As soon as the long-awaited coronavirus vaccine arrives, employers will encourage their employees to get vaccinated. But can they force them to do so?
Between the economic downturn, the continued spread of the global pandemic, civil unrest, and the shift to remote work, we are in the midst of learning how to navigate our new reality. In the wake of change, company culture often becomes collateral damage. People are rightly focused on handling their day-to-days as current events and unforeseen demands pull them in different directions. For company leaders, uniting employees under a shared vision during a fractured time presents a sizable challenge — but overcoming it has never been more paramount. Company culture is foundational to an employee’s work experience. It is also essential to business success. With so much unpredictability in the world right now, a company’s culture should become an unwavering aspect that provides what is currently lacking in many areas of life for all of us — community, connection, and trust. While it may be tempting to fill the void with easy “fixes” like Zoom happy hours, these solutions are nothing more than temporary bandages. Leaders need to take a deep look at how to integrate culture into daily decisions and operations. Here are five ways to get started. Be Nothing If Not Transparent To engage and inspire a workforce during times of significant change, leaders need to share the “why” — the rationale and context behind decisions. Times of uncertainty naturally spark fear — put minds at ease with transparent information. And when you don’t have the answers right away, it’s okay to share that you’re still seeking the right path forward. Leaders are humans, too, and what’s most important is establishing trust. Just as critical as transparent communication is empowering employees to be part of the solution. Establish a culture where every voice is heard and employees are encouraged to bring their unique perspectives and ideas to the table. The best decisions are often made when people of diverse backgrounds, roles, and levels join forces to solve a problem together. Go the Extra Mile in Enabling Your Managers Your managers are on the frontlines of fielding employee questions during these rapidly changing times — but they may not have all the answers because they aren’t involved in conversations at the leadership level. Do not overlook your managers and the essential role they play in sustaining company culture. How your managers promote culture will have a trickle-down effect to their teams. Leaders need to hold themselves accountable for providing managers with contextual information, the “why” behind business decisions, and ensure they’re set up to successfully navigate difficult situations. In addition, encourage them to include more empathetic elements in their management approach. This could mean dedicating 1:1 time to simply ask how their directs are doing or revisit goals. Template-based approaches to people management are no longer suitable when times have so drastically changed. Invest in Learning and Development Training and professional development are a key piece of a thriving company culture. When a company invests in setting people up for success, they are more likely to exceed goals, feel satisfied, and continue to grow with the company. With the onset of COVID-19, the training world was turned upside down because so much of it relied on in-person sessions. But what we quickly found is that being in-person isn’t essential for engaging training. In fact, going virtual provided a valuable opportunity to step back and reinvent our training to make sessions even more interesting, easy to consume, and interactive. Your training investments should be focused on helping your people become better at their jobs. Don’t train just to train — instead, train to make an impact. What makes a massive difference is thinking about the mindset employees will arrive with, and the one you want them to leave with, as well as how this will translate to actual behavioral change. This means going beyond tracking training completion rates to using technology to measure the ways people are working differently — and how the results they’re getting have improved. Close Knowledge and Communication Gaps The issue of “tribal knowledge” — where pockets of understanding and expertise are siloed by regions, offices, or even individuals — was never sustainable. Now, companies are faced with sharing best practices across an entirely remote workforce. The widespread adoption of digital collaboration platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams is a foundational first step, but companies must invest in their communication channels and tools beyond the basics. For example, having a sales enablement platform where content and guidance come together in a single source of truth is essential for supporting the intentional, streamlined sharing of information — something that is key for a collaborative company culture. It’s worth bearing in mind that the new generation of sales and revenue talent has grown up in a world without antiquated technology, where the digital consumer experience has been defined by the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Apple, and Amazon. So, when they enter working life, they expect a similar quality of insights, analytics, intuitiveness, and user experience from the tools and processes their employers implement. Don’t Lose Sight of What Matters Most — Your People For many companies, acquiring new customers has become even more challenging in recent months. As such, organizations are shifting focus away from acquisition and onto preservation of their existing customer base. With changing priorities, strategies, targets, and metrics, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and new list of to-dos. But, in reality, delivering extraordinary customer experiences begins with your employees. When employees are happy, aligned, and motivated, it has a ripple effect throughout the business, from surpassed expansion quotas to customer satisfaction. Put the extra effort into supporting your employees now, and the business outcomes will follow — because at the end of the day, putting people first is what really matters. Culture Is Key Looking ahead, more change is on the horizon. The best way to prepare for whatever may come is to invest in the areas within our control that can make all the difference. Take
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker demands my attention when I’m busy I work with a woman who is senior to me in title. There are several of us and we each work for different bosses, but we all have the same grandboss. She is awesome when it comes to overall morale in the workplace. However, my issue is how much attention I have to give her when she wants to talk about her personal life. Every time she wants to share her latest story about herself to the group, she notices I am not giving her any attention. She asks me from across the room in front of the others if I’m listening to her. I always want to ask her if it’s work-related, but I wisely don’t. Instead, I apologize, listen, and give the expected compliments or sympathies, and then go back to my work. Granted, her stories are only about 10-15 minutes and she only does this every few days or so. I know it’s all part of the team-bondIng experience in the workplace. But I happen to have a boss who likes to pile work on me. I just can’t help but feel resentment that she has the time to tell stories when I wish I could take those minutes back to take breaks (which I never take but know I should). How can I politely and professionally get out of having to listen to her talk about non-work issues? When she asks you from across the room if you’re listening to her, be honest! You can cheerfully say, “Nope, sorry, I’m right in the middle of something I can’t stop” or “No, sorry, I’m on a deadline, continue without me!” If she suggests she’ll hold off on the story until you’re finished, you can say, “Don’t wait on me — I’m pretty buried today.” 2. Performance reviews during COVID After a rough patch at the beginning of COVID, my company seems to be on a major upswing. My CEO just announced that we’re moving forward with reviews and we can all expect some nominal raises by October. There are two things I’m trying to figure out how to address: • COVID. Like almost everyone else, I haven’t been nearly as productive in lockdown. • My mental health. Right after reviews last year, I had a serious depressive episode that landed me in the hospital. As much as I’d like to say this didn’t impact my performance, it obviously did. I struggled to keep my head above water and even fainted mid-meeting due to some medication issues. I’ve also been taking half days 2-3 times a month for frequent doctor and therapy appointments. My manager has some knowledge of what’s going on and has helped me prioritize and manage my workload, but for the most part I’ve kept the severity of the issue to myself. For the last year+, it’s been a struggle to just stay alive and employed. I don’t feel like I’ve made any remarkable improvements or contributions and I honestly don’t feel like I’m capable of providing a self-assessment that isn’t overly self-critical. My therapist pointed out that I have been dealing with an actual life-threatening illness the last year and I should cut myself some slack for that AND COVID-related issues that everyone is dealing with. But I was raised to believe that personal life absolutely does not impact work-life and that my mental health is a part of that (and a personal failing). What do you advise? The basic framing you want is, “Due to the challenges caused by the pandemic and some concurrent health issues, my main goal for this period has been to keep things running smoothly, but not to innovate or add major new initiatives.” Because that’s true! So say that explicitly right up-front, and then assess yourself accordingly. You’re not evaluating yourself against the standards of previous years, but against what’s been reasonable for this specific period with these specific circumstances. (Your manager should take the same approach if she’s at all reasonable. If she’s not reasonable, this will at least open a conversation about what each of you considers realistic right now.) And your mental health impacting work is no more a personal failing than cancer treatment impacting work would be (which is to say, it’s not one). Be as matter-of-fact about it as you would about any other health issue. 3. My coworkers want the creative projects we should outsource My team, the communications department, is 15 people. We all are pretty busy, a bit over the line for what is reasonable to expect from a team of this size. We all have some level of creative tasks, but three colleagues have a role that is full creative (think design, photography, video, etc.). We also have the budget to outsource some tasks, which is lucky as the appetite for these full-creative tasks is huge and growing. All three of my full-creative colleagues approached our boss (and mentioned the issue for the whole team) with the following problem: they feel that when we outsource the larger creative productions (say, producing a video), they are deprived of professional opportunities to grow and take on large projects. This is fair as far as that goes, but we need them full-time for the day-to-day work (take photo of X event and edit it so social media can publish in less than an hour) and these smaller tasks cannot be outsourced reasonably. I understand their frustration, but when they want to take on a larger project, they often have unrealistic expectations on how much time they could devote to it. Often they’d say: I need a month just doing this. But that is just not feasible, as there is always something else to do. They constantly complain they have too much on their plates as it is (which, true – so do we all). We already outsource all we can, so it’s not realistic
A reader writes: I just fired someone. It was necessary, and I’ve got no regrets. But while this person was terrible in many ways, they did have a great relationship with some staff members they worked with. And those staff are asking us (no doubt influenced by personal contact from the fired employee) why we did it so “suddenly” (it wasn’t sudden), and how we could deprive them of someone so wonderful. Of course, our official stance is to say, “this is an HR matter.” But wow, does that response not fly and people are pushing to know more. When, if ever, is it acceptable to give more information internally? I answer this question — and four others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: Sweat stains and business clothing Resigning employee wants to buy a plane ticket from us Telling a job applicant that I don’t want a LinkedIn resume Giving a reference for someone who won’t talk to me You may also like:the way a coworker was fired has me worried for my own jobhow do we handle firing an employee in an open plan office?why won’t my employer tell us why our coworker was fired? what to say when people ask why an employee was fired was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. Read more: askamanager.org
If you kept your job throughout the pandemic thus far, you probably experienced a few changes to the way things work. Those seeking new employment should also anticipate a change in the traditional workplace model. Since the novel coronavirus shows few signs of leaving humanity alone, consider many of these shifts permanent. How will the workplace change after COVID-19? Here are eight ways the pandemic is changing work. A Move Toward Telecommuting The most drastic change involves the shift to telecommuting. While businesses previously considered such working arrangements a perk to attract talent, they must comply with social distancing guidelines. Working from home enables them to keep their doors open without squeezing multiple employees into cubicles. This arrangement has substantial benefits for workers and employers alike. A study by Global Analytics indicates that teleworkers are 20% to 25% more productive than those in traditional office spaces. Even the planet gets a boost in the form of fewer carbon emissions from commuter vehicles. Communication Systems Upgrades When you see your colleagues in the office daily, you take for granted that you can ask your accounting friend a payroll question by strolling over to her desk. COVID-19 is changing the workplace by forcing businesses to upgrade their communications processes. One organization discovered its phone tree was only 50% accurate — imagine the headaches it faced when trying to coordinate with distant staff members. If you recently began teleworking, touch base with your supervisor on how they prefer you to communicate. Some organizations use software like Slack, while others use text and phone, and still more employ a combination of methods. Increased Security and Employee Monitoring Some companies issue computers and phones to remote workers, but many allow staff to use their personal devices. Either way, your employer can monitor what you do remotely with or without your express consent. If you waste hours scrolling social media or online window shopping, your boss will probably catch you. This changing workplace oversight due to COVID-19 isn’t necessarily meant to be punitive. Because of the threat of cybercrime, organizations need to take increased security measures to safeguard proprietary data and personal client information. Your boss may require you to install anti-malware software and monitor your web traffic to decrease potential liability. More Schedule Flexibility Many pundits giving pandemic advice take guidance from people with cushioning — which leaves many working parents frustrated and exhausted. Fortunately, many organizations understand that it’s challenging to homeschool children while working a nine-to-five. As school reopenings remain a matter of some conjecture, expect flexible schedules to begin outpacing the traditional workday model for pragmatic reasons. Benefits Become More Vital In recent years, many businesses have moved away from providing employee benefits packages. However, in the wake of COVID-19, firms that hope to attract talent will need to expand these offerings. People who formerly didn’t think twice about going without health insurance for a salary bump now understand the consequences of doing so. A Reduction in Business Travel When it comes to how the workplace will change after COVID-19, you can anticipate less mandatory business travel. As desperately as many folks need a getaway, few relish the thought of boarding a plane. If you adored your quarterly jaunts, you might feel dismayed. However, if you resented the hassle, you’ll likely endure less of it going forward. A Shift in Departmental Duties Nearly half of all U.S. employers reported considering downsizing as the pandemic began. As a result, you might find yourself with increased duties on your plate. If you previously handled a customer chat line, you may need to provide phone support. Your company may restructure your department or transfer you to a different position to fill an urgent need. More Contact-Free Options Contact-free delivery isn’t only for Door Dashers anymore. One of the ways COVID-19 is changing work involves organizations overhauling their receiving centers to allow for less frequent contact between suppliers and staff. Likewise, if your organization takes point-of-sale (POS) payments, you may no longer need to accept cash much longer. Many companies request customers to use debit or credit cards, and technologies like Apple Pay will further reduce the need for touching pin pads. The Pandemic Is Changing the Workplace in Many Ways How will COVID-19 continue to change the workplace? As time progresses, expect further innovations to protect health. In the meantime, expect to see these common workplace shifts. This guest post was authored by Alyssa Abel Alyssa Abel is a college and career writer who offers advice on strategies to success. Read more of her work on her blog, Syllabusy. The post 8 Ways the Workplace and Workday Are Different Due to Covid-19 appeared first on Ms. Career Girl. Read more: mscareergirl.com
With more nonprofit professionals working from home during the pandemic, some of you are experiencing a new problem: coworkers and bosses who suddenly want to be in constant communication with you. Of course, we communicators desperately need our coworkers to talk to us in order for us to do our jobs well, but not ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. Let’s tackle this situation using our Four Steps to Work Through Collaboration Problems. Name the Problem Naming the problem helps you depersonalize it. “Work-Life Balance” is a term that just about everyone will understand. This isn’t about you being unresponsive, it’s about being responsive to the right people in your life (work people AND family/friend people AND yourself) at the right times of day. Help Others See the Problem How is it in the best interest of others to solve this problem with you? You can tackle this in a few different ways. For starters, you aren’t being paid to work 24 hours a day, so gently pointing that out and being clear about your “on” and “off” hours could be helpful. But you might want to look at larger internal communications and office culture issues too. Many organizations are implementing “no email after work” policies. Some use certain channels for certain things, including emergency after-hours comms. For example, if they truly need you, they should call you on the phone rather than relying on you checking email. But with that comes a fairly strict list of what constitutes an after-hours emergency. Design Simple Rules Simple rules are frameworks that help you make decisions faster and work more efficiently. Once you’ve talked through what’s appropriate and what’s not in regards to both different internal communications channels and the timing around those, it’s a great idea to document that in an internal communications charter. Expectations for how quickly certain messages will be read and replied to (including after hours) is a must-include. To design some rules, consider “If/Then” scenarios: If this happens, then it’s OK to contact whom by what means and when? Also think about boundary rules: What is always a Yes or always a No/Never with internal communications? Timing rules can help too: What kind of event or sequence of events would trigger off-hours communications? Set Personal Boundaries Boundaries are made up of Yes and No. Boundaries are absolutely essential for communications directors who want to be of service to their organizations without becoming servants to their coworkers. An internal communications charter only works when implemented and enforced. Model good behavior for others! If you don’t want to talk after 6 pm, for example, don’t pick up the phone, and don’t initiate the calls yourself. Same for email! In the absence of a formal internal comms plan, simply tell your coworkers when you will check which channels and when you won’t. You might be surprised by how happy they are that someone “went first” and put it out there! If you have additional advice for dealing with this situation, please share in the comments! Read more: nonprofitmarketingguide.com
SUPREME COURT HOLDS THAT CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT BASED UPON SEXUAL ORIENTATION In a 6-3 decision that decided three pending cases, the Supreme Court held that the prohibition in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 of discrimination in the workplace based upon “sex” prohibits discrimination based upon sexual orientation as well. The three cases which led to the decision were brought by two men who alleged they were fired because they were gay and a transitioning transgender worker who was fired after informing her employer that she would no longer present as a man. The decision is significant because there is no federal statute explicitly protecting the employment rights of LGBT workers and less than half of the states had passed laws prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation. If you have are an employer facing an employment discrimination claim, please call Luchansky Law at 410-522-1020 to arrange a consultation.
In a recent unanimous published opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that an employer cannot be liable for discriminatory conduct by an employee toward a co-employee for purposes of a Title VII hostile working environment claim, if the employer promptly imposes discipline on the offending employee that is reasonably calculated to stop the discriminatory conduct. In Erika Bazemore v. Best Buy, Case No. 18-2196, the appellate court affirmed the decision by the U.S. District Court for Maryland granting Best Buy’s motion to dismiss the claim brought by Ms. Bazemore, an African-American employee, arising from her co-employee’s use of a racial slur. The court refused to “micromanage” Best Buy’s disciplinary procedures, holding that, because Best Buy promptly issued the offending employee mid-level discipline in the form of a “Final Write-Up” when it became aware of the conduct, and the discipline was effective in stopping the discriminatory conduct, the employee’s offensive conduct could not be imputed to Best Buy. The court rejected Ms. Bazemore’s arguments that mid-level discipline was insufficient, that termination was warranted and that a store-wide statement that discrimination would not be tolerated was necessary. Significantly, the court’s decision would not necessarily apply in a situation where a supervisor had committed the discriminatory act or where the discipline was insufficient to stop the offensive conduct. If you are an employer facing a hostile work environment claim, please call Luchansky Law at 410-522-1020 to arrange a consultation.
In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court held that federal employees face a lower hurdle in proving age discrimination than those in the private sector. In an 8-1 decision in Babb v. Wilkie, 18-882 (October Term 2019), the Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit’s decision and held that, because the plain language of 29 U.S.C. §633a(a), applicable to federal employees, mandates that personnel decisions must be made “free from any discrimination based on age,” a federal employee can prevail in an age discrimination claim by proving that age was but one factor in the employment decision. Thus, even if the federal agency had legitimate reasons for the challenged personnel action, such as, for example, that the employee that received the position or promotion instead of the claimant was more qualified, if age was a factor in the decision, the personnel action is unlawful. An employee in the private sector who alleges age discrimination under the ADEA, by contrast, still must prove that but for the employee’s age, the challenged personnel decision would not have been made. If you believe you have been the victim of age discrimination, please call Luchansky Law at 410-522-1020 to arrange a consultation.
As you know, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that was signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020 requires businesses with up to 500 employees to provide additional paid leave to their employees. Many businesses understandably were concerned whether they could withstand the potential financial impact of the legislation, as well-intentioned as it may be. In theory, the law included a mechanism for financial relief by providing employers with a dollar-for-dollar tax credit to offset the money paid to employees in accordance with these requirements. But many questions loomed – including how quickly employers would be able to utilize these tax credits. The Treasury, IRS, and Labor Departments now have issued a helpful explanation of the process for claiming these tax credits, with more guidance to be released imminently. Businesses will be pleased to know that they will be permitted to take these tax credits on a current basis by offsetting them against the regular payroll taxes that employers pay in each payroll. The notice explains: “When employers pay their employees, they are required to withhold from their employees’ paychecks federal income taxes and the employees’ share of Social Security and Medicare taxes. The employers then are required to deposit these federal taxes, along with their share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, with the IRS and file quarterly payroll tax returns (Form 941 series) with the IRS. “Under guidance that will be released next week, eligible employers who pay qualifying sick or child care leave will be able to retain an amount of the payroll taxes equal to the amount of qualifying sick and child care leave that they paid, rather than deposit them with the IRS. The payroll taxes that are available for retention include withheld federal income taxes, the employee share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, and the employer share of Social Security and Medicare taxes with respect to all employees. “If there are not sufficient payroll taxes to cover the cost of qualified sick and child care leave paid, employers will be able file a request for an accelerated payment from the IRS. The IRS expects to process these requests in two weeks or less. The details of this new, expedited procedure will be announced next week.” You can review the IRS’s full explanation of these provisions – including a potential Small Business Exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 employees — at the following link: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Luchansky Law by email, or by calling 410.522.1020.
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