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8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

December 8, 2021 by Aylish DeVore

The end of the year is filled with annual performance reviews, P&L reports, end-of-year budget meetings, a never-ending to-do list, and a thousand other holiday errands. As busy as the end of the year wrap up may be, the opportunity of a fresh start and a new strategic perspective on the coming year is something all leaders should take advantage of. That being said, good business strategy cannot be reduced to a quick planning meeting. It is important to prioritize the time to self-reflect and ask yourself the right questions, because the strategy you plan now has a direct and lasting impact on what your next year will look like. Palena Neale emphasizes that it is vital that leaders make time to reflect on the past year in relation to business goals, actions, values, successes and, of course, their "best" failures.

As you sit down to review the last 12 months and begin planning future strategies, it’s common to feel overwhelmed and left asking, “where do I start?” We’ve gathered a list of the top eight questions successful managers ask before the end of the year to ensure you get started on the right track in the year ahead. These questions are designed to zero in on the important things that tend to get overlooked in the holiday haste. As a best practice moving forward, you can also implement opportunities to review and follow up on these questions quarterly. Checking in on these main ideas will lead to a more realistic view of the overall year and in turn be a more productive use of your time.

8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

Question #1: How would I Summarize the Year?

Looking back on the entire year can seem daunting but it’s a great first step in your reflection process. Take a step back and review the past year as a whole. How would you summarize the outcome? Check in with the business goals you had set for the year and see what was met and what fell short. Take this time to dive into the overall performance of your team, individual employees, and most importantly, yourself as a manager.

When looking at the overall performance as a team and individual employees, it’s important to remind yourself to humanize the workplace. It’s okay to report on highs and lows of the year and have open conversations around both. Collaborate with your team about next steps and break down the work that comes from it. When evaluating yourself, don’t be afraid to be brutally honest and truly look for areas of improvement. Once you gather your findings in each area, ask yourself what you can learn from each. List out clear takeaways that you can turn into actions items to accomplish in the future.

Question #2: Where was the Majority of My Time and Energy Spent in 2021?

Pull research and look back to find where your time was allocated the most and where it was lacking in the past year. Are these findings sustainable going forward? Do they make sense in relation to your business goals? When looking at how time was spent, try to pinpoint what caused stress and be aware of signs of burnout.

Stress in leadership can lead to more negative effects than just personal wellbeing – businesses in the US suffer a $300 billion loss every year because of workplace stress. Additionally, almost 60% of leaders reported feeling tired at the end of each day, which can be an indication of burnout. One recent survey found that 44% of leaders who felt worn and used up planned to move to a new company in order to advance their careers. When deciding how to disperse your time, remember that when you’re at your personal best, the company can succeed. Inga Bielińska, a coaching and consulting mentor, recommends looking at the coming year’s agenda and planning for family events to participate in, friends’ reunions or routine outings to go to, winter holidays, summer holidays, and regular “me time” to help combat stress.

Question #3: What Areas Can I Take a Step Back From?

According to a recent survey, developing the next generation of leaders is the top challenge for 55% of CEOs. In most cases, taking a step back will create the opportunity to delegate tasks and responsibilities to those who are ready to step up in the company. This allows you to encourage individual growth on your team and it frees up your time for overall business development opportunities. It’s a win-win. Remember it’s your team who has led the company to its success so far. Trust them to take on more responsibility and show you what they can do!

Once you identify areas you are able and willing to delegate, set aside the time and resources you’ll need to properly train the individuals taking them on. Avoid throwing anyone in the deep end and make sure they are confident in their new role and expectations. Additionally, schedule future meetings to follow up on how things are going after team members have had time to settle into those new responsibilities. This will allow them the opportunity to ask questions and will ensure you are both on the same page moving forward.

Question #4: Where am I in My Personal Five-Year Career Plan?

This is the time to be a little selfish. Just as you would evaluate business performance, it’s equally important to conduct personal evaluations. Check-in with yourself and your business goals – more specifically, where you are in your 5-year plan. You can do this by conducting a personal SWOT analysis and looking at it from a technical standpoint. Loren Margolis, from Training & Leadership Success LLC, suggests asking yourself questions such as, "What are my top leadership strengths and weaknesses?", "What are my growth opportunities?", and "What are the internal (mindset) and external (marketplace) threats to my success?"

In the same sense, take this time to revisit your long term goals. When answering these questions, you’ll determine if you’re on track with your goals and certain areas that need more attention. Remember that all goals are works in progress and you can add and adjust them based on where you are today. Once you’ve reflected and updated, you’ll need to develop an actionable plan to continue on the path to meeting those milestones.

Question #5: How is Overall Employee Engagement?

Once you take a look at your personal progression, the next step is to do the same for your team. This starts with evaluating employee engagement. Studies show that 78% of business leaders are focused on improving their engagements with employees. In turn, engaged employees outperform their peers that are not engaged – and overall, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable. A good place to start asking the right questions is during employee performance reviews. G. Riley Mills, from Pinnacle Performance Company, shares that “despite common conceptions about workers receiving performance-based feedback, research shows that they not only want it, but they also want to give it to you. A whopping 65% of workers want more feedback – and that number swells to 80% for younger workers (76% of which also want to give their bosses feedback).”

Before the new year, carve out the necessary amount of time to meet with employees one-on-one to touch base. Take this opportunity to notice anyone starting to show symptoms of burnout, or those who need more of a challenge. Be sure to set the necessary follow ups to discuss next steps and note who will need more attention in the coming year.

Question #6: What Gaps Does the Team Have?

No team is perfectly balanced all the time, especially when the company needs to make changes to stay competitive – and that’s okay. When looking for gaps, it’s easiest to tackle this separately from performance reviews. Individual annual performance reviews are critical, but they don’t give a holistic, big-picture view of a team. Meet as a team and create an open discussion regarding where employees are noticing gaps – be open to feedback.

Once identified, categorize them by priority. Which gaps are the most important to close and which are less urgent? Analyze what it would take to close them, such as incentives for the team to work harder, redistributed duties, improved technology, new hires, or more training. Prioritize which gaps to close based on projects and available resources. Oftentimes this can lead to the realization of necessary budget increases for departments. Going into that discussion with this tangible analysis can help increase chances of approval.

Question #7: What Technology Changes are Around the Corner?

Automation, smart devices, IoT, cloud computing, and other advances are changing the landscape very quickly, even in businesses outside the technology industry. No matter the industry, ask yourself how you will remain innovative in the near future. As remote work has taken off in the past two years due to Covid-19, technology and processes have advanced quickly to meet the communication standards among teams working across the country. Many businesses have identified software, programs, and devices to implement or better utilize for reliable internal communication, streamlining processes, remote work, etc. The innovation of 5G has brought a particular shift in advancing technology we use daily.

More specifically – cybersecurity has proven to be more important every year. It’s crucial to keep teams up to date about what skills they need to stay competitive. Additionally, pay attention to market trends throughout the year – last-minute technology upgrades are never convenient or cheap. After you reflect on these points, you may find it’s time to hire new IT professionals or teams to manage internal technology advancements. Remember that Blue Signal can help!

Question #8: What Would a Successful 2022 Look Like to Me?

After all the self-reflection and input from the team, the last step is to set business goals and intentions for the year. The hardest part of goal-setting is being realistic. Keep in mind – not all dreams should be goals. A great place to start when mapping out your business goals is to ask yourself what will stay the same, what will change, and how. All of these answers should lead to insightful follow up questions and provide you with the necessary steps needed to plan for success.

When setting these intentions, it’s important to focus on hard numbers and actionable projects. In turn, this helps outline expectations and clearly communicates what considers a goal complete. The best goals have benchmarks and key performance indicators to measure success along the way. A great tip is to dig up your previous business goals - not just from this last year, but 3-5 years back - and look for trends. Look for similar, overly ambitious goals you tend to make year after year and decide how to make them more achievable or choose to scrap them altogether. If you find yourself getting stuck and unsure of what’s important, ask your team for input! This will ensure all department’s individual business goals are represented in some way when it comes to the company’s future plans.

Once you’ve settled on your goals – memorize them. Throughout the year you should be able to clearly visualize what you’re going to accomplish – almost manifesting the outcome. Share company business goals with your team as well and remind them to refer back to them often.

In the busy month of December, it is easy to get buried in small tasks and miss critical opportunities to get ahead in the coming year. Optimizing these questions can help you stay organized and zero in on important business goals and action items to take. When reflecting, remember to celebrate the wins as a team and try not to tread on the goals you didn’t hit. A new year is the perfect opportunity to clean the slate and start fresh with an ambitious mindset. Alexsys Thompson, from Alexsys Thompson Intl., states that “as a leader reviews the wins and losses of the previous year, it is powerful to revisit the wins that were experienced, and acknowledging the misses through story will help ensure lessons are taken forward as valuable learning experiences.”

As you build out your 2022 strategy, remember Blue Signal can be a vital resource! Our seasoned recruiters can partner with you to help answer these questions and deliver action items related to hiring to hit your business goals in the year to come. Contact our qualified team of recruiters to learn more about the wide range of services we offer.

Benefits and Incentives Job Seekers Actually Care About

March 18, 2021 by Sam Kotowski

With the popularity of unique perks on the rise among employees, we know that the initial job prospect and salary are not the only things attracting job seekers to a new role. According to a study by Glassdoor, about 60% of people report that benefits and perks are a major factor in considering whether to accept a job offer. Common perks and benefits that companies offer include monetary perks, like bonuses; travel perks, like paid trips; and philanthropy, like charitable donations made in the employee’s name. Some companies are renowned for their extravagant employee perks, like Google’s free gourmet food, massages, fitness classes, and gyms. Social media management company, Hootsuite, offers a nap room and a yoga studio inside of their office building, while Facebook offers four-month paid parental leave with a $4,000 “Baby Cash” bonus. While these perks seem fun and inviting, we wanted to know, do employees actually find them as a motivating factor when deciding which company to work for? Back in January, we asked our nearly 100K LI followers which perks are the most incentivizing — 79% of people voted for monetary perks, 18% voted for travel perks, and 3% voted for philanthropy. Let’s explore what this tells us about the current candidate pool and their driving factors.

Monetary Perks - Like Bonuses

According to our LI poll, 79% of people chose monetary perks as the benefit they see most incentivizing from an employer. Monetary perks can be offered in various forms, such as performance bonuses, year-end/holiday bonuses, or periodic raises. The preference for financial incentives may be because money is a tangible reward for specific behavior - whether it’s achieving sales goals or completing a project. Financial benefits are also less restrictive than other perks (compared to company vacations or philanthropic donations), and give employees the freedom to spend their reward according to their choosing. Additionally, these benefits are often more sustainable than other trendy office perks. With more than half of the American workforce working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-office perks don’t hold as much value as they once did. Monetary perks can also increase productivity and inspire better morale. A 2018 study by Genesis Associates showed that 85% of surveyed employees felt an increase in motivation when offered a monetary incentive. When used as an added bonus, monetary perks can inspire healthy competition and stronger work ethic to attain a specific goal. Although financial incentives aren’t feasible for every company, implementing them in some way may be incredibly beneficial to your employees and new talent you’re looking to hire.

Travel Perks - Like Paid Trips or Unlimited Paid Time Off

While monetary perks are fairly commonplace, travel perks such as paid trips or unlimited paid time off are more rare. According to the Journal of Economic Psychology, "when given the choice in the abstract, employees generally choose cash rewards over non-cash rewards.” However, the benefits of vacation perks may be more valuable than its monetary counterpart. Vacation perks can significantly improve employees' mental health, help avoid burnout, and increase employee retention. It has been found that 75% of employees are experiencing burnout, largely due to not taking advantage of their paid vacation days. The U.S. Travel Association reported more than half of Americans (55%) are not using their paid time off, and consequently failed to use 768 million vacation days in 2018. Despite the unused PTO, the employees aren’t entirely to blame; companies often offer unlimited vacation time as an enticing perk up front but later guilt their employees for taking advantage of it, which further perpetuates the problem. To experience less burnout and higher employee satisfaction, companies need to offer flexible, shame-free vacation perks.

Company vacations recognize the employees’ hard work and dedication to the company with a trip they may not have taken otherwise. For 18% of our LinkedIn voters, the gift of travel or vacation is appreciated more than money. Consequently, company vacations or travel incentive programs can increase productivity by 18%. The promise of a paid vacation can boost morale and lessen stress - which in turn, boosts productivity. Company vacations can almost promote team building by allowing coworkers to bond out of the office, in a less stressful environment. However, be cautious when building travel package rewards based solely on sales numbers, as it may be a deterrent for those in the company not directly involved in sales. Creating a similar contest, or implementing unlimited vacation time company-wide could be a valuable alternative.

Philanthropy - Like Donations

Employees are starting to pay attention to corporate social responsibility and how their current (or future) employer takes part. In 2016, Fortune Magazine published a survey of more than 2,000 workers that looked at the impact a company’s charitable gifts had on the workforce. They found that nearly two-thirds of Millennials were more likely to work for a company that gives to charity than one that does not. Corporate philanthropy includes companies from all industries, sizes, and sectors with a general focus on empowering communities, addressing global challenges, or protecting the planet. While participating in philanthropy checks off the box for some, others want to see how consistent the company is with backing up their mission. Employees are more likely to gravitate towards supporting causes that align with their personal values, and would like their employer to follow suit. Employers that push political agendas through philanthropy are less likely to be supported, and have the potential to cause internal (and external) backlash. Choosing a cause that is politically neutral and aligns with your employee demographic and interests is mutually beneficial to both employers and employees.

A great way to actively participate in philanthropy as a company is to create programs that employees can directly take part in. According to Givinga, “philanthropy programs that directly involve employees help create deeper connections and increase employee engagement.” When employees’ values align with the organization their company is supporting, they are more likely to be involved. Our team at Blue Signal participates in Blue Signal Gives Back, an annual company-wide incentive contest that benefits the charity or nonprofit of the winner’s choosing. Giving back to the community is a shared passion among our employees, and each year we work to incorporate those values into what we do as a company. Even though only 3% of our LinkedIn followers voted for philanthropy, we believe demand for philanthropic incentives will continue to grow. Not only does participating in philanthropy support a higher cause, it can also help your company attract and retain top-talent.

Conclusion

Attracting the most skilled candidates will take more than a competitive salary and insurance package. In this candidate-driven market, today’s top talent is looking for those additional perks to sell them on your company. In addition to recruiting, all three of these perks are proven to improve employee engagement and retention. If you’re wondering which perk(s) to implement, try reaching out directly to your employees - sending out an anonymous survey to get direct feedback on what your employees would like to see can be greatly advantageous. Utilize this blog and our other employee retention tips to attract and maintain top talent at your company.

Blue Signal CEO: “Self-worth is the best motivator”

November 19, 2019 by Lacey Walters

For National Entrepreneur’s Day, we sat down with our very own CEO and trailblazer, Matt Walsh, to share his leadership advice on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Matt’s insight and vision for Blue Signal has allowed the company to grow a team of hardworking individuals who work with transparency and purpose to who truly invest in the goals of our candidates and clients. Read below to gain an inside look into how Matt runs his business with determination and integrity.

How do you measure success?

I measure success by the amount of lives Blue Signal has positively impacted, both internally with our current employees, and externally of our clients and candidates.

What’s one mistake you made early on?

One mistake I made at the beginning was delaying hiring and delegating for the sake of ensuring that everything was done 100% correctly.

What was the hardest lesson in your first year of business?

To start a business, you truly do need to dedicate yourself 100%, be available 24/7, sacrifice friends, family and your own personal desires for the sake of the business succeeding and taking off right out of the gates.

What’s the toughest part of being in charge?

Time management is extremely difficult, as everyone feels what they need is urgent and important. I have learned that not everything is vitally important to be done quickly for the success of the business.

What’s the best motivator for employees?

Self-worth. I truly enjoy working with every employee on a hands-on basis, to help them understand that they can effect change in the business and educate them on how their goals affect them and everything they touch.

What’s your proudest accomplishment in your business?

I am extremely proud of our consistent track record we’ve maintained in doubling in size and revenue every year since our existence.

What’s the biggest myth in business and recruiting?

The biggest myth in business and recruiting is that everything is numbers driven. At Blue Signal, we believe it’s extremely important to establish long lasting relationships and partnerships, with our candidates, clients and most importantly every employee within to ensure you are maximizing success.

What have you learned about yourself running your business?

How little sleep one truly needs in order to operate. And more importantly, how I can count on friends and family around me when I need an extra motivator.

What have you sacrificed for success?

I often hear and see business leaders talking about sacrificing their own personal desires in addition to their friends and family taking a back seat. While I agree, that is certainly capable of most leaders to do, there has to be a perfect balance. So while yes, I’ve made some sacrifices in these areas, I truly feel that the greater good of what we’re doing as a team and the lives we are affecting more than makes up for the sacrifices we all make here.

Whom do you admire most as a business leader?

While the obvious answers are Steve Jobs, Bezos, Zuckerberg and other innovative individuals who’ve been successful, my stance is and always has been from earlier sayings:

" Choose a Job You Love, and You Will Never Have To Work a Day in Your Life. ”

-(Unconfirmed source)

We strive here at Blue Signal to ensure every function and disciplinary task in our entire workflow is given to the person who not only performs it the best, but also has the most fun doing so. Thus, leading to our high level of productivity, great level of spirits and culture and most importantly, having a lot of fun.

Want to learn more about Blue Signal?

Drop us a line or follow us on social media!

7 Subtle Motivation-Killers of Top Employees

February 17, 2017 by Lacey Walters

“Highly motivated” is a common requirement on job descriptions, but in reality, “built-in” motivation is a myth. While an employee’s internal drive is important, the other half of the equation is a joint effort by the employee and the manager to foster a productive workplace.

Employee engagement is a top buzzword of recent years, and there are many obvious killers of motivation: below-market pay, crushing workload, delayed wages, unfair management practices, and oppressive bureaucracy. But for highly paid top performers, some team managers miss more subtle killers of motivation. In an increasingly competitive job market, these top employees have more options than ever, so it is important to address motivation killers and build a productive, healthy environment that lets high performers shine.

1. Unclear advancement plans

In the modern high-level interview, hiring managers often ask for a prospective employee’s career goals. Not everyone wants to go into management, so this interview question is critical in uncovering what motivates the employee. However, many managers never follow up on this initial conversation.

Regularly discussing where the employee wants to go and how to get there is important, but it is only the start. High achievers are good at setting and reaching goals, so they need to have measurable targets to hit and a specific timeline. If an employee feels they are indefinitely treading water, or that they have no prospects for advancement at their current company, they will move on. Tip the balance by giving top performers a realistic idea of their growth timeline and what they can expect as a reward for their hard work.

2. Unaddressed conflict

High performers often have well-rounded communication skills and are good at coping with set-backs and frustrations. That said, a toxic work environment will quickly frustrate someone who is trying to focus on achieving good results in their job. A sudden change in an employee’s performance or an abrupt drop-off in communication is a telltale sign of a toxic situation. Toxic workplaces kill employee engagement.

Promptly address conflict. Meet face-to-face with involved employees and be prepared to discuss what is bothering them in honest, blunt terms. Many times, good communication with a mediator will take the fire out of a bad situation. At other times, more drastic measures are required. Either way, when a top employee is sending distress signals, ignoring the problem destroys trust along with motivation.

3. Lack of feedback and/or indifference to new ideas

When employees come up with new ideas and find new ways of doing things, it is a sure sign that they have good motivation and are engaged in their jobs. A quick way to kill that motivation is to gloss over their ideas. Even if the idea is totally unworkable, enthusiastic acknowledgement of their effort is critical.

Meet regularly with high-performing employees, not just to assess performance, but to build trust so that the employee feels confident enough to share new ideas. Top performers often provide advice that is just as good as a pricey consultant.

4. Poor industry reputation

A company rarely has a bad reputation without something else being wrong. Negative press or a poor financial outlook can cause employees to start searching before a crisis hits. This correlation is stronger with senior executives. Executives are generally more in tune with market conditions and the company’s industry reputation. Senior employees are also impacted more strongly by performance-based bonuses and budget cuts, so a stream of bad press can jumpstart a new job search.

Interestingly, the past few years have seen the market become much more politicized. In a report titled “The Dawn of CEO Activism,” KRC Research found that almost 40% of American consumers say CEOs have a responsibility to publicly address hot-button political issues. Depending on whether employees support or oppose their company’s views, political involvement can bolster or kill motivation. Senior executives in particular may come under fire for comments by the company, or have to clean up messes as a result of an unpopular comment.

In fast-moving industries with shorter tenure, especially technology, top performers look ahead to make sure that the experience they are building now can get them a job down the road. Tech professionals have learned the hard way that even giants like Myspace and Netscape can hit hard times and turn a star resume into one that looks dated and unfashionable.

5. Being passed over for a key promotion

Top performers are less of a flight risk than underperformers. However, sudden departures are often due to missing out on a promotion or award. If a hiring manager is interviewing internally and interviews three top performers for a juicy promotion, and only one of them gets it, the hiring manager risks losing his other two top performers. The solution is to take time to give them a good explanation as to why they were passed over. Reevaluate their career path within the organization together with them.

Ironically, top employees sometimes leave because of a promotion or salary increase! The HR analytics software Workday found that a significant percentage of high-performing employees had a higher risk of leaving the company after a promotion.

Several scenarios can cause this phenomenon:

After transitioning into the new role, the employee runs into one of the problems above.
The employee takes on more responsibility than they could manage.
The promotion or raise comes too late or fails to meet expectations.
The new job title or award makes the employee more attractive to recruiters or motivates them to explore even better options outside the company.

When interviewing internal candidates for a high-level position, it is critical to spend time with the rejected candidates to reevaluate their growth plan within the company, so they do not take it as a sign to move on.

6. Insufficient mentorship or development opportunities

Networking is still the #1 way that people get a new job or advance at their current one. It is important to help top employees build mentor relationships within the company.

A mentor fulfills many roles in an employee’s professional life: they coach, train, give advice, brainstorm, encourage, and correct. Having strong professional relationships within an organization is a powerful incentive for a high achiever to work hard and stay with the company.

By contrast, companies who fail to invest in their top employees’ growth lose twice. Their top people gravitate to the competition, and they fail to attract top employees to replace them. Today’s employee knows that demand for new skills is fierce. Top employees have to reinvent themselves several times in the course of their careers. If an employer is not investing their skills, they lose the motivation to invest their best effort in growing the company.

7. Too little work or uninteresting projects

A mediocre employee will happily take a paycheck without enough work to keep them busy. Top performers want to be challenged. Even if an employee believes wholeheartedly in the company’s mission and loves their work, they will quickly become frustrated if they are bored or perceive that their work is unimportant.

If a high performer is consistently hitting goals without much effort, they have outgrown their current role. It can be tempting to keep them where they are to save the cost of replacing them when they move up the ladder, but this will frustrate the employee and usually lead to a drop in performance or a resignation letter. Reward employees’ growth by helping them to reach their desired career goals.

Many employees would rather leave than complain, so pay attention to early warning signs. Do not rely on employees to set their own workloads. It is the manager’s job to invest time in the employee to match their workload to their ability, drive, and personality. Find out what aspects of a project or of a client the employee enjoys working with, and seek out ways to maximize it for that employee. The investment is well worth it. Motivated employees who like their jobs will happily go to bat for their company to get the best results.

Change is difficult, and even top employees are reluctant to jump into a long job search process that may or may not pay off. A high performer will send many signs before they feel frustrated enough to start job-searching. Employee engagement takes an investment of time, thought, and resources. But the reward is that a manager who engages employees will have far better results to show than a manager who focuses on the results instead of on the people who produce them.