HR Industry Brief

Moving forward, employee appreciation will need to require a new focus. Here’s what you need to know:

• A positive work experience is more important than ever to employees. This means opportunities for remote or hybrid work, shorter hours, and a better work-life balance.
• Little treats like donuts and cupcakes don’t resonate the way they used to. Employees want appreciation efforts that speak to their values. This means more engagement, more personal recognition, and more opportunities to participate in educational and upskilling efforts.
• Employees want more frequent recognition. A once-a-year gift or raise doesn’t mean much without regular praise and acknowledgement of their accomplishments and contributions.
• Employees want recognition of their personal milestones as well as their professional accomplishments. This shows that managers and other leadership appreciate them as individuals and recognize that they have a life outside of … [Read more...] about (6/7) What Does Employee Appreciation Look Like Post-Pandemic?

Post-pandemic, it’s not enough to be resilient and responsive. It’s important for organizations to be robust and antifragile. This means having systems that don’t break under pressure and are able to return to symmetry and balance quickly when there is a disaster. Here are few things you need to know about how to build an antifragile organization:

• Antifragile systems are actually stronger when they’re introduced to a bit of harm, challenge, or stress instead of being diminished.
• Unlike their fragile counterparts, antifragile organizations are willing to consider competitive forces and respond accordingly, seeing disorder as challenges to overcome and not “bad” or roadblocks. They also choose to keep pace with emerging risks such as cyber-threats.
• Engaging all resources and the collective intelligence of people is key to antifragile organizations, and this is how they approach problem resolution and the pursuit of new opportunities.
… [Read more...] about (6/6) Innovative Leadership: Moving Beyond Resilience To Antifragility

No doubt, the pandemic has shaken up the workforce. In one recent survey, for example, nearly half (42%) of onsite employees say they don’t feel connected to their workplace or their colleagues. Hybrid and fully remote workers feel even more isolated.  One solution that more organizations are embracing involves creating omni-connected experiences to engage all employees, wherever they work. This involves a few key steps:

• Instill modern leadership that leads by listening first and then responding with commitment and action.
• Grow a thriving culture where leaders champion different ideas and experiences and create a culture where whole-worker care is embraced.
• Enable an agile organization where people can be productive wherever they are and however they work.
• Empower people through technology. Building an up-to-date, robust, and user-friendly technology foundation in the cloud. Ensure that people have the training and resources necessary to … [Read more...] about (6/3) 4 Ways to Unlock Productivity, Retention and Revenue Growth

Are your employees not living up to what you expect or want them to accomplish? It’s possible that they are working hard but don’t really know how to exceed your expectations. For instance, at least one recent survey shows that only 24% of organizations have communicated to staff the specific behaviors are necessary to live their corporate values. Take the time to make sure your workers know what you expect of them and how they can go above and beyond:

• Don’t be afraid to be direct. Communicate to staff how they’re doing, what they could do different, and what your vision is for their contributions to the organization. Encourage autonomy and individuality, but make goals and expectations crystal clear.
• Define what success looks like. Set highly detailed expectations and explicit directions or achieving goals. Make sure everyone has the tools and resources they need to succeed. Consider the benefits of directive coaching and other activities to inspire and drive … [Read more...] about (6/2) The Surprising Reasons Employees Are Not Exceeding Expectations

Myth 1: Bringing diverse people into your organization over those from the dominant culture means there are winners and losers. Reality: An intention to hire a more diverse staff empowers those who have long been sidelined or ignored and brings a broader range of insights and experiences into the organization, which benefits everyone. Myth 2: Our mission is to improve opportunities for marginalized groups, so we’re reaching diverse people and communities. Reality: There needs to be a strategy and systemized steps to reach diverse people. Myth 3: Our organization is an a geographic area that is not diverse, so why should we worry about diversity? Reality: This assumption doesn’t acknowledge the value of diverse perspectives or the fact that demographics are constantly changing. Myth 4: Our organizational leaders are well-meaning and not biased. Reality: Unconscious bias exists everywhere. Addressing DEI calls for intentionality and an acknowledgement that biases … [Read more...] about (6/1) Debunking Myths Around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace

What do you do when an employee doesn’t show up to their job for a number of days without notice and any stated plans to return? Job abandonment is the new ‘ghosting,’ and it should be investigated and addressed according to the situation and compliance with labor laws. Here are few things you need to know:

• Job abandonment is generally considered voluntary resignation even if the employee doesn’t officially quit or resign. The person’s lack of communication suggests the employee has no intention of coming back to work.
• Reasons for job abandonment include: Fear of quitting due to embarrassment, getting a job with another employer, an unexpected personal or family emergency, job dissatisfaction, fear of returning to work due to health or safety concerns, and a negligent or blasé attitude on the part of the worker.
• It is important for employers to anticipate the problems that can be caused by job abandonment and put clear policies in place.
… [Read more...] about (5/31) Job Abandonment: What It Is, How It Happens & How To Handle It

Americans are often discouraged from taking time away from work. However, particularly after the past two years, a little rest and recharging is more important than ever. Commit to at least some of the following:

• Take a brisk walk or just sit in the sunshine.
• Listen to music you love. If possible, crank up the volume and sing along.
• Identify your ‘power hours’ and reserve this high-productivity time to focus on tasks requiring the most skill and focus.
• Keep your schedule current and share it. Let colleagues know when you’ll be available to meet, converse, and work on various projects and when you will be unavailable, unreachable, and away from work.
• Try to some new experiences. Check off something fun on your bucket list and celebrate your efforts.
• Rest the urge to check in with work when you’re off the clock.

There were a record number of cyberbreaches last year, and many of them were in health care and related organizations. According to a new study:

• Employees were responsible for 39% of health care breaches last year, compared to 18% across all industries.
• Most breaches were the result of miscellaneous errors, as opposed to malicious misuse incidents.
• Data misdelivery (such as sending an email to the wrong person) is the most common employee error in this sector.
• Attacks against a web-facing application account for about a third of breaches, even though human error remains a big problem.
• Nearly 60% of data breaches in health care organizations involve personal data, while 46% is related to medical information.

While the worst of COVID may be behind us, workers everywhere are still struggling with their mental health. Need proof? Searches for mental health strategies and support have increased 133% since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago. Moving forward, managers and other leadership need to understand how mental health impacts their employees:

• The constant barrage of emails, texts, videoconferences, and calls are seemingly never ending. As a result, workers often feel like they’re running place and always running behind and trying to catch up.
• Lack of boundaries between work and home make it difficult for workers to “punch out.” Many feel like they’re always working and have no real work-life balance. Worse, they often feel like their employers don’t care about their need to have a life outside the company.
• Working parents are struggling to find childcare solutions, causing some to leave the workforce completely. Others are doing their best … [Read more...] about (5/26) Punching Out: The Dire State of Worker Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and employees’ psychological wellbeing has never been more important. Especially as more organization embrace different, increasingly flexible work models, workers need to feel comfortable, safe, engaged, connected, and confident. These three steps can help you address employee mental health while implementing new work models:

• Bring mental health under the DEI umbrella. Consider establishing an Employee Resource Group to create a safe place for workers to engage in honest discussions and enjoy a sense of belonging. These can be virtual or live and enable employees to connect, chat, share feelings and concerns, and see that they’re not alone in their struggles.
• Offer benefits that include mental health. If you’re not doing this already, make it a priority. Your employees need this now more than ever, and offering these (and making sure everyone knows about them) shows your workers that you care about their mental health … [Read more...] about (5/25) 3 Ways HR Can Support Mental Health as Workers Return to the Office