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Surefire Ways To Stay Productive At Work

The lack of productivity can lead to stress, missed assignments, overlooked opportunities, demotion, suspension, and even termination. Thankfully, you can gain productivity through healthy and inexpensive ways. All you have to do is to feel great. You read that right! If you feel better holistically, you become an efficient worker.

So, stay productive at work with these five tips:

1. WAKE UP EARLY

Waking up early gives you an opportunity to get more things done and to earn more in the process. Also, mornings are usually the time when your brain is most focused and alert. Not to mention, there are fewer distractions in the early hours of the day anyway so you can really achieve more things, smoothly.

2. PLEASE TAKE BREAKS

Much like a computer, your brain will needs resetting, refreshing, and de-fragmenting of data in order for the information and memory to be in order. And, if you are able to organize your memory and thoughts properly, you will be able to receive and digest new information easily. Furthermore, you can even solve the problems you had pending! A good 5-20 minutes of break will do the trick.

3. AVOID DISTRACTIONS

In a world where the Internet rules, you must avoid distractions by closing tabs that you do not need, keeping your phone on silent, and by not logging onto your social media accounts. If your browser and phone are kept away and only to be used in emergency cases then, you will find yourself to be more productive than ever!

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

4. REGULAR EXERCISE

A study found that 30-60 minutes of lunch break spent on exercise boosted the workers’ overall performances by approximately 15%. These employees reported better time management skills, increase in satisfaction, and increase in ability to meet the deadlines. Thus, taking a break to keep your blood pumping at work can elevate your productivity.

5. GET QUALITY SLEEP

Getting enough sleep brings you more energy and mental clarity. If your new sleeping arrangement does not seem to work, you can consider to take polyphasic sleep. Polyphasic sleep is a practice of sleeping multiple times throughout the day. It is usually consist of sleeping more than the two times a day. In result, you spend more time awake each day and that could make you more productive.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Sources: 1 & 2

Should I be an employee, a self-employed or an employer?

Many people aspire to be an employer as it entails freedom, independence and wealth. However, the path to entrepreneurship is hardly a bed of roses. In fact, a successful entrepreneur has to possess great fortitude and foresight in order to overcome all the uninvited obstacles coming his/her way. On the contrary, while employees generally do not enjoy as much flexibility as the company owners, they actually face significantly lower (downside) income risks. In addition, employees are often relieved of the heavy emotional and psychological burden that is tied to the complexity of overall business management.

Therefore, whether you are an employee, a self-employed or an employer, there are always pros and cons for any track you choose. At the end of the day, it boils down to what truly defines you and the resources you wield. The approach to searching for your personal identity (and supposed employment status) has thus been highly condensed into the diagram shown below.

Click to enlarge:

Disclaimer: This is just for easy reference.

Is Hiring A New Employee Worth It For Your Booming Business?

Having a flourishing business sounds well doesn’t it? But, for a business owner who has not planned about growth, it is possible to find himself or herself in the crossroads – not knowing where to go next. Furthermore, the challenge rises when the perfect employee for the job is asking for a competitive salary.

Employers must calculate the hiring budget and the total cost of hiring a new employee. Additionally, they can find new ways to gain the help they are looking for on how to keep hiring costs low.

COST OF HIRING A NEW EMPLOYEE

Since the workforce of Singapore consists of a diverse mix of employees in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity, employers are strongly advised to practice fairness especially in the matters of talent recruitment.

This fairness expands to the general obligations of the employers. For instance, the cost of hiring a new employee includes the taxes issues for foreign employees and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for the local employees. CPF is mandatory for all local employees including Singaporean citizens and Permanent Residents that earn more than S$50 a month. And, the maximum CPF contribution rate for the employer is 16%.

Aside from this, the recruitment process can cost you if you are planning to pay for a job advertisement. Fortunately, you can post cheap or free position Ads online through various websites that are available here.

Once you select the perfect candidate, you may have to accommodate to their needs such as purchasing new desk, computer, writing materials, and other tools. Lastly, the hourly wage or the base salary heavily affects the cost of hiring a new employee.

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO GET HELP

After analyzing all the factors that contribute to the cost of hiring a new employee, you may come to a conclusion that you are still low in hiring funds. This is when creativity and alternative ways to get help comes in.

1. ENHANCE YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYEE’S SKILLS

Instead of hiring a new employee, enhance your current employee’s skills to meet your company’s needs. As the business grows, relatively increase the level of responsibility and the amount of salary. By doing so, you can enhance the current employee’s productivity, effectiveness, and loyalty to your company.

Upgrading your employee’s skills does not necessarily equate to burning your pocket. You can search for a variety of affordable workshops that Groupon.sg offers. Here are just some:

a. Instead of hiring a social media manager, learn with the 3 Hr Branding + SEM + Facebook Marketing Workshop for S$28.

b. Instead of hiring a graphic designer for a few projects, learn with the Adobe Photoshop CC Online Course from Teacherbird.com for S$23.

2. HIRE PART-TIME EMPLOYEES FOR YOUR TEMPORARY NEEDS

If your company’s needs are temporary only, hire a part-time employee, as it is more cost efficient. A sense of flexibility, in both the salary and employment benefits, is undeniable when hiring part-time employees. The working hours of these employees are less than 35 hours a week.

Image Credits: Alex France via Flickr with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

With all these in mind, ask yourself this: “Is Hiring A New Employee Worth It For Your Booming Business?”

3. Outsourced Staff

Of course, if you’re truly in need of the assistance and short of human resources staff, you can always rely on a good old recruitment agency to help you out.

It has become a trick of the trade for most companies to hire a Philippine, Indian or China recruitment agency. Should there be a temporary vacant spot in the company’s roster, companies choose to outsource a temp instead of having their current staff pick up the slack. This also guarantees that everyone in the company stays focused on their core tasks.

Sources: 1 & 2

Improve Your Business With Employee Engagement

Do you want to increase your employee’s happiness, safety, participation, and good health? Then, you have to be familiar with the term called “Employee Engagement”. Employee Engagement is an approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to the organization’s values and goals. This later leads to organizational success.

The benefits of Employee Engagement are tremendous.

For instance, a study examined 168 engaged and disengaged employees to measure their stress levels and health indicators. Findings showed that engaged employees reported lower stress as well as improved cholesterol and blood pressure readings. Not only that, they engaged employees are proven to perform better by producing better results. Lastly, research showed that engaged employees have a lower chance (i.e., 5 times less) of experiencing accidents at work than their disengaged counterparts.

Having this in mind, you must know that Employee Engagement is one of the most important things to manage and to measure an organization. Measuring employee engagement may seem like a challenge as it focuses on specific areas of the organization’s strengths and gaps. This shall be observed in a personal and a group level through monthly or yearly surveys.

To boost and manage the employee engagement, here are a few steps you may take:

1. ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR STRENGTHS AND CAPABILITIES

Recognizing the employee’s strengths and capabilities does not always have to be monetary. A respectful acknowledgement of the contributions they have made is enough. Never forget to give your employees flexibility to explore how they can contribute best by allowing feedbacks.

2. CREATE TRANSPARENCY

An organization with transparency creates a room for engagement and a sense of significance. Transparency exists when the leader is comfortable enough to share his or her success to the team.

3. EMPOWER THEM

To enable active participation, put your employees in the position of influence. For example, let them lead a project and choose whom they want to collaborate with. This simple deed will make them realize their own potentials.

Image Credits: thetaxhaven via Flickr with Creative Commons License

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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