I went to start writing this yesterday but if I’m honest I was still trying to get over another amazing day out at the darts. I know that many of you will not understand why 3,000 people at a time go to the Alexandra Palace from all over Europe to watch two guys throwing darts and I get that! However, it has kicked off my Christmas celebrations for the past ten years and the atmosphere just gets better and better. When I look back at this year’s trip it is bound to be remembered for my Jim Bowen ‘Bully’ pants. I ended wearing them over my trousers just like Superman!! For the full unedited version of the day’s events and why they ended up being worn that way it is best to private message me!!

Anyway, today I want to share my frustration about the number of employers still not linking employee well-being to bottom line performance. I know that I do not always share the views of our friends from Australia but one of their parliamentary ministers even proposed linking all of the top CEO’s bonus to their staff’s mental health. Absolutely brilliant!!

Surely, it is not ‘rocket science’ that if staff feel supported and cared for in an environment of trust they will work harder, take less time off absent, be more efficient and produce better results. I even posted recently that research amongst the top 100 FTSE companies showed that those who prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing out-perform the rest of the FTSE 100 companies by an average of 10%. What other evidence do some employers want???

Early in my career, another young manager came up to me and told that I had a problem, basically I was too ‘nice’. The same manager came up to me only a week later and asked for some advice. Their question was ‘why did my team work just as hard when I was out of the office as when I was there?’ She went on to say that her team did ‘bugger all’ the moment she took her eyes off of them. I looked at her, smiled and replied ‘Perhaps I’m just too nice’. I loved that moment!

I have a ‘tongue in cheek’ idea for any employer who we spot getting meaner on their employees to improve performance. We send them a pair of ‘Bully’ pants because the idea that bullying will improve the bottom line performance is quite simply…….PANTS!!!