Who is a
valuable employee at your organization? Any good list will include informal leaders, because even though
these colleagues lead without a title, they are more vital than ever before. In
our data-hungry workplaces, managers have to get more done with less.

They are asked to be agile, respond to global movements and increase productivity. But we also know managers can be roadblocks to moving forward due to their workload and clunky corporate management.

Enter the
informal leaders who have a wide sphere of influence, aren’t afraid to share
knowledge and are able to build deep networks in all levels of the
organization.

With a
rapidly changing workplace and more than 70 percent of organizations undergoing
digital transformation, it’s clear that change is going to be present for some
time. We need people who can flex with the twists and turns of a morphing
global economy. Informal leaders excel at this skill, and we should do more to
support and encourage them.

Here’s
how to sidestep tedious hierarchies and support informal leaders in your
organization.

Tip #1: Offer learning opportunities
Employees crave training and career
mobility, but our organizations aren’t very good at giving them those
opportunities.

In the war for talent, it’s imperative that we offer employees opportunities to learn. They know that skill building, reskilling and career planning are mindset shifts professionals must take if they are to remain competitive.

Companies,
too, must consider how appealing their learning and performance management
programs are to prospective employees. If your organization competes with a
commitment to growing its people, there’s no limit to where they can go with
recruiting and development. 

Consider
your talent management technology platform (if you have one). Informal leaders
can share their expertise with a wider audience with online Q&As, webinars,
video messages and virtual classes. By allowing wider dissemination of their
knowledge, informal leaders can grow their influence while furthering business
goals at the same time.

Tip #2: Encourage exploration
Self-discovery is a treasure, and
something we could all do more of during our workday. Enable self-learning by
making sure that informal leaders can schedule blocks of time to pay attention
to their own interests, goals and personal development.

Depending
on the technology available, you may point them to additional skills
development, internal job postings, thought leadership articles and mentoring
opportunities.

Managers
should help informal leaders know more about the “business” and forces that
influence their particular industry. Since these folks are seldom involved in
high-level decision making – or even the meetings where decisions are made – it
is helpful to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities
and global drivers the business faces.

Assist
informal leaders by connecting the dots between the organization’s high-level
goals and how they dovetail into their personal goals.

Tip #3: Help build leadership skills with
frequent feedback

Your informal leaders may be operating in a bit of a vacuum as they move between groups and expand their circle of influence. The Human Capital Institute found that less than 50 percent of employees know what is expected of them at work. And busy managers who have their hands full may not stop and consider that these valuable employees need coaching and feedback.

HR expert and speaker Susan Mazza
says that taking on leadership roles without authority is the “best training ground
for developing…leadership skills.” Why? “Because authority can actually
mask whether you are leading through the power of your authority or through
your influence. Without direct authority over others, you must learn to
influence others if you want to succeed,” Susan notes.

Receiving feedback from others
on how we perform is one of the best ways to develop leadership skills. With
feedback, informal leaders can enjoy increased responsibility and exposure in
the organization.

Of course, the manager is the
first stop on the road to feedback, but seeking out others, including peers,
executives and even customers for feedback can be enlightening.

Informal leaders need your support
Our workplaces flourish with the help of
informal leaders who influence others, even as they lack a title. Offering
these valuable employees more support and encouragement matters as we all
struggle to compete in the war for talent.

By offering informal leaders
learning opportunities, encouraging exploration and building their leadership
skills through authentic feedback, organizations signal to all employees that
development matters. Here’s to the informal leaders: may they always learn,
develop and help take our organizations into the future.

The post Supporting your employees who lead without a title appeared first on HR Morning.

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HR leaders know you can’t
afford to endlessly cycle through top talent: replacing an employee can cost as much
as twice that employee’s salary. Retention is the
name of the talent management game.

Many HR leaders focus their retention strategies on the onboarding process, hoping that a meaningful welcome period will sustain employees’ motivation well beyond their transition. The reality is employees want to feel consistently supported and appreciated for the long haul. 

That’s where “longboarding” comes in. HR leaders need to continue to affirm employees long after the onboarding period to keep them excited about their work.

During the COVID-19
pandemic especially, frequently engaging remote teammates will boost morale
while in-person connection is not possible.

Here are three ways to
longboard your employees, either virtually or in the office.

1: Communicate Often

If an employee doesn’t dig into their real work
until the first few weeks or even months have passed, that’s by design.
Onboarding is a cultural orientation more than anything – it takes time to get
to know the values, mission, and people that make up an organization.

Just don’t wait until their annual review to sit
down and have the first in-depth conversation since they joined the company.
Longboarding is all about regular, constructive communication.

HR leaders should establish a regular timeline for new hires to check in with their manager or supervisor. And depending on the structure of your organization, it might also make sense for your employees to meet with someone on the HR team, too. If employees are working from home, these check-ins can happen at the same cadence through video conferencing.

Top performers want to know that their opinion
matters. During these check-ins, ask for your employees’ honest feedback about
how things are going. If they’re unhappy about something, odds are the problem
can be addressed. Make sure they know their concerns have an outlet, and that
they can have an active role in shaping their experience and workflow.

2: Development Opportunities

Employee development is a crucial component of
longboarding. According to a LinkedIn
Workforce Learning Report, a whopping 93 percent
of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers. In
other words, a top performer doesn’t want to be static in the workplace – they
want to grow, and they want to envision a future with your organization. 

But small and mid-size organizations don’t
always have the budget and resources to offer a comprehensive development
program. Still, investing in current employees’ development likely costs less
than recruiting new ones. And the return on that investment is invaluable: when
an employee finds a sense of purpose, they’ll want to drive more change in your
company.

Every employee has different goals, so it’s a
good idea to offer a variety of career
development opportunities. Here are
three educational and training resources that are high-impact, relatively
low-cost, and remote-friendly:

• Develop soft skills. Employees with strong soft skills, such as communication and negotiation skills, are critical to the success of your organization’s culture. Peer coaching, manager feedback, and digital courses are all helpful ways to help employees improve their soft skills.
• Offer technical workshops. Top talent is always looking to broaden their skillset. Have workshops for hard skills like coding, graphic design, or social media, for example – skills that might not be specific to employees’ job duties but give them an opportunity to expand their capabilities.
• Offer leadership training. Top talent at the manager level should constantly strive to be better leaders. Sponsor leadership development programs or provide in-house leadership mentoring. 

3: Frequent Recognition

When employees know the work they’re doing is
valued, they’re more inclined to stay and grow within your company.

A study
from Robert Half found that 66 percent
of employees would likely leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated. And
in a Society
of Human Resources Management survey, HR leaders
agreed that recognition creates a positive workplace culture and employee
experience – and 68 percent said their organization’s recognition program
positively affects retention. 

During the onboarding process, you prepare employees
to do good work. But what about once they’ve accomplished an important goal in
their current role? Or when they’re struggling through a difficult stretch? Are
you letting them know that you appreciate their good work?

Once you consider employees fully onboarded, come up with a timeline for when to recognize your employees’ contributions. Some of these points will be standard for everyone – such as hitting the six-month mark – but other points will need to be tailored to the employee’s individual progress, which means you’ll need to be in touch with an employee’s managers and teammates.

Here are a few meaningful occasions to show
recognition.

• A universal hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for everyone. Tell your employees how grateful you are to have them and show solidarity for what they’re going through.
• Hitting a milestone. When an employee lands a new client or wraps up a big project, for instance, celebrate them.
• Demonstrating grit. When an employee has to deal with a major curveball, or has been putting in extra hours, make sure their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.
• An employee anniversary. Whether you start celebrating at six months or hold off until the one-year mark, anniversary celebrations should be ongoing.Now that you’ve decided when to tell your employees that you appreciate them, it’s time to figure out how.

One overall best practice is to make sure the
recognition feels personalized. You want to make each employee’s individual
contributions feel valued, and you can’t do that through an email template that
says “great job” with their name inserted at the top.

Below are several ideas for sending a gesture of
recognition.

• A handwritten letter. The most inexpensive gesture can also be the most personal. Pen a sincere note of gratitude for all your employee’s hard work.
• A meaningful gift. Ditch the generic company t-shirt or snack tin for something that shows your company’s values. Give a gift that also does good, like granola made by women who are survivors of abuse, wine stoppers hand-blown by teens impacted by gun violence, or artisan towels from a company that gives its proceeds to marine conservation organizations, for example.
• An experience. Consider giving your employee a voucher for an activity they enjoy, or a certificate to a restaurant.
• Time off. Nothing quite says “job well done” better than “go home and relax.” 

More long-boarding less onboarding

It’s important to understand that a good
longboarding strategy does not replace the onboarding process. Rather,
it’s a complement: onboarding primes new hires for success, and longboarding
increases the odds that employees succeed.

When you commit to your employees’ growth in the
long term, they’ll want to return that love and strive to accomplish even more
within your organization – which means they’ll stick around. As you
improve retention, you can save the energy and resources you’d need to onboard
the next new hire and invest it in the incredible talent you already have.

The post From Onboarding to Long-boarding: Keep top talent motivated for the long term appeared first on HR Morning.

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At Benefitfocus, our Benefits & Wellness group is working hard to keep our employees engaged and productive while they work from home during this crisis.

It starts with trust

The foundation of our company culture is trust and that has
never been more important than now, when everyone is scared and uncertain about
their work situation.

These are the times when employees are going to remember how we treated them, including how we communicated.

During this crisis, our Benefits & Wellness team members are doing everything we can to maximize transparency.

We are striving to be as upfront as possible with our teams on what we know, what we don’t know and what we can’t talk about.

Four Pillars

On the benefits side, we are working to enhance and expand
the benefits that are of greatest importance to our people right now.

This means we are thinking about all aspects of our
employees’ health:  physical, mental and
emotional, financial, and then what we call social and purpose.

Even before this crisis, we sent our remote folks a “benefits fair in a box” package. And that will be our template for sending out care packages to remote workers when it’s again safe to do so.

In the meantime, we are delivering virtual packages using the Calm app and other electronic means.

We’ve also started live and recorded webinars 4 days a week,
touching on the various aspects of the “four pillars” each one about 25 minutes
long.

Emotional and Financial Healthcare

As I mentioned, we are also trying to address emotional and financial health issues our team may be dealing with.

We’ve brought in CariLoop, a solution and support platform
that connects employees to care coaches.

We are covering the cost for that service to help our team
find and navigate caregiver support resources.

Many of our webinars cover financial topics, including what’s happening in the legal arena around tax deadlines and new legislation.

And we’ve partnered with Kashable to provide access to a
short-term loan benefit that can help avoid bad moves like borrowing against a
401(k) to pay for unexpected expenses, especially if a spouse or partner is
laid off.

Regular Cadence

It’s important for us to make sure communications go out with a regular cadence, so everyone knows what we are thinking about and working on.

But we also know everyone is being bombarded with so much
right now that we are careful not to hit them too frequently or with too much
information at once.

Our CEO has made video messages that were sent out to our
associates to communicate everything that is going on and we have hosted follow
team meetings within all the different areas of the organization.

We are also making our execs available for scheduled chat
sessions to keep everyone as involved as possible while we go through this
together.

Finally, returning to trust, we are being very careful to make sure any information we share is accurate. And we are reminding our teams regularly that they need to take breaks from the news tsunami and be very careful about where they get their information to help reduce stress from inaccurate stories and scams.

The post Work from home: Trust and transparency are critical appeared first on HR Morning.

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During a crisis, leadership describes itself: good, bad, timely,
factual, creative, dynamic, dysfunctional, innovative, transparent, authentic,
respected, chaotic, strategic, uncertain, humble, empathetic or some or all of
these.

If we’re attuned, we know, see, hear and feel good leadership.

Whether in private industry, government, small business, non-profit, a manufacturing plant, home, office, or school, effective leadership is a necessity.

It comes with an ultimate purpose: to manage a situation with focus and truth to get employee teams or families through a crisis with timely solutions, eliminating or lessening missteps, setbacks, physical casualties, mental stresses and providing a road map for recovery.

Speaking hope is a priority; false hope is easily detected. What
must we do to remain safe?

At the top of the leadership arc is self-leadership: knowing
our inner self, admitting what we know and don’t know, analyzing and speaking our
feelings and making personal and professional decisions with focus, empathy and
truth.

And, we must listen. What you may believe or fear is not
what the next person may fear or believe.

With leadership as one pillar of humanity’s structural apex
(truth being another), I’ll add more l-words for us think about: love, loss and
levity.

1. Finding greater love for others and self as we move
forward.  

2. A crisis brings loss — physical, mental, financial, emotional
or spiritual. Right now, we’re all losing something. Yet we’re gaining much
more if we wish to accept and understand today’s society and where we can be.

3. We must laugh and show positivity. The crisis engulfing our
minds, eyes and ears will end.  We will
live again. Life, I believe, will be different, giving us opportunities – starting
now – to reinvent, rebuild, restart or create new personal and professional
priorities. We will find peace.  

So, let’s all be good leaders in our space with focused self-leadership.
What we think, what we do, how we feel, what we hear, read and speak, how we
treat self and others and how we prepare – now and in the future – for life’s
situations, seen and unseen, heard and unheard.

The post Some thoughts on leadership (and self-leadership) in a crisis appeared first on HR Morning.

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During this COVID-19 pandemic, workplace drug
testing will require new rules and new precaution, but it should never be
compromised.

Here’s a real-life incident involving a test
subject who, while waiting to take a drug test, realized that a co-worker was
coughing in the restroom. He then refused to enter the restroom because there
was a risk that his co-worker might have COVID-19.

The test was being conducted at a remote
location in a company trailer on-site. There was no other restroom available.

The employee’s concern was valid, of course,
because the coronavirus is highly contagious.

But understandably raised a red flag that perhaps he was avoiding the test. Only a short time before, he was willing to work alongside the co-worker with no apparent concern for his health.

How would your organization handle this
situation?

Procedures in place

Things changed rapidly after COVID-19 made its
way to the United States.

Drug testing companies immediately increased
their safety measures to provide the safest environment for both employees and
their collectors.

PPE in place

Social distancing is practiced, however, maintaining a distance of six feet isn’t always possible. That’s especially true when conducting the mouth swab, alcohol, or hair follicle drug test.

The CDC recommends taking extra precautions around any body fluids. Face shields or masks are worn to protect both collectors and test subjects. Moreover, fresh gloves are used for each drug test.

Sanitation measures increased

The most commonly used employee drug test is
the urine test. Of course, normal procedures include sanitizing the restrooms
between tests. Still, sanitation measures have been increased to ensure further
safety.

In addition, drug testing facilities have
beefed up other sanitation procedures, such as frequently cleaning hard
surfaces like countertops, chairs, and doorknobs.

Moreover, collectors follow specific
guidelines to clean breathalyzers after each use.

• Breathalyzers are cleaned with an antimicrobial cleaner or disinfectant. Bleach based cleaners are used rather than alcohol because using alcohol could affect the outcome of the test.
• Hand sanitizers are not used by or near someone administering the test to avoid compromising the result as well. Instead, hand washing protocols outlined by the CDC are followed.
• The test subject may not touch the collector or the breathalyzer with their hands.
• A freshly opened mouthpiece is required for every test.
• The breathalyzer and subject are faced away from the collector.
• The used mouthpiece is never touched by the collector—even when wearing gloves. Instead, the ejection tab is used to deposit the mouthpiece directly into the trash.
• Scissors used for the hair follicle drug test are properly sanitized between uses.

Refusing to test

If your employees express concern about
reporting for a drug test, you can assure them that there are guidelines in
place to protect them from the spread of the virus.

If an employee refuses a drug test for any reason—even COVID-19 concerns—it’s reported as a refusal to test.

Collectors document the refusal and follow the
company’s guidelines as outlined in its refusal to test policy. A
well-documented report is key. It allows the employer or company representative
to decide how to handle the situation from that point.

If the company is regulated by the DOT,
refusals to test are reported to the MRO (Medical Review Officer). Employers of
the general workforce usually appoint someone to be in charge of company drug
testing. In either case, the documentation is reviewed. Then, it’s determined
whether or not the circumstance is deemed a refusal to test.

Moving forward

Employers that aren’t held to government regulations
may want to consider updating your drug-free policies and procedures. State
clearly within the policy that if anyone refuses a drug test due to a current
health concern—such as we find ourselves in now—the employee agrees that their
employer has the right to randomly test them at any point in time that the
employer chooses after the crisis has passed.

This change in policy reduces the risk of your
company being accused of singling someone out should you ask them to randomly
take a drug test after having refused a test during a health crisis.

Employees who use drugs are likely to try and
wheedle their way out of taking a drug test with some type of excuse. A
nationwide health crisis falls into that category. A policy update gives you
the right to have that employee tested at your discretion once the crisis
passes.

If you’re federally regulated, adding this
policy change allows you to administer a non-DOT drug test at another time.

Speaking of the government

There’s been a rumor surfacing on social media
that the DOT is not requiring drug testing during the COVID-19 outbreak.

That’s not true.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Transportation released a statement near the end of March that touched on the importance of continued drug testing during this time.

Our nation is depending on the transportation
industry to keep shelves stocked with needed food and supplies. It’s also
responsible for seeing that needed medical supplies and personal protective
gear (PPG) arrive at their destinations.

Overall, the department is committed to
maintaining public safety while allowing the

transportation industries to operate safely
and efficiently during this national crisis.

A person who uses drugs or alcohol is likely
to rely on them as a way of coping with a situation—especially, during a time
of high anxiety. It’s imperative that the DOT carries on with scheduled drug
testing.

Special guidelines

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s
statement supplied employers of the safety-sensitive workforce with a set of
guidelines to follow during this turbulent time.

They noted that drug testing must continue
unless the employer found themselves in a region of the country that no longer
had testing resources available to them due to a reduced workforce. They
suggest using a mobile drug testing company if fixed-site facilities aren’t
available to them.

If drug testing isn’t possible due to a
reduced workforce, state or local quarantine measures in place, or other
impediments, the employer should document why a test wasn’t completed.
Furthermore, if a pre-employment drug test isn’t completed, employers can’t
allow a prospective employee to perform any DOT safety-sensitive functions.

Staying the course

The number one reason that employers drug test
their employees is to provide the safest possible work environment for
everyone. It’s a well-known fact that drug impairment puts the employee—and
those nearby—at a greater risk of being involved in a workplace accident.

Moreover, drug use affects employers in a
number of ways.

• Increased absenteeism
• Lower productivity
• Increased medical costs

No one wakes up one day and decides to become
an addict.

Sadly, though, statistics show that 50% of drug addicts are born genetically predisposed. The other 50% begin using drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism and become dependent on their drug of choice.

Even though many companies have employees
working from home during this pandemic, others are working countless hours of
overtime in factories, hospitals, and other essential businesses to keep our
nation supplied with the goods and services that we need to survive.

Overall, employee drug testing should continue because it plays an important role in society. Everyone deserves the right to go to work without fearing for their safety.

Moreover, identifying employees who use drugs
allows you to point them in the direction of help. Even someone who refuses to
admit to themselves that they have a problem finds it hard not to come to that
realization if they’ve lost their job because of it.

The post Maintaining effective drug-testing procedures during the pandemic appeared first on HR Morning.

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Now, more
than ever, it’s time we take good care of ourselves. 

Responsibility is heavy, daily structure looks different than just weeks ago, and the worry of COVID19 finds its way into every corner of our lives. 

In a time when our health is of utmost importance, we’re stressed beyond measure, making “essential food runs” for the tub of Ben & Jerry’s and finding ourselves binge watching everything from Tiger King to HGTV.  

There’s a newness about this time, managing work needs remotely while guiding a child through their home-schooling program. 

Or maybe it’s that there is no work for a bit and instead of feeling productive, we’re feeling lost, unable to navigate the clear slate of time and space. 

On top of it all, we find ourselves longing to be with a family member or struggling with the desire to care for an ill friend when we’re required to stay away.  It’s all real.  And it can be overwhelming.  That’s why we must consider how to care for ourselves as we care for so much more.    

Every day provides new opportunity for us to grow, stretch, learn, advance, be still, explore and navigate .  We have a choice in every matter.  Whether we’re in the depths of crisis or experiencing the best day of our lives, we get to choose how we participate in all of  it.  Understanding this concept is vital to the success of taking care of yourself.

The biggest question to ask yourself is “how will I choose to participate in all of it?”  I’ve found myself working through this question time and time again.  The day of my diagnosis, when I was told to “go home and prepare” for a rare neuromuscular disease to take my life.  The day I almost missed my flight due to circumstances that were out of my control.  The day I learned of my friend’s diagnosis of cancer.  The day the awful accident left my son with broken vertebrae.

We’ve all had these difficult moments, and in addition to the big moments, we experience little things too that add up to big stress. 

In order to take care of yourself, boost the immune system and find peace amid stress, it’s important to practice these five things:

1. See, practice and be … good

This practice reduces stress, creates peace and builds resiliency.  There is good in every situation.  Sometimes it’s easy to see it and other times it takes a while. 

See the good. Remember the “Where’s Waldo” books?  On occasion, you’d turn to the page and spot him immediately.  Other times it would take  so long to find him that you had to call in a reinforcement to help you!  This is no different than seeing the good in a situation, it may take some time, but you’ve got to believe it is there.  

Practice the good is about practicing gratitude.  One negative thought easily spirals into 20 more and then replicates even faster from there.  Decades of research suggest that positivity plays a powerful role in the body’s ability to reduce stress, increase productivity and heal.  You can practice gratitude in a variety of ways: 1) keep a small journal on the nightstand and jot down 5-10 things you’re grateful for every morning and evening.  2) give thanks and gratitude through meditation or prayer. 3) Offer gratitude to others while in conversation or send them a note of thanks.  Practice gratitude consistently, morning and evening to feel the powerful benefits of a positive mind. 

Be the good.  This is a choice we make every moment, every day.  Be the Good means show up in a positive, graceful, kind and loving manner regardless of how others may choose to show up for you.  We cannot control the response of others, and in this challenging time many people are responding in emotionally fueled ways.  Just hit the toilet paper aisle after its been stocked and you may experience this response first-hand. 

All joking aside, we can only control our personal response to any situation and if your goal is to be calm, reduce stress and increase health, you must Be the Good in the situation.  I’d like to be clear that if you need to share a challenge, address a need, or stand up for yourself, you ABSOLUTELY need to do so.  Even then, we should speak up in the most positive, kind, graceful and loving manner possible.  In time, you’ll see those around you begin to do the same. 

2. Get Ample Rest

You can do everything in the world to support your body but
if you cheat it out of great rest you’ve missed the most vital step.  The body needs time to rest, repair and
rejuvenate.  It needs ample opportunity
to detoxify, balance out your hormones, reduce stress and get ready for a great
day ahead.  I’m guessing you push the
body hard all day long, meeting the demands of work, caring for the needs of
your family, exercising, cooking, cleaning, and more.  It gives a LOT to you.  Please give back in return.  A quick snapshot of things to do for a good
night’s rest include:

• Cut caffeine by 2 p.m.
• Finish all food intake 2 hours before bed.
• Shut technology down 2 hours before bed.
• Relax with a good book, an Epsom salt bath, or meditate.
• Keep your room cool, dark and quiet.
• Aim for the same daily sleep schedule
• Achieve 8 hours of sound sleep

3. Eat well

Food builds the foundation for healthy cells, organs and
body.  By consuming  colorful, plant-based foods you’ll boost the
immune system, reduce stress, increase energy and mitigate inflammation that
causes disease in the body.  I encourage
you to take small steps here, building your plate and palate one day at a
time.  Focus on incorporating more of the
following foods in your diet, when you do so, you’ll naturally crowd out the
sweets and packaged foods that are working against you. 

Please consume these foods daily:

• 2 cups of leafy greens
• 4 cups of vegetables
• 1.5 cups of fruit
• 1 cup whole grains
• ½ cup of beans
• 1-2 oz nuts/seeds
• 15 oz of clean, organic animal
  protein or wild caught fish
• 6 tbsp of healthy fat (salmon,
  avocado, flax meal, chia seed, coconut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive
  oil)

Identify one place to start, maybe it’s the vegetables category.  Add one cup of vegetables into your daily diet  for one week, then move to 2 cups per day for the second week, and 3 cups in week three, etc. until you meet your goal in each category.  Building a little at a time.

4. Hydrate!

Every process in the body depends on water.  Fill your cup often to achieve 80 oz of water
per day.  That’s just 10 oz of water
every hour in an 8-hour workday, you can do this!  Here are some ways you can spruce up your water:

• Put fruit slices and herbs in your water
  • Watermelon, mint
  • Blackberry
  • Lemon, orange
• Make hot or iced herbal tea
  • Anything with caffeine in it does not count!
• Add a stevia-sweetened flavor packet to your water
  • True Lemon
  • Nuun
• As a treat, enjoy a carbonated, flavored water
  • Don’t enjoy too often, it’ll negatively impact your tooth enamel
• If you find it difficult to drink all the water, use a reusable straw and see if it helps!

5. Move!

The body needs movement every 40-60 minutes to keep stress levels down, metabolism high and balance hormones in the body.  Start incorporating 5-10 minutes of exercise at the top of every hour.  Take a brisk walk and get fresh air, walk up/down the stairs, do sets of jumping jacks, planks and pushups in your office, or throw on your favorite tunes for a 5-minute dance off.

Whatever suits your fancy, just get it done!  Sitting for hours on end is a big hazard to your health. Hit the daily goal of 10,000 steps with small bursts of movement all day long accompanied by a brisk morning and/or evening walk.  Simple. Effective. Life changing.

We have a choice in every matter, and every choice we make, matters!  You deserve the best of health and happiness, and it all begins with YOU.  Take great care of yourself today and always.  Choose one thing from this article to work on today and build from there.  We’re not changing everything overnight, but rather making one high-quality choice at a time.  These choices will soon build on one another, create transformation and soon it’ll become your healthy lifestyle. 

If you found this helpful, and would like to explore additional resources for you and your team or discuss wellness programming, visit www.AngelaGaffney.com. 

The post Take care of yourself – you deserve it! appeared first on HR Morning.

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During a pandemic, leaders will need to be even more
proactive in building trust with their teams and giving people autonomy to
conduct their work in the way they see fit. And one tool that can’t be
emphasized enough is a well-designed communication platform.

By giving employees
a communication platform to contribute, companies can improve employee experience
and in turn, increase engagement, reduce turnover and become better places to
work. The past decade has seen companies embracing bottom-up and lateral
communication, collaboration and co-creation. As a coach, I appreciate this
shift from command and control leadership to a greater emphasis on servant
leadership.

When I am consulting on employee experience and communication, what I find most often is team members at all levels feeling they lack a ‘voice’ at work. No matter our rank, we humans need our opinions and ideas (about the work and how the work gets done) to be heard and given consideration.

Here’s a great example of how bottom-up communication saved
the Air Force two years of work and almost $20 million.

Case Study: AFWERKS

In 2015, Tony Perez was working as a KC 10 refueling pilot
at Travis Air Force base near Sacramento. He saw projects put on the backburner
that wouldn’t be solved for years. He also knew others at the base looked at
these unsolved projects similarly to the way he did: as a challenge to be
accomplished.

Perez took action and spearheaded an opt-in internal
incubator to give all Air Force ranks the opportunity to identify and solve
problems they currently didn’t have the time or expertise to work on themselves.
By putting heads together week after week, the group gained momentum on a
number of projects.

One of Spark’s biggest accomplishments was creating a custom
iPad mount for the C 17, a plane that was designed before the iPad was
invented. The mount project was originally estimated to require two to three
years of work and $20 million. Instead, it was completed by a Spark team in
three weeks and saved the Air Force tens of millions of dollars.

Spark was able to have such promising results because the
people who were working close to the problem were able to be a part of the
solution. Not only did this program save money but it gave a group of
volunteer, self-motivated team members an opportunity to work on something they
found personally impactful. This is a prime example of bottom up communication
at work.

Communication platforms as a solution

There have been numerous products developed to solve this
dilemma between the amount of time it takes to make employees ideas actionable.

Culture Amp and 15Five are two software solutions gaining
popularity due to their simplicity (most take less than 20 minutes per week) in
collecting, analyzing and acting on employee feedback. By de-personalizing and
using these kinds of tools (we all know it’s easier to write a comment than to
say something in person), leaders can get more consistent and transparent input
from their teams.

Slack and Zoom have also been launched into the spotlight amidst the COVID pandemic. These are powerful resources, so as long as you use them effectively.  Lesser-known tools like Notion, Miro, Mural and Figma are also quickly being adopted by tech and product teams for real-time collaboration.

Given the simplicity of these tools, expect these to become commonplace for companies looking to create Intranets and empower individuals to share knowledge and work together.

Traditional platforms re-imagined

Here are some more classic options that are still powerful:

Knowledge Shares – It’s useful to know what people outside of your department do all day, and how their job function fits into the bigger picture of their company. Here’s one idea: Get people who don’t normally work together on a video chat. Ask one person to share the following:

• 5-10 minutes about their job at the company (how it works, how it serves the bigger picture)
• 3-5 minutes about a problem they are facing at work
• 10-15 minutes to get input from participants (may include tools or strategies, questions that help the presenter re-frame the problem in their mind)

If your team is a big group, ask participants to give their input via that chat function of Zoom or Hangouts. If you’re a smaller group, have people virtually raise their hand. After 30 minutes of back and forth knowledge sharing, people know one another better, know the roles at the company better and have crowd-sourced ideas for a problem that ultimately affects them all.

Invite outside team members

Open up your meetings to people who normally wouldn’t be invited to your weekly virtual standup or project kickoff.

Joseph Master, the executive director of marketing and
digital strategy at Drexel University in Philadelphia, makes a good point about
the power of meetings to cross-pollinate in a large organization to improve
KPIs and inspire:

“While we work in top-down silos, our team meetings are opportunities to communicate across borders and build the organizational tethers we need— marketing teams should meet with enrollment management, admissions, academic advising and academic affairs regularly. By inviting advising staff to our team meetings, we were able to access data we didn’t know existed and ramp up our undergraduate admissions efforts — which led to increased enrollment.”

Opening your meetings to others not only fosters
collaboration, but it might be some of the best internal PR you do for your
staff. It’s as much a communications tool as it is a team builder.  When others see what your employees actually
do, they’re more likely to invest in them as strategic partners. For your next
weekly meeting, who could join that might benefit from seeing how things work?

Lead by example

Leaders must participate in these team building activities
and show their commitment. They cannot expect others to adopt new tools or
practices without seeing those in charge do the same.

 If your team chooses
to use Culture Amp or 15Five, be sure managers are given the time and resources
needed to use these tools properly. Praise those who use it well (not just
managers) and most importantly share the stories of how these tools and open
communication platforms have benefitted the company and its people.

At last year’s Culture Summit, one speaker said, “To argue with someone’s point of view is a waste of time. To embrace it is a way to co-create.”

Leaders who give employees a voice, lead by example and offer encouragement may be rewarded with better ideas, money saved and more happy, engaged team members eagerly awaiting the next challenge to overcome.

The post Communication platforms that help employees get ahead – and stay there appeared first on HR Morning.

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During these stressful and uncertain times, it can be easy
to give into the anxiety.

And while this new normal is difficult to adjust to, there
are some ways this pandemic has changed how we work for the better.

Calm in the chaos

It might sound crazy, but here’s how workplaces have actually been benefiting from all the chaos, according to HR expert and author of Evil HR Lady blog, Suzanne Lucas.

1. Remote work is being destigmatized. While a lot of companies have been embracing remote work, many have been resistant. But the coronavirus has forced employers to allow as many employees to work from home as possible. This, undoubtedly, will be eye-opening for many managers. Jobs they didn’t think could be done remotely are being done remotely. When things go back to normal, a lot of companies may change their stance on remote work.

2. Some regulations have relaxed.  With many state governments ordering residents to stay at home, certain employment requirements are being waived. For example, new employees don’t need to present I.D. in person – over email or video is fine. Telemedicine has also become a popular alternative to in-person doctor visits – a trend that should continue once things go back to normal.

3. Companies are being more flexible. Things are the opposite of “business as usual” right now, and employers are adjusting. They’re offering employees more slack as they care for their families while working from home. Some are even stepping up and helping out with this global crisis – alcohol producers are making hand sanitizer, and a few manufacturers are now making ventilators.

The post It’s not all bad news in the COVID-19 era: 3 changes for the better appeared first on HR Morning.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently provided new guidance regarding workplace cleaning, disinfecting, social distancing and ventilation in response to the evolving COVID-19 situation in the U.S.

Social distancing

When it comes to social distancing, the CDC recommends establishing policies and best practices for the individual workplace, especially if state and local health authorities are recommending it for your area, according to updated guidance on the CDC COVID-19 webpage.

This means avoiding large gatherings and maintaining 6 feet from others when possible.

Recommended strategies include:

• implementing flexible worksites, such as teleworking
• implementing flexible work hours, like staggering shifts or lunch breaks
• increasing physical space between employees at the worksite
• increasing physical space between employees and customers, such as using drive-through services or partitions
• implementing flexible meeting and travel options, like postponing non-essential meetings or events
• downsizing operations
• delivering services remotely, such as using phone, video or web services, and
• delivering products through curbside pickup or delivery.

Building ventilation

The CDC recommends improving engineering controls for building ventilation, including increasing ventilation rates and the percentage of outdoor air circulating into the system.

Environmental cleaning, disinfecting

All frequently touched surfaces in the workplace should be cleaned frequently. This includes workstations, keyboards, telephones, handrails and doorknobs.

Other cleaning recommendations include:

• If surfaces are dirty, clean them with detergent and water before disinfecting.
• Most EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective against COVID-19. Follow manufacturer instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products.
• Discourage workers from using other workers’ phones, desks, offices and work tools and equipment. If necessary, clean and disinfect them before and after use.
• Provide disposable wipes so employees can wipe down commonly used surfaces before each use. Use products that meet EPA criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2, the cause of COVID-19, and are appropriate for the respective surface.
• Perform enhanced cleaning and disinfection after individuals who are suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 have been in the facility.
• If a sick employee is suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19, follow all CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations.

For additional information

Unpacking the Families First Coronavirus Response Act for Employers

Complying with the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is challenging because so much of the new law is long on legal mandates and what employers must do, but short on the details of how to do it. Employers are left confused and not sure where to start.

This 75-minute workshop provides up-to-date guidance on how to interpret what the Paid Sick Leave and expanded Family Medical Leave provisions of the FFCRA actually mean; and what employers need to do now to comply with the new mandates.

The post CDC updates COVID-19 disinfecting, social distancing guidance appeared first on HR Morning.

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It’s becoming increasingly clear that many people will be working from home for a significant period of time. It’s also likely many managers will be leading a completely remote team for the first time.

This no doubt was thrust on both parties with little time to think, talk or prepare for this new way on working.

This
will call for managers to operate very differently.  We know that the way we engage and
communicate with each other is informal when people physically work together.
Great managers understand their people and can pick up on changes by observing
both individual and team behaviour. 
However, both of these become more challenging as people work from home
or remotely.

There is a huge, positive opportunity here – 80% of people who work remotely say if it’s done well their engagement and morale improves and 62% say they feel more trusted. This is an opportunity to be grasped.

Here are my top 6 tips for managers who find themselves in this position:

Clarify what matters

In times of crises and change people look to their managers and leaders to provide clarity, support, guidance and direction. True leaders will step forward and recognize the importance of their role. They will start by reinforcing why the work the team does is important. 

The more it’s aligned to a compelling purpose the better, this creates meaning. Leaders who are good at this get their people excited about the work they are doing and why it’s important. Leaders need to walk the talk; be visible and available to their teams, but they also need to demonstrate energy and the ability to make tough or difficult calls on behalf of the team.

A leader’s true values will be tested when under pressure. It’s relatively easy to live your values when times are good. However, when success and results hang in the balance an authentic leader will demonstrate what they are prepared to sacrifice and the trade-offs they are willing to make. Leadership is about putting your people first and yourself second. 

Set expectations

Set clear expectations about this new way of working, including your expectations of people’s availability and accountability as well as how often team and one-to-one conversations will take place.  My advice is to do the generic scene-setting with the whole team so they all hear it together at the same time.

Make sure there is plenty of time for questions and ask for ideas. How do we make this work together? Then, have one-to-one conversations with each member of the team about their specific deliverables and what you expect of them and when. Clarity is important but also giving people the space and opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and explore the issues avoids misunderstanding and difficulty later. Don’t rush the process.

Listen and communicate

Team Communication is always an important part of a leader’s role but when your team are all working remotely it becomes critical. Recognise you should spend more time talking, listening and engaging with your people – its important people feel connected.

Firstly if possible use video rather than conference calls but even they are preferable to the dreaded email with all the potential for there is for misunderstanding . The opportunity to use video is a god send in these circumstances and is so much easier today with the tools available such as Zoom, Skype and Google hangouts.

Over 60% of communication is non-verbal so seeing people as they talk enables you to pick up on non-verbal.  Keep the team communicating as a whole – I suggest ensuring regular team meetings continue and to start this new way of working you may want to do it more regularly than normal perhaps 2 or 3 times per week initially.  This gets people comfortable and allows people to test how it works for them.

Allow time for small talk; people may feel isolated or even lonely after a few days with little social contact. A good way of doing this is to get everyone to check in (say how they feel at the moment) at the start of the call/meeting. It’s also a good idea to still do creative or brainstorming sessions with the team asking for ideas or solving problems together this enables to team to feel connected and that they are making a collective contribution.

Encourage one-on-ones

One-to-ones must continue and as with team communication you may want to do them a little more regularly to start with. As a leader ask lots of questions to find out what’s going on for each individual. Set shared agendas in advance and make sure you know what you’re going to be covering.

Preparation is more important for conversations over the phone or video as they tend to be shorter and more business focused. Actively listen to what’s being said and try to avoid assumptions, talking over people and ask questions to clarify what’s meant so you’re not at crossed purposes.

Be friendly

Foster friendships amongst the people that work for you. Apart from the formal calls and meetings encourage people to have informal calls so they stay connected. We know people feel more engaged and passionate about their work if they have confidants and supporters at work. This may atrophy if it’s not encouraged.

People go to their work friends when they need help or want to celebrate or commiserate about things at work. In the absence of that support work can seem lonely and isolating. It lacks attachment. We may like what we do but we won’t be fully energised or motivated if we don’t have close and supportive relationships at work.

A study by Harvard Business Review showed that remote workers are much more likely than on site employees to worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to work projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them and don’t fight for their priorities. Be a leader who fosters a culture of open positive friendships among co-workers – this will avoid these concerns becoming a reality.

Make yourself available

Be responsive and available. Set time aside in your calendar so people know you are happy to catch up on anything. The thing that makes people feel distant is the communication time lag. If people have to wait hours for a response to something they are working on or an idea they have, whether it’s right or wrong people feel it’s not important to their manager.

Setting time aside where your available online or over the phone to provide feedback or insight instantly helps people feel recognized and listened too.

Many of things I propose will feel
unnatural to start with but if you persist then there is no reason why your
team shouldn’t be us productive, creative and energised as if they were all on
site together. In fact, you may find that they perform better and deliver
better results working this way! Out of adversity comes opportunities.

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