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Mastering Leadership: Top Tips for New Business Owners to Empower and Guide Their Teams to Success

Starting a new business is an exciting journey, but it comes with many challenges. One of the most important tasks for any new business owner is learning how to effectively lead and manage employees. At ChamberofCommerce.org, we frequently work with entrepreneurs who are eager to get their businesses off the ground but need guidance on the leadership side.

In this article, we’ll provide tips for new business owners on how to start strong by setting their employees up for productivity and success.

READ: From Employee to Entrepreneur — Top Tips for Making a Successful Switch 

Set clear expectations upfront

When bringing on new hires, don’t just hand them a job description and leave them to figure things out. Take time to explain your vision for the company, their role, and what success looks like. Clarify how their performance will be measured and share any metrics you’ll use to track progress. Define not only the required daily tasks but the overall goals and results you expect them to achieve in their position.

Providing clear expectations from day one equips employees to stay focused. It also makes managing performance easier down the road, as you’ll have predefined standards to reference in feedback discussions.

Create opportunities for input

Employees who feel heard and valued are more engaged at work. While the business founder naturally has the final say on major decisions, create opportunities for staff to share ideas and provide input.

You might hold periodic brainstorming sessions to collect innovative ideas for improving processes or services. Or send out anonymous surveys asking what’s working well and what could be better. Employees on the front lines often recognize issues or notice customer needs that those in leadership roles miss. Gaining their perspectives leads to better-informed decisions.

READ: How to Craft an Ideal Employee Experience Strategy — 6 Easy Steps

Help employees understand how their role contributes

Micromanaging is demotivating. For optimal productivity, employees need some autonomy in carrying out their responsibilities. But be sure they understand how their individual role ladders up to broader company goals.

Explain how the tasks they complete each day, whether it’s developing products or serving customers, contribute to the success of the business as a whole. This helps them feel invested in the work rather than just going through the motions.

Check in regularly to provide feedback

Don’t just evaluate performance during formal annual reviews. Consistent feedback is key for productivity, as it allows you to reinforce positive progress and promptly address any issues.

Schedule weekly or bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with individual employees. Discuss what they’ve accomplished and any challenges faced recently. Recognize their wins and contributions. Then share constructive input on areas for improvement.

Effective feedback frameworks are critical, as a recent survey found 83% of employees have an annoying coworker. Top complaints included laziness, arrogance and excessive chatter, which regular check-ins can address. Regular check-ins also show employees you’re invested in their growth and make mid-course corrections easier.

READ: 6 Simple Ways to Encourage Employee Wellness — Key Strategies and Benefits

Support Work-life balance

Burnout is bad for business. While occasional overtime may be needed during busy periods, take care not to drive employees into the ground.

Monitor workloads across your team. If someone constantly seems overwhelmed, bring in help or shift assignments. Make sure staff take meal breaks and use vacation time. Model healthy work-life integration in your own schedule as the founder.

Supporting employees’ physical and mental well-being through work-life balance policies leads to higher and more sustainable performance over time.

Balancing employee needs is key, as one report found that professionals dislike overused workplace terms like “new normal” and excessive perks like company swag. With data showing annoyances are common, minimizing them boosts engagement.

Starting a business while effectively managing a team is no small feat. But setting clear expectations, soliciting input, providing feedback and supporting work-life balance places employees on the path to productivity. With engaged and empowered staff behind your vision, you’ll be well on your way to business success.

 

This article was produced by the team at ChamberofCommerce.org, your go-to resource for tips, guides, and reviews to help small businesses succeed.

Navigating the Post-Pandemic Workplace: Struggles, Solutions and the Return to Office Culture

Over the last three years, many companies did what they deemed necessary to keep their employees happy in the face of a high unemployment rate, low labor participation rate and high inflation.  

They surveyed employees on their willingness to return to the office, and for how many days, with or without a dedicated seat. Some performed space planning, and even started to negotiate deal terms based on these plans. All this, ultimately, to find that their employees either didn’t want to share a seat or all wanted to be in on the same days — resulting in a need for just as much space, if not more. As such, the overarching trend of today is that of a slow revival of pre-pandemic office layouts, with the addition of more conferencing. 

READ: How To Balance Supporting Your Remote Workers and In-office Employees

Remote work is straining employees and company culture

Time and more accurate data collection have provided a better understanding of the implications of remote work. Chief among these are hindered communication, higher attrition and stifled career development. Employee attrition is approximately 79% higher for remote employers versus hybrid employers, and approximately 51% higher for remote employers versus office-centric employers, according to LinkedIn Talent Insights. 

In-person presence is indispensable when it comes to building company culture and curating mentorship — especially for certain subsets of employees. A working study by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the University of Iowa, and Harvard University has dubbed this phenomenon “the power of proximity,” noting its particular importance for younger employees. Additionally, the researchers found that in-person benefits only apply when the entire team is present — even one remote teammate can result in decreased collaboration between remaining employees.

Productivity and culture become incredibly important when times are tough, and businesses need to dig deeper to solve problems. Companies are putting themselves at serious risk when employees are disconnected and trust erodes. 

READ: How to Prevent Loud Quitting — Strategies to Boost Employee Engagement and Culture Fit

Expected real estate savings are not being realized 

Expected real estate savings from overall portfolio downsizing are not being realized by the large majority of companies. Many employers are paying more per square foot for higher quality space or investing in additional amenities to improve employee experience.

This, combined with heightened turnover from remote work, is driving increased expenses. Economic constraints are also in play, with interest rates top of mind for many corporate office users and investors alike. Historically low leasing activity and significant sublease space on the market are further fueling risk aversion among lenders and building owners.

Given the influx in vacant space, most tenants would think this is a great time to strike a deal. However, in many cases the concessions or upfront capital contributions from landlords are becoming increasingly constrained. Construction costs are still elevated at a time when many tenants are looking to rework their layout, and security deposits are being heavily scrutinized as owners and lenders focus on credit quality. These factors are causing companies to revisit existing space conditions, leading to a higher usage of the pre-pandemic buildout.

READ: How Do Interest Rates Impact Real Estate Investing? 

Pre-pandemic policies are seeing a revival

Between lackluster retention, collaborative dysfunction and minimal real estate savings, office users are shifting away from pandemic-era work policies and returning to a more traditional model. Last year saw a 13.4% drop in the share of businesses operating hybrid models, with the financial sector experiencing an even more dramatic decrease, from 44.9% to 22%.

Remote work will persist for some organizations. Companies with less-specialized workforces and easily measured productivity standards, such as call centers or late-cycle mid-cap tech companies, continue to show a higher propensity for remote work, albeit a shrinking share.

And a return to the office and pre-pandemic policies doesn’t mean employees aren’t seeing change. Employers are investing in more collaboration areas and new technologies to ensure a superior employee in-office experience. 

The next step for companies

Companies have put in a great deal of time and effort over the last three years to accommodate massive societal changes to the workforce. Going forward, they should not let time be their enemy in considering a revival of the historic office approach. 

Companies should also be transparent in their intentions, fostering predictability at a time when very little exists. Communication builds trust and strengthens employees’ understanding of how the office serves them and their work. 

READ: Managing a Remote Work Team with Communication and Ease

Part of this means becoming more comfortable enforcing stricter return-to-office policies. Sixty-five percent of companies surveyed in CBRE’s Spring Occupier Survey reported requiring some degree of in-office work, but only 57% are tracking attendance. This lack of enforcement discredits the policy and breeds distrust among employees. 

Finally, people are the most important amenities to any space. It should be reinforced to employees that they are respected and valued, and that their physical presence in the office makes a difference. 

 

Anthony Albanese 2021 Anthony Albanese and Nicholas Weld specialize in office occupier representation at commercial real estate services firm CBRE in Denver. They lead a team of specialists focused on Downtown, Southeast, Northwest, and Boulder, as well as industry verticals. The team takes a consultative approach that is tailored to each client to make informed decisions and creatively problem-solve. By leveraging CBRE’s global real estate technology and platform, theyhelp clients visualize the impacts of their real estate decisions through customized service offerings, such as location analysis; lease negotiation; global portfolio management; workplace strategy; financial modeling; lease versus own analysis; project management; and labor incentives, among others.

 

 

 

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How to Prevent Loud Quitting: Strategies to Boost Employee Engagement

After learning of “quiet quitting” earlier this year, leaders can turn their attention to a new subject: loud quitting, or active disengagement at work. Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace report exposed almost one in five employees engage in “loud quitting.”

The ranks of loud quitters are smaller than disengaged quiet quitters, who make up 59% of the workforce. However, even a minority of loud quitters can negatively impact morale and culture. Loud quitters engage in behavior to actively undermine the organization, reaching the point of direct opposition due to a complete breakdown in trust and communication.

Loud quitters can pose a serious obstacle to an organization by reducing efficiency and hindering its ability to achieve key goals. To prevent loud quitting from harming their business, leaders should keep a few strategies in mind.

READ: You’ve Heard of ‘Quiet Quitting,’ but What About ‘Quiet Leadership?’

Understand employee engagement

Employee engagement is critical to motivation, productivity and culture. However, between loud quitters and quiet quitters, up to seven in 10 employees may feel passively or actively disengaged in the workplace. To sidestep the pitfalls of loud quitting, it is important for organizations to understand what factors keep employees engaged and happy and how they can improve engagement overall.

The starting point for understanding engagement is gathering data. One useful way to measure engagement is using anonymous surveys to poll employees several times a year. Direct conversations can also help leaders uncover the truth about the employee experience at their organization, but anonymous surveys often solicit more honest feedback.

Understanding employee engagement takes time. One survey might not reveal the whole picture, but it is a springboard to make change. Leadership must remember: When a survey is conducted, employee communication and/or action to address any obvious concerns is paramount. Over the course of months to a year, leaders can experiment with policies promoting engagement and interpret the data points to guide them in the right direction.

READ: How to Craft an Ideal Employee Experience Strategy — 6 Easy Steps

Train managers 

The best way to address loud quitting is to prevent employees from loud quitting in the first place. The cause of quiet quitting goes beyond employee disengagement. By the time employees reach a point where they deliberately undermine leadership, their relationship with their employee has usually been deteriorating over months or years. Managers have many opportunities throughout that process to intervene and course correct.

Organizations should thoroughly train their managers in how to have difficult conversations with employees and work with different types of personalities. If an employee seems disengaged, managers should take the initiative as soon as possible to uncover why and re-engage the employee. Once an employee begins to show signs of loud quitting, managers urgently need to step in before the employee can hurt the organization.

Culture plays a key role in loud quitting as well. In an organization culture where employees feel valued, trust will remain high, and employees are less likely to become loud quitters. Organizations can collaborate with managers to foster a thriving culture within their teams, where workers feel both supportive of and supported by one another. Whether through training managers, intervening early or building culture, the most effective solution to loud quitting is prevention.

READ: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment

Hire for culture fit

The unhappiest employees in an organization are often those who do not fit into a culture. While that might not mean the employee is a poor worker, a bad culture fit can lead to low engagement, intrapersonal conflict and eventually, loud quitting. HR can and should try to help employees struggling to integrate into corporate culture, but the most effective way to ensure culture fit is to focus on culture during recruitment. 

There is no single solution to hiring for culture fit, but organizations need to define their culture before they can hire for it. Once leaders have identified what makes their corporate culture unique, recruitment materials should emphasize core mission and values embedded in company culture. Recruiters should also receive training on the best ways to talk about culture with candidates and how to identify candidates who can function well as a team with existing employees.

No organization wants a loud quitter in their midst, just like no employee wants to become a loud quitter. To avoid the unwanted outcome, employers should focus on employee engagement, teach their managers to address loud quitting and embrace culture fit during recruitment. In doing so, they can build an organization of happy, productive employees. 

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a Director of Service Operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

6 Simple Ways to Encourage Employee Wellness: Key Strategies and Benefits

Your employees are your main key to success. Healthy, happy employees are much more productive and can help your business thrive in competitive markets. That’s why employee wellness initiatives are so important.

Companies that value wellness have lower rates of absenteeism, too. This is particularly important if you work in a fast-paced industry where every day counts. 

Fortunately, there are a range of approaches you can adopt to further employee wellness and happiness. Choosing a wellness package that suits your business and budget is key to creating a workforce of cheerful, productive employees. 

READ: Navigating the New Era of Employee Engagement — Everything you Need to Know

Profitability and wellness

As a business leader, you may be concerned that pouring money into a health and wellness program will reduce your profitability. However, a recent study from the University of Warwickshire shows that employees who are happy work harder than those who are unsatisfied at work. 

Take advantage of the profitability-boosting potential of wellness programs by investing in everyday happiness-boosting treats like free movie tickets or food and drink during working hours. Small gestures of appreciation lead to a 37% increase in employee satisfaction at Google and may have a similar impact on your firm. 

Nutrition and hydration

Most full-time employees struggle to prepare enough healthy, nutritious food to fuel them through an entire workday. As an employer, you can help your staff by offering a range of snacks, meals, fruits and veggies at work. Providing free food is a great way to boost employee wellness and raise energy levels at work. 

Hydration is an often-overlooked element of health and well-being. However, inadequate hydration can derail staff productivity and send employee wellness into a tailspin. Unfortunately, some folks don’t enjoy drinking water and need an extra nudge to drink their fill. 

Incentivize hydration by embracing hydration hacks. Purchase funky water bottles for staff and provide flavored or sparkling water at work. Help staff set water intake goals and reward folks who can drink their fill in a day.

Mental health services

Everyone’s mental health has taken a knock in the past few years. Global conflict, pandemics and a rising cost of living are tough on employees and may send them over their “tipping” point. 

READ: Finding the Silver Lining Amidst Rising Interest and Inflation Rates

Support your staff by providing access to mental health services. Your staff will benefit greatly from free, confidential access to therapists and trained psychiatrists. Regularly review the efficacy of mental health services by surveying staff to find out about uptake, improvements in well-being, and general feedback. 

Community engagement

As much as your staff cares about the profitability of your business, they are far more likely to be healthy and happy if they feel that your business positively contributes to the local community. Community engagement opportunities are usually cost-effective, too, as local non-profits are always looking for volunteers. 

Facilitate community engagement by electing an engagement officer for your business and budgeting for initiatives. Setting aside funds for community projects shows that you truly care about the causes that bring your employees the most happiness and fulfillment.

READ: 5 Steps to Launch Work Volunteer Efforts

Workflow management

Every business has its own unique approach to workflow. However, inefficient workflow management can have a detrimental impact on staff mental health. No employee wants to spend their workday jumping through unnecessary hoops or filling out paperwork that could have been automated. 

Automate menial workflow tasks to support employee wellness. This is particularly important in fields like engineering and construction, where employees have to manually input measurements with a high degree of accuracy. 

Utilizing AI in your workflow management may reduce fatigue, too. Roles that involve data management and CRMs can become monotonous quickly and may undermine employee focus and mental well-being. Embracing an automated CRM can help staff focus on tasks that improve the business’s bottom line. 

Avoid the temptation to multitask while streamlining your workflow. Multitasking may sound more efficient, but will only result in errors and a sense of being overwhelmed. Instead, decrease the number of projects that staff is working on to reduce confusion and improve clarity amongst your staff. 

The bottom line

Your employees are the bedrock of your business. Keep them healthy and happy by investing in their wellness and supporting their interests. Set aside a portion of your profits to be reinvested in gym memberships and free, nutritious meals. Give folks the time and funds they need to volunteer in the community, too. Even small gestures like time off for fundraisers can help your employees feel proud and happy at work. 

 

Indiana Lee Bio PictureIndiana Lee is a writer, reader, and jigsaw puzzle enthusiast from the Pacific Northwest. An expert on business operations, leadership, marketing, and lifestyle, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Entrepreneur of 2023 Finalist — Jennifer Henderson

For Jennifer Henderson, starting TiLT in 2017 was personal. “I spent 15 years in corporate America, always working for Fortune 500 companies in an operational role,” says Henderson, 42. “In the early years of my professional career, I also went through seven years of in vitro fertilization with my husband, trying to get pregnant. Then we got pregnant, and overnight I stopped getting invited to the table.” 

READ: Guest Column — Fighting Gender Politics in the Home Improvement Industry

But that wasn’t the immediate catalyst for TiLT. “Five years later, a different company, a different stage of my career, when I announced I was expecting with our second, I actually had a promotion rescinded,” she says. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.” 

Henderson thought there had to be a better, more equitable way of managing corporate leave programs. “That’s when I started to lean into solving leave of absence, and quite honestly, when I left corporate America, I was just very pissed off.” 

TiLT’s platform manages paid leave programs for client companies while reducing the risk of both litigation and turnover. The company went to market with its platform in 2019. Four years later, it has 85 employees. 

“We are an HR tech tool, by definition,” Henderson says. “We often point to TurboTax in terms of what they have done in streamlining complexity in a very disparate landscape in a similar way to what we’re doing with leaves of absence.” 

READ: The Best Modern HR Strategies — Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

Initially targeting California-based tech companies “was very successful,” Henderson says.  “We’ve had at least a 2X every year since coming out of the box and I don’t see that changing this year.” 

After closing on a $10 million Series B in late 2022, TiLT is scaling up to serve large enterprises. Big companies “have very few options to do leave currently, so these large organizations are pulling TiLT very aggressively to swim upstream,” Henderson says. “We’re moving as fast as we can to position ourselves to support anyone from the Walmarts of the world to mom-and-pop, Main Street stores.” 

Henderson says her personal connection to TiLT’s mission has been critical to the company’s success. “I truly believe that if you don’t have a visceral connection to the problem that you’re solving, I don’t know how you manage through the ups and downs that this entrepreneurial journey throws at you. For me, I see my daughter every single day, so I’ve given myself a clock until she enters the workforce to make this better for her, and that’s a hell of a motivation.”

 

Denver-based writer Eric Peterson is the author of Frommer’s Colorado, Frommer’s Montana & Wyoming, Frommer’s Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and the Ramble series of guidebooks, featuring first-person travelogues covering everything from atomic landmarks in New Mexico to celebrity gone wrong in Hollywood. Peterson has also recently written about backpacking in Yosemite, cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and downhill skiing in Colorado for such publications as Denver’s Westword and The New York Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]

Managing Summer PTO — 4 Easy Tips

For employees, summer is an opportunity to use their hard-earned paid time off (PTO). Employers can support employees in taking PTO, but they also need to keep in mind the impact on business. When too many team members are out at once, that can hinder collaboration and decrease productivity.

Fortunately, with proper planning, management can leave employees feeling satisfied and keep teams at peak performance. The keys to managing summer PTO are setting expectations, creating a system for conflict resolution, building a robust culture and encouraging communication.

READ: Navigating the New Era of Employee Engagement — Everything you Need to Know

Setting expectations around PTO

It is important for organizations with essential employees to establish not every team member can take PTO at the same time. As important as it is to allow employees to take their fully allotted PTO and respect previously approved PTO, except in cases of an emergency, employees should understand PTO is subject to their manager’s approval. When employees believe their PTO requests will be approved without exception, they are much more likely to feel disappointed or even angry if their requests are denied.

Setting expectations requires the employer to develop PTO policies and put a system in place for approving vacation time. Policies could establish a maximum number of PTO days employees may take in a row or over the course in a single month. In addition, a rollover policy can limit the number of days employees can roll over year to year, which can prevent employees from accruing an excessive number of vacation days to use at one time.

Create a system to address conflicts

Almost every employee may want to take summer PTO at some point. In many cases, requests for PTO may coincide with holidays like Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. That can lead to multiple employees requesting the same days off. Managers may then have to decide the requests to accept or deny, which can lead to conflict between employees and their managers, and even between employees themselves.

Employers need to explain ahead of time how these conflicts will be addressed. Possible criteria include the date when the request was submitted, seniority, an employee’s previous PTO usage and how much PTO an employee has accrued. If PTO conflicts are resolved at a manager’s discretion, managers should be prepared to explain why one request was granted, while another was not. Transparency will make employees feel respected and increase their acceptance and understanding if their request is denied.

READ: 6 Ways to Create a Lasting, Thriving Company Culture

Build a strong culture

A robust corporate culture is another key element of managing summer PTO. When organizations embrace the values of transparency and work-life balance, employees want to step up to support their teams and feel able to relax and recharge throughout the year.

One culture-building tool for managing PTO is flexible summer scheduling. Employees may be permitted to work earlier or later hours than usual, or in another time zone from a vacation destination. These flexible schedules can show appreciation for essential staff and improve their work-life balance.

Some businesses implement half-day “summer Fridays,” weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Typically, these half days are separate from accrued PTO and can be taken only once employees have completed their work and checked in with their supervisor. For essential employees, summer Fridays are a chance to relax without undermining business operations.

Encourage communication

Communication is the cornerstone of managing summer PTO for business success. Employees should not only communicate about PTO with their manager but should also communicate with one another about their plans. When employees discuss their vacations before finalizing their plans, they may organically discover and resolve conflicts without requiring a manager’s involvement. This is a best-case scenario for the entire team as employees feel engaged and respected by the process, and the manager does not need to spend time resolving conflicts.

Managers should also communicate with employees continually during one-on-one meetings throughout the summer to create a plan for fulfilling their duties. Especially when an employee is about to take a vacation of a week or longer, their duties will need to be delegated to a coworker. Employees should prepare documents overviewing protocols, if necessary, and meet with the team for a hand-off before their vacation. This is especially important if the employee expects to be in a remote area without cellular service or email.

READ: Exploring the Potential of AI Bots in HR — Tips for Leveraging Technology in Employee Communications

Summer is an exciting and relaxing time for both managers and employees. By focusing on expectations, conflict resolution, culture and communication, employers can avoid business slowdowns and maximize summer productivity.

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

What is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)? — Understanding the Benefits of Co-Employment

Imagine an employee who receives their very first paycheck from their employer. Everything is to be expected, except one small discrepancy. To their confusion, the business listed on the check is not the name of their employer. What is the explanation? For the 15% of small businesses with 10 to 99 employees, the answer may be co-employment, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

In co-employment, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) becomes the professional employer of a business’s existing workforce, usually for small to medium-sized businesses of 10 to 5,000 employees. The business continues to fully control their organization and can outsource some or all of their HR burdens and liabilities, depending on their contract or client service agreement (CSA). These HR burdens can include payroll and tax filing, benefits administration, compliance, risk and safety management, human resources support and talent management.

READ: The Best Modern HR Strategies — Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

The following outlines what business leaders need to know about Professional Employer Organizations and when working with a PEO is appropriate. Several key considerations are the HR functions and outsourced employment responsibilities, questions to ask PEOs about capabilities and explaining PEOs to employees.

How to identify which functions can be outsourced

The first step for leaders in understanding PEOs is identifying where their business needs support. In many cases, small businesses choose to outsource the provision and administration of both employee benefits and payroll to a PEO. Because PEOs manage more than one business, they can give clients access to a wider range of benefit options, usually at better rates, than what businesses could access on their own.

This is because PEOs collectively represent a bigger group of employees than any one of those businesses on their own, granting PEOs the purchasing power to negotiate a lower rate. PEOs can provide a range of employee benefits including medical, dental and vision coverage, health care flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, life insurance and more. It is important to note, there is no agreement between the group of PEO clients, so employers are solely responsible for their own employees and do not take on the burden of the other businesses serviced by the same PEO. 

Leaders should also consider how PEOs could help save time and money through reducing administrative workload. Administrative HR duties like payroll processing can take up a significant amount of time for a business owner or an HR department. By outsourcing these duties, businesses can increase the productivity of their HR teams with the support of a PEO.

READ: AI in Employment — A Troubling Issue in the Hiring Process

How businesses can learn more about PEOs’ capabilities

Every PEO has a different approach to HR, making it imperative for leaders to choose a PEO that suits their needs best. Leaders need to understand the basics, like which services are included, what costs to expect, what technology or software the PEO uses and whether the PEO can provide professional development or employee benefits plans.

They also need to understand how their role will change regarding liability, taxes and regulations. PEOs mitigate a substantial amount of the risk and responsibility of being an employer. That includes the risks of handling payroll processing, HR administration and workers’ compensation. This reduced risk is one of the major benefits of working with PEOs, which usually have specialists on staff to monitor employer-related state and federal laws and regulations. PEOs should be able to clearly explain this transfer of risk and responsibilities.

Leaders often find it useful to compare several PEOs to one another and ask PEOs for references from businesses with a similar location, size and industry. If a PEO cannot share references, that might be a sign they lack experience or success in supporting small businesses. 

How to simplify PEOs for employees

Employees who have never worked with a Professional Employer Organization before may feel confused about the circumstances of their employment. Especially for businesses that transition to a PEO, there is a need to communicate carefully to avoid misunderstandings.

One of the most important factors to emphasize is that a Professional Employer Organization does not acquire or take over a business. Rather, the business remains in full control of its existing owners but outsources certain HR or employment duties, much in the same way some businesses outsource customer service support to a third party. It is also important to explain the benefits of PEOs for employees, including improved employee benefits, performance management support and greater access to training and development programs.

READ: 5 Tips for Overcoming Customer Service Obstacles as a Small Business

The bottom line

Any business that begins working with a Professional Employer Organization should also collaborate with their service team on communications efforts. A town hall with management and a PEO representative will allow employees the chance to ask questions and gain knowledge.

Contracting with a capable PEO can improve their productivity, increase their access to employee benefit plans and simplify their operations.

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

You’ve Heard of ‘Quiet Quitting,’ but What About ‘Quiet Leadership?’

HR leaders may be aware of quiet quitting, but there’s one cause of quiet quitting that’s going unrecognized: quiet leadership. Among other factors, quiet leadership can cause employees to disengage and quiet quit. Unlike active managers who follow and support the day-to-day activities of their team, quiet leaders have a hands-off approach to managing their team that is driven by end results and numbers. This approach can alienate workers who desire mentorship and guidance from their managers.

To address this issue, employers should foster active leadership within organizations so leaders proactively engage with their teams. The result for employers is a more engaged workforce who want to work for the company. Three strategies to accomplish that involve training frontline managers, helping employees plan for their future and focusing on culture.

READ: 4 Ways to Offer Wellness Tools and Retain Your Workforce

Train frontline managers

Frontline managers work with teams daily, which grants them a powerful influence over their team’s level of engagement. After being promoted during the pandemic, many frontline managers also received management duties for the first time. These newly promoted frontline managers may also feel anxious about meeting their targets and focus on end results over day-to-day team management. In some cases, that can create gaps in leadership and management skills, as well as quiet leadership.

The solution for businesses is adequately training frontline managers to support their teams. When an employee is promoted to a management position, they may think they know how to manage teams, but it may not be the most effective approach once they are in the trenches. Training programs, along with mentorship from more experienced leaders can help new managers adapt successfully.

Oftentimes, something as simple as a resource library or a book on management or leadership can offer important tips to managers who may not think to seek out resources on their own. Other organizations may choose to enroll frontline managers in a mandatory leadership program or conference to enhance their leadership skills and encourage management/upper-management check-ins to help improve their leadership styles.

Help employees stay engaged

The best employees are engaged employees who feel valued, know they are appreciated and see a future within the organization. However, if managers focus exclusively on the numbers at the end of every quarter, their quiet leadership approach can leave their team feeling as though they are only recognized for their production value, not the skills they bring to the team and organization.

Time within an organization can make employees short-sighted. Employees may focus on hitting their goals within a certain timeframe while neglecting the broader goals for themselves and the business. Eventually, organizations might find themselves with a lackluster leadership pipeline as employees become disengaged or lose the desire to grow within the organization.

Leaders and frontline managers, in particular, can avoid quiet leadership and lead proactively by helping employees plan. Check-ins and annual reviews both present opportunities to talk with employees individually, but group sessions can also be a helpful tool to overview various career paths within the organization. By encouraging a forward-thinking mentality, leadership can keep employees motivated to succeed individually and as a team.

Remember the importance of culture

Quiet leadership and corporate culture go hand in hand. When leaders focus exclusively on results, culture often suffers as a result. The impacts of a stressful or unsupportive culture may not become immediately apparent in the numbers, but if culture is left unattended for long enough, burnout, poor employee retention and low morale will lower productivity.

Leaders need to ask themselves whether they are focusing on numbers at the expense of their people. If they see signs of quiet leadership, like employees who feel excessively stressed about meeting their targets at work and who leave after one to two years on the job, that is typically a sign to shift leadership styles. 

In contrast to a culture where quiet leadership is common, a culture with proactive leadership will encourage employees to tackle new challenges, take appropriate time off and be transparent with managers regarding career support. Employees will appreciate and benefit from regular check-ins and consistent opportunities for growth. 

Quiet leadership is as much of a challenge as quiet quitting since both highlight management and culture challenges. Fortunately, leaders can confront this obstacle with ease by training managers appropriately, guiding employees and centering a strong corporate culture.

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

Navigating the New Era of Employee Engagement — Everything You Need to Know

Employee engagement is always important to keep a business running smoothly and successfully. In the time of The Great Resignation and “quiet quitting,” leaders must get creative. More attention must be paid to employee needs from pay to overall quality of life.

READ: 6 Ways to Find New Employees During the “Great Resignation”

Workplace health

Your job can impact your mental health and physical well-being. Employees are increasingly taking notice of how they feel at a job and factoring burnout and lack of support into their decisions to work elsewhere. The health of employees is vital from an ethical standpoint but also in order to preserve efficiency and productivity. If your staff is hurting, physically or emotionally, so will your bottom line.

Employee burnout results from putting too much pressure on employees and not providing enough engaging activities. Leaders should focus on integrating staff into the workplace culture and putting their health first. Productivity will follow inherently. For example, Colorado tech company, SumUp, emphasizes team events and has seen a shift in overall business success from doing so.

More employees work from home now than ever. In fact, Denver has the 12th largest remote workforce in the nation, when considering cities with 300,000 people or more. The number of people who work from home in Colorado jumped from 9% to 24% remote employees from 2019 to 2021. This is a massive change, and leaders should be aware of how this impacts employee health and engagement. 

For instance, working from home can exacerbate chronic pain from spending long hours at less-than-comfortable desks. Providing ergonomic home office accessories can help your employees live a healthier lifestyle while still being able to work remotely. This could include standing desks, ergonomic office chairs, or even blue light glasses that prevent eye strain. 

READ: Managing a Remote Work Team with Communication and Ease

Along the same vein, team events may need to be remote, but they should be plentiful, optional and engaging. Employees should want to come to work every day. Otherwise, they simply won’t — whether that’s physically or mentally.

Increased flexibility and transparency

When it’s tougher to get employees to “show up,” leaders have a responsibility to incentivize them to do so. Put your focus on the quality of life at work to inspire confidence in your company and workforce. One of the best ways to increase employee satisfaction and engagement is to trust them — and to encourage them to trust you.

Giving employees the autonomy to choose when and how they work can do wonders for your engagement rate. Adopt a more flexible schedule and don’t micromanage employees by tracking their every keystroke. You’ll be surprised how a little wiggle room encourages them to work more often and efficiently. And when they do, recognize their efforts companywide. 

Perhaps more importantly, treat employees as part of the team. This may seem obvious, but people value transparency in the workplace. Rather than being blindsided by layoffs or company policy changes, keep your workforce in the loop as much as possible. Some things are on a need-to-know basis, but be as transparent as you can as quickly as you can, and employees will respond positively.

Fair wages and benefits

This new wave of employees also expects to be rewarded fairly for their hard work. Only 32% of the current workforce believe their pay is fair. You can stand out from the competition by adhering to these expectations.

Pay staff as much as you can, because they are likely to shop around for a better offer somewhere else if they feel under-compensated. The internet has provided job seekers — and current employees — the opportunity to see how other employees are being paid within their industry. Make sure to offer as much as you can to show staff that you value their time and expertise.

This also includes benefits. Ping-pong tables and nap pods may look inviting when recruiting initially. However, long-term employees value tangible, useful benefits at the end of the day. Think about your unique workforce and what would benefit them the most. That can include stellar health insurance, a free gym membership or even flexible maternity and paternity leave policies.

READ: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment

Putting employees first

Above all, put your employees first. This seems cliche, but it takes a strong head and a big heart to lead in this new era of employee engagement. Ask for feedback, optimize your engagement strategies and constantly communicate in order to meet the unique needs of your staff. Your bottom line and engagement rates will thank you.

 

Indiana Lee Bio PictureIndiana Lee is a writer, reader, and jigsaw puzzle enthusiast from the Pacific Northwest. An expert on business operations, leadership, marketing, and lifestyle, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace: 5 Benefits of Hiring Neurodiverse Talent

Employment and the labor market are weird right now, right? Statistics demonstrate that only 62% of the labor force is participating. In Colorado, there are two jobs for every person looking for a job. Yet, companies everywhere are reporting a labor shortage and a lack of qualified applicants. In the skilled trades, only two individuals are replacing the five that retire, leaving an ever-increasing gap. Five generations are working together for the first time in history. Managers and teams are clearly struggling. But, here’s the question: Are these businesses considering actively seeking neurodiversity in the workplace?

READ: How Business Leaders Can Embrace a Multigenerational Workforce 

Some companies are getting creative working with non-profits and workforce development centers to develop paths for individuals moving into our great country and state, while others are working to give second chances to those seeking them. But what continues to surprise me, is that no one is looking at the neurodiverse community and embracing those that are neurodivergent. 20 percent of our population falls into this category! What’s going on? 

Colorado just become the first state to launch a Chamber of Commerce for this disenfranchised and underrepresented group in 2022 (The Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce). That comes 34 years after the launch of the Women’s Chamber in 1988, and 59 years after the Black Chamber in 1963.  But in just a few months over 60 big companies have already taken notice and jumped on board. Companies like Charles Schwab, Keiwet, UC Health, Trimble, the Denver Airport, The Dumb Friends League, and more. 

They’re recognizing the possibility and trying to embrace it. Here’s the thing, Neurodiversity in the workplace already exists, and neurodivergent adults are struggling because companies don’t know what it is and how to support their employees that deserve the support enablers to be successful. 

READ: Veteran Unemployment — Untapped Workplace Resources

So let’s start — first, what is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in human brain function and the ways in which people process information and interact with the world around them. It recognizes that there is a wide range of neurological differences that are normal variations of the human experience and that these differences should be accepted and valued as part of the diversity of the human population. The concept of neurodiversity includes conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome, and other neurological differences. It emphasizes that these conditions are not necessarily disorders or deficits but are variations in how people’s brains are wired.

Society should be more inclusive of people with neurological differences and find innovative ways to support their strengths and abilities. Also, we need to reject the idea that these conditions should be “cured” or eliminated, and instead promote acceptance and understanding of neurodiversity as a natural part of human diversity.

And as a business — why hire Neurodiverse talent?

Implementing neurodiversity in the workplace can bring a variety of strengths and benefits to your company. Here are a few examples:

Unique perspectives

Neurodiverse individuals often have different ways of thinking and processing information, which can lead to innovative problem-solving and creativity. Their unique perspectives can also help to identify new opportunities and strategies that may have been overlooked by a more homogeneous team.

Attention to detail

Many neurodiverse individuals have a high level of attention to detail and can excel in tasks that require precision and accuracy. This can be especially beneficial in fields such as engineering, data analysis, and quality control.

Loyalty and commitment

Neurodiverse individuals often have a strong sense of loyalty and commitment to their work, and can be highly dedicated and motivated employees.

READ: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment

Ability to focus

Some neurodiverse individuals have the ability to hyper-focus on tasks that interest them, which can lead to high productivity and efficiency in those areas.

Diverse skill sets

Implementing neurodiversity in the workplace can bring a wide range of skills and strengths to your business, including strong memory, spatial reasoning, pattern recognition and more.

The Harvard Business Journal did a study and found that neurodistinct individuals can be up to 140% more productive than their neurotypical peers and that’s good business.

There’s so much more to add but It’s time to start the conversation and become aware of this incredible group. They’re already in your organization. And if not, they should be. Hire them not as a DEI intuitive because your company, employees, and teammates deserve a culture of inclusivity and talent. 

Questions? Good! Let’s start the conversation and move forward together. 

 

Danny CombsDanny is the Founder of TACT – Teaching the Autism Community Trades. The states leading supported employment program. Additionally, he’s the Co-Founder of the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce, serves on the Employment Taskforce the for Autism Society of America, is an Air Force Reservist recognized in the Pentagon for his leadership and serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council on Buckley Space Force Base. Danny has a Master’s Degree in Education, is a Board-Certified Cognitive Specialist, a Certified Autism Specialist, also a Grammy Award Winner and a classic car junkie.