Joanne Kaldy

A multigenerational workforce can bring a wide variety of viewpoints and experience, creating a richer, more diverse team. However, managing people with different backgrounds, experiences, and priorities can be challenging. Consider these tips to more successfully lead a multigenerational team:

• Focus on diversifying expertise.
• Create a healthy work-life balance
• Leverage each employee’s unique talents.
• Focus on belonging and inclusion.
• Ensure leaders dive deeply into the unique needs and motivations of their teams.
• Create a culture of acceptance.
• Allow employees to focus on their strengths.
• Reduce barriers to effective communication.
• Understand your employees’ needs.
• Hold meetings that allow for idea exchange.
• Encourage open communication and mutual respect.
• Urge younger employees to learn from older ones and vice versa.
• Manage up … [Read more...] about (4/4) 15 Leadership Tips for Supporting a Multigenerational Workforce

The past two years have been stressful and challenging for even the most resilient of employees. It’s time to address the impact of trauma on your teams and provide some trauma-informed care (TIC). What is TIC? According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it is a “strengths-based service delivery approach “that is grounded in an understanding of and responsiveness to the impact of trauma, that emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, and creates opportunities for survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.” It’s important to realize that trauma is very personal. An event that traumatizes one person may not have the same effect on someone else. Generally, however trauma can be caused by a number of things, including:

• Violence
• Sexual assault
• Racism
• Bias
• Harassment
• Economic uncertainty
• Political … [Read more...] about (4/1) We Need Trauma-Informed Workplaces

According to a new study, the pandemic has changed the way many women think about their careers and their lives. In a new survey of 3,515 workers:

• 65% of women respondents said the pandemic made them rethink their work’s role in their life, and nearly three-quarters with children say they’ve changed “how they value certain aspects of their life outside of work.”
• Fewer than half of women respondents said they have enough energy for leisure activities when they're off the clock.
• 59% of women reported they feel tired even before they get to work, compared to 49% of men.
• Nearly two-thirds of women have increased expectations for flexible work.

• Being intentional about in-person gatherings. Research shows that women want their employer to limit the number of days per year that the team gathers in … [Read more...] about (3/31) Pandemic Changed Many Women’s Career Mindsets

Attracting and keeping top talent is more challenging than ever. To be successful, it’s time to take a fresh look at your hiring and retention strategies. In doing so, consider these trends:

• Momentum of data-driven hiring. Digital tools can help you make objective, data-driven hiring decisions instead of subjective processes that can result in emotional, impulse, or biases hiring.
• Talent is mobile. Changing jobs doesn’t have the stigma it used to. People are more willing to move to a new company and position that they think is a better fit. At the same time, workers’ expectations about how and where they work has changed. When possible, be flexible about scheduling and opportunities for remote or hybrid work.
• Increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Diversity continues to be a challenge for companies, yet traditional hiring approaches, with an overemphasis on experience and education, can hinder companies from finding and … [Read more...] about (3/30) Why It’s Time to Fundamentally Rethink Hiring and Retention

Even the best companies have occasional no call, no shows, but there is much you can do to limit these:

• Make sure staff are fully aware of their shifts and informed in advance if these change. Have a clear schedule that workers can access from anywhere and a procedure for making changes. Use emails or texts to remind staff about upcoming shifts and any scheduling revisions. Consider using a scheduling app.
• Mandate that staff confirm their shifts with management. Get this information in writing, signed off on by both parties.
• Promptly address any scheduling problems. Sit down with employees with the highest number of no call, no shows and find out if there is something about the system that is contributing to the problem. Work with employees one-on-one to try to address any personal challenges affecting their ability to comply with their schedule. Additionally, the use of automated scheduling systems and other technology may be useful.
… [Read more...] about (3/29) 5 Tips to Reduce Employee No Call, No Shows

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed a new bill that expands workplace protections for healthcare providers and their staff and families. It makes battery or threats against healthcare workers a class H felony. Protections apply to employees who work at settings including nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, and homes, community-based residential facilities. The bill went into effect on March 25, 2022. A Coalition of Wisconsin Health Care Organizations expressed support for the bill. The group observed at in 2018 alone, 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries/illnesses affected healthcare staff. The number of injuries to these workers has increased significantly in recent years. “This trend has surely become all the more detrimental over the past two years, where we have seen unprecedented stress and pressure on our health systems and workers,” said the Coalition in written testimony. The group stressed, “Healthcare workers should not be … [Read more...] about (3/28) Threats, Attacks on Senior Living Workers Now Felonies in Wisconsin

Enhancing the employee experience, including engaging them in scheduling, tracking their time off, and managing their benefits is key to attracting and keeping good workers. If you want employees to love and use engagement technology, consider the following steps:

• Look at fixing inadequate or antiquated technology that inhibits productivity. Technology that is confusing, hard to use (for example, because it takes several clicks to get where they need to go on a regular basis), out of date, or disruptive to their workflow, needs to go. At the very least, it needs to be updated.
• Identify and eliminate technology that employees find annoying. Just ask your workers and you will likely get an earful about this. Use these insights to prioritize changes.
• Think about ways you can delight workers with state-of-the art systems and great technology that significantly improves their employee experience. Be an early adopter to impress your workers, especially … [Read more...] about (3/25) What Is Employee Experience Technology?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking public comment on specific topics related to COVID exposure and safety in healthcare settings. Toward this end, the agency will hold virtual hearings beginning on April 27. Elsewhere, written comments may be submitted as well. OSHA is expected to use some of this information to develop a permanent standard. Among the topics OSHA is seeking input on:

• How a future standard should/would define when someone is “fully vaccinated” and whether current requirements should relaxed or changed based on vaccination status.
• What impact new and emerging variants might have on rules and guidance.

Last week President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a bill designed to help reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental/behavioral health issues among healthcare professionals. Among other things, the bill will:

• Establish grants for employee education, peer-support programs, and mental and behavioral health treatments, with top priority going to healthcare providers.
• Create grants for healthcare profession schools, academic health centers, and other institutions to help train health workers about suicide prevent strategies, as well as how to address/prevent burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders.
• Help identify and disseminate best practices for suicide and burnout prevention among healthcare professionals.
• Establish a national evidence-based education and awareness campaign to encourage healthcare professions to pursue support and treatment when they need … [Read more...] about (3/23) Healthcare Professionals’ Mental Health, Job Satisfaction Focus of New Law