Have you made your New Year’s resolution for 2022? Most. of us make personal resolutions for relationships, health, and finances. But have you also considered professional goals? Professional resolutions can be very impactful, especially if you’re a business owner or manager since they can directly affect more people. Benefit Resource wanted to help give you a quick guide to 22 actionable New Year’s resolutions to incorporate in 2022.
1. Take Time to Recharge
Many of us add this resolution to our personal goals, but it can also be necessary to the corporate culture. Encourage employees to be intentional and allocate time for self-development and reflection. Recharge once a week, once a month, or quarterly, whichever works best for at least a few opportunities throughout the year.
2. Take Advantage of Wellness Benefits
No one can pour from an empty cup; use the benefits offered to employees. If you don’t already offer a wellness program to your employees, consider adding one during your next Open Enrollment. Specialty Accounts are a great way to encourage employees to stay healthy and active and completely customizable depending on your needs.
3. Check-In On Your Customers
These past two years have thrown a wrench in standard communication methods and made it difficult to meet with customers. This year, commit to contacting all of your customers, catching up with them, and asking what you can do for them.
4. Refine Your Audience
If you currently market to everyone hoping to gain a few new customers in a wide net, take a step back. Set time aside to identify your ideal customers and specifically target them with your refined marketing approach. As a result, you will sell more while spending less.
5. Prioritize Work/Life Balance
Make creating a work/life balance a priority for yourself and encourage employees to do the same. Most people underestimate how much the pandemic has changed the day-to-day, both personally and professionally. For a long time, everyone felt stressed. Working remotely has blurred the lines between work and home life, and it is increasingly common to find oneself checking e-mails and working at odd hours. For 2022, encourage having more defined boundaries between work and home.
6. Focus on Workplace Culture
The pandemic has brought many challenges, and maybe most prevalent is the struggle with employee retention. Deemed, “The Great Resignation,” companies see record-setting turnover in almost every industry. As such, employee well-being is more important than ever. Happy employees are a direct reflection of the company.
“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel value, neither will your customers.”– Sybil F. Stershic, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care
7. Work on Communication
Communication is vital in business. Regardless of whether you’re the CEO or a frontline worker, communication between coworkers, staff members, and clients will help everyone do their jobs better. It’s a resolution worth considering for 2022.
8. Create Quality Time for Employees
As a corporate leader, devote some quality time to your employees. People are your company’s greatest asset. Make this year the year to truly reconnect with employees.
9. Reflect on the Employee Experience
As noted in previous resolution options, employee engagement and well-being truly impact your business. If your employee experience isn’t top of mind, it should be! Employee engagement has declined since 2019. Therefore, it’s essential to focus on employee well-being. Start by acknowledging the enormity of our collective challenges. Lead by example and actively share, speak up, and recognize the toll Covid has had. Acknowledging individual experiences will help everyone connect on a human level and feel appreciated.
10. Encourage Open Communication
Find ways to encourage open discussions in the workplace and allow employees to be their authentic selves at work. If colleagues feel open to being themselves, this will promote an open culture, and foster increased collaboration and productivity.
11. Develop an Equitable Hybrid-Work Model
The traditional model of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in the office five days per week, is gone for good. Reorganizing this change and incorporating a hybrid model requires careful planning and preparation, as well as considerations for the impact on company culture. Keep employees engaged in a hybrid environment by offering opportunities for professional growth regardless of work location.
12. Help Others
There are many opportunities to give back to organizations, especially those struggling during the pandemic. As a leader, set an example. Become a mentor. Provide advice, direction, and support when needed. Volunteer.
13. Build Your Brand
Your corporate brand is more than a logo; it’s all of our customer’s experiences with your company. This year, put effort into refining your brand identity to better target your audience’s expectations.
14. Improve Your Page Ranking
Refining your website’s SEO can bring profitable change in the next year. Search Engine Optimization can be intimidating, but there are several resources to learn the basics and professionals to help guide you through the setup process. When you see the traffic increases on your website, you’ll know it was time well spent.
15. Encourage Increased Skillsets and Professional Growth
Support your employees from within your company. Set up opportunities and share training classes that provide options for learning new skills and growing professionally. Setting employees up like this can pay off in the long run, with happy employees who feel valued growing in a supportive company.
16. Revisit Your HR and Employee Benefits
The pandemic has fast-tracked the evolution of HR, and the role has changed. Companies need to think about each aspect of the workforce, from onboarding to retention. This way of working is a significant change. It requires a holistic view to incorporate a comprehensive workforce response strategy and place equity at the center of the employee experience. Additionally, revisit benefits to ensure they support this new workforce era.
17. Brainstorm
You could be right on the edge of your next big idea. Set time aside to think about the tricky questions for your business. This simple exercise can bring clarity and significant results.
18. Get Organized
It takes commitment to keep things clean and tidy, but when you can find everything you need, you’ll find yourself more productive, and you’ll thank yourself.
19. Fix What Isn’t Working
Are there inefficient processes impeding your work? What about outdated office equipment? Resolve to fix issues holding your organization back from its full potential.
20. Be Flexible and Adaptable
Practically every business has struggled to shift from how it operated before 2020. But the valuable lesson learned from this is to stay adaptable and never assume the work is finished. Companies need to be agile and ready to accept change to strategy, technology, or products.
21. Learn to Delegate
Delegating is essential to create time to find innovative ways of expanding your business. Train your team appropriately to handle whatever you need it to do and trust that it gets done. This will also take some pressure off your shoulders and give your team responsibility and ownership.
22. R-E-L-A-X
These last two years have been unbelievably stressful. To combat the ups and downs, make a concerted effort to take time to decompress. Taking time off can make you a better business owner and provide you with the space to come back with great ideas.
Normal is not returning, and change is constant. Embrace change and stick to your resolutions.
