HR Industry Brief

Children are a joy, but there’s pros and cons of letting workers bring their kids to the workplace. Among the pros:

• It enables employees to come into work when child care becomes unexpectedly unavailable, when childcare ends before the workday does, or when there are emergency school closures.
• Patients often enjoy interactions with children.
• It can increase employee loyalty and be considered a valuable benefit that attracts new workers.
• It can help keep parents working after they expand their families.
• It can reduce stress for parents and others.
• It can help save money on child care.

• Children can be distracting, and their parents may not be as productive when they are at work.
• If the child comes to work sick, he or she can be a health threat to others.
• There may be safety and liability issues.
• Some workers may be distracted or frustrated … [Read more...] about (10/21) Pros and Cons of Allowing Children in the Workplace

A recent study suggests that over half (54%) of employees are more likely to quit if they have a toxic coworker. Even those who are willing to stay experience negative effects such as stress, anxiety, and absenteeisms. Here are four tips to help you or others deal with toxic coworkers:

• Understand what a toxic employee is. Generally, they share three characteristics: they gossip, they make you defend yourself, and they are often two-faced.
• Set clear boundaries. If possible, separate yourself physically. When that isn’t possible, keep conversations short, refuse to engage in gossip or complaining, and don’t share personal information.
• Communicate and uphold your personal values. Try to stay calm and stay true to your values. When you feel your emotions bubbling up, try to speak directly, compassionately, and respectfully.
• Consult a supervisor. Get someone involved, possibly a manager who doesn’t oversee either of you, to brainstorm with … [Read more...] about (10/18) 4 Tips to Handle Toxic Coworkers

Your employees look to you for help, guidance, and support. Studies show that workers want managers who can help them problem-solve, innovate, grow, and thrive. Here are some steps you can take:

• Help employees identify the root cause of a problem or challenge. Find out who the key stakeholders are and what metrics can help determine if the problem is solved.
• Avoid blaming and finger-pointing.
• Work with employees to prioritize issues or problems to work on.
• Help employees analyze solutions.
• Work with the employee to share solutions with coworkers, seek input, and tweak the solution as necessary.

At least for the immediate future, 97% of executives expect increased competition for top talent, while they continue to fret about turnover and lack of employee engagement. To attract and keep good workers, experts suggest focusing more on the employee experience:

• Treat employees like customers. Seek to understand what they want and need, as well as what changes would make their work experience better.
• Break down organizational silos. Interact with workers in all departments at all levels and encourage/enable cross-organizational problem solving and teamwork.
• Realize that not all experiences are equal. Employee engagement and training efforts must be person-centered and customized.

Innovation is an important key to owning the future. Here are some tips to help ensure that your managers and other employees are thinking and acting like innovators:

• Foster an innovative mindset. Encourage people to ask questions and consider the “what ifs.”
• Create a plan. Consider setting a goal of having 10-20 ideas to discuss every month. Stress that all ideas are welcome.
• Identify a real problem to solve.
• Embrace and accelerate automation. Work on connecting the dots faster.
• Use multiple types of innovation in a single service design (i.e., involve different disciplines, high-tech and high touch solutions, etc.).
• Leverage diversity and inclusion to drive innovation. Take advantage of those individuals who think differently than you.

Employee mental health is a global issue that no organization should ignore. Half or more of workers report experiencing mental health issues caused or exacerbated by work issues. Increasingly companies are prioritizing mental health benefits for reasons including:

• It’s the right thing to do. Removing stigmas and encouraging people to seek help will result in more engaged, productive, and loyal employees.
• Mental illness has a huge price tag. The World Health Organization estimates that mental health problems such as depression and anxiety lead to $1 trillion in lost productivity. For every $1 invested in employee mental health, there is a significant return on investment in terms of health, job satisfaction, and efficiency.

• Offering robust health insurance coverage.
• Coaching on conflict resolution and stress management.
• Offering and … [Read more...] about (10/14) Why Employee Mental Health Should Be Part of Your Benefit Strategy

After hearing oral arguments on October 7, the Supreme Court left in place an appeals court decision that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) doesn’t apply to job applicants alleging a company’s hiring policies adversely impact older adults. The implications:

• It will be more difficult for older job applicants to prove they’ve been discriminated against based on age.
• The ADEA protects employees (not applicants) age 40 and older from age discrimination. It prohibits employers from making statements that suggest efforts to discriminate based on age.
• The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that requesting an external job applicant have no more than a certain number of years of experience isn’t age discrimination.
• Employers still can’t make job ads on social media visible only to users below a certain age; and they can’t mandate that applicants be “digital natives.”

There is lots of talk on Wall Street and elsewhere about the possibility of an impending recession. The key is not to panic but prepare:

• Focus on pulling people in instead of pushing them out. HR and other leaders should work to help employees stay motivated and engaged so they commit to helping the organization get through a recession.
• Protect your high-potential employees. Talent poaching is common during tough times, so identify your best employees and look for ways to keep them engaged and committed.
• Reinforce values and ethics. Fear, insecurity, and worries about firings or layoffs can lead people to hide mistakes or accidents, fudge results, and do other things to protect themselves. Discourage this behavior by reminding employees about what the company stands for and what is expected of them.

The idea of an audit strikes fear in the hearts of HR and other leaders. However, if you let employee complaints trigger an internal audit and have a strong process in place, you can identify and fix problems early before state or federal officials come calling. Experts suggest several steps for an effective self-audit:

• Start by picking a subject. Ask “What do I want to audit my program for?” Then fil in the blank.
• Dig through documentation. Learn where information is and update it as necessary.
• Tour the facility. Look around for problems with an unbiased mindset.
• Look over communication chains in which employees were denied a request.
• Look for gaps in processes and close them as possible.
• Analyze your data.
• Conduct a detailed claim review.

The impact of the new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on staffing is still uncertain, but there is already some indication that therapists could be on the chopping block. According to one report:

• Thousands of physical, occupational, and speech therapists have already been laid off.
• Others say they have had their wages cut.
• One chain is said to have cut rehab staff by 30%, according to some sources.
• There is talk that some providers are encouraging or mandating concurrent and group therapy services, instead of one-on-one rehab. However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has said that PDPM’s 25% limit on group and concurrent therapy is designed to make sure that skilled nursing facility patients receive quality therapy services. The agency also says that one-on-one sessions will continue to be the “significant majority.”