Businesses that have the fundamentals right will get through the economic crisis and be well positioned to thrive in better times

Across the world, the effects of Influenza A (H1N1) are being felt business trips and events cancelled, schools closed, and a need for mass screening and meditation.
Public health authorities in most affected countries have issued notices advising people on how to minimize the risk og this pandemic escalating. The three main pieces of advice are:
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing;
• Put the tissue in a bin; and
• If you feel you have a contagious virus, stay home or, at least, away from crowded places like schools and offices.
All this is sensible advice, but let’s faces it: it is what we all should be doing anyway-even with a “common”” influenza. Despite the precedents of avian flu and Sars, authorities are unable to provide specific advice for this latest health threat. So, they wisely go back to the fundamentals.
Similarly, past economic downtowns have provided little useful data for global financial crisis. However, those businesses that have the fundamentals right are most likely to make it through, and thrive when the economy recovers. In other words, just like the H1N1 flu advice: Do what you should have been doing anyway!
Two years ago, when business were booming and the greatest challenge for a recruitment firm or HR department was simply to find and place staff, engaging existing staff didn’t receive- or need- much attention.
Personality and behavioral style tests were done, but used only for recruitment, annual reviews and occasional team building exercises. Now, times are different, and these tools provide a valuable resource in staff engagement in tough times.
They will all help you identify how your staff like to be communicated with, how they respond and adapt to change and how they can best contribute.
Let’s look at how important each of these in the current situation.

Communication
Understanding this – the language employee prefer the mode of communication, the time, the place, the context, the benefits/ threats they will perceive-is crucially important when there are difficult messages to communicate.
Today, you need to over- communicate: tell them in many ways, but it’s important to do it in a way that they will respond to. This is a primary component in building trust, and trust is providing to be an essential factor in creating and building employee engagement and client loyalty in these tough times.

Change
In good times, change is a choice the business leadership makes to improve productivity or create a market advantage. In tough times, change is often forced upon them.
This change can be very uncomfortable for staff involving down- sizing, reallocation of duties and changed rules of operation. How these are communicated to them will significantly affect how these changes are accepted.
It is also important to be aware of the likely reaction of valued staff to the change and their preferred way of having the change implemented. These changes can be traumatic- often involving the loss of long- time colleagues – so you need every resource available to avoid negative fall- out with those who remain.

Contribution
In the current situation, you need staff to contribute more than ever before- with little prospect in the short term of additional remuneration. Two factors that can work in your favor – if used wisely – are trust and involvement.
One of the most important attributes that attracts employees in these times is trust. A worldwide survey on employee engagement completed in March of this year put trust at no. 2 in a list of what they looked for in a company, second only to concern for their professional and personal well- being.
One of the best ways to build trust is to demonstrate it. Take workers into your confidence about problem area- rather than glossing over the facts. Instead of compromising confidence in the business, you will find trust and commitment.
The other key factor is involvement. If staff feels they are able to contribute directly to the business’s success, they feel more engaged. Don’t just limit them to participating as implementers. Allow them to contribute as initiators.
Take them into your trust, quantify the problem and ask them to suggest a solution. Some solutions will inevitably involve scarifies or compromises by staff.
Isn’t it obvious that they are more likely to accept these is they have been involved in the decision making? This is another area where your type- testing can prove useful, because it will tell you the way in which they like to contribute and the type of contribution that is likely to give them most satisfaction.
The current flu pandemic has arrived at a time when many businesses are ready struggling. The way forward is the same: stick to the basics or, in some cases, go back to them.

WORKING freelance means that I have had many opportunities to spend the day or days at various instructions and office venues.

At many of these, I get a glimpse of the kitchen facilities. Some of these are nothing more than a microwave on a table but some of them, especially at multinational corporations, are generous full-range kitchenettes with lots of storage space, a refrigerator, oven and even a dishwasher.

It’s a sensible provision considering how much time people spend at work. But I’ve often been frustrated to find dirty glasses mixed with fresh because nobody bothered to remove the clean glasses first, or a colony of ants because of crumbs and stains that nobody bothered to clean up.

Employees I have spoken to are quick to add the list-draining the last of the coffee pot and not bothering to refill it, leaving dishes in the sink, squashing someone else’s lunch in the refrigerator to make space for your own shopping, hogging fridge space and even stealing someone else’s food.

Obviously, this is a case of bad manners in the workspace. The office kitchen, even if it’s nothing more than a sink or

Pantry belongs to everybody.

It’s a communal a space as the meeting room, copier room or restroom. To ensure optimal use, it has to maintain properly. This means that somebody needs to be in charge.

It here is a professional cleaner, a lot of problems can be alleviated, but even he can not be around all day long to ensure proper usage.

Perhaps an employee can be appointed to be in charge of kitchen administration and liaise with the cleaning lady and whoever is replenishing supplies. In fact, this can even be a job roistered among colleagues, with the idea that nobody wants to be known as the one who maintain the dirtiest kitchen.

Some ground rules, can also be laid out:

Kitchen sink: Don’t leave used plates and coffee mugs in the sink unless there is someone hired to do the dishes. Wash and dry your dishes after use and put them in the drying rack immediately. Check in a little later to put things away.

Counter or work surfaces: Throw away your trash, making sure that you remove crumbs and stains. Don’t sue the counter to thaw frozen food that you want to warm up. Rather, put in on a plate. Otherwise, you’re producing drips as well as creating health hazards.

Refrigerator: Don’t put open or half-open tubs of yogurt, tins of soups and beverages and half-eaten sandwiches back into the refrigerator without sealing them. Food contaminates easily and leaves smells that linger.

If a food items seems to have been abandoned or is obviously past due date, throw it away. You can always leave a note explaining why this has been done.

Don’t hog all the space in the refrigerator by putting your day’s marketing in it.

If you’re going to need the fridge for an

Office party, then give notice in advance by putting up a note. Put notice in advance by putting up a note. Put a notice that the fridge will be cleaned so that people will hace time to remove their stuff.

Microwave: If you are using microwave, make sure that the food is properly covered while it’s being heated or that a window is opened to air the room afterwards. Not everybody likes the smell of curry, herbal soups or garlic. Clean up any spillage immediately as it is a harder to do so when it has cooled against the oven doors.

Labels: If you keep something permanently in the office, such as diabetic sweeteners, label it so that colleagues know it belongs to you. They can also then ask permission to use or borrow something such as a chocolate or milk powder if they know it’s yours.

Supplies: Always mare sure that there is enough plastic to line the trash can. If you realize that you have used the last of the kitchen napkins or a cleaning agent, inform the person in charge.

These tips sound like common sense but people can be inconsiderate. Just talk to any cleaning lady! You can soften these “rules” by presenting them via a poem a cartoon or a witty notice. If memos or even mentions at meetings don’t work, run a YouTube movie. Just type in office, workplace or kitchen etiquette- you’d be surprised by the range! The guilty ones will recognize themselves.

Bob has a way of dealing with people. If a peer asks for his help, he gives only a little. If he makes a mistake, he shifts the blame. When he is told something in confidence, he often breaks that confidence. In short, Bob lacks integrity.

To become a strong and effective leader, you must gain the trust and confidence of your peers and superiors by demonstrating your integrity. Integrity is demonstrated by what you say, do, and believe.

Integrity in What You Say
The first way to demonstrate integrity is through words. Keep your promises. Whether that means maintaining a confidence or completing a project by a promised date, doing what you have said you will do is essential to your credibility.

Integrity in What You Do
The second way to demonstrate integrity is through actions. To become an effective leader, you must act consistently. Treat everyone in a fair and equitable manner, and avoid sudden displays of emotion. Moody managers and those who appear to play favorites will fail when it comes to building trust and inspiring confidence.

Other effective actions are to show support for the behaviors you want to encourage and avoid undo criticism. When you have to criticize, do it constructively. Try to turn mistakes into learning opportunities. When you disagree with something, say so, but do it in a way that shows your willingness to consider other options and ideas.

Integrity in What You Believe
The third way to demonstrate integrity is through beliefs. What you believe is reflected in what you say and what you do. When your words and actions fail to coincide with what you profess to believe, you lose credibility. As a leader, you must guard against compromising the beliefs you profess to hold. This may be difficult when you are faced with a challenge. But remember, revenge, pride and the desire to retain power are poor substitutes for integrity.

To build trust and confidence in your leadership abilities, you must demonstrate your integrity. Not in a hurried, forced, unnatural way but over time as the opportunities arise. You can demonstrate your integrity effectively by what you say, what you do, and what you believe.