 |
|
|
|||||
Quiet quitting. Silent space-out. Faux focus. Call it what you want, a lot of todays workers are going through the motions on the surface while quietly powering down beneath it. Nearly half of Gen Z employees say theyre coasting, and overall U.S. employee engagement sits at a decade low. When engagement fades, performance becomes performative. But disengagement isnt just a problem to solve, its a signal to heed. Employees arent turning off. Theyre trying to tell us something. As CEO of SurveyMonkey, Ive witnessed how curiosity can be the cure to the workplace phenomenon resenteeisma state of resentment combined with absenteeismwhich is often fueled by the current economic uncertainty, high-profile layoffs, and the always looming threat of a recession that compels employees to stay in difficult jobs. Here are a few best practices: When you ask better questions, you reveal truer truths By asking better questions, you can get to the heart of what employees really need. A few small shifts in your approach to asking can make a big difference. Ask about feelings and solutions separately. Instead of asking, What do you think about manager-employee communications? Ask, How do you feel about manager-employee communications? Then, separately, What do you think would make it better? Dividing feelings and solutions into two distinct categories enhances understanding of each, providing a better roadmap to real change. Keep it simple. Avoid double-barreled questions that blur answers. Instead of asking, How satisfied are you with your managers communication and support? Ask two clear questions: one about communication and one about support. Be receptive to harsh truths. When you ask questions with a genuine interest in the answers, employees will be more likely to open up, share ideas, and re-engage. Asking harder questions often reveals truer answers that get to the heart of the matter faster. Youll hear frustrations, confusion, and even criticism. But discomfort is often where innovation starts. Plan to be uncomfortable, and you wont be disappointed. Be clear about anonymity. Anonymity can surface more honest feedback, but its not always the best route. Sometimes youll want to follow up on a great idea or recognize the person who shared it. Either way, be transparent about whether feedback is anonymous. People will keep sharing when the ground rules are clear. Make every day listening second nature Too often, conventional check-ins like annual reviews and quarterly surveys feel like impersonal boxes to check. Approached clinically, managers are more likely to miss early signs of disengagement. When people feel like their feedback is lost in a dashboard, they stop providing it. Employees know when feedback requests are performative, and they respond as such. Sincere listening needs to be lighter, faster, and less formal. You can normalize curiosity in small, consistent ways, including: Ask a simple question at the end of a team meeting: Whats standing in your way today? or What can we improve this week? Run short, focused pulse surveys that take 60 seconds or less to answer. Follow up verbally when something needs clarification, rather than using email or Slack. Share one piece of feedback youve acted on recently. My team has seen that a five-minute feedback loop can reveal what a 50-question survey misses. Its less about frequency and more about follow-through. When employees see their input lead to action, trust grows, and engagement follows. Take every comment seriously Even the tiniest morsel of feedback can spark outsized change. A lone remark can connect teams, bridge silos, and turn passive frustration into active progress. One of the best examples Ive seen came from a deceptively simple comment in a benefits survey from our Chief People Officers team. While the overall feedback was positive, one person asked: What about the janitorial staff? This simple yet powerful question led her team to re-evaluate benefits for the vendor partners who keep our offices running every day. Within months, she expanded health insurance, paid time off, and transportation benefits to all contract employees. The ripple effect of this change was immediate. Our contractors said they felt more motivated, and regular employees were proud to work for a company that took care of everyone under its roof. That motivation and pride translated into stronger engagement, higher productivity, and a more unified culture. All of it started with a single comment, taken seriously. Start small, stay curious Resenteeism isnt just a blip. Its a signal. If we know how to listen, we can turn that signal into strategy. The key is to start small and stay consistently curious. Ask one question. If you dont get specific feedback, such as a vague All good! or Its fine!, reframe it: What part of this experience didnt land for you? If its a 9 out of 10, what would make it a 10 out of 10? You cant reverse disengagement overnight, but you can make incremental progressand progress compounds. Its a philosophy my team and I try to live by: better is better. What question will you ask today?
Category:
E-Commerce
Another year, another fresh start. And if you’re like me, that fresh start often comes with the best intentions of getting into shape. But then reality hits: It’s January, it’s cold, and the idea of leaving the house to brave the gym (and all the other resolution people) is wholly unappealing. Fear not, fellow homebody. This year, we’re going to conquer those fitness goals from the comfort of our own living rooms. No gym fees, no icy commutes, no waiting in line for a treadmill. Seven (iOS/Android) For better or worse, if you have a phone and seven minutes, you no longer have an excuse. Seven is the heavy hitter in the “micro-workout” space. It focuses on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuits that require no equipment other than a chair and a wall. While the app has a subscription Club for extra variety, the classic Full Body circuit is free and stays true to the original scientific study that started the craze. Its gamified, too, so you earn achievements and lose “lives” if you skip a day. Down Dog (iOS/Android/Web) For those looking to find their zen while building strength and flexibility, Down Dog is a revelation. While it offers premium subscriptions, the free version still provides a fantastic yoga experience. What sets it apart is its dynamic sequencing. Each time you start a practice, it generates a new flow, so you never get bored. You can customize the length, focus (like hip openers or sun salutations), and even the instructor’s voice. It’s like having a personal yoga teacher on demand. Nike Training Club (iOS/Android) If you get bored with the same workouts time and time again, then Nike Training Club is for you. This free (as in truly free) app is packed with hundreds of workouts, ranging from strength and endurance to yoga and mobility. You can filter by workout type, muscle group, equipment (or lack thereof), and even duration. Many of the workouts are led by Nike master trainers, providing excellent guidance and motivation. It puts a massive, high-quality fitness library at your fingertips. Darebee (Web) My personal favorite, Darebee is a non-profit, completely free resource chock full of thousands of visual workouts that you can print out or follow on your phone. It offers everything from ever-changing daily exercises to structured 30-day programs. Its a community-run project that proves you dont need a fancy subscription to get results. If youre looking for a straightforward, easy to follow, self-paced workout hub, this should be your first stop.
Category:
E-Commerce
If youve already given up on your 2026 rebrand because you couldnt stick to your six gym sessions a week and no-sweet-treats resolutions, adopting a vegan plus bacon mindset may be the answer to all your problems. TikTok creator @addietheoptimist broke the idea down in a recent video: Someone on here went viral because they said if you think you cant go vegan because you love bacon too much, just become vegan plus bacon, she explained in the now-viral clip. Im here to tell you you can just apply that mentality to so many things in your life. While the original creator was referencing harm reduction in relation to veganism (that if you only eat bacon sometimes but are 100% vegan otherwise, its still making a difference), the potential applications of the general concept behind vegan plus bacon are limitless. Dont feel like going to the gym? Rather than not going at all, go and give 10%… eve if that looks like 10 minutes walking on the treadmill, scrolling TikTok. You dont have to be imprisoned by your own rules, the creator concluded. The video currently has over two million views, with the comments full of examples of instances where others have unknowingly adopted the vegan plus bacon mentality. One person quit smoking, but still permits the occasional cigarette while among friends. Another is pescatarian, but allows themselves steak once or twice a year. Others are California sober, when a person gives up on alcohol and hard drugs, but continues to smoke weed. Perfect is the enemy of done, as one comment read. Anything worth doing 100% is still worth doing at 10%, another suggested. Perfectionism allows no room for mistakes or occasional slipups. Something has to be perfect, or its not good enough. Whats more, researchers found rates of perfectionism have surged in recent decades, having been a core part of Western culture since the 80s. There could be a number of causes for this, including pressure from school or parentsand today, social media also creates an additional pressure to portray a perfect image online. But perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to an alarming number of clinical issues, including depression and anxiety, even in children, as well as early mortality and suicide. Meanwhile, one of the most effective protections against anxiety and depression is showing compassion to oneself. Here, the vegan plus bacon mindset acts as the perfect counter-narrative to a culture unhealthily obsessed with self-improvement. Sometimes good enough is good enough. And, as I recently read somewhere (i.e., saw on TikTok): such a mindset shift only has to make sense to me, and I dont feel like explaining it to anyone else.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||