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MANAGING STAFF

5 action steps for regaining staff trust

April 14, 2021 by

By Lynne Curry bio  When employees or colleagues no longer trust you, they don’t tell you. Why would they? They don’t trust how you might react to what they say. Their distrust descends below the surface, though it shows up in them keeping their distance from you. Distrustful employees or coworkers protect their backsides. They withhold information. Their morale and productivity lowers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, one in three of the 33,000 employees surveyed don’t trust their employers1 and as a result provide their employers lower levels of engagement, productivity and loyalty.2,3 According to recent surveys, 25 to 50 percent of employees plan to leave their employers in 2021,4,5 with distrust ranking among the top reasons for this talent exodus. What created this distrust? Some describe it as… . . . read more

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MANAGING STAFF

How to deal with new friction between the vaccinated and unvaccinated

April 3, 2021 by

By Lynne Curry bio After five employees boarded an elevator, two additional employees attempted to get on as well. One of the employees already on the elevator asked these two not to board. “We can’t remain six feet apart if you get on.” One of the employees wanting to board said, “It’s only a short distance.” After the employees arrived on their floor, the back and forth between these two employees continued. “Your mask isn’t on tight.” “I’m okay with it.” “Are you vaccinated?” “I don’t trust the vaccines.” “You put the rest of us at risk.” “If you’re vaccinated, you have nothing to worry about.” “Not if you contract a variant, infect the rest of us, and we take the problem home to our families.” In workplaces across the… . . . read more

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PRODUCTIVITY

Why it’s harder to focus during a pandemic

March 19, 2021 by

By Indira Totaram bio The uncertainty and worry surrounding the coronavirus appear to have no end in sight—and it’s affecting the way we think and function. Since the onset of the pandemic, many of us find ourselves troubled by the inability to focus on even simple tasks. It’s as though our attention span is shorter or we are more distracted and overwhelmed than usual. And you wouldn’t be wrong to feel that way. In fact, 40 percent  of American workers are feeling less productive than usual. One helpful approach for understanding this occurrence is “Cognitive Load Theory,” which characterizes our minds as information processing systems. When solving for an unfamiliar problem, we rely on our “working memory,” which is limited in its capacity to retain information. However, if we are an expert… . . . read more

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

EEOC charges down but lawsuits rising

March 4, 2021 by

By Mike O’Brien bio EEOC data for FY2020 show dip in charges filed The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its Fiscal Year 2020 Enforcement and Litigation Data report on Feb. 26, 2021. The EEOC reports that 67,448 charges of discrimination were filed in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020, compared to 72,675 charges filed in the previous fiscal year. The agency made headway in addressing a backlog of charges, resolving 70,804 charges during FY2020, and securing $439.2 million for victims of discrimination. Continuing the trend of recent years, retaliation was the most commonly-asserted claim, made in 55.8% of all charges. Disability, race, and sex discrimination claims each were asserted in roughly a third of charges filed, at 36.1%, 32.7%, and 31.7%, respectively. Age, national origin, color, and religion… . . . read more

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COMPLIANCE

Here’s why the NLRB hates your no gossiping policy

March 4, 2021 by

By Paul Edwards bio I keep running into this problem as we evaluate pre-existing employee handbooks across the country. The issue is that, as an employer, you want to address employees standing around and gossiping. Or standing around and not being productive, or standing around and distracting those who are being productive. In fact, you don’t want employees standing, or sitting, around at all. So you get creative, and a new policy is born. Here are examples we run into all the time: No gossiping! Employees may not stand around or be inactive for more than 10 seconds. Employees may not conduct personal business during working hours. Employees must not intentionally create problems for other team members, managers, or others. Doing so may result in warnings and/or termination. Employees must not… . . . read more

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HUMAN RESOURCES

How to help employees at peak burnout

March 4, 2021 by

By Indira Totaram bio It’s the feeling of being drained but unable to recharge, the frustration of a tiring routine, the everyday distress in response to the current state of the world—employee burnout is now more widespread than ever. As the pandemic endures and its effects trickle down, many are struggling to keep up with workplace demands, longer hours, and remote work conditions. Burnout refers to the experience of chronic workplace stress, characterized by exhaustion, fatigue, cynicism, and feelings of reduced professional ability. Have we reached our physical, mental, and emotional limits? If so, how can we recover? Read on to learn more about reaching peak burnout: The mental health crisis Studies show that mental health in the United States is deteriorating among all age groups. Researchers and health officials are… . . . read more

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MANAGING STAFF

Exit interviews: You might be surprised by what you learn

February 21, 2021 by

By Lynne Curry bio “Good riddance” the supervisor mutters the day his employee leaves. As the practice manager, however, you have doubts. “Kate” is the third employee who’s resigned from your practice in the last 18 months. All three worked for “Jim.” If you want to learn the truth, you need to talk to these employees who’ve chosen to leave—before they carry away the answers you need. Here’s how: Let each resigning employee know you’d consider it a gift to the employee’s coworkers and you to learn his or her thoughts about working in your organization. If the employee worries about potential retribution, find out why and offer to hold the information you learn confidential. You can also allay any fears the employees may have by offering to provide reference… . . . read more

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WORKPLACE SAFETY

Mandatory COVID vaccination: new guidance & update

February 21, 2021 by

By Lynne Curry bio Can employers require their employees to receive COVID-vaccinations? While vaccination is one of an employer’s best tools for preventing COVID-19 outbreaks at their worksites, requiring employees to be vaccinated and disciplining them if they refuse comes with legal risks. Although the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s December 2020 guidelines stated that employers could implement and enforce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies for certain jobs and with certain exceptions1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that recipients of vaccines under an “emergency use authorization” (which includes the current COVID vaccines) must be informed that they have the option to accept or refuse the vaccination. For more detail on this federal agency contradiction, see https://workplacecoachblog.com/2021/01/covid-vaccination-update-in-light-of-the-vaccines-emergency-use-authorization-status/ “The current problem,” says Perkins Coie Senior Counsel Michael O’Brien, “is that many employees… . . . read more

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MANAGING STAFF

Post-pandemic period a chance to try flexible staffing strategies

February 15, 2021 by

By Lynne Curry bio Question: COVID-19 hit our northern U.S. law practice hard. We cut employees, then salaries, and then we cut again. We lost half of our clients as their fortunes failed; other clients cut their work to the bone. Our revenue is down 70%. Some office staffers left our state when their spouses’ high-paying jobs evaporated. Others took off when COVID-19 combined with our cold, dark winter proved too much. Because these employees had talents we needed, we kept them as “snowbirds”. At first, it didn’t cause trouble. Everyone was working from home, so it didn’t matter where “home” was. Now that we’ve moved back into the office building, our local employees complain about the snowbirds. They feel the fair weather staff get an unfairly sweet deal, as… . . . read more

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TRAINING

Are you measuring the right metrics for your law firm training program?

February 15, 2021 by

By Doug Striker bio I recently attended a fabulous webinar hosted by LearnUpon, the award-winning company that serves as the platform for our Savvy Academy Learning Management System. This webinar was designed to help learning and development (L&D) professionals quantitatively assess the impact of their training programs. Let’s face it—this is the biggest challenge of any training or educational program. Are you adding value to your firm? More important to upper management: Does your work contribute positively to the firm’s bottom line? During the webinar, Frances Kleven, Manager of Customer Success for LearnUpon, discussed: The key reasons leading L&D teams calculate the success of their learning programs. The most valuable metrics you should be recording. How to align your L&D metrics and business goals to develop a high-impact strategy. If… . . . read more

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