In business there is frequently an annual migration at this time of year as people arrive in January with a “New Year, New Me” mentality. These individuals often take the decision to leave their role and company if nothing changes in January from previous years challenges. 

The scary part in this migration is that it has a huge cost to any organisation…..do you know what it’s costing yours?

Did you know the average cost of recruitment is 1-3 times the salary of the person you replacing? (Yes it’s true, and I can prove it too!)

If you are losing staff regularly, think about the amount of money that is being lost. 

Imagine if you could retain just one of those staff by changing a few things that you do in the office.

How incredible would it be to not have to retrain that same thing you trained last year again.

If you are tired of wasting money (and energy) on this, maybe it’s time we chatted to help you prevent this pain in your organisation. 

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It’s been incredibly frosty herein the UK the last few days and it has me thinking about how ice baths are so often spoken about for the benefits they bring. 

Increased energy, metabolism and sleep benefits as well as immune system support and stress reduction, the benefits of ice baths are being shared across the world more widely. Wim Hof is particularly famous for his contributions to this movement. 

In business, Icing or freezing people out has the opposite effect. 

Far too often managers who are not equipped to deal with stressful situations. They can find themselves “icing out” individuals who just seem to just be intent on challenging or questioning things. These individuals  who get targeted with the behaviour are often doing this because their viewpoint is different. In their mind they have what they deem a valid reason to question the situation or decision. 

When you freeze out a staff member is has a ripple effect on the team and things start to splinter. This splintering results in lack of a unified feel and things become harder to accomplish. As this dynamic seeps into the rest of the organisation it gets worse. 

If I am talking to employees as part of a staff retention consult, one of the reasons they will mention in regards to considering leaving is “Management doesn’t discipline the real trouble makers”. 

If that is not addressed it essentially becomes endorsed as part of the way staff are treated. This creates a negative effect that magnifies and ultimately makes the staff that care deeply about the business leave.

If you are wanting to find out about the workshops we offer managers please head HERE for more info.

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A new client is a new adventure. A new bit of kit for the office is a new adventure. What is often not seen this way because it is not seen in this light. A new starter in your business is a new adventure for you both.

New starters present two new adventures. One adventure is the one from the perspective of the person who is starting their new role and one is your adventure of including them into your team as the business.

So often staff retention failures happen in the smallest things at the randomest moments. No log in to the email system on day 1 means people cannot start to settle in as an example.

No matter who you are, if you do not feel valued and valuable form day one in a new role, you start to question if this is the right move you have made.

One of the services I offer as part of the staff retention work I do is an in depth review of the onboarding process and experience for clients. Could yours use a review or refresh? Get in touch if your “spidey senses” are tingling and you are questioning if things could be better.

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Had a great time chatting with the team at Rocket Pod about life, improv and a whole load of other things too.

Great team who make the conversation easy to be a part of.

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We are all card carrying members of the “beat yourself up club” and in so many cases we do more damage to ourselves with our own words than others do with theirs.

No matter what is going on you have the ability to make a choice about the state of things and your response to it.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of using words that break us down vs build us up.

Why not try the following exercise :

Using the picture as an example. get a piece of paper and divide it up like that. Set aside 5 minutes and just write down all the words that can fill either side of the page. Do you notice one side has a larger percentage of the words? If its the positive side, keep it up! You are doing a great job of building yourself up.

If the negative side is fuller, what changes can you make to how you describe yourself in order to better use words as a force of good in your world?

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Have you been guilty of, with the best of intentions, setting yourself on fire? Have you forgotten to put you first to ensure that you are able to recharge? What changes can you make to your life in order to ensure that you have time blocked just for you?

The post Don’t set yourself on fire appeared first on Roaring Berry.

We covered off a load of topics and had a great time. Hope you enjoy listening.

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Do you still play? Have you fallen into the “grown up” trap and forgotten to make time in your life for play?

Perhaps today is the day you break out the lego or go for a walk and jump in a puddle just to reconnect with that inner child who is dying to come out and enjoy the grand adventures that life presents us.

The post The Power of Play appeared first on Roaring Berry.

When you are on stage there is huge power in taking a beat in order to drive a storyline along and to help other actors on stage to catch up or move around as needed. The beautiful nuances and magic that can be created in those beats teach us so much.

I distinctly remember being in an improv scene which was 5 minutes long and we probably used five words in the entire time that we were onstage. We created such a powerful scene that the audience loved.

This concept translates beautifully into presentations, taking that beat and not being afraid of the silence that it creates means you search for it and in doing so create magic in the silence.

When we stop in the mad dash through life and truly take a beat we create a silence and a space for ourselves to find the magic again and as a result refuel ourselves for the next adventure.

What does taking a beat look like? It’s a personal journey so it is often a personal interpretation thereof, for some it’s a walk in the majesty and calm of nature, for others it’s a slow down for a beautiful cuppa ( maybe a sneaky slice of cake too!), for others playing with some lego for 5 minutes at your desk may be just the ticket you need to slow down both body and mind in order to refuel and charge off again on your adventure through life.

Are you finding that you are feeling burnt out or over committed and stretched beyond capacity? Maybe it’s time to stop and take a beat in order to be kind to yourself.

As always I am happy to help on this journey so don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for a helping hand.

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I talk about finding awe, wonder and joy on a daily basis with my clients. “But I do a gratitude journal” they will often answer. Absolutely nothing wrong with that and I never want them to stop doing that journal alongside what I ask them to do as well.

This is different because Awe, Wonder and Joy are words that bring out different feelings than gratitude. I am grateful I have a car. I get a sense of pure joy and awe when I see a buzzard flying above me while out on a walk.

If I ask someone to tell me about their week, they will often use “feeling words” to describe how they felt during the week, in many cases we default to the “easier” choice and have a grumble about things.

Finding balance means looking for situations that evoke the positive feelings to describe their week. A great cuppa can be a sanctuary of calm and serenity on a crazy day! Seeking out those opportunities to find surprise and delight in the midst of everything can make such a big difference in your mental health and emotional happiness.

When we seek awe, wonder and joy in our daily lives we can start to find it easier and it helps us reframe the bad days by taking the proverbial edge off. Does bad stuff still happen? Of course it does, but despite the roughest of days there is very often still one small thing that can bring you awe, wonder or joy.

From a bumblebee on a flower to a huge deal you signed and anything in between, there are so many things that can bring us awe, wonder and joy. Quite simply put, we just need to look for them.

If you need help with getting started on that awe, wonder and joy journey give me a shout and let’s have a brain jam!

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