Ways to Cultivate a Positive Mindset

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don't despair — you can learn positive thinking skills.

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information or expectations due to preconceived ideas of what may happen.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

Many of us focus on the things that are wrong with us, the things we're not good at, or the things we've failed at. But if we want to cultivate a positive mindset, we're better served by focusing on our strengths. This shift in focus can help us feel more positively about ourselves.

Gratitude is about more than just saying "thanks." It's about searching for things to be grateful for every day. We might practice and strengthen this skill by writing gratitude lists or a gratitude journal. After some time, our brains will get better at recognizing things to be thankful for.

Part of developing a more positive mindset might involve cultivating the belief that we are worth taking care of. We're allowed to have breaks, to feel good, and to engage in self-care. By taking better care of ourselves, we might think about ourselves in more positive ways that help us to have more positive experiences.

Our self-talk often reminds us of everything we are doing wrong while forgetting about what we are doing right. Congratulate yourself on your recent accomplishments, no matter how small they seem. Cultivating self-compassion and changing the focus of your self-talk from negative to positive is a huge step in creating a positive mindset.

It turns out we have a negativity bias that makes it easier to focus on the negative than focus on the positive. Practice shifting your attention by intentionally but gently moving your mind away from negative thoughts. If your mind is going down a rabbit hole and you're ruminating on something bad that happened, put the breaks on those thoughts by going for a run, taking a cold shower, or focusing on the details of an object in the room. These strategies can help short circuit your negative thoughts and help you focus on the positive.

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that emphasizes focusing on positive thoughts and beliefs in order to improve one's outlook on life, increase well-being, and achieve success. The power of positive thinking has been well-documented in numerous studies, which have found that people who think positively tend to experience better mental and physical health, improved relationships, and greater success in their personal and professional lives.

Cultivating a positive mindset is essential for achieving happiness and success in life. It involves focusing on the good things in life, adopting an optimistic attitude, and learning to cope with challenges in a positive and proactive way. Negative thinking, on the other hand, can have a detrimental effect on mental and physical health, lead to low self-esteem and confidence, and even interfere with personal and professional relationships.

A smile is contagious.

People with a positive mental attitude have an infectious way about them that compels others to gravitate in their direction. They’re optimistic, uplifting, and don’t give in to hopelessness even in the worst of times.

But what’s their secret? Can anyone develop a positive mindset, or are you born with it?

The truth is, everyone can adopt a more positive mental attitude. And while a positive attitude doesn't guarantee business success, developing a more positive orientation can improve your mood, relationships, and job and life satisfaction. Research has found that a positive outlook has a real impact on your physical health, too.

All of that combines to make a strong argument for the power of a positive mental attitude on your performance, too.

What is Reappraisal—And How Do You Do It?

Reappraisal is an important skill for boosting your well-being. Learn what reappraisal is and how to use reappraisal to improve your emotional experiences and your life.

Reappraisal involves cognitively reframing an event to reduce the negative emotions you feel. For example, let’s say that I dropped my sandwich on the ground and I have nothing else to eat for lunch. I might tell myself that I am better off than people in the world who don’t have any food. Or I might tell myself that it’s not so bad because I can get a snack later in the day. Or maybe I tell myself that it’s good I dropped my sandwich because it will help me stay on my diet.

The goal is to talk to yourself in ways that make you feel better about yourself or the situation.

When we change the way we are thinking about our experiences we don’t let life’s slings and arrows get to us as much. We are able to see challenges as opportunities and begin to view our lives in terms of strengths instead of weaknesses. An ability to successfully reappraise enables us to reduce negative emotions and open us up to experiencing happiness, even during difficult times.

Imagine you take a wrong turn on the way to a party and end up getting lost, making you considerably late. Your first response may be to get frustrated, appraising things by thinking, “This road construction is terrible! The city needs to get it together to find a different way of detouring traffic.” Your appraisal may make you exasperated. If you're prone to anger, your anger may run away with you, causing you to be fuming and ruining your time at the party once you arrive.

Instead of playing out this unpleasant, seemingly automatic cycle, take a moment to consider another perspective (reappraisal) you might have in this situation. The mere act of considering other interpretations can help you loosen your grip on your more angry perspective. Other ways of looking at this situation might even cause you to experience other feelings. Consider the following reappraisals:

· I always get lost. Why can’t I seem to do anything right?

· Oh no! If I’m late to the party, everyone will be mad at me, and no one will talk to me.

· I have the birthday cake in the trunk. Now, everyone at the party will have to wait for me before they can get started, and that’s miserable.

These different ways of thinking about the situation will elicit different emotional responses, although they’re not really an improvement on the first response. What’s interesting about them is that all of them contain at least a kernel of truth. None of them is out-and-out irrational. Some of them may be a bit extreme but not irrational. This is significant because it illustrates there usually isn’t just one way of making sense of a situation. All have validity. This means it’s possible to take an alternative perspective that is more effective in helping us feel more balanced.

Now consider the following reappraisals:

· Thank goodness, I will spare myself 30 minutes of talking to Elizabeth. I dodged a bullet there!

· I’m late again. I might as well enjoy the scenery while I’m driving around.

· People probably won’t care that much that I’m late.

· I’m usually on time. What a fluke!

· Life happens.

These beliefs also contain a kernel of truth. They're not merely the “power of positive thinking” but are reality-based ways of re-appraising the situation. Moreover, they'd probably be more effective in helping us keep our heads while we try to find our way to the party. While running over these new thoughts, you might still hear the old appraisal in your head: “This road construction is terrible! The city needs to get it together to find a different way of detouring traffic.” But now you can add some nuance to it, adding different viewpoints and thinking in a way that keeps a lid on your level of distress. The point is to allow other ways of making sense of a situation to coexist with the more emotionally triggering appraisal.

Feelings are sometimes considered abstract, unknowable concepts. This can lead to us accepting our feelings as unchangeable. Sometimes loneliness creeps in and we let it sit there. Sometimes frustration washes over us and we relish the anger.

There is a technique used in cognitive behavioural therapy, however, that encourages our ability to affect our feelings by adjusting the thoughts that precede them. This can help us process and even limit or reshape unwanted or overwhelming feelings.

Cognitive Reappraisal is designed to be a tool for helping yourself be your own teacher for overcoming negative thought spirals. However, it's often helpful to seek out an expert cognitive behavioral therapist to get help when thinking patterns result in significant quality of life problems. If you or someone you know is experiencing anxiety and depression, or suffering from some other emotional problem, it's best to seek out a trained mental health professional to help you better learn these skills to recover more quickly and fully.

The Power of Gratitude

“The more you practice gratitude, the more you see how much there is to be grateful for, and your life becomes an ongoing celebration of joy and happiness” – Don Miguel Ruiz

Being grateful shifts the lens from what is lacking or not ideal to what is already present and good. By incorporating the practice of gratitude into our lives, we can begin to reap the emotional rewards of this state of appreciation and gratitude. Recent studies have found that ‘counting your blessings’ on a regular basis not only leads to feeling more optimistic and enjoying a greater overall satisfaction with life, it can also have some pretty amazing physical and emotional benefits.

“Without gratitude, life can be lonely, depressing and impoverished. Gratitude enriches human life. It elevates, energizes, inspires and transforms, and those who practice it will experience significant improvements in several areas of life including relationships, academics, energy level and even dealing with tragedy and crisis.” Dr Robert Emmons.

Gratitude is a powerful tool for increasing wellbeing in all sorts of settings.

First, by analyzing the words used by participants in each of the two writing groups, we were able to understand the mechanisms behind the mental health benefits of gratitude letter writing. We compared the percentage of positive emotion words, negative emotion words, and “we” words (first-person plural words) that participants used in their writing. Not surprisingly, those in the gratitude writing group used a higher percentage of positive emotion words and “we” words, and a lower proportion of negative emotion words, than those in the other writing group.

However, people who used more positive emotion words and more “we” words in their gratitude letters didn’t necessarily have better mental health later. It was only when people used fewer negative emotion words in their letters that they were significantly more likely to report better mental health. In fact, it was the lack of negative emotion words—not the abundance of positive words—that explained the mental health gap between the gratitude writing group and the other writing group.

Perhaps this suggests that gratitude letter writing produces better mental health by shifting one’s attention away from toxic emotions, such as resentment and envy. When you write about how grateful you are to others and how much other people have blessed your life, it might become considerably harder for you to ruminate on your negative experiences.

In addition to giving individual benefits, gratitude may also help to strengthen ties with friends, loved ones, and those in our wider communities. The find-remind-bind theory, first proposed by psychologist Sara Algoe—an associate professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—suggests that gratitude can help people identify good candidates for a new relationship (find), appreciate existing relationships (remind), and motivate people to maintain or invest in these relationships (bind). As Sara writes in a 2012 paper on her theory, “Gratitude starts inside one individual and its effects spread to a dyadic relationship and perhaps throughout a social network.”

In one study involving nearly 300 adults seeking counseling services at a university, one randomized group wrote a gratitude letter each week for three weeks. The gratitude group reported significantly better mental health (compared to the control group) at follow-up, 12 weeks after the last writing exercise. Another type of written gratitude practice is counting blessings, or “Three Good Things.”A study of this practice found that people who wrote down three things that had gone well in their day and identified the causes of those good things were significantly happier and less depressed, even six months after the study ended.

Gratitude is more than just a momentary good feeling. Scientists who have studied written gratitude interventions, such as gratitude letters or journals, have found benefits for an individual’s mental health and well-being. Gratitude practices also appear to help you feel more satisfied in life and can boost your self-esteem, according to peer-reviewed research.

Research published in the last decade has shown that grateful people (those who have “trait gratitude”) have fewer common health complaints, such as headaches, digestion issues, respiratory infections, runny noses, dizziness, and sleep problems. It appears that practicing gratitude could also help to alleviate those pesky health problems. In one study, a group of college students who wrote about things they were grateful for once per week for 10 weeks reported fewer physical symptoms (such as headaches, shortness of breath, sore muscles, and nausea) compared to two other control groups.

Sometimes what we didn’t have in the past can prevent us from accepting it in the present. If we never had a healthy relationship, we may push away a loving partner. If we were raised to be perfectionists, it’s difficult to appreciate things that aren’t “just right.” That’s why you must let go of the past in order to learn how to live in gratitude each day. Choosing to give a positive meaning to your past experiences will help you overcome limiting beliefs and know that you are worthy of abundance.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault

Gratitude can anchor us to the present moment. By focusing our attention on our sensations, we can appreciate the simple things in lives: the sound of bird chirping away; the warm touch of the sun on our skin; the voice of a loved one; the soft touch of a lover … There is much appreciation that can be felt by focusing on sensations.

Some of us can naturally appreciate the sweet moments as they happen throughout the day, while many of us need to actively cultivate gratitude. Focusing on sensations is a way to disengage from thoughts and appreciate the present moment just as it is.

“There are only two ways to live your life, one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

The best way to start practicing gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal and write things for which you are grateful each day.

Describe in as much detail as possible how your body feels when you express gratitude. What kind of thoughts do you notice? Which emotions accompany these feelings? What sensations do you feel in your body?

Gratitude cannot be forced. You can’t rush through it. Take the time to explore how you feel.

After letting the feelings arise naturally, you can direct your attention to certain events to elicit gratitude. For instance, you might recall a happy memory for which you feel thankful for. Or you could turn your attention to a past problem you overcame, which might make you feel grateful for being in a better place now and having learned in the process.

Building Human Capital

What is the value of your workforce?

Your company holds many assets. But some of them are easier to quantify than others.

For example, you can easily pull up a balance sheet to determine your economic assets. There’s a simple number to showcase how much you have.

What these balance sheets don’t tell you is how much your employees are worth.

It’s difficult to put a number on intangible values like leadership, education, creativity, and past work experience. But it’s clear that these have value for any company.

These assets allow employees to perform and thrive.

That’s why it’s crucial to the health of any organization to be aware of this value — so they can improve it.

The term used to describe the value of these assets is human capital.

The human capital definition can be explained as an intangible asset stemming from a person’s talent and experience.

Human capital isn’t an official asset you can quantify on a balance sheet. But it’s still considered an economic value for a company.

That’s because human capital empowers a company to service its clients, create its products, and innovate for new offers.

Human capital can be made up of several factors, including:

• Hard skills and soft skills
• Higher education and training
• Intelligence and emotional intelligence
• Personality
• Work experience
• Employee well-being
• Loyalty to the company

Every company is what it is because of its employees. Individuals who make up a company’s workforce are responsible for its success or failure.

Think of it this way. If your organization employs people who have more education, more developed skills, and more work experience, it’ll be able to accomplish much more.

A higher human capital means employees are more capable of doing their job. But it also means they can innovate and find creative ways to solve a crisis.

They’ll also be able to do their job more efficiently if they have higher human capital.

That’s because they probably have more experience doing the job. But they can also achieve efficiency because of their rich life experience. This experience gives them a wider perspective on their problems.

Keep in mind that human capital can migrate from one place to another. Companies that don’t do what it takes to retain human capital can experience a "brain drain."

Brain drain describes the phenomenon that occurs when human capital migrates from developing areas to urban and developed areas.

The same can happen to companies if they don’t value their employees. Data from an MR study shows that 25% of employees leave their job to seek more compensation.

You can also lose human capital if you don’t give advancement opportunities. 30% of employees leave their job due to a lack of career advancement, according to the same survey.

Furthermore, human capital has a huge impact on the success of not just an individual company, but also the economy.

For example, according to the Human Capital Index, 80% of the world’s poor live in economies with a human capital index under 0.5.

Human capital development refers to the process of enhancing and improving the skills, knowledge, abilities, and overall potential of individuals within a society or organization. It recognizes that individuals are valuable assets and focuses on investing in their development to maximize their contributions and productivity.

Human capital development encompasses various activities aimed at improving human resources, such as education, training, mentorship, skill-building programs, and career development initiatives. The goal is to equip individuals with the necessary competencies and capabilities to thrive in their professional and personal lives.

Investing in human capital development has several benefits. It can lead to increased productivity, innovation, and competitiveness at both individual and organizational levels. It also promotes economic growth, social mobility, and improved quality of life.

Governments, businesses, and educational institutions often play a significant role in facilitating human capital development. They may establish policies, programs, and initiatives to foster education, vocational training, professional development, and lifelong learning opportunities. By nurturing human capital, societies can unlock the full potential of their people and create a more prosperous and inclusive future.

Investing in the development of employees' skills and knowledge enhances their performance and productivity. When employees are equipped with the necessary competencies, they can effectively contribute to achieving organizational goals and deliver high-quality work.

Organizations that prioritize human capital development gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Well-trained and skilled employees enable companies to innovate, adapt to changing market conditions, and stay ahead of their competitors.

Offering opportunities for learning and growth within the organization increases employee satisfaction and engagement. When employees see that their development is valued and supported, they are more likely to stay with the company, reducing turnover rates.

Human capital development ensures that organizations have a pipeline of talented individuals who can take on leadership and critical roles in the future. By nurturing and developing employees' skills, organizations can groom their own talent and reduce dependence on external hiring.

In a rapidly changing business environment, organizations need employees who are adaptable and resilient. Human capital development equips employees with the skills to embrace change, learn new technologies, and navigate complex situations effectively.

Developing employees' knowledge and expertise fosters innovation and creativity within organizations. Well-trained individuals are more likely to generate new ideas, solve problems, and contribute to continuous improvement.

Organizations that prioritize human capital development tend to have a positive reputation and strong employer branding. This can attract top talent, as individuals are drawn to organizations that prioritize their professional growth and development.

Overall, human capital development is crucial for organizations to build a skilled and motivated workforce, drive innovation and adaptability, and maintain a competitive edge in the market. By investing in their employees' development, organizations can create a positive work environment, achieve higher performance, and position themselves for long-term success.

The Importance Of Building An Emergency Fund

We’ve all experienced unexpected financial emergencies—a fender bender, an unexpected medical bill, a broken appliance, a loss of income, or even a damaged cell phone. Large or small, these unplanned expenses often feel like they hit at the worst times.

Setting up a dedicated savings or emergency fund is one essential way to protect yourself, and it’s one of the first steps you can take to start saving. By putting money aside—even a small amount—for these unplanned expenses, you’re able to recover quicker and get back on track towards reaching your larger savings goals.

An emergency fund is a cash reserve that’s specifically set aside for unplanned expenses or financial emergencies. Some common examples include car repairs, home repairs, medical bills, or a loss of income.

In general, emergency savings can be used for large or small unplanned bills or payments that are not part of your routine monthly expenses and spending.

Without savings, a financial shock—even minor—could set you back, and if it turns into debt, it can potentially have a lasting impact.

Research suggests that individuals who struggle to recover from a financial shock have less savings to help protect against a future emergency. They may rely on credit cards or loans, which can lead to debt that’s generally harder to pay off. They may also pull from other savings, like retirement funds, to cover these costs.

The amount you need to have in an emergency savings fund depends on your situation. Think about the most common kind of unexpected expenses you’ve had in the past and how much they cost. This may help you set a goal for how much you want to have set aside.

If you’re living paycheck to paycheck or don’t get paid the same amount each week or month, putting any money aside can feel difficult. But, even a small amount can provide some financial security.

Set a goal. Having a specific goal for your savings can help you stay motivated. Establishing your emergency fund may be that achievable goal that helps you stay on track, especially when you’re initially getting started. Use our savings planning tool to calculate how long it’ll take you to reach your goal, based on how much and how often you’re able to put money away.

Create a system for making consistent contributions. There are a number of different ways to save, and setting up automatic recurring transfers is often one of the easiest. It may also be that you put a specific amount of cash aside each day, week, or payday period. Aim to make it a specific amount, and if you can occasionally afford to do more, you’ll watch your savings grow even faster.

Regularly monitor your progress. Find a way to regularly check your savings. Whether it’s an automatic notification of your account balance or writing down a running total of your contributions, finding a way to watch your progress can offer gratification and encouragement to keep going.

Celebrate your successes. If you’re sticking with your savings habit, don’t miss the opportunity to recognize what you’ve accomplished. Find a few ways that you can treat yourself, and if you’ve reached your goal, set your next one.

Set some guidelines for yourself on what constitutes an emergency or unplanned expense. Not every unexpected expense is a dire emergency but try to stay consistent. Even if it’s not a trip to the emergency room, you may need it to pay for a medical bill that wasn’t covered by insurance.

Having a reserve fund for financial shocks can help you avoid relying on other forms of credit or loans that can turn into debt. If you use a credit card or take out a loan to pay for these expenses, your one-time emergency expense may grow significantly larger than your original bill because of interest and fees.

However, don’t be afraid to use it if you need it. If you spend down what’s in your emergency savings, just work to build it up again. Practicing your savings skills over time will make this easier.

How to Make Money from Home?

Most people want to make more money. It could be because they want to increase their savings or because they have a specific goal in sight, such as buying a home or paying off debt. Whatever the reason, finding something to do outside of that regular job or outside of classes is one of the more obvious avenues to getting that extra cash.

However, the most obvious option for many is to get a part-time job, which means more time away from home. Luckily, the robust online world has provided people with many opportunities to make money at home—in legitimate ways.

Whether you're looking for a full-time income or a gig to earn some extra money on the side, there are plenty of ways to earn money while working from home. Among its many benefits, home-based jobs offer flexibility to make your own schedule and enjoy a strong work-life balance. Reviewing ideas to make money at home can help you determine which you're most interested in pursuing.

A virtual assistant (VA) provides clients with administrative services from a remote location, such as a home office. They handle various responsibilities for their clients, like making travel plans, performing online research and checking emails. They may also travel with their clients or work with them at their offices, completing essential tasks.

Survey your home and look for items you no longer use, such as furniture, clothes, books, electronics and toys your children have outgrown. You can then list those items on different ecommerce sites to find interested buyers. It's important to take clear, high-resolution photos of your pieces. Perform research online to find how much similar items sell for and then price your own items competitively.

Leverage your experience in specific subjects or your SAT/ACT knowledge to offer online tutoring to high school and college students. Promote your services in area schools and find students who have a need for your services. You can apply to work only for established online tutoring services.

If there's a topic you're particularly interested in, you could start a blog and promote it on social media to attract an audience who wants to learn about that topic. If you draw a large enough audience with your blog, you can make money from advertising. For example, you may start a blog rating local restaurants or comparing various drinks.

Ecommerce is very popular right now. While major ecommerce retailers have the majority of the market share, consumers are also looking for great deals online. Consider launching a sales funnel for yourself to drive traffic and buyers to your products and services. For example, you may start an online pet supply store where you source the best pet products and curate them for customers on your site.

Another option is to deliver people their food orders. Apps such as Grab and Uber Eats connect you with consumers who want food delivered to their homes. You can pick up their orders and deliver them for cash and potentially receive tips. Another variation of this is to do others’ grocery shopping through Gojek.

You need to meet specific requirements to use these apps, including understanding food handling practices. Read through the requirements before you apply.

If your city has legalized selling home-baked goods from your own kitchen, you might look into that if you like to bake or don't mind making meals to go. Once you build up a reputation for safe, delicious food (and after you've gone through the city's inspection and permitting process), you could earn money in your own kitchen, selling meals and different foods.

Generally, people will come to your home to pick up the food, you'll deliver the food, or you'll run a mail-order business for non-perishable goods like cookies. You can sell on your own in your neighborhood, or you can join a site that matches people looking for food with your cooking.

Most of us can use a little extra cash each month, especially in today’s inflationary environment. The good news is that there are ways to make money from home, and you can do it on a flexible schedule.

The Importance of Feedback in the Workplace

Feedback is information provided to someone about their performance, behavior, or actions. It can be given by managers, peers, or even customers. Feedback is not just criticism, it can also be positive reinforcement or recognition for a job well done. It is an essential tool for personal and professional development.

Receiving or giving feedback can be difficult for some individuals, as it can be perceived as a negative feedback evaluation. However, feedback is not meant to be a personal attack but rather an opportunity for growth and improvement.

Feedback that is constructive is vital to employees’ ongoing development. Feedback clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes and builds confidence. Positive feedback is easy – it’s not hard to find the right words to tell someone they’ve done a good job, or congratulate them on meeting a sales target. When things are going well it can be easy to become complacent about giving praise but stopping and smelling the roses is important to build employee confidence and encourage a culture in which employees nurture and support one another.

However, giving negative feedback is not so easy. It’s human nature to put off difficult conversations or to try and soften the blow however the problem with doing this is that the issue is not addressed, the problem compounds and eventually you find yourself dealing with a much bigger problem.

Like all things, practice makes perfect when it comes to providing feedback. Feedback should be spontaneous and regular. For more serious issues a formal meeting is appropriate or a discussion as part of performance review, but building feedback into your day to day encounters with employees is a great way to develop rapport, and encourage an environment in which people feel comfortable to give and receive feedback.

Constructive feedback is one of the best things managers can provide to their employees. When delivered properly it can, reinforce positive behavior, correct any negative performance and ensure a strong culture remains in your team.

Some managers, however, are reluctant to provide constructive feedback, thinking that it may turn negative or be perceived as a harsh criticism by the employee.

As humans, we all want to feel like we belong and are appreciated. In a work context, this means feeling like there is value to what we do and what we bring to the business, and knowing that we are part of a wider team all working towards the same goals.

This knowledge that we are useful and valued gives us a sense of purpose. It shows us that there is meaning to what we do. This is what gets people to show up every day and deliver their best. Giving regular feedback is one way we can show employees that they are valued and useful. Even negative feedback can spur people on to want to do better. Any feedback, good or bad, will reinforce to your employees that there is a point to what they are doing.

A study by Officevibe shows that 4 in 10 workers are actively disengaged when they receive little or no feedback. The research also highlighted how important it is for employees to receive regular feedback. 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week compared to only 18% of employees with low engagement.

Even if they don't vocalise it, employees crave feedback. And with the ambitious and growth-driven younger generations of Millennials and Gen Y now make up a significant proportion of the workforce, feedback is only going to become more focal for companies. Dubbed the “most ambitious generation”, millennials want to continuously learn and do better. More than half of millennials (58%) said success in their careers depends on updating their skills and knowledge frequently, compared with 35% of Gen Xers and 34% of Baby Boomers.

Peer to peer feedback opens up the communication channels between employees. This can be particularly useful if there is conflict or tension between colleagues. Giving feedback is an opportunity to get things out in the open so that issues can be resolved and they can find ways to work together better. Moreover, regular feedback can prevent conflict from happening in the first place. Small issues can be resolved before they have a chance to escalate into something bigger.

It’s important for employees to receive feedback about how they are performing and where they might be able to improve in their role. But we’re not just talking annual reviews or appraisals. Rather, organisations need a healthy, open culture where people give and receive feedback on a regular and fluid basis.

A vital aspect of feedback is that it identifies what an individual is doing well and areas where they can improve. Giving employees actionable feedback helps them set personal goals for improvement. For example, during a peer review, team members may share that another team member contributes great quality work but doesn't meet deadlines. With this feedback, the employee may recognise that they could develop better time management skills to improve and meet deadlines.

Feedback can be more beneficial if leaders work with their team members and help create goals after receiving feedback. This is why when providing feedback, it's useful to share the strengths and areas for improvement in an employee's performance, so they can prioritise which skills to develop.

In conclusion, feedback is a vital part of creating a healthy and productive work environment. Through feedback, employees can improve their skills and performance, gain a better understanding of their goals and expectations, and develop a growth mindset.

Regular feedback also promotes open communication, reduces conflicts and misunderstandings, and builds a culture of respect and appreciation. It’s clear that feedback has a positive impact on employee development, productivity, and the overall success of a workplace.

As we wrap up, let’s make a commitment to make feedback a regular part of our workplace communication. By giving and receiving feedback in a constructive and respectful manner, we can all grow and thrive as professionals. Remember, feedback is an opportunity for growth and improvement, so let’s embrace it with open minds and a willingness to learn.