From threats and intimidation to rapes and shootings, workplace
violence is a growing concern among employers of all sizes, and in all
industries. A recent survey from SHRM reported that nearly half of HR
professionals said their organization had experienced a violent incident – with
more than half of those occurring in the last year.

Consider these statistics:

• One-sixth of violent crimes occur in the workplace
• 18,000 are assaulted at work every week
• Violence is the second leading cause of workplace deaths

And
these figures may be underreported, with an estimated two million victims in
the workplace each year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Fear among employees is understandable and is why HR pros need
to step up their efforts to make workers feel safe by ensuring a secure
environment – or risk lost productivity, reputational harm, and legal expenses.

Types of workplace violence 

To address a company’s exposure, organizations first must understand what is behind workplace violence. OSHA defines workplace violence as: any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
classifies violent acts into these four main categories:

Criminal Intent: In these cases, criminals do not have a relationship with the business or its workers but commit acts of violence while perpetrating a crime on the premises like robbery. These criminals often target workplaces where employees manage large sums of cash or work alone – think convenience store.

Customer/Client: Violent acts by a disgruntled customer against an organization or its employees are common, especially in healthcare (e.g. waiting rooms and other hospital areas), social service, and educational institutions. In fact, healthcare is the most dangerous profession due to workplace violence.

Worker-Worker: Current or former employees are frequent perpetrators, especially following a personal conflict between colleagues or work-related issue such as disciplinary action or poor performance review that makes managers and supervisors likely targets.

Personal Relationship: Often, perpetrators do not have any connection to the business except a relationship with an employee outside of work, like a spouse or intimate partner. With one in four women experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this type of violence poses the greatest threat to female workers but can spill into the workplace and affect all employees.

Another category – extreme beliefs – is increasingly at the
root of many workplace violence incidents, with ideological, political or religious
motivations common behind mass shootings and terrorist incidents. Whatever
the cause, in all of these cases, it is not just the victims who are affected
but coworkers, customers, and even witnesses, making it imperative for
companies to prevent violence before it happens.

Warning signs of workplace violence

While
there is no singular cause of violence in the workplace, there are often contributing
factors. Triggers like a dispute or financial difficulties are behind many
incidents by both unknown and known assailants. In many of the cases, the perpetrator
blames others and wants to get even by retaliating with violence. When
strangers face these troubles, it may not be possible for a company to spot and
anticipate how they may react.

But when the situations involve staff, employers may be able to identify behavioral changes that can signal impending violence. The National Safety Council outlines several behaviors to watch for, including:

•  Excessive drug or alcohol use 
• Unexplained absences, change in behavior, or decline in job performance 
• Depression, withdrawal, or suicidal thoughts 
• Resistance to changes at work or complaints that they are treated unfairly 
• Violation of company policies
• Emotional response to criticism and/or mood swings 
• Paranoia 

These noticeable differences may manifest with threats first, such as talking about weapons or violence. When the risk becomes more immediate, perpetrators of workplace violence will likely display some additional clues, including using abusive language. When faced with the potential for imminent violence, those in the workplace should not argue or raise their voices. Instead, they should follow established procedures.

Training and Prevention

A safe and healthy workplace fosters opportunities and
growth for employees and the business alike, while violence has the opposite
effect, negatively affecting morale, performance, and profitability. To help prevent
incidents, California has passed legislation aimed at curbing workplace
violence but, as yet, no standards exist at the national level. While pressures
mount on legislators to act, employers in the meantime can take their own steps
to develop and implement a plan to protect workers.

Develop a Policy: If you do not have one already, create a zero-tolerance policy and share it in your handbook or other procedures manual. Make sure you educate everyone on the policy, enforcement of it, and the consequences for violations.

Establish Security Procedures: Develop comprehensive measures that cover basic security, such as the importance of locking valuables, wearing ID, and escorting visitors that all employees should follow. Depending on the environment, you may also want to utilize additional measures like coded entries, silent alarms, and danger signals.

Hold Safety Training: While no one wants to think about an active shooter situation, instruct employees on how to respond when one is in the vicinity. (The Department of Homeland Security offers several resources for HR professionals.) In addition, offer training on steps workers can take to protect themselves, like avoiding being alone when working after hours and letting security know when they leave.

Follow Reporting Procedures: Make sure your security policy outlines reporting procedures when employees are in immediate danger. Additionally, employees should be instructed on what to do when faced with non-urgent threats, such as aggressive discussions, suspicious behavior, or the presence of weapons or strangers on the property.

Prepare Staff on Hiring and Firing Measures: Managers and supervisors should take part in training on how to use the hiring process to prevent violent employees from entering the workforce, including how to conduct effective background investigations and reference checks. These staff should also be educated on conflict resolution, handling employee grievances, and holding termination meetings to help avoid potentially dangerous situations.

While less tangible, do not overlook the importance of creating
a positive culture based on respect and support, one that will encourage
employees to speak up to HR about their own personal or professional challenges
before they could escalate into something uncontrollable.

The post Combating workplace violence: HR’s key role appeared first on HR Morning.

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How Much Support Do You Really Need to Get Ahead? 

When it comes to career development, what gives you a leg up over your peers? Extra hours in the office? Consistent performance? The sheer luck of being in the “right place at the right time”?

What if getting ahead at work means having the right support around you? Three in four executives responding to a recent survey said having a mentor has been critical to their careers, helping them to grow, learn, and excel at their profession.

Beyond mentoring from a colleague, people looking for developmental opportunities outside their organizations say that career coaching can also be crucial.

For a closer look at the support needed in and outside of work, ZenBusiness surveyed over 1,000 professionals about mentors, sponsors, and career coaches. Here are some of their findings.

Career Coaching

While more than two in three professionals believed it’s difficult to get ahead without guidance, only one in three utilized a career coach.

When asked how these advisers helped aid their growth and development, nearly 56% of professionals found career coaches valuable in drafting or updating their resumes, 47% used them to prepare for an interview, and 38% to help define their career path.

Among those who had personal experience with a career coach, more than three in four said the assistance helped advance their careers.

Mentoring

When it comes to finding support or looking for advice, mentors don’t always have a specific title. Nearly 63% of professionals indicated having a mentor of some kind during their professional journey, including bosses, co-workers, and industry vets.

In addition to the more than 60% who said mentors helped them acquire new skills, the pillars of support are also crucial to helping professionals navigate the workplace (51%), develop career plans (34%), and get promotions (almost 33%).

Sponsors

In contrast to career coaches and mentors, sponsors are typically found within an employee’s company and advocate for growth opportunities or projects that can advance their sponsee’s career.

Fewer employees had experience with sponsors (23%) compared to mentors and coaches, but with their help in learning new skills and getting promoted, about 79% of professionals said sponsors helped advance their career.

Your likelihood of having a mentor may not fluctuate much as you advance throughout your career, but professionals surveyed were more likely to have sponsors when they reached middle or senior management positions.

Compared to men, women had more experience with career coaches but were less likely than men to work with a mentor or sponsor. 

Impact on salary and promotion

If you think it is enough to have just one kind of support system to guide you through your professional journey, think again.

Professionals polled by ZenBusiness who had both mentors and sponsors had higher salaries ($52,000, on average) compared to those with either one or the other, and significantly higher than professionals with no support at all ($36,000).

How does having a mentor and sponsor help you earn more money? Possibly by helping you get promoted in the first place.

According to the study, professionals with a mentor and sponsor earned twice as many promotions (3.5), on average, compared to professionals with neither (1.7).

It’s clear that professionals are less likely to get ahead when they don’t have anyone to guide them. But that doesn’t mean you should stop with just one kind of resource.

Career coaches, mentors, and sponsors all play different roles over the course of a career.

Professionals who have access to a variety of growth and development networks (including mentors and sponsors) not only have more promotions under their belts at any given stage of their working lives, they also tend to earn more money. 

The post Mentors, sponsors, and coaches are critical to career development appeared first on HR Morning.

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Biometrics lawsuits are heating up, with plaintiffs filing actions against employers who are replacing older time and attendance systems with technology that relies on fingerprints, face scans or other individually unique biometric identification data.

The suits, which join other actions against companies that collect and sell biometric data to third parties, have all been brought under Illinois’ Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).

That means that any company with operations in Illinois needs to immediately assess the risks of legal liability, but other states are considering similar statutes and many are on track for legislative action in 2020.

Informed consent

The Illinois law requires anyone who collects biometric information in Illinois
or of Illinois residents anywhere else, to inform customers in writing how that
information will be used, stored, and destroyed. And the law requires that
anyone collecting the data get affirmative assent from individuals involved.

Suits filed to date include one filed against fitness chain operator Capital Fitness and its subsidiary Executive Affiliates. The suit, filed with the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleges that Executive Affiliates collected employees’ fingerprints to track time and attendance, but failed to follow BIPA’s policy disclosure requirements.

In another case, filed in January, employees of the PersonalizationMall.com, an online retailer owned by Bed Bath & Beyond, assert that the company unlawfully collects and stores workers’ biometric information by requiring employees to provide their fingerprints to track hours and breaks on the job.

The workers say they still don’t know whether the PersonalizationMall.com has destroyed or still retains their biometric information or the information it continues to collect.

No way to repair damage

Plaintiffs in these and other cases claim the exposure of biometric information is particularly damaging because it cannot be changed if it is ever exposed in a data breach.

People can open new bank accounts, change passwords, or order a new credit card. But once a face scan or fingerprint is exposed, it is effectively impossible to change them to protect against identity theft and other forms of fraud.

Significant potential liability

While case law around biometrics is still evolving, the U.S. Supreme Court decision not to review Facebook’s biometric privacy class action throws a spotlight on the scale of employers’ potential liability under BIPA.

The law allows plaintiffs to seek up to $1,000 for each negligent violation
of the law and $5,000 for each knowing violation.

The post More biometric lawsuits against employers getting into court appeared first on HR Morning.

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It’s no secret that employees are stressed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says job-related anxiety is the leading workplace health problem in the U.S.

Not only is an abundance of stress not good for business and productivity, it can have detrimental effects on people’s long-term health.

Underutilized services

Employers have been working hard to tackle their employees’ stress and burnout, offering perks such as wellness programs and flexible schedule options.

Many companies have an employee assistance program (EAP), which offers helpful services like on-demand counseling and therapy referrals.

With advances in technology, EAPs today can offer even more valuable services, such as:

• financial education classes
• healthy eating/sleeping information, and
• help maintaining a good work/life balance.

The problem is, employees aren’t taking advantage of these. Multiple studies show the average EAP utilization rate is below 10%.

So why aren’t employees using EAPs when they need these services now more than ever?

Workers could be a little wary to take advantage of EAPs, which could stem from a lack of trust in their organization. They may not want to divulge personal information, or they might just be confused about what the program offers.

Changing the status quo

But if you have an EAP in place, you want your people to use it!

You can’t make any major changes happen overnight, but here are five tactics you can use to start boosting your EAP utilization rates.

1. Communicate the program effectively. Your employees can’t use your EAP if they don’t know about it or where to find additional information. Employers should put EAP info everywhere — the employee handbook, fliers around the office, links on the intranet homepage, etc.

   It’s also a great idea to start including EAP information in your orientation and onboarding programs. Let new hires know from the start that it’s there for them if they need it.

2. Promote online and mobile capabilities. Does your EAP have its own website or app? Make sure your staff knows about it. The easier it is for them to access, the more likely they’ll use it.

   Another good idea is to have EAP apps and online shortcuts downloaded onto all electronic work devices. This will constantly remind employees the program’s there and will increase accessibility.

3. Train your managers and get them involved. Department managers are the leaders who know employees the best. Get them to be vigilant and look out for any workers who may not be acting like themselves. Managers can then offer the employee EAP information if they feel it’s warranted.

   It’s important to note that managers should be trained on handling these situations sensitively.

4. Have a benefits fair. Organizing an internal event like this will do wonders for promoting your EAP, as well as other benefits available to employees.

   A great thing to include would be any employees willing to discuss their experience with the EAP firsthand.

5. Track EAP usage and obtain feedback. Keep an eye on the stats to see how effective your efforts are. It’d be a good idea to look for any spikes in EAP usage, too, which could give you insight on overly stressful business periods.

   And don’t forget to ask your people for feedback on the program! See if there’s anything specific that would increase usage.

The post The best benefit nobody’s using: How to fix your EAP appeared first on HR Morning.

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The California Supreme Court recently ruled that tech giant Apple must pay its employees for mandatory bag searches.

This decision came after a lawsuit was filed challenging Apple’s security policy, in which employees’ bags and personal Apple devices must be searched any time they leave the store.

Off-the-clock searches

These searches were being conducted off the clock, and employees argued they should be compensated for this time. The California Supreme Court agreed.

It pointed to several factors to prove this time was compensable. First of all, employees testified the searches could take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on how many workers were waiting.

The court also said the searches were primarily for “the benefit of the employer,” not the employee. Apple tried to argue employees had the option of not bringing bags or personal Apple devices to work — therefore not being subjected to searches — but the court dismissed that argument as irrelevant.

Apple now must pay these employees back wages and adjust its bag search policy. This is a good reminder for all employers to avoid requiring your employees to do anything off the clock.

The post Court: Apple violated wage and hour laws appeared first on HR Morning.

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Small businesses face a unique set of challenges when it comes to hiring – and retaining – top talent as they compete with larger companies with more resources and established brand names. Those challenges can become even more daunting for small businesses aiming to attract top talent from the millennial workforce.

Why?

Millennials continue to redefine the expectations around benefits, perks and the culture they value in their workplaces. Some things that used to be considered a “nice to have” have become a “need to have,” as Millennials emphasize a work-life balance, flexibility and employers with purpose in their job hunts.

It’s expected that 75% of the global workforce will be composed of Millennials by 2025, so it’s essential that small business owners understand how to stand out and attract Millennial talent.

Many of the benefits that Millennials have advocated for are becoming attractive to all generations of workers. So, by making your benefits offering more millennial-friendly, you’ll improve your talent approach overall.

Here’s how your small business can reach this particular generation with benefits offerings that appeal to their unique set of desires and challenges.

Student loan debt

The millennial generation is infamously straddled with student loan debt – and it’s impacting their professional and personal lives. A 2018 Boston College study found that graduates with student loans accumulate 50% less retirement wealth by age 30 – something that could drastically alter their security and comfort later in life.

Money continues to be a leading cause of stress among Americans, according to the American Psychological Association, so it’s likely the stress of student loan debt is wearing on your millennial employees, too.

Employers have started to step up to the plate to help. In fact, from 2018 to 2019, the number of employers who now provide this benefit has doubled, according to the Society of Human Resources Management. Whether you’re able to offer a repayment assistance plan or repayment bonuses, any type of student debt assistance benefit can give your small business a competitive boost if you’re looking to hire members of this debt-laden generation.

Debt assistance not possible? Consider
that many millennials are now parents themselves and are likely intimidated by
the prospect of saving for the rising cost of college. An employer-matched 529
savings plan for employees is another way to show them you are invested in
their (and their families’) futures – so they can relieve debt for their next
generation.

Financial literacy

In addition to dealing with debt,
millennials came of age during a recession – so this generation values financial
security and overall financial wellness and literacy.

While individualized options are great for tailoring investing and retirement planning to an individual’s goals, these additional options can also make the selection process that much more overwhelming.

Small businesses can show candidates and employees that their overall financial wellness is a priority by empowering them with educational tools and programs that foster financial literacy and help them make smart investing decisions for their futures. These programs can come in many forms, such as one-on-one coaching with an advisor or educational workshops.

Incorporating financial literacy into your employee benefits package doesn’t have to be formal (or expensive). Beyond a formalized program, you can also tap into your existing service providers to ensure you’re utilizing all of your resources without hindering your bottom line. Your benefits provider can and should be a resource that you go to when it comes to financial education for your employees.

Many providers often offer free, on-site workshops that can be conducted via an informal “lunch and learn” series or presentations for employees. Employees who understand their benefits options fully are more likely to choose the plan that is the best fit for them.

Autonomy

Large organizations might run into
roadblocks when implementing flexible work policies for their entire employee
base. But as a small business, offering employees autonomy and flexibility is
often easy – and it’s a great way to stand out against your bigger competitors
in the war for talent.

Your small business can empower employees by actively supporting work-life balance, such as remote work, flexible workdays or unlimited PTO, which prioritizes the employee’s needs and illustrates your trust in their judgment and ability to manage themselves.

Showing your employees you trust them cultivates a sense of autonomy and responsibility among your workforce and, as a secondary bonus, can actually help improve efficiencies within your business. And millennials appreciate an employer that shows them they’re trusted – so offering this benefit is often a win-win for both parties!

Simple technology

Offering these benefits are great for getting top millennial talent through your doors. But in order to keep them there, you need to continuously meet them where they are – which is, more often than not, on their smartphones.

In order to take advantage of the great benefits you have in place, employees need to know what they’re offered and how to enroll and participate – so user-friendly technology and communication are both key.

Millennials are a technology-first generation, and your HR and benefits processes should reflect this. When implemented correctly, benefits technology has the power to make selections streamlined and efficient. If you’re still using pen and paper to enroll employees, check with your provider about online enrollment options.

Online enrollment allows employees to easily shift through the increasingly personalized options, enabling them to feel confident that they’re making the best selections.

Technology can also make it easier for employees to check in on their benefits (e.g., look at how many PTO days they have remaining or check the balance of their child’s 529 account), as mobile options will allow them to engage with their benefits providers directly and on the go.

Remember: Not all hiring strategies have
to be costly or resource-intensive, but choosing the right benefits for your
target recruits can make all the difference between losing out on top talent to
bigger fish and finding all-star employees who are equally as invested in your
business as you are.

The post How small businesses can attract top Millennial talent appeared first on HR Morning.

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In order to cultivate a successful business with happy employees, it is highly important to have a clearly defined purpose. Many businesses don’t have a true strategy when it comes to describing their company purpose, choosing to fill in the blank with almost anything.

Because many leaders have no connection with their outlined purpose, they aren’t capable of fully integrating it into their business operations – and employees feel less connected than ever.

Your company’s purpose is the reason you do what you do.
It’s that underlying focus of what you hope to achieve all boiled down to a
couple of sentences. Purpose is separate from your mission statement. It
describes what value you intend to provide to your customers and guides you and
your employees into achieving its true plan.  

Clearly defining your purpose is crucial for three reasons.

Increased productivity

An employee survey in a recent Harvard Business Review article found that only 28% of respondents felt connected to their company’s purpose. In addition, 39% of employees said they could clearly see the value they create, while only 22% agreed that their jobs were fully leveraging their strengths. Just one in three, or 34%, thought they were strongly contributing to their company’s success.

On the other hand, when companies had a clearly defined purpose, the positive results were obvious.

In the same Harvard Business study, 90% of organizations that had a clearly defined purpose that resonated with employees saw growth and profits at or above the industry average. Furthermore, over 60% of employees said they were motivated and/or passionate about their work, which was almost twice as much as companies that didn’t have a defined purpose.

Better customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a popular motivator for many
company purposes. The role of employees in building relationships with
customers means that they should have a strong connection to the company’s
purpose. If employees feel disconnected from their purpose, so too will the
customers with whom they interact with on a daily basis.

Loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase, meaning customer satisfaction has to have more than passing significance to your organization. Before even the profit of your brand, customer satisfaction needs to be of the utmost importance to succeed. It’s true that it’s more difficult to find new customers than it is to build up the loyal ones you already have.

Ensuring your employees are satisfied with what they do is the key to ensuring your customers are also happy.

Clear competitive advantage

An article on Gallup defines the competitive advantage that comes with a clearly defined purpose: “Establishing and operating from an anchor of purpose can create a competitive advantage: A company’s competitors might be able to replicate products and services, but that company can successfully differentiate itself from the rest by hiring and engaging employees who can fulfill and deliver its purpose and brand in the marketplace.”

Many articles and experts may encourage your company’s purpose to become the underlying factor that guides all your business decisions, however, it might be even more important to focus on its importance in the great scheme of long term success in order to distinguish you from competitors.

If employees can associate their work with how it will align with the organization’s purpose long-term (in how they treat customers as well as how business managers treat employees and promote their actions with customers), then there’s a stronger chance of success.

Implementing a solid employee recognition and engagement strategy is one of the first steps you can take towards motivating your employees to understand and connect with company purpose, as well as instilling and reinforcing core values.

When employees are recognized both from their peers as well as their superiors (and they’re able to recognize you back), the playing field is equalized, and your purpose becomes a driving force that’s just as important to the entire work team as it is to the business owners – and everyone, including your customers, will want the company to succeed.

The post Only 28% of employees say they feel connected to their company’s purpose appeared first on HR Morning.

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported in late January that it fielded 72,675 charges of workplace discrimination in 2019, the largest number alleging retaliation. Those figures don’t include any charges filed with state or local fair employment agencies, which EEOC does not report.

The number was down slightly from 2018’s tally of more than 76,000 charges. The number of suits filed under all federal fair employment statutes also dropped, from 217 in 2018 to 157 last year.

Title VII payouts up

Of the approximately 73,000 charges filed with EEOC in 2019, more than half were complaints of retaliation. The largest number of those retaliation complaints alleged retaliation for complaints protected by Title VII.

Those cases involve employment discrimination based on an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Title VII charges were followed by disability- and age-related complaints.

About 180 suits filed in 2018 or earlier were resolved in 2019. Total monetary benefits obtained through mediation, conciliation, and settlements totaling $39.1 million in 2019, down from $53.6 million in 2018, due mainly to a decrease in payments for ADA– and ADEA-related cases.

Payouts in cases involving retaliation under Title VII rose to $25.8 million. That was up compared to both 2018 and 2017.

LGBT-related cases rising

One of the stats that stands out from the 2019 EEOC retaliation data is the continued rise in the number of LGBT-based sex discrimination charges and monetary payouts despite a lack of clear guidance from the nation’s highest court.

In 2004, the first full year of EEOC tracking this category, 1,100 charges resulted in $2.2 million in monetary benefits and settlement payments. Last year, 1,868 charges resulted in $7 million in payments.

Keep in mind that EEOC found “No
Reasonable Cause” in more than 60% of charges every year they’ve tracked this
category. As societal attitudes toward LGBT rights evolve, that percentage may
drop and employers’ potential monetary liabilities rise.

Compliance = constant vigilance

Employers should take away one clear compliance lesson from the report: your discrimination and retaliation reporting and response programs can’t just be a few pages in your employee handbook.

HR should constantly review procedures with employees, supervisory staff and management and validate that your process is working.

The EEOC data highlights that all employees need training to understand what constitutes discrimination. And supervisors and managers must understand compliance obligations related to all EEOC laws and rules.

Equal pay in the spotlight

Suits alleging violation of the Equal Pay Act (EPA), while a small percentage of the total at just 1,117, were the highest since 2003. EPA-related awards were up slightly over last year but remain relatively flat over recent years.

Nevertheless, it might be a good time to look into a privileged gender pay equity audit.  Experts predict that the number of cases and amounts awarded for EPA violations will likely climb during 2020 and beyond, as employees and EEOC focus more attention on pay disparities.

As always, consult with counsel
before initiating any pay equity studies or policy changes.

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One-on-one meeting agenda app, Soapbox, recently surveyed over 200 managers to learn how they conduct one-on-one meetings with their teams.  Turns out, regardless of seniority, role or department, there were many common threads around how these managers approached one-on-one meetings.

Here’s a brief breakdown of some of the key findings:

Managers hold weekly one-on-ones

About one in two managers, 49%, have one-on-one meetings on a weekly basis, while 59% have them for 30 minutes. This was the most common occurrence found among survey respondents.

Having weekly meetings with employees helps to build rapport, trust and a continuous feedback loop. Of the 6% of managers that said they were NOT doing one-on-ones, the most common reason for not having them was lack of time or lack of perceived need.

Managers/employees share agenda

Another 49% of managers say they share responsibility with their direct report for what’s on the meeting agenda, while 15% say that they control the meeting agenda but wish their direct report would. One-on-one meetings aren’t for the benefit of the manager, but for the employee. It’s the manager’s job to create a safe space for their employees to feel comfortable sharing feedback and contributing to a two-way dialogue.

A full 70% of managers said that the goal of one-on-one meetings is to understand and eliminate roadblocks, while 61% said one-on-ones are for getting a pulse check and 54% said that the goal of their one-on-ones is a status update.

It’s easy to turn one-on-ones into status updates, discussing the progress of projects and getting into task-lists.

However, that’s not the real purpose of a one-on-one meeting. As Bronwyn Smith, VP of Business Operations at Influitive says, “If you are not careful, one-on-ones can end up being status updates. Or the manager can take over the meeting. This isn’t their purpose. It’s important to make sure the employee and their needs stay front and center.”

No. 1 goal: Provide value

About one in three managers, 34%, reported their biggest challenge with one-on-ones is ensuring they’re providing value to their direct reports, while 22% stated it was getting their direct reports to contribute to the meeting agenda. Three ways managers can ensure they’re providing value to their employees are:

1. Prepare for the meeting by creating an agenda and revisiting past meeting notes.
2. Create a psychologically safe environment where employees feel like they can speak freely and be heard.
3. Ask meaningful questions that prompt feedback and a two-way dialogue.

To encourage employees to contribute to the
agenda, it’s important that it’s not hidden in a notebook but accessible
online.

Most don’t use meeting software

Four in ten managers, 41% reported using personal productivity tools for their agenda and notes in one-on-ones. Only 21% said they’re using purpose-built one-on-one meeting software. The benefit of having one-on-one meeting software means that all of your notes, follow-up and important information about your employees is in one shared space. It also makes it easier for employees to contribute to the meeting agenda and show up prepared.

Of the managers whose biggest challenge was having meaningful, productive conversations, 82% of these managers were not using one-on-one and team meeting software.

No. 1 topic: Growth & development

Three in four managers, 75%, said that they discuss growth and development in their one-on-ones. Only 23% stated that they discuss alignment to company mission. There’s tremendous value in creating a line between the work employees are doing and how it connects to the larger company mission.

According to a study conducted by Gallup, 59% of employees don’t know what their company stands for. Research from Imperative shows that when employees align to their companies purpose, they stay with the company longer and are happier in their roles. Easily discuss this in one-on-ones with your team by adding a recurring agenda point for reiterating the company mission and vision like “Here’s how your work this past ‘x’ is getting us close to our company vision.”

One-on-one meetings can very quickly become a waste of time for both the manager and the employee. This survey outlines, from a manager’s perspective, where the challenges lie and shows the commonalities in various different manager’s approach to one-on-ones.

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Google’s head of human resources, Eileen Naughton, will step down later this year amid rising tensions between the company’s top executives and rank and file employees.

The executive departure follows many months of highly public people issues at the company, including claims of pregnancy discrimination and an allegation of sexual misconduct by a senior executive at Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

After the executive was allowed to leave with a multi-million dollar severance package, 20,000 employees walked off the job to protest that decision and to highlight what they say is a lack of diversity at the company.

Google workers have also sent all-hands emails on issues ranging from sexual harassment and retaliation, to racial and gender-based discrimination, to Pentagon contracts. And a steady stream of those internal messages has leaked out onto social media and gone viral.

Massive HR challenge

HR pros are always trying to balance the needs of the organization with all of the myriad issues employees bring to work each day. It is one of the biggest challenges in any business, whether you have five employees or 500.

At Google, Naughton had to find that balance for more than 100,000 people worldwide.

In the time since the 2018 walkout, Naughton tried to address the growing tensions at the company, putting procedures in place intended to make it easier and safer for employees to report misconduct.

She also worked to improve wages and working conditions for the thousands of temp and contract employees at the company.

But current and former employees say that the changes have not been enough to address systemic problems at Google and continue to call for more action by the company’s leadership.

With the company facing continued and vocal dissatisfaction among its rank and file, Naughton has announced she is giving up her HR role and will move to a different, unspecified job at the search and advertising giant after helping to find her replacement.

The post Google HR chief to step down as employee dissatisfaction mounts appeared first on HR Morning.

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