Reduce Your Stress in December (and All Year Long) 

Reduce Your Stress in December (and All Year Long) 

With multiple family gatherings, pressure to find meaningful gifts, and the push to wrap up the corporate year successfully, we all have the potential to feel more stress in the last four weeks of the year than we think we can handle! Firstbeat, a Scandinavian company that focuses on heart rate variability data to improve sports performance, shows in their data that stress levels in December are higher than at any other time of the year. 

So, if we know what we’re heading into, let’s be proactive in keeping our stress levels under the boiling point by using some simple strategies. 

You Can Say No 

If you’re a people-pleaser, the temptation to say yes to any ask is pretty high. The problem with the end of the year is there are a lot more people asking for your time, expertise, ear… the list goes on! Saying yes to everything doesn’t make you an awesome person—it makes you a stretched-thin person, which can mean you’re not giving 100% to anyone.  

If you listen to the Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast “Wiser Than Me,” you’ll hear a repeating sentiment: “No is a complete sentence.” Many of us feel like we need to explain why we can’t do something. Yes, it feels like the nice thing to do, but we, women especially, don’t need to voice our reasonable excuses. A simple, “No, I can’t,” is sufficient. Of course, when your boss is the one asking, perhaps a little explanation is good, so you still have a job to come back to in January!  

Limit Your Expectations 

Nothing can disappoint someone like failed expectations. The good news here is we own our expectations and can adjust them accordingly. Perhaps you think you’ve found THE BEST GIFT for so-and-so, but when they open it, their enthusiasm fails to convey that you did a great job. Maybe your thoughts of serving the perfect meal are crushed when your dinner guests arrive an hour late. A blog on Tiny Buddha sums it up well: When expectations rule our lives, we set ourselves up for disappointment, and then we judge ourselves harshly as a result.  

Adjust how you envision end-of-the-year situations. Dissect ahead of time the areas you can control, and come up with alternate plans for when the parts you can’t control go out of whack. Someone doesn’t like their gift as much as you thought they would? Be happy with yourself for the effort made. Company is late for dinner? Give yourself some leeway on timing in the kitchen, or accept that the microwave might come into play. The most important thing is spending time with people you care about. That’s where the memories are made, not what sits on your dinner plate.  

Take Time for You 

Taking time for yourself can mean exercising, enjoying a massage, solving Wordle, playing with your pet, slipping in a 30-minute catnap or relaxing in a bath. You don’t need to carve out hours of dedicated time every day, but making sure you have 5 to15 minute intervals of “me time” is important during stressful periods.  

The trick here is not to add stress to your life figuring out what your “me time” looks like. It could be a few minutes of yoga or an hour reading a book. If you’re flexible, you can grab some recharging time on the fly even if it’s just concentrating on your breathing for five minutes in your car between errands.  

Make Conscious Dietary Choices 

Oh my goodness, the end of the year parade of parties and social obligations can be daunting! Add to it the copious amounts of rich or sugary food readily available and the social norm of consuming alcohol to celebrate, and any kind of nutritious habits you dedicated yourself to earlier in the year start to buckle.  

Along with sleep and exercise, nutrition is a key indicator of good health. Heart.org lays out some useful tips to help you make healthy choices when it comes to food and beverages over the holidays.  

• Eat fruit and veggies before a party so you don’t arrive famished 

• Keep a bottle of water nearby so when you want to sip something it’s an easy choice 

• Enjoy the things you love, just in moderation 

Fueling your body with the good stuff will help your immunity, sleep and waistline! 

Prioritize 

What REALLY needs to get done? For the corporate setting, Parabol, itemized 45 questions to ask yourself that deal with risk assessment, practicality and value among other things. Outside of a work setting there are questions you can ask yourself to help decide which tasks MUST get done and which ones can wait.

1. What’s the worst-case scenario if I don’t do this task ASAP?

2. Can someone else get this done so I can take it off my plate? 

3. Does this task align with my current life goals? 

4. What will have the greater impact on my well-being, getting it done now, or letting it go for a while?

While it’s easy to mark every to-do as urgent this time of year, likely, most are not. Your house does not need to be “real estate showing” ready to host guests, and every package does not need to be wrapped in matching paper. If you can recognize some of the pressures you put on yourself, you’ll be one step closer to giving yourself a break. 

Our team at Motivation Excellence is ready to help relieve your stress when it comes to connecting with the people who mean the most to your business. Our B2B loyalty programs, group travel, incentives, and meetings & events are a great way to Inspire Extraordinary Performance any time of year. Explore all of our solutions on our website! 

Our New Website is LIVE! Explore Flexible Incentive Solutions in 2025

All Signs Point to Growing Incentives & Meetings Business in 2025; You Can Still Reap the Benefits at Your Company

Recent industry forecasts and surveys indicate corporate meetings, events and incentives will grow in 2025. According to the Incentive Travel Index 37% of respondents say 2025 levels will surpass 2024; 54% expect the spend-per-person to increase too. 

At Motivation Excellence, we continue to see interest in planning something in 2025, even though it’s less than a month away. Meetings, retreats and spurt incentive programs are all easy ways to inject some energy into the calendar year without necessarily needing a long planning period. Flexibility in destinations and venues helps keep options open well into the year. 

“Fitch Ratings predicts corporate revenue will continue to grow at a low- to mid-single digit rate in 2025. Using a well-thought-out event or meeting or launching a short-term incentive program could increase that growth. 

“We’ve been helping our clients shoot for larger percentage growth next year through our solutions that generate excitement and motivate people to want to exceed their sales goals,” says Joe Reise, Director, Travel Purchasing, Planning and Supplier Relations. 

The Benefits of Launching a Short-Term Incentive in 2025

If you’ve never invested in running a B2B or sales team incentive, planning a spurt program is a great way to get the feel for one and see instant results. Short-term incentives can run from a month to a quarter or two, depending on your sales cycle and goals. They can be valuable for:

• Specific products in your inventory
• Launching a new product
• Seasonal products or services
• Promoting steps-to-the-sale initiatives
• Gaining market share

“Short-term incentive programs are especially beneficial when a company wants to focus on generating excitement within its sales ranks; which in turn generates a boost of incremental sales,” says Rhonda Brewer, VP, Sales. 

Pairing the incentive rules with a motivational reward is key to producing results. Goals need to be attainable, yet a stretch to reach. Rewards need to be aspirational but within your budget. This is an area in which our experts at Motivation Excellence excel. Many incentive programs pay for themselves and then some, if set up correctly from the start.  

Rewards can run from award points to use on nearly anything to individual or group travel experiences to merchandise packages that upgrade a favorite hobby or room in a house. We offer such a huge selection of reward options that everyone will find something they can’t wait to earn! 

Go Ahead and Plan that 2025 Meeting; We’re Here to Help

Another option to infuse some energy into 2025 is to look at hosting a meeting or event that energizes the key stakeholders responsible for your company’s success. From an executive retreat for 12 to a global sales meeting for hundreds, we can help you put it on the calendar sooner than you might expect. We recently planned an international sales meeting for more than 500 people, including breakout training sessions, off-site social gatherings and expert speakers, in just four months. 

“We are experts with years of experience and a network of amazing global partners. When we work with a client, we become an extension of their team. We can take on as much as they need from us,” says Brewer. 

“Flexibility is key in short turn around events, but that doesn’t have to mean you’re settling for anything. My team will source several great options that fit parameters like location, budget, amenities and space considerations, so our clients have really good choices,” Reise adds. 

Let’s Connect

Motivation Excellence is happy to provide clients with a wide range of services, including program enrollment, event registration, air ticketing, full event planning, engagement support and performance tracking for all of our incentives, meetings and events solutions.  We’re excited to celebrate 40 years in the industry in 2025. Nothing would be better than giving your company a reason to celebrate next year too!

5 Tips for Turning a Thought Shower into a Brainstorm

The benefits of a good brainstorming session are numerous! Whether you do it solo, or in a group, taking time to generate a wide range of ideas leads to diverse solutions and creative innovations. The best part about this exercise is its flexibility – you can do it at any time or in any place. There are some basic “rules” to follow though for maximum results.

It’s About Quantity, not Quality

Workflowy reminds us that brainstorming is about generating lots of ideas, not critiquing them as they fly into play. Brainstorming is about creativity and being open to anything. Evaluating those ideas comes later.

Positivity Rules the Play

Being critical of ideas in a brainstorming session defeats the purpose. Being positive relates to the idea givers as well as the receivers. Remember, there are no dumb ideas in this setting. At Motivation Excellence, to encourage collaboration, we suggest having a “plussing” environment where someone can add on to another’s idea if it moves it in a positive direction.

Get Comfortable

Balancing on a high wire is not the place to brainstorm! Not only is that scenario very uncomfortable, you clearly can’t relax and let your mind wander off task. Comfort is key and that can be different for each person. That could be why, as work efficiency company Mural points out, there is evidence showing virtual brainstorming jams can actually be more effective than meeting in person. The important point is that in a group session, there is shared space of some kind, that includes a Zoom or Teams meeting, and that everyone feels at their most comfortable.

• Play with lighting
• Wear comfortable clothing
• Pace, lay down or sit cross-legged – whatever opens up your pathways
• Try different kinds of music, or absolute silence
• Have a favorite beverage and snack at the ready

Have Some Structure

While the end result of brainstorming might feel and look like a chaotic jumble of half thoughts, to get there it’s good to have some boundaries. Mural suggests having a defined topic, an agenda and a leader to help guide the process.

Allow Yourself a Break

This is especially important when gnawing over finding a solution to a problem solo. Start with all of the above strategies, for sure, but remember that sometimes the best ideas come after they’ve had some time to sit in your subconscious. Job search company The Muse, suggests some long-term brainstorming tactics like:

• Breaking for some physical or creative activity
• Exposing yourself to a topic totally different than what you’re brainstorming on
• Taking notes as they hit you

No one comes up with the absolute right answer to an issue immediately, every time. Allowing yourself the luxury of brainstorming can turn a few idea droplets into a flood of possibilities. The next step, evaluation, is like splashing in the puddles to find the top contenders. Hopefully the end result is one or two viable solutions ready to shine in the sunlight. Good luck!

Discover What Company Meetings Can Be with Motivation Excellence

Everyone knows what a meeting is, but not everyone knows what they can be, or how to put together a truly inspiring one. Our experts at Motivation Excellence know how to make your next company meeting or event one people can’t wait to attend! From technology to personalization, our team gets how to help you shine at your next company meeting or event.

Elevating your next meeting experience takes effort. You have important information to share and you want your attendees to not only remember it the next day, but also act on it. They need to leave feeling motivated and inspired! Let’s look at three critical areas to consider when planning a meeting that excels at capturing enthusiasm and creating momentum.

Strategy

• This is the foundation for success and risk reduction.
• What are your goals, who is your audience, what environment do you want to curate?
• Logistical considerations like destination, venue and talent take shape here.

Engagement

• What’s your core message and how best do you deliver it?
• Interaction with attendees can start long before the meeting does.
• What technology will be needed to encourage participation and ultimate learning?

Impact

• How will you measure success?
• What are the actionable elements your attendees will walk away with?
• Business intel learned now will help build on future success. 

We’re Your Full-Service Partner

Having a partner that can help you mitigate risk, inspire creativity and handle everything from Strategy to Impact gives your team the ability to concentrate on other high priority projects. We’re here to assist where you need us. We’re flexible and can handle everything meetings and events-related, including:

• destination/venue consultations 
• contract negotiations
• registration and air bookings
• pre- and post-engagement with your participants
• wow-worthy elements on-site including entertainment, A/V, gifting and more

Pick and choose how to use us. We’re an extension of your team!

Technology that Makes A Difference

Our proprietary travel technology, Inspire, helps personalize each attendees’ experience from enrollment to post-meeting follow-up. Flight information, itineraries, break-out session FAQs, an interactive photo gallery and the ability for organizers to post alerts in real time are just a few of the features that make this a must-have tool for your next meeting or event. In the backend, dashboards and the functionality to drill down to details give planners incredible organizational options. 

Feedback shows us that Inspire has been a game changer for many seasoned meetings and events participants. Having access to all meeting details on a phone or tablet literally lightens everyone’s load. The flexibility to customize features to fit your company’s needs adds immense value too. 

We have 40 years of experience delivering excellence in the B2B incentives, group travel, meeting, event, loyalty and performance improvement industry. We Inspire Extraordinary Performance with the people who mean the most to the success of your business. 

Did we catch your attention? Contact us to learn more about creating wow-worthy company meetings and events with Motivation Excellence.

3 Key Things About Sales Incentives to Keep in Mind

We are all about sales incentives here at Motivation Excellence. Sales incentive programs are powerful tools designed to motivate and reward sales teams for reaching goals that help your bottom line. While the premise of an incentive program might seem simple, designing a successful one involves more than a goal and a reward. 

We are here to help your organization motivate your sales team, and even distributor partners. Don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about our customized sales incentives. In the meantime, here are three key things to keep in mind:

1. The Details Matter

Incentives are very flexible. We build them to fit your audience and goals. We start from scratch with each client and guide you through several steps to find the best way to minimize your risk and maximize your results. We start with your objectives, look at your obstacles and then recommend the best way to motivate your sales team while bringing you the most robust ROI. Here are some other details you don’t want to overlook:

• Audience – Determining who you want to motivate and what you want them to do to earn the reward is an important step in creating a successful sales incentive program. You can have more than one set of participants too.
• Rules  – We shine at doing a deep dive into your available data, along with industry trends, to cultivate a set of rules that protects you financially AND allows for realistic growth among your participants.
• Measurement – Being able to measure progress through analytics is a great way to keep your sales team motivated. It also helps you make adjustments in real time to capture the best results.
• Rewards – If they’re not motivating, you’ve lost before you started. Branded swag, lifestyle upgrade packages, individual experiences and group travel with other top performers are a few popular rewards you can use in a sales incentive program. They also work well with channel teams. 

2. Proper Implementation Is Critical to Success

How you launch a sales incentive can lead to an excited boost or a disappointed fizzle. Subsequently how you continue to communicate with your sales team can help ramp up or stall the success of the program. Here are a few things we like to implement in our incentive programs:

• Make sure your management is on board and ready to hype the program.
• Create a consistent engagement plan that keeps your sales team members’ attention.
• Display an easy-to-read progress-to-goal gauge for everyone in the incentive and update it at a regular cadence.
• Keep the significant other in the loop with targeted communications so they can be a cheerleader outside work. 

3. Sales Incentive Programs Can Improve Overall Company Outlook

Rounding out the list of key things to know about sales incentives is why they are worthwhile. Incentives targeted at the people who do the most to increase your profitability, positively affect your bottom line, which can boost morale, even for those not directly part of the incentive. A successful sales incentive can also:

• Provide friendly competition among your sales team, which can naturally increase sales.
• Help you retain talent as part of your total compensation package. 
• Keep your sales team engaged with their own goals, but also the overall goals of the company.
• Build stronger relationships between company leaders and individual sales team members. 

Incentivizing your sales team can make an enormous difference in revenue and growth. We encourage you to learn more about all of our incentive and loyalty offerings by visiting our Motivation Excellence website.

We are industry leaders who specialize in customized solutions for your B2B channel and internal sales team incentives. When your team is engaged, motivated and eager, great things happen. Our programs are designed specifically for that purpose. Let’s get started today!

How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Channel Incentive Programs

Effectively growing sales revenues and market share is an ongoing challenge in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Moreover, encouraging channel partners and dealer reps to do their best by you takes strategy. Channel incentive programs are designed to help your business stand out among your competitors and can actually pay for themselves through incremental sales growth. Another great benefit of a well-run channel incentive program is the increased loyalty they foster, which can continue to reap rewards long into the future. 

How do we measure the effectiveness of a channel focused incentive? There are a variety of metrics from hard sales numbers to program website log ins. It’s important to decide how you’ll know if a channel incentive is a success and keep track of those metrics regularly throughout the life of the program. Here are a few suggested metrics to consider:

1. Sales Performance 

Although sales performance is not the only factor to consider, it is a good starting place. You can break down sales data rather minutely if that helps you make decisions on who and what to focus on. You can look at:

• Revenue by distributor, geography, and products/categories
• Overall and partner-specific sales growth
• Market share changes over a specified amount of time

Looking at sales performance metrics provides a broad overview of how your organization and its partners are doing on the revenue front. By looking at partner-specific sales growth, you can zero-in on the performance of individual channel partners. Between the two, you’ll glean important information about where you are now and where you want to be in short- and long-term periods.

2. Partner Engagement

Successful channel incentive programs engage partners. So, it is a smart idea to come up with some partner engagement metrics you can track. At the top of the list is participation rate. What percentage of your invited distribution partners enroll? Of those, who is consistently engaging with your company through increased purchases, and who could be coaxed to perform better with some TLC?

Other partner engagement metrics include:

• Interaction with sales team or customer service reps 
• Incentive website log in frequency
• Email open rates with special focus on clickthrough percentages
• Amount of new sales tied to the focus of your incentive

If a channel incentive program is both attractive and meaningful to partners, they will reflect their interest with the amount of time and frequency they interact with the program. 

3. New Opportunities and ROI

Effective channel incentive programs can open the door to more opportunities via stronger relationships and trust with your company. A well-designed channel incentive can more than pay for itself via incremental sales in the present, but the opportunity to be a long-term partner is where the continued ROI shines through. A metric here could be longevity of a client in addition to quantity of sales. We’ve seen long-running incentive programs foster participants who outperform industry trends even in flat and down markets. 

Channel incentive programs can be invaluable in the drive to increase sales and grow an organization. But like all other business tools, program effectiveness must be continually measured so you can make adjustments in real time to capitalize on unexpected results, good or bad. Program design and rule structures are proven ways to get the best return and least risk for your program. We’re here to help you get started today!

Get to Know ME with Alison Gavitt

It’s time for our Get to Know ME segment, featuring our Strategic Account Director, Alison Gavitt. Alison is a people person through and through! Read below to learn about her penchant for furniture moving, as well as how she prepares for a good brainstorming session. And be sure to watch her short video too. Do you hear a regional accent? Thanks Alison, for letting us get to know you better!

What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?

I am a Strategic Account Director and I’ve been in the incentive industry since 2009, and in hotel sales before that. 

What do you like about your job?

Building relationships with clients and creating strategic solutions. I consider myself an extension of my clients’ team which gives me a great feeling of satisfaction.

What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?

Everyone has a fun spirit – always smiles, kindness and patience going around!

What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why?

Moving home (Huntsville, AL) six years ago after living in Jackson Hole, WY for the better part of 30 years. I can replay every mile of the 3-day drive.

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

An odd thing we do in our family is rearranging the furniture! We all do it – all the time. Upon a simple suggestion, we tend to drop everything and just start moving furniture. From time to time, we change up bedrooms and switch up living rooms.  

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

My children. I have two girls, one at Wake Forest University and the other is at the University of Alabama.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy being outside as much as possible. Although I am born and raised in Huntsville, AL where I live now, I lived the majority of my adult life in Jackson Hole, WY – so skiing, hiking, biking, camping – are all on the top of my list. I also love going to the lake, SEC football, and traveling. 

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

This ridiculous social media reel where two young men take their grandfather to Starbucks and have him make a fake order. I can’t ever get that out of my head, and I’m determined to replicate this with my kids and my mother.

What’s a bucket list item you can’t wait to cross off?

Visiting Japan is at the very top of the list. Iceland and a transatlantic voyage are close seconds.

This month, our theme for social media is “Brainstorming.” Do you have a favorite technique or environment to loosen up your thoughts for maximum idea generation? 

I’m a dedicated user of Bose noise-cancelling headphones. I put on my headphones, turn off all devices, and I create and institute a vision in absolute peace.

4 Reasons to Take a Good Look at Our Group Travel Incentives

The Motivation Excellence team takes great pride in the fact that we are a full-service incentives, group travel, meetings, and events agency. We know how important travel is as a desirable reward. We take every detail of a group travel incentive seriously. Because of that, your participants will seriously enjoy each element. 

Incentive travel is always about the experience. We elevate the experience so everything from arriving at the airport to taking in local fare to interacting with company leadership is an opportunity for smiles and feeling truly special. 

If you have been looking for a partner who will take the stress out of your next group travel experience, here are four good reasons to take a look at the group travel incentives we offer:

1. We Take Care of the Details, Including Contract Negotiations 

Our team is skilled at contract negotiations with hotels and suppliers. We know how to manage risk, bolster budgets and alleviate headaches with every contract. As an extension of your team, we are happy to dig into the details so you can focus on other important elements like personal engagement with your stakeholders. 

Your dedicated Motivation Excellence travel team handles everything from selecting table linens to hiring the keynote speaker and world-renowned band. F&B, hotel attrition rates, green room requests, transportation options all have their own language. We are fluent!

2. We Handle Registration, Engagement and Follow Up

You and your team have enough on your plates. We have the solution (or two!). Our proprietary travel technology, Inspire, makes organizing, engaging and following-up with your attendees simple and actually, kind of fun! Send us your participant list and let us handle registration, air booking, activity selection and special requests. Each of your attendees will have access to the mobile version so their personalized travel experience is always in the palm of their hand. Your team will have access to drilled down reports all in one place. 

Inspire can easily be used to engage your group before the experience with information on the destination, special events and FAQs. During the event you can send out alerts via Inspire. Participants can upload photos to the gallery to share with the group. And there’s no need for printed itineraries since each participant’s schedule is easy to access on the mobile site. 

3. We Manage the Entire Experience

Incentive travel programs have a lot of moving parts. Our team of experts has decades of experience with creating and executing award-winning travel experiences. We’re here to assist your team and can take it all on, or pick up the details your team assigns to us. We’re adept at handling the entire experience including:

• Travel logistics
• Group functions
• On-site activities
• Off-site events
• Gifting experiences
• Marketing support

We go above and beyond basic group travel incentives to make sure your participants will be talking about your most recent event for a long time to come. And that’s a natural motivator to make sure they earn the experience every year after!

4. We’re a Full-service Incentive Agency

A successful incentive group travel program starts with creating the rule structure for your participants. This is a sweet spot of ours. We love to dig into industry history, company sales data and potential sales growth within your participant pool. This helps you mitigate risk and maximize opportunities. 

We also geek out a bit about building custom performance tracking websites that become the one-stop-shop for everything program related. Easy to read performance to goal gauges are great for participants and our ability to create detailed dashboards for you provides valuable business intelligence that sometimes you didn’t even know you were missing!

Do you need to include some business during your incentive travel reward? We’re adept at planning and executing thoughtful, interactive and motivating meetings on-site. Add in marketing support to create robust engagement around your program and the rewards, and we’ve got you covered on every front. You don’t have to use us for everything, but you have the option to on any program we run. 

At Motivation Excellence we’re committed to making your travel incentive program shine from beginning to end, and top to bottom. Our goal is to help you maximize the incentive value by creating an experience unmatched by anything else you have ever done.

Avoiding Workplace Harassment Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Everyone in the workplace contributes to the culture of the environment. This is especially true when it comes to harassment and bullying. While unpleasant behavior from a coworker might not rise to the level of being illegal, it can definitely strongly affect the mood at work, which can lead to lower productivity, depressed morale and even losing talented people. When it comes to nipping harassing behavior before it grows, we all have a role to play.

Is It Me?

Most of us would likely shake our heads fervently if someone asked us if we were the problem. But, obviously, in a harassment or bullying situation, someone IS the instigator, even if they feel like they’re just “having fun” or the other person is just “being sensitive.” It’s important to note that intent doesn’t always matter. You might think you’re making a funny joke or that hugging shows you care or provides comfort to another person. If your behavior, however good-intentioned it may be, causes discomfort to a colleague, you’ll want to change course. 

Here are things to avoid:

• Making untoward comments or jokes about someone’s appearance, religion, nationality, gender or disability
  • These are protected characteristics that are legally safeguarded in many work environments
• Touching someone, even if it feels like a minor gesture, without knowing if the other person is OK with it
• Using aggressive language, making threats or trying to control someone’s actions
• Repeatedly asking someone out for a date after they’ve said no

Be sure to respect others’ requests to stop certain behaviors. Also, focus on how your actions make another person feel, rather than putting all the weight on your own intentions. 

No, It’s You

LRN specializes in building ethical business cultures. In a blog post about harassment in the workplace, they wrote that more than a quarter of office workers in the US and the UK have reported experiencing bullying or harassment at some point in their careers. Zippia, a job placement company, found between 54% and 81% of women report experiencing sexual harassment at work, but many don’t escalate it to a manager. 

How do you know if you’re being harassed? Consider these questions:

• Does going to work make you feel uncomfortable, especially knowing you’ll be working with a particular person or group?
• Have you said things like, “I don’t like it when you hug me,” or “Please stop making those jokes around me,” yet the behavior is downplayed or continues?
• Have you reported specific behavior to management, but nothing happens?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces harassment laws. Isolated incidents, simple teasing and offhand comments do not rise to the level of legal action unless they are very serious or occur frequently. However, the EEOC recommends telling a manager even after one occurrence if it made you feel uncomfortable. 

Inspired eLearning suggests the following steps to take if you’re experiencing harassment:

1. Talk to the perpetrator and try to resolve it through clear communication
2. If the harassment continues, report it to a supervisor or HR representative
3. If it still isn’t resolved, you can reach out to the EEOC to report it

What Did I Just See?

Harassing or bullying behavior can include and affect people outside the victim and the offender. If you witness worrying behavior, you can absolutely take steps to help correct it. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights encourages bystanders to take responsible actions.

• Document it, including the date, the people involved and specifics about what you heard or saw
• If you feel comfortable talking to the victim, tell them you witnessed it and are willing to describe what you saw
• Talk to a manager about your concerns

Bystanders can also talk to the perpetrator, giving them an outside perspective on what they witnessed. Sometimes this is enough to stop future poor behavior. Third parties can also diffuse a situation as it’s happening by stepping in actively to say, “This is not cool,” or subtly by pulling either party away with a request for immediate help on something. A bystander’s presence alone can sometimes mitigate the situation without needing to say a word. 

A Team Effort

Harassing behavior is always unwarranted, unwanted, and can be unlawful. It affects not only the victim, but the company culture. Managers need to be mindful of encouraging an open-door policy and following up on reported incidents. Colleagues should feel like they can take a positive role in resolving bad behavior. Victims need to have a clear course of action to report harassment, either through a manager or HR department. Finally, we all must self-reflect to make sure we aren’t causing undue stress on our colleagues through our words or actions.