HR Industry Brief

Making training engaging, productive, and even fun has always been tough, but data from a new study suggests some new challenges:

• Only 24% of organizations have started in-person indoor training.
• Only 34% of people are totally comfortable with in-person indoor training and prefer virtual training.
• 81% of companies would require socially distanced seating for a traditional classroom training indoors.
• 47% of employers would require proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
• Only 40% of people are willing to travel to attend an in-person training.

A new study suggests that colleagues can help boost the voices of marginalized coworkers while benefiting their own status. Among the findings:

• Regardless of gender, amplifying a peer’s voice was more beneficial than any other behaviors.
• Amplification increased the status of both the amplifier and the person being boosted.
• Subtle actions, such as expressing appreciation for someone’s help or leadership on a project, can have a profound impact without being obvious.
• The amplifier takes on a leadership role simply by boosting other people.

You may not be retaining good workers because they love your company or even their jobs. According to a new Gallup poll, one in six workers say they are staying on their current position because they need the health benefits. Among other findings:

• Black workers (21%) are more likely than white workers (14%) to say they’re staying in their current job for the benefits.
• Workers in households with less than a $48,000 annual income were three times more likely to stay in a job they don’t like for health benefits.

Despite a significant rise in self-reported depression, stress, burnout, and anxiety during the pandemic, employees aren’t utilizing their mental health benefits. While one-quarter of employees say their mental health has deteriorated in the past year, 56% of workers say they didn’t receive any mental health care, and 31% say they don’t even know what benefits their company offers. At the same time, more than half of employers say they’ve boosted their mental health care more accessible and affordable. So how do employees help promote mental health and related benefits? Consider the use of these apps to enable and encourage your workers to address their mental health:

• Calm
• Talkspace
• Headspace
• Happify
• 10 Percent … [Read more...] about (5/18) 8 Low-Cost Apps to Help Employees Manage Their Mental Health

In many ways, the pandemic was a test of how strong organizations’ cultures are. If you have come to realize that your culture is at best missing some key components and at worst just plain toxic, now is the time for change. Whether your company culture calls for big renovations or minor tweaking, here are some marks to hit:

• Clearly define the desired culture. Determine in specific detail where you want to go and what your ideal culture will look like.
• Intentionally demonstrate new behaviors. Plan and initiate actions that are in line with the culture you desire. Orchestrate small wins to show how the desired behavior will positively impact the organization and its employees.
• Demonstrate how the new or changing culture is contributing to repeatable wins.
• Repeat actions to establish new habits. Change isn’t one and done. Encourage people to repeat new habits and actions day after day. Over time, habits will reinforce the … [Read more...] about (5/17) When You Need to Change Your Culture ASAP

Cybersecurity continues to be a top concern for companies everywhere, especially with so many employees working remotely and sharing data from a variety of settings. While you may have cybersecurity products and systems in places, your company’s data may be at risk if yo  don’t’ test for vulnerabilities down the digital supply chain. To prevent hackers from taking advantage of downstream vulnerabilities, consider the following:

• Don’t assume that products purchased for value-added features are also secure.
• Cybersecurity needs to be a priority up front; don’t assume you can just add it on later in the project. If you do, it could be too late.
• Concerns that customers won’t pay extra for cybersecurity isn’t an excuse not to implement it. Instead, work to educate everyone about the value of security and how it keeps their data, including financial and health information, safe.
• Teach product developers about security risks. Be prepared to … [Read more...] about (5/14) Is Third-Party Software Leaving You Vulnerable to Cyberattacks?

To think that your organization won’t have to face an IT disaster or problem at some point is incredibly optimistic but also very dangerous. It is more important than ever to have a strong, current IT recovery plan in place. Toward this end, take a few steps:

• Frame your recovery plan in the context of risks. Identify the risks your company faces and how you can minimize each one. This will help ensure a practical plan that everyone can understand and embrace.
• Prioritize communication. You can’t afford a communications breakdown in the event of an IT disaster. Plan alternative ways of communicating with team members and other stakeholders in the event of an emergency. Make sure everyone knows about this plan and how it impacts them.
• Protect data continuity and backups. Data continuity means having alternative processes and infrastructures in place to enable IT operations to continue, even during a crisis. The first step toward this end is an … [Read more...] about (5/13) Building Effective IT Disaster Recovery Plans

1. Are employers required to offer emergency paid sick leave and emergency family medical leave, or can they offer one or the other?

2. If a company voluntarily offers emergency paid sick leave until September 30, 2021, is it required to reset the 80 available ours each employee can take?

3. Are companies required to offer the full 80 hours per every employee or is it acceptable to provide fewer hours?

4. What payroll tax credit can the employer receive if the company offers emergency … [Read more...] about (5/12 BRIEF) FAQs About Paid Leave Under the American Rescue Plan Act

Like everything else in the post-pandemic world, leadership will be different moving forward. Use these seven keys to master true leadership in times of uncertainty:

• Use visioning to see what others don’t. This requires the ability to integrate fast-changing variables, the capacity to anticipate with your eyes closed, and the desire to integrate the collective intelligence of others to identify and cultivate bright spots in dark times.
• Use conversations to connect with others. This may sound obvious, but it can be hard to find time to sit down and have meaningful conversations in stressful times. Slow down, talk and listen, and use these opportunities to build mutual trust and relationships.
• Listen empathetically. Realize that true listening involves genuinely wanting to understand what the other person is talking about and feeling.
• Stories are powerful. They shift the way we feel, act, and think; and they break down barriers and arouse … [Read more...] about (5/11) The Seven Keys to Unlocking Leadership Mastery in Times of Uncertainty

After a stressful, exhausting, and often tragic year, your teams may be struggling to be as productive as possible. You can help with four steps:

• Huddle in tiers. Have frontline workers meet at the beginning of the workday or shift, then supervisors meet 30 minutes later and managers 30 minutes after that. Executives meet last.
• Make more work visible. Use physical or virtual task boards to keep people focused.
• Create your own ‘bat signal.’ Help your teams recognize the difference between an issue or challenge and a true emergency, then respond accordingly.
• Align responses. Don’t assign tasks without giving people the resources and authority to carry them to successful fruition.