Leadership spring 2014

LEADERSHIP Spring 2014

Get and Stay Organized pp. 6 - 7

Make Your Job “Back-Safe” pg. 9

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Motivat

Tax Tips B

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leadership Spring 2014

A word from your Account Management Team...

Spring is here and so is 2014’s first issue of LEADERSHIP! To start the year off right we wanted to bring you some useful resources to help you get organized and motivate your team.

Once that’s done, let us help you travel stress-free and keep your office safe and sound in the meantime.

Even though we’ve provided articles this month to keep your back in good shape, if you still find you have a pain in the neck, MINES can help. Call us 24/7 if you need a little guidance, consultation, or just need to talk.

MINES & Associates 10367 West Centennial Road Littleton, Colorado 80127 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com

. . . . . . . . C redits . . . . . . .

Krames Staywell A Manager’s Guide to Motivation pg. 4 How to Make Your Job Back Safe pg. 9 Tips for Staying Healthy and Safe at Work pp. 10 - 11 Precision Information, LLC ©2014

– The Account Management Team

Strategies to Defer or Reduce Taxes pg. 5 Wellness Library Health Ink and Vitality Communications ©2014 Simple Steps for Getting and Staying Organized pp. 6 - 7 Business Travel Stress Busters pg. 8

Our theme for 2014, Total Wellbeing, has been designed to help bridge the gap between our potential and optimal wellbeing.

We will supply the knowledge necessary to support healthy lifestyles in order to be well in both body and mind. With this idea of mind-body relationship at the forefront, our topics will focus on the 8 dimensions of wellness: Physical, Occupational, Intellectual, Environmental, Financial, Social, Spiritual, and Emotional Wellness. Each month we will explore how different aspects of wellbeing are connected to each other and more importantly how they apply to you so you can achieve balance and promote your own Total Wellbeing.

Total Wellbeing

The Year of Integration

Physical Spiritual Intellectual Social

Total

Emotional Financial Occupational Environmental

Keep an eye out on MINES & Associates in 2014 as we explore the mental health landscape. From financial planning to social influence, physical wellness to emotional health, all aspects of your life are connected and can affect your wellbeing. Let us help you stay on top of this constantly shifting world and make your wellbeing easier to focus on than ever before.

MINESBlog

A Fresh Perspective This year we will be talking about all kinds of innovative and useful topics centered around wellbeing and how it relates to you and the world you live in. So we invite you to get in on the conversation today. Read great articles, ask questions, and keep on top of what MINES is up to. See something you like? Rate it on our blog or tell us about it. Want to see something specific? Let us know what interests you and how MINES can help.

Just go to www.minesblog.wordpress.com

Webinar Series

Useful Resources for the Mindful Professional

Wellbeing

Join our partner, Brown Richards, for any of their monthly webinars. This year they will cover a huge array of topics from paying for college, single parent survival tips, optimizing brain power, and much more!

Visit our website to learn more, or register for upcoming events at www.minesandassociates.com/webinar.

Is there a topic you’d like to see us explore? We’d love to hear from you.

Shoot us an e-mail at communications@minesandassociates.com and let us know what you’d like to see.

www.MINESandAssociates.com | 800.873.7138

A Manager’s Guide to Motivation Motivation is crucial to good management. But different things motivate different people, and if you’re a manager, understanding what motivates your staff is the key to everyone’s success.

“You can’t force someone else to be motivated,” says Carol W. Ellis, author of Management Skills for New Managers. “What you can do is provide a work environment that offers opportunities designed to spark their inner drive.”

Motivating factors Often people of various ages with different life experiences have different motivators.

“To find out what motivates each of your staff members, pay attention to how they react to a variety of projects or objectives,” says Ms. Ellis. “Then ask them questions regarding the kinds of changes they believe would increase their job satisfaction.”

Once the factors are identified, take action by making changes that will increase your staffers’ desire to succeed.

Most people are motivated by one or more of these needs: • Achievement • Responsibility • Recognition • Meaningfulness • Advancement To satisfy the need for achievement, you should ensure that an employee’s goals are set and monitored on an ongoing basis. You should provide ongoing feedback on goal achievement, and offer training opportunities to increase success.

To meet the need for responsibility, you should provide opportunities for employees to be visible and have influence. Ask for their opinions and suggestions, and delegate opportunities for them to organize and direct activities.

For employees who seek recognition, you should provide opportunities for people to work with others, as well as a chance to be visible to upper management. You should establish a relationship that provides feedback and attention.

For those that need meaningfulness in their jobs, offer opportunities to cross-train so they understand how their work contributes to the company’s overall objectives. Also, give them an opportunity to take on new responsibilities.

To satisfy the need for advancement, ask employees about their career objectives and provide training opportunities on subjects of interest to them.

“The bottom line is that as a manager, you’re responsible for getting people to perform, and if you create the right environment, it’s more likely your staff will do what needs to be done,” says Ms. Ellis. M 4 Leadership Spring 2014

Strategies That Defer or Reduce Taxes Tax-deferred retirement plans give investors the opportunity to defer taxes on investment earnings until retirement (usually age 59½). Pre-tax earnings can be reinvested, greatly compounding the amount of interest you earn from your investments. Some of the most common types of tax-deferred retirement plans include the following: • Retirement plans like 401(k)s, Keoghs, and IRAs are common tax shelters.

• Some investors use tax swaps to reduce taxes.

401(k) plans

Keogh plans

Tax swapping

These plans give employees the ability to place a portion of their salary (up to $17,000 or 100 percent of their income, whichever is less, for 2012, but $17,500 for 2013) into a company-sponsored investment account. Taxes are deferred on earnings from the plan until they are withdrawn.

In addition, contributions to the plan are deducted from your ordinary income. Employees are given several options for investing the money into their 401(k)s.

Most 401(k) plans have matching employer contributions.

Keogh plans are tax-deferred retirement plans for the selfemployed and their employees.

Contributions are deducted from ordinary income. The maximum annual contribution for 2013 is $51,000 (up from $50,000 for 2012) or 100 percent of earned income, whichever is less. In a Keogh plan, the self-employed individual controls which investments are bought and sold in the plan. Income earned from plan investments must be reinvested in the plan, and it grows tax-deferred.

Another strategy investors use to shelter themselves from taxes is tax swapping. A tax swap consists of two parts. First, the investor sells a security that incurred a capital loss. Second, the investor buys a similar security, which the investor believes to be a better investment, to replace it. By swapping securities, the investor offsets his or her portfolio gains with a loss while leaving the portfolio essentially unchanged. Repurchasing the same security within 30 days of its sale is called a wash sale and eliminates any tax deductions from the security’s capital loss.

Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) Open to any gainfully employed person, these tax-deferred retirement plans are directed by the employee.

The maximum annual contribution for 2013 is $5,500 for an individual (up from $5,000 for 2012). The non-working spouse of an IRA-eligible employee can also make a $5,500 contribution, if the couple’s joint compensation is at least $11,000. IRA contributions may be fully or partially tax-deductible, depending on the taxpayer’s (and/ or spouse’s) income and participation in an employer-sponsored, tax-favored retirement plan. As with taxqualified retirement plans, IRA investment earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawn at retirement. The amount of IRA contributions that may be deducted from personal income depends upon the taxpayer’s income and whether the taxpayer (or spouse) is covered by an employee retirement plan at work.

Tax planning can be very much worth the effort, but a word of caution is in order: the proper use of any strategy can be more complex than it appears. You may want to consult a tax advisor before implementing any specific investment strategies to discuss their tax implications. M

Spring 2014 Leadership 5

Simple Steps for Getting and Staying Organized Your ability to accomplish any task or reach any desired goal is directly related to your ability to find the right thing at the right time.

To determine your level of organization, Barbara Hemphill, CEO of Hemphill Productivity Institute in Raleigh, N.C., and author of “The Paper Tiger at Work,” recommends you ask yourself these questions: • Can I find what I need?

• Does my office work?

• Does it work for other people on my staff?

“If the answer to any of these questions is no, your lack of organization is costing you time, productivity, and money,” says Ms. Hemphill. She offers the following suggestions on how to get and stay organized.

Make decisions Recognize that clutter indicates postponed decisions. Desks and filing cabinets become inundated with paper -- and computers with files -- because we don’t make decisions. In reality, you have only three choices.

“I call it The FAT System: File, Act, or Toss. File means ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever need it, but I don’t have the nerve to throw it out!’ Act means ‘The ball is in my court to do it or delegate it.’ And Toss speaks for itself,” says Ms. Hemphill.

Toss it Practice the art of waste-basketry on an ongoing basis and encourage others to do the same.

According to Ms. Hemphill, research shows that people never use 80 percent of what they keep. But how do you decide what you really need?

For each piece of information, whether paper or electronic, ask these questions: Does this require action?

Does it exist elsewhere?

Would it be difficult to get again?

Is it recent enough to be useful?

If the answers are “No,” toss it.

6 Leadership Spring 2014

Keep contacts Implement a fail-safe system for contact information. Many of the pieces of paper that clutter up your desk are deemed valuable because of a name, address, or phone number. Choose a system for tracking this information and use it consistently.

Find it Turn your filing system into a “Finding System.” If your filing system isn’t working, ignore it and start over.

Clean out your most accessible file space, and put unused files into less accessible space if you’re not comfortable tossing them. Begin your new system and as you need information from the old files, incorporate it into the new system.

“The key to the continuing success of your filing system is a File Index -- a list of your file titles,” says Ms. Hemphill. “You can create a File Index with a word-processing or spreadsheet program.”

On the road Manage your paper on the road as well as you do in the office. Turn your briefcase into a “mini office.” Carry file folders labeled by specific action.

“Act,” for example, is for papers you’ll work on while you travel. A “Call” file makes it easy for you to spend the 15 minutes before a flight to make one or two quick calls.

“Discuss with your assistant” contains papers to be handled when you return.

“Be sure to include “File” -- with a copy of your File Index. As you collect papers along the way that you want to file, check the File Index for the keyword or number and write it in the upper-right-hand corner of the paper,” says Ms. Hemphill. “When you return, filing will be easy.” M

Spring 2014 Leadership 7

Business Travel Stress-Busters

If you travel a lot for business, you know the routine: stress, stress, and more stress.

“Business travel is inherently stressful, but you can reduce your stress by adopting a healthful attitude toward delays and missed meetings, building some personal time into your schedule, and learning how to increase your comfort while you’re in transit,” says Bill Tulin, a San Francisco-based attorney and coauthor of “Travel Fitness: Feel Better, Perform Better on the Road.”

The payoff for incorporating wellness in your travel plans includes improved physical well-being, mental alertness and better job performance.

The following suggestions can help reduce the stress of travel: • Avoid connecting flights, peak travel times, and busy airports. Take nonstop flights whenever possible to avoid layovers and decrease your chances of delayed or canceled flights. Likewise, avoid travel on Mondays and Fridays and flights that depart or arrive between 7 and 9 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m.

• Schedule extra time to get there. “If an out-of-town meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m., don’t catch a flight that arrives at 9 a.m.,” Tulin says. “Instead, give yourself plenty of time to rent a car and make it to your meeting.”

• Do a pre-trip workout. “Doing a 15- to 20-minute workout on the day you leave can help you relax and get in shape for the rigors of the road,” Tulin says. “The better shape you’re in before you leave, the better you’ll feel while you’re gone.”

• Practice deep breathing. “Taking three slow, deep breaths can lower your pulse by five points and help you relax and deal with a highly stressful situation,” Tulin says.

• Take time for yourself. Plan ahead to see friends for dinner or lunch when traveling to a distant city.

Read a mystery or another kind of book instead of business briefs in the evening. Listen to music instead of sales tapes when driving.

• Create a personal travel mantra. Come up with a positive phrase to help you cope with in-transit stress. For example: Repeating the phrase “I am where I’m supposed to be,” may help you relax when a situation beyond your control develops.

• Adopt a healthful attitude. There’s no use worrying about things you can’t control, such as flight delays or canceled flights. “When things go wrong, use the time to catch up on your reading or other work,” Tulin says. “To use an airport layover creatively, spend the time contemplating one of your life’s goals and brainstorm ways to achieve it.”

Survive Your Seat However you travel - by plane, car, boat, or train - there’s no escaping lots of sitting.

To avoid back, neck, and leg pain, practice dynamic sitting -- a way of sitting that allows your bones, instead of your muscles and ligaments, to support your body. To sit this way: Slightly arch your lower back and distribute your weight evenly over your pelvic bones. Don’t cross your legs.

Keep your shoulders and abdomen relaxed and slightly arch your neck.

Choosing a rental car with an adjustable seat is important if you’ll be driving a lot. “Your best bet is a car with a seat that has a six-way power-seat adjustment, so you can adjust the seat forward, back, up, and down, as well as adjust the tilt of the seat back,” Tulin says. “Being able to determine the best seat position for you is crucial to comfort.” M

8 Leadership Spring 2014

How to Make Your Job “Back-Safe” If you often have an aching back at the end of your workday, relief may be as easy as making a few minor adjustments.

The best defense against back pain is regular aerobic exercise to keep your back fit and limber, according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). It’s also important to keep your back active throughout the day.

Walking is the easiest, most effective way to keep your back active on the job, experts say. If possible, take a quick walk every hour or so. Move around within your workspace if you can’t leave your station for several hours. Change positions in your chair every few minutes; shift your weight if you’re standing.

You can make changes in most any job to create an environment that is friendlier to your back. Here are some suggestions from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

For desk jobs • Adjust the height of your chair so your feet rest comfortably on the floor. Prop them on a footrest or a telephone book if you can’t adjust your chair. There should be at least an inch of space between the front edge of the seat and the backs of your legs.

• Use a lumbar-support roll, a small cushion or a rolled-up towel if your chair’s back support doesn’t fit the natural curve of your lower back.

• Sit in your chair so that your ears, shoulders, elbows and hips are in a comfortable straight line at right angles to the floor.

• Set your armrests a little higher than your elbows so that the armrests bear the weight of your arms. If your chair doesn’t have armrests, use a wrist rest to support your arms when you stop typing.

• Set your computer monitor so that the top third of the screen is at eye level. (The monitor should be a little lower if you wear bifocals or trifocals.)

• Use a headset if you often use the telephone.

• Place your equipment where you won’t have to stretch to reach it.

For standing jobs • • • • •

Try to keep your work at chest height if it requires using your hands.

Tilt objects toward you instead of leaning over to see them.

Work as close to your body as you can instead of reaching out with your arms.

Stand on surfaces with some give. Use a rubber mat or wear rubber-soled shoes.

Put one leg on a footrest and shift your weight forward.

When lifting and carrying • • • • •

Lift with your legs, keeping your back straight; keep your head up and carry the load close to your body.

Tighten your stomach.

Use ladders or step stools to reach objects above shoulder level.

Use devices that reduce the load: a dolly or forklift.

Ask for help rather than risk injury carrying something that’s too heavy for one person. M

Spring 2014 Leadership 9

Tips for Staying Healthy and Safe at Work As we go to work every day, we often think about the tasks we need to do and our interactions with co-workers. Most of us may not think much about our health and safety on the job, but we probably should. Colds and other viral infections can spread quickly and can affect productivity, and more than 3 million disabling accidents occur in American workplaces every year. To avoid being sidelined by an illness or injury, start taking action today.

Protect yourself against infection

Colds and flu are caused by viruses that can pass easily from one person to another when you sneeze, cough, or handle objects contaminated with a virus. Some viruses can live up to three hours on phones, doorknobs, and desks. Because most adults average about two to four colds a year, there’s a good chance that germs may abound in many workplaces.

You can help limit your exposure with these tips:

• Wash your hands frequently. Be sure to scrub them with soap and warm water for 15 to 20 seconds.

The scrubbing action removes germs so that you can wash them away. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based gel or wipe.

• Try not to touch your face. Once a virus gets on your hands, it still has to get inside your body.

Touching your eyes, nose, or mouth gives it easy access.

• Use a disinfectant. Clean surfaces such as telephones and keyboards regularly, especially if you share them with others.

If you do get sick, should you still go to work? Sometimes staying at home is a better idea, especially if you: • Are coughing, hacking, and sneezing, all of which can spread a virus • Have a fever • Feel nauseous, are vomiting, or have diarrhea • Are so sick that you can’t do your job If you feel well enough to go to work, try to prevent infecting others. Avoid shaking hands with anyone, always use tissues to cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and wash your hands or use an alcohol-based gel or wipe afterward.

Make routine tasks safer

Repeatedly clicking a computer mouse or turning and lifting can take a toll on your body. In fact, about half of injuries that occur in the workplace are related to frequent repetition of everyday movements such as these.

10 Leadership Spring 2014

You can help reduce your risk of injury:

• Vary your activities. It’s important to give your body a break now and then while you’re at work.

It’s a good idea when you’re off the clock, as well. “If you’re working assembly in a manufacturing environment or typing in an office, you’re better off not doing those same motions when you’re not at work,” says Tim Morse, Ph.D., associate professor of ergonomics at the University of Connecticut.

• Check your computer setup. If you spend a lot of time working at a computer and it isn’t positioned correctly, you may be risking pain in your neck, shoulders, elbows, or wrists, says Jack Dennerlein, Ph.D., associate professor of ergonomics at Harvard University. To check your computer’s position, stand in front of your chair. The backs of your knees should be about two inches above the seat.

When you’re sitting down, the top of the monitor screen should be at about eye level. Position your keyboard so that your elbows are at an angle of at least 90 degrees. This may help relieve stress on your wrists.

• Avoid overreaching. Whether or not you work at a desk, it’s important to keep frequently used materials and tools within reach. When sitting, you shouldn’t have to reach more than 15 inches.

When standing, items should be no more than 14 inches away if you’re reaching for them with both hands. If you’re using just one hand, 18 inches is OK for most people.

• Listen to your body. “Little aches and pains are good indications of a potential injury,” says Dr. Dennerlein. If you start having these types of symptoms, call your doctor.

Be prepared for emergencies

Ask your supervisor if your company has an emergency action plan in case of fire, natural disaster, or another emergency. Then, read it so that you’ll be prepared. If your employer doesn’t have a plan, consider volunteering to help develop one. TheAmerican Red Cross can help you learn more about preparing your workplace for an emergency.

Practice safe lifting

Try not to lift more weight than you’re used to carrying. How much you can handle safely depends in part on your level of conditioning. Technique also makes a difference.

To help avoid back injury, remember to lift with your legs. Here’s how: • Bend your knees.

• Keep your back straight, even when you’re putting down the load.

• Hold the load close to your body and use a slow, steady lifting motion.

• Don’t twist while carrying something. Instead, turn your feet and your body in the direction you want to go.

If you need to move something that’s too heavy for you to lift, ask someone to help you. Or, if you’re authorized to use a forklift or other device, use it to move the object. M

Spring 2014 Leadership 11

A note to Supervisors...

From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to respond to a particular behavior.

The Employee Assistance Program is available on a 24/7 basis for consultation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.

• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding problems in the workplace

• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job • Return-to-Duty conferences

• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies

• Supervisor and Manager training

• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals

• Coaching for management and leadership skills

• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems

MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource.

Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.

The MINES Team

Questions? Reach us at 800.873.7138 | www.MINESandAssociates.com