Productivity / Performance

U.S. workers among most engaged—and stressed—in the world

06/26/2024

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024 Report ranks the U.S. and Canada first in the world in employee engagement. On the flipside, only workers in the Middle East and North Africa reported more daily stress.

Manage summer vacation requests without killing productivity

06/07/2024

If you don’t feel the heat of employees clamoring to schedule vacation time when summer unofficially begins on Memorial Day weekend, you’ll probably feel it soon after. Follow these tips for maintaining productivity when employees go on summer vacation.

Reality check: Are your employees ‘quiet vacationing’?

06/07/2024

Summer vacation season has arrived, and some employees plan to leave their desks behind for travel or a staycation. Others may not be submitting a leave request, instead taking time away from the office without officially requesting PTO. This is the latest workplace trend, dubbed “quiet vacationing.”

The vital importance of diligent documentation

06/05/2024

One critical area that HR professionals must always remind managers about is the importance of diligently documenting employee performance issues. Taking the time and care to document thoroughly can save you and your company major headaches later.

How to manage a culturally diverse team

05/24/2024

It is important for managers to foster an inclusive environment where every team member feels valued, respected and empowered to contribute their unique talents.

Ease workplace conflict with 3 simple steps

05/15/2024

In every person, the natural reaction to conflict is based on biology: When confronted with danger, our innate biological response is to either attack or run away—the famous “fight or flight” syndrome. In the workplace, neither fight nor flight behaviors are likely to result in solving the problem. Instead, use these three strategies to help you move from conflict to resolution.

Poll: 70% don’t want to work remotely full-time

04/22/2024

40% of workers surveyed said they want to work fully in-person, while 32% said they prefer hybrid work.

Bill introduced to make 32-hour workweek the norm

03/25/2024

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to cut the standard workweek from 40 hours per week to 32.

March Madness could cost employers almost $10 billion in lost productivity

03/25/2024

A 2019 survey by OfficeTeam found workers spend 25.5 minutes per workday on March Madness-related activities during the tournament. If that holds true this year, across the 16 workdays between selection Sunday on March 17 and the championship game on Monday, April 8, workers will have spent 408 minutes, or 6.8 hours, on March Madness-related activities at work. That would mean the tournament could cost employers conservatively $9,607,085,968.

Control March Madness by setting policy on workplace gambling

03/18/2024

In many companies, bracket-pool betting on the tournament is a time-honored tradition. Should you worry?