The Summer of 2012 promises to be an eventful year, with Euro 2012 starting on 8 June, the Golden Jubilee with its additional bank holiday on 4-5 June, and Olympics and Paralympics starting on 27 July.

This is bound to place additional strain on the resources of small businesses, with potential for increased sickness absence, employees wanting to watch key events during working hours, travel problems etc.

It makes sense to plan now for these events, so that you can maintain ‘business as usual’ whilst taking steps to keep employees motivated.

The following ideas might help you to make it through the Summer successfully:

1. Consider now whether or not you intend to pay employees for the additional Diamond Jubilee bank holiday. Does your contracts state ‘all bank holidays’ or ‘eight bank holidays? What did you do last year for the Royal Wedding? This is something to consider before you speak to your employees, we are happy to discuss this with you. If you do intend them to have this paid, tell them, don’t just let an extra day’s pay go by unnoticed;

2. Consider allowing staff to watch key events at work to avoid a surge in short term sickness absence or last minute requests (you may need a TV licence to do this). Remember those that may not want to watch any events, how will you ensure they do not feel as if they are ‘left to do all the work’;

3. Communicate with staff this month, giving dates for all these events, and encouraging employees to think about any time off they intend to take off in advance. A little planning now could save you a lot of unplanned absence later;

4. Review your short term sickness absence policy if you have one. If not, plan now how you intend to deal with unacceptable levels of short term sickness absence;

The following links provide all the key dates you will need to know for the Olympics and Paralympics as well as Euro 2012:

http://www.london2012.com/schedule-and-results/index.html
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2012/matches/index.html

Finally, contact me if you need any further advice, or if problems arise over the Summer.

Regards

Jane

Summer has arrived (allegedly!), bringing with it high levels of employee holidays, school events and the additional challenges of the Olympics.

If, like many businesses, you have downsized with absences and holidays, this summer is likely to put an even greater strain on the people that drive your business forward – your employees.

So how can you keep your employees motivated, the business working and making a profit?

Maximise the psychological contract between you and each of your employees.
It has been defined as ‘…the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other.’

This is the real contract that exists in the mind of every employee. It affects their sense of well being, attitude, performance and captures what the employee really believes they will get in return for what they give.

If the psychological contract is damaged or broken, it is likely to have a negative impact on the employee’s commitment and performance.

Take these 4 steps:

1) Plan – take a step back now, and plan how you will cover the holiday period

2) Communicate – involve your employees in the planning process; communicate the plan to them; tell them where their role fits into the bigger picture;

3) Recognise individuality – think about how you can maximise each individual’s strengths

4) Praise – take time out to thank employees when they go the extra mile – genuine praise counts for more than any pay rise in the long term; the boss who gets ice creams and cold drinks in on a particularly hot day is always remembered

These steps are important in normal daily activities, but in challenging times, they are absolutely critical to the success of your business.

For more advice or to chat through other ways to help improve the psychological contract, just call me on 07810 563 676 or email me.

No harm in chatting and improving business.

Please feel free to pass this onto anyone you feel would benefit from it.

Regards
Jane
PS If you missed the Olympic email I sent out before, let me know and I will forward it to you.