HR Industry Brief

Especially during a crisis, people are more likely to cling to comfortable old ways of doing things. As a result, when change is needed the most, people are more likely to fight it. However, take heart; you can answer the age-old question: What’s in it for me? And you can inspire people to embrace change even if they are resistant:

• Analyze your audience. Understand how the change will affect different groups of employees and highlight specific benefits for each one.
• Create a compelling story. Develop a narrative for each group that will help build a strong foundation to promote engagement. Specifically, create an elevator pitch and develop supporting messages tailored for each group.
• Emphasize the benefits. Make the change tangible by creating scenarios and using comparisons.
• Engage employee storytellers. Recruit thought-leaders and champions to help share the story, engage others, and address questions and concerns. Make sure these … [Read more...] about (6/29) Need to Communicate Change in the Workplace? Focus on WIIFM to Gain Employee Buy-In

  Whether it’s the death of a beloved resident, illness or death of a family member, financial problems, or other issues, it is likely that at least some of your employees are grieving right now. You can help:

• Take a creative approach to increasing the worker’s time off. For instance, invite fellow employees to donate some of their time off via leave donation.
• Temporarily reduce the employee’s workload and offer scheduling flexibility.
• Connect the employee with healthcare resources, including grief or mental health counseling.
• Help the worker benefit from alternative therapies and comfort care. For instance, let the person bring the family dog to work or give a gift card to download music.
• Consider a family support liaison.

According to a new study, higher registered nurse (RN) staffing is associated with a reduced number of COVID-19 cases and death in nursing homes. In a study involving 215 Connecticut nursing homes, researchers found:

• The average number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is eight per nursing home; 107 facilities have had zero cases.
• The average number of confirmed deaths is 1.7 per nursing home (131 facilities have had zero deaths).
• An increase of 20 minutes of RN staffing per resident day was associated with a significant decrease in confirmed cases.
• 4- and 5-star facilities have had fewer confirmed cases compared with 1- to 3-star facilities.

According to a new report, even temporary remote work can have a long-term impact on your workforce. The authors found:

• Working apart impacts team dynamics, including the frequency and quality of communications, levels of consensus and conflict, and the amount and quality of social interaction.
• Effective virtual teams are determined by the strength of their social and cognitive states.
• Successful virtual work requires an understanding of the differences that people experience in isolation.
• Trust and communication lie at the foundation of cohesion for the virtual team.
• In virtual teams there is potential for everyone to be a leader, so it is important to create a strong team structure and involve everyone in the development of group goals.

According to a new survey, American workers are more stressed than ever:

• Working Americans report a 28% increase in stress since the beginning of February.
• Stress has increased the most (39%) among workers aged 40-59.
• Anxiety has gone up 47% for workers across the board.
• Anxiety levels are up 75% among workers aged 40-59.
• The number of working Americans at risk of depressive disorders has nearly doubled since February; among workers aged 40-59, that risk is up 212%.

• Sharing your feelings.
• Creating a culture of forgiveness.
• Engaging your teams; if possible, meet one-on-one with them.
• Involve employees in discussions about changes to their workspace.
• Empower workers to help decide when, where, and how they work.
• Focus on innovative ways to think and meet your … [Read more...] about (6/23) With Mental Health at Risk, Now Is the Time to Lead with Authenticity and Empathy

As businesses open up and people return to the office, a new Gallup survey shows that employers and employees alike are well aware that the workplace isn’t the same. Among the findings:

• 69% of employees say that their employer is doing new or more frequent cleaning.
• 58% say their employer always provides personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves, and face shields.
• 54% relate that their employers are enforcing six-foot physical distancing.
• 41% say their employers are always screening workers for cough or fever.
• 39% of employees say their employer doesn’t do any of these things.
• For the period from May 4-31, 33% of employees say all employees are working onsite and 14% say no one is back to the office.

HR experts weigh in on what they see as the most important tools, trends, and technology to attract the best and brightest, particularly when the industry has taken a PR hit, however unfair, in recent months:

• Lean on HR Technology to Manage Communications, Productivity, and Recruitment
• Go digital in recruitment and onboarding.
• Look for opportunity to promote from within, rather than hiring new talent.
• Refresh and cleanse job positions online regularly to get maximum traction.
• Use virtual interviewing technology as part of your recruitment efforts.
• Pivot to hiring candidates for flexible roles.
• Invest in agile assessment solutions to support remote workers.
• Review and uptake your applicant tracking system.
• Build a solid talent pipeline to resume recruitment when needed.
• Align teams on recruiting strategies and candidate screening criteria.
• Stay connect … [Read more...] about (6/19) 15 Tips to Hire Talent Post the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

According to a new study, the greatest cause of stress among executives is a combination of lack of control, lack of support, and high job demands. Among other findings:

• Most senior and junior executives have the lowest level of stress.
• Stress peaks in middle and senior management roles but is generally lower in non-managers and top executive positions.
• Owners, CEOs, and executives may feel less stress because they have a greater degree of control.
• Overall stress levels for women are higher than for men, especially for those in senior and middle management roles.

In a landmark ruling on June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employment discrimination on the basis of an employee’s sexual orientation or gender is illegal. Here are a few key highlights:

• The ruling means equal treatment for LGBTQ employees is now federally mandated.
• If your employment policies don’t currently provide for nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, you should update them to include these categories specifically.
• Addressing this fully in your company policies and sharing this widely with employees provides evidence of your intention to comply with Title VII’s protection of ‘sex’ its ins totality.
• Unlawful discrimination includes harassment based on protected characteristics including sex. You may want to include sexual orientation and transgender status in anti-harassment policies and harassment complaint processing procedures.

More than ever, HR and other organizational leaders will need to chart a new path for employees as they deal with the impact and aftermath of the COVID pandemic. Consider focusing now on these areas:

• Bolstering company morale. Live meetings, office pop-ins, luncheons, and other events may not be possible for quite a while. You need to identify other ways to engage people and make them feel valued, appreciated, and secure. Realize that while some virtual activities will be useful to connect people, things like a virtual happy hour may not be fun for everyone. Use a variety of ways to reach out, check in, and say ‘thanks.’ E-gift cards, personal email messages, special training programs, new devices (such as tablets), stay-safe kits (with hand sanitizer, lotion, tissues, and other items), and book clubs are some options.
• Look at remote work. Before you bring everyone back to work, capture the lessons you’ve learned from the remote work experience. Determine if … [Read more...] about (6/16) How the Coronavirus Pandemic Will Change the Way We Work