HR Industry Brief

What are some of the key leadership lessons from 2020 that can help guide your work in 2021? Some experts suggest the following:

• Lead with empathy. Meet people where they are and look for ways to address their needs and concerns.
• Write a new rulebook. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel but prioritize innovation and new ways of doing things. Seek opportunities to revise and update current processes and policies.
• Get comfortable having uncomfortable conversations. While the post-pandemic future holds promise, there will be tough times ahead as we work to get there. Optimism is important, but so is honesty. Let your teams know what challenges are ahead and how you will work with them to overcome them successfully.
• Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are more important that ever. These help drive conversations that can lead to strategies for the future. However, don’t count on these to do things that they’re not intended to do, such as … [Read more...] about (1/1) If There Was Ever a Time To Be Bold, It’s Now

Storytelling isn’t just for writers, dreamers, and movie makers. More than ever, business leaders need to be able to tell stories that sell products/services, help them inspire and connect with their teams, give meaning to statistics and facts, make meetings more engaging, encourage customers/clients/employees to take action, and rally people around common causes. Ultimately, here are six storytelling elements you should brush up on:

• Plan your stories so that they have a compelling beginning, middle, and end that will engage your audience.
• Make people feel something. Think about how to get your audience to invest emotionally in your story. Appeal to their hearts as well as their heads.
• Get to the point. Don’t make the story longer than necessary.
• Use language everyone understands. Avoid overly technical terms and draw-out presentations. Keep things short and sweet as much as possible.
• Be relatable. Be human; share relevant … [Read more...] about (12/31) Hollywood Storytelling Secrets That Make You a More Inspiring Leader

Are you and your employees on the same page when it comes to attitudes about COVID? According to a new survey, you might not be:

• 77% of employees want more information about healthcare beyond open enrollment.
• 75% say access to benefits is more important than ever.
• 49% say becoming more financially secure is a top priority post COVID.
• 77% of managers feel like their employer genuinely cares about their overall well-being, compared to only 55% of employees.
• 78% of managers think their employer has engaged in initiatives or offered services to support employee wellbeing since the pandemic started, compared to 66% of employees.
• Pre-pandemic, 96% of managers and 86% of employees say they had favorable wellbeing levels. Since the pandemic started, these numbers have dropped to 73% for managers and 59% for employees.
• 83% of managers feel comfortable asking for a day off to support their own wellbeing, … [Read more...] about (12/30) Managers and Employees Have Different Attitudes about their COVID Workplace

With everything else happening in the workplace, identity verification isn’t always happening as part of commercial background checks on new hires. Some new data suggests there is a real need for most organizations to revisit this issue:

• 58% of data breaches in 2020 involved personal data, such as names, phone numbers, and home addresses, nearly double the percentage from last year.
• About 96% of adult Americans own a cell phone, making mass adoption of modern identity verification methods more realistic. As a result, experts suggest that mobile identity verification tools should be incorporated into the background check process.
• In 2020, up to 43% of Americans are working in the gig economy. This is an increase from 35% in 2018. Over three-fourths (82%) of employers plan to allow employees to continue working remotely in the new year. As a result, digitizing the process and integrating identity verification into background checks are … [Read more...] about (12/29) Key Trends That Will Shape Post-Pandemic Identify Verification and Hiring

Learning from a crisis can make it easier to deal with the next one. So what lessons did we learn from the COVID pandemic? We discovered that it’s important to:

• Teach/train employees at all level to be flexible and agile. Consider drills and exercises that focus on using these skills to address a crisis.
• Have policies and plans for wage and hour issues when many employees are working from home.
• Adjust to new paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• Provide consistent, real-time information to employees.
• Focus on matters within your control.
• Be kind to yourself and those around you.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the workplace will look different next year, but make sure you have these trends on your radar and plan accordingly:

• Corporate travel is on the back burner. Business travel decreased by about 70% in 2020. Expect that most (if not all) conferences and educational programs will be held virtually through most of next year. At the same time, meetings with vendors, clients, potential customers, and other stakeholders will have to be held via Zoom or other video platforms. Consider redirecting some travel budget into equipment upgrades and purchasing cutting-edge technology, including laptops and mobile devices. Make sure cybersecurity gets extra attention and that employees are trained about identifying and preventing cyberthreats.
• Remote work is here to stay (at least for another year). Invest in technologies and resources now to keep remote workers productive and engaged and ensure that data is safe and secure.
… [Read more...] about (12/25) The Future of Work: The Workplace in 2021

There’s been much tragedy and many challenges in post-acute and long-term care this past year, but there have been some positives too. Let’s take a minute to look at these before we gear up for 2021:

• Feds take steps toward reopening nursing facilities to visitors. In May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued guidance to states, calling for universal testing to lift the visitation ban. The agency has worked with the industry to help facilities open safely. In the meantime, facilities have found creative ways to enable residents to connect with family and friends, including doorway visits/parties, outdoor parades, and drive-by events.
• Legislators saw the dangers of forcing nursing homes to take COVID positive patients and worked with the industry to ensure residents stay safe. COVID-only units and buildings were quickly established as a way to cohort patients with the virus and keep it from spreading to uninfected individuals.
• The … [Read more...] about (12/24) Crushing Despair, Glimmers of Hope: The Top Skilled Nursing Stories of 2020

Earlier this month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) indicated that employers may require proof that employees have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine and not violate non-discrimination laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the same time, however, the EEOC didn’t greenlight employer vaccine mandates. In light of the agency guidance and the questions that remain about what employers can and can’t do regarding vaccine mandates, legal experts suggest considering a few questions before you make any definitive moves:

• Could a mandate’s exceptions ‘swallow the rule?’ It is clear that employers may need to exempt workers who can’t receive the vaccine because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief (although these workers may then be excluded from the workplace in some situations). However, employers also need to consider how they will handle vaccination policies regarding pregnant women and younger workers.
• Is the … [Read more...] about (12/23) 5 Questions to Ask Before Adopting a Coronavirus Vaccine Policy

It may be tempting to skip annual performance reviews in these chaotic times. However, that’s not a wise plan for your organization or your employees; and it sends a message that reviews don’t matter. Instead, consider a new approach to these activities:

• Review/revise criteria. It’s very likely that performance expectations and job goals and objectives have changed in light of the pandemic. Review these and make any needed adjustments. Be sure not to hold employees accountable for responsibilities or accomplishments that were impossible or even impractical in light of the COVID crisis.
• Think about increasing the value of certain personal attributes and attitudes, such as adaptability, cooperation, and teamwork.
• Make sure your process is legally complaint. For instance, you shouldn’t negatively cite or penalize an employer for taking leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• Be up-front and transparent about any changes you … [Read more...] about (12/22) Performance Reviews During a Pandemic

In 2021 watch for the progress of these newly introduced bills:

• The Mollie Baldwin Upskilling of Personal and Home Care Aides Act (S. 4942) would provide a stable funding pool for local governments and non-governmental agencies to expand existing training models that bring new workers into the industry.
• The Career Advancement for Direct Support Aid Workers (CADSAW) Act (S. 4940) would provide funds through the Health Resources Services Administration to help current workers in the homecare field with career advancement opportunities, including education and training.
• The Direct Support Worker Training Reimbursement Act (S. 4943) would provide enhanced Federal matching payments for direct support worker training programs and include home care workers in the definition of eligible medical personnel.
• The Nurses CARE Act (HR. 8847) would provide flexibility in training and competency requirements for temporary nurse aides in skilled nursing … [Read more...] about (12/21) Essential Healthcare Workforce Bills Introduced