Another day with this beautiful life.: 2021

31 days of giving

There's more joy in giving than receiving and this Christmas season we are challenging you to give every day of the last month of the year.

While I encourage you to come up with your own ways of giving, I'm sharing what we're doing with the only purpose of encouraging you and giving you ideas if you are unable to come up with some of your own.
By the way did I mention that while in some instances it will involve a small financial sacrifice, in the majority of the cases it costs zero $$$?
In fact, the most heartfelt donations are of time, of your presence, your attention and your compassion.

Share this post to help spread the spirit of the season.

1. Mail a soldier a Christmas card before December 5th as the military base needs enough time to sort through those and send over seas on time for Christmas.

USASOA Christmas Cards for Our Troops

714 Farmington Road West

Accokeek, Maryland. 20607

2. Mail Christmas cards to senior at your local nursing facilities who typically don't get any cards at all!

Attracting the best talent to create loyalty in your team

One of the first things a candidate looks for in a job posting is the salary!

Salary and benefits could be the deciding factor at the time of selecting between two offers.

Ideally as an organization you are conducting a market analysis every two years to make sure you are remaining competitive in your industry, however if you don’t want to go to those extremes, it’s simple, look to your competitors and find out how much they offer their employees. Then offer more!
To retain your best employees and attract those out there, you will need to invest. Paying your staff is the best investing decision you can make as an organization because in the end the benefits will be in your favor.

And when paying, make sure you are rewarding longevity and loyalty! One of the biggest mistakes I have witnessed organizations make, especially after the COVID19 pandemic, is when leaders do not reward those who have remain with the organization for a long time. Perhaps they do not realize how much a high turnover can cost an organization. Let’s dive into it for a bit.

A turnover is the number of employees that leave a team in a specific period, which typically is a year (www.Bamboohr.com) divided by the number of employees that work for the team, multiplied by 100. For example, if 5 employees left your team last year and you have a total of 20 employees, your turnover rate is 25%. According to indeed.com the ideal turnover rate is as close to zero as possible, with very low performers exceeding the 10%. Go ahead an calculate your turnover rate, I’ll wait!

If your turnover rate is less than 10% you are doing something right and may not need to read on after all. But if you are like many leaders out there and your turnover rate exceeds 10% stay tuned. To find out how you can retain employees you need to find out why they leave in the first place. This is especially true in times of a pandemic, to learn more about those click here

While there are many reasons why someone may choose to leave an organization, many times they leave for a better opportunity. A better opportunity does not always translate more money, but more benefits to the candidate. Benefits can include health plan coverage, PTO and other perks.

So if you are a leader in a relatively “small” organization, in other words you cannot compete with the higher payors, then consider making the benefit package appealing to your candidates. For instance, while salary may attract candidates to that posting, the benefits along with the salary you offer will help them choose you and stay with you. Let’s consider a receptionist who has an offer from company A for $15 hourly rate, and from company B for $13 hourly rate. Company A may offer more money, however their health plan will cost the employee more than $100 per paycheck, while company B will provide with free health plan. In this case it’s a no brainer! Company B pays less, but in long run it’s the best deal for the candidate. In addition, PTO will provide the employee with a more balanced life and thus companies should consider more PTO hours for their employees. I guess what I’m saying is, if your company like many others in these times of a pandemic is facing staffing shortages, high turnover and has no money to compete with the big fishes out-there, consider instead of offering sign on bonuses or increasing hourly rates, to make the entire benefit package more appealing to your prospective candidates.

Rewarding your employees for their loyalty, will be easier and cheaper than finding a replacement for them. A great way to keep them is showing the appreciation for their longevity. Consider, a yearly increase or annual bonus on the day of their anniversary. I've seen companies pay a bonus that equals the number of years of employment in the thousands. For example, on the employee's 5th year anniversary they get $5,000. I've also seen companies give a $1 hourly increase every year starting on the year of their anniversary. Again, it all depends on the financial state of the organization as well as the willingness to consider a rewards program that allows for employee retention. At the time of determining what is the best decision to make when wanting to reward loyalty, consider the employees in your team and their own desires and personal goals. For one employee a growth opportunity is sufficient to reward their loyalty, for another it might be the possibility of spending more family time, and thus more PTO will be more appropriate. This may be dependent on the generations within your workforce. For more information on how to reward based on generational particularities click here.

That being said all the benefits of the world will do no good, if your organization does not offer a healthy work environment for their employees! Read this article to learn how the mental health of the employee is impacted by the work-environment and why organization success is dependent on it.

Staff retention in times of a pandemic

Thank you!

Two words with a powerful effect!
That's no different in the corporate world. In times where we are all struggling to retain our best employees, and it seems harder than ever to secure new hires, it is more crucial than ever to show our appreciation to those who have remained loyal to the organization. I know I do not have to get into how much it costs organizations to replace employees, or to retain new ones, because I'm certain you are very aware of the negative effects of high turnovers. I do however, what you to retain your best staff!

After all a company's most precious resources is that the humans! Your staff should be your #1 priority. They can break or make your organization and if you have not already considered that, it is in your best interest you start soon. Regardless of the industry, if you take care of your staff, they will take care of your clients. It is much easier to train happy, satisfied staff in customer service than it is training someone who has no intentions of staying long or putting their best efforts into the job.

When you ask someone what they need to be satisfied at work their answers most times will fall into these categories: salary, growth opportunities, benefits, work-life balance, work environment and appreciation (Spector, & Spector, 1985). While I hope to create a series of blogs that will investigate each category extensively, I hope today you end this reading with a good idea of how you can retain your staff.

To retain your best staff, you must provide them a compatible salary to begin with. Now let me say this because it is a source of frustration for me and many I know. If you are posting an opened position and instead of the actual salary, you are entering the words "compatible salary," you do not offer a compatible salary for that position. Be opened with your prospective candidates, it will save you and them a whole lot of time. Post the salary! If you have not done a market analysis do one soon. The competitors have and if they offer better benefits than you, while you may still fill your vacant positions, chances are you will always have vacant positions. For more about how to offer better benefits check out another blog on offering the right salary.

Here's another important aspect of employee satisfaction, growth opportunities. You want to give them the opportunities to learn, grow and move on. If you have an employee who has been doing the same position now for years, you need to reconsider whether you truly offer growth opportunities in your organization. Also, before bringing someone in from outside of the organization, consider those that you currently have in your team. Even if you do not currently have any leadership positions available you should be training current employees who have presented either the desire to grow or you feel have leadership abilities into leadership positions.

In these very difficult times, it is important to not just offer a good salary to employees, but a good health plan that won't break their bank. If you as an organization are not covering or contributing to their health plan, you need to reconsider as soon as possible. The most satisfied employees report having a good PTO plan with their organization (Spector, & Spector, 1985). Allowing your team to take time off to regroup and reconnect is essential for a healthy team. Which brings me to the next point, work-life balance. Your staff should not have to jump through hoops to be able to take 2 hours off one day to attend their children's open houses. Nor should they feel like they need to miss out on their children's lives to work for someone that has no compassion. If someone needs to change their work schedule slightly to be able to attend their loved one’s special occasions, so be it! Trust me, you'll have someone a lot more dedicated and devoted to the company's goals if they can balance their work responsibilities with their personal ones.

Create an environment at work where no one is dreading coming in every day to work. This will help your attendance issues and productivity as well. Personally, I make it my responsibility to hear my team laugh daily. Walking through the halls and hearing someone laugh is music to my ears. If they can laugh at work, I know we're doing something well. Everyone is struggling with something in their personal lives and if the time they spend at work can bring them any opportunity to take a breather, then I'm happy.

Staff appreciation is so important! Many people link appreciation to job satisfaction. No one likes working their butt off for someone who's only form of appreciation to their employees is the paycheck they get. If you are one of those who thinks by paying them, you're appreciating them, understand that you will always get out of them exactly what you pay them for. Depending on what industry you are in, to get your staff to do what they are paid for will cost you in the long run. If people come in and do just what is expected of them and then go home, your ship will eventually sink my friend. You want to empower them to do more, you want to instill creativity that will create ways of doing things differently, better, more efficiently. That will come with appreciation. Whether it's a handwritten thank you note, calling them out in a meeting for their extra effort or a gift card for going the extra mile, there are endless ways to show your staff you appreciate them and you do not need to go bankrupt to do so.

Stay tuned for more information on how you can grow in each of these areas above to retain your best staff and create the best environment for your team.

references

Spector, P. E., & Spector, P. E. (1985). Job Satisfaction Survey. American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(6), 693–713.

Employee wellness, why should you care about it?

The purpose of workplace wellness initiatives is to improve the employees’ health and general wellbeing (Grossmeier, 2020). Employee wellness contributes to a better organizational culture (Grossmeier, 2020). Employee wellness also helps team members achieve a better work-life balance thus allowing for a more engaged and productive employee. The initiatives are created as health promoting programs with measurable goals whose ultimate goal is to increase the employees’ ability to perform while also improving their well-being including their mental health. However, the benefits of employee wellness initiatives extent beyond the employees themselves, it can also improve the financial well-being of the organization. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on health insurance costs for employees, that cost seems to increase over time and that’s because insurance companies assume folks are getting sicker over time given their lifestyles and anticipate they will require more medical care with time (Grossmeier, 2020). Let us not forget also the ramifications we need to deal with when an employee is not in its optimum health (Mancl, 2019). For example, an employee who has suffered a heart attack will likely be out of work unexpectedly, and may not return to full duty for a while. A good wellness initiative will allow instead of employees to get healthier and thus decrease the costs associated with insurance premiers, which translate into less money invested by the organizations who offer health insurance premium coverage in their benefit package.

A workplace wellness intervention that my team and I have recently adopted is we have committed ourselves to eating healthier lunches and increase the number of steps we take daily. This all started after a number of our employees received recent lab results that called for them to make wiser decisions about what they were eating and how active they were before their health would continue to decline. While the intention was never that we lose weight some team members have reported weight loss, but more importantly we are all feeling better about ourselves. It has also helped us deal with stress better and has motivated some team members to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Finally, employee wellness should be a priority for leaders in all industries. Employees who are healthy and have a well-balanced life are more likely to be more effective and productive in the work they do. Employee wellness initiatives should not just aim to improve physical health, but just as importantly we should address the mental health of our employees and allow for psychologically healthier teams.

For more inforation on how to keep your team's psychologically healthy see my blog "The psychological health of your team."

However, Mancl (2019) warns that leaders considering developing employee wellness strategies to consider a few factors first. First there are the financial costs associated with implementing a wellness program, however as leaders it's important to compare these with the costs of supporting an employee who is sick and whose insurance premium will continue to rise. In addition, to communicating the objective of the initiative to the team, the leaders must ensure the current atmosphere and organizational culture allows for the initiatives to be successful. For instance, an initiative that encourages employees to walk more during the day to increase physical activity won’t be successful if the employees are not permitted to leave their desks during their work hours. Moreover, Mancl (2019) encourages leaders to show their commitment to employee wellness by investing in resources that will educate the employees on healthier habits as well. One way to do this is by either partnering with a local gym or bringing some of those services on site. For any goal to be achieved, it must be measured and its important leaders have touchpoints along the way to determine whether or not the team is heading in the right direction (Mancl, 2019). A way I have seen employers fulfill this is by having employees create their own individual goals for health improvements and then report their progress. Also, a great way to know whether improvement has been achieved is during a health screening fair. To improve the odds of employee participation it will be important to engage them in the process of developing these strategies (Mancl, 2019). On that note, it’s important for leaders to know that participation may not be at 100% and in fact participation challenges (Mancl, 2019) should be expected. While participation may change over time with some employees dropping out and others joining in over time, consistency on the programs will be as way for leaders to show that they are truly committed. Furthermore, to keep momentum and maintained the employees motivated it’s important to reward the progress and celebrate success!

To help you as a leader get into employee wellness and rip it's benefits here are a few small ways to go about achieving employee wellness.

create a friendly competition with your team on who can get more steps in on a daily basis
when providing your team with lunch include only healthy choices
do away with unhealthy snacks on those vending machines, and instead include healthier options
encourage employees to park further from the office, so they can walk more every day
set up an alarm every hour to remind employees to get up and walk a bit
encourage them to walk after eating during their lunch break rather than just sitting watching their phones
provide with training on better work-life balance
allow employees to take time off to re-charge
create team-building activities that will also provide them with physical activties, but also allow them to take a mental break. For example, bowling together every month, or going out for walks as a group, softball or basketball teams within the organization..etc.
if you can afford to, bring in a massage therapist for the team as a way to show your appreciation to them.
provide educating material on creating better eating habits
start a library where employees can exchange books with each other, and take one of their daily breaks to read quitely.

Feel free to share your own ideas on increasing employee wellness with us by commenting below.
Thank you for reading!

References

Grossmeier, J., & Johnson, S. S. (2020). Factors Driving Exemplary Workplace Health and
Well-Being Initiatives. American Journal of Health Promotion, 34(1), 105–106.

Mancl, C. (2019). Seven Steps to Creating Value-Driven Workplace Wellness Initiatives,
Professional Safety, 64(7), 12–13.

Nobody wants to get back to work, so who are we going to blame for it?

In the last few weeks, we have seen another consequence of the pandemic that has come to no surprise to some of us. This time last year many were out of work because COVID19 had closed their businesses or because they were not considered essential workers. As a result of it, the unemployment rates skyroketed, and the leaders of our country took on the hard task of ensuring everyone would have enough to provide for their families. Those in industries like the hospitality industry appreciated the decision, as the uncertainty of the time it would take to get back to normal and the lack of childcare for some families kept them from being able to seek a job elsewhere.

Under the Stimulus bill in addition to tax breaks the bill offers families $300 weekly payments according to MSN.com back in March 2021. The American People Rescue Plan stimulus has been slightly updated this year, as at the beginning of the pandemic, so rightly the benefits were more extensive. However, at this point of the pandemic many are calling for the benefits to cease. The reason for it being, in December 2020 the long-awaited vaccines were being deployed throughout the United States. It was expected that by the Spring of 2021 mostof the citizens having been vaccinated, things would be back to normal. However, as you have noticed things are far from over. As of two days ago 290 million doses have been administered, although a little over 132 million people have been fully vaccinated, closed to only 40% of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated. While the reasons for that might be subject for another writing, the truth is we haven't vaccinated even half of the United States citizens, and businesses are now getting back to, well, business.

If you have taken your family to a restaurant lately for example, you have likely experienced slower service, not so much because of the COVID19 restrictions, but because of the lack of workers. On May 5th, my family and I went out to celebrate my oldest 15th birthday, and the restaurant manager, was our waiter and cook. 😨 in whatever, little time he had in between tasks we chatted a bit, and discussed why workers don't want to get back to work. Yeah, we talked about the government stepping in a bit too much by helping a little too much, but we also talked about what are leaders and organizations doing to their workforce that would put them in such a situation.

While we all know for many workers especially does in the hospitality industry they are being paid more to be at home collecting unemployment than they are to be at work, I want talk about why did we get here in the first place. Many workers are citing reasons for their unwillingness to return to work as lack of benefits such as, paid time off, health insurance and the way their leaders treat them. Many restaurant workers depend on tips more than salary to support their families. Restaurant owners often deny their workers benefits, and let's face it, if they did chances are services and products would increase in price which, at the end would affect us all, however here we are now with many restaurants operating at limited capacity now that restrictions have been lifted because there are no workers.

A recent poll I posted on LinkedIn, showed folks are divided as to whether the organizations or businesses are to be blamed for their workers unwillingness to come back, or is it the government for helping too much. However, as always, I'm a strong advocate of employee experience. I do believe that people know the unemployment benefits won't last long, (the current bill has an end date of September 6, 2021) and with the eminent need to return to work soon for everyone they know they have to secure their positions before there are no opened positions anywhere. But really who wants to get back to an oger for boss and no benefits, while working harder than ever? And let me tell you something, this isn't a concern that should be unique to the hospitality industry either. Leaders in other industries including the health care industry should learn from this experience as well. There are those in the hospitals whose funds are dependent on Medicaid for their operations, who should anticipate budget cuts as a results of the Nation's debt for paying all these stimuluses.

If you, as a leader have not considered how this is going to affect you and your business in the near future, you better start brainstorming because this is eminent.

Businesses are now offering bonuses to sign on workers and thankfully many are opting to include benefits in the package they offer their newcomers. However, now more than ever it's important to give employees a reason to continue working for you. Whether you need to do a market analysis and ensure you are remaining competitive with those out there who offer the same as you, or you need to add benefits to the ones you already offer, every leader of every organization should be brainstorming right now on how they are going to retain their employees or soon they will be facing even more financial difficulties as anticipated.

So, what do employees want? They want to feel appreciated; they want to be listened to. You appreciate those who work for you by paying them well, by encouraging and supporting their professional growth. Employees are listened to when they are engaged in the decision-making process, not when a decision is made in the C-suite and then shoved down everyone's throat. Show them respect! Your employees is your first customer. You make them happy, and everything else will fall into place. So enough with the patient and customer experience already. Let's start with employee experience and even your customers will appreciate it!

When your employees are happy everyone wins!

references

Carlsen, A., Huang, P., Levitt, Z., & Wood, D., (2021). How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination
Campaign Going In Your State? The Coronavirus Crisis. Updated May 28,
2021. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-
vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state

I want to travel, but I can't afford it! Here's how you can create a fund for traveling more

If this past years, do we dare say it (2020) has taught us is that life is short and can change at any time. Also, there's nothing left at the end of this journey called life, but the memories you create along the way.

Traveling is a great way to go about creating memories.
It helps you bond with others, learn about new cultures and strengthens relationships.

So why don't we do more of it?

Because we think we can't!

The majority of those wanting to travel don't do it because of lack of funds to do so 🤑 That's because after paying rent and bills and putting food on the table, what are the chances that we may have extra to go on traveling? The truth is, many of us can do more traveling with a few simple steps and your family too can start creating memories together.

Here are a few steps to take to get a fund started for traveling;

1. Make a list of primary expenses. Remember to include your mortgage/rent, utilities, car, insurance, groceries..etc. These are the expenses you can't do without!

2. Now make a list of those expenses that are optional. For example, dinning out, date nights, hobbies..etc. You may need to keep all receipts for a month or review your bank statement to really dive into all those "extra" expenses.

3. Now review with your partner both lists and create a budget. This will allow you to see where you can make changes to put away some money into a 'traveling' account. As little as $20 a week might be enough for you to have a fund at the end of the year for traveling purposes ($20 x 52 = $1040).

4. Don't think you can keep those savings? Work with your bank online banking tools and set the funds to go directly into a savings account from the minute you get your direct deposit. This way you're not thinking about it! OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND! Setting up this automatic transfer from your online banking, is simple and in a few months your savings will add up.

5. Did you know to travel you don't need to pay all the money up front? There are plenty of vacations to take with your family that you can pay on a monthly basis for. So go ahead, check with your favorite travel agency for financing options.

6. Bonuses, taxes, gifts? Consider putting the little bit of extra money you get occassionally into your traveling account or investment account instead of into that new purse or pair of shoes you'd like.

Following these easy steps will allow you to build up a traveling fund that can take your family to places you never thought possible. This way you will create memories that will last a lifetime!

What do you pack for a trip to Italy?

Now that you have reserve your spot on the group tour, start thinking about what to pack.

the luggage should be a light one preferably with wheels for easier transfer from bus to hotel, and vise versa. When considering the size of it, remember, this is a bag you must carry with you multiple times through the trip as we will visit three different cities and change hotels frequently.

your cell phone might need to be charged several times a day, especially if you are using it to capture the memories of the trip. It will be important to get a portable, light weight battery charger.

speaking of plugs, don't forget to get an adapter/converter for your electric devices.

boots!

Pack nice comfortable, walking boots that will give you ankle support, in the event of having to walk uneven terrain. Lot's of this in Rome!
Also, if you happen to be caught in the rain, you'll know your feet will need to remain dried. Tip, do not buy new boots for the trip, or if you do make sure to wear them a lot before going to away. There's nothing worst than walking several hours a day to get blisters from a pair of new boots!

layers as opposed to heavy jackets

It may get cold, or it may not. Rather than packing a heavy winter jacket, that can make it hard to get around, dress in layers.

Jeans~ there's no need to make any fashion statements my friends. Be comfortable and enjoy the trip of your lifetime. You can't go wrong with jeans! 4 for a 9 day trip should be sufficient. And don't forget the t-shirts or long sleeve shirts to go along with those.

Enjoy!

Make your reservations today!

Two easy ways for travelers to enroll:

1. Call our dedicated group member reservation line: 1-800-438-7672

1. Reference Tour Number: 70072333

**It is very important that your group members use one of these methods to enroll rather than on our public website. This will reduce confusion and ensure they are credited towards your Free Place(s).

1. Visit your personalized website: https://grouptoursite.com/tours/ItalyWithLily

Italy 2022

Ciao

For those of you who have known me for a while now you know a few years ago we put a group of people together and went to Europe!
It was an amazing experience and an awesome time. We started in London for 3 days, moved on to an additional 3 days in France (that's right Paris) and finished our trip with 3 days in Rome.
We're doing it again!

This time I'd like to put a group together to visit the beautiful Italy.

The itinerary will include Venice, Florence and Rome.

We will arrive in Venice on November 5th, 2022 and depart 😒 on November 13th.

While round trip and tours are included on the price of $3756, they are optional. If you have miles or points on your airline credit card and want to use those, that's cool! If you have someone you can find you a cheaper flight, even better. The price without the excursions or flights would be $2,139.

You can reserve your spot for $99 if you set up automatic deductions (highly recommended) for the $160 monthly payment or $40 weekly payment. I personally use the automatic deductions because a) out of sight out of mind and b) I don't have to come up with a big deposit for the trip ($300 pp).

What about COVID19?

current policies in regards to Covid-19 and our extended Risk-Free booking period. If you and your travelers enroll on a 2022 tour from now until January 31st, you will have until May 1st 2021 to cancel your reservation and receive a full refund of all monies paid. More information can be found on our Travel Safety Page - https://www.goaheadtours.com/about/plan-travel-with-confidence

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section! No question is stupid and chances are you're not the only one thinking the same.