Thriving or Surviving? 3 Warning Signs & 3 Things to Encourage

​There’s a big difference between doing well, and just doing. There’s an even bigger difference between being engaged and just ‘being there’.

Is your team thriving, or just surviving?

I’m not talking in terms of sales figures or company financials; what I mean to ask is, are your team really all-in, giving it their best and moreover loving what they do each day?

To thrive literally means “to prosper; flourish”. In the workplace, this means more than hitting target – although, that’s undoubtedly a common result of a thriving time. Thriving at work means your team is aligned with the company goals, they’re happy, nay excited, to be there, and they’re motivated to work hard. This team is a productive, high-performing one; a team who merely shows up each day, merely ‘survives’, not so much.

So how do you know if your team isn’t thriving? And what steps can you as a business leader take to help them do so? Read my 3 tips to answer both of these questions below.

3 warning signs your employees are only surviving:

• Energy. Or a distinct lack thereof. As your employees go about their day-to-day, are they doing so with energy? Are they enthusiastic and positive in their actions, mannerisms, general mindset? Energy affects everything from performance to posture – yes, you can tell an awful lot about how an employee feels about their job by how slumped their shoulders are! – and it’s important to recognise when energy, enthusiasm and, in turn, morale is down.

• Relationships. If an employee has become disengaged with their job, it can show in the working relationships they’re cultivating in the office/across team. Are there tensions between them and another employee, or number of employees, which seems unusual or out of character? Is their attitude toward their colleagues worsening in general? Time for a sit down and a heart to heart.

• Performance. Simply put, a thriving, engaged employee is one who’s going to graft to hit targets, goals and otherwise; a ‘surviving’ employee may be putting in the bare minimum needed to keep their seat. If there’s someone on the team whose performance is suffering, it’s important not to look at this with an attitude of ‘they can’t do it’ – but instead to wonder if it’s that they just currently don’t want to. Ask the right questions, get to the bottom of it and try to bring them back into the fold; back to thriving.

3 things to encourage to help your employees thrive:

• Creativity. In the workplace, don’t hinder creativity – embrace and encourage it. Let each and every member of your workforce present ideas; ideas which are never belittled or dismissed without at least a discussion. A healthy workplace where employees thrive is one which is inclusive, open and ever-evolving.

• Identity. Make sure you reinforce the individual part everyone plays within the team and encourage them to truly own their job role. Ensuring that each of your employees understands their own identity within the business, instead of just feeling like another brick in the wall, helps them stay accountable and remain motived to perform in their job to the best of their ability.

• Learning. Whether they’re passionate to do so or not, with learning comes a natural sense of achievement. Whether you allocate a few hours per week to training inside of work hours or reimburse employees (at least in part) for undertaking some form of professional education in their own time, encouraging them to continue their learning in any form will ensure they’re more engaged with their job, their profession and their place within your team.

Building thriving teams is what we do best. We pride ourselves here at Certus on our ability to get to know our clients inside out; it’s how we go beyond just finding your next star hire, to help you retain and develop those you already have, too.

To talk more about the recruitment and consulting services offered by Certus Recruitment Group, call our team in Melbourne today.