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Book Summary/Review: Care Packages for the Workplace

This article is based on the following book:
Care Packages for the Workplace
by Barbara A. Glanz

Printed with permission from: Coleman Management Services, Inc.

Is your organization experiencing downsizing, re-engineering, overwhelming changes in technology and job descriptions, debilitating stress, lack of trust, low employee morale, and a dog-eat-dog atmosphere? Or, do you just want to increase the level of job satisfaction for everyone in your organization? If so, then you need this book. Internationally known author Glanz offer a timely gift-book that provides the hard at work with dozens of simple "brighten-your-day" ideas. This is a wonderful little book filled with the kind of motivation that will enliven communication, increase employee appreciation, and add more fun to the place where people spend most of their waking hours. The CARE metaphor symbolized the elements of a spirited workplace: C = Creative Communication A = Atmosphere and Appreciation for All R = Respect and Reason for Being E = Empathy and Enthusiasm Creative Communication For many organizations, communication has become a deep rut full of dreary memos, dismal meetings, and negative feedback. The result is unhappy, uninformed, or bored employees, and ultimately poor customer service and lowered productivity. The more creatively a message is sent, the greater the chance it will be noticed and heeded amidst the clutter of communications that surround us. Here are some ideas for creative communication listed in the book: Place a sign in front of visitor parking spots saying "Some of the nicest people in the world park here and become our customers." Write creative ads, such as "We don't want any satisfied customers . . . we want you to be thrilled. Anything less would be a shame." Spice up your memos and other written communications with artwork, cartoons, or clever sayings. More people will actually read them. Atmosphere One of the most important elements of a spirited workplace is an atmosphere that makes people feel good about coming to work. People want to work in an environment in which they feel cared for and respected, where they can have fun, and where their creative spirits are encouraged. Create at atmosphere of encouragement. Speak positively about each other and the organization. Be spontaneous with treats for employees to really add a special joy to the atmosphere, one of saying "thanks", especially when tough situations occur. On a hot summer day bring in cool treats. Decorate for the holidays. Appreciation for All The most valuable assets in any organization are the people who work there. Quality people produce quality products and services. If you're able to increase the value of your co-workers, you create a more valuable company. Affirm yourself and keep your emotional bank account full. If you don't, you won't be able to show appreciation to others. Appreciate your employees as individuals. "Wallow" in your company's successes. At staff meetings, have a "Good News Hour" where employees are invited to share good news about the company (and about their personal lives). Hold a company-wide Appreciation Day. Respect "Good management is largely a matter of caring, because proper management involves caring for people, not manipulating them." People in today's world are starving for respect. They are tired of being treated like a number, and technology is only increasing the tendency to become one's social insurance number, account, or employee number to the exclusion of our humanness. Respect means honouring five unspoken requests that people make of each other in any relationship. They are: Listen non-judgementally. Acknowledge differences without assigning blame. Give credit to others for their unique and special qualities. Look for positive intentions. Tell others your truth compassionately. Reason for Being Because the old employment contract of always having a job if you were only loyal to the organization is now gone, workers must find a personal sense of mission or purpose in new ways. They must direct their own career, they must plan on several different jobs and perhaps even careers in a lifetime, and they must, as Tom Peters says, "Repot themselves every five year." With all these changes in the workplace, changes in job descriptions, changes in technology occurring almost daily, and the need to become a lifelong learner, individuals must have an anchor to ground themselves. To be fully productive and happy, they must find a "reason for being." If the organization for which they work has a mission and a guiding set of values, the employee can buy into those, or can choose to adjust his own purpose and values to exist in that organization. If the individual AND the organization, however, have no values or sense of purpose, the workplace will be sterile and without spirit. Create a personal mission statement, a short statement that expresses who you are and what your work is. It is a statement of purpose and values to serve as a touchstone for all you do. Add a personal signature to your work. Determine what you can do to differentiate yourself from all the other people doing the same work you do? For example, an auto mechanic puts his card in every car he repairs. It reads, "This car cared for by (his name)." Offer a little something more than others do. Create customer gifts that express the organization's values. Involve your employees in thinking of creative ways to incorporate your organizational vision and image into gifts that can be both thought-provoking and lasting. These become a constant reminder of a company with a spirited workplace.  "To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?" Katherine Graham Empathy The author offers a quote from Stephen Covey from his book The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People: "Seek first to understand and then to be understood." Care about the world outside your lobby. Support your community to make life better for all, particularly if there is a crisis of some kind. This is also a wonderful way for an organization or work team to better learn to work together and to demonstrate its values. Simple ways to do this include collecting food for the local food bank all during the year, not just at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Put together a Christmas hamper for a needy family. Make a caring phone call. Once a week, call someone, either an external or internal customer, just to let them know you are thinking of them. You will brighten someone's day! Use creative ways to support and encourage others in their own growth and development. Trade jobs with someone in your organization for a day. Go out of your way to welcome new employees. If they begin their work in an atmosphere of caring, they will be much more likely to continue adding to that atmosphere.  Enthusiasm Spread contagious enthusiasm around your workplace! People will do things they might not want to do if someone else inspires them with enthusiasm.  As enthusiasm spreads throughout your workplace, you will see employees who are more committed to their jobs, who enjoy being at work, and who are having fun doing things they believe in. One powerful way to motivate employees whose morale is low is to offer high-quality training that impacts their self-esteem and gets their creative juices flowing. Offer your employees a chance to hear a top-notch motivational speaker.  Encourage social events and celebrations. Celebrate real holidays, special successes, and any other occasion. A workplace filled with a celebratory spirit will bring joy to all, both employees and customers. Bring in green-coloured popcorn on Saint Patrick's Day, have a costume or pumpkin carving contest at Halloween, and perhaps most importantly, celebrate each employee's birthday. To keep your own spirit high and your creative juices going, try at least one new thing each week. Tom Peters suggests that each week you eat lunch with one new person in your organization. Or, drive a different route to work one a day a week. Read a new magazine or periodical every week - think of how many new magazines or newsletters you could evaluate (and how much you could expand your thinking)  if you just read one new one each week! Summary: You Can Make a Difference! Anita Roddick of The Body Shop, definitely a spirited place to work, states these three things as her corporate vision and values: First, you have to have fun. Second, you have to put love where your labour is. Third, you have to go in the opposite direction to everyone else. If you adopt only a few of the excellent suggestions in this book, your workplace will greatly benefit. But, I have a feeling you will find many ways of regenerating your organization after reading Care Packages for the Workplace. This book summary was written by Louise Bower, Heart & Soul Celebrations.

Copyright by Coleman Management Services Inc.
"Increased profitability through effective management"
7451 Bassett Place, Richmond, British Columbia V7C 4A8 Canada
Phone 604.241.0666 Fax 604.272.1523

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