Employee Relations

Build connection & support with creative WFH ideas

04/24/2020

When Homes.com, a 400-employee Virginia company, went all remote in March, company leaders launched a plan to provide emotional support, boost morale and recognize achievement.

4 ways to support remote staff with kids

04/23/2020

You don’t have to accept inferior work during temporary work-from-home situations, but a bit of flexibility will help boost productivity and retention. Pass along these four tips to supervisors directing remote employees whose children are home from school, too.

Pandemic: Beware backlash after discipline

04/23/2020

Employees at several Amazon facilities have staged walkouts to protest working conditions they fear place them at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. The company’s heavy-handed response to the protests has generated ill-will and bad press.

3 ways to make silence speak

04/22/2020

Let’s face it: Some employees love to participate during meetings and conference calls, and others don’t. The trick is to give everyone a chance to make a real contribution—and to establish a value for silence, too.

Here’s how to review remote staff performance

04/21/2020

Performance reviews—often difficult and stressful, always important—pose special challenges when not conducted face-to-face. When it’s time to have those critical performance conversations, these simple tips can help you make the most of virtual meetings.

Document, date every disciplinary detail

04/16/2020

Workers who suspect they are about to be fired may try to short-circuit the termination process by claiming discrimination, harassment or retaliation. It’s an intimidation tactic. Fight back with documentation of every step of the disciplinary process, with dates when key events occurred.

To Zoom or not to Zoom: Videoconference security issues addressed

04/14/2020

Increasingly, organizations are turning to Zoom to enable the necessary videoconferencing capabilities that make recent shifts possible. But, is that the right move?

CARES Act offers 2 more employer-relief measures

04/09/2020

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, signed March 27, is best known for providing a $2 trillion stimulus jolt to a coronavirus-stunned economy. However, the CARES Act also contains two provisions intended to help employers keep from having to lay off employees.

Good ideas? Follow up with 4 questions

04/08/2020

Once your group has brainstormed and come up with ideas to solve a problem, develop a product, etc., you need a way to identify the most profitable suggestions and start developing them. Hold a follow-up session to explore four questions adapted from the techniques of innovation expert Rolf Smith.

With virus, handshakes are so 2019