What a delight it has been - being on the phones, talking to hundreds of customers, answering many many emails in the weeks running up to Christmas. The things you learn.

At Christmas it is all hands on deck... watching everyone here from our HR Leader (employee experience manager) to the marketing manager get involved with customers is the most rewarding experience. Each of us seeing first hand the delight given when someone discovers the exactly perfect gift for some one. We have in the past weeks delivered 47862 gifts - now of course we would love to make that 50,000 and we do keep delivering even on Christmas day - so we are not finished yet.

To watch everyone pull together...this is my eighth Christmas at RedBalloon and I am so pleased to see that retails sales are strong... in fact up 41% on last year.

Thanks for your love and support throughout the year... I will be having a break with the family on a boat somewhere far away from an internet connection... see you in 2009.

In troubled times business must do more with less.  There may be less people in your business, less customers, less capital, less cash….  But one thing you do want less of is people ‘Chucking a Sicky’

As a result there a some simple options available to doing more with less:

1. Whinge to anyone who might still be interested in listening
2. Innovate – find new ways of doing things
3. Mazimise your return on what you do have… that is ‘how engaged is the team?’

I have blogged regularly about employees discretionary effort… but Gallup have just given me a sneak look at this years Australian Employee Engagement results.

“For every engaged person there is a disengaged person” Gallup Organization.

Actively disengaged (these are people who hate going to work) has increased (at the expense of engaged employees) significantly.

The scary thing is that in tough times – people are also less likely to leave you (that means the bad ones are staying too). Of those disengaged employees only 45% are planning to look for a new job in 2009… even worse some 24% are planning to stay with their employer for the rest of their working life. I suppose that is the real definition of love/hate relationship.

Engaged employees (know what they are there to do and are busy getting on with it) has gone down from 21% in 2006 to 18% in 2008.

These figures were just completed in November… and says to me that people are more confused now and they are not getting clear messages from the leadership of their organisations… a 3% swing in only 2 years is massive. This will cost Australia dearly.

Not engaged employees are those who show up – but don’t do anything extra – this is the group which has a lot of discretionary effort to give. And in the study in both 2008 & 2006 it remains unchanged at 61%

The scary thing is that Actively Disengaged employees are growing in big numbers. Ie these people will work against what their co workers or managers are trying to achieve. From 18% in 2006 up to 21% now.
This is really hurting business – and is simply untenable in such extreme economic times. The estimate of what it is costing Australia in lost productivity is:

• Australia -  $33.5b – $42.1b  (2006 = $32.7b)
• New Zealand $5.6b - $5.96b (2006 = $3.7b)

If the bottom line is not enough to get you thinking about how aligned your team is to what you are doing to reward and recognise them for their contribution, here’s some more evidence:

Funny how if you don’t like what you do – you are more likely to get sick.. The ‘Australian Sickie’ has got to go. And if people are simply recognised for what they contribute, they are far less likely to take a sick day.

Number of Work Days missed through sickness in the passed 12 months

• Engaged = 3
• Not engaged = 5
• Actively disengaged = 8

Also those who like you, engaged employees will stay. 89% plan to be with the same employer for the next 12 months. (Not only are they the top performers, but they also cost less in recruitment/replacement costs)

The investment in people is essential… it just makes so much bottom line sense.

In Melbourne this week for the National Telstra Business Womens Awards – I had to present to two separate judging panels. The award winner selection process is absolutely rigorous.. which is why the awards are so prestigious.

Both sets of judges asked me the same question right at the end of the presentation. “What about work/life balance”. I answered truthfully and said “When you are starting a business it is all hands, hearts and minds on deck 24/7 – as the business begins to mature what you do might change but the focus and energy required does not.”

I continue to work long hours because I know that if I want to create something truly great it is going to take effort. It cannot be done part-time. So what I have done is include my children and husband of course – in everything that I do. My children were there to celebrate with me on Tuesday night – (the very loudest cheer squad).

What I do is work really hard during the week – but weekends are sacred. And we book holidays up to a year in advance (to ensure that we go).  But I was very interested to see what our customers are saying about work/life balance… because it is different if you are working for someone else rather than yourself.

The Annual RedBalloon Work/Life Balance Report gives the impression we are feeling that work/life balance is worth sacrificing in order to keep their jobs in the slowdown. The 2008 study involving 2,714 participants shows there has been very little movement (since 2007) in the number of people who say they are satisfied with their work/life balance.

99% of us see work-life balance as crucial to our working lives, yet only 50% of us are actually satisfied with our own work-life balance levels. In our 2007 report 53% of people felt they were missing out on quality family time and sacrificing their social lives as a result of work commitments.

So what’s the reason for minimal movement in the year? There are two factors at play, reluctance to address it on the part of employee and minimal movement on the introduction of flexible working hours by employers that was cited in 2007 at 28% and again in 2008 28% as the most popular solution. 

And as the marketplace slows, an employee’s reluctance to address it will be compounded by the fact that simply’ holding on to a job’ has become more important as un-employment levels are predicted to swell to 5% by June next year and to 5.75% one year later according to The Age*.

1. Don’t get distracted by emails, or by drama. People make things worse than they are. Stay disciplined and focused.
2. Make a list of the top 5 things you can achieve each day, whether big or small and go home feeling like a winner.
3. Plan something to look forward to, a holiday or a break.

On a lighter note the report also showed us Aussies have a way of coping through it all. 72% of us work in a fun environment, 71% of bosses aren’t dull and boring and would support initiatives to lighten the mood and share a laugh and 40% of us overcome work-related pressures by sharing a belly laugh at work every day.