Staff Retention Archives - Greatness Magnified

Answers for Setting Your Virtual Recognition Intention

March 25, 2021 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

I had the honour of speaking for an amazing group of leaders about how to effectively recognize in a virtual world. They had so many fabulous questions. It occurred to me you may have some of the same questions.

Here are the Answers for Setting Your Virtual Recognition Intention:

How do we build some cultural competence around our recognition acts?
With retention being low – does recognition assist with retention?
Is there such a thing as too much recognition?
How do you motivate a team member who just wants to do ‘working hours and go home without being intrusive? How do we entice their interest?
How do we make it personal to who we are recognizing and making it real?
How do you address the negative Nellys who say “what about us” we are working too?

If you would like to catch the live answers, you can watch the video and even scroll to the questions that are top of mind for you.

Do you have more questions? Email me at info@greatnessmagnified.com and we’ll create a juicy list for a follow-up video soon.

Here are a few more “Your Leadership Questions Answered” videos to view…you never know, you just may be wondering the same things. These videos are full of juicy questions and answers that so many of you great leaders are needing at this time! I know that you will find some great tips to help you create your Virtual Recognition Program and learn more about finding Greatness in the Flip Side of Failing.

PS. Virtual has opened up the opportunity to celebrate rockstars across North America. That’s why we are hosting the Nurses Week Resiliency Reboot and so far, has small to large healthcare organizations across North America joining together to recognize their clinical folks. Want to join us? And please, spread the message. We can have a HUGE impact through virtual connection and support.

What are you doing for Nurses Week?

March 16, 2021 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Healthcare peeps!

I have been listening. I promise. I hear mass burnout, extreme stress, exhaustion. I hear you’re doing the very best you can and yet you don’t feel it’s enough. I hear that whether you are in direct patient care, support services, or a formal leader, you’re crossing your fingers that COVID is over soon (while also worried if you and others will have anything left once it’s passed).

I get it.

Okay, so I got to thinking. What could I do? I’ve tried to help a few different ways – writing ROCKSTAR (which I will gift you here), creating custom VLOGs and blogs by request, gave advice from your SOS emails, texts or calls, and yet, I think there is still more I think I can do.

Then it hit me in a juicy convo with a fellow healthcare speaker, Stephanie Staples: we could take Nurses Week off of your hands and make it phenomenal for your nurses.

Nurses Week Resiliency Reboot was born!

Here are three things you can do to make Nurses Week amazing this year:
1. text, message or call up a nurse TODAY and say “thank you, thank you, thank you…i.e., don’t wait until nurses week to show appreciation!
2. If you’re a nurse, forward this link to anyone who is responsible for nurses week to say, “Hey, we should do this here”
3. If you’re a nurse leader, contact us through the link about doing something really special for your team or the whole organization.

Last year was “The Year of the Nurse.” Well, let’s just all agree nurses deserve a redo. And we’d like to help.

Yours in greatness,

Sarah

Link to the Nurse’s Week event page

Link to FREE ROCKSTAR book

How to Stay Resilient, Strong and Positive Into Next Year

December 24, 2020 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

2020 has definitely been a challenging year for everyone, but we’ve seen people rise up to create some great things as a result of the pandemic and the struggles it had produced. Shifting to accommodate the restrictions that many have had to endure and coming together to help each other to grow and thrive.

I thought this would be a great time to share some of the articles you may have missed in the hope that you will find the necessary inspiration to carry you throughout the rest of 2020 and into the New Year. Here are the top 10 articles of this year:

Recognition & Gratitude

1. One of the questions I am most often asked is “how do I recognize people I don’t like?” One great way is to recognize their progress and potential. You’ll learn more in the full article: How to Appreciate People You Don’t Like

2. Have you ever had an emotional hangover? You know what I mean. You are exhausted. You have a headache and might feel sick. You feel unmotivated and just want to lie on the couch and watch Netflix, hiding from the world until you recover. This blog post just might be your cure: How to Deal with Emotions at Work and Beyond

3. When COVID first hit us, did you wonder what you should be doing and how you could contribute? I really struggled for the first couple of weeks with “what can I do?” Are you curious about what I learned? Here are some tips that might help you: Finding Meaning and Contribution During COVID

4. There are thousands and thousands of healthcare workers working around the clock during COVID-19, as they do every day of the year, 24/7, 365 days of the year. They are the frontline and absolutely the best place to start with our gratitude. I share some ideas here: Who to Thank During the Coronavirus Outbreak? Healthcare Providers is a Great Place to Start

Positivity and Motivation

5. We’ve probably all had someone in our life, at some time, tell us that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s true though. It’s okay to struggle, try things and fail. Particularly during times of strain like now, we may find ourselves struggling with things we had on track six months ago – healthy habits, socializing, separating work and home – because nothing is normal! Learn how to turn that around: What You Focus on Grows (So Choose Wisely)

6. It’s time to figure out how to keep our optimism going strong…we’ve been in the thick of it for a while and I think could all use a glimpse of how to stay positive when times are tough. Here you’ll find more insight: How to Stay Optimistic (Even When There’s Every Reason Not to Be)

7. Now that we’re feeling a little more positive, it’s time to get our mojo back. What happens when you’re feeling less than motivated? Here are some suggestions that I use in my own life and share with my coaching clients when they find themselves unmotivated: 3 Hacks to Get Motivated in Uncertain Times

8. Recognition and motivation go hand in hand. That being said, I am frequently asked, “How can I sincerely, sustainably and supportively appreciate my team, especially when we’re all working virtually?” Here, you’ll find references to deeper dive resources that I believe will both inspire you and make you excited and hopeful of the power of recognition: 3 Ways to Recognize and Motivate in Uncertain Times

9. Who among us doesn’t have that one or two folks (or dozen) who seems to make it their mission to make us and everyone around us miserable? You’ve heard me say it before and I’ll say it again…a complaint is a poorly worded request. In this article, you’ll find a downloadable resource that I’m certain you’ll find helpful in figuring out what this person most wants: Strategies for Reducing Negativity in the Workplace

Nobody’s Perfect!

10. If there was EVER a time to give ourselves a break, I’d say 2020 where we’re working differently, more isolated, worried, and unsure of the future is as good a reason as any to cut ourselves and others some slack. Perfection trips us up all the time. We don’t want to make a mistake. However, it’s not reality, is it? Learn why imperfection can be perfect: Why it’s Perfect to be Imperfect

I hope that you’ll find some of these ideas and strategies useful to help ease some of the stressors you may have been feeling and enduring for the past several months or to motivate and recharge your team. I know that the pandemic has affected us all in different ways and if you’re needing anything at all, please feel free reach out to me. I find my greatest pleasure in helping others and serving in times of need!

Keeping Expectations Alive in Uncertain Times

December 10, 2020 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

My hubby and I have been binge-watching a great show (yes, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but we binge watch and eat carbs…call me human). The depth of characters, amazing plot development, moral conflicts, the whole lot. Rectify is about a man released from death row and how he, and his family, come back from that.

I know, I know, “sounds pretty heavy, Sarah…no thank you!” I thought the same thing. But man, the writing is excellent (says the psychology grad).

Here’s my favourite line of the whole juicy four seasons:

“Expectations are the trickier cousin of hope. Daniel, you hope for something more, and that’s not a bad thing. When was the last time you felt disappointed because you hoped for something? That’s not a bad thing. It’s worth the risk.“

I won’t share anything else about Rectify in case you’re watching it or plan to. A show review is not my point anyway. I mention it because those words hit me like a snowball to the face (as I write this, it’s snowing here in Niagara wine country, so trust me, readers in temperate climates, a snowball to the face is not as fun as it sounds).

A recurring theme in my coaching conversations in 2020 has been the hesitation to hope for too much at the risk of disappointment, further deflation, and hopelessness. These are smart, talented, brilliant folks. None of us are immune to foreboding joy.

My clients hiring me for speaking are also consistently saying, “we need you to give our folks hope“; that people need practical strategies like recognition to keep morale high in times of disconnection, distraction, and disappointment.

Taking this quote to heart, have you held back on expectations?

Have you been hesitant to:
– set goals for 2021
– hold others accountable
– make plans
– daydream or concrete dream about what you want

Are you hesitant to set expectations for yourself or others because you can’t deal with another disappointment? That your hope feels as fragile as a snowflake? That watching it dissolve in front of you would just be yet another painful reminder of how emotionally precarious this time in history is?

What if we flipped the script?

What if we considered how expectations ground us in important things like:
– what we value
– what we most want and need
– what unites and aligns us
– what is possible
– what we can accomplish
– what helps to clarify what’s important

Maybe it’s worth the risk to feel frustration, disappointment and hopelessness temporarily so we can truly know what we stand for – individually and collectively – in the longterm. This is one of the lessons I’m taking from 2020. Can you relate?

What if hope and disappointment were not opposites?

What if hope is the gateway to clarity, and disappointment was the detour sign along the way to find your way back. How might we use hope to our advantage, our super sleuthing tool, rather than our blinders?

This is how we FLIP failure. This is how we find the meaning behind the pain, frustration, confusion, shock, trials, triumphs, learning, struggle, curiosity, possibility, roadblocks and opportunity that 2020 has brought for us. We can let it go down as the year that defied us or the year that defined us. It’s not too late to write the last chapter of 2020. What will you pen? (Let’s pen it together.)

PS. Do you like this concept of leaning into failure as a window to wisdom? Here are some more resources I know you’ll find helpful: