The PMS stands for People, Morale and Stress.  In a down economy, people's morale tends to go down, and stress tends to go up, sometimes dangerously up.  So what's an organization, particularly the management, supposed to do?  COMMUNICATE!

 

From annual sales kickoffs to annual reports, businesses large and small, talk about their most valuable asset as "their people".  So at a time when fuel costs are soaring and prices for ordinary food staples are skyrocketing, employees need to feel valued because they are definitely stressed.  Communicating what is going on within the organization and letting team members know the state of the business are critical because honest communication leads to consistency and builds trust.

 

Conversely, uncertainty raises employees' fears, and those fears often translate into shortened tempers.  Unless these things are addressed early on, they can snowball into apprehension in the workplace and a loss of productivity.  In this type of environment, verbal and non-verbal behavior takes on a whole other dimension.  Body language, tone of voice, and a shortage of patience may convey a very different meaning than what the manager intended based on his or her spoken words. 

 

Especially when we are under stress, we are often unaware of how others see us.  Imagine that?  Research conducted by Target Training International, Ltd. (TTI), www.ttiltd.com, provides data through behavioral assessments which reflects differences between our self-perceptions and perceptions by others when under varying stress levels.  When a stressful work climate continues for an extended period, health issues may result.  Additionally, the stress at work begins to regularly spill over into home and family life stressing family members too.  Then the manager and employees are dealing with unhappy campers at work AND at home.

 

If you would like to know more about whether your behavior may be coming across differently to your subordinates, coworkers and management from how you perceive it, and you would like to improve your effectiveness when communicating with them, please contact me.  As an authorized distributor of TTI, I provide these very short, online behavioral assessments and debrief sessions to help you improve your communication effectiveness with others, for an average of less than one tenth the cost of replacing an employee.  Assessment types include those for positions in Sales, Executive levels, Management-Staff and Customer Service.  An investment in any one of these 30-minute sessions is worth it to your company, to your employees and co-workers, and for your own peace of mind.

 

Until next time,

 

Laura

 

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