Tag: HR

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11 HR Basics for Small Businesses

Summary:

  • Statistics show that small businesses employ 61.6 million people in the United States, almost half (45.9%) of the US workforce.
  • With lean HR teams, small businesses must learn how to properly prioritize HR-related tasks.
  • Human resource management has many areas, and technology can simplify it for small businesses. Workforce.com is a best-in-class platform that helps small businesses with employee relations, labor compliance, payroll, and more.

Small business owners wear many hats—manager, marketer, strategist, and sometimes even accountant. However, one of the most crucial roles you play is that of a human resources (HR) manager.

While your business may be small, it’s vital to establish solid HR practices. From hiring your first employee to managing a growing team, understanding HR basics is key to fostering a positive company culture and ensuring legal compliance. 

Whether you’re personally handling HR tasks or entrusting them to someone on your team, here are 11 HR basics to focus on for your small business.

1. Labor compliance

Regardless of size, businesses are governed by labor laws under the local, state, and federal governments. This includes rules around employee classification, minimum wage, overtime, anti-discrimination, and workplace safety. 

As a small business, it’s vital to familiarize yourself with applicable employment laws to remain compliant and ensure that your policies are aligned with labor rules. Furthermore, some rules may differ for small businesses and large corporations, so constantly checking and verifying is best. 

For instance, in Massachusetts, businesses with 11 or more employees must provide paid sick leave, while those with fewer than 11 employees are only required to provide unpaid sick leave. 

If you have doubts about the proper protocol for employing someone, you should always consult your state’s Department of Labor.

2. Employee handbook

An employee handbook is more than just an administrative document; it’s a vital tool that sets clear expectations, promotes consistency, and protects your business and employees. But most importantly, from an employer’s perspective, a handbook helps defend against employee lawsuits. Small businesses must prioritize having a well-crafted handbook from the start. 

An employee handbook provides a foundation for a cohesive workplace, ensuring everyone is aligned with company policies and procedures. Sure, employees may memorize only some of the policies in one sitting, but it pays to have this document readily available so they have something to refer back to. It’s vital for clarifying HR policies, work hours, code of conduct, benefits, leave policies, disciplinary procedures, termination process, separation agreements, and emergency procedures. 

Creating a thorough and compliant handbook is a must to prove your business exercises “reasonable care” towards staff. Don’t skip it; otherwise, you will most likely be in for a world of hurt in the future.

3. Job descriptions

Small businesses also need to have job descriptions for every position. And no, I do not mean job postings. I mean job descriptions. These are internal documents that outline critical responsibilities, required skills, expectations, and qualifications for each role in your company.

Referring to job descriptions is extremely useful for things like performance management, promotion, hiring, and terminations.Writing multiple job descriptions may be daunting and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have any in place and are trying to catch up. To help you get started, here are customizable job description templates that you can use.

4. Recruitment

A core area of HR is recruitment. Hiring employees is difficult, especially if you’re just now beginning to build your workforce.

Small businesses should create a recruitment process that outlines job postings, interviews, and background checks. Remember that HR is typically the first point of contact for potential hires, so ensure that you have a straightforward process of how recruitment will go. In addition, see to it that you’re not violating any anti-discriminatory laws.

5. Onboarding

Another vital part of HR is onboarding. A crucial step in this stage is gathering all necessary information and paperwork from an incoming team member. These include employee classification, W-4 and I-9 forms, social security numbers, bank details, marital status, and e-signatures.

Onboarding also integrates new hires into the company. An onboarding plan or roadmap should include steps that cover policies and procedures, training, company culture, and what’s expected of a new employee within the first week, first month, first 60 days, and so on.

Also read: Creating a Better Onboarding Process for Hourly Staff

6. Time and attendance tracking

Time tracking is the backbone of paying your employees correctly. Establish a process for capturing this information to ensure accuracy. Aside from employee time punches and overtime, you must also monitor your staff’s time off and leave balances.

There are several ways to track employee work hours. You can opt for paper timesheets, which are physical records of clock-ins and clock-outs. While simple to use, these are easily tampered with and time-consuming to verify. You can also use punch cards. While more straightforward to implement than paper timesheets, punch cards require clunky time clock machines – prone to mechanical failure and susceptible to buddy punching.

Cloud-based software is another option to track employee time. It can be automated and used across devices like cell phones, tablets, and desktop computers. Software like this typically has additional features to verify timesheets and prevent time theft. Whatever method you choose, go for one that will help you streamline the process of timesheet approvals; this is an area that can take up a lot of your HR admin time.

7. Employee scheduling

Employee scheduling is another significant part of running a business, big or small. While not typically a function of HR, in a small business the HR manager or owner typically will find themselves involved in creating and managing shift schedules.

Scheduling may seem straightforward, but it goes beyond setting and assigning shifts to staff. It is the art of balancing demand versus the number of employees you need to schedule. This is especially true for hourly workforces in the hospitality, restaurant, and retail industries.

Furthermore, you also need a process for when an employee can’t make it to work at the last minute. How do you find available qualified staff? It pays to have a set of steps to follow in such situations so you don’t end up short of people.

8. Payroll

Running payroll involves computing and distributing employee wages and salaries. Typically, you can run payroll yourself with the help of software, or outsource the work to a payroll service company. If you choose to calculate payroll yourself, you’ll need to track hours worked, employee classifications, applicable overtime, tax withholdings, benefits, and deductions. A lot goes into every pay run, and it can be more complex when you have hourly workers. 

Here are some of the basics you’ll need to start running payroll:

  1. Employer Identification Number
  2. W-4 Forms
  3. I-9 Forms
  4. State tax withholding forms
  5. Direct deposit authorization forms

You also need to establish a payment schedule. Payroll can be released weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. To determine which makes the most sense for you, consider business needs, cash flow, industry practices, and state laws or payday requirements.

9. Performance management and feedback

HR departments, whether in a small company or a big corporation, must implement a system for regular employee performance reviews. This is to retain top talent, boost employee engagement, and identify areas where more training may be needed. You must ensure that staff are on the right track and know the value they bring to the organization. When your employees are thriving, so does your business. It also pays to have a program for recognition and rewards to maintain morale and keep your team motivated. 

Performance reviews are not always formal sit-down meetings every month or quarter. In fact, it can be more spontaneous and informal. Coaching can be more in the moment, especially when your managers are on the floor with the team. 

Gathering employee feedback is also an important part of this. Setting up a system where staff can tell you what’s working and what needs to improve is advisable. Use the feedback to optimize your operations and spot potential problems. 

10. Employee development and training

Training and development is an excellent followthrough to your feedback process. Provide training opportunities to help employees develop their skills and advance their careers. This is a good step in preparing them for a more significant role. In some cases, though, additional training is conducted to bridge a gap and bring employees to where they currently are to where you want them to perform. 

It’s also vital to conduct compliance training. Ensure employees receive mandatory training, such as sexual harassment prevention or safety training.

11. Recordkeeping

HR is also responsible for maintaining accurate and confidential employee records such as personal information, performance evaluations, and disciplinary actions. They must also secure compliance documentation and compliance records, such as employment eligibility and payroll records. 

Why is HR important for small businesses?

Small businesses must prioritize HR because it’s the backbone of any operation. Whether you have a dedicated team or just one person to oversee it, you must perform HR responsibilities. You need to be compliant, hire for essential roles, retain top talent, and pay employees correctly to succeed.

While there may be some differences between laws for small businesses and big corporations, the fact remains that HR-related responsibilities exist for both. 

As a small business, prioritizing HR this early gives you an advantage because you can set the tone early and ensure your business is on the right track. It may require a lot of hard work now, but instilling these habits and processes early on will make it easier for you as your business grows.

The benefits of HR software for small businesses

Properly managing the full scope of HR is a daunting prospect for a small business. Typically, HR takes a backseat to more functional duties that keep a business running on a daily basis. However, by using software to shoulder some of the responsibilities of HR, smaller businesses can successfully set up a strong foundation and push through some key initiatives.

Here are the benefits of HR technology and why investing in it is a wise investment for small businesses.

Time and cost

HR management takes time, and software can significantly reduce time spent on manual and administrative tasks such as payroll, time and attendance tracking, and benefits administration. Having a cloud-based system in place frees up time for small business owners or HR staff to focus on strategic tasks. Furthermore, it reduces administrative costs related to paperwork and long hours spent on manual processes.

Improved compliance

HR software helps keep your compliance more airtight. Since it automates most of the processes, you can rest assured that you’re keeping a record of every vital information related to compliance and audits. It also helps track deadlines for compliance-related tasks and provides reminders for legal requirements such as employee eligibility verification and OSHA reporting.

Accuracy

Because HR software keeps employee data centralized. Since it is a single platform to store and manage all employee information, it’s simple and quick to update records, manage benefits, process payroll, and optimize employee schedules. 

HR software simplifies benefits enrollment by providing a user-friendly platform for employees to select and manage their benefits, reducing the administrative workload and improving accuracy. 

It also ensures that all time and attendance records are accurate, making timesheets easier to process every pay period.

Simplified processes

HR is rife with many administrative processes, and if you do them manually, you can quickly find yourself buried in paperwork, tracking employee information, and sifting through legal rules. HR software can simplify all of that for you. 

It can help you automate and standardize onboarding, benefits enrollment and management, time and attendance tracking, payroll processing, compliance, and even some areas of performance management. 

Because HR technology streamlines much of the administrative work, you can focus on making more strategic decisions, such as improving employee benefits package, optimizing schedules according to demand, addressing workplace conflict, and taking action on employee feedback.

Employee self-service and transparency

Employee self-service is another core capability of good HR software. It lets your employees check their schedules, view their leave balances, check their benefits, and update their information. 

Employee self-service capability should begin with onboarding, where new hires can upload their information and necessary documents to your systems. As a result, you avoid double entries, minimize errors, and spend less time on admin. 

Self-service portals often allow employees to update their personal information, view pay stubs, request time off, and access the employee handbook and company policies.

Data-driven decision making

HR software equips managers with better scheduling and workforce planning. An HR software that tracks demand can quickly provide insights into how to create more profitable shifts, ensuring that you’re not over or understaffing. It can also help you determine whether to hire more people or optimize your team’s hours.

Through analytics and reporting features, you can also create strategic moves by tracking turnover rates, employee sentiment and satisfaction, and recruitment efficiency.

Workforce.com simplifies HR for small businesses

Workforce.com understands the ins and outs of running a small business, especially those employing hourly workers. Whether a small business owner or a single team member tasked with HR duties, Workforce.com can be your HR sidekick.

Workforce.com is an all-in-one platform that handles HR, scheduling, and payroll in one single platform. It encompasses all areas of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to offboarding. Ready to meet your HR assistant? Book a demo to see Workforce.com in action. 

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Termination Letter to Employee [Template + Example]

Summary

  • An employee termination letter is an official document given to employees to notify them that they are being let go. It should include the reason for termination, effective date, and next steps.

  • Employee termination letters should include the reason for termination, effective date, and next steps. They should be concise, factual, and carefully written.

  • While a termination letter is vital to the offboarding process, sometimes it is simply not enough. Most times it is essential to sit down with an employee face-to-face. 

An employee termination letter is vital to letting people go regardless of the reason. It is a written form of documentation that officially declares the termination of employment.

To check out some examples and templates, click here.

While termination letters may sound straightforward, there’s actually a lot that goes into them – and for good reason. Getting them wrong can lead to all kinds of issues for your organization down the road. So, let’s take a look at some ways to get termination letters right. 

Why are termination letters important?

Short answer: to avoid legal trouble.  

A termination letter should stand in court if ever the need arises. It’s crucial to make it airtight and leave no room for doubt and misinterpretation. If an employee feels they have been unfairly terminated, the letter may be used to point out discrepancies or unfair employment practices. 

Aside from legal issues, termination letters also play a role in ending things amicably with your employees. While it should sound direct and objective, a properly curated termination letter should provide every vital detail relating to the termination, such as the reason for termination, when it takes effect, and final compensation.

What an employee termination letter should include

While terminating an employee is never a pleasant experience, you can soften the blow by doing it properly – writing a sound termination letter is a critical part of this. Here are some things that every termination letter should include:

Basic details

First, a letter should include the who, what, and when. It must clearly state that it’s for ending employment, who it is for, and when it will take effect. It also should include contact information in case the employee needs more information or has questions. 

Reason for termination

The reason for termination is at the heart of this document, and the letter should be able to clearly state why an employee is being let go. Typically, termination is warranted due to the following reasons:

  • Downsizing or laying off – One of the top reasons for letting employees go is downsizing. If you’re writing a termination letter for this reason, you must explain the need to downsize and why their position is affected. 
  • For cause – In some cases, employees are let go due to cause, such as violating company policies, unsatisfactory performance, misconduct, stealing or damaging company property, chronic tardiness, absenteeism, and falsifying company records. Letting go of staff for cause tends to be more complicated because, without documented proof and HR references, an employer’s cause can be called into question. It helps to consult with your legal team to ensure that you’re adhering to all relevant company policies and labor laws.
  • Termination of contract – This reason is typical for freelance workers and happens when a project ends or if there’s no need for the services anymore.

Best practices for writing a termination letter 

While undoubtedly difficult for both the employee and employer, following proper termination protocol can really minimize the burden and stress felt by both parties. Here are some tips for doing just that:

Include all the necessary information

As mentioned, a termination letter is formal documentation that, if need be, should stand in court. It has to be direct and very specific. A suitable termination letter answers the following questions:

  1. When will the employment officially end?
  2. Why is the employee being let go? 
  3. When can they expect their final paycheck, and how much will it be?
  4. What will happen to their employee benefits?
  5. On their end, what are the next steps they need to take (e.g., returning company property)
  6. Who can they contact should they have follow-up questions?

While a termination letter should be concise, don’t hesitate to include as much relevant information as possible. This is especially important if an employee is being terminated for cause. Include information such as policies violated, a timeline of events, performance reviews, and investigation results.

For instance, if an employee is being let go for time and attendance issues, provide a record of their absenteeism or tardiness using data from a workforce management and/or HR system. 

Webinar: How to Reduce Absenteeism

Use the right tone

A termination letter is a formal document, so it needs to sound professional and direct. While the goal is to end the employment amicably, the termination letter is not the place to be sarcastic, candid, or drop jokes. Instead, state the necessary information and make sure that everything is clear.

Consult your legal team

Consulting with your legal department helps termination letters be more airtight and solid. While termination letters are all routine, there’s always that risk of overlooking minute but vital details. So get legal advice and take time and go over your company’s termination policy, making sure the letter aligns with it. 

In some cases, legal advice can also help you determine if termination is really the right thing to do. For instance, you’re terminating an employee for absenteeism. Is termination the right step at this time? Did the employee receive warnings before termination? Again, your legal team can help spot these potential issues before you even send that letter and risk legal repercussions later.   

Pair it with a meeting

Before you serve the termination notice, it’s best to speak with your employees. While termination always comes with a shock, having a face-to-face meeting about it helps soften the blow. 

A conversation adds face-to-face honesty and human respect to the termination process – elements not found in a black-and-white letter. No one wants to open their email and see that they’ve been let go and their employee access revoked. It’s an unfortunate situation, but having some warning can help employees manage better.

Termination letter due to cause – Template

Download template here

(Date)

Subject line: Notice of termination

Dear (employee name), 

This letter is to inform you that your employment as (name of position) at (company name) is officially terminated effective (date of termination). 

You have been terminated due to the following reasons:

(A detailed list or explanation of why you are terminating the employee. Include timelines, incident reports, investigation details, a list of policies violated, and other relevant information.)

Please surrender the following by (date):

(a list of company property endorsed to the employee)

Access to (platforms and tools) will also be revoked by (date and time). 

Please expect to receive your last pay by (date). Your final paycheck will include (salary, leave encashment, or other benefits). A detailed computation breakdown will also be provided.

In addition, keep in mind that you have signed (agreements or policies such as confidentiality agreements, NDAs, and non-compete documents). Attached are copies of said documents for your reference. 

If you have any questions, you may contact (name of company representative) at (contact details). 

Regards, 

(Name), (Position)

(Company name)

Termination letter due to cause – Example

Download template here

Date: February 27, 2023

Subject line: Notice of termination

Dear Michael Smith, 

This letter is to inform you that your employment as Sales Associate at Retail Company will be officially terminated effective February 28, 2023. 

You have been terminated due to excessive tardiness. According to company policy, an employee should not exceed 7 days of coming late to work in a month. Employees are considered late when they arrive 16 minutes past their scheduled start time. The first offense will result in a verbal warning. The second offense will result in a written warning. The third offense will result in a 14-day suspension without pay. The fourth and final offense will result in termination. 

Based on your recent timesheet records, you have been late for 11 days in February. 

Prior to this incident, the following sanctions were also administered due to your tardiness:

    • December 29, 2022 – You were given a verbal warning for your excessive tardiness and for being late for 8 days in December. We scheduled a check-in after two weeks to see if your attendance improved.
    • January 12, 2023 – You were given a written warning and were asked to explain why you’re always coming in late, and you attributed it to heavy morning traffic. To help with your predicament, your supervisor scheduled you for afternoon shifts for the next two weeks. 
    • January 26, 2023 – Because your attendance didn’t improve and you were late for 10 days in January, you were served a suspension period of 14 days without pay. This also served as your last warning. 
    • February 24, 2023 – Upon checking your timesheet records, you have been late for 11 days in February. 

After deliberating with the management team, we deem that termination is the best course of action. Evidently, the lates were excessive and had been going on for consecutive months, despite scheduling adjustments. 

Please surrender your company ID, store key, and company-issued uniform by February 28, 2023. Also, your access to the company time and attendance platform will be revoked on the same date. 

In addition, please keep in mind that you have signed a confidentiality agreement with us. Please see attached document for your reference. 

If you have any questions, you may contact Shelly Harper at shellyharper@retailcompany.com. 

Regards, 

Jack Foster

Head of Human Resources, Retail Company

Termination letter due to layoffs – Template

Download template here

(Date)

Subject line: Company layoff

Dear (employee name),

We regret to inform you that (name of company) needs to let some of its employees go due to (reason for laying off). Unfortunately, your role is affected, and we would need to end your employment effective on (date). 

We understand this will cause challenges for you, and we intend to make the offboarding process smooth for everyone. 

The breakdown and computation of your final pay will be sent to you by (date), and you shall receive your last paycheck by (date). 

We also request you return the following company-issued items on or before (date):

(list of company property endorsed to the employee)

Please be informed that your access to (company tools and platforms) will be revoked by (date). 

We appreciate the time you have worked with us and wish you all the best in the future. 

For any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact (name of company representative) at (contact details). 

Sincerely,

(Name)

(Position), (Company name)

Termination letter due to layoffs – Example

Download template here

March 16, 2023

Subject line: Company layoff

Dear Stephen Simmons,

We regret to inform you that IT Company needs to let some of its employees go due to financial difficulties. Unfortunately, your role as IT Specialist is affected, and we would need to end your employment effective on March 24, 2023. 

We understand this will cause challenges for you, and we intend to make the offboarding process smooth for everyone. 

The breakdown and computation of your final pay will be sent to you by March 22, 2023, and you shall receive your last paycheck by March 24, 2023. 

We also request you return your work laptop and company ID on or before March 24, 2023. In addition, access to your company email, IT database and tools, and workforce management system will also be revoked by March 24, 2023. 

Your medical and other benefits will remain effective until March 31, 2023. 

We thank you for the time you have worked with us, and we wish you all the best in the future. 

For any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Heather Watson at heather@ITcompany.com. 

Sincerely,

Chris Mitchell

Head of Human Resources, IT Company

Termination letter ending contract – Template

(Date)

Subject line: End of contract

Dear (name), 

Please be informed that we no longer require your services by (date). 

We thank you for providing us with excellent (type of service), but due to (reasons), we had to end our contract. 

Please submit all pending deliverables by (date). We will settle all outstanding bills by (date), so please send all invoices by (date). 

In addition, please be advised that you will lose access to (company-owned platforms and tools) by (date).

Once again, we thank you for your time working with us. We wish you all the best in your future projects. 

Please feel free to reach out to (name) at (contact information) if you have any questions. 

Sincerely, 

(Name)

(Position), (Company Name) 

Termination letter ending contract – Example

March 16, 2023

Subject line: End of contract

Dear Judith McCain, 

Please be informed that Advertising Company no longer requires your services by March 24, 2023. 

We thank you for providing us with excellent copywriting and content services. Unfortunately, however, the project has ended, and we also need to end your contract. 

Please submit all pending deliverables by March 21, 2023. On our end, we will settle all outstanding bills by the same date. Therefore, please send all invoices by March 22, 2023, so we can pay you promptly. 

In addition, please be advised that you will lose access to our content management system, project board, and internal messaging tool by March 24, 2023.

Once again, we thank you for your time working with us. We wish you all the best in your future projects. 

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. 

Sincerely, 

Faye Smith

Creative Director, Advertising Company

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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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The 10-minute guide to 2021 labor law compliance

Labor laws are a potentially lethal minefield for companies, particularly in today’s turbulent labor market, as the cost of labor law compliance failures can be enormous.

Labor law fines tend to stack per infraction so with large employee numbers the financial risk can grow exponentially, as with the recent high profile example of New York City suing Chipotle (https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/29/business/chipotle-nyc-lawsuit-labor-law/index.html) for $151 million over 600,000 labor law violations accumulated within the city. In Tennessee, a home health care provider misclassified fifty workers as independent contractors rather than employees and was hit with a $358k penalty (https://www.workforce.com/news/worker-misclassification)by the Department of Labor to make up back wages and overtime.

Ignorance of the law is no defense, so even in situations where labor law compliance is complicated by different federal, state, and city rulings, it’s up to companies to stay on top of what is required. In situations where federal and local laws differ (i.e., the state minimum wage is higher than the federal), companies are expected to adhere to whichever is most stringent (i.e., they would have to pay the higher state minimum wage, not the federal).

It’s all too easy to make labor law compliance mistakes, but awareness of your responsibilities and impeccable record keeping will help to protect your company. Here are the key areas to keep in mind.

Minimum wage

Minimum wage laws are getting a lot of attention at the moment, with President Biden’s executive order raising the salary for federal workers to at least $15 per hour being seen by many as a prelude to a nationwide rise in minimum wage levels. Compliance with these laws can seem cut and dried, but there are aspects unique to some industries that you should be aware of if they affect you.

For example, industries where workers earn tips have a unique minimum wage law to follow, called Minimum Tipped Wage. “Minimum tipped wage makes it quite a bit more complicated,” says Workforce’s chief strategy officer Josh Cameron. “In hospitality or anything where you earn tips, you can pay the staff a minimum wage much lower than the normal one. So it would be $7.50 an hour if they’re not tipped, but it’s $2.50 if it’s tipped. As long as they get enough tips to get them over that—it’s called the tip credit—then they can receive the lower $2.50 per hour from their employer.”

There are reasons to keep on top of minimum wage laws beyond the threat of fines. For example, 29 states currently require a minimum wage higher than the federal standard, and you are obliged to pay the higher sum. Underpaid workers are unlikely to show any loyalty to a company, and underpayment can cause PR problems as well. “An underpayment scandal can bring companies to their knees,” says Andrew Stirling, head of product compliance at Workforce.com. “Customers can decide to take their business elsewhere. People are less likely to visit a restaurant or shop that has been reported for underpaying their people.”

Paid and unpaid breaks

One of the areas of labor law compliance with the least clarity is breaks for workers, making it especially important for companies to err on the side of caution. The legal requirements can be found on the Department of Labor website, but there are significant areas of ambiguity to watch for:

  • Federal law does not require companies to offer lunch or coffee breaks.
  • Where short breaks are allowed by a company, short breaks (i.e., toilet use) of up to 20 minutes should be paid.
  • Breaks of 30 minutes or longer (i.e., lunch) are considered outside of workable hours and do not need to be paid.
  • Waiting time or on-call time does not count as a break and should be paid.

“There’s this gray area,” says Josh Cameron. “Say you take a break for 21 minutes, is that paid or unpaid? Is it okay to make that unpaid? If you’re a lawyer looking at this, it’s really an opportunity because you can say, ‘This employee always had a 23-minute break, always had an 18-minute break, and they never got paid for it. Maybe they should have been.’ That’s something that employers should really be aware of and keep an eye on.”

This is an area where accurate and exhaustive employee data can really help, and if your company still relies on timecards and manual spreadsheets or pen and paper logs to track breaks, you could be leaving yourself open to big problems in the future.

Paid and unpaid leave

Thirteen states, plus Washington DC, currently require private companies to offer paid sick leave. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act added an additional responsibility for companies with less than 500 employees to allow workers to take paid time off if infected with COVID-19, to isolate following contact with an infected person, or to care for a family member. The same act also introduced a tax credit to offset the loss for affected companies.

California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington have all passed laws that also require paid family leave, and President Biden’s administration has set its sights on a federally mandated period of 12-weeks paid leave that would allow, for example, parents to take time off to care for newborn babies or other family needs.

For now, the only federal law involving medical and family leave is the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires employers with more than 50 staff to offer 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for:

  • The birth of a child, adoption, or fostering of a child
  • A seriously ill spouse, child, or parent
  • A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job
  • Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or Military Caregiver Leave—26 weeks in a 12-month period to care for an injured or seriously ill spouse, son or daughter, parent, or other next of kin who is a covered service member

This is an area of labor law compliance that is only going to become more prominent in the coming years, so shrewd managers should ensure they are on top of current requirements, which are largely dependent on where you operate and how many staff you have, and be prepared for change.

Healthcare

Another area of labor law that has been fraught with political debate, the Affordable Care Act requires that if an employee works more than 30 hours a week over any single year look-back period, then the employer must provide health insurance. While the ACA is a federal law, the portion of the medical insurance that the employer has to pay is determined by the state. In New York, for example, the employer must pay 80%.

The 30 hours a week cut-off requires particularly careful management where shift workers are concerned, as their hours may fluctuate over time. “This whole area is a big pain point,” explains Josh Cameron. “It’s a very difficult conversation to have with an employee that has become eligible for healthcare, then loses that eligibility the next year. Taking it away from someone feels very harsh to the employee.”

Keeping track of employee hours and keeping accurate records is yet again a vital part of compliance for companies here. Qualifying for healthcare is a strong motivator for retaining staff, but for those companies that are concerned about shouldering the additional costs, Workforce.com can be calibrated to warn managers when employees reach the 30 hours threshold and can even prevent managers from publishing schedules that extend past 30 hours.

Predictive scheduling

A recent addition to the labor law conversation, predictive scheduling laws – also sometimes known as “fair workweek” – place restrictions on how shifts are assigned and require companies to give advance notice of new schedules.

Two states – Vermont and Oregon – and eight municipalities – San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, San Jose, Seattle, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia – have passed such laws, and more states and cities are considering legislation in this area. The specifics of the laws vary from region to region, but the core principles are:

  • A minimum notice period for upcoming schedules (usually two weeks) with compensation for workers who are not given enough notice of their schedule or changes to that schedule
  • A ban on “clopening,” meaning that a staff member working the closing shift cannot be scheduled to work the opening shift the next day
  • Mandatory rest periods that vary from between 9 to 11 hours between shifts

Failing to maintain compliance with these laws is expensive. The Chipotle example mentioned earlier, in which NYC sued the fast-food chain for $151 million, was caused by hundreds of thousands of predictive scheduling infractions across its many locations in the city.

Even if your business is not based in a state or city with predictive scheduling laws, it is still worth adopting the principles behind them. Partly because these laws may yet impact your business, but also because they have had a notable improvement on staff retention and job satisfaction.

Discrimination laws

There are thankfully few employers looking to openly discriminate in their hiring processes these days, but you should still be aware of which groups the law applies to when hiring and firing, as well as setting the terms of employment and how much people are paid.

  • The Equal Opportunity in Employment Act covers all the areas of discrimination that are forbidden. This concise PDF from the Department of Labor spells out everything employers should know.
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to companies with 15 or more employees and makes it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis of a person’s disability. This also requires companies to make “reasonable accommodation” to allow a disabled person to work there, including making modifications to the working environment to not only allow disabled people to work there but also participate in the application process.
  • Ever since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there have been several laws and amendments which make it illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their Ethnicity, Gender, Race, or Religion. Nationality is also a protected category, so, for example, it would be illegal not to hire someone because they were from Poland, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act offers protection to employees and applicants on the basis of their age. This law applies to anyone aged 40 or older, a far younger cut-off than many companies realize.

Labor law compliance is easier with good record keeping

If this all seems like a lot to keep track of, you’re not alone. The USA has relatively light-touch regulations for businesses compared to Europe, for example, but that doesn’t mean the task of staying compliant with labor laws can’t feel overwhelming—especially if you’re new to management and dealing with all of this legislation for the first time.

Regardless of which law is involved, one of the recurring causes of labor law breaches is poor record keeping. There’s one surefire way to ensure that your labor law compliance is rock solid, and that’s to keep excellent data. While it’s possible to maintain your records the old-fashioned way, with paper and pen or spreadsheets, the potential for human error is high.

When the cost of non-compliance can be so steep, using dedicated staff management software like Workforce.com to track staff hours and automatically flag labor law compliance issues offers much-needed peace of mind.

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Q&A with Rachel Druckenmiller: From intern to entrepreneur

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Rachel Druckenmiller, founder and chief executive officer of Unmuted, started her HR and leadership journey long before receiving the Game Changer award in 2019. In this Q&A, Druckenmiller tells Workforce what she has learned along the way, and gives advice regarding how to keep pushing forward in the face of change.

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

Rachel Druckenmiller: I’ve learned how to discover and use my strengths. I have pursued learning and development opportunities every year, whether it’s reading a book, attending a conference or training, taking an assessment, or learning from teachers, coaches and mentors. I’ve pursued what my dad calls “interest-driven work.” I became a health coach in the midst of dealing with my own health challenges. I went back to school to study my field more intensely and earned a master’s degree in health science in my late 20s. I have completed trainings and certifications in the area of workplace culture, well-being and professional speaking. I’ve worked with mindset, performance, improv, writing and vocal coaches who have helped me show up more fully and boldly. 

Just over a year ago, I started to more intentionally pursue training that would ultimately give me the confidence to start my own business as a professional speaker and trainer. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had to grow and learn and will continue to pursue growth by challenging myself and immersing myself in new ways of thinking.

WF: How has your career changed?

Druckenmiller: I started at a small company as an intern in 2003 and transitioned to full-time in 2007. It was there that I had the freedom to become an intrapreneur, someone who has many of the traits of an entrepreneur but does so within a company and with a stable paycheck and benefits. I started primarily as a consultant working for an employee benefits consulting firm. I’ve morphed into a thought leader in the field of well-being and a speaker who is focused on humanizing the workplace. Last year, I made the decision to follow in my parents’ entrepreneurial footsteps and launch my own company as a speaker and trainer. I’ve never felt more fulfilled or free. It’s been wonderful.

WF: What are some of the changes you’ve seen in HR over the past few years? 

Druckenmiller: I’ve been encouraged to see the trends toward humanizing the workplace and putting people first. For a while, it seemed that policies, procedures and perks were what mattered most, but much of that was surface-focused. HR was tasked with “fixing” workplace culture, but we’ve now come to realize that it’s not just HR’s responsibility, it’s everyone’s responsibility to shape the culture of their organization. HR recognizes that having a great culture goes beyond the perks like ping pong tables and rock-climbing walls and is really more about how we can make people feel seen, heard and valued. 

I’m seeing more of a focus on creating memorable and meaningful experiences from employees throughout the employee life cycle. Whether they’re using scavenger hunts as part of the onboarding or team building process or incorporating more pulse surveys to gather ongoing feedback, there is more intentionality than ever before. HR is committed to fostering connection, especially among dispersed workforces. Using video conferencing technology allows remote workers to feel more connected and to see their colleagues. 

I’m seeing HR become more integrated into the strategic discussions within their organization instead of being viewed as “the people police” in their own little silo. They’re being incorporated into more learning and development conversations and strategies, as companies embrace more customized, micro-learning approaches. They’re often the ones bringing attention to the importance of upskilling in the area of emotional intelligence, something that is lacking among many leaders today. The strategies progressive HR leaders are putting in place are helping organizations brand themselves as best places to work and employers of choice.

In the field of well-being, which has been an increasingly important aspect of HR strategy, there has been a shift. The focus is on the value of investment and genuinely caring for people’s well-being instead of just focusing on the immediate financial return on investment. I’m grateful to see that shift. I’m also encouraged that HR and other business leaders are embracing a whole person approach to well-being, one that incorporates financial, career, social-emotional, community and physical health components. The increasing focus on mental health, humanized parental leave policies, flexible work schedules and sabbaticals is exciting. It’s been a long time coming for us to truly put people first and to make decisions that will benefit all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Employees expect employers to care, and HR realizes that and sees the need to respond. 

WF: What advice would you tell yourself five years ago?

Rachel Druckenmiller, founder and CEO of Unmuted

Druckenmiller: Keep showing up. Sometimes we show up and don’t know that anyone is noticing what we’re doing, whether that’s speaking up in a meeting, creating and sharing content or coming up with new ideas. We don’t always see the immediate impact of our contributions, but the key is to be consistent. Keep showing up, even when you don’t feel like it. 

Trust yourself and trust the timing of your life. You have committed to years of training and development and honing your skills. You have an important message to share, and if you keep sharing it from a genuine place sharing with the intention of serving others versus serving your ego,  it will pay off. Everything will unfold in its proper time. What is meant for you will not miss you.

You will gain confidence as you continue to do your work. Do the inner work, do the relational work, be open to feedback and be open to changing what’s not working. Doing the hard work builds strength and will help you sustain yourself when things are hard. 

Spend more time with those you love. Work is important and it will always be there. There is always more work that you can do. But we can’t replace the moments we miss with the people we love. Go on weekend getaways with your husband and your friends. Have more lunches or dinners with your parents. If you are successful at work but depleted at home, then you are not going to be happy. Invest in relationships.

Ask for help when you need it. You’re not a burden. You’re not weak. You’re not going to be seen as incompetent. You are a human being who has limitations. Open up to people and share your struggles. Let other people help you and support you. Whether it’s seeing a therapist or asking for more support at work or at home, speak up for what you need. 

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Druckenmiller: Focus on the good in people. So often, HR professionals can become jaded because they’re often dealing with all of the dysfunctional aspects of a workplace. Remembering why we are in this space — to serve and support people and to create workplaces where people can thrive — can encourage us to keep going and to keep showing up.

Reach out to your peers when you’re struggling or need input or insight. You are not a burden and you deserve as much support as anyone else. You are a helper and giver by nature, but if you constantly pour out from your cup and don’t fill it back up, you won’t be good for yourself or for other people.

WF: What are some things that you value most about your career?

Druckenmiller: I have a platform that gives me the ability to use my voice to speak up, speak out and spark transformation at work that carries over to our lives at home. As a speaker and trainer, I’m finding that my messages around humanizing the workplace, igniting intentional leadership and unmuting our voices are resonating with people in all levels of leadership. It’s an exciting time to be in a field that celebrates and elevates the human side of work. As one of the founding members of the Baltimore Chapter of HackingHR and as a member of the online community Humans First, I’m encouraged to see all the good that is happening around the world as HR and well-being continue to evolve. 

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Q&A with Nate Thompson: Reinventing the HR game

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Nate Thompson, vice president of strategy and innovation at OppenheimerFunds, said that in order to be successful in the HR industry, letting go of traditional approaches and learning how to adapt to change is a must. In this Q&A, Thompson reflects back on his journey through HR while highlighting his accomplishments and the most important lessons that he’s learned along the way.

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

Nate Thompson: The biggest theme in my career has been reinvention. I pay close attention to disruptive trends, external and internal, and try to stay ahead of the game. This approach naturally helps me expand beyond a single function or discipline, such as HR. By bridging multiple disciplines — in my case tech, HR and transformation work — I dramatically increase my value as the organization inevitably changes. In my view, ultralearning and versatility are essential in a world that is changing faster than ever before. Whatever you are working on now is going to change dramatically very soon, so we all have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

WF: How has your career changed?

Thompson: Over 20 years ago, I started my career in technology and loved it, but quickly figured out that tech is highly perishable and technologists routinely hit a glass ceiling if they don’t build strong soft skills. That realization led me to leave one of the top tech companies in the country, Qualcomm, to voraciously pursue a suite of skills that are essential to being a strong leader today. After spending a decade in HR and learning and development work, I was uniquely prepared to take that work back into technology, most recently strategy and innovation. It really doesn’t matter how good you are at your specialty if you don’t understand the disruptive forces changing your industry and can’t see or influence the bigger picture. This is why I created and speak on a model called the well-rounded professional to help people evolve beyond being a one-trick pony. Again, when the world and industry are in a state of non-linear change, you can’t take a traditional approach and hope to survive as a professional or as an organization.

WF: What are some of the changes you’ve seen in HR over the past few years?

Thompson: To put it bluntly, traditional HR and traditional learning and development are dead. Today, we need a dynamic, digital and data-driven HR that is deeply aware of the disruptive trends, rapidly experimenting, learning and stepping up to be a strategic thought leader in organizations. This is scary, hard and requires a lot of courage. This is about helping to co-create a new shared strategic narrative, driving the future of work, culture transformation, experimentation, innovation, enabling alignment, engagement and empowerment, reinventing talent programs to enable autonomy, mastery and purpose, moving to real-time immersive cohort-based learning and ultralearning in future skills. That’s why some business leaders don’t want to work with HR and create backdoors. Future leaders in HR are humble enough to release the old idea of control and establish a growth mindset of dynamic strategic partnership with their various business partners. Future leaders in HR are humble enough to release the old idea of control and establish a growth mindset of dynamic strategic partnerships with their various business partners.

Nate Thompson, vice president of strategy and innovation at OppenheimerFunds

WF: What do you foresee in the future of HR? 

Thompson: HR is fighting irrelevance and the path forward has to be a fundamental transformation. This will be deeply inclusive of the future of work and the new technologies reshaping all industries. Technology is amazing and powerful, the most powerful organizations in the world are technology companies. In fact, almost every company is becoming a tech company because tech is the backbone and universal language of business. The most valuable resource in the world is data. But let me be clear, this is not about the shiny penny of technology. People are still the heart and soul of our world, communities and organizations. Culture is still the operating system of our companies and culture is the output of leadership behaviors. This is still deeply about people, leadership and culture transformation. HR has a remarkable opportunity to step out of the shadows, lead this transformation, help their organizations surf the waves of disruption and thrive in the future.

WF: What are some things that you value most about your career?

Thompson: Making a powerful difference in people’s lives. That’s what matters most. Inspiring people and helping them to achieve their potential while co-creating transformation — especially now. Leaders and employees are scared. The future is uncertain. What is next for me? What is next for us? What does it mean to be human now in an increasingly digital and automated world? We are wrestling with huge challenges and the future is undefined. While it is scary, this new era is such a gift. I openly admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I know that if I deeply care about people and create a space where we can authentically and transparently talk about what’s happening, we can come to a shared understanding and vision of the future, lock arms and navigate this new frontier together.  

WF: What advice would you tell yourself five years ago?

Thompson: Nate, people are going to say you are crazy, just know you are years ahead of where everything is heading. Go fast and be courageous because when the third decade in the 21st century hits, it will be glaringly obvious how far behind most are and how vital these years will have been in defining your approach to fundamental transformation.

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Thompson: HR leaders and professionals are good people trying to do good things, but the traditional approach has fallen too far behind. It’s time for a reckoning and revolution. There is no time to waste, this conversation of reinventing the function should dominate the HR conversation for the next five years. Let go of old HR dogmas, cut the old waste and irrelevant programs now, look outside for new ideas and spend your time reinventing in alignment with the disruption reshaping your industry and business. If your current HR leaders can’t lead that, you need to hire some inspiring leaders who can — and they might not come from HR.

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Q&A with Dan Schawbel: How his career and the HR industry has changed

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In this Q&A, Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Workplace Intelligence and New York Times bestselling author, discusses the changes that have occurred throughout his career and the HR industry, as well as what innovations are to come in the near future. 

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

Dan Schawbel: Every experience I’ve had and every person I’ve met has helped shaped my career path since I started over a decade ago. In my early career, I wanted to try everything and today I’m focused on what I’m best at and the audience I can add the most value to. Growth has given me clarity in my career.  

WF: How has your career changed?

Schawbel: In the first phase of my career, I helped individuals build their online personal brands, then I transitioned to focusing on managing a multi-generational workforce. Now, I’ve transitioned to topics like the future of work and being human in the age of technology. Throughout each phase of my career, my goal has been to advise companies while being a champion of the worker. By serving both audiences, I can make a bigger impact.

WF: What are some of the changes or trends you’ve seen in HR over the past few years?

Schawbel: The biggest HR trends over the past few years are the rise of employee activism, the use of artificial intelligence, the skills gap, the mental health, and loneliness crisis, internal mobility sustainability and the emphasis on the employee experience. 

Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Workplace Intelligence.

WF: What advice would you tell yourself five years ago?

Schawbel: The biggest advice I would have told myself is that change is already happening, even if it’s not universally seen and felt. The workplace trends we talk about are already happening and in order to prepare for the future, we have to adapt in the present.

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Schawbel: I’ve learned that almost everyone in HR has an unorthodox background, which makes sense because you can’t major in HR in undergraduate college. This means that all HR professionals have a unique lens that allows them to add value to workplace programs. 

WF: What are some things that you value most about your career?

Schawbel: I had two choices of career paths to pursue when I was focused on personal branding; marketing or HR. I chose HR because I wanted to help people achieve career success and I saw HR as the path to doing so. My theory is that if we improve the workplace, we improve a person’s entire life since one-third of our lives are spent working. 

WF: What do you foresee in the future of HR?

Schawbel: Based on my research, it appears that HR departments will be consolidated in the future. HR administrative roles will eventually be removed from the economy, while the more strategic roles will maintain as long as professionals build the right alliances in their companies. If you’re in HR and you feel like you’re working “like a robot,” you will more than likely be replaced by a robot. Think about getting experience outside of HR to protect your future within the industry.

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Game changing continues: What I’ve learned after 10 more years in HR

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Tiffani Murray was one of the first recipients of the Game Changer award when the program launched 10 years ago in 2011. In this Q&A, Murray discusses her journey through HR, what she has learned and how the industry has changed over the years.

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

Tiffani Murray: I was about 10 years into my career when I was nominated for the inaugural Workforce Game Changer award. I had established myself in human resources and HRIS about five years prior, and had taken my background in computer science and industrial engineering into a crash course of a career change from that of a pure IT project manager.  There was so much to learn about employment processes from talent acquisition to sourcing candidates and compensation, benefits, diversity, performance management and succession planning. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to work for the most recognized brand in the world, Coca-Cola, and to learn from some of the best. 

Over the next 10 years I’ve continued to grow in my career, expanding from my initial specialty area of applicant tracking and recruiting systems to now include everything under the sun when it comes to HRIS. I’ve implemented learning management systems, rolled out performance management programs and technology, upgraded total rewards tools to allow HR to provide new benefit offerings and allow for precise compensation management. To round things out, I’m currently working on a new payroll implementation. I’ve also been afforded new responsibilities and scope, moving from a new manager to a senior management position and landing in a director role reporting to the chief human resources officer.

WF: How has your career changed?

Murray: My career has changed overtime because I’ve been afforded unique and challenging opportunities. I have gone from a consumer products company to contracting at a fast-casual restaurant chain known for customer service and a great chicken sandwich. I have been able to work for one of America’s top homebuilders and

took a turn as a consultant for one of the world’s beloved luxury sports car names. I’m now working for a hometown furniture retailer with 135 years of history behind it that has taken the stance of making HR technology a priority for the business and its employees.

WF: What are some of the changes or trends you have seen in HR over the past few years?

Murray: Technology, technology, technology. Since being named a Game Changer, the shake-ups in the HR tech world in terms of mergers, acquisitions and IPOs were plentiful.  They have slowed down and we are left with major HCM solution providers and niche players. Organizations will continue to swap out one for another and other organizations, believe it or not, are still making the move from manual disparate systems to one or two core solutions. There are still companies doing basic HR work, including recruitment processes, on paper, but this has decreased over the last 10 years. Many companies are still not on top of their HR technology strategies. Vendor selection, implementation and core HRIS strategy will be discussion points at the HR executive level and you’ll see more partnership between HR and IT here.

HR processes, including performance management, training, recruitment and assessments are all moving away from desktops and laptops and are essential needs for organizations to have accessible on their tablets, phones and devices. There is also a push for more employee engagement through workforce social channels that allow for informal mentor-mentee relationships, provide an opportunity for formal and informal feedback.

Tiffani Murray's HR career. 2011 Game Changer recipient.
Tiffani Murray, 2011 Game Changer recipient

Artificial intelligence has also been emerging on the scene over the past several years. How HR can use AI most effectively still remains to be seen, but companies are starting to explore this most readily in recruiting and also learning technology.

HR organizations have to now deal with a dispersed workforce that has three or four different generations represented in it. How do you cater to the needs of your outgoing employees who are close to retirement while still attracting the talent of tomorrow to take the lead? You’ll see HR organizations taking a look at benefits plans and programs, specifically vacation and paid time off, including parental and adoption leave and paid volunteer time. Companies that may have once had more of an “in-the-office” culture will need to assess how to roll out telecommute and work from home policies that are fair. You will see more HR teams scrambling to make life easier by adopting what many west coast companies already have. 

WF: What are some things that you value most about your career?

Murray: I love my career as I truly think I have a job that fuses the best of both worlds — working with a company’s most valuable asset, the employee population and also having the opportunity to implement and leverage some cutting edge technology to make processes simpler. Adding this type of value does have a bottom line impact for a business, whether it’s decreasing cost per hire or identifying ways to train employees real time, thus making them more productive to sell or provide services to customers more effectively and efficiently while increasing revenue.

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Murray: I have learned that HR is almost always looked at as the least valuable part of the business. Despite working across a myriad of industries, this has been the same. In every HR department, we have had to work hard to prove our value and worth to the business. I almost expect this now in any new role. I do think that over the past decade the climb has become less steep, but it’s still a climb.

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A History Lesson for #FixItSHRM Followers

Nearly a decade ago a well-intentioned group of HR leaders banded together to dispute several Society for Human Resource Management policies.

Not just some radical fringe group, the SHRM Members for Transparency questioned issues tarnishing the organization’s integrity, from doubling board members’ annual honoraria to allowing reimbursement for business-class travel to wanting more board members who carried HR credentials.

These veteran HR leaders had the pull to garner media attention as well as that of SHRM’s membership. And that caught SHRM’s attention. For a while, anyway.

Fast-forward to 2019 and we find a loose-knit group of today’s HR professionals taking to social media to dispute SHRM’s ties with the Trump administration and relationships with politically conservative companies, most notably the right-leaning Koch Industries. Like the transparency group, these are issues they believe harm SHRM’s reputation and mission. The objectors call themselves #fixitSHRM.

As we approach SHRM 2019 in mid-June in Las Vegas, #fixitSHRM’s protests aren’t aimed so much at internal SHRM policies as the perception of what SHRM represents.

The #fixitSHRM movement traces back to last August when relative unknown HR practitioner Victorio Milian originated the hashtag. Later that fall he fired off a string of tweets explaining the hashtag’s purpose to protest SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. and SHRM leadership embracing the “white supremacist Republican administration.”

Illustrated by a smiling Taylor — now in his second year as SHRM’s CEO — shaking hands with President Trump, Milian’s tweets continued, saying, “@johnnyctaylorjr shaking the current U.S. President’s hand was the spark that lit the #fixitSHRM movement. @SHRM’s ongoing silence to its members who are (rightfully, in my opinion), angry and disappointed about this alliance continues to keep the fire burning. … In my opinion, @SHRM’s alliance does not represent the ethical leadership that #HRpros should be demonstrating.”

Milian’s movement has garnered plenty of online support. Among many others, @k_boulder tweeted in mid-April, “Altered videos to promote racist tropes fanning the flames of hatred, & direction to underlings to break the law, promising no consequences. Ready to renounce this partnership yet, SHRM? #fixitSHRM”.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Altered videos to promote racist tropes fanning the flames of hatred, &amp; direction to underlings to break the law, promising no consequences. Ready to renounce this partnership yet, SHRM? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/fixitshrm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#fixitshrm</a></p>&mdash; Kelly (@k_boulder) <a href=”https://twitter.com/k_boulder/status/1117042317653757952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

It’s also caught SHRM’s attention to the extent where Taylor doubled down on affirming SHRM’s relationship with the Trump administration as well as SHRM’s affiliation with Koch Industries, according to HRDive.

That doesn’t necessarily bode well for #fixitSHRM’s quest. Still, questioning the motives of SHRM’s relationship with those who do not share or represent their values — and in the larger picture the values HR should practice in every workplace — is inherently a good thing.

I get their frustration. The Trump administration has done most everything you don’t want in a company: constant turmoil and turnover among senior leadership, shunning of D&I, and if recent reports are true, attempting to dismantle the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR department for civilian employees.

And your HR association is complicit with that? I’d be angry, too.

Taylor’s response though makes it clear that sniping through social media won’t change anything, especially with the 800-pound gorilla known as SHRM. They won’t alter relationships because a social media crusade dislikes their ties with the Trump administration and a financial deal with Koch Industries. I’d also wager that a majority of SHRM members either don’t care, are completely oblivious or actually agree with SHRM’s business dealings.

That means #fixitSHRM’s options to modify SHRM’s operations are limited. But history may hold lessons that could offer them hope for change.

The transparency group had the presence and panache to draw SHRM into two meetings. SHRM then abruptly chose to stop meeting. One transparency group member told Workforce at the time, “Their tactic was delay, delay, delay. We realized that they weren’t going to change.” Disappointing, but if #fixitSHRM is serious they can still push for face time. It’s happened before.

If you can’t get SHRM’s attention in the board room, there’s always the ballot box.

“A SHRM member told me, ‘If you want to change the society, the way you should do it is change the board,’ ” said Mike Losey, a former SHRM president and founding member of the transparency group in a 2011 Workforce interview.

Muster a slate of candidates, continue your barrage on social media and get out the vote. It’s a long shot. And FYI, the transparency group’s candidates never achieved its goal.

History offers a sobering realization that it will take more than a social media campaign to create change. Study the past, #fixitSHRM. Blend it with what you know and perhaps you’ll succeed where Members for Transparency couldn’t.

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You’re Never Too Small to Have an HR Department

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer

Some 43 percent of American employees work for companies with 50 or fewer workers.

I raise this statistic because it is almost a guarantee that many of these small businesses operate without a dedicated HR department or HR personnel.

Earlier this month, the EEOC settled a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit it had brought against several IHOP franchises operating in New York and Nevada. The allegations were truly awful, including misbehavior such as unwanted touching of female employees’ buttocks and genitalia, graphic comments about sexual genitalia, invitations to engage in intercourse, and vulgar name calling, perpetrated by both managers and co-workers.

Part of the settlement included a cash payment of $700,000 to the alleged victims. The more interesting part of the Consent Decree requires the companies to create a human resources department (which they were lacking) staffed with professionals knowledgeable about handling and preventing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Within sixty (60) days of the Effective Date, for at least the duration of the Decree, Defendants shall establish and maintain a Human Resources Department with enough staffing to carry out the terms of this Decree. The Human Resources staff shall be comprised of human resources professionals with demonstrated experience in the area of employment law, properly handing complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and preventing and correcting such conduct.…

The Human Resources Department shall be easily accessible to Defendants’ employees in person, telephonically, or by email during normal business hours.

That newly created HR department is required to do all of the things you’d expect an HR department to do regarding its EEO responsibilities:

    • Establishing a record-keeping procedure that provides a centralized system of tracking discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints.
    • Enforcing the employers’ policies, procedures, and practices to foster a workplace free of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, including taking measures to ensure that no retaliation is taken against any employee engaging in protected activity.
    • Ensuring proper systems are in place to make certain that proper avenues exist for employees to complain about discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
    • Receiving and promptly investigating complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation from any employee.
    • Maintaining regular contact with employees who complain of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
    • Ensuring appropriate corrective and protective measures are implemented in a timely manner after conducting a thorough harassment investigation.
    • Overseeing the development and implementation of anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training and education.

Your business is never too small for an HR department, and HR should never be an afterthought. In fact, it’s one of the most important positions to fill in any business of any size.

Your people are your most important asset. No matter your product, service, or mission, without employees to make it, provide it, or carry it out, you don’t exist.

Every company needs HR to recruit and hire, to create and monitor policies, to help ensure legal compliance, to implement benefits, and to strategize. Size may vary, but without any dedicated HR professionals, you are telling your employees they don’t matter, which is never the right message to communicate.

And, further, when it leads to harassment complaints being ignored, it could land you at the receiving end of an expensive lawsuit.