With so much ambiguity surrounding the workforce in recent years, a healthy work environment is more important than ever. For employers looking to add to their teams, quality job seekers will seek out this type of work environment and many won’t settle for less.

A successful company is shaped by happy, thriving, and productive employees. The workplace culture each organization is made up of is will not only impact day-to-day work, but it’s also indicative of future achievements. For company leaders who strive for success, cultivating a healthy work environment should be at the top of your list.

Below are 8 tips for a healthy work environment that will breed productivity and create a more successful company.

Hire the Right Team

With the right team in place, anything is possible. Our executive search firm can make this happen, using impeccable judgement and industry experience to identify and attract the best talent. A healthy and inspiring work environment will retain a team full of positive, productive employees.

Open Communication and Transparency

A work environment with open communication and transparency allows each team member to feel comfortable sharing ideas and offering their input, creating a deeper sense of community. Honesty is always the best policy and will benefit the greater good of the office in the long run.

Reward Hard Work

Hard work and accomplishments should never go unnoticed. Showing appreciation for hard work and commitment to the company leads to positivity and overall happier employees. Keep spirits and workplace morale high by rewarding hard work, praising successes, and celebrating when appropriate.

Encourage Movement

Movement throughout the day will lead to more productivity. Encourage everyone to get some movement in during the day, whether it’s a group fitness class in the morning or taking a walk during lunch. Taking breaks every few hours to get some movement in will make a big difference in reducing stress and avoiding burnout.

Promote Collaboration

Collaboration is the key to a successful team. Promoting healthy collaboration will make each member of the team feel valued. Working as a team instead of individuals is critical for the success of the company. Even if your company works remotely, bouncing ideas off each other on Zoom calls can foster will promote collaboration and breed more productivity.

Allow Independence

Collaboration should be encouraged but independence is also a virtue. When a team feels micromanaged, the workplace morale suffers. Trust in your employees to do the quality work they were hired for without hovering over them and stunting their workflow.

Provide Learning Opportunities

Providing more opportunities to learn and hone their craft will boost positivity in any work environment, making your team feel they are worth it to invest in. Offering free webinars, workshops, and online programs will keep everyone current on the latest technology and best practices in your industry.

Support Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is crucial to success. Without it, your employees will burn out and not be able to give their work 100 percent. Create a work environment that recognizes everyone has a life outside of the office and be accommodating to schedules that need some flexibility to balance it all.

JW Michaels & Co. is an executive search firm dedicated to serving the specialized recruiting needs of top-tier financial services, legal, technology and business institutions. Contact us about our Executive Search and Flexible Staffing Solutions today.

Life events will always come up that will cause employees to resign from their positions, such as moving out of state or deciding to stay home with children. However, in most cases, internal factors within the company are what causes employees to leave in search of a job at an organization that better suits their needs. Factors like stunted growth, strained relationships with co-workers or managers and lack of recognition all contribute to an employee’s decision to quit in search of a new job. Here are the common reasons for this to happen, which can serve as a warning to employers who want to retain their employees long-term.

Unchallenged

When employees use their unique skills and talents, they feel they’re contributing to the greater good of an organization. When those skills go unused in the workplace, employees start to feel unchallenged and bored in their everyday lives, which can lead to them starting to look around at other jobs that will challenge and fulfill them on a deeper level. Every good employee craves a sense of accomplishment, purpose, and room to grow.

Lack of Recognition

It can be frustrating when hard work goes unrecognized, and unsurprisingly, employees will get fed up with not receiving proper recognition in the workplace. Your best talent needs to know how much they’re valued, or they will start to question their role in organization.

Relationship with Boss

The employee-boss relationship is an important one, as it’s one of the most prevalent relationships in an employees’ everyday life. This relationship doesn’t need to be a close one, it just needs to be a healthy one. Having a poor relationship with a superior will cause an employee to want to change their environment, especially if they feel undermined or unappreciated.

Relationship with Co-Workers

The same goes for an employee’s relationship with their co-workers. These relationships need to be productive and positive, considering how much time is spent together each day. If there are toxic relationships between co-workers within the workplace, employers should expect turnover.

Trust in Organization

Employees who don’t have trust in their company and worry about its future are more likely to leave in search of a company who provides full disclosure when it comes to financials, layoffs or hiring freezes. To avoid losing good employees over lack of trust, employers should be transparent about any setbacks or challenges, and share steps the company plans to make to get on track for future success.

Influence in Overall Business Plan

Employees should feel like the work they’re doing each day is contributing to the bigger picture. With that said, managers should sit with their staff every so often and go over how the goals they’re meeting contributes to the overall business plan and future goals for growth. If employees don’t feel connected to the work they do, they will leave.

JW Michaels & Co. is an executive search firm dedicated to serving the specialized recruiting needs of top-tier financial services, legal, technology, and business institutions. Since our founding in 2010, we have grown to over a 120+ employees across six offices nationwide. We continue to grow because we stay true to our mission, employing the best people to find the best people. Fill out our form and one of our specialists will contact you as soon as possible.

Congratulations! You made it past the interview process and landed the new position you’ve been eyeing. Now that JW Michaels has connected you to your new company, it’s time to create a notable first impression and set up habits that will lead to ongoing opportunities within the company. Although the following tips are crucial the first few months on the job, carrying them through beyond 90 days is just as important.

1. Seek a Mentor

A mentor is a valuable asset to have when learning the ropes of a new company culture. Seek a mentor who has once held the position you’re in now, and they can help guide you. Gracefully accept their tips and advice on how they did things in the position, then make the position your own and leave your own mark on the company. The most important aspect of a mentor is forming a long-lasting bond that is mutually beneficial. (more…)

Employers should keep their eyes peeled for resume fraud now more than ever in 2018, new research will support. The findings of a Trends and Insights Report by AuthBridge found one out of six job applicants lie on their resumes, a 50% increase from 2016.

The applicants were found to mostly lie about employment related information (12.14%), followed by address (6.67%), references (3.35%) and educational qualifications (1.56%). The report also found males were more likely to lie than females, with 15.71% male candidates found guilty of fake information on their resumes vs. 13.09% of women.

More evidence to support resume fraud comes from the findings of a poll on employees from staffing firm OfficeTeam.  Forty-six percent of employees said they know of applicants who have lied on their resume. The most common lies reported were once again embellishments about educational credentials, as well as stretching employment dates to cover up career gaps and exaggerating about skills.

Hiring managers should be proactive about this resume fraud epidemic, and the following are examples of how to catch applicants in resume lies:

• Follow up with references
• Ask for documents that support claims
• Background checks
• Use behavioral interview techniques

JW Michaels is a leading executive search firm committed to providing specific recruiting needs of top-tier financial services, accounting, legal, technology, and business institutions. Our clients consist of investment management firms, hedge funds, investment banks, law firms, and Fortune 500 companies in every industry. We help place compliance officers, general counsel, patent counsel, IT, legal, accounting, and risk management executives. We are dedicated to your executive search.