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Even companies that only do an annual review will have completed at least one cycle during the COVID era by now.
This article was first published October 22, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Performance reviews are a critical part of employee management. Unfortunately, they’re often given little attention by companies around the country. Even the best companies routinely limit formal performance reviews to once per year, with busy managers often scrambling to complete them at the last minute. This typical scenario fails to provide meaningful feedback to substantially guide future performance or engage employees.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 has upended work life for over a year and a half. For many companies, this means multiple rounds of performance appraisals have come and gone. Even companies that only do an annual review will have completed at least one cycle during the COVID era by now.
Performance Feedback During the Pandemic
Obviously, work life in the midst of a pandemic has been different in many ways from pre-COVID work life:
Many employees are working remotely long term for the first time in their careers.
Supply chain and other disruptions have forced companies and employees to address new pain points.
Government restrictions forced many service-focused businesses to limit or overhaul the way they provide services or to stop providing them altogether.
In short, for many companies, performance reviews during the pandemic are based on atypical work conditions.
But to what extent should an employee’s ability to adapt to COVID-19 impact his or her performance?
COVID-19 Drives Benefit of the Doubt
On the one hand, factoring in adaptability reflects the reality employees have had to adjust to. It’s difficult if not impossible to ignore the impact of the pandemic on an employee’s performance.
On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event that doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on employee performance post-COVID.
Of course, this is an admittedly simplistic view that overlooks how employees’ adaptability to the pandemic reflects their general ability to adapt to changed circumstances. Furthermore, to the extent employees may have struggled at work over the past year and a half, the impact of COVID-19 on their professional and personal lives, possibly even including their health, could be a reason to cut them some slack.
With these considerations in mind, employers’ best approach when conducting performance reviews may be to think of COVID-19 as a mitigating factor for poor performance. However, organizations should be careful not to place too much emphasis on the ability to adapt to COVID, except to the extent that it can be generalized to agility and adaptability more broadly.
How have you and your managers considered COVID-19 and its implications on performance management and evaluation?
Whether you’re planning on allowing employees to be hybrid or work remotely as often as they’d like, there are tweaks that need to be made to your recruitment strategy.
This article was first published October 19, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Are remote jobs the future? It’s easy to think so. The COVID-19 pandemic has made our already-online world that much more plugged in. Employers are starting to see that investments in brick-and-mortar buildings aren’t always worth it, and employees are beginning to become just as productive at home as they are in the office. Zoom calls have replaced meetings, and Slack has replaced the water cooler.
When done well, a hybrid or fully virtual situation can work well for everyone. Choosing where you work is an important variable for applicants to consider, and often ranks high on their lists of concerns. Almost half of companies plan on letting their employees work from home after the pandemic. If you want the best and the brightest, letting them work from a place convenient to them is definitely something to consider.
That being said, recruiting for virtual job positions has its own nuances. Whether you’re planning on allowing employees to be hybrid or work remotely as often as they’d like, there are tweaks that need to be made to your recruitment strategy. Here are some tips for recruiting virtual, remote job positions in order to find the top talent for your available position.
Cast a Wide Net
One of the best parts of hiring remote work positions is that you can cast a wider net when it comes to recruiting. You aren’t limited by those in your local area or those willing to relocate. Just because you’re based in California doesn’t mean you can’t hire the best applicant, even if they live across the country. The competition for applicants will be fierce, and you’ll be able to choose the person with the best skills.
This means that your opportunities for getting applicants are more numerous. You don’t just need to reach out to your network or to local colleges. You can post on global job boards, surf LinkedIn, and post on social media, all without being hindered by location. This may make the process a bit longer—after all, with more applicants, you’ll have more resumes to sort through and more interviews to hold. But hopefully, it will yield incredible results.
Gather Employee Testimonials
You’re probably familiar with testimonials. Usually, they’re from a customer of your brand who’s utilized your product or service. But if you’re going to be recruiting remote workers, consider getting testimonials from your employees. The talent you’re speaking with may not be able to tour your office in person or get to know people face-to-face, and that can leave them feeling as if they don’t really know what working at your company is like.
By providing them with testimonials from employees, you’re getting them excited at the prospect of working for you and helping them understand whether or not your company culture is a good fit for them. Simply email a few of your hardest working employees and gather up their thoughts on working for your business. Then, include them in any invitations to interview you send out.
You can even share them in graphics on social media if you’re struggling to get enough applications in the door. They don’t need to be long—just a few sentences on why they enjoy working for your company, what the culture is like, and why they would recommend it to others. This will help remote workers understand what working for you is like, even without the opportunity to check out your office physically or speak to employees one-on-one. Employee testimonials are a powerful tool.
Communicate Your Boundaries
Every company handles virtual workers differently. Some are looser with the rules—they don’t care when employees are working, as long as they’re getting their work done. Some are stricter about holding specific business hours. Some employers want employees working from a consistent location, some don’t care if you’re on the beach in Maui. Your business needs to be clear and upfront about what your boundaries are. You don’t want someone getting hired for a remote job only to find out that your desires weren’t aligned.
It may feel awkward or tricky, but clarity is essential. When you’re crafting a job offer, lay out your specific thoughts on time worked, location needs, and any other boundaries you feel the need to implement. It’s also helpful to explain how you want employees to check in—will there be daily meetings they’ll need to be present at?—and create some type of digital headquarters for them to tour so that they understand how their days will look. How often will you be touching base with them? How necessary is it that they’re available for a midday phone call? For work calls, will their video need to be on? These are all questions that go into crafting a work from home policy. It’s important to establish these boundaries before a job acceptance is agreed upon to avoid problems down the road.
Maintain a Powerful Brand Presence
The best way to recruit top talent online? By making sure your online presence is attractive. Virtual workers want to know that they’ll be regularly communicated with and kept in the loop of office goings-on. It’s going to be hard for them to believe those things will occur if your social media pages aren’t regularly updated, comments go unanswered, or emails seem to fall into oblivion. Any business with virtual workers needs to have a strong, visible online presence.
It’s also going to make recruitment that much easier—after all, if more applicants have heard of you, you’ll obviously get more applications. You may even get talent reaching out to inquire about job openings without posting them. Sure, there are more applicants to choose from with remote work—but that also means the top talent has more companies to apply for, and you may have to woo them a bit. A digital brand presence will help your company seem more attractive and interesting. Time spent on your digital brand presence will pay back in dividends when it comes to recruiting remote workers.
Workplace bullying and harassment have always been there; it's only been made worse through the shift to remote work.
This article was first published October 18, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Bullying and harassment are often seen as relics of childhood. But for many, even years removed from the playground or locker room, bullying and harassment continue. While the behaviors associated with workplace harassment may be subtler than the torments faced by many children, they can nevertheless be traumatic and cause their victims significant anxiety, apprehension, and depression.
Forms of Workplace Harassment
Workplace harassment could be sexual harassment, which most people recognize as a genuine office issue, but it can also include derogatory comments based on race, religion, gender, or other elements of diversity. Harassment can also include aggressive forms of otherwise appropriate, work-related communication, such as shouting at or belittling someone for perceived poor performance.
For victims of workplace harassment, an anticipated benefit of the COVID-triggered shift to remote work may have been the expected opportunity to be farther removed from office bullies and their toxic behavior.
Unfortunately, those who habitually violate social norms and engage in harassing or bullying behavior are often perfectly able to extend their harassment virtually through the same media that allow teams to collaborate remotely.
Harassment in a Remote Workplace
Here are just a few ways workplace bullying and harassment can extend to remote employees:
Rude or aggressive e-mails, whether sent specifically to a single individual or to a broader group and targeting one or more members;
Inappropriate language or behavior communicated over the phone or on instant messaging platforms;
Toxic behavior on videoconferencing services; and
Bullying of coworkers on nonwork social media platforms.
All these behaviors can and do continue in many workplaces even when nobody is physically present in the office. It’s important for managers and HR departments to be conscious of their existence.
Addressing Remote Bullying
The silver lining of workplace bullying and harassment that take place in a remote setting is that they are often easier to document. Consider a crude joke made via e-mail as opposed to spoken verbally in the presence of one or just a few colleagues, for example.
Workplace bullying and harassment have long been issues plaguing workplaces of all kinds in their physical environments. That problem has only been made worse through the shift to remote work. Unfortunately, the attacks often do not stop just because work is being performed remotely. It’s essential that managers and HR professionals stay vigilant in identifying and addressing workplace harassment, whatever form it may take—or wherever it may occur.
What to do when a specific workplace rule hasn't been broken.
This article was first published October 12, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
It’s likely your organization already has anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies in place. You probably also have some form of anti-violence or anti-bullying policy too. But how do you handle it when an employee is acting in a way that’s clearly inappropriate but may not fall neatly into one of the written policy frameworks?
Here are a few examples:
Racist or other derogatory remarks that may or may not be directed at anyone in particular.
TMI – speaking about things that are not typically considered polite to talk about in professional settings. This may be as simple as oversharing information about one’s personal life unrelated to work.
Employees acting out – getting inordinately upset, angry, having an outburst, etc.
Being too negative in ways that impact others.
Discussing politics, religion, or other topics that can cause tension when people don’t agree.
Being rude, snide, or hurtful to others.
Taking credit for others’ work.
Spreading rumors or gossip.
It’s easy to see how these types of behaviors can be damaging and need to be stopped, but some organizations have difficulty knowing what to do next when a specific rule hasn’t been broken. Many of us could use a few tips on next steps to take to get the behavior stopped before it causes more of a problem.
Tips for Handling Inappropriate Employee Behaviors
Here’s where to start:
Take immediate action to diffuse the situation. If there are any immediate safety or employee well-being considerations, take those into account first.
If warranted, suspend employees or otherwise send them home or away from one another while further investigation happens, but before making final judgements or taking any action with individuals.
If any policy does apply, such as anti-bullying, anti-harassment, etc., then utilize it.
Get “the rest of the story.” Whenever something happens between employees, there’s usually two or more sides to the situation. No matter what happened, get all perspectives before making a final decision on all steps to take. If there were witnesses, be sure to talk to them individually.
Consider context. While it’s important to treat all employees fairly, it’s also important to take context into account when assessing a situation. When possible, see if there are factors that created or exacerbated the situation, such as a high-stress deadline or problems at home that have carried over into the workplace.
Determine what actions are appropriate. This may be as simple as addressing the employee whose conduct was inappropriate and explaining why it was inappropriate. Or it may include disciplinary actions. The key is to act in ways that are consistent with how other employees in similar situations have been treated in order to not create the opportunity for a discrimination or favoritism claim.
Ensure the person handling the next steps with the employees is adequately prepared to do so. This person should be able to be professional and remain neutral and calm during difficult conversations. Not every manager has these skills innately. This individual should also be fully prepared with all of the facts and should be coached on how to handle the situation in advance and given time to prepare and practice.
Consider amending workplace conduct policies to include generalized information about the type of conduct you’re looking to avoid. Whether it’s oversharing, discussing controversial topics, rude behavior, or some other form of inappropriate workplace behavior, it’s possible it can be outlined further in the organization’s workplace conduct guidelines going forward.
Communicate with everyone involved, explaining what’s being done about the situation. Be sensitive to employee privacy, however, and don’t bring others into the conversation that don’t have a need to know. Be selective about how information is communicated and with whom it is shared.
Make notes in employee files for future reference, even if no disciplinary action is taken. Patterns of behavior can emerge that seem minor at first. Documentation will help if something escalates to actionable behavior later.
When having a conversation directly with the person or people involved whose behavior needs modification, be clear, factual, and give examples of the types of behavior that are unacceptable and why. Be clear about next steps and timelines as needed. Be clear on repercussions that will occur if the behavior happens again.
What has your organization done when faced with these difficult situations? What would you add to this list?
Just 10% of those surveyed reported having an employee skills database or inventory with profiles for all employees.
This article was first published October 12, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Years ago, the key resource available to many companies was their physical capital. In an industrial economy, the primary drivers of productivity and profitability were machinery and other equipment used in the production of goods. While workers needed to be competent enough to operate this equipment and reliable enough to show up for work, labor was otherwise largely a commodity.
The Value of a Skilled Workforce
In the modern economy, successful companies recognize that it’s their workforce that represents the most important driver of their productivity and profitability. Companies vie for top talent, because it’s these employees that will help them outcompete their competition and continue to innovate and skillfully react to a dynamic business environment and global economy.
Shockingly, new data collected by human capital research firm Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), collected from more than 1,300 HR and business executives across 80 countries, found that most companies don’t know the skills and capabilities of their workforce. Taken a step further, this means that companies don’t know the skill gaps their workforces face. Take a minute to think about this in the context of the previous reference to the industrial age and imagine a manufacturing company not knowing the capabilities and deficiencies of its equipment and machinery. It’s almost unthinkable. Yet the i4cp data suggests that this is the situation a majority of businesses they surveyed are in currently.
Businesses Fail to Understand Skills and Capabilities
Here are some of the specific numbers behind the study. Among the respondents to i4cp’s workforce readiness survey who represented organizations with 1,000 or more employees:
Only 12% consider upskilling or reskilling efforts in their organizations to be effective.
Only 15% indicate their organizations are highly effective at analyzing the gap between current workforce capabilities and future business requirements.
27% believe LinkedIn knows more about their workforces than their organizations do.
39% say it’s easier for their employees to find jobs externally than internally.
Most firms are not clear about what workforce readiness means and most leaders don’t know their role with respect to workforce readiness.
43% of those surveyed don’t have a process for analyzing workforce readiness.
Just 10% of those surveyed reported having an employee skills database or inventory with profiles for all employees.
In the modern economy, a company’s people are its greatest asset; but surprisingly, many companies are woefully in the dark with respect to the skills and capabilities of their workforces. By extension, these companies are also woefully in the dark about the skills and capabilities their workforce lacks. The companies that will be best positioned to outperform their competitors are those that can identify the necessary skills to succeed in their industry and find and train a workforce that possesses those skills.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) needs to take into account the needs of all employees, including those who belong to marginalized groups, equity leader says.
This article was first published October 4, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have been top-of-mind for many organizations over the past several months as the country continues to mourn George Floyd and heal from other racial injustices that have been ever-present in the media as organizations of all kinds sound a rallying cry for better behavior, more inclusion and greater opportunities for traditionally marginalized groups.
Dr. Norris has built a strong background in the DEI over the course of her career. She emphasizes the need to find similarities, or shared experiences, to help build relationships and trust. Norris is new to her role at NHF; the role is also new to the foundation.
Norris joined NHF in March 2021. She brings more than 20 years of experience in health equity, public health, and social justice to the position, where she will be charged with creating a health equity framework to integrate into NHF programs and services and to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services. Prior to joining NHF, Norris served as chief of health policy and administration at The Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority.
In her new role, Norris says, she is “pretty busy and very much in demand.” It’s a role where she’s able to continue to pursue her passion for equity, people, and meaningful partnerships.
Celebrating Similarities
While the work of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) often seems focused on differences, Norris says that she likes to take the approach of finding and celebrating similarities. As she approaches her work, she says: “I do it with two things in mind—thinking about how to get people to respect differences and come together and celebrate similarities. That’s where we can have those critical and courageous conversations.”
Once shared experiences are known and shared, Norris says, the foundation has been built to begin to explore the differences and learn from one another. This also provides a space for meaningful discussions and trust building. Varied lived experiences can lend themselves to spaces of learning, community building and a sense of belonging. “Organizations with employees who feel valued, included and have a sense of belonging are the optimal outcome”, she stated.
A Different Type of ERG
Most people in HR and DEI circles are familiar with affinity or employee resource groups (ERGs). They may not be as familiar, though, with the special approach that Norris brings to the ERGs she establishes.
For instance, at NHF, she recently established a crafting ERG for employees who share a love for crafting, which may include quilting. Members may have a discussion around their interest in quilting, but then also share the unique elements of their own backgrounds and the history of quilting in various cultures.
For instance, she shares, “Native Americans and African Americas use quilting as a means of telling history that gets passed down through generations. It’s not just the craft, but also the story that goes along with the quilt,” she says. “You’re talking about differences, while celebrating something that you have in common.”
That focuses on shared experiences can be more compelling than “another race-centered conversation, or another conversation about why I should value others,” she says. “It’s the inclusivity of everyone—everyone’s voice is valued and appreciated; their experiences are valued because they’re theirs.” This approach, she says, helps to grow the organization’s cultural sensitivity, employee awareness, and emotional intelligence.
Getting to Know People as Individuals
The first thing Norris did when she joined NHF was to reach out to the entire workforce. “The first thing I did when I walked through the door was to open up my schedule and say, ‘okay, there are 80 plus employees here, and I would like to meet with every single one of you if you’re open to it’.” Not, she says, just to learn about their backgrounds and to share hers, but to get to know them as people, as individuals.
“What do you like to do outside of work? What do you value? What’s important to you?” And, then, she says, she also shares—“this is who I am, this is where I’m from, these are my hobbies.” In her case, she says, she loves bad karaoke. It’s that kind of sharing, she says, that builds relationships—and trust.
Norris has a passion for connecting with people and learning what’s important to them. Who are they? What are their lived experiences? What are their hobbies? What kind of music do they like?
“So, if there’s new music that I’ve heard and I know that you like that genre of music, I’m going to send you a link. If there’s a new Netflix series that I think you’ll like, I’m going to recommend this new Netflix series.”
Norris makes it a point to reach out regularly to employees around the organization. “I really care about how they’re doing,” she says. That caring isn’t solely related to the work they’re doing—it’s related to who they are as individuals, what’s important to them and how they need to be supported in the workplace.
Getting to know employees and their interests, Norris says, can also help to connect them with opportunities that may be of interest to them. “Regardless of what team you’re on, maybe you can help with a particular project—there may be an opportunity to do that, an opportunity to be included.” For instance, she says, an employee in marketing may also be interested in fundraising. “People simply want to be valued and heard,” she says.
Diversity From the Board Level on Down
It’s important, says Norris, for organizational diversity to mirror the diversity of the audiences they serve. So, for instance, if an organization serves a specific minority community, it’s important that they have representation from that community at the board level and throughout the organization.
She suggests that companies take a look at their organizational chart and, considering who they serve, determine if they have “representation from the board level down to partnerships.” Organizations, Norris, says, “need to be reflective of the communities they serve.”
Yet, at the same time, she says, organizations also need to be focused on choosing the best qualified candidates. “Don’t just take bodies in because they’re Hispanic, African American or Asian American Pacific Islanders—you need to ensure that those chosen are the best candidates.”
Once on board, Norris believes in ongoing engagement and broad opportunities for input across the organization and employees at all levels and in all positions. Companies benefit from those diverse voices. Employees do too.
Whether coming together around quilting, favorite books, movies or music, shared experiences can lead to opportunities to learn about differences in different ways—ways that serve to engage rather than alienate.
When you get swept up in a person’s terrific résumé or great conversational skills, you may forget to be on the lookout for issues or trouble points.
This article was first published October 4, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Interviewing a potential new employee? It can be an exciting, nerve-racking process. You’re hoping to find the right person to fill your role, and you probably have multiple people to choose from. You’re simultaneously trying to find top talent and impress them while trying to be authentic and get a true vision of who someone is. Plus, the person sitting across from you (or on the other end of your Zoom call) is probably nervous, too!
With all that emotion flying around, it can be hard to remember what you’re looking for. In addition to getting answers to thoughtful questions, you should also be on the lookout for red flags. These are things that will identify when a person won’t be a good fit for your company culture. When you get swept up in a person’s terrific résumé or great conversational skills, you may forget to be on the lookout for issues or trouble points. But it’s an essential part of the process.
Of course, job applicants are human, just like you—the people you’re speaking to won’t be perfect. Traffic jams, family emergencies, or nerves may knock them off their interview game, but that doesn’t mean you need to completely rule them out. That being said, you’re likely looking for someone who can do a job well under pressure, and the interview process is a great trial run in that regard. Although red flags are going to be specific to every individual business, there are a few responses you can look for no matter your industry or niche.
Here are five red flags to keep an eye out for while speaking to a potential new employee.
Frequent Complaining About Past Job or Coworkers
Obviously, if people were 100% thrilled with their current or past jobs, they wouldn’t be sitting across the table from you. But if someone is ready and willing to completely throw a past employer under the bus, it’s a bad sign. It feels aggressive, it lacks understanding that employment problems usually involve both parties, and it simply leaves a bad taste in an employer’s mouth. You want a team player, not someone who will be bitter at the first sign of trouble. Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself having to solve a lot of workplace drama when you could instead be focused on serving your customers.
Inability to Provide Concrete Examples
If someone says he or she is a great team player, that person should be able to describe a project he or she worked on in a team setting. If someone says he or she has experience in Microsoft® Excel, the person should be able to describe that experience. If someone says he or she is great at closing sales, the person should be able to talk about a recent large sale he or she secured for his or her company. Big claims without concrete examples are meaningless, and they can make you feel as if the person is exaggerating or misconstruing the facts. Ask for specifics, and be wary if they can’t be provided. Although “résumé padding” is a common practice, you want to get to the bottom of who someone is—and if that leads you to believe the person is not being totally truthful, run the other direction.
Lack of Interpersonal Skills
No matter how much or how little this employee will interact with the other employees of your company, having someone with interpersonal skills is a must. You don’t need to be on the lookout for Ms. Congeniality, but someone who can make eye contact and hold a conversation is vital. Having an employee who’s unable to handle conflict or get to the root of a problem will be an issue, no matter what the role you’re filling is. If someone is too rambling, doesn’t shake your hand, or seems incredibly awkward, it’s something to keep in mind. (Note: This isn’t a hard-and-fast, be-all and end-all rule. People with social awkwardness still need employment! But it’s important to consider which role they’re applying for and whether it will be worth it for your business in the long run.)
Poor Listening
If someone’s asking you to repeat yourself over and over, gives answers that don’t relate to the specific question asked, or is struggling to pay attention, that’s a major red flag. Listening is a crucial component of almost any job. You’re going to need someone who’s able to take in information efficiently. Bringing a person on board who can’t even seem to listen for one job interview? That’s a red flag that’s going to have serious effects down the road. Again, nobody’s perfect—someone asking you to repeat yourself certainly isn’t a reason to withhold an offer of employment. But overall, do you get the impression that the person just isn’t listening? If so, that’s a bad sign that needs attention.
Refusal to Provide a Reference
Having to provide references can put job applicants in a difficult spot. They may not want their current employer to know they’re looking for new jobs, or they may have left previous positions on less-than-desirable terms. But hiring someone without a third-party opinion is incredibly risky. References are a vital part of the process—being able to get a fuller picture of job applicants will help you understand them much better than simply talking to them one-on-one. If candidates are unable to provide even one solid reference, that’s a major red flag. Why don’t they have anyone in their life who they feel could vouch for them? If applicants are unable or unwilling to provide a reference, try and have a conversation with them about why. Perhaps they have a valid reason you can work around. Do they have a nonprofessional reference who could serve as a personal reference? If they truly can’t give you one other person to talk to, it’s a sign they aren’t good at managing the relationships in their life or their career. Those probably aren’t the types of people who are going to work out in the long run.
About 33% of employees feel disconnected from their leaders, new 2022 Global Culture Report reveals.
This article was first published Sept. 29, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The changing landscape of the world of work in the ongoing wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered workplace culture in many ways. Moreover, given the significant amount of time spent in the COVID era and shifting employee and employer preferences, it’s unlikely workplace culture will ever fully return to its pre-COVID form.
The specifics of just how much things have changed are being illuminated as companies and research institutions dig deeper into the massive amounts of available data, such as employee surveys and company analyses. In September 2021, O.C. Tanner, a leader in employee recognition and workplace culture, released the findings from its 2022 Global Culture Report, a yearlong, international study on the current status of workplace culture, based on data gathered from over 38,000 employees and leaders in 21 countries around the world.
Key Findings from Global Culture Report
Some of the key findings from O.C. Tanner’s Global Culture Report include:
45% of employees say the number of individuals they regularly interact with at work has decreased significantly over the past year; about 33% feel disconnected from their leaders.
Organizations increase their likelihood of improving the employee experience by 7.5 times when they meet employee needs for autonomy, connection, and mastery.
The report outlines some crucial elements of successful hybrid employees’ experiences:
Career development programs: 68%
Flexibility to choose the number of days worked remotely: 65%
Clear expectations for availability when working remotely: 65%
Opportunities for in-person social connections with coworkers: 58%
Five distinct employee personas emerged through the study, each with its own general focus, work style, and self-esteem. These are Socializer, Tasker, Builder, Coaster, and Achiever.
Socializer: Outgoing and driven—these employees are motivated by fun and rewards.
Tasker: Quieter and more composed—these employees are motivated by rewards but are resistant to feedback.
Builder: Warm and friendly—motivated by goals, fun, and rewards.
Coaster: Pessimistic and prone to stress—motivated by rewards; avoid punishment.
Achiever: High-energy, but moody—motivated by fun and rewards; avoid punishment.
Your workforce is likely made up of employees in all of these groups. It’s important to recognize these types and reward them appropriately based on their preferences.
The World of Work Has Changed ... Forever
To help employees be most productive and engaged in this new and continually evolving environment, organizations will need to shift their areas of focus inward and create a new culture of connection. “The former concept of workplace ‘normalcy’ left the building in March 2020, and it’s not coming back,” says Gary Beckstrand, Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute. In this new landscape, Beckstrand says, employers need to work to help employees “feel connected to purpose, accomplishment, and one another—no matter where or when they work.”
With a shift to remote work, hearing and visually impaired employees often find difficulty in doing their job.
This article was first published Sept. 2t, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Some of the often-hidden experiences in many offices even before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a widespread shift to remote work have been the experiences of hearing and visually impaired employees. With a broad shift to remote work, these employees are often finding it more difficult than before to perform their basic job duties.
Accommodating the Visually and Hearing-Impaired
It’s time companies take a look at how they are accommodating and creating opportunities for remote visually and hearing-impaired employees, according to Kevin Rizer, an authority on remote work and author of Always Wear Pants: And 99 Other Tips for Surviving and Thriving While You Work from Home. Rizer knows what he’s talking about. He himself suffers from hearing loss of about 50%.
Rizer encourages employers to be upfront with employees who have hearing or visual impairments to identify ways they could be best accommodated. This is particularly true during the pandemic. Don’t assume that because they’re at home, they’re not facing barriers.
“Don’t be afraid to ask the hearing or visually impaired community what they need to successfully work remotely and make your company a better workplace,” urges Rizer.
Suggestions for Accommodations
Rizer suggests multiple general tips to consider when making the workplace more accommodating to the visually and hearing-impaired. These include:
Looking at company policies to see how the company could better accommodate visually and hearing-impaired staff members;
Introducing technology with closed captioning or screen reading; and
Asking employees directly for their insights on what the company could do to create a better workplace.
These and other practices can be relatively simple and cost-effective. Ensuring that visually and hearing-impaired workers have the tools and environment they need can help maintain high levels of productivity in a remote setting and generate the high levels of engagement that can contribute to employee morale and retention.
The widespread shift to remote work triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic means it’s not only more difficult to monitor employee productivity but also more difficult to ensure employees are getting the support they need. For this reason, employers should be particularly attuned to the needs of the visually and hearing-impaired.
A recent trend among many employers has been to significantly draw out the interview process to a seemingly never-ending cycles of interviews.
This article was first published Sept. 16, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
For job applicants, the interview process can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. On the one hand, there’s the potential for a new job or even a new career. On the other hand, it can take days, weeks or longer to find out how the interview went and whether the applicant landed the job or even just made it to the next round of interviews.
Interview Timeframes Growing Longer
Unfortunately for job applicants, a recent trend among many employers has been to significantly draw out the interview process to a seemingly never-ending cycles of interviews. Often this process is not even transparent to the applicant who isn’t sure how many rounds to expect or whether another interview will be unexpectedly added to their interview schedule.
For employers, the motivation behind this practice is easy to understand. Hiring and onboarding is expensive, as is muddling through with an employee who really isn’t cut out for the job. Recruiters want to get it right when bringing on a new team member. Hence the urge to be excruciatingly thorough.
Upping the Odds of a “Good” Hire
“Trial and error is bad and costly for companies who are hiring, so they often compensate by making the recruitment process more and more forensic,” writes Mark Johanson in an article for BBC Worklife. “This means conducting multiple interviews to gather valuable information to help them more clearly determine which candidate has the most potential. In the best-case scenario, this is a great investment for all involved: it ensures that the candidate won’t struggle in the job, and that the company won’t have to repeat the process all over again.”
But for applicants, the interview process can be so off-putting that candidates actually withdraw from consideration. After all, in an employee-friendly labor market, why would an applicant with multiple potential employment opportunities put up with an opaque, drawn-out interview process?
Obviously, employers need to balance their need for thorough interviewing against the risk of turning away attractive candidates.
Being Efficient and Thorough to Identify Top Candidates
The solution is really quite simple, at least in theory: be efficient and thorough in the interview process. It shouldn’t take five, six, seven, etc., interviews to evaluate a candidate. If it does, that means the company is not using its time efficiently. It’s likely asking the same questions over and over again or having a candidate sit through interviews with disengaged and ill-prepared interviewers.
Today’s job market heavily favors employees in many sectors. Employers simply can’t afford to put candidates through the wringer unnecessarily, because those candidates don’t appreciate it and likely have other options to turn to if timeframes become too extended.
In this environment, employers that feel they need to thoroughly vet each candidate before extending an offer should strive to do so as efficiently as possible to avoid losing out on top talent.
