Blog
2024 Holiday Gift Guide
This year, we had a lot of fun putting together curated gifts from our clients’ product lines! Then we thought, why not share some of those gift ideas with our community? So if you’re still doing some holiday shopping, here are a few of our current favorites.
What We’re Learning (and Relearning) About Resilience
I’m often struck by how life imitates art. This past month, we’ve led several teams through a “Building Resilience” training. Every time, I’m reminded of how much I need to hear the message as well. Lately, I’ve noticed how often I tell myself that once I get through this hurdle, I can exhale. Then, things will feel more manageable.
But just as I move past one wave, another one comes. It’s taken me a while to realize that the waves might not stop.
Feedback Mistake #3 (part 3/3)
We’re back with the final installment of our series on common feedback mistakes.
So far, we’ve covered why the feedback sandwich doesn’t work and the pitfalls of being too vague. Today, let’s dive into a mistake that’s just as common, yet often overlooked.
Mistake #3: Overtaking Responsibility
Feedback Mistake #2 (part 2/3)
One thing we’ll never tire of talking about is feedback. Because having a feedback-rich culture is one of the most important things you can do to create a more resilient and innovative business. But giving feedback well isn’t easy.
We tend to avoid, procrastinate, or sweep it under the rug until the problems become more pronounced. But, the good news is that feedback is a skill and a muscle - and like any muscle, we can strengthen it. We just need the right form and plenty of practice.
Feedback Mistake #1 (part 1/3)
In our experience, one of the most underdeveloped skills in the workplace is how to give feedback. Good feedback. Feedback that actually educates others and helps them improve. So we decided we’d do a summer series on the most common mistakes that we make giving feedback, and how to do it differently.
Because feedback is a gift, when it's given well.
Is Your Culture Nice or Kind?
We recently delivered a training session to a team of managers on how to effectively manage underperformance. To be completely honest, we were a bit nervous going into the session. After all, underperformance is not the sexiest topic. Escalation strategies aren't exactly inspiring, and documentation isn’t exactly fun.
You can imagine our surprise when we looked at the post-training survey and saw 10/10 ratings across the board.
Building Resilience at Work
As we get to the end of February, we're realizing our lesson for the month was flexibility. We'd like to think we're a pretty adaptable team to begin with, but the universe seems intent on reinforcing the lesson. (We get it, we get it). In just the past few weeks, we’ve each had to adapt and pivot more than a few times to deal with life's unexpected curveballs while still delivering on our commitments.
How To: All Hands Meetings
All Hands meetings are a critical touchpoint for your team, and an invaluable part of your internal communications strategy. When done well, they’re often one of the times that employees look forward to the most. But, they can be hard to get right…
Conscious Culture’s Spring Checklist
Spring especially is an important time to reflect on the first quarter - how you’re tracking towards topline goals, how your people are doing, and whether you’re in compliance. After all, a little “spring cleaning” can go a long way!
As you gear up for the quarter ahead, here’s our “Spring Cleaning” Checklist:
Holiday Gift Guide
This year, we had a lot of fun putting together curated gifts from our clients’ product lines! Then we thought, why not share some of those gift ideas with our community? So if you’re still doing some holiday shopping, here are a few of our current favorites.
Is Feedback Getting Harder?
Now that we have fewer interactions, it feels more difficult/awkward to bring up hard things. So what can we do about it? I’ve been asking myself this question lately, not just to better support our clients, but to be proactive with our team at Conscious Culture too.
5 Lessons I Learned from Maternity Leave
Earlier this year, I went on maternity leave, and wow, have I learned so much! Like what “wake windows” are, how to decode cries, and what it’s really like to be a new parent in the workforce…
4 Things Your Employees Want in 2022 (and it’s not more money)
As The Great Resignation continues, organizational leaders need to stop thinking about compensation as the only way to improve retention. Research shared by McKinsey, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes tell us that work-life balance, manageable workloads, flexibility, and other employee value propositions are most important in stopping attrition in 2022.
One Thing You Must Do to Invest in People & Culture in 2022
As we approach the end of the year, people leaders everywhere are determining how and where to invest their time and internal resources to build culture in a remote, hybrid, or return to work environment, to retain their best people, and to prioritize high-impact People Ops activities. One of your best tools for doing that? Ask your people.
5 Tips for Holding Effective One-on-Ones
Regular one-on-one meetings (1:1s) are critical for building relationships with your employees. These meetings are your best opportunity to collaborate, identify challenges, brainstorm solutions, provide feedback and initiate coaching and mentorship conversations. If you’re not holding regular 1:1s, it’s time to start!
6 Steps for Creating a Fair & Equitable Compensation Plan
The ability to attract and retain employees who are truly excellent is critical to your organization’s success. With the competitive market for talent plus a lack of visibility into fair market rates, it can be challenging to budget for new positions and respond to pay inquiries from your existing team. Developing a formal compensation system to standardize pay decisions will not only protect you as an employer, but also elevate you to one of the best in your industry.
Five Steps to Prepare for Your Performance Review
Let’s face it, most people get nervous when it comes time for performance reviews. However, performance reviews can be really informative for your career growth and development, and a great time to celebrate wins and accomplishments! As many companies approach mid-year reviews, we wanted to provide employees like you, with five tips to make the most out of your upcoming review.
Benefits of a Dog-Friendly Workplace (+ Link to Download Our Pet Policy!)
Dog-friendly offices were fairly common before the pandemic, and early trends show that they’ll be even more common going forward, with over half of CEOs surveyed saying they’ll allow it post-pandemic. However, company leaders also have to make sure to limit potential disruptions or distractions that may arise from adding dogs to the mix.
Three Reasons Why You Should Set Actionable Goals
Goal setting is essential to company success. Studies show that just writing down your goals can increase the chances of achieving them by 42%. Setting individual, departmental, and company goals creates focus, drives alignment, and provides clarity for employees.
Conscious Culture’s COVID-19 Lessons: One Year Later
At the beginning of COVID, none of us knew what to expect or exactly how the pandemic would impact our work. The last year has required a new level of adaptability, resilience, and courage from individuals and teams alike…