Category: Gratitude

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The Hardest Card To Write

You open the card, you stare at the blank space. “What do I say?” goes around in your head. You have to write a condolence card.

I wrote two this week, one for someone who died too young, the other for an ancient grandmother. How to respond to grief – a complicated mix of loss, sadness, sometimes anger, sometimes relief, wistful memories, fun memories?

Here are some thoughts on what to say:

  • I’m sorry for your/our loss. It’s okay to acknowledge complicated feelings: it’s okay to feel all these things.
  • Share a memory, if you have one, of the person who passed. Or your impression, if you have met them, or your impression of them from your friend. Or you can say, “I am sure s/he was an awesome person, knowing you as I do.”
  • If you have experience of grief, share your reality, without making it theirs. I found grief was surreal: I thought I had a big neon sign on my forehead saying, “I just lost my mum,” but I didn’t, and groceries need buying and people need phoning, and it feels surreal. So I share that and everyone so far has found it comforting.
  • Offer specific help if you can and want to, to the extent you can: taking the kid(s) for an afternoon; laundry; dog-sitting.
  • Don’t include any advice, blame, predictions for feeling better, or discussion of the details of death
  • Don’t think it needs to be long.
  • Late is much better than never. Cards pour in early, and then people often experience a silence. Sending a card weeks late, affirming any continuing grief, can be a huge support. You can also send a second card, or call.

The best advice I’ve come across is in this blog, which includes ideas for specific losses, ie parents, a child, pets: www.thepencompany.com/blog/write-a-sympathy-card/

Just remember, showing support to loved ones in their times of grief is more appreciated than it might seem.

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The Value Of Employee Benefits

employee benefits by ly siu consulting

Why Should You Consider Offering Benefits To Your Employees?

As a small business owner, you understand how important your employees are to you. The company wouldn’t be where it is without them. Simply put, employees can make or break the company.

Besides wanting to treat your employees well and making sure they have everything they need to do the best job they can, you want them in good health. Employee benefits are the only way you will be able to ensure and enforce that your employees maintain the best of health.

This can be even more critical if your employees are operating machinery and vehicles or performing any task that could potentially put themselves or others at risk.

Employee benefits plans have numerous advantages:

  • Attract and retain high-quality employees; studies show better compensation and benefits is the number one reason candidates cite for accepting a job.
  • Creates a healthy culture; having healthy employees’ results in increased productivity and reduced absenteeism. This mitigates some of the cost of providing the benefits plan.
  • Tax Deduction; they are a tax efficient way to increase a compensation package for both employee and the employer.
  • Cost Effective protection for employees and their families; there are no requirements to pay into CPP or EI and the employee gets tax free medical benefits.
  • Increased morale; it helps establishes the company policy on health and sickness, employees feel that their well being matters.
  • And last but not least… Employees value employee benefits! For some people it can mean the difference in whether or not they or their child can get something like braces or glasses.

Today, top employees demand a comprehensive health insurance plan.  In fact, in a 2016 Canada health survey, 77% of respondents say they wouldn’t move to a job that didn’t include some health benefits.

As an employer that gives some solid reasoning as to why you should implement benefits (if you don’t offer them already). Employees are looking for a company that takes care of them and their needs, just as much as employers are looking for someone who takes care of the company and puts their best foot forward every day.

Employee benefits are just another reminder that you give what you get. In life and business it is doing things differently or better than everyone else that sets you apart. The truth of employee benefits is that offering them at all can help you rise above the competition when it comes to recruiting your next star employee.

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5 Languages of Appreciation (Adapted from the 5 Languages of Love)

Have you heard of the five languages of love? You know, how to show that heartfelt deep commitment to the ones your love. Now, lets put a business spin on that. Did you know there are also five languages of appreciation?

One quote from Clemens Rettich is, “If every single day is not customer appreciation day you may as well close your doors.” Sounds exhausting, right? More so because as we know, good businesses treat their customers well but better businesses also treat their employees – and suppliers – well.

The subject  of appreciation came up in our B4B Low Town Round Table a few weeks ago and a guest shared this list. I have pulled it off www.appreciationatwork.com, the website of Drs Paul White & Gary Chapman.

This list might apply more to the workplace than customers, though I certainly give customers a hug, a coffee or lunch, help out with a silent auction item, high fives in public.

Here’s the list; how can you make it work for you?

The language of physical touch:

  • Spontaneous, celebratory displays (high five’s, fist bumps, a pat on the back)

Quality time:

  • Stop by to see how they’re doing. Spend a few minutes just chatting and checking in
  • “Hanging out” together with colleagues, working on tasks together collegially, having coffee or lunch together
  • Having different types of experiences together to deepen relationships

Acts of service:

  • Ask if the other person wants assistance, if they need anything done
  • Do the service in the way the recipient wants it done

Verbal praise:

  • Words of affirmation communicated in front of others
  • Tell them, “I’m glad you are part of the team.”
  • Written communication through hand written notes, email, texting
  • Write a Thank You email; “I just wanted to let you know …; “It is really helpful to me when you ….”

Tangible gifts:

  • Less about the “thing” and more about reflecting that the giver knows what is important or valued by the recipient
  • The financial value doesn’t matter; can be as small as a card or a single flower

Try one of these great methods of appreciation in the workplace, be it with a co-worker or a customer! Leave a comment to let us know how it worked out!