Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 10, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 33 By Julie Bowditch Julie Bowditch is manager of UMass Cancer Walk and Community Fundraising of UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester. Cancel culture is a topic for its own article, but we are all guilty of establishing bad habits holding us back. Embrace one, a couple, or all 10 of these concepts in the new year and watch your potential expand. 10) Stop wasting time. The pandemic has revealed some very inefficient processes. Figure out the most streamlined, yet thor- ough, way to accomplish your work. 9) Stop interpreting "no" as rejection. Hearing the word "no" can be a painful blow to our egos, but it can be part of a valuable learning opportunity. 8) Stop relying entirely on digital com- munication. It's tempting, sometimes even necessary, to have conversations over email, text, and chat. But even video calls can lack nonverbal communication. When possible and safe, meet in person, espe- cially if the agenda may be contentious. 7) Stop pretending to be an expert at everything. Lean on your team or seek outside assistance when needed. Being aware of your weaknesses is as valuable as leveraging your strengths. 6) Stop doing business in the past. Iden- tify and let go of your prior expectations. 5) Stop expecting your staff to be super- human. While efficiency has never been more vital, you will end up in a far more challenging position if your seasoned, reliable, and loyal (if imperfect) employees are burnt out. 4) Stop ignoring your instincts. Our first instinct can be to question our own instincts, but what if we learned to trust them instead? They're there for a reason. 3) Stop rejecting feedback. Criticism can be tough to swallow. Chose to embrace it instead of taking it personally. We just might become better versions of ourselves. 2) Stop talking about it. DO IT. Through- out 2020 and 2021 we had [valid] excuses galore. So, it's time to get serious about what we choose to accomplish. 1) Stop doing the same thing and expecting different results. Change is hard. If you've calculated the potential risk, analyzed the possible reward, and the math works, go wild. K N O W H O W The next frontier of employee benefits W e may set personal resolutions for the New Year, but what about for work? Whether you've shied to remote work mode, gone back to the office, or are doing a bit of both, tips on ways to reach goals for improvement can be used in your own career and shared with your team as well. Here are some guideposts to keeping you on the path to your resolution destinations. Get accountable and hone in, says Joseph Weintraub, founder and faculty director of the Babson Coaching for Leadership and Teamwork Program. is means to yourself, by writing down your resolutions, but also to others. is includes your manager, those you report to – even friends and family. is accountability equals commitment, and will mean others will hopefully hold you accountable as well. And as he says in Harvard Business Review, it means getting specific. If your goal is to reduce your micro-managerial tendencies, explain to your team you will be delegating more oen. "Tell people: 'is is what I'm working on, and here's how I am trying to do it,'" he says. Define and clarify vague goals. Let's say your goal is to be more assertive. Fine-tune that goal to say you want a $10,000 salary increase within three months, says Neely Raffelini at the InHerSight blog, a career coach and founder of the 9 to 5 Project. at way, your goal is targeted and has a timeframe. Salary research will help you come to the correct number, she says. "Take small steps to be assertive in your daily life," she says. "Speak up about your Starbucks order if it's wrong," (Politely, of course.) See it as done. Envision the goal as getting accomplished, or remember how you have felt when you have completed goals before, says Sarah Graves, chief relationship officer of inviteCHANGE, at SHRM.org. She coaches managers to shi from what she calls portrait to landscape mode, focusing not on tasks, but to the overall strategy. 1 0 T H I NG S I know about... ... What to cancel in 2022 101: W O R K R E S O L U T I O N S T he pandemic has inspired many workers to re- evaluate what they are looking for in a job, leading to what many are calling e Great Resignation. e U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August of 2021. at's nearly 3% of the American workforce. More than half (55%) of people Bankrate surveyed said they are likely to look for a new job in the next year. is is significant considering it costs companies 33% of a worker's annual salary to replace them if they leave. When figuring out how to retain and attract workers, many employers turn to improving work- life balance by offering employees the option to work from home. Others focus on boosting the physical health of employees by offering health insurance plans with physical health incentives for employees who join a gym or start a new diet. Yet most don't give their employees' financial wellness the same consideration as their physical health. ey should. Financial stress costs employers $4.7 billion per week. According to a Bright Plan survey of 1,500 workers, a fih of workers said their financial health has worsened W W BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to WBJ Peter Rice is the chief banking officer for the $2-billion Workers Credit Union, headquartered in Littleton. BY PETER RICE Special to the WBJ during the pandemic and 46% have had lower productivity as a result. According to a MetLife Employee Benefit Trends study, people who are less worried about their personal finances are more productive. In fact, 85% of financially healthy workers reported feeling more productive at work. What if in addition to other benefits, employers offered their workers a way to improve their financial wellness? It takes more than sending them financial literacy information or connecting them with a webinar about how to plan their personal budget. It takes connecting them with a trained financial coach who can meet with them one-on-one. A good coach won't judge, drop a guilt trip, or sell a product. ey will answer questions and provide the tools and support that empower people to make good decisions, no matter what stage of life they may be in. Participating employees will experience less stress associated with money, greater satisfaction with their job, and potentially lower health costs. Workers Credit Union's Workers Way at Work allows Massachusetts employers access to financial coaches they can offer as a benefit at no extra cost to the employer. is added benefit has the potential to improve productivity and retention. Employees can be more fully dedicated to their job if their mind is not distracted by concerns about where they will get the money to meet their monthly bills or pay for those new tires they need before winter. Offering financial wellness as a benefit strengthens corporate culture, provides recruitment advantages, and increases participation in the company retirement plan. Most importantly, it shows employees the company they work for cares about their financial well-being and wants to work with them to contribute to their success. W

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