The HR Digest October 2019

Editor’s Note

October 2019

The Human Resources (HR) function has the potential to become a leader in data analytics. This is a big change from decades ago when finance was the most analytical function in business making use of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive models to measure ROI on workforce decisions. Times have changed and so has the HR function. October 2019 Cover Story is geared towards creating awareness on the benefits of Data Analytics to make better business decisions. There’s a lot to be done to master this organizational muscle starting with a careful and thorough analysis of the right data.

As the U.S. economy grows, more people are returning to work and moving to better jobs. The labor market remains tight for all industries and across all skill levels indicating that companies are having difficulty finding the right talent across a wide range of occupations. It isn’t news that candidates don’t all want the same opportunities, rewards, culture, and people. Hence, we touch the issue of “What employees really want at work” by examining some new strategies of talent management.

And lastly, we weigh in on the idea of creating a culture where employees honor each other and feel fully human. That’s a hard thing to do. But not an impossible one.

Cheers!

As ever, we look forward to your feedback (editor@thehrdigest.com, @ TheHRDigest on Twitter, Facebook.com/TheHRDigest).

The HR Digest Magazine | October 2019

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The Team Editorial

Design

Anna Domanska Editor-in-Chief

Kevin Paul Sr. Graphic Designer

Priyansha Mistry Editor Anna Versai Sub-Editor

Project Management Jay Raol Project Director

Diana Coker Sub-Editor Jack Gilfoyle Content Writer

Advertising Jay Raol Director – Ad Sales

Marketing Jason Miller Sr. Project Director

Technology John Hancock Head-Web Department

Finance Control R R Baratiya

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Le Manh Coung Sr Software Coordinator

Julia Hunt Magazine Production

Contents October 2019

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HR Drift Why do we hate Mondays?

P.10

Leadership Insights More companies are ditching traditional leadership models in favor of C-suite collaboration.

P.26

Q&A With Jane “How to answer behavioral interview questions?”

P.36

Employee Benefits The highly competitive job market is now pushing businesses to turn to Employee Value Proposition (EVP) for attracting top talent.

P.46

Cover Story Beyond Ordinary Data Analytics

P..58

Legal Hub Women’s Rights in The Workplace.

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Training & Development Do you have the right culture to succeed?

P.80

HR Tools & Technology How to effectively handle underperforming employees?

P.88

Recruitment Point Monster weighs in on how you can build a seasonal job search strategy

P.90

Success Story Christa Foley, Head of Talent Acquisitions at Zappos, talks about the online retailer’s self-managing, self-organizing culture which has become a landmark study for companies aspiring to create a distinct workplace culture.

P.102

Workplace Culture When the only problem with your job is the office drama

P.112

HR Events Top picks for conferences and professional events around the world.

P.122

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WHY DO WE HATE MONDAYS? Do you feel the Monday blues often? A study noted that workers are most unhappy at precisely 11:17 a.m. on Monday morning. It’s common to feel stressed and frustrated when the weekend ends. There’s plenty of reasons why “Mondays are the worst” and here’s just a few: You hate your job Let’s cut to the chase. According to a Gallup poll, 72 percent of coworkers are completely disengaged from their job. This contributes to what we call the “Monday Blues.” Seriously, would you enjoy going to work on a Monday morning at a job you hate? An awful lot of people feel mild anxiety and depression as they get ready for work at the beginning of the week. This could be their inner emotional alarm going off, telling them their job isn’t satisfying.

Sudden Change This is a no brainer – we find all workdays terrible. But if you ask people which workday of the week they hate the most, they will always say ‘Monday.’ It’s because Monday marks a big emotional shift between the weekend and the weekday. We move from Sunday (a happy, nonwork day) to dreadful Monday, which marks the beginning of the fiveday workweek.

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Sleeping Patterns Do you sleep for an hour or two on the weekends? According to researchers, that extra sleep on the weekend can make you feel more tired on Monday morning. Not good. Mess with your internal clock, and you are bound to feel more drained out at the beginning of the week.

New Beginnings People associate Mondays with fresh beginnings. You are more likely to start something new on the first day of the week. Most of these are positive changes (a new diet or a physical regimen) that aren’t fun to actually do, and yet they come from a place of denunciation where you feel bad about yourself and your habits, which contributes to Monday blues.

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GENERAL MOTORS TERMINATES HEALTHCARE OF STRIKING UAW MEMBERS In a desperate attempt to kill the United Automobile Workers (UAW) strike against General Motors, the Detroit automaker announced a decision to shift healthcare costs to the union. Now that the GM healthcare benefits have been terminated, UAW will be forced to reach into its strike fund to pay the bills.

This invalidates GM’s confirmation to UAW negotiators in its first week that workers’ benefits would be covered through the end of the month.

United Automobile Workers nationwide strike, described as the largest since 2007, began just before midnight on September 14 after negotiations between UAW and GM broke down, during which union leaders and members accused management of proposing paltry wage increases and negligible benefits.

More than 49,000 union workers walked off their jobs starting a nationwide strike at General Motors. Negotiations have now entered their third week on October 1st as the strike brought 33

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United Auto Workers President Gary Jones (left), and General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra shake hands to open contract negotiations Tuesday, July 16, 2019 at the Marriott Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors

GM factories to a halt.

United Automobile Workers has a strike fund to support its members, but GM’s latest move will be a major source of depletion of their funds. Terry Dittes, director of the UAW General Motors department, said they’re looking into its legal options in a letter to union leaders.

This strike has now officially outlasted General Motors autoworkers most recent nationwide strike in 2007, which last for 2 days.

GM will not be able to resume production until the strike ends. As this strike has lasted more than three weeks, it is now affecting production in Canada and Mexico, draining more of GM’s inventory.

Dwindling supplies may compel consumers to go to other brands, costing GM sales.

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WHAT DO EMPLOYEES MOST LIKE ABOUT WORKING WITH EACH GENERATION? We’ve been told that Generation Z – those born in or after 1996 – will save the world. Millennials are notorious job hoppers and need a trophy for just showing up to work. Gen Xers are the nearforgotten generation.

But do these generational divisions wreak havoc in the workplace when brought under one roof? We think not. A recent Addison Group survey found that the five-generations work quite well together. Some characteristics and differences do exist. However, it’s these differences that create opportunity.

Contrary to what generational think pieces often claim, employees across the age spectrum appreciate what each generation brings to the table to improve efficiency, and are motivated by the same.

What are these strengths? Let’s find out.

What do employees like most about working with each generation?

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GenZ

GenX

56% They’re tech savvy

64% They have a good work ethic

42% They work well in a team

51% They’re highly qualified

30% They have a good work ethic

48% They’re organized

Millennials

Baby Boomers

52% They’re tech savvy

48% They’re good leaders

44% They have a good work ethic

48% They’re highly qualified

42% They work well in a team

47% They’re organized

SOURCE: Age Is Just a Number: The Truth Behind Generational Stereotypes at Work | Addison Group We know now that employees across the five-generations are more than happy with the age composition of their workplaces. This harmony is surprising given that the generational divisions are highlighted far more frequently in the media culture. The question is: How can business leaders act on this new information?

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“

One of the most effective ways of understanding and meeting the needs and desires of our diverse patients, consumers, and customers, is to have a workforce that reflects diversity. From that lens, we

view

generational

diversity

not

a

strength

our

real

business

only but

as for as

an imperative. - Peter Fasolo, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources

Officer

at

Johnson & Johnson, on creating

opportunities

for a multigenerational workforce.

�

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REMINDER: CARE MATTERS IN THE BATTLE OF TALENT In today’s hiring market, things like pizza Fridays and pet insurance are considered nice-to-have perks. But that’s not what a recent study suggests anyway. According to Limeade’s report The Science of Care, employee care through organizational support is the ultimate foundation for the integrated employee experience.

There is an inevitable connection between perceptions of care and people results that are critical to compete in today’s talent war.

“The modern workplace demands an intentional shift from one that prioritizes the needs of employers to one that prioritizes the needs of employees,” said Dr. Laura Hamill, Limeade Chief People Officer and Chief Science Officer. “In order to do so, companies must take a ‘whole-person’ approach to managing the employee experience – from well-being to diversity and inclusion to employee engagement and other programs that make employees feel cared for both as organizational members and humans.”

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The report reveals that when employees feel cared for: • 60% plan to stay at their company for three or more years (as opposed to only 7% of those who don’t feel cared for) • 95% say they feel included in their organization (compared to 14% of those who don’t feel cared for) • 90% say they’re likely to recommend their organization as a great place to work (compared to 9% of those who don’t feel cared for)

“

Care is about those day-to-day human interactions. It’s about being flexible and understanding when an employee needs to leave work early to pick up a sick child or fostering positive manager-employee interactions over a cup of coffee,” said Dr. Laura Hamill, Limeade Chief People Officer and Chief Science Officer. “In order to do so, companies must take a ‘whole-person’ approach to managing the employee experience – from well-being to diversity and inclusion to employee engagement and other programs that make employees feel cared for both as organizational members and humans.

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STUDY: PEOPLE FIND ROBOTS AS LESS THREATENING THAN HUMAN REPLACEMENTS IN A JOB SETTING Robots are starting to take human jobs, and it’s going to continue until machines handle 52 percent of jobs currently handled by hourly human workers. But this “robot revolution” is least concerning to human workers.

Surprisingly,

an

automation-focused

study

conducted

by

researchers at Technical University of Munich found that most people fear losing their job to another human.

“Being replaced by modern technology versus being replaced by humans has different psychological consequences,” says Armin Granulo at Technical University of Munich in Germany, as reported

by New Scientist.

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For the study, Granulo and his team asked 300 people if they’d rather lose their job to a robot or a human – only 37 percent preferred being replaced by another human.

In a follow-up survey, Munich researchers asked how respondents would indicate the intensity of their negative emotions such as anger, sadness, or frustration when considering new employees being replaced by a robot or another human. The respondents said they had stronger negative emotions when they considered being replaced by another human.

According to Armin Granulo, one explanation for the results could be that people find robots less threatening to their self-identities.

It’s a big dent for your self-esteem to lose a job to another human because it means you are less valuable. On the other hand, a robot isn’t the same kind of competition.

This doesn’t indicate that people are not concerned about getting replaced by robots. There is ample evidence to suggest that automation is a worrisome trend. It’s just that, when confronted by immediate replacement of any sort, the threat to self-image from a human replacement is four-times stronger.

The survey results indicate that we have mixed-feelings towards automation replacing jobs. There are obviously negative feelings when it comes to job loss, but those are less intense when we’re not losing the job to a fellow human.

“When one’s own job is at risk,” the researchers note, “social comparison processes become more relevant and overshadow prosocial feelings.”

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

Rethinking C-Suite Collaboration Executive Leadership Collaboration’s Big Promise By: Anna Versai “The CEO role will no longer be relevant in its current format,” notes an alarming American Express report. In today’s complex, dynamic business landscape, more companies are ditching traditional leadership models in favor of C-suite collaboration. The urgency around this is clearly reflected in a 2018 Deloitte survey where 51% of respondents rated C-suite collaboration as very important – making it the most important issue in its 2018 survey.

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“

According to 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, 54 percent of business leaders surveyed agreed that their firms are not ready for C-suite collaboration they believe is now required.

�

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS It is widely known that cross-functional collaboration is most likely to anticipate a growth of 10 percent or more.

Adopting C-suite collaboration helps improve organizational performance, reconfigure rewards and performance managers, and support team performance. Business leaders now realize that this trend must combine business unit and functional ownership using C-suite collaboration to run the organization as an increasingly networked and distributed structure. So, what is this new, collaborative senior executive model?

THE FUTURE OF CEO % agree

43% 35%

42% 39%

33%

THE ROLE OF CEO WILL NO LONGER BE RELEVANT IN ITS CURRENT FORMAT WITHIN THE NEXT 10 YEARS

Source: Kantar Futures/American

MILLENNIALS COUNTRIES’ AVERAGE

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“

Deloitte’s 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey shows that C-suite leaders with more experience of functions prior to reaching their current level are more likely to indicate that their organization engages in C-suite collaboration.

”

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

THE EVOLUTION OF C-SUITE Collaborative leadership is a known management practice that brings together managers, executives, and teams to simply break pesky silos and associated barriers to work together. In this model, information is shared organically in contrast to the top-down models where a small group of leaders control the flow of information. According to Harvard Business Review, collaborative leadership helps leaders seek diverse opinions and ideas to build strategies of the future.

Over time, employees are more engaged, feel empowered, and are more likely to take ownership and responsibility of their work. As a result, organizations can create a strong company culture rooted in meaningful work, innovation within teams, and increased employee engagement that will likely beat their competition in attracting and recruiting top talent.

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The Ecosystem

The Team

The Organization

The Leader

The Individual

To implement collaborative leadership at work, there are five layers which require efforts and planning to create an inclusive structure.

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS A COMMON GOAL In 2007, The Cleveland Clinic, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the country, adopted a new care model to improve collaboration, empower learning experience beyond its training classes and thereby increase quality and efficiency and reduce costs. To facilitate this approach, it focused on improving relationships between the clinic and patients by recognizing all employee, including administrators and janitors, as caregivers. By changing its culture and processes, The Cleveland Clinic was able to enhance patient experience and reduce costs.

One of the keys to executive collaborative leadership is to have a clear organizational purpose which allows teams to break free of old, tired behaviors. In this framework, positive peer pressure kicks in, and employees feel a greater sense of purpose. As a result, collaboration increases, performance soars, and learning accelerates.

OPEN COMMUNICATION LINES Diverse teams click when an organization adopts open communication styles. Employees can directly talk to one another, rather than through their leader, and take greater ownership of the team’s solutions. Based on conventional

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wisdom, high transparency improves the performance of diverse teams. However, team members also hide their weaknesses, feel insecure when others challenge their expertise, and act precariously in the face of such a challenge.

Before executives try this approach, they should assess whether their teams are ready to engage in an open exchange of ideas and feedback.

BUILD PARTNERSHIP SKILLS According to Harvard Business Review’s research into team behavior at multinational companies, it is almost impossible for large, virtual, diverse teams composed of specialists.

Members of complex teams are less likely to want one another to success or view their goals as compatible. Developing healthy partnership skills within teams can help solve this paradox.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has excelled in building productive collaboration. With a network of firms in 158 countries, 721 locations, with 250,000 employees, PwC’s partnership training addresses emotional intelligence, learning to hold difficult conversations, teamwork, CSR, networking, and communicating the organization’s strategy and values. It fosters a communal spirit that emphasizes on the importance of trust-based relationships within teams in different parts of the firm.

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS REAL-TIME COLLABORATION Most of the time, C-suite collaboration fails as its messy, complex, and a time-consuming process. Business leaders would need to overhaul every single part of the organizational structure to adopt real-time collaborative techniques. Not surprisingly, inefficient coworkers, demanding bosses, and difficult clients slow down the collaboration process. Business leaders can play a critical role in driving real-time collaboration across all functions as well as the business. When one team is able to seamlessly collaborate with more internal coworkers as well as external contacts, those interactions can affect work in other teams, allowing all teams to learn, grow, and innovate together.

The transition of C-suite to collaboration mode still appears to be in its early days. According to 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, 54 percent of respondents surveyed agreed that their firms are not ready for C-suite collaboration they believe is now required.

Here’s where business leaders can start: The first step is for the CEO to review organizational priorities for each leader and determine how the C-suite leader can have an impact on a broader spectrum. The second step should be to prioritize cross-disciplinary projects so that cross-functional leaders can form alliances to drive organizational success. The third step

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“

One of the keys to executive collaborative leadership is to have a clear organizational purpose which allows teams to break free of old, tired behaviors.

”

would require C-suite leaders to increase the transparency of their collaboration so the rest of the organization can follow suit.

Achieving cross-functional collaboration requires continuous performance management systems that facilitate exchanges that are core to your business and gives C-suite leaders executive collaboration experience. Deloitte’s 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey shows that C-suite leaders with more experience of functions prior to reaching their current level are more likely to indicate that their organization engages in C-suite collaboration.

In the coming years, we expect the need for C-suite collaboration will reorganize teams across the organization.

The movement will drive innovation in leadership development pipelines. This trend will not only accelerate as organizations begin to recognize the urgency of C-suite collaboration but also help teams tackle challenges businesses face today.

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Q&A with Jane 34

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The brutal and straightforward answers to HR-related queries and concerns.

Send in your queries with the subject line ‘Ask JANE HARPER’ at info@thehrdigest.com

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&

WITH JANE

“No one likes an awkward expensing conversation.”

Hi Jane, My new job is about two months old. In that time, I’ve routinely expensed a number of things for work. Travel expenses or meals for clients/employees. I’ve been paying for this directly with my credit card. A week ago, I had to buy expensive plane tickets for a business trip to Ireland and put two nights’ hotel accommodation on my card. Now, I’m extremely uncomfortable about this as I don’t earn loads (on top of it, I live in London!) and need to keep proper track of my finances. Not to mention, I have another business trip to Barcelona coming up and the tickets look might expensive. For the past few days, I’ve been contemplating whether or not to ask them for a company credit card. The whole issue of making the “expensing conversation” makes me squirm.

Pippa, 24 Hey Pippa, If you’re new to your company or are just unfamiliar with taking business trips in general, don’t shy away from setting clear expectations as far as company expenditures are concerned.

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I would simply suggest you be as direct as possible.

Request to speak directly with your manager and let them know that “financial assistance” would be helpful for the upcoming trip to Barcelona. If you’re putting this in email, it might look like this: Hi James, I’m excited about the business meeting next month. I’m about to purchase my tickets to Barcelona and wondered if you or someone else in the accounting department have a corporate credit card I could charge the transactions to? For personal reasons, I am unable to front the cost of this trip on my card and invoice at a later date. If it’s easier, I can send you the invoices or reach out to accounts for their help in completing the transactions directly.

Thanks!

Mark While I’m not a business travel expert, I do know that open lines of communication is essential in such matters. If I were you, I’d ask questions or iron out potential issues before the trip. “How do I expense everything correctly? Is there a company format I can refer to?” rather than avoid it for as long as I can. The idea to save yourself from work-travel anxiety and keep your wallet intact. Happy travels!

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&

WITH JANE

“How to answer behavioral interview questions?”

Hi Jane, I have an interview for a managerial position in IT in two weeks. In the past, I’ve interviewed for a similar position and flunked all answers to possible behavioral questions.

The questions sound very straightforward to me, but the answer is never that simple. It seems that I am unable to frame my responses in a way that would summarize my experience and skills in the best possible light. Any idea how I could give the interviewers a strong answer?

James, 33 A behavioral interview is a major part of the candidate assessment process. Employers and hiring managers rely on behavioral job interview questions in order to find out if the candidate has the skills and competencies needed for the job. In a typical behavioral job interview, the interviewer will want to know how you handled a situation, instead of how you might handle it in the future. In this post, you’ll learn how to handle a behavioral interview, what kind of questions to expect, and what method to utilize to answers the questions.

Your answers to behavioral interview questions should be

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short, focused, and must put you in the best light. The tips below will help you handle a behavioral interview in the most confident way that best highlights your competencies and skillsets. Let’s get started.

RESEARCH THE COMPANY PRE-INTERVIEW First and foremost, learn about the company before you set foot in the HQ. Your knowledge will come in handy when the interviewer is trying to determine if you’re a good fit for the position and the company. Plus, your company research will provide a solid understanding of what the company does and how your background and skills make you a great fit. Here is a mini-guide on how to research a company pre-interview: Visit the company website: Read up on the company’s history, leadership, mission statement, products and services, and company culture. If there’s a Press section, read through the latest updates, articles and blogs.

Browse social media: Social media is a good way to find out how the company wants its consumers to see it. This includes checking out the company profile on LinkedIn. You’ll be able to see your connections at the company, job posted, as well as the profiles of key executives. While you’re on the website, look for the head of the department you would be reporting to, as well as the person you will be interviewing with.

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&

WITH JANE

Don’t neglect internet search: Search both Google and Google News for the company name. You may find a list of press releases, new articles that mention the company, interviews with company executives, and much more. You may also want to find out what previous and existing employees have to say about the company on Glassdoor. In recent years, Glassdoor’s Interview Questions and Reviews section has proven to be a goldmine of information for job seekers. Here, you’ll find information on how tough the interviews are and what the company culture is like. I would advise you to take reviews with a grain of salt – scorned employees are most likely to leave negative reviews when they are unhappy. Look for repeated themes – for example, praise for family leave or frustration with working hours – as those are likely to be accurate.

REVIEW YOUR COMPETENCIES, ATTRIBUTES, AND SKILLS Interviewers often use “behavioral interview” as an opportunity to assess the candidate’s talent, ability, and results. To prepare for a behavioral interview, you’ll want to look for the type of competencies the company is looking for.

Review the job description to get a sense of what behavioral traits the employer is seeking. Take a moment to prepare a

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list of attributes and top skills in relation to the position for which you’re applying. Then, prepare answers for behavioral interview questions that illustrate that there is a fit between your skills and the position the company is looking to fill.

Employers highly value people who demonstrate key soft skills like these: • Conflict resolution, risk management, optimism • Attention to detail, persistence, consistency • Adaptability, learning from others, time management • Critical thinking, empathy, resourcefulness • Persuasiveness, resilience, judgment • Integrity, handling stress, negotiation • Team building, management, leadership

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&

WITH JANE

Refresh your memory and think about past experiences or successes that highlight these abilities. Well put anecdotes and stories on situations you have dealt with or projects you’ve handled can prove to be excellent answers for behavioral interview questions. But make sure your answers are short, crisp and to the point.

ANSWERS BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS USING “STAR METHOD” You can use the STAR interview method to give concise answers to behavior job interview questions. Using this method you can provide concrete examples of how you handled certain situations in the past. STAR interview response would highlight the skills or experience you possess for the job at hand.

STAR stands for: situation, task, action, and result. The opening to STAR interview questions are easy to recognize.

They often begin with:

Tell me about a time when…

Describe a situation where…

Give me an example of…

What do you do when…

Have you ever…

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Example Have you ever failed to achieve a goal at work?

Response Situation: I had set a huge goal that would have made 10x more profit for our department. I created a plan and followed the necessary steps to achieve it.

Task: I had to adapt to several roadblocks and challenges, etc. that naturally popped up. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the timeline and failed to achieve the goal in the due time.

Action: I took full responsibility for not having achieved the goal. It was also a great learning experience as I certainly came out on the other side smarter and more skilled. It made me aware of what to do next time in such a situation.

Result: Next time, we were able to meet our desired goal two months short of the deadline.

Now that you have a good sense of how to structure responses to behavioral job interview questions, practice following this format. Below is a list of common behavioral interview to help you etch out more detailed descriptions for the job interview.

Tip: A strong STAR response will last from one to three minutes.

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&

WITH JANE

COMMON BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS In order to help you prepare, we have curated a list of some of the most common behavioral interview questions. Go through the list to frame your responses to hypothetical situations confidently. An important thing to remember is that you should talk about relevant competencies, skills and attributes while giving your answers.

Tell me about…

1.

a time when you made a mistake at work.

2. how you handle disagreements with a coworker/ supervisor.

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3.

a time you had to meet a tight deadline.

4.

a problem you had to solve when you did not have all of the information you needed.

5.

a time when you failed to meet a client’s expectations, and how you tried to resolve the issue.

6.

a time when you made a decision that negatively impacted others around you and how you handled it.

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7.

a time when you worked on multiple projects. How did you prioritize? What were the results?

Have you ever…

8.

dealt with an angry or upset client?

9.

gone above and beyond to meet a client’s expectations? What did you do?

10. been in a situation that was ethically questionable?

11. had to fire anyone?

12. had to compete against co-workers? What steps did

you take? What were the results?

13. been in a situation where you thought it was better to

be dishonest? What did you do?

14. had to follow a rule you didn’t agree with? What did

you do?

What do you do when…

15. faced with an unfamiliar problem?

16. you are unsure about a customer’s request?

17. your scheduled is interrupted?

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WITH JANE

Give me an example of…

18. a goal you didn’t meet and how you handled it.

19. how you set your goals and how you achieve them.

20. a goal you reached and how you achieved it.

21. an occasion where you used logic to solve a problem.

Describe a…

22. decision you made that was unpopular and how you implemented it across the team.

23. project that demonstrated your analytical skills.

24. decision that you regretted.

25. time when you saw a problem at work and how you solved it.

26. time when you had to give a presentation without any preparation.

27. time when you tried to solve a dispute within the team.

28. time when a team member wasn’t doing their work efficiently.

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29. time when you experienced rapid change at work. How did you cope with it?

30. time when you had to work with a remote coworker?

What difficulties did you experience? How did you stay in touch?

There are no correct responses to behavioral interview questions. Your answer will depend on your past experiences.

Your goal should be to provide real-life examples of your past behavior to give the potential employer a more accurate candidate profile. Good luck!

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS

WINNING WITH

WORKFORCE STRATEGIES Creating a Desirable Employee Value Proposition (EVP) By: Anna Versai

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS As the U.S. economy grows, more people are returning to work and moving to better jobs. The labor market remains tight for all industries and across all skill levels indicating that companies are having difficulty finding the right talent across a wide range of occupations. A survey from the National Federation of Independent Businesses found that 52 percent of businesses were unable to fill jobs. The good news is that 28% of businesses reported raising compensation in order to give bargaining power to talented workers. But, is this enough to attract new hires?

The highly competitive job market is now pushing businesses to turn to Employee Value Proposition (EVP) for attracting top talent. Besides attracting talent, EVP can help organizations engage and retain employees. Here, we take a look at what is EVP and how to create a culture where employees thrive.

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It isn’t news that candidates don’t all want the same opportunities, rewards, culture, and people. They differ in their level of experience and in the kind of compensation and rewards they value. Organizations should be able to appeal to each of these segments to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

“ ”

According to LinkedIn 2017 Global Recruiting Trends report, the deciding factors for candidates remains to be career advancement opportunities (both financially and intellectually) and challenging work.

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS “What’s in it for me?�

According to LinkedIn 2017 Global Recruiting Trends report, the deciding factors for candidates remains to be career advancement opportunities and challenging work (both financially and intellectually. The answer is clear: candidates value career advancement and stimulating work culture over a greater benefits package. Delivering on these needs will help organizations engage and retain talent in a highly competitive job market.

We all know that EVP is the unique set of benefits an employee offers to their employees in return for their time, skills, attributes, experience, and performance in the workplace.

Too often, EVPs are confused for compensations and benefits.

A unique, relevant, and compelling EVP is the perfect amalgamation of tangible rewards received by employees (such as compensation and benefits) and intangible rewards (such as company culture, flextime, meaningful opportunities, etc.). At the core of EVPs are five key metrics: Benefits: This core component of EVP comprises of paid time off, health, dental, retirement, and disability benefits, and life and accident insurance.

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Career: This core component of EVP comprises of career stability, training and development, and evaluation and feedback, etc.

Company Culture: This core component of EVP comprises of meaningful workplace relationships characterized by collaboration, trust and, support.

Compensation: This core component of EVP comprises of salary as well as rewards such as bonuses and promotions.

So, how do you define your company’s EVP? The HR Digest has designed a simple 4-step guide for defining your company’s EVP. It will help you highlight your Employee Value Proposition in your recruiting strategy.

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS

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Step #1 Develop Your Employee Persona In order to best understand what your potential employee values, it’s important to define their persona. An employee persona represents your ideal candidate for each job position you’re trying to fill. This persona is defined by the skills, experience, and attributes that make up the ideal person for the job.

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An EVP must be distinctive and relevant if it to act as a key driver of talent attraction, retention, employee engagement, and work culture.

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS Step #2 Define Your EVP The next step is an obvious one. You need to define your organization’s EVP by specifying each key component with your employee persona in mind. Ask yourself: •

What kind of compensation package would attract the

ideal candidate?

•

Is the work challenging?

•

Does the organization provide opportunities for achievement and recognition?

•

How flexible is the work environment?

•

What about company culture?

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Organizations which deliver on the employee experience are more likely to be recommended by their employees as a place to work.

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EMPLOYEE

BENEFITS Step #3 DO YOUR RESEARCH To move forward, you’ll need to offer convincing answers to each of the questions from step #2. To do so, you’ll first need to evaluate what your competitors are offering. Once you have the answer to this question, you can find out what you currently offer to your employees in exchange for their time, skills, experience, and performance in their job. Usually, you can get this information from your company’s star performances. Find out what motivates them to do a good job each day at work.

As we’ve pointed out before, the answer to these questions may vary from one candidate to another. Some job seekers value flextime, learning, and cool projects. While others may value bonuses, benefits, and work-life balance.

It’s pointless if you fail to highlight your unique EVP for them to see it. Use various communication channels to promote the unique rewards and benefits you offer at your organization.

EVP promotional content comes in the form of employee testimonials, company videos, and company and team blogs.

Promotional channels for EVP include social networks, talent networking events, employee referrals, and career sites.

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Here is the fun part: If you have truly succeeded in creating a culture where employees thrive and feel valued, those employees turn into company ambassadors. You can even rely on a referral bonus or incentive system to nudge your employees to share your EVP on social media and other platforms where you can attract top talent. If you follow this four-step formula for defining your company’s Employee Proposition Value (EVP), you’ll gain a clear understanding of what type of content and channel are most appealing to your employee persona.

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As any good leader knows, focusing on the talent dimension as a key part of the corporate brand, is an effective approach to reach out to new employees.

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Beyond Ordinary Data Analytics By: Priyansha Mistry

T

he modern workplace is transforming. HR professionals are using people analytics to address a wide range of business challenges, including, finding talent, performance measurement, compensation planning, workforce planning and talent retention.

With this change comes improved transparency on how companies manage and develop the value of their human capital.

As HR tools and technology bring in more data and insights into the workplace, workforce planning is becoming an essential survival tool for organizations of all sizes.

Josh Bersin in Deloitte’s 2017 High-Impact People Analytics research noted that 69% of organizations with 10,000 employees or more now have a people analytics team. What’s driving the rise of People Analytics?

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QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF WORKFORCE PLANNING Over the past years, organizations have struggled to align talent management with business objectives. Yesteryears approaches are barely viable in today’s workplaces. A financeled process such as workforce planning primarily focuses on managing headcount to cost to ensure there are no budget overruns.

According to Harvard Business Review Analytics Services, inadequate workforce planning has prevented organizations from meeting their desired business goals. A majority of leaders (73 percent) have put the blame for missed business objectives on poor workforce planning.

Some companies have managed to improve the situation by combining financial forecasts with workforce management and their talent acquisition pipeline. But that’s not enough.

While CHROs recognize the need to invest in a sophisticated HR Analytics tool to generate meaningful workforce data, they are not taking action to improve the situation. In a recent SilkRoad survey, 36% of HR managers interviewed said that inadequate access to analytics to have a clear picture of their workforce is a major challenge.

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So, how can we improve the situation?

Let’s first determine what we mean by ‘meaningful workforce data.’

Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith, SVP, Global Research, PageUp, advises that organizations must consider running workforce planning strategies parallel to strategic business planning.

This would help implement data-driven decision-making and also improve transparency on workforce practices.

Kronos Workforce Dimensions, a workforce management and human capital management (HCM) consultancy, three key points should be considered to determine the value ‘workforce planning’ can potentially bring: • • •

Is it insightful?

Is it relevant?

Is it actionable?

Value Add People Analytics Source: Kronos Workforce Dimensions

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Relevant

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Once this analysis is done, organizations can fully dive into talent management which comprises of a measurement of workforce gaps and risks. This would require organizations to take a data-driven approach towards talent attraction, engagement, retention, career development, rewards and recognition, performance management, and also, leadership development and workforce mobility.

The Employee Lifecycle

Talent attraction

Roughly 75% of

Engagement

HR professionals are using people analytics to address

Performance management

organizational

Retention

challenges such as workforce performance and

Rewards and recognition

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productivity issues.

BRIDGING GAPS IN STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING Based on interactions with CHROs, it is the lack of consistency in workforce planning that remains a top challenge as approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers retire each day. As HR professionals, we must identify these inconsistencies in order to embed workforce analytics into our business.

Recruitment First and foremost is, recruiting top talent. Hiring managers are forced to find the right talent, without going over the budget, and to develop and retain that talent in order to meet the desired business objectives. But, organizational budget continues to be at a tug of war with hiring. Marked by this imbalance, organizations struggle to overcome hiring obstacles or transform their talent attraction strategies.

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People Analytics has a strong place in the recruitment strategy of the Royal Bank of Canada. Not too long ago, RBC’s retail business identified a clear opportunity in the marketplace but recognized it would need its expert advisor capacity to win. “Analytic tools enabled us to attract, select, onboard and train over 600 employees for specialized client advisor roles – all within a very tight timeframe, said Helena Gottschling, CHRO at Royal Bank of Canada, in an interview with The HR Digest. “We relied on data-driven insights to shed light on everything from fine-tuning our talent search on social media to enhancing the onboarding and training experience for future RBCers.”

RBC has also been using data analytics to deepen its understanding of how managers impact employee engagement and business performance at RBC. With the use of actionable insights and behaviors, RBC has been able to increase the effectiveness of managers overall.

Retention Most of the time, employees leave because their expectations and understanding of the workplace culture didn’t match their experience. According to Maren Hogen, a talent acquisition market expert, employee retention should be your top priority.

Here’s why: • One-third (33 percent) of employees knew whether they would stay in the company for long-term after their first week on the job.

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• Nearly four out of five (78 percent) of business leaders rank employee retention as important or urgent A high turnover rate translates into bigger financial losses, a decrease in the company’s knowledge base, and a sharp decline in employee engagement level. After a dip in 2011, global employee engagement levels have bounced back to an all-time high of 65%, yet much needs to be done to readdress this issue.

Employee Engagement Since 2011 2017

65%

2016

63%

2015

65%

2014

62%

2013

60%

2012

58%

2011

59%

SOURCE: Aon

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“The concept of employee engagement is often confused with satisfaction or happiness,” said Ken Oehler, Global Culture & Engagement practice leader at Aon. “But it’s really about an employee’s psychological investment in their organization and motivation to produce extraordinary results. Companies with above average engagement levels will see better employee productivity, lower turnover rates and higher customer satisfaction scores—all factors that can significantly contribute to improved financial performance.”

Gone are the days when business leaders put employee engagement on hold over organizational objectives. According to Gallup, higher employee engagement scores are related to key operational areas such as turnover, shrinkage, safety and quality incidents, customer metrics, and profitability.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) helps organizations build an integrated employee experience that supports both the company’s objectives and the employees’ needs during recruitment, onboarding, training, and development. An integrated employee experience starts with the first jobs posting they see on the Internet, and ends with keeping in touch even after they leave the organization, and everything in between.

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Strategic workforce planning (SWP) helps organizations build an integrated employee experience that supports both the employees’ needs and the company’s objectives.

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Connecting human capital and business outcomes An integrated employee experience isn’t fulfilled by a pantry full of organic snacks and stellar benefits package alone.

A data-driven approach into the ongoing sentiment of the workforce can provide an honest assessment of the workplace culture. The first step in unifying culture with data is to assign metrics (see an example below).

Collaboration

Communication

Workplace Wellness

Support

Leadership Effectiveness

Work-Life Balance

Once organizations determine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Company Culture and how they are measuring them (via regular employee feedback) they can easily monitor and manage each metric. This helps organizations identify existing strengths and opportunities to improve employee engagement and retention.

The key is to understanding an employee’s journey through the organization and creating personalized experiences using people analytics. Remember, data is useless without the analytic and functionality found in it.

The value data analytics bring to workforce planning is in identifying and analyzing the relation between employee engagement and employee retention. Organizations can obtain this information by looking within teams for ideas,

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challenges, and accomplishments. Employees who are not generating business results needs to be understood and nurtured in order to deliver what is expected of them.

A strong culture of feedback drives a sense of purpose for employees to take action. Furthermore, it lets the employee know that their work can make an impact on the overall business goals. When employees feel that their work is valued, it gives them a unique sense of empowerment. So, the key engagement drivers are:

Confidence in management

Relationship with manager/coworkers

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Meaningful Work

Commitment

Gone are the days when business leaders put employee engagement on hold over organizational objectives.

According to Gallup, higher employee engagement scores are related to key operational areas such as turnover, shrinkage, safety and quality incidents, customer metrics, and profitability.

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�

ROI ON HUMAN CAPITAL

Tony Raval CEO, FrescoData

(ON THE COVER)

Implementing workforce planning to get optimal return on investment (ROI) on human capital can seem overwhelming, but in fact using data analytics into certain aspects of HR will enable organizations to resolve workforce-related challenge more efficiently, and identify potential risks and trends. Here are just a few examples of people analytics into play referenced in several The HR Digest interviews: •

“We adopted AI throughout the employee lifecycle, from how

we attract, engage and develop to how we grow and serve,” said Diane Gherson, CHRO at IBM on undertaking the most ambitious technology-enabled HR transformations in its 107-year history. “This has helped us to solve pervasive talent issues, reacting quickly to employee hot spots, matching employees and external candidates with career opportunities and proactively retaining our most valued skills. AI is powering our digital learning platform for employees

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through episodic training programs to learn on the go and helping to reduce bias in recruitment. The outcomes have been material for us.

Seven out of 10 IBMers now have skills of the future compared to three out of 10 when our transformation began. And HR has contributed significant benefits to the business -- $107 million last year alone.”

•

“Fact-based insights have the power to enlighten and balance

talent conversations. They have a way of liberating the decisionmaking process from the all-too-human biases that reside in all of us, which helps get you to the finish line faster – a huge plus for large organizations like RBC,” says Helena Gottschling, making a case for the value of people analytics in workforce planning.

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With Gen Zers and millennials, there is no stopping the digital revolution,” says Tony Raval, CEO of FrescoData.

“Creating digital initiatives and strategies that continue to advance as the needs of Gen Zers and millennials swell can ensure no matter what sector of business you are in, your business will continue to grow in line with the different needs, mindsets, and preferences of this demographic.”

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”

•

“While we were restructuring our services business, we made

significant investments in training to help our employees make this skills transition and to introduce a learning culture, as learning is a lifelong journey,” says Stefan Reis, SAP SE Executive Board Member and Chief Human Resources Officer, on successfully implementing a comprehensive workforce skills upgrade. “Besides growing the skills of the current workforce, we also focused on attracting the best talents with new skills from the market and at the same time retain our best talents in the organization. Our technology has helped us tremendously in analyzing the skills of our workforce, provide learning offerings to employees globally, and get access to talent pools worldwide.”

This is the best time for business leaders to make the leap that several organizations have made in recent years. With proper workforce planning, CHROs can become a salient partner to CEO. Talent engagement is a common starting point for a reason. With the right HR tools and technology, organizations can identify potential issues before they’ve manifested.

Choosing the right data for actionable insights makes the whole process seamless and more reliable. Using people analytics organizations can drive big picture strategy that has an overall impact on the employee lifetime value. Follow-up surveys are the best bet when it comes to deriving measure of organizational success in leveraging data analytics. Organizations can use them to fine-tune their workforce planning strategy and improve metrics.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE By: Jane Harper

Women are breaking new grounds every day in our current labor market. They now have more protection to work so hard and establish themselves alongside their male counterparts. However, more work needs to be done, which includes educating women on their legal rights. So how can HR professionals ensure that their businesses stay compliant with women’s labor laws in America? By staying compliant with U.S. federal laws that prohibit certain types of employment discrimination against women. What are they? Let’s take a look.

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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) FMLA is aimed at protecting the right of families at workplaces, passed in 1993. Companies with employees above 50 are required to abide by this law. The act allows families who require some time off from work to bond with their newborn or adopted child. Allowable duration for FMLA is 12 unpaid weeks. The act ensures that employees still maintain their position when they return from leave and also receive their health benefits. The FMLA also protects employees having severe medical issues.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act The American government in 1978 amended the Civil Rights Acts and included the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) to protect women’s right in the workplace. The act prevents companies from discriminating against women because of their pregnancy. Before the PDA was introduced, companies usually fire pregnant women to prevent healthcare costs and labor costs associated with pregnancy and having to seek temporary cover while the women are gone.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) The FLSA is one of the first women’s labor laws in America

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aimed at protecting women’s right in the workplace. The Fair Labor Standards Act was initially signed into law in 1938, towards the end of the Great Depression. Since then, it has been amended by the government over 20 times. The act covers the following areas; a maximum-hour of work per week, laws for overtime pay, banning child labor and others.

The FLSA gave mothers a huge relief when it was enacted.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act The Civil Rights Act is a popular law because it recognizes the equality of all humans. However, beyond this, Title VII covers labor law for women. In the Title VII, it is clearly stated as a prohibition for an employer to discriminate, in any manner, an employee or potential employee on the bases of his/her race or also based on the sex, religion or national origin. This act is effective during hiring, underemployment and in the exit process. Hence, it put an end to discrimination due to sex.

Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (or COBRA) The Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is a landmark federal law, passed in 1985, granted workers who lose their health insurance coverage the right to continue group health benefits after a job loss or other

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qualifying event. Women, especially single mothers, benefit from COBRA if they decide to switch jobs or suffer an: •

Hourly cutback that reduces full-time employment to part-time

•

Involuntary job loss

•

A tragic life event such as divorce or family death.

Whistleblower Protection Whistleblower rights and protection were initially addressed by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

In 1989, Congress passed the Whistleblower Protection Act to “strengthen and improve protection for the rights of federal employees, to prevent reprisals, and to help eliminate wrongdoing within the Government.”

As a federal employee, you can reveal any of the following instances of types of dishonest or illegal activities:

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•

a violation of law, rule, or regulation;

•

gross mismanagement;

•

a gross waste of funds;

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•

an abuse of authority;

•

or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

Whistleblower protection extends to women who could fall victim to sexual discrimination or reprisal in the workplace place, by encouraging those will illegal knowledge to come forward by promising: •

Protection for wrongful dismissal

•

No risk of reprisal from their place of work

•

Whistleblowers are protected from sexual discrimination

•

A percentage of the money recovered or damages won.

The 1963 Equal Pay Act One of the most surprisingly women’s labor laws in America is the Equal Pay Act passed in 1963. However, it may still be a surprise to women who earn 80 cent dollar below the men in their workplace, according to a Pew Research study. In this act, employers are required to place both men and women on the same salary scale for the same job. It seems the Act hasn’t achieved as many results as expected because of the current wage gap between men and women experienced in the U.S.

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Building a Company Employees Love By: Diana Coker

As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In today’s world of work where change happens fast, the first question analysts are most likely to ask a CEO is: “Do you have the right culture to succeed?”

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In a recent Bain & Company survey, 81% of executives from large global companies felt that a company without winning culture was doomed to mediocrity. A reliable formula business leaders use to create a culture that treats performance as an output and fosters a sense of ownership that is generating outstanding results for not just the customers, but also the employees and shareholders. So, what does this “winning culture” look like, and how is it achieved?

Culture is an incredibly important merit because it inspires high commitment employees to believe in and live out the organization’s vision in their daily work. A winning culture acts as a differentiator in the marketplace.

It set the tone for everything from how you attract customers, retain them and turn them into brand advocates to the way you attract highly talented employees and turn them into company brand ambassadors. A company culture, driven by purpose and brand, can accelerate business performance and empower employees at all levels. It paves the way for creating and sustaining the organization’s purpose, brand, and culture that is clearly understood, thoroughly executed, and fully supported.

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Building a winning culture requires leadership buy-in and commitment. Look at companies like Apple, a great example of a winning culture, where innovation and creativity transcends the company’s boundaries to create a brand value that’s greater than most nations in Europe.

A culture if winning can improve key performance metrics of the organization, such as: innovation, strengths, diversity and inclusion, high performance, and safety.

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is worth noting that not all organizations take the necessary steps to identify, measure and monitor key performance metrics. Successful organizations understand their unique culture, use methods to correctly and continuously monitor the state of their culture, and align the culture with top business performance metrics.

In today’s world, organizations with a strong culture of winning are known to win talent wars. According to our analysis, a strong culture turns loyal employees into brand ambassadors who are committed to positively represent the company. These employees naturally understand the basic elements of the organization’s values, goals and ethics. And that naturally shows higher levels of engagement within the organization. Happy and engaged employees are most likely to spread the good word about the organization. When you have a strong winning culture, employees can speak about why your organization is a great place to work. The best people want to work for you when you have a culture of innovation, growth and productivity in your organization.

The promises of a strong winning culture fail when executives fail to identify the primary drivers of their desired culture. Most often, it is the result of a patchwork approach connecting organizational values with adaptability, purpose, and competency.

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UNLOCK POTENTIAL WITH TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT New hires feel lost without proper training. According to a BambooHR survey, lack of effective training during the onboarding process is why 17% of new hires quit during the first three months.

A winning culture encourages employees to develop knowledge and competence. And with continuous learning, employees can elevate as top talent which would open unlimited opportunities for the organization to transform continuously for the better.

There are many benefits of a culture of learning in an organization. These include, but are not limited to: • A developed sense of accountability and ownership • Increased effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity • Increased employee engagement and reduced absenteeism • A strong culture of knowledge sharing • An enhanced ability for adaptability and change A culture of learning also gives employees a preview of what is expected of them and how their contribution would matter to the company’s goals. People often struggle to perform at

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their job when they’re unsure of the company’s standards.

You can effectively handle underperforming employees with this simple step.

Building a winning culture cannot happen without focusing on an employee’s professional development. A culture of learning comes with a growth mindset. It’s something that takes place over a period of time.

Show your employees that you value them and want to help them progress in their careers. Building a culture of learning is the no. 1 driver of workplace engagement.

When you build a winning culture, your employees become more efficient and happy in the work they do. There is a reason why Fortune 500 companies swear by it.

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PEDALING FOR

PRODUCTIVITY

By: Jack Gilfoyle

Every manager, at some point in their career, will have to learn to handle underperforming employees. The way you choose to deal with underperforming employees, be it in the form of an employee performance review or a difficult 88

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conversation at work, can set the level of team morale and affect the bottom line of your goals. In this post, we’ve listed proven methods to effectively deal with underperforming employees. The post will also help you learn how to provide corrective feedback in a way that it provides a playground for the underperformer to grow.

People struggle to perform at their job for two reasons: either they’re incompetent or they’re lazy. If you look at it closely, you would find that there is a world of difference between the two.

Incompetence in most cases is an indication of lack of skill set or knowledge required to perform the job. In most cases, it’s easier to work with underperforming employees who lack the necessary skills.

To address the latter, however, is a herculean task. Firstly, you do not know the reason why the employee chooses not to do his or her job. Secondly, you do not know if the employee is unsure of your standards, or they simply refuse to do what is required of them. This kind of employees are often tough to deal with. Their denial or refusal to address the lapse in productivity can spread like wildfire and affect the overall morale of the team.

The stress of having to deal with an underperforming employee can lead to decision paralysis. Too many times, managers allow themselves to be bulldozed by underperforming employees.

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This also means that the organization has to bear the cost of an underperforming employee for much longer than needed.

This leads to the question: Is the employee worth keeping?

No one likes to terminate an employee. Not to mention, what if the replacement turns out to be worse than the one you fired?

Now, you’re drowning yourself in a work situation where nobody wins. Not you, not the poor performing employee, not your organization, and definitely not the other employees.

Your primary goal is to improve the poor performance and retain the employee. But this does not mean that you do it at the expense of other employees. The best way to handle underperformance is by not letting the problem go unaddressed.

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Roughly 50% of the American workforce strongly feels that they understand work expectations. This means that 5 out of 10 employees at your organization don’t know how to do their job effectively.

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#1 SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS A Towers Watson survey notes that half of managers don’t set clear expectations. If employee goals aren’t clear and well-defined, how can employees hope to achieve them?

Another survey by Robert Half Management Resources found that one-third of CFOs felt their company’s workforce was unaware of their firm’s objectives.

Step one as a part of the corrective measures module is to set clear expectations. Every underperforming employee needs clarification of performance goals and expectations for improvement.

Ask the employee for ideas, thoughts, and/or suggestions that will likely turn their performance around. Provide the employee with necessary training using the right of resources if you need to. Lastly, set up performance review meetings so you can provide timely, accurate and honest feedback to the underperformer.

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#2 MONITOR PROGRESS & REWARD POSITIVE CHANGES Once you outline clear objectives and necessary action to meet those objectives. Assess the underperforming employee’s progress and see if they need extra training or resources that would help them perform better.

As an employee’s performance is crucial to business growth, it’s imperative to invest in the right tools and technology.

Thanks to advancement in this area, managers do not have to wait for year employee performance appraisal review to know how productive their employees are.

Workflow tools like Asana, Trello, Desk Time, Todoist, and WorkiQ help monitor employees’ daily job performance.

Managers can track tasks, projects listed with deadlines, and productivity of the employee struggling with efficiency.

Such tools can be a window of opportunity to identify which motivation strategies lead to most productivity.

Let the employee know that their hard work will not go unnoticed by the management. A sincere gift, whether it is a $50 gift card or a handwritten note, will show how much you appreciate the employee’s hard work and will go a long way to motivate him or her to keep improving.

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“ ”

A Towers Watson survey notes that half of managers don’t set clear expectations. If employee goals aren’t clear and well-defined, how can employees hope to achieve them?

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#3 ACT ON UNDERPERFORMANCE It can be disheartening to see that the underperforming employee remains disengaged from work. Holding onto underperformers can create a ripple effect within the organization. Those hardworking employees will get discouraged if they see their coworker slacking off and not getting the short end of the stick.

At some point, you’ll have to let the underperforming employee go. This is never an ideal thing to do and should always be treated as the last resort. It is, after all, better for the team and the organization.

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How to get your

SEASONAL JOB SEARCH

strategy right By: Christina Hicks

Picture a ski resort in the middle of the Alps. Or, a Macy’s store in December. It’s that time of the year when many industries are getting in on the hiring bandwagon. If you’re a job seeker who’s wondering how you can find seasonal jobs hiring immediately, you’re asking the right question at the right time.

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A lot of companies are preparing for making their big push for seasonal hiring. If you’re thinking that means only retail and holiday-related wrong.

Many of these The internet and jobs, social then mediayou’re have since become an integral companies areevery preparing for year-end events as tax part of organization’s marketing and such advertising Thisenrollment is in responseortogearing the widespread of big technology seasondivision. or open up for use their tourism push. and where most people have given in their attention in recent

years. However, there are no metrics to properly score the impact of this –revolutionary medium.

A study Most companies especially communication in the retail, tourism, and on the impact of online the Army’s transportation sector – hireinformation seasonalon workers forrecruitment Christmas, and outreach gives a glimpse of what other organizations are which is the busiest season of the year. However, companies going through, in most cases blindly. even in the tech sector see seasonal employees as a key asset to keep up with the peak demand.

INDUSTRIES HIRING SEASONAL WORKERS

HR Administration

Temp Work

Tax Preparation

Hospitality and Tourism

Retail

Restaurants

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Jessica Mara, a 20-yearold student, spent her last winter working at Kohl’s in Virginia. “I thought it’d be nice if I made some money during the holiday season,” she said. “So, a seasonal job was the best bet.”

Job search engines are an excellent way to find seasonal employment.

Popular job sites, such as CareerBuilder, Indeed, TheLadders, LinkedIn and Glassdoor offer advanced search features where you can search by keywords like “local seasonal jobs,” “winter seasonal jobs,” “winter season jobs,” “best seasonal jobs,” “part-time seasonal jobs,” or “best seasonal jobs,” etc.

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You can also find jobs on sites dedicated to seasonal employment. There are plenty of job sites to find cool, unusual, odd, and adventurous seasonal jobs: CoolWorks, BackdoorJobs, S e a s o n a l J o b s , SeasonWorkers, and Caterer.

It’s advisable to include your location in the search tab for maximum efficacy.

Once you’ve identified the position you’re interested in, you can scout companies and apply directly. A lot of employers accept online applications on the website.

If you have connections, use them. Referencing someone could also help boost your chances of an interview.

Seasonal jobs also provide

a unique opportunity to explore new positions and new companies and make money while doing so. Regardless of your reason to find a seasonal job, it’s important to take time to research and explore the opportunities.

There’s a whole new world of high-paying season jobs ready and waiting for you. You can even get a position titled ‘Santa Claus’ or ‘Expert Cookie Taster.’ All you need to do is find your perfect job! Monster weighs in on how you can build a seasonal job search strategy.

START LOOKING TODAY One of the biggest challenges job seekers face in finding seasonal employment is the little timeframe. To find the perfect holiday season job, you need to start applying months before the holiday season begins. The earlier you begin applying for seasonal employment, the more choices you’ll have and the more likely you’ll be to find a job that’s a great match for your employment needs.

According to a 2019 Monster poll on seasonal hiring trends, 80% of job seekers are looking for a seasonal gig but nearly 30% of job seekers plan to wait until sometime in October to find one. Now that’s a bad move. As we’ve already established, seasonal hiring typically begins in September. Many employers know months in advance how many helping hands they’ll need during the holiday season. Some employers even begin

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their recruitment process in the middle of summer! Don’t believe us? This year, Kohl’s started an early wave of seasonal hiring across 500 stores in July. An early recruitment push helps Kohl’s support its back-to-school and holiday season sales. This year on October 5, Kohl’s hosted a national hiring day at its more than 1,100 stores nationwide. It recruited approximately 5,000 seasonal workers in one day just for the holiday season.

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STAND OUT FROM THE REST If you’re stopping at a big-box store, warehouse, or even a tech startup for seasonal work, be prepared with your resume and cover letter to participate in an impromptu interview. The trust is, you need more to set an impression beyond shared smiles and handshakes with the interviews. Most interviewers would look at it as a waste of time if you simply hung out with you without engaging in a hiring discussion where they ended up getting to know more about your work experience and skills.

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According to a 2019 Monster poll on seasonal hiring trends, 80% of job seekers are looking for a seasonal gig but nearly 30% of job seekers plan to wait until sometime in October to find one.

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DON’T SETTLE Saying yes to an hourly wage you aren’t excited about a career killer. Determine what hours and days you’re available, and what hourly rate suits your employment needs. You don’t want to commit to a job only to leave your employer in the lurch during the busy holiday season.

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DRESS FOR THE JOB YOU WANT Many job seekers (32 percent) said they’re looking for a side gig but they don’t walk in thinking it’s going to be a “real job.” As you’ve heard the saying, “dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Like it or not, what you wear matters to your future employer. One of the easiest ways to make a good first impression is by dressing up for the job. You never know, you could land a permanent job offer.

Over the past few years, 35% of UPS’s seasonal workers were moved into permanent positions after the holidays. Dressing professionally for the interview shows that you respect the gig and will help you set a great first impression.

It may still be fall, but some companies are eager to hire seasonal workers for the holiday season. If you’re looking to make some quick buck this fall and winter, or want a parttime gig, now is the time to make a move.

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Over the past few years, 35% of UPS’s seasonal workers were moved into permanent positions after the holidays. Dressing professionally for the interview shows that you respect the gig and will help you set a great first impression.

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BUILD A STRONG CULTURE WITH IKIGAI By: Anna Veesai

In the Japanese island of Okinawa, people live by a value called ikigai. Pronounced “ick-ee-guy,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “a reason for which you wake up in the morning” comes close. According to psychiatrist Meiko Kamiya, author of Ikigai-ni-tsuite (About Ikigai), the word is similar to “happiness.” Ikigai is what cultivates a sense of purpose.

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People who have a sense of purpose in life are more motivated and resilient. When you think of someone who is engaged with their work, who has a clear sense of purpose and know their contribution makes a difference – who do you picture?

For us, it’s Zappos.

In the past years, Ikigai has made inroads with the internal culture at Zappos. Their employees understand what they are working towards and how they make a difference in people’s lives, which gives them a greater sense of purpose. Zappos’ 10 Core Values has a big part to play, as tying the culture to the goals of the company gives employees a common goal to work toward.

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To help employees truly enjoy their job, Zappos offers benefits such as workplace flexibility, a commitment to health, and many more. At Zappos, workplace flexibility doesn’t mean doing yoga in the breakroom. Instead, it promotes flextime where employees can work to meet their personal needs and the needs of the business. Zappos’ flexible work schedule helps many employees perform their jobs outside the regular nine-to-five.

Employees at Zappos are able to find their Ikigai through continuous learning. This comes in many forms such as online learning courses, shadow sessions, and life coaching opportunities.

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Zappos University: Employees at Zappos earn the opportunity to pursue growth and learning by registering for any ULearn class they find of interest. Most of these courses are available online which make it convenient to take a class while they’re sitting in their workspace. The courses are designed to help employees grow, either in their current position, or positions which aspire to gain in the future.

Shadow Sessions: Zapponians can contact a manager on a team and ask if they could shade with one of their team members. These sessions can be long or short and provide an insight into the career they want to pursue.

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Life Coaching: A life coach is a good starting point for employees who can’t find their own Ikigai. Zappos has an entire team ready and willing to work with employees to help them achieve their personal or professional goals.

Employees at Zappos support the retailer’s 10 Core Values because they understand them. Under the company’s selfmanaged environment Zapponians know what is expected of them and continue to evolve and innovate in order to achieve the desired outcome.

In this interview with The HR Digest, Christa Foley, Senior Director of Brand Vision and Culture and Head of Talent Acquisitions at Zappos, talks about the online retailer’s self-managing, self-organizing culture which has become a landmark study for companies aspiring to create a distinct workplace culture.

The HR Digest: Zappos’ internal culture is heavily instilled with the Okinawan concept of ikigai (a Japanese word loosely translated to mean ‘a reason for being’). What have been the key drivers propelling ikigai, detail on some of them?

Christa Foley: The thing that really drives both our business and our people forward is our culture. That’s why it was so important to infuse our Core Values, which were created by 110

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employees themselves, into our hiring process. We try not to focus on how fast we can fill positions, it just matters that we have the right people.

The HR Digest: What are the people management and workforce empowerment practices at Zappos to ensure employee happiness, engagement, and productivity?

Christa Foley: Because we try to operate in a self-managed environment, we try to give as many tools and resources to our employees as possible. Sometimes that means cutting down barriers and roadblocks so they can solve problems themselves and sometimes that means connecting employees to others who have the skills and know-how that they’re looking for.

The HR Digest: With Zappos having an enviable employer brand, a key factor to attract and retain top talent, is there an added pressure on culture leaders to work on employee job satisfaction and engagement strategies?

Christa Foley: I wouldn’t say there are any designated “culture leaders” at Zappos. Our philosophy is that if you hire for culture, then everyone should be able to identify with and embody our Core Values in some way. We have 10 Core Values and some people will empower different ones at different times and that’s ok!

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WORKPLACE CULTURE

WHEN THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH YOUR JOB IS THE OFFICE DRAMA By: Jane Harper

One of the best decisions you can make in your life is to choose to not get involved in petty office drama.

Unfortunately, no matter how close-knit you are with your coworkers, you’re still going to struggle to keep your cool and your dignity, when it seems like everybody around you is acting like they’re in a time-jump episode of Gossip Girl.

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WORKPLACE CULTURE Limiting your interactions with catty colleagues to work-only conversations will do little to help you keep from being sucked into the black hole. Your challenge is to rise above the office drama at work while preserving your relationship with your colleagues. I have a few tips for keeping the conversation positive and staying out of office drama at work that would take up your valuable time.

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Avoid the Office Drama Instigators We all have enjoyed our free refill of fresh and voyeuristic office drama. People who love to gossip at work will stop by your cubicle and expect you to fan the flames while they dish the dirt. Call it what you may but you’re still being held prisoner by a productivity drainer.

Workplace expert Lind Swindling, JD, CSP, in her book, Stop Complainers and Energy Drainers, shared eye-opening results from her survey on unnecessary workplace drama. According to the survey results, 78 percent of participants spend three to six hours a week listening to complainers.

The more you hang out with the bunch, the more time you’ll waste on toxic conversations. Workplace gossip will add little to no value to your perceived worth at work.

Find a way polite to put an end to this misery. For me, it is: “You know what Miles, I’d love to sit and chat, but I’m on a tight deadline and I need to get back to work. Some other time, maybe?” works like a charm.

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It is important to be selective about who you are sharing your personal thoughts with while you’re on the clock. If you’re speaking to a coworker you don’t know that well, it is advisable to help them find productive solutions.

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WORKPLACE CULTURE “It’s none of my business, darling.”

What do you do when your favorite escape-phrase fails to work? You want to treat everyone equally and respectfully but there’s no end to this office drama. You can’t use your favorite escape-phrase to get out a work situation where you’re forced to pass judgment on a particular person or a situation at work.

Let’s say someone on your team says, “Katie’s marketing idea was quite shoddy. I wonder if her proposal got approved because she’s the boss’s friend.” Even if you agree, try to say something diplomatic like: “She seems really overwhelmed. I think she has a lot on her plate.”

If you can’t think of a way to avoid taking sides, just change the subject.

Follow the two rules and you’ll avoid workplace drama without offending anyone at work. A workplace without drama is happier, efficient, and more productive.

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When you start sharing your stresses and annoyance of work with a chatty colleague, you’re spreading your personal business around the office, without any intention of figuring out how to fix the problems.

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Avoid Toxic Venting Venting isn’t uncommon – in fact, it is seen as a healthy way to express frustration in the workplace. But when you start sharing your stresses and annoyance of work with a chatty colleague, you’re spreading your personal business around the office, without any intention of figuring out how to fix the problems.

As for people on the other side of the coin, venting is the easiest way to fall down the rabbit hole. You may want to listen to the litany of woes to help your work buddy heal and move forward. But often, you become an accomplice to toxic conversations that can wreck careers and reputations.

But, venting isn’t just about complaining. When a person becomes fixated on other person’s faults, they often resort to name-calling, criticisms, and put-downs that create even more chaos. It’s telling the same story from a victim’s point of view where the other person seems lazy and stupid. The victims often make comparisons to another person or imply they don’t deserve the respect or position at work.

It is important to be selective about who you are sharing your personal thoughts with while you’re on the clock. If you’re speaking to a coworker you don’t know that well, it is advisable to help them find productive solutions.

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WORKPLACE CULTURE Take a Pause Let’s say, you are in a meeting where your coworker seems to be attacking you or your work. So, what do you do? You get entangled in no-win, passive-aggressive debate mirroring their hostility. Couple this with previous conflicts and the pressure of deadlines, and you have yourself a recipe for workplace drama.

Whenever emotions come into play, practice the “take a pause” mantra to clear out any noise.

This advice should also come helpful when you receive a rude email at work. You could resort to the more passiveaggressive approach, where you immediately fire off a haughty reply – CCing a few key executives to make your points clear. You’re annoyed and everybody knows the reason. Suddenly, everyone is sharing their personal opinion on the matter and taking sides on what’s now a workplace conflict.

Rather, take the high road, and more importantly, learn to stay calm and diplomatic. This would allow you to hear perspectives, ideas, and opinions of your coworkers. Your calm approach also projects that you are conducting yourself professionally while maintaining professional boundaries.

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“Can we talk?”

Sometimes it’s easier to sit and talk rather than digging on misunderstandings. While you might be tempted to complain to your boss about a coworker’s behavior, take a deep breath and give the offending coworker a chance to address the behavior. Ideally, take time to sit down and have a chat to understand your coworker’s perspective.

Often, we run away from resolving a workplace conflict out of fear of insulting or upsetting the coworker. But if you don’t bring up an issue that should be resolved immediately, you’re denying yourself and your coworker a chance to grow. You mustn’t make HR do all the heavy-lifting, rather ensure that you’re taking ownership of the situation.

Over time you’ll learn that

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WORKPLACE CULTURE verbal communication leaves less room for misinterpretation and is one of the best approaches to reach a mutual solution while leaving feelings intact.

Workplace drama can result in low morale, reduced productivity, and diminished innovation. According to a survey, valuable employees spend as much as an additional six hours of work per week on productivity drainers like a venting coworker or a workplace conflict. This equates to a total of $10.1 billion on wasted hours per week, and more than $505 billion a year, according to Linda Byars Swindling, author of Stop Complainers and Energy Drainers: How to Negotiate Work Drama to Get More Done.

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Sometimes it’s easier to sit and talk rather than digging on misunderstandings. While you might be tempted to complain to your boss about a coworker’s behavior, take a deep breath and give the offending coworker a chance to address the behavior.

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Top picks of conferences and professional events around the world.

HR TechXpo 2019

22-23 October 2019

UNLEASH World, the world’s GREATEST and LARGEST show on the Future of Work and HR Technology, relocates back to Paris for the HR industry’s #1 event, which gathers senior decision makers, visionaries, influencers, and disruptors from over 120 countries. Hundreds of inspirational speakers over two days of conferencing and the most innovative and next-gen vendors on the Expo Floor, bring you the technology and solutions which helps you plan for today and tomorrow’s top workforce challenges.

City View at Metreon, San Francisco, CA, USA Josh Bersin, Leading HR Tech Analyst

CWC 2019 Compliance Conference

October 23-25, 2019

Reserved exclusively for members, this fall conference delivers practical solutions to everyday workplace challenges, and features sessions led by attorneys, policy analysts, and association members with experience in designing, implementing, and defending compliance and diversity programs.

Nashville, TN

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2019 Strategic HR Forum

October 27-29, 2019

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in forward-thinking discussions and explore the strategies companies are employing to lead better workplaces.

At the Forum, you will have the opportunity to develop new frameworks for meaningful and dynamic employee experiences; new approaches to talent acquisition, learning and inclusivity; and new partnerships with other functions as you increasingly confront the intersection of social, political, economic and business decisions.

Boston, MA Ram Charan, Global Business Advisor, Author and Speaker

The HR Southwest Conference

27-30 October, 2019

The HRSouthwest Conference (HRSWC) invites you to be part of the largest regional educational and networking event for human resource professionals.

HRSWC is organized by DallasHR, the Dallas-based SHRM Affiliate Chapter, and has been designated as the official State of Texas SHRM Conference hosting more than 2500 attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors annually. Join us in Fort Worth, TX for this can’t miss event!

Fort Worth, TX David Horsager, CEO and Best-Selling author, “The Trust Edge”

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HR Comply

14-15 November, 2019

HR Comply (formerly the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium) is the nation’s leading human capital management conference for HR professionals, executives, and in-house counsel. The superior content and expert presenters will help you get ahead of workplace policy updates with a one-stop, allbases-covered overview of breaking updates and proven best practices.

Nashville, TN

Onboard.Amsterdam

28 November 2019

Good onboarding is more important than ever! Having a structured onboarding process for new recruits plays a vital role in the retention and engagement of your employees. An effective process allows new hires to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviors not only for their role, but in understanding what their purpose will be in the company and how they will fit. Join and discover the latest trends set to shape the future of HR & the employee journey on 28 November 2019 at the Kromhouthal in Amsterdam. Get ready for a day full of inspirational talks, outstanding demo’s & exceptional networking.

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Rethink! HR Tech Europe

28-29 November 2019

The Rethink! HR Tech Europe 2019 is the leading HR tech summit bringing together CHROs & HR executives to discuss key industry topics, share knowledge, create new partnerships, and identify opportunities for their business. Networking & Benchmarking – Meet 150+ CHROs and HR decisionmakers from renowned European companies!

Berlin, Germany Michael Rubas, Senior Vice President HR Planning, IT & Operations

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