Mar 17, 2014

The Monday Pep Talk | The overwhelmed employee


INNER BEAUTY
Recently I bought the digital edition of TIME magazine as it featured the "mindful revolution", since I´m always interested to learn more about this subject and it was also a great cover (how important isn´t that?). The other day Forbes ran an article about why companies fail to engage today's workforce. The reasons were many, but one of them is that "the employee is overwhelmed" which is a great expression and says a lot. And that is also why we actually more than ever need mindfulness in our lives on a regular basis, as TIME suggests. The work-life balance concepts have been lost somewhere during the breakdown in barriers between work and life due to all new technology.

Best places to work” companies don’t just have ping pong tables and free lunch, they have a "soul" which makes work exciting and energizing. They invest in great management and leadership. They train and develop people so they can grow. And they define their business in a way that brings meaning and purpose to the organisation" says the Forbes article. As one HR manager put it, “todays employees don’t want a career, they want an experience". I think that is really insightful and says a lot about the coming generations of workforce. 

So what are the top elements that drive a highly engaged workforce? 
  1. The work itself
  2. The management environment
  3. The flexibility and inclusion of the workplace
  4. People’s ability to learn and grow
  5. Trust and meaning from leadership
If you´re interested to read more about this topic I highly recommend to read the whole article in Forbes here.