How Managers Are Handling Performance Reviews During COVID-19
With many employees working from home during this coronavirus pandemic, many HR managers are facing unknown challenges in supervising employees and implementing performance reviews from afar. Read this blog post from SHRM to learn more.
As millions of Americans work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, managers unaccustomed to supervising employees from afar face challenges in evaluating performance and providing good feedback.
"Most of the components of our performance reviews have been discarded during the coronavirus crisis," said Mike Falahee, chief executive officer at Marygrove Awning Co. in Livonia, Mich. "After all, how can we review someone who can't do their job the way they're accustomed to doing it?"
Shifting Tactics
No doubt, many company leaders share that sentiment as the world of work has changed swiftly in the past eight weeks. In that time, many companies have shifted to remote-only operations.
According to a Gallup survey, the percentage of workers who say their employer offered them flextime or remote-work options grew from 39 percent in mid-March to 57 percent by early April.
Additionally, 62 percent of employed Americans say they've "worked from home during the crisis, a number that has doubled since mid-March," according to Gallup.
Company leaders and managers say several strategies—some that were in place before the virus, some that are new—have helped them measure workforce production in the age of COVID-19.
Kerry Norman is vice president of talent solutions at CHG Software in Salt Lake City. Several years ago, CHG decided to ditch its traditional annual performance reviews for front-line employees.
"We found that it was ineffective for several reasons," Norman said. "First, it was a look backward, so it didn't help improve future performance. Second, it wasn't an effective measurement tool because assessments varied so greatly from one leader to the next. Third, it was disengaging for employees. It felt more like a judgment than a motivational tool."
Now the company focuses on providing "in-the-moment" feedback, and that has proved helpful during the virus.
"We want people to know what they're doing right and where they can improve, rather than waiting until the end of the year when it's too late to do anything about it," Norman said.
Shifting Roles
The pandemic is also forcing everyone at CHG, managers as well as their staff, to be more flexible. That means employees are taking on new roles, some for which they've never been trained. And managers must show flexibility when evaluating these workers, allowing time for a learning curve and understanding that there will be hiccups.
"Our people are now learning their skills can be used in ways they never knew existed, and they're helping in areas of the company that may have been foreign to them just weeks ago," Norman said.
Andres Lares is a managing partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute in Baltimore. Before the virus hit, the company conducted formal reviews once a year. Now, Lares said, his firm's managers check in with workers weekly.
Moreover, his firm's managers have, for now, stopped evaluating employees based on the revenue they generate. Instead, he said, "we want to see our marketing team reach out to more people than ever via phone or e-mail during this time. In doing so, we're not emphasizing sales and revenue in the short term, but we are tracking demonstrated thought leadership from our employees that leads to more sales" in the future.
Adem Selita is chief executive officer at the Debt Relief Co. in New York City, which already had an automated performance system that tracked employees' metrics by the day, week, month and year.
With COVID-19 shaking up the company's office culture, that system has changed. These days, each performance review is scheduled more than a week in advance and employees are sent a template to fill out with instructions. Employees send back their responses for the manager to look over and use as a guide during the review.
"While time is still spent on going over output, the emphasis now is on what the employee needs help with, what they'd like to work on, ultimately with three takeaways the employee will focus on and discuss in the next review with their manager," Selita said.
Communication Challenges
Following this new performance review blueprint hasn't been easy during the pandemic.
"The biggest setback at first was communications," he said. "We're moving from a management culture where leaders are steps away from an employee's desk to a scenario where leadership isn't physically present. That leads to many questions not being asked [by the manager or employee] until it comes time for performance reviews."
On the upside, managers have noted new opportunities to discuss performance more broadly.
"With traditional performance reviews, employees were using much of their allotted time discussing small-ticket items, leaving them with little time to focus on development and what they can do better," Selita said. "By establishing more regular check-ins, we've found that employees are leaving sessions feeling more capable and motivated than ever."
Ken Eulo is a founding partner at Smith & Eulo Law Firm in Orlando, Fla. His firm has decided to push back performance reviews entirely during the coronavirus crisis.
"We believe it's unfair to hold employees to the same standards during this outbreak," he said. "The economy is suffering, and we are offering limited services as a firm. Consequently, we have completely halted performance reviews for the time being, as we can't find reasonable parameters to measure each employee's performance due to the circumstances."
Eulo said his firm will resume performance reviews when its services return to normal.
"For the time being, we are trusting employees to hold themselves accountable," he said.
SOURCE: O'Connell, B. (28 April 2020) "How Managers Are Handling Performance Reviews During COVID-19" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/people-managers/pages/performance-reviews-during-coronavirus-.aspx
The Performance Review Process Can Be a Lot Easier. Here’s How.
The annual performance review has long been a fraught ritual that both managers and employees dread. Now that it's evolved, in many companies, into a less formal, yearlong process often called a "continual conversation," managers face new challenges.
Perhaps most notably, managers are now saddled with more work: conducting check-ins with multiple employees twice a month, holding quarterly meetings that can include feedback from colleagues and subordinates, writing detailed reports, and analyzing feedback surveys. The annual meeting about salary and bonuses remains on the docket as well.
"It can be a big problem," said Brian Kropp, a human resources expert at the Gartner Group, a Connecticut-based research and advisory company. "Managers spend an average of 210 hours per year on performance management, and our data shows their No. 1 frustration with the process is how time-consuming it is."
Experts say there are several ways to make this new era of performance reviews less cumbersome. For example, managers should get employees more invested in the process by having them do the bulk of the prep work for the check-ins and meetings. Managers should also act more like coaches and make the frequent sessions less formal, with an emphasis on keeping them collaborative. And they should use feedback technology to automate more parts of the process.
As far as workload goes, "you don't have to take all that responsibility on yourself," said Dick Grote, a Texas-based management consultant who has worked at General Electric, United Airlines and Frito-Lay. "Put that work on the employee."
Give employees standard templates and frameworks with directed questions to answer. These questions can include "What are my priorities right now?," "What obstacles am I running into?" and "What feedback have I received?"
Managers can also change the dynamic that is typically associated with the process. BJ Gallagher, a Los Angeles-based workplace consultant who has worked with IBM, John Deere and Chrysler, has seen many performance evaluations get bogged down by a judgmental and adversarial interaction. She said managers can improve employee performance more effectively and efficiently by using a collaborative approach, and that can start with the initial conversation in the yearlong check-in process. "The start of the year is when mutual goals can be established as a manager-employee team looking together at the big projects on the horizon," she said. "Use that check-in session to establish three to five goals and stay away from subjective behavioral goals. Make them measurable."
To that end, managers should approach the process like "a great coach, not a traditional boss," said Ben Wigert, director of research and strategy in the workplace management division of Gallup. "It's about changing their lens and thinking about what a great coach looks like."
Studies show that employee performance improves when managers give workers meaningful feedback and make the conversations more team-oriented. For instance, managers can get an employee's peers to give feedback. Peer input can help reduce some of the burden on the manager and emphasize the team aspect of the process.
But Kropp pointed out that there is a downside to peer feedback: It can be vulnerable to bias, especially when the input is given in an "open box" format. "We suggest organizations direct peer feedback with targeted questions about specific actions and outcomes," he said.
Another tool to make the process more manageable is feedback technology. For instance, a manager can formally capture all performance conversations and feedback in the organization's human capital management system, Kropp said.
Ultimately, revamping the process from an annual review to a yearlong conversation should lead to less work for managers, not more, consultants said.
SOURCE: Rosenkrantz, H. (28 April 2020) "The Performance Review Process Can Be a Lot Easier. Here’s How." (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/people-managers/pages/ongoing-performance-reviews-.aspx
Employees feel less connected working remotely but say work quality is improved
Dive Brief:
- Two recent surveys provide different impressions of how U.S. workers are adjusting to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, one painting a picture of engaged, productive employees and the other reporting disconnects
- Most employees in a KPMG survey said they felt prepared to transition to remote work and that their teams are collaborating better as a result of the changes. More than half (54%) said their productivity had improved since the transition, while 64% said the quality of their work improved.
- But most younger workers in particular have found the transition difficult, according to a survey by software platform Smartsheet. More than 90% of both Generation Z and millennial employees in that survey reported difficulty working from home, while more than 80% of both groups said they felt less connected. Half of respondents in both groups said they found it hard to get status updates.
Dive Insight:
As remote work becomes routine for companies that can afford to make it work during the pandemic, experts have questioned whether the trend will continue after the threat of the novel coronavirus has passed.
Early research showed many employees, at least, believe this will be the case. A survey conducted in early April by OnePoll and Citrix found more than a third of employee respondents believed their organizations would be more relaxed about remote work following the pandemic. Similar to the KPMG and Smartsheet surveys, however, employees had a mixed reaction to different components of the remote experience. For example, a third of the OnePoll/Citrix respondents said they felt overwhelmed by their remote work situation.
Even before the arrival of the pandemic in the U.S., a January survey by Robert Half found that employees felt deterred from taking advantage of remote work perks over concerns about technology and fears that distractions would hurt productivity.
Telework, reduction of hours and other impacts of the pandemic are also compounding employees' stress levels, an April 7 Gallup report found. Even so, more than half of respondents to a Gallup poll included in the report strongly agreed that they had a clear plan of action, a figure that rose by 15 percentage points since mid-March.
Employers are taking steps to address issues that may affect remote workers during the pandemic. Education company Chegg, for example, is offering childcare reimbursement worth up to $500 per family to employees who are working parents. Vendors are also pitching solutions to employers ranging from "wellness boxes" full of snacks to virtual, video-game like representations of their offices.
Emotional stability and autonomy can be important predictors of whether employees can successfully transition to remote work, a 2018 study published in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology found. Besides providing support, employers also need to prepare employees by giving them the proper equipment, sources previously told HR Dive.
SOURCE: Golden, R. (27 April 2020) "Employees feel less connected working remotely but say work quality is improved" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.hrdive.com/news/employees-feel-less-connected-working-remotely-but-say-work-quality-is-impr/576809/
What Happens When Employers Violate Shelter-in-Place Orders?
During the coronavirus pandemic, many states are allowing only essential businesses to stay open to the public, while other businesses are on a shelter-in-place order. Read this blog post to learn more.
In many states, only essential businesses can stay open to the public and only critical staff can remain at the worksite during the coronavirus pandemic. So what happens when employers ignore the rules? In some jurisdictions, employers can face civil or criminal penalties.
Officials in some states, including California, Georgia and New York, are asking people to report businesses that are violating shelter-in-place orders.
"Each and every one of us is called to work together and cooperate with emergency responders and public officials who are working hard to keep all New Yorkers safe," said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
We've rounded up articles and resources from SHRM Online and other trusted media outlets on shelter-in-place orders.
What Is an Essential Business?
To help combat the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, many state and local governments are issuing stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders that only permit "essential" businesses to remain open. The distinction between "essential" and "nonessential" businesses isn't the same in each location, so employers need to review the specific orders that apply to their operations. Generally, essential businesses include health care, first responders, food production and delivery, medical supply, public utilities, communications and information technology, grocery stores, and gas stations. Nonessential businesses typically must allow employees to work remotely, close for a period of time or reduce their operations to certain activities that are necessary to preserve the business.
State and Local Coronavirus Decrees Raise Questions
Gray areas in state orders call for careful introspection and decision-making by businesses. Should they find a way to stay open to pay workers and maintain customers, or close for a less tangible public good—helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19? "Those are extremely difficult decisions to make and not the sort of thing most HR professionals were having to deal with five months ago," said Jackie Ford, a partner at Vorys, a labor and employment law firm in Houston, which issued its own citywide shelter-in-place rules on March 24. "It's a whole new skill set."
Civil and Criminal Penalties May Apply
Employers must follow shelter-in-place orders or they could face civil or criminal penalties. In Michigan, for example, violating the state's order is a criminal misdemeanor and businesses that don't comply can be fined and possibly shut down.
States with Shelter-in-Place Orders
Many state and local governments are implementing strict measures, but the duration of the orders vary. For instance, Alabama's order is in place until April 30, Virginia's expires June 10 and California's is effective until further notice. Here's a chart that shows which states have ordered nonessential businesses to close and where public officials have encouraged or mandated residents to stay at home.
Michigan Extends Retaliation Protections Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
Some states are also addressing coronavirus-related issues in their antiretaliation rules. For instance, on April 3, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order prohibiting employers from discharging, disciplining or otherwise retaliating against an employee for staying home from work because the employee tests positive for COVID-19, displays principal symptoms of COVID-19, or has had close contact with an individual who has tested positive or has symptoms.
Showing Compassion May Minimize Risk of Employee Claims
Care, show compassion, connect, communicate and be flexible—these are COVID-19's HR lessons. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and CEO of SHRM, summed things up as follows: "Every workplace operates under a set of guiding principles, whether overtly expressed or more subtly embedded in the culture. This is the moment to examine the principles that define you as an employer and a corporate citizen, and ensure they are ones you want to uphold and are prepared to live. Employees will rest easier knowing that you are operating under a strong value system that doesn't waver in good times or bad."
SOURCE: Nagele-Piazza, L. (13 April 2020 "What Happens When Employers Violate Shelter-in-Place Orders?" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/when-employers-violate-shelter-in-place-orders.aspx
COVID-19 Changes Internships, Apprenticeships
As the coronavirus pandemic has put a restriction on many plans, it's also raised concerns for organizations with internship and apprenticeship programs for early career development opportunities. Read this blog post from SHRM to learn more.
Travel restrictions and social-distancing mandates prompted by COVID-19 are causing organizations to rethink their approach to apprenticeships and internships, which typically involve hands-on, in-person participation.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is seeing a steady push toward moving internships online or limiting them in size and duration. A quick unscientific poll it conducted April 3 with 130 of its employer members provided insight on how members are adapting their programs:
- 35 percent are making no changes to their program.
- 35 percent are reducing the length of internships by delaying the start date.
- 29 percent are moving to a virtual program.
- 20 percent are moving events such as end-of-program presentations online.
- 15 percent are reducing the number of interns.
Some organizations are considering micro-internships that condense a 10-to-12-week internship into a one-to-two-week experience later in the summer, said Bruce Soltys, head of talent acquisition sourcing strategy at The Travelers Companies based in Hartford, Conn. It has a 450-person internship program at 25 locations throughout the U.S.
He was among speakers at a panel discussion on internships that NACE hosted April 2.
"Companies might put a little bit more of an emphasis on training and development where [interns] are really focused on the learning and development piece and not so much on a personal project," Soltys said.
"From a change management perspective, we've presented the case to our senior leaders to say, 'If we have to go down this path from a virtual-work standpoint, the main question is, can this work be done virtually?' I think a lot of managers are not comfortable with the notion of interns doing the work virtually because [interns] are so new to the organization."
SAS, a computer software company outside of Raleigh, N.C., has a seven-figure investment in its internship program, said Kayla Woitkowski, a university recruiter leader for SAS who spoke on the NACE panel. Her employer is "making sure that any internship that does go virtual … the students have valuable work" to perform.
She has found, based on phone conversations with other employers, that organizations are taking one of three stances toward internships in light of COVID-19:
- Turning their internship program into a virtual one, ensuring that any work interns have been hired to perform can be done remotely.
- Canceling internships.
- Pushing back start dates.
As organizations wrestle with what to do with their internship programs, it's important that they keep in contact with the students they selected, said David Ong, panel moderator and senior director of corporate recruiting at Maximus. The Washington, D.C.-based company is a health and human services provider for state, federal and local governments.
The organization met with all interns and program associates as a group to assure them that they would keep them up-to-date on the program's status.
"It is also just a chance to keep them engaged," Ong said. "A lot of these students have [other] options."
Online tools can be an internship program's friend, according to Renato Profico, CEO of Doodle, a Zurich-based online scheduling tool.
"They can translate culture into a digital setting to make interns and new hires feel included," said Profico, who has personally invited every employee to a 15-minute virtual coffee meeting over the next few weeks. "These little things are important at a time when employee engagement and retention could dip significantly."
Apprenticeships
Changes prompted by COVID-19 will likely cause companies to be more pragmatic in how they view the role of apprenticeships, said Jennifer Carlson. She is the co-founder and executive director of Apprenti, which operates in 12 states as a fully paid technology apprenticeship program for minorities, veterans and women.
"COVID-19 is going to force companies to be more deliberate and probably see apprenticeships as an equitable pipeline, equivalent with all their talent acquisition pipelines," Carlson said. "Not all jobs in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, for example, require a college degree.
"You can take people from nontraditional [areas] and train them and create a second pipeline [for talent] using apprenticeships."
One such example is the Youth Technology Apprenticeship Camp (YTAC) in Charlotte, N.C., a major technology workforce site in the U.S. Last year, for example, home-improvement company Lowe's announced the creation of a 2,000-employee global tech hub in Charlotte.
The demand for employees with tech skills "is off the charts for these companies," said Tariq Scott Bokhari, Charlotte city councilman and founder of the Carolina Fintech Hub. The Fintech Hub created YTAC and partnered with the city of Charlotte, the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council, the Bank of America Foundation and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Apprentices are high-school seniors who earn a credential after completing the four-week program. Those performing above a certain threshold are guaranteed acceptance into the local Workforce Investment Network training program. After successfully completing six months of training, participants are guaranteed a job as a full stack developer with a starting salary of $55,000.
The pandemic prompted a format change to the apprenticeship: It will be entirely virtual. Participants meet in small virtual breakout groups to work on their project, participate in labs, hackathons and livestream competitions and attend virtual training.
Bokhari thinks the altered format will continue in some way after the pandemic is over. With the virtual setup, overhead costs are lower, so more students can be accommodated. It also mirrors what he thinks will be the new reality for work.
"I think things will change forever after this, but it will probably be some mixture of physical and virtual [format]. We want this experience … to mimic the real-life workforce environment. I think the real-life workforce environment is going to change."
SOURCE: Gurchiek, K. (13 April 2020) "COVID-19 Changes Internships, Apprenticeships" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/Pages/COVID19-Causes-Changes-to-Internships-Apprenticeships.aspx
Worker burnout is soaring. Here’s how to reach your employees before it’s too late
Did you know: 77 percent of employees have experienced burnout at their current job. With the coronavirus causing employees to change the way they work, that number may be standing firm. Read this blog post to learn how to reach your employees before they become burnt out during this pandemic.
Coronavirus has caused a total upheaval of the workplace, forcing the majority of companies to work remotely. As workers balance their professional responsibilities with increased stress and anxiety, the risk of burnout is soaring.
The typical signs of burnout in the workplace include missed deadlines, declining relationships, absenteeism and poor performance, and 77% of employees have experienced burnout at their current job, according to a 2019 survey by Deloitte. Ninety-one percent said that feelings of stress and frustration impact their work and personal relationships. The abrupt change in routine caused by coronavirus has pushed more workers to feel the strain.
“Global crises can affect the economy and the job market — even employees who don't deal with mental health issues might need behavioral health support during this time," says Dr. Rachelle Scott, a medical director of psychiatry at Eden Health, an insurance provider. “And in times of high stress, burnout may be accelerated.”
Burnout, when not addressed, can lead to more serious mental health issues. Now characterized as a psychological syndrome, 59% of people diagnosed with burnout were also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and 58% were diagnosed with depression, according to a study by Frontiers in Psychology, a medical journal. These mental health diagnoses negatively affect workplace productivity and the company’s bottom line. Burnout is estimated to cost $125 to $190 billion in lost productivity and healthcare costs, according to Gallup.
And while now is a critical time to work collaboratively and communicate openly, even those close virtual quarters can spread feelings of stress and burnout faster than normal.
“Burnout is likely to pop up from employee to employee and affects all levels,” Scott says. “If an employee is burned out, others may have to pick up the slack. And if the employee quits, it takes time and money to replace them.”
Employee healthcare programs can be the first step to identifying the early signs of burnout and addressing a treatment plan, says Matt McCambridge, chief executive officer of Eden Health. A company’s healthcare plan needs to allow employees to have relationships with both a primary care provider and a behavioral health provider within the same network.
“Primary care physicians will be the first people to hear about employee burnout, so the better they know their patients, the earlier they can notice these changes," McCambridge says. “Health plans need to integrate primary care and behavioral health, where a PCP can recommend a behavioral health person within their own practice."
Without the ease and accessibility of comprehensive care, companies and their employees are missing out on essential benefits and cost-cutting measures.
“Unless people can get the services directly, you're not providing the benefits you should," McCambridge says. “Comprehensive health care reduces burnout and reduces cost by 9-17%.”
Beyond healthcare measures, employers should take the lead and be cognizant of changes with their employees, says Kathleen Harris, the former vice president of benefits at WarnerMedia. Offering support through programs like remote lunches or video one-on-ones with managers can help foster a sense of understanding and compassion.
“Employees need that time to have open and honest conversations and raise their issues to their manager," Harris says. “While you can't change company culture overnight, you can put policies and programs in place. Celebrate the wins and give them acknowledgement.”
Without addressing burnout early on, managers and employers are missing an opportunity to provide care to their employees, before it’s too late.
“There are multiple opportunities to step in and support those employees before they get to rock bottom,” Eden Health’s Scott says.
SOUCE: Place, A. (03 April 2020) "Worker burnout is soaring. Here’s how to reach your employees before it’s too late" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/worker-burnout-is-soaring-heres-how-to-reach-your-employees-before-its-too-late
Pandemic Takes a Toll on Employees’ Emotional Well-Being
As the coronavirus pandemic has made working from home a new norm, some employees are facing many challenges whether it be emotionally or mentally. Read this blog post to learn more.
Mental health issues in the workplace have been an area of concern for some time, but with the COVID-19 crisis, the emotional challenges employees are confronting have spiked.
"The coronavirus pandemic has made employees' mental health top-of-mind for employers, as many working adults are feeling a sense of uncertainty," said Nancy Reardon, chief strategy and product officer at Maestro Health, a benefits-management software firm based in Chicago.
Employees are feeling stress and experiencing significant change. They may:
- Be concerned about the stability of their jobs.
- Have been asked to work from home—or required to come onsite despite heightened health risks.
- Be juggling child and elder care issues and responsibilities.
"Having to care for a disabled child, elderly parents or multiple children can be additional stressors that can affect an employee's emotional and physical well-being, especially as many day cares, community agencies and medical offices are being closed," said Kamilah Thomas, a licensed clinical social worker with KBT Counseling and Consulting in Bellaire, Texas.
Anyone could experience crippling levels of stress and anxiety now, so it's important for HR professionals and people managers to be alert to signs that may indicate employees are struggling to cope.
Signs to Watch For
Nate Masterson, HR manager for personal care products company Maple Holistics in Farmingdale, N.J., suggests managers be on the lookout for potential erratic work hours or lack of availability. These may be indications that something is wrong.
"Now, more than ever, it's important to stay on top of employee productivity, not in terms of the company's success, but for employee well-being," even—or especially—if employees are working at home, Masterson said. "It's important to come from a place of concern for health rather than business advancement during this challenging time."
Thomas encourages employers to be alert to "frequent physical complaints, increased anger or irritability, persistent sadness, excessive worrying, poor sleep patterns, suicidal thoughts, increase in substance use, impulsivity or reckless behavior."
Those changes are not always easy to notice when workers are onsite, much less when supervising remote workers. Check in regularly with teleworkers by phone or video conferencing, which provides an opportunity to gauge and respond to these concerns.
What Should HR Do to Ensure Employees Have the Support They Need?
One of the most important things leaders can do is provide an employee assistance program (EAP) or health plan with good mental health coverage, said Aimee Daramus, a licensed clinical psychologist in Chicago. If an EAP is part of the benefits package, now is a good time to remind employees of the availability of such services.
"Companies can also make lists of local mental health resources like therapists, psychiatrists, suicide hotlines, or meditation and yoga classes," she said.
HR professionals can help employees feel supported by role-modeling "the ability to say, 'I'm feeling some anxiety right now,' or other words that normalize talking about mental health," Daramus said. "People will feel less stressed just because they don't have to keep their problems a secret."
Even simply allowing them to talk about their concerns and emotions can help, said clinical psychologist George Vergolias, medical director of R3 Continuum, a behavioral health consultancy in Minneapolis. "HR professionals should strive for early and often communication to employees, including honest and transparent information about what you know and what you don't know" about issues such as job security, as the situation develops.
Employees Working Onsite
Employees still working onsite in industries such as health care, retail, food services and critical manufacturing operations will have different needs than those working from home. Those onsite may have worries about being infected by co-workers or customers. Amazon warehouse employees' concerns on these matters have been much in the news, as an example.
HR leaders and people managers should encourage and support these employees and communicate with them regularly about the safety precautions they are taking and encouraging employees to take. Employees should not report to work if they are experiencing symptoms. Employers may want to screen employees for fever or other symptoms and ask them to go home if necessary.
Employees Working from Home
Employees working from home have additional concerns. Many may not have experience working remotely—or may not be comfortable with it. Some may be dealing with caring for children or others who also are at home. Feelings of isolation may be common.
To support workers at home, Reardon suggests, HR professionals and managers can encourage them to go outside for a walk or to take lunch in another room to get a mental break during the day.
"Another good reminder for employees is to take care of their physical self by drinking a lot of water and eating healthy foods, which can reduce stress and keep employees mentally alert during the workday," she said.
In addition, employers can also encourage home-based workers to take time for their families. "Taking a break from work to walk your dog with your daughter or teach your son math are not only ways working parents can keep their children occupied since they're not in school, but also good mental reminders to prioritize the overall well-being of family members during this time," Reardon said.
Innovative Approaches
These are different times, and everybody is feeling their way through them. It's important to think creatively about supporting employees wherever they are.
At Denver-based Paladina Health, which manages primary care practices, Chief People Officer Allison Velez said that virtual 15-minute meditations are being offered each morning. Teammates who miss the meditation can log in later for a replay.
"The old rules may not apply," Velez said. "This is the time for HR to reinvent themselves. If your old policies and programs aren't meeting the current needs of your teammates, change them." Paladina also has revamped its traditional paid-time-off (PTO) program to create new flexible options like PTO donations to colleagues and allowing employees to borrow against future PTO time they haven't yet accrued.
Diana Vienne, senior partner with Notion Consulting in New York City, offers some ideas for HR professionals to help employees cope:
- Host virtual manager meetups that help support front-line leaders with tips and tricks for managing through this change.
- Offer online toolkits and resources so all employees have what they need to operate productively.
- Conduct a quick round of check-ins from participants at the beginning of every virtual meeting to see what's on people's minds, personally and professionally.
- Provide informal videos from leaders that are empathetic and talk personally about challenges that they understand people are going through.
- Encourage employees working remotely to take time for self-care and movement/exercise during the workday.
Most importantly, during these exceptionally stressful times, keep lines of communication open and remind employees regularly of the resources they have available to them. Remind them we are truly all in this together.
SOURCE: Grensing-Pophal, L. (07 April 2020) "Pandemic Takes a Toll on Employees’ Emotional Well-Being" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/Pages/pandemic-takes-a-toll-on-employees-emotional-well-being.aspx
Nearly a third of workers 'actively avoid' going to HR with problems
Did you know: nearly 30 percent of employees avoid going to their HR departments with their problems. Read this blog post to learn more.
Dive Brief:
- One-fifth of workers don't trust HR, and nearly a third (30%) actively avoid going to HR with problems, according to a new survey of more than 500 employees and 300 HR professionals conducted by Zenefits' Workest.
- Of the workers who avoid going to HR, 35% said it's because they don't trust HR to help, and 31% said they feared retaliation. Some of the reluctance may be due to a negative perception of HR or their employers overall; 23% of respondents said they had witnessed or experienced "poor HR, hurtful management, or discrimination." Thirty-eight percent of employee respondents felt that HR did not equally enforce company policies across all employees; 18% of that group said they believed managers received special treatment.
- Most of the HR respondents said that fewer than 30% of complaints they received in the last two years resulted in any disciplinary action. According to a Workest blog post about the survey, "Having less than a third of cases result in disciplinary action led employees to wonder — if they bring complaints forward, will anything even result?"
Dive Insight:
Some employees may have an inaccurate perception of what HR does, but the survey makes clear that workplace culture-building efforts still leave a lot to be desired — particularly when it comes to employees and HR working together to stop harassment.
According to a recent Emtrain study, most employees (83%) would not report harassment if they saw it. Additionally, similar to the findings in the Workest survey, 41% of workers were not confident that management would take a complaint seriously.
Nonetheless, culture is becoming a priority for some business leaders, many of which are hiring chief people officers both to help remedy toxic environments and also as a proactive strategic talent measure.
Investing in retention and culture makes sense for companies' bottom lines: In the past five years, the turnover cost of a toxic work environment was more than $223 billion for U.S. employers, according to Society for Human Resource Management research.
In order for culture efforts to bear fruit, they have to be more than mere lip service. Some believe business leaders and corporate directors are not making real efforts toward these goals. In a recent Accenture survey, business leaders reported financial performance and brand recognition as their most important priorities. Just over a third (34%) of the leaders surveyed ranked diversity as a top priority.
SOURCE: Carsen, J. (02 April 2020) "Nearly a third of workers 'actively avoid' going to HR with problems" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.hrdive.com/news/nearly-a-third-of-workers-actively-avoid-going-to-hr-with-problems/575303/
IRS promises full, immediate reimbursement for coronavirus leave
As employers are becoming subjected to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), questions regarding reimbursements are being raised. Read this blog post to learn more.
Dive Brief:
- Employers subject to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) will be eligible for two new refundable payroll tax credits that will "immediately and fully reimburse them" for complying with its paid leave mandate, the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced March 20.
- The credits are designed to grant 100% reimbursement for paid leave pursuant to the FFCRA, DOL said. Health insurance costs are included in the credit. Employers face no tax liability and self-employed individuals will receive an equivalent credit. For the law's emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, the credit is equal to two-thirds of the employee's regular pay, capped at $200 per day or $10,000 in the aggregate. Up to 10 weeks of qualifying leave can be counted towards the credit.
- The credit available for FFCRA's paid sick time differs depending on how an employee uses the time. If the employee is unable to work because of a quarantine or self-quarantine or has COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis, employers may receive a refundable sick leave credit for sick leave at the employee's regular rate of pay, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate, for a total of 10 days. If the employee is caring for someone with COVID-19, or is caring for a child because the child's school or child care facility is closed or otherwise unavailable due to COVID-19, employers may claim a credit for two-thirds of the employee's regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate, for up to 10 days.
Dive Insight:
The announcement, made in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, should be welcome news to employers affected by the FFCRA, Littler Mendelson shareholder Jeff Nowak told HR Dive in an interview.
Reacting to initial news of the law's enactment, Nowak and others expressed concerns. Though the FFCRA specified that employers would be eligible to receive tax credits, Nowak said this week that many feared the timing of the credit would be "far too late … particularly for small businesses that would be out of business by this time next year." The DOL's assurance of prompt payment may ease such fears.
As news continues to develop around the FFCRA, DOL has added additional clarifications for employers to note. First, the agency stated Tuesday that the FFCRA would be implemented April 1, 2020. In the same document, it added more information around its plan to codify exemptions for certain private entities employing fewer than 50 employees. Employers choosing to seek this exemption may need to document why their business meets the criteria for an exemption. These criteria will be set forth by DOL in future regulations.
"You should not send any materials to the Department of Labor when seeking a small business exemption for paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave," DOL said.
The agency also previously announced that it would observe a 30-day temporary period of non-enforcement of the FFCRA once the law takes effect April 1. This non-enforcement would be in effect so long as the employer in question "has acted reasonably and in good faith" to comply with the law, DOL said, but sources previously told HR Dive that employees could still bring legal action against certain non-complying employers.
Nowak noted that the tax credit provision would allow employers to recoup the maximum paid leave costs provided for by the FFCRA. In other words, if an employer provides additional paid leave beyond what is mandated by the FFCRA for a given scenario, that employer should not expect to receive a reimbursement for the cost of providing those additional amounts of leave, Nowak said.
The DOL document released Tuesday also specifies how employers should determine whether they meet the FFCRA's classification of employing fewer than 500 employees. According to Nowak, employers should look at their headcount at the time an employee requests leave. "It will be an additional burden to the employer's HR department," Nowak said. "You will be calculating coverage whenever an employee requests FMLA or paid sick leave."
DOL said it will provide a model notice of the FFCRA's requirements — which employers will then need to post in a conspicuous place on their premises — no later than March 25. Finally, the agency has said it will hold a "national online dialogue" allowing employers to comment on the DOL's compliance materials and outreach strategies related to the implementation of the FFCRA through March 29.
SOURCE: Golden, R. (25 March 2020) "IRS promises full, immediate reimbursement for coronavirus leave" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.hrdive.com/news/irs-promises-full-immediate-reimbursement-for-coronavirus-leave/574881/
Gig workers win right to unemployment benefits
While many employees are fighting to keep their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, gig workers are fighting for their rights to unemployment benefits. Read this blog post to learn more.
New York Postmates food delivery drivers and potentially thousands of other gig workers can receive unemployment benefits at a time of historic job losses, following a ruling by the state’s highest court that they are company employees.
The New York Court of Appeals said Thursday that Postmates “could not operate” without its couriers, rejecting the company’s argument that it simply operates a platform connecting drivers to customers.
“Today’s decision is a huge victory for thousands of gig workers across New York,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “The courts have solidified what we all have known for a while: delivery drivers are employees and are entitled to the same unemployment benefits other employees can obtain.”
Postmates and other platform companies like Uber and Lyft have long claimed their workers are self-employed entrepreneurs rather than employees entitled to minimum wage, overtime, unemployment and other protections. They have vigorously contested lawsuits and legislation seeking to reclassify their workers.
The coronavirus pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on gig-economy workers. The stay-at-home orders now in force in much of the nation have sidelined vast numbers of them while others have kept driving despite the risk of spreading or catching the contagion.
The ruling on Thursday reverses a lower court decision finding Postmates wasn’t the employer of delivery driver Luis Vega, who was kicked off the platform. An administrative board had previously found that Vega was eligible for unemployment insurance benefits as a Postmates employee.
“While couriers decide when to log into the Postmates’ app and accept delivery jobs, the company controls the assignment of deliveries by determining which couriers have access to possible delivery jobs,” the court said.
“The Court of Appeals has confirmed what we have said all along: app-based employers have been misclassifying workers and denying them their rights for no other reason than their own bottom-line,” Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “The harm caused by this injustice has never been clearer than during this pandemic.”
San Francisco-based Postmates said that, while it disagreed with the decision, it was in favor of modernizing worker classifications and was willing to work with New York to achieve that.
“We fully support designing a responsible framework that allows New Yorkers to choose if, when, where, and for how long they work, while also providing them access to the benefits and services they deserve,” the company said.
SOURCE: Bloomberg News. (27 March 2020) "Gig workers win right to unemployment benefits" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/articles/gig-workers-win-right-to-unemployment-benefits