Posts

5 Ways to Create a Positive Work Environment

Creating a positive work environment is critical to a company’s success. And a huge part of that is hiring the correct people to fill open positions. However, if managing an effective hiring process is taking too much of your time, consider ExactHire Full Service Hiring –where our team takes on the difficult, time-consuming tasks of hiring and delivers you qualified candidates to choose from.

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business world, fostering a positive work environment is not just a feel-good idea; it’s a strategic imperative. A positive workplace culture can significantly impact employee engagement, productivity, retention, and overall organizational success. In this blog, we’ll explore five proven strategies to create and nurture a positive work environment that benefits both employees and the company.

Open and Honest Communication

Effective communication is the bedrock of a positive work environment. When employees and management communicate openly and honestly, it builds trust, clarity, and a sense of belonging. Here are some key elements of fostering communication:

Regular Updates: Keep employees informed about company news, goals, and progress. Regularly share updates through meetings, emails, or a company intranet.

Active Listening: Encourage employees to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback. Actively listen to their input and take it into account when making decisions.

Transparency: Be transparent about company policies, procedures, and decision-making processes. This helps dispel rumors and create a sense of fairness.

Conflict Resolution: Establish effective conflict resolution mechanisms to address disputes promptly and fairly. A conflict-free workplace is a more positive one.

Promote Work-Life Balance

In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s easy for employees to feel overwhelmed by the demands of work. Promoting a healthy work-life balance can alleviate stress and burnout, leading to a happier and more productive workforce. Here’s how to promote work-life balance:

Flexible Scheduling: Whenever possible, offer flexible work hours or remote work options. This allows employees to better manage their personal and professional lives.

Encourage Time Off: Encourage employees to use their vacation days and personal time. Avoid glorifying overwork or sending emails during off-hours.

Set Realistic Expectations: Ensure that workloads and deadlines are manageable. Unrealistic expectations can lead to stress and dissatisfaction.

Wellness Programs: Consider offering wellness programs that focus on physical and mental health. Yoga classes, stress management workshops, or access to counseling services can make a significant difference.

Recognize and Appreciate

Employee recognition is a powerful tool for creating a positive work environment. When employees feel valued and appreciated, they are more motivated, engaged, and committed to their work. Here’s how to effectively recognize and appreciate your team:

Thank-You Notes: A simple “thank you” note or email can go a long way in expressing appreciation for an employee’s efforts.

Employee of the Month: Consider implementing an Employee of the Month program to celebrate outstanding contributions.

Public Acknowledgment: Recognize employees’ achievements in team meetings or company-wide gatherings. Highlight their successes and contributions.

Customized Rewards: Tailor rewards and recognition to individual preferences. Some employees may prefer public recognition, while others may prefer a private thank you.

 

Explore ExactHire Solutions

 

Invest in Professional Development

Employees who see opportunities for growth and advancement within their current organization are more likely to be engaged and committed. Investing in professional development not only benefits employees but also strengthens the company’s workforce. Here’s how to promote growth:

Training Programs: Offer training programs and workshops to enhance employees’ skills and knowledge. This can include technical skills, leadership development, or industry-specific training.

Mentorship and Coaching: Establish mentorship programs that pair experienced employees with those looking to grow in their careers. Coaching and mentorship can be invaluable for personal and professional development.

Clear Career Paths: Provide employees with a clear understanding of potential career paths within the organization. Encourage goal setting and provide support for advancement.

Continuous Learning: Promote a culture of continuous learning where employees are encouraged to seek out new knowledge and skills.

Foster a Positive Work Culture

The workplace culture sets the tone for interactions and behaviors within an organization. Fostering a positive work culture can significantly impact employee morale and satisfaction. Here’s how to promote a positive work culture:

Respect and Inclusivity: Ensure that all employees are treated with respect and dignity. Promote inclusivity and diversity within the workplace.

Collaboration: Encourage teamwork and collaboration. Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing ideas and working together toward common goals.

Zero Tolerance for Toxic Behavior: Address toxic behaviors such as gossip, bullying, or discrimination promptly and firmly. Make it clear that such behaviors will not be tolerated.

Company Values: Align company values with actions and decisions. When employees see that the organization lives its values, it fosters trust and confidence.

Conclusion

creating a positive work environment is not a one-time effort but an ongoing commitment. By implementing these five strategies—open and honest communication, promoting work-life balance, recognizing and appreciating employees, investing in professional development, and fostering a positive work culture—you can cultivate a workplace where employees thrive, and the organization flourishes. Remember that a positive work environment is a collective effort that involves every member of the organization, from leadership to entry-level employees, working together to create a harmonious and productive workplace.

4 Ways to Support Women in the Workforce

Happy 2023!

Often, as the new year rolls in, people proclaim that the new year consists of 365 days of new opportunities, and that is a valid statement. Unfortunately for many women, the new year continues to pose workplace challenges that did not end on December 31st.

Let’s take a look at the new year from a mathematical view.

A typical calendar year is 365 days. The average full-time employee will work approximately 260 of those 365 days, or roughly 71% of the year.  According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earned 83.1% compared to men’s earnings in 2021. This is down 1% from data collected in 2020.

Looking at this wage differential, women would need to work almost 45 more days a year to earn what men do in a calendar year. Not so much of a happy new year.

So let’s take a better look at what your company can do to better support the women at your company.

Women would need to work almost 45 more days a year to earn what men do in a calendar year.

Women in the workforce are often held to superheroic, unrealistic standards of excellence. They are expected to be stellar employees who work constantly to earn “exceeds expectations” on their performance evaluations. Many do this while also being a logistics coordinator in their home, maintaining their households and providing care to their loved ones.

With these pressures and expectations, it is no surprise that burnout in women is rising faster than in men. The pandemic unfortunately exacerbated these factors. Many women were forced to make hard decisions that have impacted the global business market. Women are leaving the work world at a faster rate than men, and they are also less likely to fill leadership positions.

In October 2022, McKinsey and Company, in partnership with LeanIn.org, released its latest “Women in the Workplace” study. The report is a must-read for any organization. The findings spotlight challenges that organizations must identify and overcome to provide women with the resources for success.

Employers need to be vocal advocates for women in the workplace. They can do this by creating a supportive, mentoring environment. One that invests in opportunities for women to demonstrate their tenacity. This post will provide four key ways, for an organization to support women in the workforce.

1.) Focus on Leadership Opportunities

Women earn more than half of the college and advanced degrees awarded in the United States. Women hold 23% of executive positions, 29% of senior management positions, 37% of manager positions, 42% of professional positions, and 47% of support staff positions globally. Why are there not more women in leadership positions?

Multiple studies have yielded similar results. There is a predominant assumption that women are not interested in leadership roles. Often times, though, leadership and advancement are not discussed with women in employee/supervisor meetings. And unlike men, women are not as likely to apply for a role unless they feel they are completely qualified for it.

Nonlinear Career Paths

Data shows that it is getting harder for women to rejoin the workforce because employers are questioning gaps on women’s resumes. This leads to selecting individuals, often men, who do not have employment gaps. Employers should become open to employment opportunities with women who have nonlinear career paths. This will increase the talent pool dramatically, while also enhancing it with talent that is resilient, determined, and more than capable.

Entry-Level Management Roles

Organizational leaders need to create goals to recruit and promote women on all levels starting with a focus on entry-level management. McKinsey identified that for every 100 men who are promoted from entry-level roles to manager positions, only 87 women are promoted, and only 82 women of color are promoted. As a result, men significantly outnumber women at the manager level. As advancement continues, there is still a lack of women in the promotion queue eventually to the point where there are not enough women available for promotion to senior leadership positions.

Unconscious Bias

Jobs posted in an organization’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) should be gender neutral and evaluated to ensure there is no unconscious bias that implies a job is better suited for a specific gender. Make sure all employment applications use language that is non-discriminatory.

When an organization emphasizes recruitment, retention and promotion of women, it expands their talent pool, It also recognizes highly skilled contributors that personify talent in the workplace. Growing internal talent fosters a commitment between employees and the employer. This results in reduced training costs and quicker time to productivity as talent is already acclimated to the company’s culture. Implementing these changes can help to support women in the work place.

2.) Provide Support Resources

Since March 2021, 28% of women with children under 18 in the household have temporarily or permanently left the workforce to become a primary caregiver to children compared to 10% of men. The cost of childcare is one of the top reasons women leave the workplace. Approximately 55% of families report spending at least $10,000 annually on childcare. Organizations who offer childcare and elder care assistance are more likely to retain women. Providing extended leave time with the ability for the employee to return to a similar role helps eliminate concerns of unemployment.

DEI Initiatives

Women tend to be more involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and seek to foster an inclusive nature. McKinsey’s study revealed that approximately 50% of women say their manager regularly encourages respectful behavior on their team, and less than half say their manager shows interest in their career and helps them manage their workload. Organizations need to provide training and resources to managers so they can become stronger leaders instead of managers. Management needs to be cognizant of their team’s needs. Identify where challenges are manifesting and openly discuss internal and external resources to facilitate women’s evolution within their jobs.

Strengthen Relationships

Setting weekly or bi-weekly check-ins is a way to strengthen the professional relationship. Open communication with managers helps women convey concerns, proactively identify signs of burnout, and evaluate workload manageability. The past two years have lit the fuse to ignite a population of employees experiencing burnout. Providing managers with the skill set they need to identify ways to motivate, encourage and mentor their teams will benefit everyone. Women seek employers that support the whole employee, at and outside of work.

3.) Resolve Inequalities

Pay transparency increases trust among employees in an organization if men and women are earning parallel wages. This kind of equity shows a commitment to providing fair compensation to the individual regardless of any protected classification and that compensation is based on the responsibilities of the job and tenets of proven success. Pay equity validates that gender is irrelevant; pay is relative to performance and job duties. When a company provides transparency and equity in pay, it is more likely to retain top performers along with keeping and growing women with leadership potential.

Unconscious Bias

Create a work environment that is amicable, not adversarial, towards women. This will continue to support women at work. In the past two years, women have been 1.5 times as likely, compared to men in parallel roles, to leave a job to move to a company that was more committed to DEI initiatives. Ensure that employees understand conscious and unconscious bias, and provide resources to remove bias internally. Gender bias is defined as preferring one gender more than another. Women are often subject to various microaggressions such as being interrupted in meetings and decisions being questioned.

Micro-Aggressions

Women of color, disabled women, and LGBTQ+ individuals are more susceptible to being the recipient of micro-aggressions. Discrimination impedes productivity and prevents employees from demonstrating their full potential. Communicate and uphold policies that exclaim that discrimination will not be tolerated.

When teammates can appreciate others’ unique characteristics and talents, the work environment becomes more positive and productive resulting in an employer brand that radiates “this is the best place to work”. Eliminating discrimination will also aid in supporting women at work.

4.) Flexibility

Wearing that superhero cape can be daunting. When an organization instills a flexible work environment, the organization empowers employees to take ownership of tasks and responsibilities.  It also shows that they trust that the work can and will be done. Remote work is not just about removing commute times and providing convenience. McKinsey’s study showed that women who work remotely for part of their work schedule experience fewer micro-aggressions and higher levels of psychological safety.

Psychological Safety

According to Forbes, psychological safety is the ability to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career. They feel more comfortable doing their tasks and can complete responsibilities. They don’t need to look over their shoulder or validate their decisions compared to working in-person.

Unfortunately, women who work remotely are at higher risk to be overlooked for promotions and to receive public praise for success. Mentorships are proven means to help employees grow professionally. These and are more often provided to onsite employees as compared to virtual employees. Being remote should not eliminate this professional development opportunity. Virtual female employees should have equal opportunity to establish and maintain professional mentorships.

Performance Reviews

Remote women employees have a higher risk of not receiving proper accolades for successful results. This is because of the “out of sight, out of mind” concept. Performance reviews are often a factor in evaluating current talent for promotions.  At performance evaluation time, it is essential that tasks and results are the items measured – not work location and gender. If managers favor onsite employees’ work compared to remote work, managers are succumbing to bias.


As the new year commences, organizations need to evaluate their strategies in place to assist women in the workforce. Companies that take a genuine interest in the professional development of the women work population will exude success through successful recruitment and higher retention of contributing talent to experience heightened productivity. Women seek a work environment that fuels their internal fire for their ambition. Let this fire burn!

ExactHire Full Service Hiring

At ExactHire, we have a proven process to help employers increase their volume of qualified candidates and quickly hire new employees. Our team takes care of writing and posting job ads, screening applicants, and interviewing candidates. Then we deliver you a list of qualified candidates from which to hire.

If you are a company that needs to grow, but don’t have the time or resources to hire, then allow ExactHire to help!

Contact us here to let us help you hire today!

5 Ways to Create Positive Work Culture

Creating a positive work culture isn’t just a trend anymore. Today’s leaders are recognizing that the primary way to attract and retain top performers and quality staff is by providing a great place to work. And there are a variety of elements that go into defining what a positive work culture is.

In this post, we’ll discuss the challenges you might be facing in building  positive work culture, along with some solutions. There are five pivotal ways to make significant improvements to your company’s work environment. Here’s what you can be doing to make improvements within your business.

How to Define a Positive Work Culture

Happiness is subject to personal preference. What one employee values most may only be an afterthought benefit to another. So how are today’s employers able to discern what constitutes a positive work culture? It boils down to active listening.

Employees aren’t likely to be as demanding as some of the polarizing news headlines suggest. In fact, employees can be rather forgiving about a company’s growing pains…as long as they feel valued and heard. To meet these needs, employers should consider anonymous feedback strategies, such as launching online surveys or even soliciting employee suggestions with a “suggestion box” (yes, it can still work).

Alternatively, inviting employee perspectives can be an exercise in employer-employee transparency. This could take the form of one-on-one conversations between managers and reports, solely for the purpose of exchanging improvement ideas. This approach requires accountability and trust–two important characteristics of a positive work culture.

The more active employers are in learning what inspires employees, the better positioned they are to develop a positive work environment that fuels their inspiration.

Common Characteristics of a Positive Work Culture

There will be unique aspects to how a company defines and executes a positive work environment. This requires employers to get creative with what makes sense in supporting their teams. But a few general characteristics of a positive work culture include:

  • Employees feel empowered to take on new responsibilities and leadership roles.
  • Workers feel satisfied with their performance and metrics.
  • Staff loyalty increases when they’re appreciated, challenged, and encouraged.
  • Individuals feel compelled to problem-solve instead of departmentalizing or “passing the buck.”

If you believe your teams follow these examples, you’re moving in the right direction for creating a positive work culture. However, if you’re experiencing alternative behaviors, it could be a sign that your company culture needs improvement.

Contributing to a Positive Work Culture

Cultivating a positive company culture requires ongoing initiatives. People change, and so do their values. Additionally,  when organizations grow, they add new dynamics to their workforces. Company culture initiatives, then, should be looked at as an evolving effort. Here are five ways to contribute to improving a work culture.

1. Identify Company Mission, Vision, and Values

This may require an employer to go back to its startup roots, revisiting founding documents. A mission statement should be a constant reminder to employees as that their work matters, so it’s important that the statement is accurate and authentic. Values inform a workforce how they should work in fulfilling a mission–this differentiates a company from competitors and inspires loyalty. Finally, when an employer establishes a vision, it ensures that the impact of the mission will continue to grow and inspire employees to perform.

Once the foundational pieces are reviewed–and refreshed if needed–employers must promote them across the organization so that each individual can understand and support big-picture objectives. Everyone must be held accountable for supporting these objectives, especially managers. The goal is to develop an employee base that can become just as passionate and energized about the company as the C-level.

When employees see how their work matters, they will feel more connected to their coworkers and employer. And that’s the best foundation for a positive work culture, according to Forbes.

2. Manage and Establish Realistic Expectations

Harmony and consistency are key ingredients in the positive workplace. To achieve them, employers must first establish and maintain clear expectations. When a workforce precisely understands what is expected of them, they’ll be more apt to follow those guidelines. And for the overachievers and top performers, knowing where the bar is set will allow them to determine how to go above and beyond.

Unpredictability in management harbors distrust and staff-level contempt. So employers must make sure that managers know their expectations, too. Finally, it is ideal for employers to share companywide, departmental, and specific role expectations with everyone. The transparency will breed an environment of trust and respect, which is essential for positive workplaces.

3. Employees Need to Feel Valued

It’s more than just catered office lunches, front-row parking, or workplace happy hours. Yes, those are all great for promoting team unity and corporate appreciation. However, employees are most satisfied when they feel valued. Company culture is rooted in the individual’s daily experiences. It’s their day-to-day routine that shapes their beliefs about the company. And it’s in those daily routines where employers can improve how they share appreciation for valuable contributions. Check out these stats:

  • 90% of employees who feel their work and presence are valued agree they are more motivated to do their best.
  • 33% of employees who don’t feel valued will perform their best.
  • 83% of executives believe having motivated employees contributes to a company’s success.
  • 84% of employees believe that motivated teams substantially contribute to a company’s success.

4. Foster an Environment of Collaboration

There is a commonly shared school of thought that promotes a “stay in your lane” approach to productivity. And yes, for some companies, those guidelines serve a valuable purpose. However, fostering an environment that welcomes collaboration will develop a company’s culture. When everyone can pitch in to solve a problem or provide insights into company challenges, it sends the message to the employee that his or her opinion and expertise matter. Sharing ideas and improvements lead to innovation, as well.

Employers must do the work by actually hosting these team meetings and asking for departmental and companywide insights. They can’t just promote teamwork as a value and not follow through on initiatives that support it.

5. Communication Has to Flow Freely

Leadership and management within an organization should encourage open and honest dialogues between colleagues, departments, and managers. Employers may consider auditing company communication to see who is interacting with who and what feedback is being processed.

Coffee mornings, team contests, and inter-departmental activities can help people feel connected to others outside of their daily routines. And appropriate levels of management should welcome complaints, suggestions, and ideas for swift follow-up and solutions.

What Inclusivity Means in Today’s Workplace

Inclusivity is another element of a positive workplace. It’s a pillar element worth protecting and supporting. It means every member of an organization has value, is treated with respect, and is provided with the same support and opportunities. Anyone challenging that level playing field should be removed before setting a toxic workplace example. Individual differences contribute to an organization’s productivity, and  tolerance of anything else will only undermine positive culture initiatives.

Keep these company insights in mind as you continue to develop and improve your company’s culture. And when you’re ready to grow your teams, let ExactHire be your guide to finding top talent that fits in with your culture!

 

 

Photo by Windows on Unsplash

Quiet Quitting – What Employers Need to Know

Quiet quitting by employees is shouting a profound message to their employers that Human Resources professionals, and organizations as a whole, cannot ignore. The pandemic impacted businesses in myriad ways, and for many employees, the pandemic delivered an epiphany. Through lockdowns, quarantines, and long periods of remote work, workers had the opportunity to reevaluate their personal and professional lives. Part of this evaluation was taking a hard look at their daily lives and discerning what really mattered to them. Many determined that a healthy work-life balance was essential.

LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2022 report attests to employees’ wants and needs evolving into a more distinct work-life balance. The intrinsic flame burning in many employees started to flicker, and for some that flame went out completely. While quiet quitting is not a new concept, it is on the increase in many organizations. Leadership needs to identify and implement solutions to address the concerns of “quiet quitters” on their teams.

Quiet quitting is getting increased notoriety through social media today. However, the idea has been around in some form for quite a long time. In the past, the idea was used to describe employees who had hit burnout and shifted gears to do the minimum work needed to do the job adequately. That definition is accurate for some quiet quitters; however, quiet quitting has evolved into a more broad concept.

What is Quiet Quitting?

Quiet quitting does not have a strictly defined meaning, nor does it look the same for all employees. Some quiet quitting employees do not take on additional work or responsibilities, but still complete their responsibilities with excellence. For other employees, their version of quiet quitting is doing the minimum required–and nothing further.

TechTarget generalizes quiet quitting as a “rebellion” against the “hustle culture” of going above and beyond what a job requires, and instead, limiting their tasks to only those within their job description to avoid longer hours. These employees are technically fulfilling their job duties; however, they reject the “work-is-life” mindset where they feel obligated to continually do more. They are not seeking the “golden employee” label. Rather, they are trading long hours, additional projects, and accelerated promotions for the ability to go home and focus on non-work activities. They leave work at work. Ultimately, less is more for them.

From data collected in June 2022 through a Gallup poll, quiet quitters make up at least 50% or more of the United States workforce. Mic drop. Over half of the country’s employees are “quiet quitters”.

What is the Impact of Quiet Quitting?

Quiet quitting is increasing the level of apprehension within companies and impacting productivity. Productivity levels are crucial for a business to thrive especially in our current economic state. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States non-farm worker productivity in the second quarter has fallen 2.5% since the same period last year which is the largest annual drop since 1948. The economy may be on the cusp of a recession due to supply chain issues, inflation, and other factors stemming from the pandemic. Companies are fearful that their financial bottom line will suffer if the production of goods and services cannot meet the demand.

The challenge for employers as they grapple with quiet quitting is that not all employees actually want to leave their jobs; hence the “quiet” part of the quiet quitting concept. Lack of advancement opportunities, low pay, and feeling disrespected were the top reasons Americans quit their jobs in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center survey. But many quiet quitters are not experiencing those reasons to quit, they are content with their job…as they decide to perform it.

There will always be a population of employees who feel content being “worker bees” and whose job performance “meets expectations” on their performance evaluations.nd there will always be the employee population that strives for the “gold star” and attains “exceeds expectations” on the performance evaluation.These groups of employees can coexist, but is labeling the “worker bees” as quiet quitters accurate?

Why are People Quiet Quitting?

With layoffs and terminations at a record low, employees have heightened sense of job security. Companies cannot afford to lose employees since they are scrambling to fill a high number of job vacancies. Even if a termination does occur, the odds are favorable for the employee to find another job quickly.

According to the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), an organization’s culture directly contributes to employee behavior. Some cultural issues that may contribute to quiet quitting, include:

  • Lack of engagement by and between management and employees fosters weak relationships.
  • Communication challenges, along with the fear of conflict, mitigate open dialogue between teams.
  • Remote and hybrid work is a contributing factor to quiet quitting because additional challenges exist to have candid, honest dialog.
  • Management faces additional challenges validating work efforts and task completion in remote and hybrid environments.

Workplace culture sets the foundation of an organization and reiterates what behaviors and performance levels are accepted, rejected and tolerated.

Disadvantages of Quiet Quitting

Quiet quitters who are emotionally uninvested in their jobs often have challenges working in a team environment through a lack of motivation and flexibility. Employees who are not quiet quitting might become frustrated at having to pick up additional responsibilities or tasks from those employees who will not. Resentment builds amongst teams and that dissolves trust and motivation. Employees who do the minimum in tasks have a higher chance of being passed over for promotions and pay increases as compared to other employees.

Advantages of Quiet Quitting

Advantages to quiet quitting do exist. Employees who leave “work at work”, and then spend time on personal interests, might be more relaxed and motivated when they return to work. That could help increase productivity. Quiet quitting for a temporary time could help reduce burnout if the employee takes time to refocus and prioritize. So quiet quitting is ultimately a plea for open communication between employees and management to discuss concerns and deficiencies in the working environment.

How to Combat Quiet Quiet

HR professionals have quite the challenge on their hands, as they are the catalyst for communications between management and quiet quitting employees. HR and senior management within an organization need first to check how engaged entry and mid-level managers are within the organization and with their teams. If engagement is lacking, senior leadership needs to help reskill and motivate managers to help others, especially in new remote and hybrid working environments.

Managers need to find 15-30 minutes weekly to have a sincere, purposeful conversation with members of their teams. These conversations should strengthen relationships and reiterate value in each team member’s efforts. If employees see how their work contributes and is a benefit to the organization, they will be motivated to see value in their work and heighten their accountability for performance.

Listening is just as important. Often employees convey a message without saying a word. So managers need to learn how to recognize these messages and, in response, hold conversations to address and reduce burnout. All employees have challenges in their work and personal lives to varying degrees. It’s up to managers to know their team’s needs and be cognizant of ever changing factors that could transform productive employees into quiet quitters.

Employee Engagement Matters

Considering that the average person will spend over 90,000 hours working in their lifetime, spending that time completing tasks that are enjoyable in a generally positive environment matters. Time magazine shared that Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report found that job dissatisfaction is at a staggering all-time high, and that unhappy and disengaged workers cost the global economy $7.8 trillion in lost productivity.

Organizations cannot afford to lose talent through attrition or sustain a loss of productivity without it impacting the internal dynamics and the external competitiveness of an organization. Quit the status quo and invest in designing and maintaining a workplace culture where employees thrive, and do not just simply survive. When an organization is invested in its employees and is committed to providing a supportive and rewarding culture, employees will see that quitters–even quiet ones–really do not win.

The win-win comes from both inside and outside the organization, where employers and employees agree on how work and life can balance together.

 

 

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

What is the Best Employee Onboarding Process

The benefits of effective employee onboarding are often overlooked. But, done correctly, onboarding will contribute to your organization’s financial health. When you make the effort to acclimate your new employees to their new roles, they will become productive more quickly and will stay longer.

Finding and training the right people is expensive, and you risk wasting financial resources if you don’t do everything you can to make your new hires successful. By creating an effective onboarding plan, you’re also shaping your company’s culture into an environment that bolsters teamwork.

Onboarding acclimates your new hires to the company and their position within it. The best employee onboarding process will steer new hires toward success in their roles and create alignment with the company’s culture and values.

New Employees and Getting Started

It’s easy to be overwhelmed when considering how to onboard a new employee. You’ll need to create an onboarding schedule that’s unique for each role, even though many tasks will be the same for all new hires. For example, every employee will need to know and understand your harassment policies, but those in management will require further training.

Additionally, there’s pressure to come up with creative new ways to onboard employees. Like most employers, you’re probably experiencing a shortage of qualified applicants. You don’t want to risk losing your new superstar under piles of employment forms and reels of outdated videos.  

COVID-19 has created yet another series of challenges as many human resource professionals wonder how to onboard new employees remotely. You can get started by breaking down the steps to onboard a new employee.

First, consider your onboarding goals. These goals will vary for each position. In general, the onboarding process should transform a new hire into a productive team member.

Determine the metrics you’ll use to measure how long it does take for a new employee to be productive. These metrics will become goals for the new hire. Determine the support your new hire will need to achieve each goal. Armed with this information, you’re ready to create an onboarding process flow chart.

Employee Joining Process Flow Chart

An employee onboarding process flow chart is a powerful visual tool because it creates benchmark deadlines. Your onboarding flow chart should take your onboarding processing from the preboarding stage through to the employee’s first annual review.

A team member should be assigned to each phase of the flow chart and a deadline should be assigned. Goals should be clearly communicated for each item. You can use onboarding software to manage communications and organize important documents.

Onboarding software can help you create a flow chart for the new hire training process. The flow chart you create with onboarding software can assign tasks to your onboarding team. The customized workflow can automate assignments and trigger reminders. Team members will be able to access files and reports from within the system.

Software can help you organize your onboarding process and save you time. Using software, you can easily create an onboarding process flow chart template for every position in your organization. New hires will be able to fill out their employment forms digitally and their information can seamlessly merge with your human resources system. Everyone on your team will spend less time inputting data and managing records.

New Employee Orientation

The best orientation practice will help your new employee understand how his role fits with the company’s larger picture. Orientation is your opportunity to present your company’s mission. This crucial introduction will help rally your employees around the company’s values. It’s a key component to creating a strong team.

Many organizations create games to make new employee orientation fun and memorable. You can create a mock game show using questions about the employee handbook. Or you can create an office scavenger hunt for new employees. To help new hires get to know their coworkers, give them an autograph book. Tell current employees to initiate a short get-to-know you conversation when they sign the book.

The best practices for employee onboarding will incorporate a technology perspective. You can use onboarding software to create training modules for your new hires. Use the triggering feature to avoid overwhelming employees. You can even send automatic reminders to gently nudge employees to complete training modules.

Onboarding software will come with free templates and checklists to make new employee orientation easier to manage. You can create new hire packets quickly and easily.

Virtual New Hire Orientation Ideas

COVID-19 has upended the onboarding process for many companies. If your organization operates in a state that has mandated work-at-home policies, you may be concerned about providing your new employees with the support they need. Even if your employees are able to work onsite, masks and social distancing policies may undercut your efforts at team building.

Now it’s even more critical to make sure new employees are able to build rapport with their coworkers. Advise supervisors and team members to check in with new employees while they learn to navigate their role in a pandemic world.

Many organizations have turned to creative ideas for new hire orientation during the pandemic. Make the most of virtual meetings. You can avoid “Zoom fatigue” by utilizing breakout rooms and doing interactive activities.

Team members can also create a welcome video for new hires. You can also encourage team members to have a virtual “coffee break” during which they can chat and get to know each other. You can use these techniques and others to encourage the socializing and relationship-building that happens naturally in the office.

Ideas for orientation can include a presentation for new hires during which the team can get to know each other with ice breaker questions. These ideas include employee orientation videos and PowerPoint slides that new hires can view remotely.

New Employee Welcome Packet PDF

You can send the digital portion of the welcome pack to the new hire’s email. Include welcome messages from the new hire’s manager and team members. Also include a link to the online benefits portal as well as their digital employment forms.

The welcome pack should include the things all new employees need to know. Include the company’s mission statement and organizational chart with the employee welcome booklet. The new employee welcome packet PDF should also include the company handbook and policies.

The welcome packet is also an opportunity for your new hire to get to know your brand. Throw in some company swag such as a t-shirt or a hat. Mix in professional items with fun items. A personal development book with something fun like a mini basketball net to go over the waste basket will foster productivity and creativity.

Your new employee will grow as she moves through the stages of the onboarding process. The welcome packet, orientation, training, productivity goals and ultimately the first year performance review should all be structured to support your employee’s success.

Employee Onboarding Process Flow

The key to a smooth onboarding process is a checklist. Software can help you easily create and customize a checklist for each position. You’ll be able to assign tasks and deadlines from within the application. Each stakeholder will be able to access the checklist and communicate from within the software.

The employee onboarding process should flow seamlessly from the preparation stage all the way to the first annual review. When you use onboarding software, you can track your progress and data so you can improve the onboarding checklist over time. You can create a questionnaire for new hire’s to complete at the end of their first year to find ways to improve your onboarding process.

If you’re wondering what the phases of the onboarding process are, we’ve broken it down for you here.

Employee Onboarding Process Summary

Strong job growth over the past decade and, more recently, the pandemic have forced organizations to get creative with their employee onboarding process. The talent shortage of the past few years has made hiring more difficult. COVID-19 has made it difficult for new hires to build relationships and acclimate within their new organizations.

The unique challenges companies face going into 2021 mean the employee onboarding process is more important than ever. By using digital tools to foster community and putting extra effort into team building, you can increase employee retention and build a stronger team.

Companies are finding it takes more than converting their welcome packet into a PDF file to meet the digital challenges during the pandemic era. As it becomes more difficult to find and keep talent, more companies are asking what is the best employee onboarding process that will reduce turnover.

But the best onboarding process hasn’t changed in these stormy times. A new set of challenges simply helps you see the solution more clearly. By seeing the onboarding process as an opportunity to support your employee’s success and develop a dynamic company culture, you can bolster your organization’s financial health. 

 

Want to learn more about onboarding software?

Schedule a live demo today!

Photo by Nastuh Abootalebi on Unsplash

Employer Strategies for Successfully Hiring Justice Involved Job Candidates

My gut tells me that many employers are open to the idea of hiring individuals from the justice involved community, but have historically avoided the opportunity for a variety of reasons. Whether they previously had an abundance of other candidates to consider or were intimidated about the steps involved, many organizations haven’t proactively included this untapped talent pool.

After all, they haven’t been sufficiently motivated to do so. That changes now.

Why you should consider hiring the justice involved population

Today, employers can’t afford NOT to look at every viable employee population. Increased awareness and support for inclusive hiring practices coupled with historically low unemployment suggest that the time is ripe for employers to implement strategies that successfully source and retain justice involved individuals.

Here are a few of the benefits to employers who engage employees who are formerly incarcerated or on work release, parole, or probation.

Better job candidate flow

Low unemployment is especially crippling for industries that traditionally experience high turnover in hourly positions and/or with a contingent workforce. With nearly one in three American adults holding a criminal record (ACLU, 2017), employers who are able to successfully engage this population are poised to win the war on talent.

Text Recruiting | Hourly Workers | ExactHire

Giving justice involved individuals another chance is the right thing to do

The formerly incarcerated combat a pervasive social stigma in many facets of their life, and it often impedes their ability to find work. In fact, according to the same ACLU study, 75% of formerly incarcerated people will remain unemployed a year after release. When someone has served his/her time, society should give them a second chance–not a re-sentence once they are released.

Reducing recidivism pays for itself

According to a 2018 special report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, across 30 states 5 out of 6 (a staggering 83%) of state prisoners released in 2005 were arrested at least once during the 9 years following their release. Recidivism, or the “tendency for a convicted criminal to reoffend,” is on the rise.

And, it’s no surprise when we consider the absence of sufficient resources to support transitioning justice involved individuals back into society. This makes it hard for the formerly incarcerated to get over what some call the “three hots and a cot” mentality.

Consider that the Gross National Product (GNP) is losing an estimated $78 billion to $87 billion annually as the justice involved remain unemployed, according to the aforementioned ACLU report.

Employer tax incentives

Companies who hire the formerly incarcerated may be eligible for hidden hiring incentives such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. WOTC is a federal tax credit available to employers that hire individuals from specific targeted groups that have consistently faced significant employment barriers. Among these targeted groups are “qualified ex-felons” who are defined as individuals who are hired within a year of being convicted of a felony, or being released from prison from the felony.

Create a supportive network to succeed with the justice involved

It’s one thing for companies to be compelled to act based on the benefits mentioned above; however, in order to realize success in hiring and retaining the justice involved job candidate population, your organization must implement an internal infrastructure that can accommodate their unique needs. Additionally, it should utilize established external resources that may already be available in your area to help transition the justice involved back to work.

This is easier said than done, as there is not an abundance of model employers showing the rest of us how to do it. And, perhaps that deficiency is part of the explanation for the slow adoption of hiring this population.

The best intentions are only a fraction of what’s required for success in employing the justice involved. Employers must put systems and services in place to get this source of talent back to work. According to SHRM’s Getting Talent Back to Work Toolkit, employers should focus on

  • Reliable Checks – working with reputable background checking agencies to make sure the data you use to make decisions about a candidate’s suitability for employment is sound.
  • Relevant Assessment – ensuring your organization’s methods for assessing criminal records on an individual basis are relevant.
  • Reasonable Risk – comprehending and assessing the reasonable risks associated with hiring this population so that you can proceed confidently.

Within these three categories, there are many steps organizations may take to set themselves up for a higher percentage of success in employing the justice involved population. Here are some ideas for consideration.

Make connections during the pre-release period

Consider offering a candidate training program for incarcerated individuals six months prior to their release. Just as you would approach tuition reimbursement for an in-demand nursing student, ask pre-release individuals who have been identified as good candidates for a commitment to work for your organization for a period of time so that they may receive important life skills and a starter wage. This type of arrangement can go far in building employee loyalty in a tough employee retention market.

Develop relationships in your community

Employing the justice involved is a careful undertaking, and can be enhanced by positive and close relationships with local sheriff departments and other representatives at the Department of Corrections (DOC), staffing agencies and other transitional support agencies.

Set expectations with internal staff

For success in employing the justice-involved population, you need to dedicate internal resources to properly setting expectations and training existing staff members on how to undergo this initiative in a productive way. Be realistic and transparent around challenges that may surface, and develop strategies about how your company will address those challenges before you find yourselves in the moment.

Make sure that your organizational structure models success for justice involved individuals. For example, don’t have a single working area or department where justice involved employees represent a majority of the unit. This is their time to transition back into the workforce and recognize positive habits and behavior from others who have succeeded in the organization. If you offset that balance, then negative habits can be perpetuated with poor outcomes.

Invest in offering on-site services for justice involved employees

Some justice involved individuals fall circumstance to rising recidivism rates because they don’t have reasonable access to the services and support they need to get a foothold in the world after release. If your organization is serious about successfully employing this population, then consider offering some of these services:

  • Reentry resources – Links to and documentation about existing public reentry services in your community. For example, Orange County, California has a robust post-incarceration resource toolkit on its website.
  • Basic food needs – Make information available about local food pantries and agencies that make sure people don’t go hungry. Help employees apply for food stamp benefits.
  • Spiritual support – Consider on-site chaplain services so employees can nurture any of their spiritual goals and confide in a third party.
  • Medical care – Make sure that employees are afforded time to take care of medical needs and given information about how to obtain access to prescription drugs, including mental health care when applicable.
  • Basic paperwork – Remember that your justice involved hires may need important documents either located and/or reproduced such as birth certificate, Social Security card, personal ID card and/or driver’s license.
  • Substance abuse support – Recognize that some of your justice involved hires may struggle with substance abuse and therefore create an environment that is supportive of substance abuse counseling and rehabilitation so that destructive habits that often lead to crime aren’t repeated.
  • Ride planning – In order to promptly arrive to your workplace, your employees may need ride sharing programs, access to information about convenient public transportation options, and/or an employer-provided bus to transport employees to and from their current residence or halfway house to your job site.
  • Flexibility for required meetings – A common challenge for recently released individuals is maintaining availability for a shift job while also showing up for required probation or parole officer meetings that might happen in the middle of the day. With proper communication, offer these workers flexibility to attend the meetings that are critical for their post-release success.
  • Soft skills training – In some cases, justice involved individuals may have never learned about or been exposed to positive models for appropriate communication, social behavior, or even cleanliness/hygiene. Understand that services around these soft skills may be critical for employing this population with success.

Communicate your intentions clearly

Because much of employers’ hesitancy to hire justice involve populations is attributable to the stigma often associated with the formerly incarcerated as well as the company’s tendency toward compliance and protectiveness, clear communication is a driver of employment success for this talent group.

Clear communication includes both adjustments in traditional employment policy as well as external job advertisements, company culture content and screening and interview process design.

Remember that it is a violation of Title VII to reject applicants because of criminal records unless it is job related and consistent with business necessity. Employers have an obligation to clearly define what is job related and consistent with business necessity. They should reevaluate the role and scope of background checks in the hiring process, and use effective job evaluation to identify which criminal offenses will not work with which jobs.

Set realistic expectations with your justice involved candidates

Not every employer is going to be able to employ every justice involved employee. However, there is power and respect in being transparent about the opportunities and potential path available with your organization. I recently attended an event (more on that below) where they talked about the “ABC Jobs” trajectory for the justice involved:

  • Any job
  • Better job
  • Career

Which of those types of jobs can you offer this population? And, if it is just any job that has a low wage, how can you prepare that individual to succeed in that job and then move on to another organization (maybe one with which you partner on these programs) where they can achieve the next step?

This job pathing model can improve your community by creating work that improves individuals, makes your company productive and advances the public good through reduced spending due to rampant recidivism.

Anticipate potential setbacks

There will be ups and downs in any endeavor to create an infrastructure for employing justice involved populations…as there is with any other talent population, too. However, being aware of setbacks through conversation with other employers, local law enforcement, state agencies, etc. will bring to light things you can plan to address:

  • “Ban the box” legislation – Do you have work sites in geographic areas that are NOT subject to “ban the box”? If so, then take another look at your employment application and consider whether any questions about a candidate’s criminal history are potentially deterring qualified, but justice involved individuals from considering employment with your organization.
  • Shift challenges – Is your work shift schedule such that it makes it impossible to accommodate the needs of justice involved individuals who must attend parole meetings? As previously mentioned, take measures now to consider alternative strategies for meeting transportation needs and addressing shift requirements.
  • Recognize bias toward unexplained issues – I recently met someone who is employed with the city government and who was previously justice involved. She explained that it is not uncommon for little, unexpected things to happen that can adversely impact the positive trajectory of a justice involved individual. She encourages others to get the facts before jumping to negative conclusions. For example, she has seen malfunctioning ankle bracelets cause productive employees who have done nothing wrong to be hauled away by police on the job in front of co-workers. Without sensitivity to the root cause of such problems, bias and gossip could lead to a lack of support, or even wrongful termination.

The time is now

Is your organization ready to get serious about considering this untapped talent population? I hope the considerations outlined in this blog inspire exploration of this talent pool and fine-tuning of any of your existing initiatives.

Author’s Note: I recently attended a remarkable “Second Chance Staffing Visioning Event” held in January 2020 at Butler University and in conjunction with Allegiance Staffing. This interactive session was a kick-off to a joint research project between these partners and others to explore the job performance of those with criminal backgrounds while on the job. There is not yet much (or current) research in this specific area and the event brought together individuals from social service agencies, businesses, and the government–including thriving employees who have been justice involved. I’m excited about the direction of this research as it perfectly aligns with making a positive impact and with the challenging job landscape. Given the lack of formal studies in this area, their goal is to conduct a more detailed empirical analysis of the relative workplace performance of justice-involved citizens, as well as identify factors affecting this performance. Such a study requires the assistance of local employer(s) willing to share data regarding employees’ attendance, aptitude, and attitude, and they are currently in the process of securing these partners.

 

9 Ways to Show Empathy When Employees Take a Leave of Absence

This is an easy time of year to remember to give thanks. With all the festivities of the holiday season, we don’t have to try that hard to show gratitude and be empathetic to others’ situations when things are going well. However, have you paused to reflect on how you demonstrate empathy during other times of the year?

The privilege to always show empathy and gratitude to others has never been more clear for me…as over the past couple of weeks I have cared for a close family member recovering from a challenging life event. I’ve been humbled and overwhelmed by the numerous demonstrations of support received from family and friends…and co-workers.

Empathy in the workplace is worth serious conversation, as the degree to which it is championed varies significantly from one organization to the next. However, because we spend so much of our lives in the workplace, our organizations are one of the best venues to grow our empathy practices. One of the most practical applications of this opportunity is when employees must take a leave of absence due to their own health condition or to care for a family member.

In this blog, I’ll cover nine ways that employers may demonstrate empathy when employees take a leave of absence from work. Still looking for tips and tricks for HR situations? An ATS solves many HR related problems, look at our Free ATS Guide to learn about the myriad of problems that can be solved with an ATS.

1 – Embrace a growth mindset

If your organization hasn’t traditionally gone above and beyond to empathize with employees who require leave, don’t fret. Your organizational capacity for empathy can improve if you and your company can create the space for that practice.

I believe most people want to be compassionate, but often things unintentionally get in the way. People become distracted with being busy to the point that they are not attuned to opportunities to align with others’ needs and make a meaningful impact. Create time to intentionally focus on empathy toward others throughout the month.

2 – Be reassuring and consistent

When an employee takes a leave of absence, it can be based on circumstances that were unanticipated. The potentially unknown duration for a leave of absence may create stress for an employee. Nevertheless, the situation does offer an opportunity for your organization to be reassuring as well as consistent with communication about leave benefits. This helps to build a foundation for trust and emotional safety from the perspective of the employee.

3 – Be specific with your offer

I’m the type of person that never wants to appear as if I am taking advantage of others by saying “yes” to non-specific offers of help. For example, I politely thank someone who says “let me know if you need anything” without ever seeking his assistance…because it may be too overwhelming to think about what that assistance would be…and whether it would be too big of an ask for that individual.

However, lately I’ve learned to say “yes,” and it’s been easier when people offer specific ways they can help. A gesture may be as simple as offering to clear a co-worker’s calendar on his behalf when he is called away to care for a loved one; or, offering to deliver a care package to get a teammate through hard times.

By articulating a tangible offer, I think it is easier for the beneficiary of the help to say “yes” because you take away a potentially distracting decision from him–that is, the decision of what type of help to seek. These gestures cut through the stress and anxiety experienced by your impacted co-worker and help him persevere. They are a partial roadmap in an uncertain time and help alleviate the burden of yet another decision.

4 – Utilize communication templates for efficiency

Have a template ready to quickly send leave administration paperwork to an affected employee when the need arises. Use technology (everything from an HRIS to a free Trello board) to create and manage leave-related touchpoints…think of it as employee onboarding for the leave process.

Make your content consistent, yet approachable, and answer questions like those recommended by Jellyvision:

  • How much time can I take off?
  • Will I be paid, and if so, how much?
  • Is my job safe…or should I worry?

Also, match and mirror the employee in terms of her preferred communication mode (e.g. email, phone, text, etc.). Be mindful of employee preferences when it comes to in-person communications during a difficult stretch. For example, know whether she would be comforted by a friendly hug or view it as an encroachment on her personal space.

5 – Designate a single point of contact

Have your HR representative ask the employee if he wishes for any updates to be shared with concerned co-workers. With the employee’s consent, ask him if he prefers a single point of contact for updates or if he is okay with other teammates reaching out to check in. Otherwise, he may find himself struggling to keep up with 50 text messages from concerned co-workers all at once.

Even if a person is active on social media with what is happening in his life, and connected to co-workers on that network, he may still appreciate a single person for communication in the workplace.

6 – Make it easy for others to help

As long as the employee has consented to the employer allowing others within the organization to help, the company can organize outreach efforts on behalf of the employee taking leave. For example, consider

  • allowing other employees to donate PTO or sick time,
  • using a site such as takethemameal.com to set up a meal sign-up sheet, or
  • organizing a sign-up sheet to ensure that a periodic visitor helps to keep the employee’s spirits up.

7 – Choose empathy rather than sympathy

While empathy and sympathy are closely related, empathy goes a bit further to put yourself in the shoes of a person experiencing an event. Conversely, sympathetic gestures often begin with a statement such as “at least you don’t have X going on.” While the intent of sympathy may be to put rose-colored glasses on a tough situation, it may not do anything to help someone through a rough spot. However, finding common ground through a similar shared experience and letting an employee know you that you’re available to provide support may prove more effective.

Truly listen to what an employee needs in a challenging moment. And, if you don’t have amazing advice, just tell her you hear her and are there to help. Active listening means you don’t think about your next statement before the other person is finished speaking. Rather, you pause and then restate what she said, and ask questions to hone in on how you can be of assistance.

8 – Train your managers

Not only is it good form for your managers to be sensitive to the emotional, physical and social stresses an employee may experience related to a leave of absence, but it’s also sound business practice to make sure your managers have undergone training to handle leave administration appropriately.

Without training, employers leave themselves open to liability resulting from “foolish” statements by uninformed managers, according to Jeff Nowak in this SHRM article.

9 – Be available for the long haul

It’s easy for an organization to be helpful in the early days of an employee’s challenge, but make sure you create triggers to check in with the employee when the initial shock has worn off, too. Recovery from challenging life events takes time and an employee’s communication and tangible needs may evolve throughout that process. For example, make it easy for an employee to understand what is necessary to extend a short term disability claim, or to see what accommodations are needed in order to return to work more quickly.

When was the last time you considered how “human” your company’s human resources efforts are when it comes to assisting teammates with challenging circumstances? In this season of Thanksgiving, let’s re-examine what we’re doing in the workplace to empathize with our employees’ life situations and lift them up when they need support.

Improve Employee Experience by Starting a Book Club at Work

If you want to create a consistently, stellar employee experience at your organization (and why wouldn’t you?), then finding ways to foster personal and professional development should be an integral part of your plan. Implementing an optional office book club is a fantastic way to encourage employees to try something new, improve themselves and connect with one another. For other ideas, or more tips on building work culture, check out our Free ATS Guide!

We recently hosted our inaugural book club session at ExactHire and read Radical Candor by Kim Scott. I had wanted to start a book club internally for quite awhile, but the timing just hadn’t been right until now. However, one chance conversation with a co-worker about interesting books ignited a spark of interest and our subsequent plan to meet 1-on-1 to discuss our first book. Naturally, I advertised the opportunity to the rest of our small organization and…voila! Traction. Before I knew it, six of us were signed up and ready to read!

This plan fit in perfectly with my own new year’s resolution to read twenty-six books in 2019; however, I was more excited to connect intentionally with co-workers in other departments and share different perspectives on something new and something more universally safe. What do I mean by “safe?” When you can look at other companies’ experiences, successes and tribulations, then it’s easier to challenge convention and have a strong opinion because it’s someone else’s situation.

However, the great thing about a book club in which people organically contribute is that you naturally start applying the concepts from the books to your own work environment. With internal trust, you can reflect on what has worked well (and what hasn’t), as well as use the book to reference a common foundation for handling scenarios in the future. For example, it will be easier to be more “radically candid” with each other at ExactHire moving forward–as many of us have studied the approach for doing so together.

Why we started an office book club at ExactHire

There are so many benefits to reading, such as gaining new perspective and improving your vocabulary; however, these basic benefits are multiplied when you also have the opportunity to discuss books within a comfortable group setting. Even though we’ve only had one discussion so far, I’m already seeing internal advantages such as

  • climbing out of a creative rut that can strike during the post-holiday gloom that often characterizes mid-winter,
  • breaking down communication silos by inviting members from all departments to participate,
  • feeling more connected with each other considering we have a very remote-friendly workforce,
  • better relating to the perspectives of co-workers at different position levels,
  • higher participation rates in development because it is opt-in-oriented with low barriers to entry,
  • giving more people the chance to have a voice, and
  • providing the perfect opportunity to practice listening more effectively.

How to start your own employee book club

When planning your office book club, think about how your culture will impact the level of formality in your discussions, and whether you use consistent discussion questions or switch it up every time. Additionally, the size of your organization may determine whether it makes sense to have many cross-departmental groups or champion department-specific groups. ExactHire is a smaller company and so I will share the steps we took to launch our book club.

Download ExactHire Company Culture E-book

Generate interest and make it optional

The catalyst for our own ExactHire book club started with a conversation; however, yours may begin with a group email, a post to your company Slack channel or an agenda item in a company meeting.

Don’t write a novel of expectations for how it will operate at the onset (though some of you might think my invitation is quite lengthy below), but do emphasize to employees that the club is optional and should be educational and fun.

Office Book Club | Work | ExactHire

Stick with appropriate book genres

Give people a framework of what types of books should be expected and which genres would work best for a company book club. For example, titles about leadership, business, entrepreneurship, professional development and even some self-help books are all great options.

I recommend that the founder(s) of the book club select the very first book. Then, have all members vote on future sessions’ selections. Remember to keep book topics diverse and push yourself to read things that you wouldn’t necessarily pick up on your own–that’s a significant driver for many to participate in a club so that they are accountable to expanding outside the box of their typical reading preferences.

Make it easy for people to participate

The company should buy the books (or digital titles) for participants. It’s fine to encourage people to use any existing unlimited e-book/audiobook subscriptions they may have or to check their local library first, but ultimately the organization’s investment in a few books is a small price to pay for the employee development return on investment it stands to gain.

We pay for copies of our book club books, and we offer an optional employee benefit that pays for a portion of employees’ subscriptions to an unlimited online book service in exchange for their commitment to write a book-inspired blog quarterly.

And, remember that the book club itself is an employee benefit. Don’t forget to list it as such on your employment offers and the benefits list on your career website.

Make it convenient and accessible

Plan your book club discussion for a day when there are already a lot of people in the office. For example, at ExactHire we plan our book club to immediately follow the “Monthly Nom Nom” during which we all gather to share a catered (or potluck) meal together. Since many of us frequently work remotely, this is usually the day of the month with the most people in the office (serve them food, they will come)! Be mindful that the day you schedule your event isn’t already too packed with other meetings, and consider serving a light refreshment…or caffeine boost if it is immediately following a meal.

At ExactHire, we can never have everyone available to meet in person because we have teammates from Utah to Indiana to Germany! Therefore, we use Google Meet to video conference with our truly remote employees so they can participate, too. If you need to accommodate different time zones, be as inclusive as possible when scheduling the time of day for your book club session.

Finally, be intentional about the frequency for your discussions. Does it make sense to meet for shorter discussions bi-weekly to discuss a few chapters, or longer discussions that encompass the entire book on a monthly or quarterly basis? Within our book club, we’re starting with a quarterly cadence and discussing the entire book each time.

Do basic discussion preparation

The club founder(s) should lead the first discussion and should create an editable, shared document with ideas for discussion questions. This document should be visible to participants in advance of the meeting. Invite participants to throw question ideas on the document as inspiration strikes them, too. Also, remind people about the event about a week in advance in case anyone needs an extra nudge to finish the entire book on time.

Include questions about concepts within the book, but also list questions that will cause the group to take time to apply the concepts to real life examples from your organization, too. If you struggle to come up with questions on your own, do an internet search for notes and summaries on the book you are reading, and look for discussion guides that already exist online so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. This approach is particularly helpful if you are designated to lead a discussion after you listened to an audiobook while driving or working out (without the ability to take notes).

Here are some question ideas to get you started.

  • What did you encounter in this book that you weren’t expecting when you first took interest in it?
  • Which parts of this book did you dislike?
  • What is one thing you are going to implement or do differently now that you’ve read this book?
  • Pick your favorite passage/story, read it out loud to the group and explain why it’s important to you.
  • What was your “aha” moment while reading this book?
  • What was missing from the book in your opinion?
  • Thinking about the concepts within the book, how have we already applied them well within our own organization. Give examples.
  • Which book concepts do we need to better incorporate within our workplace? What are the appropriate next steps for doing so?

After the first book club event, ask for volunteers to take turns leading different future sessions. Don’t force participation, but let people rise to the occasion. When people vote on future books on a survey, consider asking them to indicate if they’d also like to lead that discussion if their suggested book is chosen.

“Don’t force participation, but let people rise to the occasion.”

Encourage active participation

Fortunately, it isn’t too difficult to get a variety of people to join the discussion at ExactHire. Our first book club included comments from all participants and there was a healthy banter during a variety of questions. Of course, perhaps this was because our first book was all about candor.

If all your attendees aren’t as willing to speak up, be patient and keep discussion questions focused on the book concepts initially rather than how they specifically apply to your workplace. As confidence grows among the group, you may find that discussion naturally moves to how the concepts can be applied to your workplace. As trust grows within the group, you’ll see that more inclusive, engaging conversation emerges.

Include everyone in future book planning

At the close of your first meeting, invite everyone to send suggestions for future books to one person who will compile them into a survey so that people may vote on a winner. This person may be the designated leader of the next discussion, or a consistent point person within your organization.

I’ve already received a number of intriguing book suggestions for our next discussion in April, and I’ll be using a survey to allow employees to rank their favorites. Be sure and share your survey with the entire company for each future session in case different employees prefer to participate at different times of year. Attendance will vary based on schedules and interest in the chosen book.

There are a variety of digital tools you may use to collectively keep tabs on books of interest for future discussions as well. I enjoy gathering ideas from posts on Pinterest and podcasts and blogs. Then, I keep track of books on my “to-read” list using Goodreads–an online community of book lovers.

Happy reading!

While these steps have worked well so far for my company, don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats for your own organizational book club. Your company culture, core values and current business challenges will guide you in a direction that resonates with your own employees.

Just remember to keep it fun and leverage the events as an opportunity to foster employee development and maximize the employee experience!

cultivating-company-culture-exacthire

How to Not Screw Up Remote Employee Onboarding

Whether your team’s hiring its first remote employee or its 79th, don’t skimp on putting thoughtful intention behind your new hire onboarding program for remote workers.

Go ahead, pick out your worst fear about hiring remote workers below.

  • If I can’t see them, will they just do their laundry instead of work?
  • Our employees need to be “on” during our regular working hours, how can they if they’re roaming coffee houses around Europe with a 6-hour time difference?
  • Company culture and connectivity will suffer if we can’t play ping pong in person together, won’t it?

Did you have trouble picking just one? That’s okay, so did ExactHire when we started allowing employees to work remotely over seven years go. Our organization has come a long way since then, and–with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic–we have adopted the mentality of “remote first.” That is, truly distributing the workforce in such a way that remote work is the default setting–not just an option available to some. SaaS companies like StackOverflow and HelpScout are worth further investigation if you’re considering this cultural pivot for your employer

Remote first = distributing your workforce in such a way that remote work is the default mode.

Another relevant read is Remote: Office Not Required by Basecamp Co-Founders, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. This book details Basecamp’s evolution into a remote first organization, including both the pitfalls and unexpected wins along the way. There’s no shortage of inspiration on how to make remote working arrangements possible for your organization these days.

In this post, I’ll focus on how to not screw up employee onboarding once you’ve committed to hiring a new fully-remote employee. For someone who is brand new to your organization and away from the office from the start, consider these items for your onboarding checklist.

1 – Make expectations and goals crystal clear

In the absence of in-person onboarding activities, picking up on body language and being a bystander to water cooler talk is more challenging. Therefore, organizations should put themselves in the shoes of new hires and brainstorm the details that new employees won’t necessarily absorb on their own.

Being transparent about expected working hours (despite time zone of new hire), explaining how organizational culture manifests itself and sharing milestone targets about what job success looks like at three months, six months and beyond are just a few of many possible details.

For example, in Remote, the authors talk about how it’s important for Basecamp to give its new hires a heads up that they may be bombarded by social media follower requests when joining the organization. Because their company is remote first, it has become common for employees to connect with one another on social media in order to get to know each other more quickly in the absence of traditional face time in the office.

2 – Make over communication a way of life

Nothing can trip up a remote working arrangement more quickly than a shortage of sufficient communication. If your company wants to make remote work work, then you need to embrace many modes of communication (“different strokes for different folks”) and in particular, abundant written communication.

Particularly if your remote employees are spread across different time zones, a bigger portion of your company’s internal communication will be asynchronous–with employees reading email, chat messages and Slack updates anywhere from minutes to hours after they are originally sent.

To amplify the effectiveness of asynchronous communication, be clear about your needs and consider capturing screenshots and creating short videos to better explain tasks and challenges to co-workers when big time zone differences diminish the ability to connect in real time.

Consider your communication culture and whether it makes sense to go to the extent of asking people to update their status when away from Slack, instant messenger, etc. While ExactHire doesn’t quite go this far, we do have an internal document that lists general working hours for all employees since individual availability varies widely depending on the day of the week.

3 – Organization is everything

While we’ve already established that communication is critical, committing to written communication goes deeper than the one-off messages and company announcements that happen on a daily basis. In the same way that ExactHire maintains a support knowledge base full of training documents for our customers about our products, employers with remote workers have an even greater responsibility than traditional employers to document policies, project statuses and resources in an internal knowledge base.

And, it’s not just about basic documentation, but also the style or approach you take for documentation and communication. For example, at a previous employer I was quickly indoctrinated into the organizational norm of referring to all employees by just their initials in written communication, as well as the practice of hiding unwieldy URL addresses behind anchor text in interoffice emails. Mind you, this was a decade ago…before it was a tech-based cultural norm to go to such formatting lengths.

Internal consistency in communication supports effective organization.

Additionally, having easy-to-use tools to track items is essential. For example, in addition to Slack, ExactHire has leveraged platforms such as Google Docs, Trello, Basecamp and Jira for internal collaboration on a daily basis in recent years.

4 – Paperless employee onboarding

For both new hires and existing staff members, the employee onboarding process is full of opportunities to miss details. Take the pressure off of remembering which employees should be prompted to complete which new hire documents, tasks and forms by leveraging employee onboarding software.

An effective onboarding platform automatically presents the right paperwork, onboarding tasks and training prompts to different new hires based on factors such as their geographic location, FLSA status, security clearance and role type. Because additional to-do items are only presented to new hires and internal onboarding process stakeholders when certain basic prerequisites are already satisfied earlier in the process, the experience for the new hire is positive and stress for the staff member is minimal.

5 – Create inspiration with preparation

It’s stressful enough for a new hire on her first day at a new job in a traditional office. Now imagine how much more awkward a remote employee’s first day on the job can be if the employer is unprepared for her arrival.

Prepare new hires to hit the ground running quickly by sharing a super detailed onboarding plan and training schedule with them before their first day. Include links to your internal knowledge base and make resources for additional learning easy to find and searchable. This written documentation will easily fill the gaps between video conference calls and virtual job shadowing sessions with co-workers.

From a hardware standpoint, outfit new employees with the equipment they need to start work on day one. Your approach to this will vary depending on whether you ship a computer, phone, headset, etc. to your remote employees or have a policy in place that allows them to bring their own device (BYOD) to work. Regardless of your approach, make sure that all equipment and software access follows internal security protocols and that new hires are trained on how to handle secure data and what to do in the event of a breach.

Be sure to give new hires access to relevant communication groups, recurring calendar events and internal online resources in time for their first day–along with instructions or a description of each item’s objective. There’s no quicker way to alienate your remote employees than to forget to add them to your monthly all-hands meeting call, and then interrupt it fifteen minutes in to invite them to join last late.

6 – Tell your culture story

Fostering connectivity can be a struggle in a remote-driven workplace–especially in an organization that has transitioned from a traditional in-person office to a distributed workforce. While veteran employees instinctively understand the core values, mission and unwritten ways of doing things, newly hired remote employees won’t become a thread in the organizational tapestry without understanding its roots and also being prompted to share their own background.

Create a series of videos about key aspects of the company’s past that can be embedded into the onboarding process. Host a monthly company trivia session where employees log into Google Meet or Skype to answer questions and compete for swag.

Telling the organizational story to new hires is a best practice, but savvy employers will also build in the opportunity for its diverse new employees to make their own mark and share their own background. This might be accomplished with a virtual employee directory that features fun facts about new hires; or, occasional “lunch and learn” webinars that invite new employees to do a show and tell about their own city/country or hobbies and interests.

7 – Promote peer mentoring

Mentoring is not a new concept for employee onboarding; however, adopting it as a practice for a remote workforce is an emerging trend. From job shadows with veteran employees in a new hire’s first few days to monthly milestone check-ins with a designated “buddy,” virtual mentoring has a great deal of possibility for remote-friendly workplaces.

When creating a virtual mentoring program, account for factors that may influence likely success between mentor and mentee; such as, time zone difference, job role, interests and behavioral tendencies as evident from an employee assessment.

Take 1-on-1 mentoring a step further and invite mentors and mentees to quarterly tweet-ups or video conferences in which newer hires have a forum in which they can ask questions of mentors in real-time and within a group format. By listening to the questions and answers of peers, as well, new hires will likely shorten their own learning curve.

8 – Make time for face time

When done right, remote work allows employees to focus for longer periods of time without interruption. While distractions may occur in both the office and at home, there’s a distinct difference between immediately responding to someone knocking on your door versus waiting a few minutes to finish a task before responding to an email.

Utilize video conference platforms such as Zoom or GoToMeeting to allow all employees to synchronously connect whenever the need arises. Perhaps your cultural norm is even to ask employees to always use video chat rather than voice-only phone calls when connecting for a meeting. However, when planning such video calls, and to be considerate of potential time zone differences, be intentional with the time allotted to focus on social connectivity rather than just covering things that might be more efficiently discussed via email.

Even in modern, 100% remote first workplaces, there’s a place for in-person interaction. Many employers that have largely distributed workforces still make time at least once per year to gather in person for social connection–as an entire organization. And while this type of event can inflate the company travel line item significantly, that is the tradeoff between having the overhead attributable to a physical office location versus employing a remote first approach. If that approach would break your budget, then consider smaller meetups between departments instead.

9 – Feed off of feedback

Emojis were once reserved for text-happy teenagers lamenting their latest breakup; however, in recent years they’ve earned their place as a remote work mainstay because they help express tone and emotion in a situation that might otherwise omit context for one’s mood.

And while it might still be a stretch for some to include them in email messaging, they thrive in messaging platforms such as Slack. And, they’re particularly helpful in a remote workforce when employees may have never met in person and do not yet understand the nuances of their peers’ personalities. Emojis are one way of leveraging feedback on a micro level so that remote employees can gauge how they’re communicating or performing.

On a macro level, employers hiring remote employees must give and receive feedback early and often throughout the onboarding process.

  • Gather new hire input in the pre-boarding phase to make sure that incoming employees have a firm grasp of the resources available to them to get started.
  • Hold virtual town hall meetings for new hires three months into their employment tenure for ideas on how to improve remote employee onboarding.
  • Make sure that supervisors have a regular cadence of offering constructive feedback to direct reports throughout the first year of employment, especially.

Successful Remote Employee Onboarding

Make your objective to create experiences in which remote employees feel as assimilated and supported as traditional in-office employees. Remember that it will take some experimentation, careful hiring and an open mind. If you don’t get it exactly right the first time, gather feedback to make an adjustment and try, try again!

Download ExactHire's Employee Onboarding Checklist