Startup culture is fast, dynamic, and competitive. Such environments cause high expectations, which leads to eventual stress, and depression in the workplace. Such mental health problems at work create a prejudiced result on employees’ work productivity.

Recent analysis from Xero found that 28% of startup owners typically neglect to support mental health. But 48% believe that they did a lot to assist employee mental health issues within the workplace.

Work is a major part of our lives. An average adult spends more time at work than at home. Burnout, stress, and anxiety are some vital problems within the workplace. However, these problems are hardly new. They were present even before the whole remote situation emerged due to Covid-19.

In 2019, around 11% of U.S. adults reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. It skyrocketed to 42% by December 2020. By the end of the year, venture capital investors poured $1.5 billion into mental health-related startups.

Big or little, business leaders should brace themselves to fulfill the dramatically heightened need for mental health services. It’s vital to create a positive atmosphere that motivates individuals and makes staff happy. A positive atmosphere won’t solely contribute to business success however it can facilitate the retention of employees.

With staff citing mental health struggles, this article highlights the necessity for your startup to value your employees’ mental health at work. It conjointly provides steps that you can take to improve the well-being of your staff.

Importance of Employee Mental Health in a Startup

A good team spirit and employee well-being are crucial for a productive work environment. But, mental health problems are far more prevalent than we tend to assume. In fact, several studies show that only a small percentage of startups are concerned about the mental health of their employees.

Depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion each year, according to the World Health Organization. The World Health Organization has also discovered that investing in mental wellness yields a $4 ROI for every $1 invested in scaled-up treatment for common mental disorders.

Most massive organizations perceive the importance of employees’ mental health challenges. The narrative of the business atmosphere is ever-changing in this regard. As per a report by MetLife, 57% of startup staff have expressed concern over their mental well-being.

Startup corporations are fast and volatile. This makes the atmosphere a lot more complicated and unpredictable for workers. Such environments result in high levels of attribution, which puts a bigger quantity of stress on the system. 

It is vital that you seek out mental health resources and professionals who can help your startup’s employees manage their mental health better. This will help design a wellness solution that focuses on your employees’ holistic well-being. Physical activity and nourishment are crucial for a healthy mind and mood sweetening.

Employers must also assess the mental health of their employees using a valid self-assessment tool. These assessments can provide baseline knowledge that can be used to customize the solutions for the corporate.

Steps to Enhance Well-being Among Workers

Employee engagement and productivity are associated with business success. Startups ought to learn to acknowledge instead of denying this reality to form sound business selections.

Employers ought to access opportunities to supply magnified flexibility to workers. They ought to enhance profit offerings by adding mental health benefits. These benefits modify workers to mitigate stress and increase individual monetary security.

In an absence of a psychologically safe environment, workers tend to hide their mental state. It could be a major reason why your employees are underperforming. Let’s cross-check the 5 measures to form your startup mentally stimulating:

1.   Work-life balance:

Employee engagement means differently to each individual. Through the large adoption of technology, workers are accessible round the clock. Also, concerns of job loss incentivize longer operating hours. According to a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of operating professionals operate about 50 hours per week. Half of the population said that they worked about 65 hours per week. However, the number of hours placed in could seldom be the proper yardstick to measure an employee’s contribution to the organization. Without work-life balance, workers suffer burnout and lose interest in their work. Employers ought to encourage them to take care of their work-life balance and live a healthy and gratifying life.

2.   Reduce stigmas:

Stigma is outlined as a mark of disgrace that sets an individual aside from others. It will occur because of misunderstanding in addition to prejudice. For folks living with a mental illness, the stigma will result in an absence of support or compassion. Such stigmas and biases in the workplace create prejudice. It’s necessary to encourage open discussions among workers facing psychological feature problems. They should be encouraged to talk out, discuss and get support for his or her physical health issues.

3.   Encourage Workers to live healthily:

An old saying states that only a healthy body can house a sound mind. Similarly, a healthy worker is a happy and productive employee. Prolonged illnesses, injuries make workers stressed and mentally unwell. Corporations ought to inspire workers to care for their health. And also insist them to join fitness sessions.

Paid sick leaves may seem like a price within the short run, however within the long term, they can do wonders. It is associated with an employee’s loyalty and results in higher output. Employers can create provisions for things like free insurance and encourage their workers to care for their well-being. Companies should opt for new initiatives such as offering frequent mental health breaks.

4.   Provide access to support systems:

Workplace support is a crucial characteristic that impacts the quality of company culture. Once your workforce is given the right access to support, higher productivity prospers. Nowadays, there are digital platforms that can assess employees’ mental health conditions. Employee assistance programs (EAP) provide guidance and solutions to issues. By implementing mental health programs, employers can easily assess their employees’ mental state. Further, they can work with the affected workers to assist them to endure their conditions. This could lead the workers to live a mentally and physically healthy life.

5.   Introduce mindfulness practices:

Mindfulness is an easy sort of meditation that encourages one to concentrate on the instant. It’s one of the simplest and least expensive ways to help your employees become healthier and happier. Mindfulness can be used as a fortification for stress and anxiety. It additionally works to boost emotional wellbeing and awareness. Employers should encourage their workers to follow mindfulness through varied mindfulness activities.

The post The Reason to Prioritize Employee Mental Health in Startups appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

Employee engagement is a crucial aspect of every business. If the people working for you are motivated and engaged, they will be more likely to perform at their best. As an entrepreneur, you’ll be relying on the abilities of your staff to get the business going and reach your goals. This is also why, as a small business owner, you should be very careful when it comes to implementing engagement tactics. You want the employees to get along because when they do, they will perform much better as a team. When they can collaborate, you’ll also see better results. So, this article will bring some employee engagement ideas that you’ll want to use.

The Peculiarities of a Startup

Startups are quite special. Many people don’t even realize what such a business entails until they actually start on one. Startups aren’t just the new cool thing to get you on the rich scale; a startup means much more than that.

The thing about startups is that they are different from big corporations, where everyone needs to figure out how to get along by themselves. Startups have fewer people in line, which makes them more like a family. In a startup, a small team often goes through the same amount of stress together, enjoying each bit of success that you gain along the way.

This is why you need to understand the people around you in a startup. Together, you must be able to adapt to the tasks and adjustments coming your way. In a startup, you need the employees’ full engagement as well – something that might take a little bit of extra work, since there are very few of them in the first place.

Creating the Right Employee Environment

Statistics show that about 57% of the employees quit because of their employer or their overall work environment. They don’t get along well with their co-workers, they grow frustrated due to lack of cooperation – and the final nail in the coffin is added when they start doing all the work by themselves.

This is why, as an employer, you might want to create the right environment. Create a place with a friendly atmosphere where people won’t be afraid to speak what’s on their mind and giving feedback, particularly when it is something that might help your company. Tools such as Lattice Engagement have shown to be quite effective if you want to measure your overall employee satisfaction with the environment.

Importance of Recognition

Everyone loves it when they are praised for their achievements. This doesn’t mean that you have to praise them for every little thing they do – but offering them recognition now and again will boost their morale and create a much stronger sense of motivation.

This is why you might want to set up some sort of rewards and recognition program. When they see that their efforts are appreciated, they will feel more motivated and more likely to go the extra mile. Recognition is at the base of every employee engagement strategy, which is why you need to find ways to make your team feel like they are appreciated.

For instance, a good strategy, in this case, would be to offer benefits to employees that have achieved a certain rank through their hard work. It doesn’t have to be something overly expensive; just something that will get your idea across. You might want to set a board for “employee of the month” as well. This will give them the kind of recognition that will keep them going.

Freedom for Initiative

Here’s the thing about startups: they are very often built on freedom. Let’s say that you are someone that quit their 9-to-5 job because you wanted more freedom – more initiative. Your employee didn’t give that to you, so you went and made your own startup where you had the freedom to decide on things.

That being said, there’s no rule that says companies shouldn’t allow their employees to take the initiative. In fact, this might actually prove convenient for you, as you never know what bright minds you might have on your team – not unless you allow them to speak.

Sometimes, it might take programs such as Slack in order to connect yourself more to your team. You’ll be able to share ideas – and if they have something that you could use, you may implement things for the good of your company.

Plus, allowing your employees the freedom for the initiative will also work for giving them recognition. When they have a good plan to help with the growth of your startup, and that plan gets recognized, they will have a feeling of accomplishment. This will give them more courage to get involved, become engaged with the company, and add to its improvement.

The Celebration of Milestones

Milestones are very important, regardless of their nature. So, whenever your employees reach a milestone, you might want to celebrate it with them. It might be a birthday, a work anniversary, or any other important event. To keep their good mood (and therefore, their engagement) up, you need to keep track of these milestones.

Sometimes, with all the busy schedules taking over everything, it might be rather difficult to keep track of these occasions. When they are overlooked, it can also leave a negative mark on the way the employee feels about their workplace.

As an employer, you must remember the milestones and special occasions of your employee – and obviously, celebrate with them. Not only will this make them feel happy, but it will also improve camaraderie. Programs such as Impraise might also help you build onto that milestone engagement.

If the people working for you are happy, then you can expect more good work to be done. It might seem like something small – something your employees may celebrate by themselves in their free time – but these little activities will go a long way. They’ll help your employee feel much closer to their workplace – in turn, this will make them more productive on their tasks.

Fun Activities for Team Building

Team building very often makes the difference between a successful project and a less successful one. If your employees are able to communicate with one another, they are more likely to have a good collaboration. They don’t need to become best friends; they just have to know each other well enough so that they can function together as a tight-knit team.

Think about it this way: if every employee saw the others as “just that person I work with,” they would not feel close enough to actually get invested. Arguments can also arise very often between people that do not know each other or simply do not get along. This is why you need to use team-building as one of your employee engagement strategies because it will help your group grow much closer.

There are several fun ways in which you can do some team building, all of which will depend on your staff, their availability, and their preferences. Here are just some of the best practices that you may implement:

1. Set Team Goals

If you want your team to work well together, you have to get them to set collective goals. When they have something to look forward to and work towards, they will be most likely to cooperate. It will help you remove the silos and lead to a better connection within your team.

2. Tackle Team Sports

If you have an active team, then you might want to hold a sports event together. Maybe organize a basketball day or do some sand volley on the field. Get to know your employees and find out what they like the most. This will give your team the opportunity to get moving and keep themselves on the health track while learning how to cooperate.

3. Go on a City Escape

Sometimes, the best kind of team building is to take your team and just go on a hike. Now, you don’t have to go on any complicated routes; you can just explore your city. If you have the possibility, you can visit other cities as well. Find a nice city with some proper sights to see and enjoy those things together as a team.

Film the sights, take some pictures – and then use programs such as the Fastreel video editor to put together a video. Whenever your team will have a bad moment, they will look back at that video and remember that there are good days too, when the team feels like their family.

4. Hold a Quiz Night

Whether you go for a quiz day or a quiz night (depending on the availability of your employees), these types of activities should help you quite a lot when it comes to team building.

You may use the Typeform Quiz Maker in order to create the perfect quiz, or you may go for the classic carton methods, whichever method feels easier for you. If you can, use topics related to work, as it will help with your startup in the long run. Other than that, simply allow your brainiacs to have some fun.

5. Chip In for Good Causes

Nothing brings teams closer like the knowledge that together, they helped someone in more need than they were. Whether it’s gathering money to help the homeless or physically helping at the shelters, these types of events will very often create a strong bond within the team and promote employee engagement.

Remote Work Option & Remote Employee Engagement

A lot of employees, particularly millennials, wanted the option of working from home – and this was way before the COVID-19 crisis struck the entire globe. Even after the pandemic comes to an end, 60% of employees still say that they would like the option of working from home more.

Employees perform and engage at their best when they feel like they have some sort of work-life balance. When half their free time is spent on commuting, it’s quite difficult to have some you-time or proper family time.

Employees are happy when they have both options available for choice. Sometimes, they may feel like going to the physical office in order to change from their home environment. Maybe they want to get away from some noise or to socialize with their co-workers.

At the same time, they might like to work from home when they have a bad commuting day or simply do not feel like going to the office. Or maybe they want to go to a relaxing place where they can work, such as the beach or a quiet green area where they won’t be disturbed.

In times when their work can be done from a remote location, most employees would like to have the option to not have to commute to the office. Maybe they have a project they can work on by themselves or a meeting that could be held through a video call.

If their physical presence is not specifically required (no labor or on-site work is needed), they should have the option of doing their job from the place they find comfort in. Every company should find this to be a good measure for employee satisfaction, especially when they are thinking of tips on how to engage employees.

The Bottom Line

Startups can be very successful if you learn how to engage employees from the very beginning. It will increase the commitment – the love for the community that they are currently taking a part in. Hopefully, the tips provided in our articles can come to good use.

The post Best Employee Engagement Ideas for Startups in 2021 appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

When putting together your brick-and-mortar startup, you have a lot on your mind. You are wondering about costs, potential profits, hopes for expansion, hiring, advertising and more.

At Lightspeed, we know how many things there are to consider when preparing your brick and mortar startup. That is why we have specially designed the Lightspeed POS system to be as easy and intuitive as possible. Lightspeed POS makes stocking easy and selling a breeze, so you can set your business up to grow naturally.

We also want to provide small business owners with the resources they need to build a successful company. We have compiled six of the best brick-and-mortar startup tips to help you prioritize your launch and execute it flawlessly.

1. Create a Clear Mission Statement

To run a successful startup, you need to know what your goals are. Besides earning a profit, what do you want to do with your startup? Your business activities are geared toward profit, of course, but a mission is about what your business’s deeper purpose is. Do you have a heart for a certain craft or simply enjoy an industry? Think about what motivates you.

2. Work on Your Startup’s Identity

You need to keep making inroads into your startup’s niche. Make sure you have a unique logo and marketing materials that easily set you apart. Your logo should be attractive, artistic, and suited to your mission.

When defining your business’s look, you need to consider not only your identity but also your audience. Your audience should feel drawn to your brand, which means they need to feel included or compelled.

3. Pick a Location That Meets Your Goals

Being a brick-and-mortar startup is all about location, location, location. You need to situate your startup in a smart, competitive spot with lots of daily traffic. You should get a feel for your local area to see which spots stand out.

Pay attention to how people act around the areas you consider and what draws them there. Anyplace people like to spend time is a good place for a brick-and-mortar shop. Take extra time picking a location since picking the wrong one can be disastrous.

4. Manage Your Cash Flow with the Right POS

Invest in a POS that is created to anticipate your needs and help you keep customers coming back. If you can use a POS that integrates seamlessly with a web store or lets you create one, all the better.

Lightspeed POS lets you do all this and more. With Lightspeed POS, you can create your web store without needing any special skills, and you can keep customers coming back using our Lightspeed Loyalty rewards system.

If you doubt the value of a trustworthy, intuitive POS, just imagine yourself trying to process sales and account for stock with an unreliable data entry and record system. Suddenly, it becomes pretty apparent that selecting a POS should be a careful decision.

5. Give Customers the Right Experience

Whatever your business, you need customers to be happy at your store. You have to win your customers’ loyalty to stay in business. Make sure you give them a warm welcome when they come in and make them feel like you are paying attention. See if they are looking for anything in particular and if you can help them find what they need. But you should do it in a way that is uniquely your own and memorable, too.

6. Be Deliberate About Marketing

Pay attention to not only your marketing designs but also the placement of your logos and store signage. Make sure you label stock clearly and noticeably. You should also make sure your marketing designs are interesting and up to date. Your signage should be professional, tasteful, and attractive.

Before you create marketing materials, have a general plan for your design. If you start with an outline, it becomes far easier to put together your marketing campaigns and integrate their qualities. The best marketing materials are those that stand out and clearly communicate your message. Ask yourself, “What do I want customers to walk away thinking? What is the message this needs to get across?”

The post 6 Brick-and-Mortar Startup Tips That You Should Not Miss appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

As a tech entrepreneur – or any kind of entrepreneur, really – you will no doubt deal with stress. Whether you’re a startup working as a one-person show, or a small to medium-sized business, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, stress is part of the job description.

1. Delegate

There are only 24 hours in a day for all of us, no matter what. One person can only do so much and attempting to do too much can quickly lead to stress and burnout.

Building a small team of trusted colleagues to help you take care of daily tasks or outsourcing the things you do not know how to do well keeps business growing and running smoothly while helping you achieve a better work-life balance.

2. Take Breaks

For optimal productivity, take regular breaks. It may be tempting to skip your lunch break, but studies show that these are much more important than most people realize. Breaks, particularly your lunch break, are vital in helping you destress and recharge yourself to make it through the rest of your day.

Stepping away from your desk, even for just a few moments, helps you gain energy and focus. Taking that lunch break can prevent the mid-afternoon slump where you’re not really productive at all.

3. Follow a Healthy Lifestyle

If you want to be at your best, provide your body with a nutritious balanced diet and get exercise. When your body gets the fuel it needs, you’ll have more energy and sleep better. When you’re constantly running on caffeine, you’ll eventually have a crash, which leaves you feeling worse than you did before you had that extra cup of joe.

Eat a light breakfast before work, take your lunch break, and keep some healthy snacks at your desk to munch on between breakfast and lunch. Avoid the temptation of spending money on going out to lunch every day – you can make something healthier and enjoy more of your break time. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of it going to and from the restaurant and drive-through, forcing you to scarf your food down in a hurry – which won’t help you feel at the top of your game.

Invest in a high-quality mattress. Your sleep matters greatly to your overall health and productivity. For even better results, opt for a 100% non-toxic hypoallergenic mattress so you don’t have to worry about allergies.

If you’re really stressed out and feel it in your muscles, invest in a massage. It can help take the edge off and serves as an effective way to reduce pain, muscle tension, and stress. If the idea of making another appointment and traveling adds to your stress, consider booking a therapist to come to your home or office at a time you choose.

You can also try yoga, meditation, and working with a professional therapist to help you learn coping techniques that will help you address your stress in healthy ways.

4. Use CBD Products to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

The best CBD oil has been shown in multiple studies to help relieve stress and anxiety. Though it is related to THC and marijuana, it does not contain any THC, so you can get the relaxing benefits of cannabis without the “high.”

Penguin offers CBD gummies and other products that contain 0% THC.

5. Listen to Your Body

Your body will provide you with plenty of signals to let you know when it is time to rest and relax. If you ignore those signals and keep pushing through anyway, you run the risk of landing yourself in the hospital or getting sick. When and if this happens, you’ll create more stress by thinking about all the things you should or could be doing while your body attempts to rest and repair itself.

If your back hurts from sitting at your desk for too long, get up and take a couple of laps around your desk. And if your stomach growls, either have a snack or a meal. Failure to address those issues will cause distractions that will hamper your productivity.

6. Aim for Work/Life Balance

Work/life balance is something many of us struggle with yet remains one of our top priorities. If you’re working to get a new tech off the ground, it can be hard to step away from work to take time for yourself and your family.

The largest tech companies out there, including Google, Facebook, and Netflix, all aim to help their employees achieve a better work-life balance by offering numerous perks – one of which is unlimited vacation time.

While you may not be able to afford to take off whenever you feel like you need a break, it’s absolutely imperative to your well-being, (which needs to be in good shape for the best interest of your company) to create balance in all things.

Set a schedule for yourself, and when you’ve reached the end of your day, walk away from all things work. If you work from home, do your best to set up a separate designated work area that you can close the door and avoid during your “off” hours. If you do not have a spare room and find yourself working from the dining room table, turn off your computer and put it away at the end of your workday.

Find things to do outside of work. Take up a new hobby, such as photography, hiking, gardening, or painting. Look at Meetup to find local groups in your area where you can meet people. Connect with these people to make friends outside of work, but don’t discount the possibility that these people may also be supporters of your business.

7. Take a Vacation

Sometimes, just clocking out every day and aiming to do things outside of work isn’t enough to really recover from burnout.

Even if you just take a long weekend and drive somewhere a couple of hours away from home, make it a point to take a vacation once a year. Use the time to relax and unwind – and consider unplugging from technology and all things work-related for the duration.

8. Keep on Top of Finances

Money is stressful for many of us, even in the personal arena. It can be even more so when you’re just getting started with a business.

To keep yourself from getting stressed out by a surprise financial situation that has the potential to wreak havoc, do your best to stay aware of your current financial status every day.

The post 8 Ways Tech Entrepreneurs Can Manage Stress appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.