Embracing Positivity

Stage 4 Solutions' August 2022 Newsletter - Embracing Positivity

The end of summer is a time of reflection for me. I look back over the season and think about the fun vacations, backyard BBQs and picnics. However, I also acknowledge that this has been a tough year. We are in the 3rd year of COVID, and have had to learn to live with so many changes in our lives. And, with recession fears and constant changes within organizations, it can be a lot to handle. Here at Stage 4 Solutions, we try, daily, to remain positive, to see opportunity in the challenges, to celebrate triumphs, and support each other and our clients. In this month’s newsletter, we wanted to share our approaches to staying positive and continuing to appreciate each day. We hope our ideas are useful to you and your teams.

Embracing a Positive Attitude at Work

There is so much uncertainty in our lives as a recession looms, and we face the impacts of the highest inflation in over 40 years, and supply chain shortages. It is easy to get stuck in negativity.

When we go through such times, it may feel impossible to see the “good” in our lives, especially at work. Most of us spend a great deal of time and effort worrying and stressing about things we don’t have any control over such as disasters, recessions, or as simple as how someone behaves or feels, and the list goes on. However, it is possible to have full control over how we react to events, and to choose to spend the time and effort on things we can control.

There have been several research studies conducted on the impact of positive thinking on success and happiness. For example, a study done at MetLife by Dr. Martin Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania found that optimistic sales professionals outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56%. As a result of this study, MetLife began to screen candidates for optimism, which improved retention and saved the company tens of millions of dollars. Another study published by European Economic Review found that optimistic entrepreneurs earn 30% more than pessimistic ones on average.

Maintaining a positive attitude is not about ignoring the facts or hardships around us, but is a way of shifting the mindset to be able to see the good things even in difficult situations. Anyone can learn this skill and practice it to improve coping abilities, reduce stress and anxiety, enhance the immune system and be more successful in all areas of life.

At Stage 4 Solutions, we have adopted an attitude of positivity and we have seen great benefits. Here are a few best practices we strive to do every day:

Develop a can-do attitude:

Every work day brings new issues and it is easy to get caught up in the difficulties. Instead of giving excuses or complaining, we say to ourselves “we can do this” and ask ourselves “how can we think differently?”; “how can we collaboratively come up with new approaches?” And, most of the time, this attitude helps us progress towards our strategic plans and succeed in meeting even the most difficult clients’ needs.

Start your day focusing on the good vs. the bad:

Even if things aren’t “perfect”, think about the good things that you have in your life and be grateful for them and begin your day with that feeling of appreciation. If you are overwhelmed with a project at work or having difficulties with a colleague, try to focus on the good parts of your job and begin your day thinking about those instead of the stressful aspects of work.

Focus on what you can control:

This is probably one of the most important components of positive thinking based on our experience. When things don’t go well or as expected, we take a moment to think about what aspects of the situation we have control over and what we can do differently that can lead to success. There are many things we cannot control so we try to let go of those things to focus on our productivity. On an individual level, you can control how you react to what is happening around you.

Incident postmortem, lessons learned:

When we win or lose a project, we take a few minutes to analyze what went well, what didn’t and what we could have done differently to improve our work and processes to get better the next time. Losing a project to the competition is tough but this analysis gives us ideas to improve what we can control and the drive to succeed the next time. In case of a win, the analysis is more fun, and it provides us with the opportunity to celebrate.

To read the full article and learn more, please click here.

What Makes a Strong Company Culture?

The past few years have shifted the workforce trends significantly. This year alone has been a one-of-a-kind year so far, beginning with the Great Resignation and an extremely hot job market and then progressing into uncertainty with layoffs and hiring freezes. Regardless of the trends and circumstances, companies always need the right people in the right roles to remain successful which makes hiring the right individuals and retaining top talent a top priority for each organization at all times. Although there are so many elements to attracting and retaining top talent, a strong company culture undoubtedly plays a key role.

Company culture is one of the most complex aspects of a business that consists of several variables to consider when trying to bring different people to work together in a way to promote an environment that has a positive impact on the workplace and business outcomes. And, those variables are key to attracting people who are a match to an organization’s culture. We wanted to understand what our professional network considers the most important component of a strong company culture and we polled our community for their insights.

What is the most important component of a strong company culture? (single answer)

? Diversity practices 11%

? Honesty 28%

? Caring leadership 28%

? Opportunities for growth 33%

?According to our poll results, providing opportunities for growth is the most important aspect of a strong company culture. When organizations integrate career growth opportunities and internal promotions into their practices, employees are empowered to envision their future potential successes, providing a win-win scenario for both the employees to remain motivated and engaged, and ultimately for the organization as a whole to be successful. Establishing a workplace where hard work and both little and big successes are appreciated and rewarded is essential because when people know they will succeed as the company succeeds, they will be more motivated and driven to help the team and organization be more successful.

Following growth opportunities, caring leadership and honesty share the second row with both voted at 28%. Every aspect of company culture can be improved when the leadership team truly puts people first, demonstrating genuine care and compassion towards employees. Adopting a caring culture requires authentic “care” and has to go beyond speeches and written policies, and leaders really need to put care into their daily actions and focus on helping teams thrive. As leaders continuously model caring behavior, a caring culture will be established throughout the organization where every team member is committed to supporting and helping each other. In such an environment, the caring culture will be automatically embedded into HR and recruiting practices and candidates will feel welcome from the initial interactions with the employer. As employees feel a sense of belonging from the beginning of their relationship with the employer, cultural fit and alignment will happen easily and naturally, resulting in higher retention.

To read the full article and learn more, please click here.

Niti??

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Niti Agrawal

CEO Stage 4 Solutions, Inc.

Consulting & Interim Staffing

[email protected]

408-887-1033 (cell)

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