1 Stop HR

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Employee Recognition – Just How Valuable is it to your Company?

Every organization’s most valuable asset is unquestionably the same: its people. Motivating employees to do a great job is job No. 1 — but far easier said than done! Are you doing a great job at recognizing your people and motivating them to dig in and get results?

Ask yourself the following questions:  What is it that you do to keep your employees?  What types of recognition to you provide to your people?  Is it consistent?  Are you lacking in ideas?  Is your management team engaged?  Are you sure your strategies are working?  How are you sure?  What is your employee turnover rate like?  Is it too high?  How are your productivity numbers?  Are you meeting target?

It is important to ask your people what it is that they are looking for.  Add this to your annual employee survey, have your managers ask them in their team huddles.  Listen to what they are saying and not saying, then act!  Look to see if you can build these things into your recognition strategy.  Make sure your managers are all on the same page and actively recognizing their people.  Ensure to evaluate it on an annual basis to make sure you doing the right things and your people are responding in a positive manner.

As managers, we always feel the stress of that bottom line.  Productivity is huge – keeping our people engaged and working toward a common goal all impact productivity in a positive manner.

Ensure to stay competitive in the recognition you offer to your people and they are more likely to stay.

The following infographic, “A Guide to Employee Recognition,” offers company leaders an easy-to-digest, visual overview of three critical aspects of building engagement and enhancing productivity:

Understanding the impact of recognition

    • Creating solid programs
    • Discovering creative ways to make the program a smashing success

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Economic Impact of ESOP’S

A few blog posts ago, we discussed Employee Shared Ownership Plans and introduced you to our new partner:  ESOP Builders

ESOP also Supports Economic Growth!

ESOP can also support economic growth in your community!  We thought you might be interested in this and wanted to share a recent post by ESOP Builders:

While relatively new in the Canadian landscape, research has shown that establishing an ESOP in your business will not only support the growth of your business, but will also support economic growth in your community.

If you are looking to grow your business, contribute to your community and value your employees, exploring an ESOP would be right for your business. Check out these stats on the Economic Impact of ESOPs.

The Economic Power of Employee Ownership

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Hold up – Flexible Work Location?

feet-stuckIf you have read our recent post on offering flexible hours at your workplace, this post will flow nicely into some more thoughts for you…

I am sure you have heard that many companies are offering flexible work locations.  That is that they allow their employees to be able to work from home or run a satellite office.

No way Jose!

Are your feet stuck?  Can’t see allowing your employees the ability to do this?

Why?  What’s the concern?  I know, I know….you are afraid they won’t do the work….that they might sleep in….say they are working but productivity will go down the drain.  How can you “watch” them to ensure they are working?  I get it….and we will talk about this, but first, let’s look at some benefits to the employee.

Employee Benefits:

  1. If they have a commute, they will spend less time doing this and possibly put more time into work.
  2. They will be happier employees.
  3. They have the ability to have more control over when their work is done, meaning, they might choose to put in work hours in the evening or early morning to allow for some flexibility in their afternoon.
  4. There may be less disruptions from the natural environment of an office setting, increasing productivity.
  5. Improved work life balance.

Ok….I know, you are waiting to understand the benefits for the employer…so hang tight, here you go…

Employer Benefits:

  1. You may be able to reduce budget put toward things like desks, office space…etc.
  2. Your employee morale might go up…and even your absenteeism rate might be impacted in a positive manner.
  3. Increased productivity.
  4. Increased attraction for quality job applicants.

But but but…..stop with the buts….let’s look at how you manage this so that your concerns are diminished.

Managing the flexible work location arrangement:

  1. Ensure you set clear boundaries and expectations on what this privilege entails. Make it clear that if productivity is a concern, and if there are not improvements if these concerns are noted, that this privilege may be taken away.
  2. Ensure there are clear communication tools for your managers and employees to make contact and make regular contact.
  3. Don’t forget about team building – this is still important, even if the majority of your employees are working remotely.
  4. Ensure your managers hold employees accountable for their work commitments, hitting deadlines and their overall productivity.
  5. Continue with meetings, regular meetings – involve remote employees via Skype or other conferencing tools so that there is still some “face to face” interaction.
  6. Don’t forget that your off-site employees are still employees – involve them in everything you involve your in-house employees in – find a way.

Let us know the benefits this has had in your workplace – share this post on Social Media – tag us or email us with your stories!

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Protect your Company with an HR Audit

No HR in your company?

Yikes, you are taking quite a risk!  Have you had an HR audit performed of your business to see if there are any gaps in your HR practices and processes?  Yikes another risk!  Here’s the thing…you don’t know what you don’t know.  At any time, a gap in your HR practices can rear its ugly head and when you least expect it.  This gap can claim your business.

Don’t get burnt!

We see companies all the time that have been burnt by not having an HR Professional as part of their business strategy.  What can happen is that these holes in your HR can present all kinds of legal issues should an employee pursue them.  These situations are real and can be extremely expensive in terms of legal fees.

What are my risks?

What kind of cases can arise from gaps in HR processes?  Discrimination, constructive dismissal, privacy violations, wrongful dismissal, Human rights issues and so much more.

Our advice:

We highly advise you to look at having an HR professional complete an in-depth HR audit of your business.  At the very least, it will give you peace of mind, or a solution if there indeed are gaps found that need to be addressed.

Check this out if you are ready to take this step to protect your employees but also your business.

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Flexible Work Hours for your Employees – What are you Afraid of?

flexibleStuck in the dark ages?

Do you have the traditional 9-5 work hours for your employees?  Why? Let me guess, because that is what your clients expect right?  Ok, how about your employees?

The trend to offer flexible working arrangements is huge.  If you don’t offer this, you are not growing with what today’s employees want.  For some the traditional 9-5 works, but for others, it is a nightmare.

Why is the 9-5 not working anymore?

  1. Work/life balance. Our employees are looking to be able to be more involved in childcare, attend appointments or extracurricular activities or to be able just to balance their life in general.
  2. Elder care. Some of our employees have elder care responsibilities that require them to provide coverage at certain hours.
  3. Avoidance of rush hour. At times the commute during rush hour can add significant time to the morning or evening drive – avoiding this gives more time back for other activities.
  4. Multiple jobs. Many people have two jobs, or need to work two jobs just to make ends meet.  Having a flexible or alternate work schedule can allow them to be able to accomplish this.

How do you ensure your clients are taken care of?

Good question!  And a reason why many don’t even consider it, as they can’t disrupt their clients.  But, who said anything about reducing or impacting the service you provide to your clients?  So, what do you do?  Establish core hours that everyone must be at work, or that at least must be covered.  Then go from there with regard to establishing some flexibility in your start and end times and or how many people you can accommodate on an early and later shift.

So is this all about the employees? 

No!  What is the benefit for the employer you ask?

  1. You could actually offer extended hours of coverage for your clients!
  2. You keep or attract employees that might otherwise not stay or be interested in working for you.
  3. You compete with your competition.
  4. Depending on the scheduling you put in place, it is possible you might be able to more efficiently utilize your office space, desks and even computers or equipment!

My challenge…

If you are stuck on the 9-5…I challenge you to really think about the above, create your own advantages and disadvantages list.  Look at your disadvantages and see what you can do to combat them.  Down the line…you will look back and be glad you took the leap.

We would love to hear your stories of success!  Email us or tag us on social media with your stories!  Share this post to encourage others to take the leap!

Watch for our Flexible Work Locations blog post coming soon!

Learn More About US

1 STOP HR was founded by Christie Ferguson, CHRP CHRL Christie is a certified Human Resources Professional & Leader with many years of hands on HR expertise.

Contact US

Tel: 226-750-3160
Email: info@1stophrconsulting.com

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