employee engagement – Page 6

June 18, 2020August 8, 2022

Solving the concern over clean time clocks with a mobile solution

time clock, workforce management, scheduling, time and attendance

There was a time in the very recent past when the biggest worry about a workplace time clock was whether the employee arrived on time to punch in and remembered to clock out when their shift was over.

That has changed in recent months. It is understandable that employees’ anxiety levels are high, and the thought of having to touch an unsanitary time clock adds some unnecessary concern. While the specter of returning to work among customers as well as co-workers frays the nerves of some employees, about the last thing they need on their minds is whether the time clock on the wall was sanitized after the previous employee punched in for their shift.

Ease their fears

There are obvious sanitary solutions for cleaning workstations and countertops. A mobile time clock app is a software solution that allows employees to bypass touching the grimy surface of a physical time clock.

Cleanliness should always be a concern in any workplace. Employers wouldn’t set out boxes of dirty tissues. So why should a time clock that’s constantly being touched be the lone option for employees to start and end their shift?

And don’t be fooled into thinking that a biometric time clock is a cleaner option. That fingerprint left by the previous employee? Do you know where that person’s digit was before tapping the pad?

It just makes sense to offer employees a mobile solution to cleanly and effortlessly clock in, safe in the knowledge that their employer is vigilant in maintaining a healthy workforce and concerned about accurate time management.

Safe, sanitary and simple

Automating how a staff clocks in and out is not only the sanitary option, it also is the simple solution to cutting back hours of burdensome administrative work each week. With such a keen focus on predictive scheduling laws and regulations, an automated time clock system featuring a mobile app can communicate schedules that help companies remain in compliance. Employers can communicate scheduling in advance and explain the flexibility needs of the business at the same time, creating an open line of communication between employer and employee.

Employer advantages

Buddy punching has existed practically since the invention of time clocks. A time-clock mobile app assures that the correct person clocks in for the right shift through electronic photo verification and unique passcodes.

Automation eliminates repetitive processes that can lead to miscalculating payroll, which is among the fastest and easiest ways to get burned by a wage-and-hour lawsuit. According to Internal Revenue Service statistics, about one-third of employers make payroll errors. The American Payroll Association separately reported that such errors range between is up to 8 percent of total payroll.

A mobile clock-in solution also helps assure that staff is paid correctly according to time worked and is in compliance with local, state and federal laws.

Here are some advantages employers will find by using mobile clock-in software:

React immediately to curb or cut overtime.
Automation saves time and effort.
Save money as buddy punching is regulated.
Avoid costly lawsuits by complying with all regulations.

Employee advantages

Eliminating a physical time clock eases in-office cleanliness concerns. Companies with staff located in multiple locations who are working remotely allows them to clock in via a mobile app whenever and wherever they are. A time clock app is GPS-enabled and works everywhere in the world. Employees can:

Easily and simply clock in and out with one swipe on their phone and not touch a time clock.
Request time off remotely.
View current and past timesheets.
Communicate while on the go.

Ask yourself: Do you really want your employees touching the same time clock? It’s a cesspool of germs waiting to pollute your workforce with every touch. Clean up your physical workplace and tidy your workforce management processes by integrating the Workforce.com Time Clock App.

June 16, 2020June 29, 2023

How to recalibrate work dynamics and embrace digital transformation in a post-pandemic workplace

Tsedal Neeley, Harvard Business School professor, award-winning author, and global management and leadership expert, recently caught up with us to share her insights and advice as the workforce continues to go through rapid transformation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. From digital transformation, team relaunch, to leading in times of radical change, she gives a picture of the future of work and essential advice for employees and leaders alike.

Workforce: What do you think are the most significant changes that were brought about by the pandemic to the workforce?

Neeley: The most significant changes that were brought about by COVID is the fact that between 88 percent to 90 percent of the workforces particularly knowledge workers, meaning people who work in offices, have migrated into remote work. A lot of people for the very first time in their professional lives have attempted to get work done virtually, collaborate virtually, be productive virtually, work with partners, customers, consumers, distributors, suppliers virtually in a context of a global pandemic.

The other thing that we’re seeing is the digital transformation for many organizations. When you go to remote work or what I call the virtualization of work, you have to have more robust enabling technologies to support it – communication tools, the tools for cybersecurity, repositories, content management systems. So we’re seeing some virtual and digital advancements that just really have accelerated because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Even now, if you think about the rush to get a vaccine for COVID-19. Some of the companies are using AI and machine learning. We’re seeing all of these things in action and I think that we are going to be forced to be much more intelligent. I also think that the companies that have had some form of digital capacity are going to do better during this economic times because they will have the predictive analysis to be able to understand how to use the right data, to have the right approaches, to make the right decisions, to come up with countering measures to support their strategic response.

WF: A lot of the working dynamics have changed. What are the ways that leaders can support their team during this time?

Neeley: It’s very important for leaders to ensure that they do what’s called a team launch. If you haven’t done a team launch by now, you should do a re-launch. Which means that you set your team off on a course.

A team launch is one of the success factors for any team. It breathes life to a team. It helps increase the performance of virtual teams by 30 percent. A team launch or relaunch is where you collectively determine the following:

Shared purpose – Be clear about what your shared goals, mission and vision are as a group.
Resources – Determine what your needs are, anywhere from budgets, information, and networks.
Members’ lived experience – Discuss individual strengths, constraints, and gaps. You need to understand task allocation and balance accordingly.

Today, many parents are homeschooling, and many are working in shifts. Days can be longer for them and their hours are not necessarily coinciding with the rest of the group.

Leaders need to understand who is in that situation and the constraints that go along with them. They must accommodate people who have those scenarios because the apparatus that people had built to support their children, to support them as families – the entire support structure has gone away in this global pandemic. You need to understand those constraints.

New norms: Establish or re-establish norms. How do you communicate and how often? What tools are you going to use to communicate?

People have been raising concerns about video conferencing fatigue, and it’s important for you to pick the right media for the right needs. As a group, you need to agree on what’s going to work for you in order to remain connected. Think about informal contact too like virtual lunches and virtual coffee breaks.

WF: What do you think the future of work will look like as businesses start operations again, especially those that have actual establishments?

Neeley: Opening up does not mean that we go back to our old system immediately, especially when we don’t have vaccines yet. So there are many questions around the use of space and technology.

For example, I recently spoke to a company that specializes in beverages and their business has never been better. They’ve started e-commerce first. Businesses need to think about whether it would make sense for them to begin a robust online delivery system in order to supplement their revenue, serve their customers, and remain very present.

Nonetheless, it’s important to keep in mind that when businesses are reopening and they are not using the full capacity of their staff – meaning some are at home still and some have gone into work. There actually creating two groups – those who are out risking exposure to COVID to start the business and those who remain safe at home. What can that create? That can create an us-versus-them culture. Leaders need to be very careful about those dynamics and make sure that no group feels privileged or excluded.

WF: We are talking about leaders being at the forefront of this. So for leaders, where do they get support because they are in a unique position of experiencing the effects of the pandemic and taking care of a team?

Neeley: That is an excellent question. People need to ask that question more.

Every organization needs to have a very visible CEO who is communicating regularly so that leaders can lead. The leaders of leaders have to set the tone. They have to help them figure out how to lead through a crisis.

There are two things that are important for them to identify. They need to recognize that they are leading during times of crisis, which requires a certain type of leadership. They are also leading radical change, but many of them don’t think they are. When your entire workforce has shifted to work from home; when your client base is in this extraordinarily dynamic period; when your entire patterns of work have changed, you are going through a radical change during a time of uncertainty. You don’t know what the future will look like. People are anxious. People need new skills. People need new equipment. Entire organizations have turned upside down. It’s a radical change. And you’re leading it.

Organizations need to set the tone and they need to equip their leaders to be able to lead accordingly. That’s the first step.

Second, leaders should form groups or task forces to help align their messaging, to help align their movements and actions and to bring together the best ideas and best practices. This way, no leader is trying to figure it out all on their own especially since no one has gone through a global pandemic of this scale in our modern times, right? To create the best practices collectively within the organization, that’s a way to get your support system.

Finally, leaders always need to have a set of mentors or kind of their own board of advisors, not formally necessarily. But leaders should have three or four people who they can turn to to think through things. These are not ordinary times and during times of crisis, you need your mentors. They are people you trust or people you build trust with if you don’t have them yet. These people have some serious expertise in a certain area that you really want to thrive in and be unafraid to hear truth from. You need to reach out to make sure that you have those.

This is not a time to be a solo leader. Leaders need to understand how to lead change, lead during times of crisis, and innovate. There are so many things that they need to figure out very quickly and they can’t do that alone.

June 7, 2020April 11, 2023

Shift swap software empowers managers and employees to take charge of scheduling

shift scheduling for hourly restaurant workers, shift swap

Employers must have been taking notes from athletic coaches when they started naming shift schedules. The 2-3-2, the DuPont, four on four off, and going EOWEO all sound like a defensive strategy or a trick play. (For the record, EOWEO stands for Every Other Weekend Off, not a signal to Tom Brady to throw the football to Rob Gronkowski.)

Whatever the terminology, shift schedules remain the lifeblood of an hourly workforce. Whether it’s 12-hour shift schedule types or a traditional 24 hours on and 48 hours off scheduling system for firefighters, shift swapping also is a key tool for employees and managers to maintain both consistency in staffing levels and a vibrant, engaged talent pool.

Accommodating a shift swap

Shift swapping lets an employee request to work one of their shifts and in exchange, work one of that colleague’s scheduled shifts.

Establish a written policy that provides clear guidance to staff while simultaneously ensuring the organization’s needs are met. Make sure the policy is clear and easy to understand. Don’t overcomplicate it; the simpler the better. Implementing an easy-to-use shift swapping software simplifies the process, which can otherwise bog down into an arduous, overly complicated back-and-forth among employees that wastes everyone’s time.

Benefits for employers

A manual, paper-based shift swapping policy that relies on employees scrambling to cover for each other is a risk at best and a chronic, chaotic scheduling disaster waiting to happen. Managers play an integral role in closely monitoring shift swapping. Their oversight assures that every shift will be fully covered.

Through innovative workforce management technology, managers can approve shift swaps with complete oversight of costs and compliance. The technology empowers managers to:

Control staffing levels — eliminating understaffing and overstaffing.
Monitor so staff members swap shifts with colleagues who have similar skills and experience.
Lower the potential for no-show employees.
Reduce overtime.
Create a deadline for shift swaps.
Distribute unwanted shifts fairly and evenly among all employees.
Customize to control cost, employee availability, qualifications and fatigue management.

Benefits for employees

Employees have lives away from work, and there are times when they need to get a shift covered. Family issues, a sudden illness or a day away for mental health, if the shift is claimed, the employee will be free to take the day off. If not, the employee remains responsible for the shift. Shift swapping software allows employees to:

Post the shift for all fellow employees to see.
Control their own schedules.
Get a shift covered quickly and easily.
Create a more complete work/life balance.
Build camaraderie and teamwork through communication.
Earn additional money by picking up extra shifts.

With the freedom that employees will enjoy through shift swapping technology, managers still control the approval process and hold the power to override a shift swap in case a specific exchange is seen as unworkable or create unnecessary costs.

Shift swap software allows managers to prevent employees from constantly posting their shifts and become a stand-in for requesting time off.

Additionally, no one benefits from the employee who continually volunteers to work day after day after day, double shifts and late night-early morning shifts. Managers can track that employee and curb shifts and hours, since there is the potential for burnout as well as safety concerns for fellow employees.

Finally, misunderstandings over a missed shift are a thing of the past. Shift swapping technology puts the responsibility to fill the shift squarely on employees. Managers OK the swap, leaving them with more spare time to do things other than babysit the schedule.

Organizations need a reliable employee scheduling plan while employees want job flexibility that adapts to life outside of work. With Workforce.com’s shift-swapping software, a carefully planned shift swapping policy manages employee costs, accommodates employer and employee needs and ensures that both get the schedule they want.

May 28, 2020April 11, 2023

Permanent working from home works well if you have the right technology

coronavirus, remote work, COVID-19, remote workforce

Remote work is not a new concept. Telecommuting grew as an acceptable business practice as technology rapidly advanced through the late 20th century and into the early 2000s.

Perhaps more importantly, working outside an office gained credibility as employers realized remote work increases productivity, improves employee morale and saves money.

Debating remote work pros and cons

The debate over the value of remote work has remained largely the same even as a wider swath of employees spend time outside a traditional office environment. One lingering argument against it is that there are too many distractions and the lack of a quiet place to focus on the task at hand. Yet a 2017 FlexJobs study found that just 7 percent of workers say they are more productive in an office setting.

As employers deliberate a remote workforce, the rapid evolution of workforce management technology has enabled more people to work outside the office. Professions once considered as chained to punching in and out immediately become more productive by starting and ending their day on the job.

Influencing expectations through technology

Innovative GPS-enabled technology now empowers remote employees to clock in and out simply by using their mobile device. Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in features the longitude and latitude and provides employers with a real-time glance at each remote employee’s precise location.

With such dynamic, easy-to-use technology available, the challenge then becomes shifting organizational and managerial expectations surrounding remote work. Security is understandably a concern that can be allayed by a trustworthy, safe platform. Here is some insight to appease curmudgeonly employers that a remote workforce is indeed a boon to business.

Choose and vet the right employees for remote assignments. You don’t want your fledgling remote work program to be DOA.
Consider the effect on customers, co-workers and management.
Productivity expands since time is spent on the job, not traveling back and forth to punch a clock.
Set regular goals and objectives to be evaluated monthly, weekly or even daily.
Encourage ongoing feedback between management and the remote employee.
Online video programs allow for remote workers to visually participate in staff meetings and events.

No guessing where they are

Managers will quickly and easily know where remote staff is with the GPS Clock-in platform’s photo-verified system. While this provides peace of mind for employers knowing their workers are on the job, there also is a safety component involved.

In the event of an unpredictable natural incident, be it a sudden tornado warning, freak ice storm or an earthquake, employers can find peace of mind in knowing that resources are instantly available to check the location and safety of their remote employees.

The federal Office of Personnel Management cited improved emergency preparedness planning as a benefit of expanding its remote workforce. The agency also stated that remote work reduced employee commutes and provided cuts in real estate costs and energy use. Other positive outcomes included:

Improved employee attitudes.
Better recruitment and retention.
Improved employee performance.

As the number of employees working remotely increases every year, change long-overdue attitudes and adopt the right technology to build a vibrant, dynamic remote workforce. Enhance your business and put your remote workers in a position to excel in their jobs and boost productivity with Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in platform.

May 26, 2020June 29, 2023

How to make your onboarding process engaging and easy

Time was in the not so distant past an employee’s first day on the job was spent filling out a raft of paperwork. If they finished the daunting deluge of forms in front of them, there might be time to find their workstation only to stare at a blank screen, since IT had no clue that a new employee was joining the organization.

It’s a scenario that unfortunately still plays out. Most organizations have some type of orientation process for new hires. Too often though, those programs are neglected, poorly run and mismanaged.

That experience transforms an eager new recruit into an employee who is disengaged and disillusioned with their new company based on their first day at work. Rather than going home and effusively boasting about a great first day, your newest staff member is more apt to mumble, “Eh, I’m just glad today is over.”

Make onboarding memorable and easy

Onboarding — the process of providing new employees with the key information and training to be immediately successful in their new roles — should be simple, engaging and perhaps most importantly, repeatable.

Thanks to a continuous surge in innovative human resources technology, a simple, paperless online onboarding solution has organizations bidding farewell to the tedious stream of paperwork and enhancing their employee’s first days on the job.

The advantage of paperless onboarding

When an organization adopts a digital onboarding solution, everything becomes paperless. The new employee’s banking details, withholdings, important addresses, emergency contacts and immigration status are immediately integrated into payroll and admin without a single sheet of paper being passed along. Online onboarding allows new hires to examine health and retirement benefits options and other company perks at their leisure.

HR also gets a valuable early-alert solution to schedule IT and other stakeholders that a new employee will be joining the organization. This portion of online onboarding should become a seamless, well-structured experience that HR can use whenever a new hire joins the organization.

Getting social

In most cases a new hire knows no one in their new workplace. Other than some cursory interactions with the immediate hiring team prior to their first day, the new person is walked awkwardly through the workplace with basic introductions and small talk.

Digital onboarding software can launch a social interaction well before the new hire ever enters the workplace. Access to the onboarding software allows the new employee to begin learning about their future teammates, supervisors, key executives and responsibilities.

They can pre-enroll in company- and job-specific training courses, survey employee resource groups and open a dialog with future colleagues. From hobbies to food restrictions, managers can get to know their new employee.

One chance at a first impression

Given that the onboarding process is a new hire’s introduction to the organization and its workplace culture, onboarding plays an underrated role in employee retention.

Research has shown that a new hire will decide within the first year if they want to stay with the company. One survey revealed that nearly a third of new hires quit their jobs within the first 90 days while a separate report showed that organizations with a strong onboarding process improved new-hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by over 70 percent.

An effective and inviting onboarding process holds the key to improving employee morale, productivity and retention. Workforce.com’s employee onboarding platform keeps it simple.

An employee’s first day shouldn’t be all about arduous paperwork and trying to absorb an overwhelming information dump of company rules and policies. Instead, go paperless and online with your onboarding so your new hires can do it all ahead of time and immediately dig into the job at hand.

May 21, 2020April 11, 2023

How to avoid overstaffing through wage tracker software

While restaurants brimming with patrons and retailers bustling with shoppers are energizing images, employers must keep a level head when staffing their locations. Whether it’s reviving a dormant construction site or setting up the outdoor patio for a busy weekend brunch, a real-time wage tracker solution will help employers avoid the common mistake of overstaffing their workplace and spending too much on labor costs.

Understand your wage spend

Business owners want to keep patrons coming back whether they are grabbing a meal or leisurely shopping for a new pair of shoes, which means more foot traffic in the door.

Correctly staffing your location is crucial to profits as well as customer satisfaction. That can be as simple as consolidating employee data currently logged in varying systems and spreadsheets into a single online platform. Merging your employee data with the technology to track wage costs in real time and adjust staffing levels can avert the nagging issue of being overstaffed or understaffed.

Beware of peaks and valleys

All organizations have their rush times and slowdowns. Think strategically and incorporate software solutions for those periods but also remain flexible for the unexpected. Some ideas to consider:

Denote peak seasons and hours versus slow seasons and hours to determine how many employees are needed.
Give employees schedule preferences, reasonable time off and the holiday schedule.
Distribute advanced schedules to head off any conflicts or unforeseen circumstances.

Avoid overstaffing

Eager employers don’t want to be left short-staffed. Wage tracker software helps eliminate erring on the side of caution and adding more people than are needed, which cuts into the company’s profits.

There’s also a dirty little secret when it comes to the cost of overstaffing. Employees hate getting cut once they show up and also dislike standing around for hours on end with nothing to do. Either way, employees will complain that their time was wasted by a boss who scheduled too many employees. Do it over and over and you’ve provided them the time to search their phones for other employment options.

And avoid understaffing

When the workplace is short-staffed, employees complain that they are constantly on the run and overworked to the point of exhaustion. That leads to poor quality of work, high levels of stress and increased absences. There will be higher overtime expenses, which can result in a more costly alternative than hiring additional employees full time. And like overstaffing, short-staffing a workforce leads to employee turnover, too.

Keep employees happy and cut costs

Put the kibosh on grousing employees and give them a reason to be happy and fairly compensated for the work they do. Effective wage-tracker software will prompt managers that wage costs are higher than expected so they can make adjustments throughout the day to successfully run their shift. The wage tracker platform’s built-in wage calculator monitors real-time costs, staff count and where employers may be overspending per shift with up-to-the minute reporting.

The result will be a savings in wage costs and a drop in unnecessary overtime. You’ll also notice a more satisfied and engaged workforce.

As organizations ramp up their staffing, this is the perfect time to incorporate live wage tracker software to empower managers with the tools they need to accurately and fairly compensate employees and assess staffing levels in the moment and at a glance.

May 8, 2020June 29, 2023

A shift schedule template is a basic food group to workforce management

Like meat and potatoes on the dinner table, a shift schedule template is considered one of the basic tools of workforce management.

Indeed, shift schedules are crucial to the smooth operation of workforce management. A single, uniform system allows employers to manage their workforce and standardize operations more easily and save money through simplified, consistent administration that allows the organization to focus on its core business.

Rather than managing schedules on paper, which can be inefficient and potentially risky when trying to balance overtime, paid time off and compliance regulations, view time and attendance and scheduling through a strategic lens.

A template for all needs

Finding a shift schedule template that fits an organization’s needs may not be as daunting as it seems. Most exist in Microsoft Word and Excel formats as well as in Google docs and Google sheets.

Some are detailed to include the week, day and times of day while others are largely blank. The templates are adaptable to adjust the days of the week among other details.

There are varying styles of shift schedule templates. Among the most-used, according to labor management company 7shifts, include:

Fixed shift schedule — Fixed shifts consist of staff working the same number of hours and days each week.

Split shift schedule — Employees agree to fill their work hours over two shifts or time slots in a day. Work with HR or legal counsel to maintain federal labor law compliance.

Overtime shift schedules — These can be costly but are often necessary during emergencies and busy times. Again, recognize labor law compliance.

On-call shifts — An employee is available to work on demand, at any time. For example, if someone misses a fixed shift due to a family emergency, the employee in waiting will be contacted to take this shift.

Benefits of flexible shift options

It’s compulsory for organizations with hourly staffing needs to use shift scheduling tools. But with work from home becoming the norm, more companies are engaging employees through flexible shift schedules.

Implement a plan, keep in constant communication with those who are remote, and then evaluate its success.

A shift scheduling template keeps all employees — in person or remote — on the same page. A work schedule calendar also assures that no shifts will be missed.

Why innovate what already works?

Some people are perfectly fine with meat and potatoes every night for dinner. By the same token, some organizations are content with pen and paper to schedule employees.

Technology-based employee scheduling software not only offers the steak and spuds, it provides a tantalizing appetizer, a warm loaf of bread, a scrumptious side of veggies and to-die-for dessert, too.

Rather than spending hours slaving over a hot stove — er, spreadsheet — managers can build schedules on the go and immediately post for all employees to access.

Managers also understand that employee schedules can no longer be based solely on business demand. Schedules need to reflect employee preferences. Intuitive software can inform the organization when an employee is available and how many hours that person wants to work each week.

This also empowers employees to communicate with managers regarding time off or co-workers who may want to swap shifts. There is shared value for both sides. And if employee engagement is a goal, employers can build schedules that are more predictable, consistent and adequate so employees can better plan their lives and budgets and reduce use of sick days and shift trading.

If you have a large hourly workforce, Workforce.com is here to help. Its comprehensive time-keeping and scheduling software can handle complex business demands and allow the organization to view the big picture while empowering employees and maintaining compliance.

May 6, 2020June 29, 2023

How technology can help your employee engagement strategy

technology employee engagement scheduling

Employee engagement is an elusive goal that organizations constantly strive to attain. Despite these efforts, though, polls consistently show that only about a third of employees are engaged at any one time. Experts say it could take years to see significant change in engagement scores.

Even so, it’s worth the long-term efforts to increase employee engagement. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, higher engagement rates are correlated with higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents and 21 percent higher profitability.

Here are some employee engagement tips and how technology can make a workforce management professional’s life easier and more streamlined as they try to increase engagement.

Cultivate a sense of purpose among employees: One reason employees may feel dissatisfied with their jobs and plan on leaving is because they feel a “lack of purpose” at work. A recent Deloitte study found that only 37 percent of millennials think business leaders “make a positive impact on the world.” A separate Deloitte report clarified that the workforce as a whole, not just younger generations, appreciates when a company adopts a higher purpose — “moving beyond profit to a focus on doing good things for individuals, customers and society.”

Part of showing employees what the values and mission of the organization are includes showcasing workplace examples via the company’s communication channels. Employers can share stories of employees embodying the company’s mission or values, and technology-enabled communication platforms can help employers spread the message to as many employees as possible.

Ask for feedback on a regular basis: If employers want to identify their engagement issues, they have to listen to what employees are saying. There are many ways to get this feedback, experts say. Employers can conduct both annual surveys and periodic pulse surveys, host employee focus groups and monitor social media posts. Further, they can communicate with employee teams about what they like about working for the organization versus what needs to change.

“Approach employees as true partners, involving them in continuous dialogues and processes about how to design and alter their roles, tasks and working relationships,” advised Boston University Professor William Kahn — who coined the term “employee engagement” 30 years ago — in a 2015 Workforce.com Q&A. “That means that leaders need to make it safe enough for employees to speak openly of their experiences at work.”

Give employee feedback on a regular basis: Similarly, employees also want to receive feedback about their own performance. They want to see that the company they work for is invested in their

career. According to a 2019 LinkedIn survey, 94 percent of employees say they would stay at a company longer if the organization invested in their career growth and development.

This is also an area in which technology can help. As more employees work remotely at least part time, continuous feedback doesn’t always have to be delivered in person. The right tech tool can allow those conversations to happen even when a manager and employee aren’t regularly in the same office.

Workforce.com software is one platform that allows managers to communicate with employees any time, anywhere via a mobile app, helping provide remote feedback. In addition, managers can use it as a shift-rating tool to evaluate their teams and share feedback.

May 4, 2020June 29, 2023

Handling employee mental health issues in a world and workplace changed by coronavirus

employers mental health; Millennials and mental health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is as good a time as any to bring up an issue that has been weighing heavily on my mind — the looming mental health crisis that our employees are facing and will continue to face in a world and workplace changed by coronavirus.

Coronavirus has altered all of our lives, and all employees are dealing with stress, anxiety, and isolation.

Social distance has robbed us of the human contact we need from our family and friends, and work-from-home of the connections with our co-workers.

Some have fallen ill with coronavirus. Most of us know someone who has. And sadly there are those of us who have dealt with the loss, unable to properly grieve because of social distancing rules.

We’ve all missed celebrating milestones such as graduations, birthdays and weddings.

Many of us have dealt with the stress of layoffs, furloughs, lost income or closed businesses, and the stress that flows from figuring out how to pay the bills and feed our families.

Parents are balancing the new job of homeschooling (or at least assistant homeschooling) their kids with the old job of their actual paying job.

We’ve all lived with the everyday stress of just stepping out into the world. The simple task of grocery shopping has transformed into a life-and-death game of six-foot distance, anti-bacterial wipes and face coverings. Even the simplest of daily tasks such as walking the dog has transformed into a game of social distancing chicken — who is going to move off the sidewalk first.

And when society starts to return to some semblance of normal, some of your employees will return to work with mental health issues of varying degrees caused by all of this stress, change and loss. Some will be dealing with the exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues, and some will have what I am calling coronavirus PTSD.

The easy part is understanding that coronavirus has caused these mental health issues. The harder part is figuring out what we as employers can do and should do to help employees identify and manage these serious issues.

For starters, Ohio has created a free COVID Careline for people to talk to someone about their concerns. It’s available 24/7 at 1-800-720-9616.

Other than letting employees know about this state-provided resource, what else can employers do to help ensure that employees have the support and resources they need now and in the future? I have five suggestions.

1. Check the benefits available to your employees. Do you have an Employee Assistance Plan and are its mental health and counseling services are up to date? Are your health insurance plan’s mental health benefits easy to access and affordable?

2. Revisit paid-time-off policies and consider providing employees the time they need to take care of themselves and their families. And understand that everyone’s situation at home is different. Some only have themselves to worry about, while others have children to tend to during the workday. None of this is ideal, but for some, it’s less ideal than for others, depending on how much non-work responsibilities are on one’s plate.

3. Consider holding town hall or all-employee meetings that focus on mental health awareness. If senior leadership encourages education and communication around mental health issues, your employees will be more likely to access care if and when they need it.

4. Just because many are working remotely does not mean that employees have to be separated. You can use technology to foster togetherness and a sense of community. Virtual get-togethers, mindfulness breaks and online team-building events all help ease the sense of aloneness and isolation that many are feeling.

5. Small gestures of kindness can go a long way. An extra day paid day off, a gift certificate for takeout meals or grocery deliveries, or a surprise delivery of a midday snack can help employees feel appreciated and connected instead of overwhelmed and stressed.

A business is only as strong (or as weak) as its employees. Those that are considerate, flexible and kind will be in the best position to come out of this on the other side with as vibrant a workforce as possible.

May 1, 2020April 11, 2023

Employee feedback apps boost employee engagement

When letting employees know their value to the organization, it’s important to show appreciation for their daily tasks through effective co-worker comments.

Technology provides exceptional opportunities to motivate your staff and engage their participation by providing ongoing feedback and building a two-way relationship. Selecting the right workplace app develops a continuous dialogue that improves your internal communications and builds a consistent, trusted relationship with employees.

Choosing the internal communications app that best suits your organization has far-ranging implications. Among the most effective forms of communication that your workplace app can provide is employee feedback.

The value of ongoing feedback

People thrive on feedback. Consider how often people are asked to “rate” an experience — the latest vacation spot, the quality of your pet’s food or a call center employee’s friendliness.

Naturally, employees are encouraged to rate their job experience, as well as their workload and the quality of management. In fact, feedback is not only appreciated, it is expected. Employees want to know where they stand with their employers.

An effective workplace app can make that communication faster and more focused. It could literally take seconds to offer a personal congratulations or post a companywide notice of the employee’s accomplishment.

Feedback can come in the form of an employee performance review, a note of encouragement or a thank-you for a job well done. Many people would be surprised at how well a supportive, positive message is received.

Peer-to-peer feedback

Constant colleague feedback also encourages your staff to communicate with one another and enables growth in the company. Employees can use communication-based apps, for example, to swap shifts. This process encourages staff to remain open with one another and enhances growth in the company as well.

Employees can use this online feedback to build an authentic, trusting relationship with each other, as well as with supervisors. Peer-to-peer communication coupled with supervisor appraisals goes a long way in helping them become better in areas they need to improve and showing genuine appreciation in the areas that they have excelled in.

Organizing feedback

Your app simplifies feedback by providing a centralized clearinghouse for all employees on a single platform. Employees can communicate one-on-one or in team settings. They also can organize schedules and are crucial to building a feedback-seeking culture.

Feedback is clearly a valuable business proposition. According to a Gallup study, managers who received feedback on their strengths had turnover rates that were 14.9 percent lower than for those who received no feedback. Still, some employees are hesitant to provide feedback in person. And that applies to managers and supervisors as well.

An internal app makes feedback easier and eliminates barriers with simple, easy-to-use communications. An app also provides the ability to give feedback for those who prefer to avoid face to face meetings.

Using a communications app is redefining the way we think of employee engagement. Unleashing such tools in your workplace are changing the way businesses operate and make feedback immediate and continuous.

Give employees the power to communicate! Workforce.com’s employee engagement module empowers employees to respond immediately and effectively to topics relevant to your business any time of the day or night.