Garry Has Soup For Days!
This month, we are bringing you some food favorites of our own Garry Rutledge!
Garry is a member of Saxon's Wealth Management team after having joined Saxon in 2006. He serves as a partner and CIO with over 30 years of experience in the financial planning industry.
When it comes to eating out with the family, he enjoys a good steak and Texas Roadhouse is his place to get it. "The atmosphere is lively and the food is always excellent. I like the bone-in ribeye cooked medium-rare with the sweet potato."
At home, he enjoys his wife's Tortellini Soup, "because it's always a good time to have soup, no matter what the weather. The other reason is that there is enough for leftovers."
Here's what you'll need:
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 medium celery stalks, chopped (1 cup)
- 1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
- 2 cartons (32 oz each) Progresso™ chicken broth (8 cups)
- 4 cups water
- 2 packages (9 oz each) dried chesse-filled tortellini
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Here's how you do it:
- Melt butter in 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Cover and cook garlic, celery, carrot and onion in butter 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in broth and water. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Stir in tortellini. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tortellini are tender.
- Stir in parsley, pepper and nutmeg. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Top each serving with cheese.
Sounds like a great dish Garry! Tell your wife we said "thank you!"
Cyberbullies: Worse than Swirlys in the Bathroom Stall?
Insightful post from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) by Jillian Caswell
Technology and an unending stream of social media messages, notifications, and alerts have invaded our personal lives more than ever before – leaving the door wide open for the bullies of yesterday to get off the playground and into the Twittersphere. It’s almost comical to hear of exes who continue to stalk one another on Instagram and we all compare our traditional 9-to-5 careers to the jet setting elite on Snapchat, but have you ever stopped to think how this can impact our work lives? Unfortunately, the reality is the more connected we become, the more insidious bullying, and its close relative harassment, can become. As HR professionals, we have a duty and responsibility to understand not only how technology and social media can hinder business operations such as lost productivity, but also how it creates an environment of opportunity for employees to fall victim to bullying and harassment.
Become Aware and Observant
This goes beyond monitoring your own company’s social media channels! Before you can hope to identify and rectify potential cyberbullying incidents in your workplace, you must first prepare yourself with an understanding of what kinds of harassment and bullying can transpire in the digital realm. If you’re new to social media, there are numerous resources online to get you the crash course you need to become familiar with popular resources such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Live streaming functionality with outlets such as Periscope and Facebook Live create additional areas of opportunity for workplace bullies to exploit. Knowing how to monitor, identify, and respond swiftly and appropriately to harassment in these mediums is key to building a solid company policy relating expectations for employee interaction with company social media channels as well as harassment policies that are inclusive of online activities, privately or on public channels. There are dozens of masks that the face of cyberbullying can wear, whether it’s an Instagram post poking fun at a specific employee shared with other staff members, a ceaseless spewing of threats on Twitter, or an employee texting explicit content to coworkers. By becoming familiar both with the platforms themselves and the different forms of harassment and bullying that can occur in these environments, you will add another resource to your HR toolkit in navigating potentially sticky employee relations issues.
It may at first feel overwhelming to think of all the different variations of harassment that can play out on the stage of our smart phones and personal devices; however, employers are responsible to ensure they can provide a workplace free of harassment – a bridge that bullying can often rapidly cross over. Cyberbullying is often also more difficult to detect as it can transpire well out of the watchful eyes of the company HR department. In addition to familiarizing yourself with the different social media channels, consider the following suggestions to build a robust defense to cyberbullying:
- Training – For both your HR department and the other staff, it can become quite enlightening to provide trainings on what does and does not constitute harassment. This is also a great opportunity to provide a refresher on company policy relating to bullying and harassment.
- Demonstrate Appropriate Behavior – Take inventory of your own social media use. Are there potentially offensive postings or messages on your personal channels (which we’re sure you’ve already have on a private setting – right?!) or are you yourself aware of (even if not participating in) derogatory commentary circulating online about other staff members?
- Respond Adequately to Violations – Multiple court cases have provided substantial monetary awards to bullied employees who proved their arguments that their employer was aware harassment was occurring. Ensuring appropriate discipline occurs for those violating bullying policies demonstrates company efforts to provide workplaces free of harassment.
What’s Next?
So you’ve brought yourself up to speed with the most popular forms of social media and established a solid company policy with no tolerance for bullying and harassment. Think you’re set? Not always. Social media and technology is evolving and morphing into new formats at the speed of light – meaning that as HR professionals, our organizations rely on us to stay just as current with the latest trends and changes in the digital realm as much as in the office space. Stay current with the changing world of social media and digital communications and you’ll continue to be as effective as you are in all your other HR competencies!
See the original article Here.
Source:
Caswell, J. (2016 September 15). Cyberbullies: worse than swirlys in the bathroom stall? [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/cyberbullies-worse-than-swirlys-in-the-bathroom-stall
Take out the earbuds
Intriguing artile from Benefits Pro by Marty Traynor
Walk around any workplace and unless there's a safety issue, almost every employee under 50 is wearing earbuds and remains focused on their own personal music zone. What a perfect metaphor for the barriers we must overcome to gain the attention we need for benefit purchase decisions.
With the fall enrollment season approaching, let's consider some of the ways we should work to “remove the buds” and focus employee attention on the process of benefit enrollment.
- Employer's earbuds must come out first. Employees are not the only ones ignoring the importance of benefit-related communications. Employers often think a simple introductory email is sufficient. That kind of communication is enough if the goal is to tell employees about an event. However, in no way does this type of message convey importance or opportunity. You must convince the employer that a well-designed campaign will be a big positive for them, both in terms of employee engagement and happiness with employee benefit options.
- Know your audience. Many otherwise great campaigns have failed because they are tone deaf to their audience. A program benefitting union members better not be littered with “employee” references. The graphics used to illustrate the benefit plan should also be carefully designed to match the demographics of the employee audience. Designers often tend to show “beautiful people,” but benefit plans need to be shown benefitting real people.
- Use multiple approaches to connect with people. You often hear about the importance of multi-channel benefit communications. Unfortunately, we cannot just say, “Alexa, create a multi-channel campaign to teach employees about their benefits and get them to enroll to best meet their needs.” We must do what's next best and create a campaign that gives employees information in multiple ways: web details, calculators, videos, printable pieces with brief, explanatory, and detailed options. Use on-site materials such as break room table tents and bulletin board posters to augment e-campaigns.
- Use “real speak” whenever possible. The benefits business is full of jargon. Studies have shown that words we use all the time are confusing; even a term like “premium” isn't clear. Most people think of premium as an adjective, meaning “expensive, special or high class.” They don't see it as an everyday expenditure, but rather as a luxury type of item. So when we say “your premium is affordable,” employees may immediately think we are trying to scam them. Watch the jargon, and use terms that make sense to employees.
- Get people in front of people. The best way to communicate is in person. Regardless of how effective an employer's enrollment system is, the most effective communications campaigns still have a human element. Personal meetings, group meetings or call center-based enrollments can all add the personal touch. Without a personal touch, a benefit enrollment campaign may seem empty to many employees.
- Make sure employees know what's in it for them. They need to understand the importance of good benefit elections for themselves. This helps ensure they credit their employer for offering a valued program, and ensures they will understand the importance of good choices in enrollment.
Good luck with your fourth quarter enrollments. Earbuds are not noise cancelling headphones, so there is still a great opportunity to break through to employees and make your benefit communications campaigns your best to date.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Traynor, M. (2016 September 13). Take out the earbuds. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2016/09/13/take-out-the-earbuds?slreturn=1474041704
10 Things You Absolutely Need To Know About Life Insurance
Great post from Forbes.com by Tim Maurer giving some clarity on life insurance.
Life insurance is one of the pillars of personal finance, deserving of consideration by every household. I’d even go so far as to say it’s vital for most. Yet, despite its nearly universal applicability, there remains a great deal of confusion, and even skepticism, regarding life insurance.
Perhaps this is due to life insurance’s complexity, the posture of those who sell it or merely our preference for avoiding the topic of our own demise. But armed with the proper information, you can simplify the decision-making process and arrive at the right choice for you and your family.
To help, here are 10 things you absolutely need to know about life insurance:
- If anyone relies on you financially, you need life insurance. It’s virtually obligatory if you are a spouse or the parent of dependent children. But you may also require life insurance if you are someone’s ex-spouse, life partner, a child of dependent parents, the sibling of a dependent adult, an employee, an employer or a business partner. If you are stably retired or financially independent, and no one would suffer financially if you were to be no more, then you don’t need life insurance. You may, however, consider using life insurance as a strategic financial tool.
- Life insurance does not simply apply a monetary value to someone’s life. Instead, it helps compensate for the inevitable financial consequences that accompany the loss of life. Strategically, it helps those left behind cover the costs of final expenses, outstanding debts and mortgages, planned educational expenses and lost income. But most importantly, in the aftermath of an unexpected death, life insurance can lessen financial burdens at a time when surviving family members are dealing with the loss of a loved one. In addition, life insurance can provide valuable peace of mind for the policy holder. That is why life insurance is vital for the bread winner of a single-income household, but still important for a stay-at-home spouse.
- Life insurance is a contract (called a policy). A policy is a contract between a life insurance company and someone (or occasionally something, like a trust) who has a financial interest in the life and livelihood of someone else. The insurance company pools the premiums of policyholders and pays out claims—called a death benefit—in the event of a death. The difference between the premiums taken in and the claims paid out is the insurance company’s profit.
- There are four primary players, or roles, in a life insurance policy.These roles belong to the insurer, the owner, the insured and the beneficiary. The insurer is the insurance company, responsible for paying out claims in the case of a death. The owner of the policy is responsible for premium payments to the insurance company. The insured is the person upon whose life the policy is based. The beneficiary is the person, trust or other entity due to receive the life insurance claim—or death benefit—in the case of the insured’s passing. For example, I am both the owner and the insured for two life insurance policies (with two different insurers, as it happens). My wife is the beneficiary of each. We walk through the numbers together at least annually (and after major arguments, to prove that I’m still worth more alive!).
- Life insurance is a risk management tool, not an investment.While some life insurance policies have an investment feature that can offer a degree of tax privilege, insurance is rarely an optimal investment. There’s usually a better, more efficient tool for the financial task you’re trying to accomplish. If you haven’t yet filled up your emergency cash reserves, paid off all non-mortgage debt, maxed out your 401(k) or Roth IRA, contributed to an education savings plan (where appropriate) and set money aside for large purchases you expect in the next decade, then you likely need not concern yourself with types of life insurance that contain an investment component. (You’ll see why in #7.)
- There are two broad varieties of life insurance about which you should become aware—term and permanent. Term life is the simplest, the least expensive and the most widely applicable. With term life, a life insurance company bases the policy premium on the probability that the insured will die within a stated term—typically 10, 20 or 30 years. The premiums are guaranteed for the length of the term, after which the policy becomes cost-prohibitive to maintain or you decide to let it lapse. Yes, this means that you may very well pay premiums for decades and “get nothing out of it.” But that’s good news, because it means you’re winning at the game of life.
Permanent life insurance includes this same probability-of-death calculus, but also includes a savings mechanism. This mechanism, which is often referred to as “cash value,” is designed to help the policy exist into perpetuity. Whole life—the original—has an investment component much like bonds or CDs (but backed by the insurance company). Variable life offers investment options more like mutual funds. Universal life was designed as a less expensive permanent life insurance alternative with added flexibility, but increased interest rate risk for the owner. Although they tend to be more complex and expensive, there are financial dilemmas—often related to business planning and/or high-net-worth estate planning—for which permanent life insurance may be the only solution. There are a few select instances where permanent policies are engineered to maximize the tax-privileged growth of cash value. They are, however, only appropriate for a small number of people and still dependent on numerous other factors to work the way they’re intended.
- Life insurance can be extremely expensive, but it can also be surprisingly inexpensive. If you apply for a bells-and whistles permanent policy, the size of the premiums alone might cause you to need a life insurance benefit right then and there. But most people are pleasantly surprised when they see the relatively low premiums of a plain-vanilla term policy. A healthy, non-smoking, 30-something male, for example, might pay less than $500 per year for a 20-year term policy with a million dollar death benefit. That same individual might be required to pay 10—or even 20—times as much for a variable or whole life insurance policy with a matching death benefit. No, a term/perm comparison is not apples-to-apples. I would hazard to guess, however, that a recent widower cares little for bells-and-whistles but a great deal for the death benefit. Of course, a smoker will likely pay twice as much for any of the above. Someone with health problems could pay triple or more (or simply be declined for coverage).
- Determining the optimal life insurance policy for you doesn’t have to be complicated. While we could get really granular with a detailed life insurance needs analysis, it’s more important to get set up with something you can comprehend than it is to push off an important decision due to life insurance’s intimidating complexity. In the vast majority of situations, a household would be well cared for simply by buying enough life insurance to replicate all or most of the insured’s income for a term as long as the household expects to need that income.
Therefore, consider this simple but effective strategy for determining how much life insurance your household needs. Multiply a wage earner’s income by 15 and purchase a policy with an equivalent death benefit for a term that extends until the person insured would presumably retire. Why 15? Because it works. But it works because it results in a number that should re-create 75% of a wage earner’s income if the death benefit was conservatively invested to earn 5% (hopefully plus a bit more for inflation) annually. Here’s an example:
- Dave makes $100,000.
- $100,000 x 15 = $1,500,000 of death benefit
- $1,500,000 earning 5% annually produces $75,000 of income.
- Consider using a live person to help in your death planning. There are many online tools that can help give you an idea of how much money you should pay for the policy you need. But once you get to that point, I would recommend contacting a real, live insurance agent who can walk you through the application and underwriting process. The premiums at a given insurance company are identical whether you apply online, via a toll-free number or with a person. Indeed, a knowledgeable and dedicated insurance broker or agent may help you save money by choosing the best carrier for your particular situation. Underwriting, by the way, is the necessarily tedious process through which the insurance company classifies how much of a risk you are, based on your current health, past health, the health of your parents and siblings and enough other questions to make anyone blush. Answer truthfully—but succinctly.
- Know your options when canceling an existing life insurance policy so you don’t leave money, or coverage, on the table. If you have a policy that isn’t appropriate for you—or you simply no longer need it—it’s important to proceed carefully. First, if you realize that you have overpaid for a policy that doesn’t meet your needs, but you still need life insurance, don’t cancel the wrong policy until the right policy is in place. Who knows, you could learn of a health complication that is going to lead to you being declined for the new policy. Then you’d be left without any coverage. If you have an existing term policy you no longer need, you can simply cease premium payments and it will go away. If you have an unnecessary permanent policy with a cash value, however, you should analyze its present and expected future investment value, as well as any prospective tax complications, before cashing it in. You can do so by requesting an “in-force illustration” and a “cost basis report” from your agent.
I suspect we don’t love talking about life insurance because we don’t like talking about death. No shocker there. But open and honest discussions about planning for an unexpected death can be surprisingly life-giving. And even if you don’t buy that, the chances are good that purchasing life insurance is still an important part of your long-term and comprehensive financial plan.
Read the original article from Forbes.com Here.
Source:
Maurer, T. (2016, January 5). 10 things you absolutely need to know about life insurance [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/timmaurer/2016/01/05/10-things-you-absolutely-need-to-know-about-life-insurance/#2fb2453c3872
How companies keep employee perks hot during the summer
Giving extra perks in the summertime can help increase productivity and help cut costs. Kathleen Koster gives some insight for extra summertime perks for employees in the article below from BenefitNews.com
Summer means fun in the sun for employees and their families, and more and more employers are providing additional flex time and summer scheduling to allow workers to enjoy the warm weather and spend their work hours recharged and refreshed.
From flex time to company softball leagues to early dismissals for good surf days, employers are rewarding employees with summer benefits and perks that fit their company culture.
According to the SHRM Employee Benefits Survey, 17% of employers offer seasonal scheduling. Employers may offer Fridays off or close early on those days, which not only gives employees a reward, it saves money on air conditioning and electricity.
Further, employers now offer employees an annual company outing, such as a picnic, up from 55% in 2012 to 64% in 2016.
Social gatherings give employees the opportunity to get to know one another outside of the job, which can lead to better working relationships. According to the SHRM report, almost one-third (30%) of employers offered discount ticket services, and 23% offered company purchased tickets to events such as cultural proceedings, sporting events or theme parks.
Another traditional example is allowing seasonal casual dress, offered by 27% of employers.
These are all solid, fun ideas for summer rewards, but EBN also spoke with an employer who goes far beyond these traditional summer perks. Patagonia offers company bikes, volleyball courts and on-site yoga for workers at their Ventura campus. Their reception desk posts daily surf reports and they even make companywide announcements on especially days when waves are prime for surfers.
“Whether it’s playing volleyball or going down to the beach, we encourage people to take a moment of time to reconnect and enjoy summer,” says Shannon Ellis, Patagonia’s HR director.
See also: 20 crazy benefits offered by employers
The company is known for its athletic lifestyle and environmentally-friendly products, which carries into their company culture.
“In terms of traditional stuff [like office picnics], I’d say we’re very untraditional in that regard in that we try to capitalize on events that deliver more connection back to the community and tie in with the company mission,” explains Ellis.
And that mission — “to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis” — clearly extends to its employee benefits.
For example, teams participate in volunteer efforts at local grassroots and environmental groups. Ellis says a group in the Ventura office recently volunteered at a marine mammal rescue center. These group initiatives are “a great way to connect with the local community and also for team building,” she says.
What’s more, employees can take two months off work to volunteer at an environmental non-profit and still receive their full salary. All employees are eligible to apply for and participate in these environmental internships and many do, especially in the summertime when, according to anecdotal data from Ellis, utilization is at its highest.
Ellis says they rarely have staffing shortages. “In the summertime it’s very easy to adapt and schedule accordingly with things like vacation,” she says.
This year, Patagonia plans to send approximately 170 of its employees into the field through its Environmental Internship Program. Since its inception in 1993, Patagonia has supported nearly 2,000 employees with fully paid protected leave while they work for environmental organizations around the world.
For longer leave (such as maternity, paternity or adoption), Patagonia often has employees from different segments of the organization sub in so they gain new experiences and a deeper understanding of the full company’s interworking, as well as their own career goals.
Rewards on a dime
No matter what the organization’s size or budget, HR managers can find ways to engage and reward employees in the summertime.
“There are lots of unique perks in the high tech companies and financial services. But I think any organizations regardless of size or revenue can come up with something,” says Lenny Sanicola, benefits practice leader for WorldatWork.
This could mean hosting an ice cream social in the office or bringing a snow cone truck to the parking lot. “Look for ways to keep people motivated and productive,” he says.
Flexibility is a great example. The time issue is critical for working parents during the summer when their kids are out of school. The spring and summer is a great time to encourage employees to reach out to the EAP for camp or childcare referrals.
“Even if company doesn’t [offer flexible or compressed work schedules] during the year, it can be an attractive benefit for summer,” says Sanicola. “Or if they do, make it go further in the summer.”
Sanicola also suggests offering “Bring Your Kid to Work” days in the summer. This could be a single day or employers could offer it once a month, depending on the size of the workforce.
Patagonia offers on-site childcare for their Ventura campus employees. But their benefits philosophy extends to all their employees, no matter their location, be it at Ventura corporate headquarters, their distribution center in Nevada or any of their retail stores across the country. So while they can’t offer on-site care to store employees, they have a reimbursement program in place.
And just because the summer ends, doesn't mean company perks have to cool off.
“We see larger utilization [in child care benefits and environmental internships] during the summer, but our philosophy spans the entire year,” says Patagonia’s Ellis. “We really try to replicate summer to year round.”
See the Original Article Here.
Source:
Koster, K. (2016, August 2). How companies keep employee perks hot during the summer [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/news/how-companies-keep-employee-perks-hot-during-the-summer
What It Means to Think Big As a Small Business
Sabrina Baker defines what it means for Small Business to Think Big in the article below.
I’ve been using this tag line of “small business who think big” for just under a year now. I took some time last year to really understand my target audience and focus my work and thought that best defines the clients I want to work with. It seems to be resonating because when potential clients reach out, they often mention how they really like that line and thought it fit them well.
And then they ask me what it means.
Funny, isn’t it, how something can speak to us, but then we wonder if it means the same to us as it was intended? Over lunch last week a new acquaintance asked what I did. I gave her the tagline and she, quite enthusiastically (which I don’t think was feigned), said she really liked that….and then asked me what it meant.
I told her and realized that maybe it would be worth sharing with you. I’ve explained it on the website, but never through the blog, where most of you meet me. So here’s the story.
When this business first began, I hadn’t really defined my target market. I always tell people who ask how I got started to never, ever, start a business like I did. I had no idea what I was doing, did not do any of the conventional things that people tell you to do (like, you know, have an actual plan) and somehow stumbled and fumbled into a growing business.
In the beginning, I would take almost any project. I knew I wanted to focus on small businesses, but that’s about all I knew; and very early on, most small businesses only wanted me to write a handbook or be someone they could call to talk through a termination. All of those things are necessary, but not indicative of businesses who think big. With these clients I would deliver on the service they asked for and then talk to them about other things. For the client who only wanted a handbook, I would ask them what message they wanted the handbook to send. What policies did we absolutely need and what could we leave out. For the business that wanted an employee termination hotline, I would ask them to think about leadership training or better onboarding so that we could maybe come to the place of termination a little less often. And often I would be met with the same response.
“Sabrina, that’s all great, but that’s big business stuff. We are too small to worry about that right now or put any of that in place. It will just change when we grow anyway.”
I would get so frustrated thinking about what they could do. I would try to explain that setting those things up now would be easier than doing it when they were big.
About two years in, I received a call from a potential client for onboarding help. He had 14 employees, but had just received his second round of funding and would be adding nearly 40 more in the coming year. He wanted to get all of the “HR stuff” setup, but most importantly really wanted to talk about onboarding. He felt that he needed to start these 40 employees off right and wanted to establish a process for future growth.
I was in love. In a total, business sense of course.
I decided right then and there that these would be the clients I chose to work with going forward. Not that I wouldn’t write a handbook or be on call for term issues, I still do those things, but I do them with businesses who also care about setting up what have been traditionally held as big business issues, even though they are still small.
Things like onboarding.
Culture.
Leadership Development.
Employee Development.
Branding.
Workforce strategy.
I know it’s hard to think about some of this stuff when you are just trying to get a business off the ground, but I firmly believe it’s even harder when that business is grown and some of these things have created themselves – and not in the manner the leader would have intended.
Or worse, you find out way too late that your business is behind the competition and cannot compete for talent because some of these human capital strategy areas weren’t addressed.
So a business who thinks big is a business who realizes, regardless of employee population, they can still think about and focus on advanced human capital concepts. They think about how they want the business to look in five, ten or twenty years when the population size may be double, triple or more and decide what they want things to look like then, and put practices in place now to make sure they do.
They are businesses who realize that regardless of whether they have one employee or 2,000, they are the spirit of the business, the thing that keeps customers coming back for more. They realize it and let that drive their strategy from day one.
Thinking big as a small business means not limiting your actions to the size you are now, but the size you can be.
And those are the small businesses I most want to work with.
Originally posted on Acacia HR Solutions blog.
Source:
Baker, S. (2016, August 03). What it means to think big as a small business [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.shrm.org/blog/what-it-means-to-think-big-as-a-small-business.
Spicy, Sweet and Good to Eat!
This month, we are bringing you some food favorites of our own Abby Graham!
Abby is a member of Saxon's Wealth Management team with over 12 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. When she isn't helping members understand their benefits, she can be found sewing and quilting or out with her husband and son.
Her favorite place to be eat can be found in Mariemont. "The outside seating [at Dilly Café] is perfect on a nice night and/or when we have our little one with us. They generally have a band playing, the food is excellent, and the beer and wine list are great! Their crab cakes, wings and burgers are my favorites!"
At home, the family favorite is Corn Avocado Salsa. "My husband and I make this together since part of it is grilled and the rest is just chopping! It’s best in the summer when the tomatoes are ripe and the corn is sweet."
Here's what you'll need:
- 1 ripe tomato
- 1 avocado
- 1 ear of corn
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 sweet corn
- 1 jalapeno
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 ripe lime
- salt to taste
Grill the tomato until the skin is cracked and peeling off. Cut the avocado and grill it face down for about 5 minutes. Grill the corn until it is cooked all the way. In the meantime, finely chop the onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic cloves. Squeeze ½ of the lime over onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic combination.
Once tomato, avocado, and corn are finished grilling, cut corn off of the cob, and peel skin off of tomato. Dice tomato and avocado and add to chopped mix. Add salt to taste and serve warm with tortilla chips!
Sounds like a great dish Abby! Thank you!
Is There Really A Five-Second Rule About Food On The Floor?
Are your employees being break-room conscious about food safety? The article below gives more insight on the "five-second" rule and how it may effect your employees safety.
Original Post from CNN.com on June 15, 2016
When you drop a piece of food on the floor, is it really OK to eat if you pick up within five seconds? This urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won't have much of a chance to contaminate it. Research in my lab has focused on how food and food contact surfaces become contaminated, and we've done some work on this particular piece of wisdom.
Where did the five-second rule come from?
Five seconds is all it takes
Should you eat food that's fallen on the floor?
Do companies really need a culture of health in the office?
Great article by Henry Albrect on how to have an effective wellness program that truly impacts your bottom line. To many time we focus on one aspect and not the whole picture of creating an effective wellness program.
Original Post from EmployeeBenefitAdviser.com on July 28, 2016.
You’ve probably heard that a “culture of health” is the best way to see success with your wellness program.
I disagree.
A successful wellness program should align with an employer’s strategy and culture above all else. The further you get from these, the more likely your program will be “a little HR thing” — and not a vibrant part of your workplace. Frankly, and with the notable exception of healthcare companies, health isn’t a top concern for most organizations.
Align any health and well-being programs with your business goals
Investing a few million in feel-good programs is easy. But investing in anything off-strategy is always a risk. If you are in the manufacturing business, wellness strategies should reinforce readiness, safety, discipline and musculoskeletal health. In retail, they should support energy levels, having infectious positive energy that helps customers enjoy buying your products. In healthcare, mindfulness and resilience play a strong role.
Do it in a way that fits with your culture
The true definition of company culture has gotten lost along the way.
Your company culture is the backdrop for everything that happens within your organization. It determines workplace norms, values and beliefs. It rules employee behaviors and experiences.
Well-being, broadly defined, is a key element of all great company cultures. Wellness programs should fit into and reinforce your culture — but they aren’t the point of your culture.
Why? Because, above all else, your business goals should define your company culture. The two have to align.
According to a Willis Towers Watson report, 67% employers say developing a workplace culture of health is a top priority.
But company culture and strategy can’t exist separately. And health isn’t at the heart of the business goals for every organization. Retailers might prioritize customer service while tech companies thrive on innovation. Company culture needs to support the main mission and goals.
When culture and strategy align, businesses are successful, a study published in April 2015 in the Journal of Organizational Behavior suggests.
Researchers collected data from 95 car dealerships over six years and found that when companies had a culture that engaged and motivated employees, they had higher ratings of customer satisfaction and vehicle sales. When employers neglected their culture, their performance declined over time.
What about health and wellness?
Businesses can embrace well-being and invest in employee health even if it doesn’t define the company culture. And they should.
A 2015 survey published by Quantum Workplace and my company, Limeade found that respondents were 38% more engaged and 18% more likely to go the extra mile when they felt their employers cared about their well-being.
Use that power to build a wellness program that supports your authentic culture and achieves business objectives. Don’t worry about developing a culture of health. Well-being initiatives in the workplace should align with the culture — not the other way around.
Determine why you want a wellness program. What are the goals, and why are they important to the business? If you want to improve customer satisfaction, what programs can you use to make employees more chipper? If you’re focused on innovation, how can you inspire creativity?
These specific goals should guide which programs and initiatives are right for the company. Then, connect it back to your culture.
If your culture values teamwork, bring employees together in sports games and competitions around the office. If you value community involvement, give employees time to volunteer or participate in a local charity walk. Every company’s wellness initiative will look different.
Building a culture of health might be great for some hospitals, but it isn’t right for every organization. Focus on bringing your authentic culture to life through a program that aligns with your business goals. Winning in business helps you win with well-being, and vice versa.
Does your wellness program connect to business goals?
See The Full Article Here.
Source:
Albrecht, H (2016, July 28). Do companies really need a culture of health in the office? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/opinion/do-companies-really-need-a-culture-of-health-in-the-office
How On-the-Job Training can Solve Your Pipeline Problems
Great article by Paul Wolfe on employee development as an investment to your company.
Original Post from SHRM.org on July 27, 2016
On-the-job training was popular a generation ago but has been steadily declining in the U.S. for decades. Companies expect candidates who are armed with a degree or certification and relevant work experience, which is discounting a large pool of the American workforce.
This model worked for companies when there were more qualified people than jobs available, but today’s labor market paints a different picture. Now we are seeing a lot more demand for specialized talent than there are qualified candidates. And though we have seen strong hiring, wage growth has been stagnate, leaving many workers frustrated with the lack of progress in their careers. In fact, only 15% of the job force are currently in fields that are experiencing wage growth and competitive salaries, which are the “opportunity” jobs, according to a new report released by Indeed’s research team Hiring Lab.
The upside is that 35% of all job postings on Indeed are these opportunity jobs, which are in the fields of healthcare, management, technology, business and finance and engineering. There are a lot of talented workers out there, employed or not, that have transferable skills that would be interested in moving into a role with steady wage growth and competitive salaries.
That’s why I think it's important for companies to consider investing in employee development to fill roles within their organization. Investing in training helps workers get into a high-growth career and enables companies to build its own pipeline of talent.
Employee development can look very different depending on your company or industry. For example, at Indeed we bring in about 80 university graduates from around the world to our Austin technology office for a summer program called Indeed Universtiy. We train these new hires on Indeed’s data-driven development process and give them the freedom to develop new product ideas. This is helping us to fill our most in-demand jobs - software engineers - while training them to contribute right away and offer innovative ideas for our company to test. Finding a software engineer who already has 3-5 years of experience is extremely competitive, so as a company we made the decision to invest in new college grads to help fill this need.
Offering development to your employees is an investment, but for those companies who are struggling to fill roles in these highly competitive and specialized fields, it can help close the gap of of the mismatch we are seeing in the labor market.
See the original article here.
Source:
Wolfe, P. (2016, July 27). How on-the-job training can solve your pipeline problems [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.shrm.org/blog/how-on-the-job-training-can-solve-your-pipeline-problems