B or C rounds, are where the true organizational foundations are laid. A leadership team forms, strategic HR is hired, and processes are built to drive the organization and enable it to scale. It’s during this time that culture comes to the forefront. In this stage, the CEO and other executives begin to focus on the organization as much as the product, and a true executive team begins to form. This requires a different, more human, skill set. Leaders have to become process builders.

These are also the stages in which leaders need intensive counsel and coaching so they can successfully make the transition from early-stage product leader to organizational leader. This requires an operating system change. It also typically requires a deep dive into where they ascribe value and the mental model of their role, which is to enable others to build and thrive versus doing it themselves. Growth-stage leaders also have to be process builders. They are the ones who build infrastructure that has not existed before, and this lays the foundation for the organization at scale. The competencies that enable this include emotional intelligence, vision, communication and narrative-building skills, a subtle understanding of cultural and social dynamics and the ability to motivate and inspire.

Coaching is key in developing these areas. A coach can help a leader upgrade their operating system and process the fundamental shifts at this stage. By offering reflective inquiry and support, the coach helps the leader understand that their value comes from letting go of parts of the business, building culture and the more symbolic aspects of their leadership. If they make it, these stages of growth can transform a leader into the mature version of leadership we know from larger companies.

Related: 4 Ways a Coach Can Help You Lead Your Business to Success

Late stages

Later-stage companies build on the growth stage capabilities, and human-centric skills become even more important. For many, cross-functional relationships facilitate their effectiveness. However, this can feel political or jarring, as they are used to having full vertical control and have experienced seamless collaboration with a smaller leadership team. As such, this requires having more one-on-one meetings with peers and realigning mental models around horizontal leadership: your peers are how the work gets done.

Innovation and breaking down processes can also be important, as the creep of institutionalization requires a refresh of the original fire. Leaders have to focus even more on presence; their leadership brand is what speaks when they leave the room.

Lastly, at this stage of scale, a business has a greater responsibility to all of its stakeholders, including the community and the planet. It is critical for a leader to have a point of view and aligned actions around that responsibility.

A coach at later stages helps a leader untangle cross-functional relationships and practice difficult conversations. Coaches support the leader in understanding the subtle cause and effect of leadership at scale and provide a mirror for a leader to pull apart incredibly complex decisions. Leadership at this level is highly symbolic and drives ripples of culture. A coach can help the leader understand how they are showing up and how that impacts engagement and motivation across thousands of people.

At all stages, having an open space to process the complex changes that occur and make diligent adjustments is critical. Coaches help leaders address key blind spots that can impact a company’s long-term, sustainable success. Investing in coaching at all levels of leadership provides one of the best mechanisms to scale the humans and human-centric skills as the business scales.

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Matt Auron

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November 7, 2022
How to Solve Quiet Quitting Without Shaming Employees

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You have probably heard of quiet quitting. If you haven’t, it’s simple: An employee continues to do their job — there’s no actual quitting involved — but they disengage. They don’t give 110%. They don’t even give 100%. Their heart is no longer in their work (if it ever was). And so, they don’t sit up, they slouch. They do only what they must.

What do we do, then, to address this? Clean house? Fire the quiet quitters and strike fear in all who are left? Install spyware on their work computers that monitors all that they do? Many will offer that kind of advice. They’ll give hard-nosed guidance for how to get 110% from our people — which is both unreasonable and logically impossible. That path is a dead end.

By taking a long, hard look at how we do things and acting on the faults we see there, we can solve the problem of quiet quitters once and for all.

Related: 8 Ways to Avoid Your Employees Quiet Quitting on You

Where did quiet quitting come from?

Word of quiet quitting has spread via social media, LinkedIn in particular, and much has been written about it since then. Many erroneously see remote and hybrid work as catalysts. Workers aren’t saying “hello” at their coworkers’ glamorous cubicles; they’re not getting in-the-flesh visits from immediate supervisors and pats on the back from well-compensated executives. They’re on longer leashes than before, and now this disaster — a quiet, but rampant innovation-killer — has struck.

On that point, I am skeptical. Time spent in the confines of the office does not equal greater productivity, creativity or innovation. Let’s admit it: Too much of traditional office time consists of long lunches, sharing company rumors, zoning out at a desk and fretting over the next visit to the corner office.

Quiet quitting did not start with remote work and its lack of supervision. It’s only that people are talking about it now. If anything, that is what is new about all of this: We’re finally opening up about something we couldn’t discuss at work for many years, lest we get overheard.

Why are people really quiet quitting?

Let’s try talking with a random employee in our organization. Ask a few questions, like, “Could you describe your company’s strategy?” “What are your organization’s current goals and KPIs, and how you are contributing toward them?” “When was the last time you were given an honest update on how the company is doing overall?”

If we get clear, accurate, unhesitating responses, then congratulations. We don’t likely have an opaque culture that stimulates quiet quitting, and it’s likely because we’re among those who have taken the right steps to ensure our people are fully engaged — not only with their own duties but with the company as a whole.

Quiet quitting results from not doing what it takes to ensure employees can answer questions like those above. From the jump, quiet quitters were probably never truly engaged with the company or organization they work for. They don’t have a voice, don’t feel essential and don’t know why what they do matters. They’re acting in a way that seems right.

Quiet quitting is not a disease. It’s a symptom of a disease, and the cure does not lie in shaming quiet quitters or pulling them back to the office so they can quietly quit under our noses without mentioning it again. If forced, once they’re back in the building, employees will start looking for the exits in favor of finding another job where they can be free and make their own choices, like the adults they are.

All of us, managers and leaders, should look in the mirror, take stock of how we do things, and see what wrinkles we can iron out. Let’s find where we’re losing the people we’ve hired and see what we can do to correct that. Here are five things to consider.

Related: Quiet Quitting Is Taking Over the Workforce. Here’s How to Fix It.

1. Start at the very beginning

What does it look like when we bring a new employee into the fold? What are they told about their place in the organization? How aware are they, not just of what’s expected of them and how they can best perform their duties, but of the long-term or even short-term goals of the company as a whole?

Most of us have visions for our companies, not to mention metrics that we’re striving for. But when have we communicated that to the people who are there to help us achieve it?

2. Put the big picture on display

What do we do on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis to promote a real sense of psychological safety, openness and belonging among our employees? How do we keep them informed about the company’s long-term goals so they don’t get lost in the bureaucracy and day-to-day tasks?

If we have quiet quitters working for us, the answer to those questions is likely “Geez, I don’t know,” “Nothing” or something similar. Or the things we’ve been doing are not quite enough, and it’s time for a reevaluation.

3. Stop talking. Start listening.

Leaders don’t have a monopoly on vision. We can learn a lot from the people we’ve hired — surely that’s part of why we hired them in the first place. Perhaps it’s time for genuine connection, where we listen, rather than talk, and we see what they have to say, rather than tell them what we think.

Let’s not ask, “How happy are you with your job?” Let’s be real. No one who’s unhappy at work will risk losing a job by saying so to the boss. Instead, let’s ask where an employee thinks the company is headed. Ask for one thing they would change about the job, and see what we can do about the bureaucracy, dysfunction and inefficiencies that your “quit quitters” are surely noticing.

4. When all else fails, let go

It’s true: Sometimes it’s time for quiet quitters to quit less quietly, and the best thing is to part ways. Sometimes it is not about what we’re doing wrong or not doing at all, and we must cut ties. There is nothing shameful about that.

It could be that we hired the right person, but they’re not in the best place to do their best. Going separate ways is for the better. We can also pay the disengaged people to quit. It’s been done before, with good results for everyone. But if we do this, it’s important to engage the rest of the workforce to make sure we’re doing more than weeding out the ranks seasonally.

5. Take a look in the mirror

Too many commentators write and talk about quiet quitting without considering the root cause of the problem. Too often the attitude toward them is shaming and punitive.

But it’s not about the people who work for us. It’s about us and what we have done or not done to ensure our organization behaves like a well-oiled startup.

Innovation requires freedom, and being an employer of choice requires that we liberate our people to be themselves and do their best. We must accept that our employees are likely to have ideas on how to grow and streamline the organization that could be way better and more informed than ours.

Related: Are You a Victim of Quiet Quitting? Look in the Mirror for Answers.

People are quiet quitting because we aren’t being realistic and taking personal responsibility as leaders. We’re forgetting how to drive an engaged and transparent culture of innovation. And that is what we must understand if we’re to fix this problem.

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Alex Goryachev

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November 3, 2022
How to Set Measurable Goals and Achieve Maximum Success
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As an entrepreneur or business leader, there are myriad reasons why you should care about goals: They help lead you in the right direction for your vision; they motivate teams and hold them accountable; they help leaders make decisions, clarify priorities and eliminate day-to-day distractions.

But most importantly, the measurement of goals will help you track progress and explain the direction of your business to funders and other opportunities for financial capital — and the best way to do this is to include goals in your strategic plan.

A strategic plan captures and communicates your goals to various audiences. The strategic planning process includes a document that summarizes your vision for the future of your organization and lists the goals and objectives to reach that vision. The result of this process is not only meeting the goals you were seeking, but also achieving greater organizational capacity, hitting your mission, generating greater revenue and being more financially secure. Here’s how to do it right.

Related: How To Create A High-Performing Strategic Plan

A common challenge with goals

You’ve likely been hearing about goals since you were a kid. They’ve been taught and promoted to you by your teachers, counselors, coaches, bosses and so on.

As a result of all of the different inputs, you have likely learned different definitions of goals. In fact, I bet that if you ask members of your team to define a goal, then you’d get a variety of different answers — and that’s a major problem.

One of the challenges that I frequently encounter as an obstacle to successful strategic planning is the varying definitions of goals that team members have. When your team members define goals differently, they approach goals and performance with different perspectives and ends in mind.

So let’s get everyone on your team on the same page with a common definition of a goal.

I take my goal-defining guidance from the world of sports. In soccer, for example, a goal happens when the ball crosses over the goal line. In hockey, a goal is scored when the puck crosses the line. There are numerous other sports examples, but all of them provide crystal clarity for when a goal is scored.

Applying this concept brings me to the following simple definition of a goal: a specific and measurable desired achievement.

Related: A Guide to Goal Setting

How to write strong goals

You may be familiar with the well-known SMART mnemonic acronym for writing goals:
- S: Specific
- M: Measurable
- A: Accountable
- R: Relevant
- T: Time-bound
Over the years, I’ve found the SMART acronym to be quite useful. My definition above highlights the specific and measurable elements of the SMART acronym.

Most of the time, the “A” in the acronym refers to either “achievable” or “attainable.” While that works, I think “accountable” (or even “assignable”) is stronger. All too often, I see teams create goals that don’t have people identified as being accountable to them. And, not surprisingly, the goals don’t get completed.

Regarding the “R,” as in “relevant,” your goal should be taking you in the direction of a long-term vision.

One other thing: I like to add a “goal topic” to the beginning of goals on a strategic plan since it helps readers get a quick idea of what the goal is about. For example, when setting a goal of receiving a specific score on a staff survey, I’d use the goal topic of “staff engagement.”

When developing your goals for your strategic plan, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is it specific?
- Is it measurable?
- Does it have accountability?
- Is it relevant?
- Is it time-bound?
You’ll know you’ve got the right goals for your plan when the answer to each of those questions is “yes.”

Related: Define Your Short-Term Goals With These 3 Components for Long-Term Success

Goal guidance for your strategic plan

There are two different types of goals that you can develop for your strategic plan: results goals and process goals. Results goals are accomplished when a specific metric has been achieved. Process goals lead to the completion of a plan, process or system.

That said, you may be wondering about how you can measure process goals. Those goals are complete when you have a documented process in place. Sure, it’s not a number, but it’s still a measurable achievement.

This leads me to a very important piece of guidance. Several years ago, I started to notice that organizations I worked with that were really succeeding in strategic planning utilized a high percentage of process goals. In other words, they created and achieved goals that helped them develop capacity-building processes. So, be sure to consider including process goals in your strategic plan if you want to create the changes you’re seeking.

I recommend having goals on your strategic plan that are organization-wide that have a completion timeline of several weeks to one year. You can also list action items, the individual tasks of the larger goals, that will take a shorter amount of time to complete.

In summary, it’s critical that you and your team have a common approach to how you write strategic goals. This guidance will help your organization solidify its strategic plan and achieve greater success.
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Eric Ryan

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November 3, 2022
3 Simple Reasons to Add Technology to Your Non-Tech Business

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You are a business owner but aren’t in the tech industry, so why would you need to focus heavily on adapting technology in your daily workflow? Some people may say you don’t need to. However, I’m here to put a bug in your head and prove how technology is critical to any business across any vertical. And that includes you!

We know technology can be intimidating. It also can be complex, and there are seemingly endless options. So, is it worth the cost, integration headaches and question if you are picking the right ones? Yes! Here are my top three reasons to focus on technology, and I’ll explain how to integrate it into your business:

1. Not applying technology means you could face a technology deficit

Let’s face it, not having a line item in your books for technology and software subscriptions means your company will hit a point where you can’t grow any further. Whether your marketing team will be missing major data points for essential customer acquisition or your efficiencies will eventually put you behind, your competition could pass you by (we’ll get to this one more in the next point). No matter the roadblock you will hit, the point is your growth will have to slow down or halt. You don’t want to wait until that point to use technology once the train has left the station without you!

Related: 5 Types of Technology All Entrepreneurs Need Access to in the Digital Age

2. Results are everything

No matter your business or vertical, your most valuable resource is your team. How can you empower your team to work smarter, not harder, and ultimately produce the best results? The answer is with the right technology! Even if your staff has been set in their ways and doesn’t want to learn a new program, you must pick the right operational systems and offer proper training. A minor setback in the learning curve will mean a huge uptick in productivity.

I once ran into a mid-sized company that was technologically behind due to not prioritizing this aspect of its business. This inadequacy caused marketing and sales to lag compared to its competitors. I likened their technological powers and abilities to taking a knife to a gunfight.

If a company can increase its operational automation in the marketing space, that would allow it to understand its target customer and truly understand how to sell to its market in an efficient and results-driven way.

A data warehouse and congruent CRM would allow this business to properly segment and hit goals for its best marketing demographic more accurately. Identifying, understanding and addressing low-hanging fruit, such as abandoned shopping cart funnels, is crucial.

When you are focused on results, technology almost always needs to be integrated to increase efficiencies and drive sales in the long run. And it’s always easier and cheaper to integrate the right technology early to ensure your team is trained and using it along the way!

Related: How Technology Is Shortening the Road to Fame

3. You’re increasing your footprint of liabilities without the right technology

I’ve seen every range of technology integration, from the tech-savvy millennial CEO who relies on data and analytics for every business decision to the companies that don’t integrate it at all and still use a pen and paper within every significant department. However, if you are closer to the latter, you are potentially putting your team at a huge safety risk. If you have only minimal or wrong technology, you could be putting your customers, reputation and finances at risk too!

I’ve even seen clients using only a single source for major bookkeeping and documentation, like Excel. One wrong move or fat-fingered mistake can change your calculations completely. Or worse, delete everything! If that isn’t risky, I don’t know what is.

Technology can feel overwhelming, which is often why we hear people stay away from adding it to their daily workflow. However, there are simple ways to make that change. Start with finding a company to give you a technical audit — which is often cheaper than you might expect. Take their advice and then apply it in chunks.

You may not need to go from 0 to 100 in the first week. You can slowly add, integrate and manage critical technology into various departments as you feel comfortable. And as I mentioned earlier, a key to tech success is training! Empower your team to take the tech leap with you and work on this together. Everyone can learn a new trick, and it could even be fun! Finally, ensure that you have a base infrastructure to make the ideal environment for success. This includes having the basic technology hardware and compatible systems in place.

Take this article as your sign to take the first step and better your business with tech!

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Craig Ceccanti

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November 2, 2022
How to Create a Work Environment That Supports Grief and Loss

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Many people lost a loved one in the past two years due to Covid-19. Employees, communities, companies, organizations and institutions faced severe losses in the workforce and will never be the same as we were before 2020.

Despite this, many employers want the workplace to return to a certain degree of normalcy. While this may seem like a consciousness-based decision, the pandemic exposed apparent social issues and gaps organizations can no longer ignore if they want to adopt a more wellness-based enterprise and culture.

The workplace will never ultimately return to “normal,” because the global pandemic left a scar on the lives of the bereaved and their mental health. Before, grieving was situational; but in light of the pandemic, many people experienced tremendous loss — almost everyone was grieving, especially employees. The most important stakeholders are your employees, and their well-being is the most valuable asset to any organization. They are instrumental to incremental growth and development.

Grieving wasn’t always appropriately addressed by the workforce. Employers need to embrace this change, recognize when someone is grieving and make them feel comfortable about being transparent and vulnerable. The workplace has a duty to be mindful of employee and worker wellness.

Related: ‘Corporate America Is Killing Us.’ Employees Share Gut-Wrenching Stories That Reveal a Compassion Crisis.

The pandemic normalized grief and loss

Covid-19 has wholly transformed the working world, including how a company’s culture includes those who grieve. Grief is not only a series of emotions one experiences after losing someone — it is a new identity the bereaved needs to learn and understand. It is not an easy process, especially in the workforce. Believe it or not, grief fundamentally changes someone and their perspective. They may never be the same again — their values, motivations and interests may change.

The dire consequences of unsupported and untreated grief can have long-lasting effects in the workplace psychologically, emotionally and even financially. A company’s culture of death, loss and grief can be what makes someone stay or leave. The workplace needs to be proactively mindful of the people around them who may be experiencing feelings of grief and loss. Many withstanding challenges can become persistent when there is a lack of practices, policies or systemic culture to best support grieving employees.

Foster the emotional space

Grieving can be challenging and lengthy. When someone loses someone close to them, this can cause them to feel overwhelmed. They may worry about how they will manage their role and productivity. They may encounter additional stress, burnout and brain fog. Managers should open up the space for employees to share their feelings and express concerns about moving forward.

Ask your employee how they want to be supported. It is imperative to learn how to show up for employees, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Related: What Grief Taught Me About Running a Business

Create environments where productivity and innovation can thrive. Employees should feel celebrated for their contributions to the organization. Employee autonomy is crucial because some are very comfortable talking about their grief, while others may not. It is their choice if they would like to talk about it, but knowingly having the support is what makes the difference. A thoughtful manager goes beyond delegating tasks and ensuring teams continue to be productive and organized.

Communication and support are two of the most valued components of the workplace. Employees are more than their position; therefore, managers must acknowledge their employees as people. These honest conversations allow leaders to identify where extra support is needed for teams to prosper and produce efficient results. Most importantly, this will help managers build rapport and better relationships with their team members and actively play a role in shifting how the company approaches workplace grief.

Some solely want work to remain at work, but investing in employees’ emotional support will be tremendously helpful for retention, cultural change and employee branding. Employees should not be alone and carry the burden of being the only ones initiating changes they want to see. Real change begins with upper management, and when they lead by example, it will trickle down to all areas of the company.

Thinking back and ahead

It isn’t only about creating a safe space for employees; fostering an environment that supports grief and loss includes implementing company-wide policies to produce structural changes. Do you offer generous bereavement leave for employees to reflect on their grief? If so, is it communicated thoroughly to employees?

Do you have mental health training for employees to take? If you do not, consider consulting with outside trainers or starting your own training plan. It is necessary to make sure you highlight the area of grief, so your colleagues will know how to treat and support people who are grieving.

Related: 4 Tips for Entrepreneurial Survival During the Grieving Process

Create a comprehensive grieving plan if you think your company can benefit from an individual training plan. This plan can detail what grieving is, how emotionally hard it can be, why it is essential to recognize it, the emotional toll it can have on someone, how to be empathetic to others and even suicide awareness to address workplace mental health and suicide.

Begin your meetings with mental health check-ins to see how everyone is doing emotionally. Consider hosting a “lunch and learn event” on what grieving is like in the workplace and how it impacts and intersects with occupational identities.

Sometimes, your entire company will experience grief when an employee passes away. Consider implementing a course of action on how they can be honored. Would you give your employees a paid day off to grieve? It would help if you had a communication plan to outline what your message would be to the entire company. Does your company specifically outline mental health benefits if your employees need professional care?

Always have the conversation

If you want your company to embrace a culture of support for grief and loss, the conversation must always be happening. The conversation cannot stop when things seem to return to “normal.” Grieving is a lifelong journey, and the support must always be there. Finally, grief is just one aspect of creating a workplace of holistic wellness and well-being. You can’t only tackle grief; you must ensure that all work areas of wellness are treated and supported.

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Zane Landin

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October 21, 2022
This Book Could Change Business, Politics and Relationships Forever

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Finance and Real Estate Extraordinaire Jeffrey Meshel Releases Bombshell Book on Trust, the Pillar to Every Decision

Press Release
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Aug 4, 2022

NEW YORK, August 4, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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The world is not running on trust these days, and it is divided and falling apart as a result. In fact, distrust and apathy are at all-time highs. “If you truly trust someone, you can close your eyes and believe that person will guide you safely in the dark,” writes Jeffrey Meshel (aka Waywill), in his fascinating and sobering book, Trust is a Double-Edged Sword: Trust Me, releasing today in an updated and expanded version.

“A trusting relationship is open and reciprocal; both parties meet on a field of transparency, mutual aid, and informed choice. When any of those factors is violated, either unilaterally or by both parties, trust is destroyed.”

Even though individuals don’t think about trust every day, they should. Why? It is the basis for decisions, functioning in business and intimacy, and who to follow and elect as leaders. Meshel, who is also the author of One Phone Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker and The Opportunity Magnet, gets personal and shares accounts of how broken trust has brought devastating consequences upon his life. He does so because he wants every leader and individual to be honest with themselves. Everybody has experienced trust violation.

But lessons and insights abound—as courageously revealed in Meshel’s latest book.

Purchase now! https://www.amazon.com/s?k=trust+is+a+double+edged+sword&i=stripbooks&crid=TEF9WTT1HO1G&sprefix=trust+is+a+%2Cstripbooks%2C56&ref=nb_sb_ss_mission-aware-v1_1_11

Jeffrey Meshel is an effective speaker and coach on relationship management, strategic partnerships, navigating and healing from divorce, and of course, TRUST. For booking, contact: meshelj1@gmail.com. Follow: @JeffMeshelAuthor

Source: Jeffrey Meshel, Author

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August 4, 2022