Nine workplace gifts of peace and affirmation

by Bill Wilkerson

1. The Gift of Helping Out
Really go out of your way to ask your neighbour at work if he or she needs help. Employers: assist your people to get off the treadmill at work.

2. The Gift of Clear Expectations
Employers and managers: make doubly sure your people know what you expect of them these days. Unclear job expectations create tension and uncertainty that grinds people down.

3. The Gift of Job Fulfillment
Bosses, remember: a pay cheque buys bread for the table. Job fulfillment buys bread for the soul. Go out of your way to help make sure your employees have the tools and the time they need to do the job they are qualified to do.

4. The Gift of Sharing Success Not Just Work
Co-workers: share the credit for the things that get done well at work and not just the workload itself. Cheer each other on. Let the boss know who really helped you out today.

5. The Gift of E-Mail Ceasefires
The next time you are about to e-mail a neighbour at work, don’t. Go visit them. The casualties of stress mount daily from information overload and floods of abrupt or uninvited e-mails.

6. The Gift of Liberation From Call-Forwarding
For all our sakes, delete useless call-forwarding messages. They seldom live up to the promise of a “real person” at the end of the line. Instead, leave a welcoming invitation–in your own voice–and invite the caller to leave a message. And call them back.

7. The Gift of Inclusion
More than ever, make sure your neighbours and employees at work are included in meetings, going to lunch, and sharing information. A lot of us feel alone these days in the midst of many.

8. The Gift of Trust
Managers: stop breathing down the necks of your employees. Let them know you believe in them. Co-workers, show neighbours at work that you can be trusted and try hard to trust others yourself.

9. The Gift of Being Home
In these nervous times, employers may find their people thinking overtime about their kids and their families, wanting to be home when the children come home from school. Respect this. Double-check the work deadlines your people are operating under. Are they reasonable? Necessary? Be alert to the emotional commitment and the time and understanding they need to manage personal commitments.

Adapted from “12 Gifts for Workplace Support and Affirmation – 2004” by Bill Wilkerson, Roundtable Co-Founder and CEO (www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca)

This article was published in the December 2004 issue of BarTalk. © 2004 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.