Tag: engagement

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The hidden costs of disengaged managers

Summary

  • While employee disengagement is a common problem grappled with by HR, a much more costly problem is managerial disengagement.

  • The cost of manager disengagement takes the form of failed initiatives, underperforming company culture, and higher safety violations.

  • Address manager disengagement early on with daily feedback initiatives. 

Most of the employee engagement discussions have focused on front-line workers; after all, they are the staff getting the core work done. What often gets forgotten is the engagement of front-line managers, where up to two-thirds are disengaged. In fact, manager disengagement is even more detrimental to the success of hourly workforce businesses.

This probably stems from a few key misconceptions about a front-line manager’s job. Maybe it’s under the guise that they must be bought in because they’re willing to take on more responsibility. Maybe it’s because they’re willing to work overtime without being paid extra, and only someone that really enjoys their job would do that. Or, maybe it’s from the belief that managers are incompetent and only do busy work, so any investment into their engagement wastes resources.

Based on the last belief, Google undertook some of the most comprehensive field research to prove the hypothesis that managers don’t matter. Many of their individual contributors were frustrated with their overpaid and meddling managers, and they probably became even more frustrated when Google released the results.

The managers at Google were shown to significantly increase employee performance and decrease turnover when they were good managers. This distinction is essential because when front-line managers become disengaged, their performance slips, and they can become bad managers, whether they work in software or hospitality.

So what are the most significant costs to companies when front-line managers become disengaged and ineffective?

The hidden costs

Manager turnover immediately comes to mind as a significant cost amid rising disengagement. This is because one day the manager was there, the next they’re not – you can physically see the change. 

What often doesn’t get noticed is the degradation that leads up to the resignation – where the manager is still there, but they’re not present. 

 

A disengaged manager incurs significant hidden costs long before they even leave a company.

 

New initiatives fail and don’t roll out

The top reason new initiatives fail isn’t that they’re inherently a bad strategy, it’s because they weren’t executed well and never get adopted. It’s a failure to execute the change. If you reflect on your working experiences, this seems self-evident, but it isn’t the narrative on LinkedIn and other expert circles. 

Once you’re operating across multiple locations or above 100 staff, the complexity of rolling out a new initiative will require some form of basic change management. In fact, this complexity creeps up much sooner than most would expect.

A graphic showing increasingly complex lines of communication
The nature of how lines of communication scale mean that change and learning by osmosis only works for small teams.

For this to work, front-line managers must be bought in and eager to see this change through. While you can conduct the initial training, roll out the software, and run progress meetings, you won’t have the capacity to ensure all your front-line staff are following it. You need your front-line managers to step up to make sure everyone is doing the right thing every shift.

When front-line managers are disengaged, they’re less likely to go above and beyond. Instead, they will do the minimum work required. In change management terms, this means they become ‘resistors’. 

Ultimately, if your managers are disengaged, they will resist change because they don’t care to make the extra effort, and they won’t make sure their team is doing the right thing. This apathy leads to many well-designed initiatives failing and incurring massive costs.

Firstly, the investment in the initiative itself. This includes the upfront cost of resources such as software, materials, and consultants, as well as the ongoing costs like staff training, progress meetings, and reviews. When the initiative fails to materialize, it means all of these costs were for nothing.

ckup image of a Google Meet invite depicting the financial cost of having it
Unfortunately, this is only a mockup, though many meetings would probably become emails if this were made.

Secondly, the opportunity cost of not being able to do the initiative. Hopefully, the initiative was prompted because rolling it out meant it would resolve a major issue to hit a key business outcome. When you compare the cost of not hitting the business outcome, it’s usually even higher than the initial investment (i.e. it had a positive ROI). This can manifest into serious long-term consequences, such as declining market share, lower customer satisfaction, and reduced profitability.

Quickly infects company culture and lowers performance

Not only can manager disengagement prevent you from tackling new business priorities, but it can even take your organization backward – rapidly.

Gallup research found that disengaged managers had a greater negative impact on their team’s performance than engaged managers had a positive impact. This caused lower worker productivity, higher absenteeism, and more staff turnover, even when the staff members were engaged in their own right. 

What might actually be the most concerning aspect is that a disengaged manager can quickly infect the rest of the organization. Unsurprisingly, managers have a greater presence and influence in the organization based on the nature of their role in interacting with more staff. It means their impact on company culture, good or bad, is heavily amplified within the rest of the organization.

Unengaged managers can also become bottlenecks for other teams, where their lower performance makes it harder for other teams to complete their own work. When executives don’t address these manager bottlenecks, their colleagues become frustrated, and it can create a disengagement loop across teams. 

For example, a Head Chef is disengaged, creating an environment where meals are prepared slowly. This makes it harder for the Head Server and their team to get orders out promptly. Senior Management is reluctant to replace the Head Chef because they’re talented, and it would be difficult to replace them. Now the Head Server sees the problem is unlikely to be resolved, so they become disillusioned, and their team morale and engagement drop off.

Teams that interact with and rely on the Head Chef or Server (e.g. Maintenance, HR, or Payroll) are also likely to fall victim to the inertia of this disengagement. The more it spreads, the harder it is to rein in, and it spreads significantly faster when it’s the front-line managers that are disengaged.

This is why it’s vital that front-line manager disengagement is not only addressed but is fixed as soon as possible. 

Increased safety incidents

When it comes to safety, the bottom line is that disengaged managers and staff lead to 3x the number of safety incidents.

This arises from reduced attention to detail and apathy toward following safety rules. When a front-line manager displays this lax attitude toward safety, it further compounds the lack of care from the rest of the team. This managerial apathy indirectly signals to junior staff members that it’s okay to disregard essential safety measures. 

Any decent person should care about the safety of their team without qualification. Morality hasn’t always been a strong business case regarding safety. If you are trying to put a cost on safety, it’s approximately $1,100 per worker (not per injury).

Outside of direct incident costs, safety issues can cause public relations fires that lower revenue from customer boycotts, make it harder to hire staff, and start OSHA investigations and civil lawsuits. 

How to prevent manager disengagement

The most crucial aspect of avoiding manager disengagement is to find the underlying issues that are actually causing the issues. Applying general employee engagement programs may help, but it won’t be permanently solved unless the root causes are unearthed and addressed. While there may be patterns in the causes of disengagement, any program designed to fix them should be tailored to the individual manager.

You can find the issues first by ensuring you are measuring managers’ engagement. This takes two forms:

  1. Running standard satisfaction surveys or eNPS to identify which managers aren’t engaged
  2. Getting regular feedback from front-line managers and their teams so you can find issues

Satisfaction surveys will only help you find who is having issues. Collecting regular feedback will actually help you investigate what is causing disengagement. 

Because of the potential of manager disengagement to rapidly infect other managers and staff within the organization, it’s vital that you collect regular feedback. That way, you can identify the issues, investigate further, and resolve them before they snowball across the rest of the company.

Fixing manager disengagement may seem daunting – but the best time to solve it is now. Address it early on with daily feedback to prevent the hidden costs from getting out of control. 

If you are interested in learning more about improving manager engagement, check out our webinar below:

Webinar: How to Increase Manager Engagement & Retention

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5 benefits of job rotation + tips to do it right

Summary

  • Job rotation can be a vital part of training and development programs and can help companies upskill employees without incurring high costs. 

  • While job rotation is beneficial for employee engagement and reducing turnover, it can disrupt operations if not implemented correctly. 

  • WFM technology can help managers stay on top of job rotations and ensure employees get the most out of the program.

Job rotation is a business practice that allows employees to temporarily move between job roles. It’s a strategy that, at its core, seeks to develop employee skills and interests in new areas of the organization. 

It is a practice that is vital to many different aspects of workforce management — from employee engagement to succession planning. Here are five key benefits of job rotation and why you should consider implementing a system for it. 

Key advantages of job rotation

1. Boosting employee engagement

Communicating a person’s value to the team is at the core of employee engagement. While the proverbial pat on the back and consistent encouragement are useful, exposing employees to other job roles is a much more concrete way of communicating to an employee the value they bring to the entire organization.

Webinar: How to Drive Engagement

2. Promoting lateral movements and internal promotions

Job rotation can pave the way for employees to upskill. Through this experience, employees can gain the knowledge and technical skills needed for a higher position or role. In addition, hiring or promoting from within the organization can boost employee retention and keep recruitment and training costs low.

3. Training and skills development

Job rotation can be vital to an organization’s training and development program. While employee courses and company-sponsored seminars are great opportunities, job rotation enables employees to learn from first-hand experience. It promotes learning by doing and allows employees to try their hand at all kinds of new skills they otherwise would never have a chance to practice. While job rotation may introduce new technical skills to an employee’s repertoire, it can also hone soft skills they might already possess like teamwork, communication, self-direction. 

4. Succession planning and workforce flexibility

When you conduct job rotation, you get to assess your talent base. You can determine which employees have the potential for specific roles or discover certain gaps needing to be filled. With this insight, you can make your succession planning more effective, especially when a core team member in the organization leaves. 

Furthermore, job rotation equips your staff to be more flexible. In unexpected changes or shifts in the organization, your employees can rise up to the occasion and be more comfortable dealing with these changes — all thanks to the exposure and crosstraining they gained during job rotation periods.

5. Increased collaboration

Job rotation helps break silos between departments by allowing employees to work outside of their traditional teams. This promotes better communication and rapport and helps employees ease into the idea of working on cross-departmental projects or tasks. In addition, it fosters better relationships and a stronger sense of belonging across the organization.

Industry-specific benefits of job rotation

Job rotation generally benefits all kinds of organizations, but it has critical benefits specific to business size or industry. 

Small businesses

Due to their limited talent pool, small businesses must ensure that staff are flexible and multi-faceted, ready to adapt to any situation where they are needed to fill in. Doing this saves on wage costs in the long run, as investing in recruitment and training is not a luxury small businesses typically have. 

Enterprises

Job rotations in large organizations primarily helps professional development and succession planning. Rotating employees allows staff to enrich their network within the company, equipping them with more knowledge and capacity to participate in cross-functional projects or even qualify for lateral movement. 

Service-oriented organizations

Hospitality businesses, retail stores, and restaurants can use job rotation to equip their employees with the skills necessary for better customer service. Aside from that, allowing them to rotate to different roles in the company can improve their agility when facing shorthanded situations. 

Manufacturing and industrial businesses

Job rotation provides employees with a deeper understanding of what happens at every step of the production line. This can broaden their skills, equip them to be more flexible, and provide opportunities for them to suggest how to make things more efficient. 

Best practices for conducting job rotations

While job rotation has advantages, it can also be detrimental if not done right. It can disrupt operations, reduce productivity, and increase training costs. There are also cases when employees tend to resist going on job rotations. So these are factors you must consider as you devise a plan for your organization. 

To make job rotation effective for you, here are some best practices to keep in mind. 

Set specific goals and timelines

Employees perform best when there is clarity. Rotating them in between different roles is no exception. Clearly state why they will be temporarily assigned to a different position and what’s expected of them after training. 

For instance, if you want to move an employee from marketing to support, set a clear goal and objective after job rotation. Is it how quickly and accurately they respond to product-related queries? Or is it the number of content types and topics the marketing team could do based on actual customer questions? 

It’s also essential to set a specific timeframe. For example, job rotation can last a few weeks to even a few years. Regardless of the duration that makes the most sense for your organization, it’s best to determine and specify this right off the bat to manage expectations.

Devise a preparation plan for employees who will go on job rotation

Transferring to another team and doing a new set of tasks can be daunting to employees. That’s why you must allow them to prepare before they go on job rotation. While the goal is to equip them by experiencing the job first-hand, that doesn’t mean that you just allow them to go in blind. It would be beneficial to schedule orientation sessions with the supervisor they will work with. Providing learning materials to help them have a basic knowledge of the job will also help. 

Time job rotations accordingly

Identify if there are periods within a year where there’s not much activity, and consider scheduling job rotations during this period. Then, because it’s not too busy, you have more room for adjustments and coaching. For instance, if you’re in hospitality, you can schedule job rotations during off-peak seasons. 

Gather feedback 

Remember to gather feedback after each job rotation finishes. Doing so will give you insight into your job rotation program’s effectiveness. Make sure to act on employee feedback and improve whenever necessary. 

Develop job rotation policies according to career path

Identify what career paths employees want to take. Some employees are more interested in technical advancement, which means it’s more focused on a particular function or being an individual contributor. Meanwhile, some workers are more inclined to go on a managerial track, where they would be more involved in leadership and managing teams. 

Whatever it is, make sure that you curate a job rotation program according to employees’ preferred track. Employees are more likely to be receptive to the program when it’s aligned with their career goals. 

Managing job rotations with technology

Using the right technology helps you implement and stay on top of job rotations. Workforce.com has the tools for ensuring that staff is scheduled correctly, job rotations are timed at the most appropriate time, and that communication is seamless during this period. 

Scheduling for job rotations

Creating shifts for employees on job rotations is as simple as creating regular schedules. Select the location and department they’re assigned to work in and add necessary notes or reminders before you send out the schedule. 

Workforce.com also gives you an oversight on potential gaps and areas you need to fill once job rotation starts. This enables you to quickly find another team member who’s qualified to work any vacant shift. 

Identifying the right time to implement job rotations

We talked about how crucial it is to time job rotations during slow work periods. Workforce.com’s reporting and analytics give you an insight into these things by looking at your historical data to identify less busy seasons. 

Communication and gathering feedback

Get immediate and regular feedback from your employee during job rotation. Within the Workforce.com app, staff are prompted to rate their shift and can easily share feedback on how it went while on the program. With this, you can address concerns promptly and ensure that employees on job rotation are achieving their goals and objectives. 

 

Workforce.com is a robust workforce management platform designed to streamline performance, skills management, scheduling, and employee engagement for mid-market businesses to enterprises. It’s built with tools to ensure you’re never over or understaffed, regardless of the season.

If you plan to implement job rotation schedules within your organization, Workforce.com can help ensure that your operations are running smoothly, even with staff temporarily assigned to other roles. 

To know more, book a call with us today.

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12 practical employee appreciation ideas for better engagement and retention

raccoon holding a lightbulb of ideas

Summary

  • Showing appreciation to your employees improves engagement and retention.

  • There are 12 practical ways to recognize and appreciate your team members.

  • Start by asking your employees how they like to be shown gratitude.

A healthy relationship between employer and employee should go beyond the simple exchange of money for effort. Managers and HR teams should strive to build a company culture where employees come together and actively work toward common goals. Your employees could choose to turn up to work and do the bare minimum, take their paycheck, and go home — so going beyond that should be encouraged, recognized, and rewarded.

Research shows that employee engagement is 2.7 times higher when workers feel like their hard work will be recognized. A survey by SHRM found that 68% of HR professionals agreed that implementing employee recognition activities increases retention. Fifty-six percent said that employee recognition programs are beneficial to recruitment activities.   

In light of this, we have put together 12 employee appreciation ideas HR professionals can use to show their team members that they are valued for their contributions to the organization. These ideas are applicable to both in-person offices and remote employees.

1. Give valuable feedback

raccoon getting feedback

Giving employees feedback is a vital way to show appreciation to your employees for the work they’re doing. A work culture built around feedback creates a stronger sense of teamwork and reinforces positive behavior. It creates an opportunity to tackle issues like unproductive work habits or problematic behaviors early before they have a chance to cause any real damage. 

In an organization, feedback needs to be constant and needs to happen at all levels. This includes managers to employees, employees back to their managers, and peer to peer. Research shows that 89% of HR professionals feel that ongoing peer feedback has a positive impact on their organization.

Technology can play a big role in facilitating feedback across a company, especially for remote workers. Certain apps like Workforce.com’s Shift Feedback tool allow for a standardized and efficient way to provide and receive feedback at all levels.   

2. Encourage public shout-outs

raccoon speaking into a microphone

It’s always nice to receive praise from a manager or a colleague, but when it is done publicly, it can make an employee feel even more appreciated. When praise is visible company-wide, it doubles up as a visible recommendation that can be seen at all levels of the organization. It also shows the sort of work and attitude that is appreciated by all employees.

Employee recognition software like Lattice makes it easier for companies to “cultivate a culture of praise.” With Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations, it makes manager-to-employee and peer-to-peer recognition even more visible.

3. Grant the gift of time

raccoon sitting at a table next to a clock

As much as you hope that your employees enjoy their time at work, giving them the opportunity to take some extra time off outside of the office to reward a job well done is a sure way to put a smile on their faces. 

Say an employee — or even an entire team — has reached a certain milestone or delivered their targets earlier than expected. Why not reward them with the rest of the day off? You could even consider adding an extra vacation day or two to be taken whenever it is suitable for them. 

Another great option is to consider something like a company-wide shortened workday or even shorter workweeks during the summer. Interestingly enough, fewer weekly work hours have been linked to higher productivity and better employee well-being. 

4. Harness their professional development

raccoon in a business suit

You may find that many of your employees would like to cross-train in other areas to expand their knowledge base and make themselves more helpful in case of short staffing issues. A great way to reward employees and show that you care is to give them the opportunity to develop new skills on the job.

Offer to enroll them in a mentoring program, let them work a shift they don’t normally work, reimburse their course tuition, or send them to conferences on topics that are of interest to them. 

5. Write them a recommendation on social media

raccoon holding an iphone

Why not show public appreciation outside of the workplace? Write your employees a rave review on LinkedIn highlighting their value to the company and the great work they do. The high visibility of a LinkedIn recommendation also helps your employee with their career development. When they eventually seek roles with other companies, prospective employers will likely give a lot of weight to your endorsement.

6. Organize something fun for the team

raccoons at the beach

Show your staff members that you appreciate the work they do as a unit by organizing team-building events and activities. This could be anything from a retreat to the countryside, hikes, or a day of hands-on volunteering with a local charity.

7. Acknowledge and celebrate birthdays and work anniversaries

raccoon birthday party

There are certain dates that need to be celebrated. Work anniversaries represent a job well done to both employer and employee. The employer has evidently created a work environment that harnesses retention, and the employee has given another year of effort to the company. 

Birthdays are special occasions on an individual level. Friends and families celebrate each other’s birthdays, and colleagues should do the same. 

Consider celebrating with employee appreciation gifts. Company swag items like branded t-shirts for work anniversaries or gift cards for birthdays are just some gift ideas you can consider. 

With remote work, things get a bit more complicated. This is where online events and activities over Zoom or Slack may come in handy. You can host a happy hour on a Zoom call, have casual chats in virtual break rooms, or organize talent shows on dedicated Slack channels.  

If your remote workers are located in the same few areas or cities, you can even host a series of in-person events grouped by location.

There are a number of software solutions you can use to stay aware of all significant dates. Systems like Workforce.com or Slack’s BirthdayBot are great for keeping the entire company up to date on upcoming birthdays and anniversaries.

8. Celebrate your employees for what they achieve outside of the office

raccoon holding a trophy

Take the time to learn about what your employees are interested in and what big events are happening in their lives and celebrate these things with them. Highlighting and recognizing the importance of these things helps to encourage a healthy work-life balance amongst your staff.

This way, you recognize employees for who they are as people beyond their work deliverables. It is important to learn about and highlight out-of-office events on a regular basis. Celebrate when employees:

  • Get married, have children, adopt a dog
  • Move into a new house
  • Finish their thesis
  • Launch an album with their band
  • … Or anything they may wish to share with their colleagues

9. Look out for your employees’ mental health and wellness

raccoon with rain cloud above its head

Tackling stress and burnout and looking after your employees’ well-being is more of a duty than a form of staff appreciation. Nonetheless, going the extra mile and offering your staff perks linked to their health and wellness enhances the employee experience. 

Healthy and stress-free employees are also good for business. The WHO found that depression and anxiety in the workplace cost the global economy $1 trillion a year.

As an employer, you can offer health and wellness stipends to cover things like gym memberships, sports activities, therapy, or subscriptions to meditation apps.

10. Give monetary incentives

raccoon holding money

While this might seem obvious and unoriginal, bestowing the occasional bonus as a token of appreciation can work wonders for employee morale. Consider giving cash rewards for reaching certain milestones. Or, think about offering staff additional compensation for claiming vacant shifts last minute. Alternatively, you can implement a performance-based profit-share plan throughout the company, to be given out once or twice a year.

11. Level up your virtual team’s “office” space

raccoon sitting at computer

Many companies go the extra mile to make their office spaces comfortable and functional for employees. Consider doing the same for your remote employees too. Some people might not have gotten around to investing in their home workspaces. 

This is particularly true for employees who had to suddenly adapt to remote work at the start of the pandemic and who might not have invested the time, energy, or money to upgrade their workspaces.

Show gratitude to your team members by offering reimbursements or gift cards at certain stores where they can purchase things like desks, proper office chairs, and monitors. 

12. Make sure they have the right tools to get the job done

raccoon wearing a hardhat

Have your employees got access to the best tools to get their job done? If you’re expecting your sales teams to get results without a good CMS or your HR team to organize rosters without the right scheduling software — you’re making their lives unnecessarily complicated. It’s also important to ensure that the technology staff use to clock in and apply for time off is accurate and simple to use. User-friendly software goes a long way in keeping employees happy and feeling appreciated. 

But before implementing any tool, start by speaking to your employees and understanding what their roadblocks to success are. Do research on what solutions are out there to help them overcome these roadblocks and identify the best fit for your employees’ needs. 

Show meaningful gratitude beyond employee appreciation day 

Waiting for the 3rd of March every year to show your employees that you value the hard work they do is not enough. You need to create a culture of appreciation across the whole team and give them the tools to be able to do so easily. 

The employee recognition ideas we presented here are just some suggestions that have worked for other companies. A good first step to building your own employee appreciation program is to actually ask your people how they like to be shown gratitude. 

You should also be looking beyond appreciation tactics if solving a deeper issue, like employee turnover, is your main goal. If so, check out our free webinar on how to better retain hourly workers. 

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How short-staffed resorts can optimize scheduling

We live in the time of “The Great American Labor Shortage.” The leisure and hospitality industry faced a high unemployment rate of 39.3% in 2020, which, combined with the high number of job openings, reveals just how understaffed the sector is.

The World Travel & Tourism Council estimated a labor shortfall of 690,000 workers in the tourism and travel industries in 2021. Vail Resorts is one of many resort companies facing this problem. A shortage of chairlift operators, lift engineers, and snowcat drivers has delayed the resort’s ability to open doors to its skiing visitors.

Why has COVID led to a shortage of talent?

According to the Colorado Sun, lots of resorts in the country are in the same predicament as Vail Resorts. This widespread lack of active workers in the industry can be attributed to several reasons — all tied to the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • COVID fears: Staff doesn’t want to return to work because they’re scared of catching the virus.
  • Poor management: Resort management let go of many people last year, and one of the possible reasons they may not be hiring anyone back is to help recover from the profit lost during shutdowns.
  • Parental caregiving during the pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic led a number of schools across the country to shut down. Parents without access to childcare are forced to remain home and are unable to rejoin the workforce.

In order to prevent the loss of customers whose needs are unmet, resort managers must optimize their scheduling while short-staffed.

To optimize scheduling while being short-staffed, you need to:

1. Use labor forecasting

Estimate sales demand by using labor forecasting software to look at historical sales data and then schedule shifts accordingly. You’ll be able to schedule your scarce labor smartly to meet sales demand. For instance, you might be able to schedule more experienced employees when the sales demand is high.

Sales demand is likely to fluctuate post-pandemic, and managers need to ensure that worker scheduling can adapt easily to meet sudden demand shifts.

You can also forecast labor demand by individual departments and monitor whether, say, more employees need to be scheduled in mountain operations versus lodging at a ski resort. For instance, a lot of people may be coming to ski for the day but not booking rooms for the weekend, meaning the level of scheduled labor needed will vary between the two departments.

2. Make schedules agile and adaptable

Prepare schedules in advance, two weeks at a minimum, to give employees the ability to communicate their need for coverage in the event of unforeseen scheduling conflicts.

Use hospitality employee scheduling software to centralize scheduling and increase your staff’s commitment to shift adherence. By using mobile technology like shift swaps and replacements, you minimize any last-minute scheduling changes, increasing both administrative adaptability and staff agility.

You must also manage leave requests in a timely manner to avoid being short-staffed. You don’t want too many employees taking leave at the same time. Discuss leave requests with each staff member to avoid any scheduling surprises down the road. Staff members should be encouraged to put in leave requests by giving at least a few days’ notice, so you can plan schedules in a timely manner.

3. Increase employee engagement

Focus on improving your overall staff experience. If your employees feel engaged, they are more likely to show up and do their best work and provide the best service.

With a centralized communication tool, it’s possible to quickly notify staff of timely updates or important company announcements. Getting your message out there efficiently on a unified system properly engages staff, makes them feel valued, and solves issues in disconnected communication with management.

Another way to increase employee engagement is to open up more avenues for staff to provide shift feedback. Employees may feel inclined to report on how various aspects of their shifts, from coworker cooperation to issues in staffing levels. Having the ability to give management feedback like this empowers employees, making them feel more valued. This leads to engaged and productive resort staff, even in the face of a shortage in labor.

You should also offer incentives to engage employees and boost their morale. Workers are happier when they’re well compensated. A lot of restaurant and hotel owners are offering higher wages to attract and retain employees. For instance, an ice cream parlor raised wages to $15 an hour and filled all of their 15 open positions immediately. As per Hotel Tech Report, higher pay rates can decrease absenteeism and control employee turnover, which is good news for short-staffed hotels and resorts.

Replicate these successes and improve employee motivation by offering a higher pay rate during busier shifts and during peak season.

4. Automate breaks

Employees need breaks so they don’t feel stressed or overworked, factors that often lead to staff attrition.

Between multiple departments with varying needs, resort management already spends too much time preparing employee schedules manually — up to 12 hours a week. Short staffing levels only add to this time, causing even more headaches for management. In the midst of all these hurdles, scheduling and enforcing breaks might slip between the cracks.

Solve this by implementing employee scheduling software that automatically applies legally compliant breaks to every employee’s schedule. These breaks should be easily monitorable by both employees and managers alike, ensuring short-staffed teams stay well-rested and productive. Leadership should receive notifications when employees miss breaks, and they should be able to track a live timeclock feed to know when and where workers are taking their breaks.

5. Cross-train employees

Train employees to handle a broad range of tasks so they’re more well-rounded and well-equipped to deal with short-staffing challenges. The best way to do this is to encourage your staff members to mentor and train each other.

Start by making a list of everyone on your team and include their job descriptions. Think about the expertise each role requires and then pair positions that share similar skill sets. For instance, you can pair up wait staff with those working in the front office team, both client-facing roles. The wait staff team members would learn how to perform check-ins, check-outs, and make reservations, and the front office team members would learn how to serve customers at the restaurant.

If all of your staff are cross-trained and multi-functional, they’ll be able to fill in for each other. It will become possible for you to rotate your staff across different departments to meet varying customer needs.

Proper WFM practices mitigate short-staffing pains

Workforce management can be quite complex for individual departments to handle, especially while short-staffed. By uniting staff on one platform and deploying the tips above, it’s possible to have executive oversight on staffing needs. If you’d like to overcome the challenges of the short-staffing problem at your resort, get in touch with us today!

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5 ways to inspire employee engagement today

employee engagement tips

Employee engagement is not something you can achieve overnight. 

It takes time, dedication and leadership commitment for those HR leaders who want their workplaces to become a great place to work. Even Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist for Gallup, admits that seeing a significant change in engagement scores could take years. 

But don’t be discouraged. There are many things that can be done immediately that will start moving the needle on employee engagement. Here are five places to start.

1. Say something shocking. 

“Engagement is like a river,” said Greg Barnett, senior vice president of science for HR consultancy Predictive Index in Boston. “Sometimes you have to do something dramatic to change the way it flows.”

To do that, Barnett suggests leaders figure out what is missing from their culture, then make a grand gesture to demonstrate that things are going to be different. It could be sharing previously guarded company information, publicly celebrating employees for their hard work, or discussing the bad news that everyone has heard rumors about but no one is willing to discuss. “Shocking them with transparency is a great way to get everyone’s attention,” Barnett said.

2. Practice gratitude. 

“Showing employees that you value what they do is critical for engagement,” said Sarah Hamilton, senior director of HR for North America at Workhuman in Framingham, Massachusetts. “It shows them that what they do matters and helps them see how their work drives the company forward.”

Showing gratitude doesn’t require a sophisticated reward system or official gratitude program. It can be as simple as congratulating teams on the company’s social media platform, sending a personal note of thanks, and acknowledging their hard work in every conversation. “It feels good to be recognized but it also feels good to recognize others,” Hamilton said. “It is a powerful experience for everyone.”

3. Help them plan their careers.

Fully 94 percent of employees say they would stay at a company longer if the organization invested in their development. The ability to learn new skills makes them feel engaged and appreciated and shows them that the company is willing to invest in their future, Barnett said. “Managers can quickly make a short-term impact on engagement simply by paying attention to employees’ career development.” 

He encourages managers to build training plans around employees’ goals even if they extend beyond a career at the company. “Start by listening to what employees want for the future,” he said. Then if possible, help them find the training, mentoring and career advice to make it possible.

Some companies are tackling this goal head on. For example, Amazon’s Career Choice program covers tuition for employees who want training in any in-demand field — even if it has no relevance to the company; and McDonald’s new career exploration app, Archways to Careers, offers employees career advice to help them map out their professional career wherever it may take them. 

“Building an entire career development program requires coordinated effort,” he admitted. But taking the time to ask what employees want to do with their lives then offering to help is a great first step. 

4. Provide constant feedback.

The annual performance review is unofficially dead. If you want people to see the connection between their hard work and the company’s success, then constantly talk to them about it, Hamilton said. Workhuman uses the company’s Conversations platform to enable easy regular check-ins between managers and employees and between peers. 

She noted that teammates and colleagues often have a better sense of how work gets done and who is contributing than managers. Encouraging peer-to-peer feedback creates a culture of engagement and ensures hard work gets acknowledged. “A continuous feedback loop motivates and empowers employees, and makes everyone feel appreciated,” Hamilton said. 

5. Don’t stop.

All of these strategies can have a short-term impact on employee engagement, but the change will be fleeting unless you stay committed to these actions. That means continuing to be transparent, support career development, provide feedback and practice gratitude on a daily basis. “Engagement programs often fail because after a few months everyone moves on to the next thing,” Barnett said. 

So don’t do it unless you are willing to make changes that will stick.

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Why ethics is the crux of employee engagement

protest, employee rights

Throughout 2019, numerous factors forced companies to recognize the importance of ethical leadership. 

Barcelona, Catalonia. Thousands of people took to the streets as part of the worldwide movement. Global Climate Strike, international, protests and action against climate change.From Google’s employee protests and walkouts to the onset of GDPR and data privacy troubles of companies like Facebook, ethics has not only dominated the headlines but also become a catalyst of both employee satisfaction and business success.

In this climate, employee alignment is simultaneously more important and difficult than ever to achieve. Employers are demanding more out of their employees, but at the same time, face a range of evolving preferences and digital distractions that make it difficult to capture their attention and trust. Business and HR leaders must adopt an ethos of ethical leadership while thoughtfully implementing engagement strategies or risk losing top employees and the ability to recruit the best as the war for talent rages on.

Ethical practices or a lack thereof will give organizations a competitive advantage or become their demise. 

Set the tone at the top

While they may seem insignificant at the time, small actions and decisions by company leadership can add up to big consequences and contribute to the ethical fabric of the workplace. First and foremost, business and HR leaders must prioritize a renewed commitment to transparency — and make it known. Then, they can incorporate tools and strategies to make their values more visible across the entire company, including frontline and deskless workers (i.e., the 80 percent of the workforce that doesn’t sit at a computer).

Also read: 5 ways leaders ruin employee engagement 

An authentic presence of leaders is the most important element in building trust with employees. This not only boosts productivity and performance but also prevents behavior that creates a toxic work environment. Leaders who are genuine and open in their communications can also help thwart digital water coolers from spreading misinformation around the workplace, especially with today’s social and collaboration platforms that make it easy for anyone to spread misinformation.

When challenges do arise, it is critical to get ahead of the conversation through proactive, honest communication, sharing the “why” behind decisions so employees hear it straight from the source. Business and HR leaders should be vigilant in sharing these types of company updates to instill trust and reinforce values. 

Shockingly, only 16 percent of employees worldwide consider themselves fully engaged. And in the face of an engagement crisis, annual or quarterly surveys don’t cut it to ensure employees’ needs are met. Instead, an approach that focuses on data from employee behavior and pulse polls delivered at optimal times can give leaders a real-time temperature on their organization. These insights can quickly be turned into action to most efficiently reach and engage all employees.

The most effective way to align the workforce must take employee preferences into account. For example, some workers may find nontraditional and more interactive forms of communications to be a welcome change from email or chat, which can create an “always on” culture and lead to burnout. 

More vibrant media, such as audio and video methods, makes the quality of interactions far richer, facilitating community-building and allowing distributed workers to feel closer to the business. Whatever their preferences may be, tailoring engagement strategies through a data-based, personalized approach ensures all employees get the information they need to build trust.

Empower employees to speak up

In an era of employee activism, organizations must not only support but actively encourage employees to make themselves heard. Instead of top-down communications, establishing two-way communication channels and mechanisms for feedback gives employees the opportunity to provide perspectives and ask questions in a way that holds leaders accountable. 

With this in mind, organizations should acknowledge and ensure that all employee feedback is heard and proper action is being taken. HR managers should use the data and insights from these channels and programs to reevaluate their diversity, equal pay or other policies and make sure they are as impactful as possible. They should also use these tools and insights to implement valuable recognition programs, whether rewards, promotions, bonuses or other programs so employees feel motivated to do their best work. 

In 2020, ethical leadership will no longer be an option, but an imperative that directly impacts the bottom line, pushing companies to build ethics into policies and practices, place a renewed focus on culture and seek ways to measure the impact of their efforts. 

In a digital workplace, business leaders must adopt tools, technologies and practices to create a more connected, engaged and productive workforce or risk losing trust in an era when it’s needed most.