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Report: Employers Need to Rethink Strategies to Attract Millennials

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You need to understand younger workers’ worldview to attract, engage them.

Millennials aren’t especially optimistic about the future, and they’re not completely satisfied with their lives and the world around them, according to the 2019 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey. Nearly three-quarters (70%) think they may only have some of the skills needed to succeed in the working world of tomorrow. While over half (52%) aspire to earn high salaries and be wealthy, only two-thirds who seek to attain senior levels in their careers are confident about their ability to reach this goal.

While many millennials don’t feel prepared when they enter the workforce, only 21% see this as a personal responsibility. About a third (30%) think that businesses/employers play the greatest role in preparing workers to succeed, and 24% say this responsibility falls to educators/schools.

Five Easy Ways to Boost HR Technology Use

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High-tech tools only work if people use them. Here’s how to get your workers on board.

After months of research, study, conversations, and number-crunching, you’ve purchased a cutting-edge HR technology system. It’s like a sleek new car, and your excitement is palpable. But as cutting-edge as the system is, it’s not going to implement itself; and if your team doesn’t use it, it’s like having that beautiful new car and no driver’s license. Whether the technology is designed for managing time and attendance, payroll, expense processing, job candidate assessment, and/or performance management, these five steps can help encourage faster HR technology adoption.

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month: Move the Conversation Forward

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If you think you don’t have to worry about mental illness in the workplace, statistics say otherwise.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the U.S.; and untreated conditions cost $200 billion annually. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so there’s never been a better time to shine a light on this issue in your workplace.

Monitoring Technology and Data: Pump Up Productivity While Protecting Privacy

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Companies are looking beyond surveys to high-tech tools to assess employee attitudes.

Increasingly, companies are collecting data about what employees do and say. According to one recent survey, 22% of organizations worldwide use employee-movement data, 17% monitor work-computer-usage data, and 16% use calendar-usage data. While employers say this monitoring technology enables them to improve productivity and engagement, employees often resent what they see as an invasion of their privacy. HR can play a key role in ensuring that monitoring is done appropriately and that employees understand what is being done and why.

Historically, companies have used formal, large-scale employee surveys to assess how employees feel about their jobs and the workplace. However, these are generally time- and labor-intensive and offer limited—and not always completely candid—insights. Data collected from monitoring technology can provide more specific insights about how employees feel about their jobs and their work environment. At the same time, this data enables leadership to understand the context of what employees are saying and doing.

Sweeping Legislative Changes Could Soon Affect You

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From staffing and sexual harassment to contract employees and discrimination reporting, statehouses and courts are moving forward on hot issues.

It is important to keep your finger on the pulse of legislative action, both on the national and state levels.  Currently, there is some action in Washington, D.C., and in some state capitals worth keeping on your radar. While these issues might not affect your organization directly right now, they are gaining traction across states and industries; and they could soon impact how you do business. Of greatest interest and significance on the state front is a Connecticut bill that just passed the Senate there. This legislation (Senate Bill 375) would mandate nursing homes to disclose daily the number of direct-care staff members that are assigned to patients. This measure is aimed at increasing transparency and encouraging facilities to hire more direct care staff. The bill passed 31-4, and now heads to the House. If this measure becomes law, nursing homes would be required to post the number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and nurse aides they have on staff, as well as the hours they are scheduled to work on each shift.

Survey: Employers Plan Increased Investment in Wellness for 2019, Beyond

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Financial health and telemedicine are the top targets for expansion in employee wellness efforts.

According to a new survey, employers are planning to increase their investment in employee wellness moving forward. Overall, companies are putting more into health and well-being programs, with 35% planning to invest more this year, versus 14% expecting to invest less. Employers have targeted some specific areas for investment. These include stress management, financial wellness, mental health, telemedicine, mindfulness and meditation, and wellness challenges.

Financial wellness (68%), telemedicine (61%), and stress management (58%) rated the highest as areas in which employers plan to increase their investment. This isn’t especially surprising, as employees often rate stress, anxiety, and depression as leading workplace-related health issues; and financial security is a top cause of stress for many workers, especially low-wage earners. As for telemedicine, many employers see this as a way to manage healthcare expenses and enable care for rural or remote employees.

Find the Perfect Match with Personality Assessment Tools

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Personality assessment tools are more accurate and sophisticated than ever; and they can help you find, keep the best employees.

The use of personality assessment tools is growing—as much as 10% annually—because they help organizations effectively predict which candidates will be the best fit for their job openings and their company culture. You also can use these for training and onboarding to determine career paths for new hires and reinforce the connection between job roles, personal satisfaction, and the company culture. There are thousands of these tools, but eight of the most popular are highlighted here.

Survey: More Employees Demand Flexible Work Policies

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Flexibility—both hours and location—increase productivity, reduce operating expenses and risk.

Increasingly employees are demanding flexibility—in terms of work schedules, location, and/or processes, and companies are doing what they can to comply. According to the International Workplace Group’s (IWG) 2019 global workplace survey, 62% of 15,000 respondents said their company has a flexible work policy in place, mainly due to worker demand. The vast majority (85%) said that flexibility has resulted in increased productivity; and 65% said that flexible work arrangements help their company reduce operating expenses and manage risk.

Stressing the importance of considering flexibility policies, 4 of 5 respondents said that, when faced with two similar employment offers, they would turn down the one that didn’t offer flexible work options. In fact, a growing number of companies are using flexibility as a benefit to attract and keep top employees. As replacing senior director-level staff can be extremely expensive, more businesses are using flexible workplaces to improve retention and overall satisfaction through improved work-life balance and reduced commuting. Statistics indicate that by 2030, the U.S. could see an economic boost of as much as $4.5 trillion annually from flexible workplaces.

Study: Strong Link Between Happiness and Productivity

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Money can’t buy happiness, but a few steps can help HR assess employee satisfaction and jump-start joy.

In a recent study, happiness increased work productivity by 12%, while unhappy workers were 10% less productive. So how do you determine how happy your employees are? Then what can you do to increase their job-related joy?

There are several proven tools to measure employee happiness, but among the most reliable are your eyes and ears, as well as those of your colleagues. When people gather in breakrooms, are they animated and laughing or are they silent or sullen and complaining? Are optional company events (such as parties or sporting events) well attended? Do team members greet each other warmly in the hallways? Do managers know their employees and take time to chat with them? You can gain real insight into how employees feel about the company and their jobs by watching and listening.

One popular formal approach to assessing employee happiness is the seven-category Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI). This includes employee-satisfaction questions in seven areas.

From Chitchat to Chatbots

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Get a hiring edge with 24/7 real-time, personalized j0b candidate interactions.

If you’ve ever shopped or sought information online, you likely have encountered a chatbot, a service that enables people to interact via an online messenger. Powered by basic rules or machine learning, the chatbot can have specific types of “conversations” with users, often eliminating the need to wait for a human response that could take minutes, hours, or even days. This can be significant for HR, where job candidates—especially those in great demand—can lose interest and go elsewhere if they can’t get prompt information or answers.