Don’t Tip the Scales: Creating a Work/Life Balance
It seems like an elusive idea that people work toward but very rarely ever find! Perhaps the problem is that the idea of it is so simple and people expect that having it will be just as simple. In reality, work/life balance is something that must be worked at continuously. Just because you have it one week doesn’t mean it is going to be there next week! So how do we take steps to start balancing our time better? First, define what that balance looks like. This is going to be different for every person. If you have a target [...]
Why Millennials Leave
We Won't Pay For Your Lexus, Boss Man! We have written about millennials several times, and there’s a reason for that. We promise. Not only do some of us here at Peoplescape identify with the millennial label, we have been subject to the stereotypes placed on our colleagues (and at times ourselves). You know the ones: Millennials are fickle, they never settle in one place, they’re selfish, and they don’t care about the companies that they work for – always in search of the next big thing. While these stereotypes may be true of SOME millennials, they can also be applied to baby boomers and Generation [...]
When Employees Don’t Show Up
Terminating an employee is always a tricky topic to navigate. No matter the size of your organization, letting employees go is something to be dealt with very carefully as we’ve discussed in previous blog posts. This time, let’s focus on if/when/how you are legally allowed to terminate an employee who is out on leave. What should you do when employees don't show up? #terminations #FMLA It is never legal to fire an employee simply because he or she took Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time off. But, if an employee is out on FMLA and has committed one of these offenses, the U.S. Court of Appeals [...]
Shiny New Toys: Attracting Your Next Millennial Stars
Like moths to the flame, millennials are attracted to shiny new objects. Right? Isn’t that the perception for our younger generation in today’s workplace? But shockingly, the one thing that attracts millennials to your organization more than a new cell phone, a company car or the latest in Apple technology on their desktop, is something that used to be much more prevalent. It has since fallen to the wayside as priorities seem to have shifted for many companies, and budgets become more constrained for those “extra benefits” that used to be more present. What is it that millennials are searching for in their next company? Are [...]
Resolutions: What Is Showcased, is Achieved
As we excitedly embark on 2016, many people make resolutions in their personal life. Whether its to finally start eating healthy, stick to that workout routine, or manage your budget better, one place people don’t always think about making resolutions for is the workplace. Just like in your personal life, there are always areas to improve in your professional career and your workplace as a whole. Here are a few suggestions to spark your resolution creativity! That project that always get pushed down the list Maybe you’ve been vowing to overhaul your performance appraisal system or employee engagement survey. Make [...]
Unlimited Vacation – Moving Away from Attendance and Towards Production
In recent years, several companies have moved to “unlimited” or “flexible” vacation plans. The old way of earning vacation time based off of hours worked has gone by the wayside. Employers are embracing the idea of having better work-life balance and fostering the trust-relationship between employer and employee. When these plans first started surfacing, there were several skeptics and many people assumed that the policy would be abused. The reality, however, has shown that this simply isn’t true. There’s something to be said for allowing employees to act professionally and make sound decisions on when they take vacation and how [...]
Recruiting Metrics: What do the Numbers Really Mean?
Recruiting metrics can look as convoluted as the formula for finding the square root of pi if you don’t know what it is you are looking at. I myself am admittedly not a numbers gal. I’d prefer to write a 5000 word essay over a page of multiplication and algebraic equations any day! And this is fairly common for human resources professionals, as we don’t always identify ourselves as “numbers” people. However, in order to be efficient recruiting experts, understanding the numbers of it all is critical to adopting and utilizing an effective strategy for finding the best people to join your team! So, as with most [...]
Succession Plans: Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go!
We are all familiar with the small Mom & Pop companies that don’t have any real HR departments in place, lack procedures and documentation, and basically do what they’ve been doing because “hey it works for us!” As an HR professional, this is definitely not the recommended path for our clients and blog readers! No matter the size of the company, HR is necessary. The same can be said for succession plans and career development. Without a plan in place for what happens if someone leaves the company abruptly, or health concerns take a beloved long-term employee out of the [...]
Time Off During the Holidays
It can be an employer’s nightmare – how do you manage all these vacation requests and deliver on business needs? Some industries like hotels and retail have no choice, they MUST be open for the holiday season while other industries have the option of shutting down or offering work-from-home options. No matter where you fall in that spectrum, you will still be faced with a slew of time off requests. What do you do? Set the expectation early If you’re in an industry that is open during the holidays, you may consider a blackout policy or a ‘this or that [...]
Hiring People Where They Are
Meeting people where they are is a common theme amongst community groups and churches. Why not adopt this same mantra in the workplace when it comes to attracting top talent? Meeting job applicants where they happen to be is a critical next step in where recruitment is headed in 2016. Whether that may be on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn, or simply by utilizing mobile job applications that can be easily accessed on cell phones and tablets, this is something that employers need to seriously consider when analyzing their recruiting success and failure in 2015, and moving forward with a [...]