Employee Relations

In just a few short years social networking sites have gone from something that people thought might just be a fad to a major part of our society. You’ve probably seen the statistic that if Facebook was a country it would be the fourth largest in the world. It might also surprise you to know that based on Facebook’s last publicly released data, their fastest growing segment is adults aged 40-55.

The difficulties of 2009 are finally in the rear view mirror and each week there seems to be a bit more evidence that the recovery is for real, even if slow. Many companies are currently trying to figure out ways to make the most of 2010 and position themselves properly to benefit from the recovery, but to do that it’s important to have a solid employee relations strategy that will help you manage and structure your workforce sentiment.

Today’s working environment is an unusual one. On one hand, voluntary attrition is lower than it’s been in nearly two decades due to the scarcity of work and overwhelming economic pressures. On the flip side, survey after survey shows that employee morale is nearing all time lows. Together, these facts suggest that organic retention might become a significant problem for many companies once the employment market stabilizes.

Under any circumstances, retention strategy is always high on the human resources priority list. With today’s complicated market conditions, figuring out the best way to keep your star players is more difficult than ever. Traditionally, organizations hold on to their key talent by paying those employees above market rates, or providing compensation increases beyond the national average. In these trying times there are many companies who aren’t able to play by those traditional rules.

Do you have an employee who has been diagnosed with PTSD that is severe enough to qualify as a disability? If so, it’s time to start looking at ways to accommodate them at work. This should be done with an eye toward ADA compliance and good employee relations. Your responsibility as an employer is to assist workers with disabilities so that they can accomplish their assigned tasks in a non-hostile environment. This should tie in with your goal of promoting the achievement of your organization's overall objectives.

Identity theft can turn your life and your company upside down. Being on guard is important for individuals, but even more so for business owners and business leaders. The legal responsibility for businesses shouldn’t be taken lightly. Protecting their own identities as well as those of employees and clients is critical.

Over the past few years many companies have gone from having separate sick and vacation policies to having just one, consolidated paid time off (PTO) program. While the flexibility of these programs can be attractive to employees and companies alike, there are also some serious consequences that can arise from a poorly planned PTO program. If you haven’t recently reviewed the potential legal impact of your current PTO system, here are a few topics to consider.

Employee reviews are one of the best opportunities to align your workforce’s actions with the greater goals of the company and ensure that each employee understands how they can affect the company’s success.  During a review it is natural for the employee and their supervisor to discuss their personal goals, objectives and assignments for the foreseeable future and this is the perfect time to talk about how that employee’s work fits into the larger picture.

Human resources executives are constantly setting goals to push their companies forward and bring strategy and focus to their teams. However, it’s far too common for these high level strategy goals to get pushed aside by the HR department’s most common cycle: focus on recruitment, focus on retention and then repeat. Human resources leaders understand the value and importance of breaking this cycle.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can affect anyone in your workforce. However, it is especially common among men and women who have served in combat zones while in the military. If you have employees who are returning to work after a tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, there is a possibility that they will need accommodations they did not previously require. This situation can put the employee relations skills of HR staff and department managers to the test.

Human Resources professionals are used to handling all kinds of uncomfortable employee relations situations. They may be called in to deal with inappropriate workplace behavior, break up fights, or cope with the occasional “total meltdown”. However, even a seasoned HR manager and benefits specialist can find it challenging to handle one delicate situation: an employee who is dying - and still wants to work.

As an employer, you understand the value a talented team of employees can bring to your business. You can’t afford to miss out on attracting top job candidates from every cultural background. However, many companies do just that when they fail to create a welcoming atmosphere for a diverse workforce.

In an increasingly global marketplace, an exclusionist attitude is neither profitable nor desirable. Whether you are hiring workers from one of the many cultures within the U.S. or immigrants from other countries, here are some things to keep in mind.

Having a crisis communication plan is a vital part of keeping your organization prepared for the future. While each of us hopes that we will never have to deal with a true crisis for our company or employees, updating and reviewing your strategy is something you should do on a regular basis.

Regardless of what kind of crisis you and your company might experience, whether an accident, natural disaster or business crisis, it is vital that you have a way to communicate important information at all times with your staff, clients and community.

Great leaders all know that no plan ever goes off as expected. Recent events in our global economy have certainly sent many of us back to the drawing board when it comes to prioritizing our top initiatives. The last few quarters have required each of us to spend considerable amounts of time working on short term shoring up of our businesses to combat a volatile and challenging market. As the signs begin to point to some inherent stability in the marketplace (if not a small turnaround), it is time once again to turn an eye to succession planning.

In this week’s podcast, Brenda Perkins interviews Tim Davis from the law offices of Constangy, Brooks, & Smith. Davis has been with this prestigious firm since 1992 and is considered one of the top 100 employee relations lawyers in the U.S. With the passage of some form of the Employee Free Choice Act likely in the near future, Tim’s expertise is invaluable. Here’s some of the advice he has for HR professionals and employers who want to remain union free in the upcoming years.

Brenda Perkins, cofounder of HR BrainBank interviews Jeff Lanza in this informative podcast. Lanza, a former FBI agent is an expert in the fields of internet security, leadership ethics, and crisis communication. In this interview, he outlines why companies must have an effective message development and information dissemination strategy in place before a crisis occurs.

Industry expert Paula Switzer (President of Switzer Resource Group) talks about the DISC program and how this behavioral assessment method will help you improve your own communication skills. Also discussed are the benefits this tool provides to individuals and organizations.

Industry expert Deborah Thorne (president of Prism Creative), discusses the concept of HR branding in this interview with Brenda Perkins. This informative talk introduces the concept of developing a brand for Human Resources communications. Her remarks on perceived value and employee retention are of special interest. Most companies spend a significant portion of their yearly budget on workforce related expenses. It makes sense to create a polished, consistent presentation strategy for vital compensation and benefits information.

As any good HR recruiter knows, hiring the best candidates is only the initial step in the staffing process. Unless a new employee is matched well to his/her job duties, performance will be lackluster. In addition, each worker must be on board with the company’s objectives and find a “home” within the larger framework of the organization. Discover how to fine tune employee alignment in 3 critical ways.

Many organizations have volunteerism or community activism as integral parts of their mission statement. It isn’t difficult to determine that helping support volunteer causes is a great way for your company to give back for some of its success. It’s also a good lesson on the importance of ethics and involvement. What may surprise you is that volunteering can also prove to have an incredibly effective business ROI.

This year a lot of companies are saying “humbug” to the traditional holiday party. It isn’t that companies want to deny their employees a good time to gather and celebrate, but after the year we’ve had it would just be downright fiscally irresponsible for many companies to spend money on a winter bash.

It’s that time of year again. The leaves have changed color, the air is a little cooler (or a lot!) and Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It has certainly been a tumultuous year for individuals and businesses the world over and many people may be feeling like there haven’t been a lot of positives that have come since last year’s turkey meal. However, if you take the time to really consider what we’ve been through this year, you’ll see we really do have a lot to be thankful for.

The end of the calendar year is always known for a few things around the corporate world: the closing of the financial books, the planning of next year’s initiatives and the doling out salary increases or year end bonuses. For a majority of companies, raises and bonuses won’t be making an appearance this holiday season and employers in every industry are searching for ways to prevent a morale meltdown.

There aren’t a whole lot of folks in the business world that will be upset to see this year come to a close. It’s been a difficult year and most of us are looking forward to starting over clean in January. While it’s true that the year is almost at a close and that signs of stability seem to indicate next year will be better all around, it isn’t too late to take stock and make the most of year end.

If your company is going through a period of significant changes, crafting an effective employee communication strategy is a top priority. Your first step is to decide what an “ideal” response from your workforce would look like. Do you just want employees to acquiesce to the inevitable or do you expect a fully engaged response? Simply distributing information broadly and persistently may achieve the former goal. However, a different approach is needed for change communication that involves an enthusiastic exchange of ideas.

Human Resources is the primary department tasked with handling employee communications. However, during company transitions every person in a position of authority must learn to participate in this important process. Each team leader should be fully apprised of decisions that affect their departments and the company as a whole. Change communication requires an understanding of both the how and the why of each choice made at the executive level.

If you aren’t familiar with recent legislation related to genetic testing, you may be thinking “Who is Gina and why did she have a law named after her?” GINA actually stands for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. In November of 2009, employers will be required to comply with a number of new regulations regarding health data. For example, the law makes employment discrimination based on genetic profiling a violation of FLSA.

Comprehensive performance feedback can be a boon to companies that use this employee assessment tool correctly. It can be a disaster if it is implemented without forethought and good communication. The idea behind this concept is that employees from entry level through upper management can benefit from honest evaluation. This information is gathered from a number of sources (superiors, subordinates, customers, and coworkers). All of this feedback is integrated to form an accurate “360-degree” overview of each employee’s performance.

Too much of day to day human resource management is made up of repetitive tasks that require little or no specialized knowledge. Sure, you have to pay attention to detail to avoid making mistakes; but you aren’t really being intellectually challenged by shuffling through files all day long. Of course, the most frustrating part of this job can be following up with managers, supervisors, and employees. Getting other people to fill out paperwork or electronic forms and turn them in to HR on time can be a never ending battle.

In most mergers and acquisitions, an atmosphere of combativeness develops as two companies are streamlined into one. This is because there is a general preception that one side is winning and the other is losing. Unless a takeover simply consists of acquiring a company and keeping all personnel in place (this is rare), there will be a lot of jockeying for position over retention.

There are three possible outcomes for worker morale during company changes. It can get worse, it can be maintained at a steady level, or it can become stronger. Some companies may be satisfied with keeping the status quo since this alone can take significant effort. However, HR professionals who are serious about increasing employee engagement will want to strive toward a higher goal.

It seems that every advance in technology is rapidly followed by a flurry of identity thefts. However, the product or software itself is not always to blame. The main problem with technology is that it has allowed vast amounts of data to be stored in a highly portable form. Human behavior often turns out to be the weakest link in actually protecting employees' sensitive information.

Paid time off (PTO) has advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of both employers and employees. However, it is often simpler to administer than traditional vacation/sick day/personal day programs. Calculating the amount of time accrued can be done using a single formula since there is just one type of time off being offered. It can also be easily adjusted so that long term employees accumulate PTO at a faster rate per year (or to incorporate other criteria).

Lots of work/life strategies focus on helping employees cope with stress at work and find ways to spend more time at home. But what about people who experience most of their stress in their private lives and use their job as a way to escape? These individuals may be happier on the job than at home. They may even come in early and stay late. However, they won’t be able to offer their best level of productivity if they are being distracted by all the issues they will have to deal with once the work day is over.

Training and development is most effective when it starts off on the right track at the new hire stage. This sets the tone for an employee’s entire tenure with your company. If you harness the enthusiasm of each fresh trainee and keep that momentum going over the long term, your company will be rewarded with high levels of employee motivation and innovation.

The last decade has generated incredible improvements in technology and all of us have seen, first hand, how these improvements can impact our customers and corporations alike. What many HR managers have learned lately, though, is that technology can also greatly improve employee morale, communication and data integrity through the use of employee self service utilities or ESS.

Anyone who’s seen the hit TV show “The Office” knows that jokes about bad managers have always been good fun. While most managers couldn’t be as bad as the TV versions if they tried, the truth is there are a lot of managers out there that could do a much better job.