Little do you need to feel well, but if you are well, you are the king. The old German folk song might be translated to fit into modern management. We all have known for a long time that employees who feel well work better, make fewer mistakes and are more motivated. Yet when it comes to workplace routine, this company goal is suppressed. It suffers under the restraints caused by fear, worries, frustration and boredom. There are, however, easy methods to make WELL your company psychology.
We demonstrated it in Graz. Our consultant visits the enterprise on a weekly basis, just being “available”. Everybody can come and see him, he walks around the premises. He lends an open ear, manages a relaxed atmosphere and opens perspectives. Where necessary, he re-arranges affairs, helps people to modify views and to re-discover their own value. We simply call his service “Well”. And there is no magic around it. We add one of the most important factors to the work climate by delivering on a basic need: “Take notice of me!”
Even a few months after we started this “oasis of time-out”, we had statistical proof that Well was a good investment. The number of people calling in sick had decreased considerably. We are talking 17 per cent in the first three months. A year later, the number had dwindled to less than half. What had happened? People who had accumulated their fill of misunderstandings, bad emotions and trouble drip by drip until a breaking of the dam could no longer be prevented were now liberating their emotional system in time and digesting small issues when they were still small.
As soon as you realize how the success of an enterprise is determined by its work climate and enterprise ethics, WELL will no longer be news to you. What some “gifted” entrepreneurs exemplify through their own lives because they have a perfect self-understanding, companies stuck with inflexible structures have to find by using WELL and similar assistance services.
Everyone can apply WELL. In small companies, all that has to happen is for leaders to open their eyes and distribute attention. I am not just talking the small gestures, such as “welcome”, but also how you treat common goals, how you communicate, how you reach every member of the team in a diverse and humorous way. You can start in your own environment. Listening is a virtue that has gone lost. (These principles are also true for other associations, such as family, group, etc.).
If you listen carefully, you already did most of the attention-giving job. Sometimes, the important thing is not to offer an answer or a recipe. That is often mis-interpreted as judgements or decrees. Growing sensitive towards the people around you will replace the mechanical attitude towards your employees.
WELL – just remember how much better you do your work if you feel well as you do it. And you should also create your own oases of time-out. Perhaps you have a colleague who talks national soccer league with you over a cup of coffee, or some other “really important” stuff? The kitchen is one of the most underestimated work climate stations! Have fun with wellness = work.
Li
(Translated by EG)
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