Vancouver HR expert reveals the secrets to eliminating Monday Morning Blues

Sept. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- CONTACT: Lori de Scossa at 604-488-8885 (Mon-Fri, 8:30am – 4:30pm)
301 – 1040 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2R9
lori@jouta.com
http://www.jouta.com  

Vancouver HR professional reveals the simple steps any business can take to eliminate
Monday Morning Blues. “It all comes down to Organizational Clarity or, more often, a lack of it. The good news is that by gaining Organizational Clarity organizations can actually eliminate Monday Morning Blues and turn dysfunctional teams around,” she says. “The bad news is that without Organizational Clarity the problems just get worse.”

VANCOUVER, BC. – Vancouver HR professional Lori de Scossa says that no matter where we work or what industry we’re in, the feeling of ‘Monday Morning Blues’ is so commonplace that we’ve stopped questioning its presence anymore and just accepted it as the norm.

De Scossa specializes in providing HR for businesses in BC, some of whom feature in the top 100 fastest growing companies in BC.

“It really saddens me to see that so many employees have lost hope of ever not waking up on Monday to that familiar sinking feeling. Some may feel it’s an inevitable trade-off for gainful employment, but this shouldn’t ever be the case. It’s never too late for businesses to take simple but positive steps towards eliminating Monday Morning Blues.”

The damage caused by feeling blue on a Monday morning is more than just low morale, an unhappy workforce or a few gloomy faces in the canteen. The severity can range from an overall lack of productivity (which ultimately affects deadlines and profit margins) to a lack of motivation and poor staff retention: serious issues that can cripple any size and type of organization.

De Scossa says, “In my experience the problem stems from a lack of Organizational Clarity. Organizational Clarity is so much more than just a plaque posted in your lobby that has your vision, mission and values printed on it, or even just something written on your website. True Organizational Clarity is when everyone from the Cleaner to the CEO, from the Accountant to the Customer Service Representative is on the same page and talking the same language.”

According to De Scossa there’s nothing worse than coming to work to just push a button. “Being clear on how we directly contribute to a team and to an organization is so fundamental that without it employers can unwittingly foster a feeling of dread. One in which we’d rather be hitting the snooze button than coming in to work. It’s not enough to know that we’re a small cog in a big wheel, somehow contributing to overall profits. It’s all about specifics.”

De Scossa reinforces this stating that employees genuinely want to have a positive impact on their team and on their organization, but that in order for this to happen they need to be clear about their individual contributions to both, and who is directly affected by the work they do. Employers have a huge role to play in helping them gain this clarity by establishing, as a team, their Organizational Clarity, which simultaneously addresses the issue of Monday Morning Blues–either curing it if it exists or not providing any ground on which it can take hold.

To eradicate Monday Morning Blues and improve performance De Scossa cites the following five simple steps to achieving and maintaining Organizational Clarity.

1.   Ask everyone in the organization to answer one simple question: What business are we in? You will be amazed at the variety of answers you get. Based on the answers create some common language that everyone in the organization can use to describe what you do (don’t make it sales-y or complicated, just use plain language). Then share this common language with everyone in the organization.

2.   Define why you exist as an organization. What is your purpose?  Do you exist to make a difference, to make a profit, to make your customers happy? Many leadership teams never take the time to define their purpose. How can you define success if you don’t know why you exist or what your purpose is?

3.   Create an Organizational Goal that is not related to Standard Operating Objectives. This goal should be one that everyone in the organization, regardless of the role they play, can relate to, and see how everyone can help to achieve it. Too often organizations hold all employees accountable to an Organizational Goal that is profit or productivity driven and in most cases the average employee has no ability to directly impact that outcome.

4.   Define every individual’s roles and responsibilities within the organization as they pertain to the Standard Operating Objectives AND to the Organizational Goal. Most employees want to succeed and want to see the organization they work for succeed. By tying their roles and responsibilities to both of these they can easily see the direct impact their effort has.

5.   Communicate often and openly. “Fireside Chats” are a great way for Senior Leaders within an organization to stay connected to the rest of the employees and for employees to stay connected to progress of the company. Having a set monthly meeting for 15-30 minutes where whoever is available can come and listen to a Senior Leader of the organization update the team on progress and achievements is a perfect way to maintain clarity. It’s also a great opportunity to celebrate the birthdays that took place that month by sharing cake!

For more information about how your team can eradicate Monday Morning Blues or for a free consultation, call Vancouver HR professional Lori de Scossa of the Jouta Performance Group at (604) 488-8885 or visit http://www.jouta.com

# # #

Jouta [Joe-ta] are the HR experts who bridge the gap between people and business to create a healthy, high performing organization. As a team we have over 90 years of experience in HR and coaching. We put in place tailor-made structures, programs and proposals that motivate, inspire and guide teams so that ultimately businesses become more effective and productive.