How to deal with negative people, positively

We have all encountered an individual who – despite everything positive around them – insists on focusing on the negative. These people can make day to day life more stressful than it needs to be, particularly if it is in the workplace.

Luckily, there are many strategies you can employ to avoid getting bogged down by these people:

Active listening
Most people who are exhibiting negative or irrational behaviour feel they have been done wrong by. Once they feel their emotions have been acknowledged, they can move past complaining and onto problem-solving. Listen to what they are saying, repeat back to them what they have told you and ask them questions about how to move forward.

Deal in facts, not emotions
Negative people are often very emotive. They focus on how a situation makes them feel and consider how a situation affects them personally. Avoid engaging in emotion-based interactions in the workplace; always come back to the facts.

Do not take it personally
Everyone has a personal life, and everyone responds to situations differently. If you have not done anything to warrant an unkind interaction with a co-worker or client, chances are their negativity does not have anything to do with you.

Sleep
Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep; it helps with productivity and dealing with stress. It can mean the difference between falling into a negative interaction in the workplace or brushing it off.

Distance and disengage
If you are continually dealing with a difficult coworker or client, it can begin to wear you down. If this is the case, creating distance and limiting interactions with them is necessary to maintain your productivity. Allocate time in your week to deal with them where needed and avoid interactions outside of this designated time.

Offering employees non-cash benefits

Most small business owners would love to be able to offer their more valuable employees a pay rise.

Increasing an employee’s pay is likely to reduce staff turnover, increase job satisfaction and boost productivity by raising motivation and commitment.

Unfortunately, most small business owners are simply not in a position to offer their staff a larger pay packet. However, there are a number of non-cash benefits that you may care to consider as an alternative course of action for recognising and rewarding good work.

These non-cash benefits may not have a dollar value. For example, allowing employees to work from home once a week or rearranging their working hours to better suit other commitments. Non-cash benefits may also have an identifiable dollar value, and in this case employers need to be aware of fringe benefits tax (FBT) before they decide to offer a non-cash benefit.

Non-cash benefits that attract FBT include, but are not limited to, personal use of a company car, cheap or interest-free loans, and entertainment in the form of food and drinks. Typically, where an employee is provided with a fringe benefit, the cost of the benefit is deducted from their gross (before tax) pay and the employer must pay FBT on this amount.

Most employers will pass this tax cost onto the employee. In most cases, FBT will not apply to benefits that are provided to independent contractors.

There are also some types of benefits that are not subject to FBT or receive an FBT concession, including some types of work-related items, living away from home allowances, and benefits that are classified as ‘minor benefits’ (less than $300).

Negotiating price with your customers

Successful negotiation with your customers is key to maintaining strong and mutually beneficial relationships.

Even if you have mastered your sales approach, it is likely you will come across customers hunting for a better deal. Here are three ways to negotiate with your customers for a win-win solution:

Ask questions
Asking the customer questions shows your interest in understanding, and most importantly, addressing their needs and concerns. It also demonstrates that you are willing to come to a compromise. When trying to uncover the customer’s problems, spend time asking questions but let them do most of the talking.

Build rapport
Showing a level of respect and care for the customer is a critical factor in effective negotiation. Try to establish a good relationship before entering the negotiation and remain calm during the negotiation process. Be sure to emphasise how much you value your relationship with the customer and follow-up after the negotiation.

Make reasonable concessions
Before entering the negotiation, think about concessions which wouldn’t cost you much but would bring a lot of value to your customer. Going into the negotiation with a clear idea of how much you are willing to negotiate helps to avoid making unnecessary concessions at the last-minute.

Finding the right cultural fit

Cultural fit should be considered just as important as competency when making recruitment decisions to benefit your long-term business.

Failing to consider cultural fit can lead to plummeting business productivity, poor performance, lost opportunities, poor public relations and high staff turnover. Successful recruitment judges applicants on more than qualifications and experience alone – it extends to assess cultural fit through personality traits and values.

To best assess whether a candidate will fit into your business’s culture you must understand your business’s culture in terms of values and expectations towards teamwork, communication, customer focus, integrity, respect and so forth. Knowing your business’s vision and values will help set a precedent when making hiring decisions.

Culture can be communicated at the beginning of the hiring process through criteria in the job advertisement, for example, working well under pressure may be a necessity. However, the interview often enables the interviewer to best assess the potential cultural fit, as their CV may not accurately reflect the candidate.

When interviewing applicants, use behavioural style questions to gauge cultural attributes. Behavioural questions, such as “Give me some examples of how you resolved conflict at work,” or “Describe a work environment where you had the most success,” are often a good way of ensuring behaviour is congruent with the style used in your business.

An interview is also a good time to communicate your business’s culture and to identify whether the applicant is motivated to match your culture. Explaining the culture of your business helps the applicant to further assess their own suitability, providing them with the opportunity to opt out if their values do not align.

Ideally, employers should equally consider whether the candidate is qualified to do the job and whether there is a cultural fit for the best hire.

Keeping in touch with old staff members

Many employers will simply lose touch with an old employee once they have left the workplace.

Boost employee engagement

Employee engagement is more vital than ever before to a business’s success and competitive advantage.

Workers who are not motivated to work convey a bad impression to customers and are more likely to make mistakes. Employees who are engaged significantly outperform those who are not engaged.

Employees are no longer spending their careers working at one company until their retirement. In today’s business environment employees often have many jobs in their working life. Employees also have greater flexibility on where, when and how they are working, so businesses need to keep their workers motivated and engaged.

It is also more cost-efficient for businesses to retain valuable employees, rather than having to pay the prices associated with recruiting new workers.

There are many factors that can impact an employee’s engagement; however, there are three key drivers. Engagement is affected by the employees:

• ƒƒrelationship with the immediate supervisor

• belief in senior leadership

• pride in working for the company

There are five key areas that managers can focus on daily to encourage employee engagement:

• treat all employees with respect

• give credit when it is due

• communicate clearly, consistently and oftenƒƒ

• offer benefits

• provide an optimal workplace environment for them to thrive.

Employees should feel comfortable to express their ideas regardless of their position or role within the organisation.

Managers also need to recognise the important contributions being made by employees and reward those accordingly. Top performers in the business are an invaluable asset in driving a business forward, so it is important that they are given opportunities to excel and are rewarded when they do so.

How to build employee trust

Cultivating employee trust is a key principle of effective communication, leadership and teamwork.

A lack of employee trust can be damaging to levels of employee engagement and overall business outcomes. Here are three ways to foster employee trust and boost performance:

Be honest
Open and honest communication helps to create trust as employees are informed of any changes that affect them and what is happening in the business. Creating a transparent culture where business leaders acknowledge their shortcomings as much as their successes helps to gain employee respect and boost confidence.

Recognise efforts
Recognition of good work is a surefire way to promote trust. Acknowledging efforts, especially in public, can help motivate employees to continually strive to do better and also inspires other team members to aim high. Providing frequent recognition helps employees to feel valued and certain about their performance and therefore, more likely to stay with your business.

Encourage autonomy
Show employees they are trusted by providing them with greater autonomy in their work. Autonomy provides employees with a sense of control, responsibility and ownership over their work. High levels of autonomy are associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and motivation.

How to become a leader in your industry

Becoming a leader in your industry is neither easy or straightforward; it requires perseverance and passion.

Fortunately, there are ways to influence your market and become a well-respected leader. Here are three ways to get involved in your industry and establish yourself as a leader:

• Develop relationships with influencers

Start reaching out to established industry experts or influential peers to discover how they operate in their businesses. Don’t be afraid to share their content or reference them in your own content (just be sure to tag them in the post). Once you start to establish a relationship, consider interviewing them or asking them for feedback on your ideas etc.

• Research your market

Understanding your audience, direct and indirect competitors and key thought leaders in your industry is essential. Join trade associations, networking groups and business organisations to learn more about your industry and meet others in it. Once you have a thorough insight into your market and where your business fits, you can start to develop a strategy based on your business’ stage in the life cycle.

• Utilise social media

Social networks are ideal platforms to connect with other influencers and share your own ideas and vision. Social media provides a chance to establish your own personal brand which helps to make you stand out as a key influencer. Leverage off sites such as LinkedIn to connect with other professionals and showcase your experience. Regular blogging is a good starting point for those who are trying to establish themselves in the industry.

Tips for creating a healthy business culture

Building a healthy business culture is key to creating a thriving business – it can improve employee retention, productivity and a business’ overall reputation. However, many workplaces are stuck in old routines and fail to invest in their staff.

Poor workplace culture can create a multitude of problems, such as high turnover, absenteeism, poor health and workplace stress. Fortunately, business culture can be reinvigorated; here are three tips to help create and maintain a healthy business culture:

• Hire the right people

Employees form a significant part of a business’ culture, so it pays to recruit the right people. When hiring new staff make sure they share the same values as your business and will fit into your existing culture. A bad hire can damage employee morale and potentially affect relationships with dozens of customers, which can be detrimental to your business’ culture.

• Define your vision

A clearly-defined vision for your business will help set your business apart in the job market and attract high quality employees. Make sure existing employees are on board with your business’ values, mission and overall vision. Familiarise new employees with your brand’s vision and values as early as possible to make sure they understand your expectations and are committed to the mission.

• Value employee opinions

Encouraging team contributions helps to create a positive working environment that is open to new ideas and provides employee freedom. Many businesses thrive on teamwork where individuals communicate regularly, encourage one another and pitch in where needed.

Improving employee performance

Since employee performance can directly correlate with job satisfaction, retention and productivity it pays to invest in improving performance.

A few simple tweaks can dramatically improve employee performance. Here are five ways to commit to improving morale and performance:

• Set clear expectations

Communicating clear goals and expectations is essential in ensuring employees work towards common goals and understand how their contributions will help achieve these goals. Setting clear expectations help to keep your employees engaged and accountable.

• Provide regular feedback

Regular, informal feedback can provide employees with clarification on how well they are performing tasks, what areas require improvement and how their work influences others in the workplace.

• Reward and incentivise

Rewards and incentives can help motivate staff as it shows you appreciate and recognise their efforts. Highlighting individual contributions and achievements through monetary and non-monetary rewards helps employees to feel valued and therefore, more motivated to perform to their potential.

• Conduct performance reviews

The annual performance review plays an important role in employee morale – it can help align employee goals with the business’ goals, address performance issues and work on strategies for improvement such as further training.

• Focus on career development

Invest in career opportunities, such as education and training, to help your staff work towards their short and long-term career goals. Dedicate time to working out your employee’s career goals and skills and consider internal recruiting before filling a role with an external candidate.