A new survey has bolstered the idea that one of the best ways to drive a positive employee experience is by helping employees strengthen their financial wellness, writes Tom Starner. However, the survey uncovered a clear disconnect between what employers believe they’re offering and what employees are experiencing: 95 percent of HR leaders are confident in their employee … [Read more...]
Rising retention may not be all good news for employers
The revolving employee quit door has slowed, but now what? Tom Starner reminds employers to avoid complacency, as high retention driven by macro trends like the economy could lead to disengaged workforces. He addresses the hire-fire-hire scenarios that plague many organizations. . . . excessively high retention rates can indicate larger issues, such as employees staying in … [Read more...]
How some employers are showing support as student loan payments resume
Student loan debt is an important consideration for the animal health industry. It has been identified as a factor in veterinary suicides as well. After a three-year moratorium, student loan payments are resuming. A new study shows more employers are providing student loan repayment support in an effort to attract and retain workers. Dawn Kawamoto shares pros, cons and risks … [Read more...]
Pet benefits a desired trend in employee retention
Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials would be more likely to stay at an employer that offered pet benefits according to a survey by Nationwide. The benefits they want include: 40 percent: Pet insurance 29 percent: Paid time off to care for a pet 27 percent: A pet-friendly office 14 percent: Leave to care for a new pet, sometimes called “paw-ternity” Source: … [Read more...]
New graduates want salary range, transparency from employers
While the Class of 2023 is anxious and eager to land a job, Laura Coccaro, CPO, details some ways in which they’re rewriting the expectations of employers and what they want in their careers. Source: Human Resource Executive, May 25, 2023. Link. By representing an investment into their personal lives outside of work, employers have the ability to offer a certain value to … [Read more...]
5 steps for using care to unlock employee happiness and health
MetLife’s 21st annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study found a connection between employee health and caring employers. Eighty percent of employees who feel cared for at work describe themselves as holistically healthy compared with 40 percent who feel an absence of care from their employer. Fifty-eight percent of employees overall feel cared for when working. Missy … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – March 16, 2023
Last week’s AHD Bulletin – Animal Health Digest Bulletin, March 9, 2023. Link. Most read post(s) from March 9th AHD Bulletin – Pet owners feeling the sting of inflation. Link. Place keeper: 2023 Veterinary Conferences provided by Galaxy Vets. Link. New York City rats can catch the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, study finds Source: CNN, March 9, … [Read more...]
6 best practices for workplace wellness
Steven Van Yoder says most employers are not following best practices when designing and implementing their workplace wellness efforts. He references the Workplace Wellness: Best Practices Study 2022 and a set of practices for designing and implementing effective employee wellness initiatives. <the study> findings are a first step in reframing workplace wellness from … [Read more...]
Employee retention replaces talent acquisition as top HR priority for 2023
Phil Albinus shares key findings from a Lattice report showing human resource teams will focus on retaining valuable talent this year. He notes employee engagement and the growing pay transparency laws as factors for consideration. Absent the ability to hire talent from the outside, HR teams are investing in the people they already have.” Source: Human Resource Executive, … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – December 15, 2022
Last week’s most read posts – The top pet products of 2022. Link. Last AHD Bulletin - Animal Health Digest Bulletin, December 8, 2022. Link. ====================================================== When coyotes attacked, a dog killed 8 of them, saving a flock of sheep Source: The Washington Post, December 9, 2022. Link. John Weirwille sprang out of bed early … [Read more...]
HR leaders need talent intelligence to prepare for the future
If companies ignore opportunities to retrain employees for new roles, they risk losing them to competitors. Plus, it’s easier to upskill an existing employee than hire a new one. HR needs to create a company that allows people to transform themselves without waiting for them to tell you what they want to do,” Josh Bersin said. Source: Human Resource Executive, September 28, … [Read more...]
3 ways to revamp your hiring process to bring in and keep top talent
Shifts in the global economy require organizations to alter their approaches to hiring talent, especially as previous tactics are no longer viable for finding the best employees, says Jenny Battershell. She shares ideas to locate, attract and retain talent in the shifting job markets: Write job descriptions from the candidate’s perspective Tailor benefits to appeal to … [Read more...]
People are quitting over in-person work and hiring younger workers gets harder
Seldom a week passes without articles about workforce shortages, challenges and changing candidate expectations appearing in multiple sources. Business owners and hiring managers struggle to remodel how work is done to retain current talent and meet prospective candidates’ desires. It is a veritable tightrope that must be walked. We’re sharing two articles about retention … [Read more...]
Upskilling is do or die, but employees also need a career path
Opinion It is difficult to avoid thinking about how poorly we engage veterinary technicians when reading Mike Bertolino’s comments about upskilling. While some animal hospitals support the advancement of veterinary technicians’ education and certifications, one might conclude we’ve been doing it wrong. Advancing vet tech skills and certifications without a career growth … [Read more...]
5 employer strategies to help with rising inflation
Includes Commentary Inflation rose 8.5 percent year-over-year in March, the highest inflation rate since 1981, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employees are now looking to their employers for help as inflation challenges their lives, says Kathryn Mayer. She offers five ways employers might address inflation challenges. Coupled with the current … [Read more...]
Workplace bullying, a growing concern for HR departments
Workplace bullying can cause employees physical injuries and mental anguish, high absenteeism and turnover, low productivity and morale, and damage to a company’s reputation. Bullying can include verbal abuse, offensive conduct, intimidation or assault. As many as 75% of employees report that they have been a target of or have witnessed bullying at work, which has affected an … [Read more...]
5 retention strategies for combatting the Great Resignation
OPINION Retention has not been a common term in the employment marketplace and only occasionally considered in customer strategies in recent years. Peter Corless says, “It is imperative that we get creative with retention strategies and cater to the needs and wants of today’s workforce.” Organizations need to shift from a work-life mindset to a life-work mindset and place … [Read more...]
Top 4 workplace trends for 2022
The undercurrent of 2022 will be a hot jobs market, and that has implications for every decision that employers make, employers need to be responsive to what employees want.” - Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor Source: Employee Benefit News, December 8, 2021. Link. Glassdoor predicted four trends they expect to emerge next year: Hiring will get harder Remote work will increase … [Read more...]
It’s time to ‘re-recruit’ your employees
Instead of focusing solely on hiring new talent, HR leaders suggest companies concentrate on “re-recruiting” their existing employees to reduce flight risk and build an invested, engaged workforce. During a recent virtual conference three HR leaders agreed that employers need to invest in reskilling and tech to improve employee engagement. Source: Human Resource Executive, … [Read more...]
Medical exemptions to mandates? 5 answers from a legal expert.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission continues to issue guidance to employers on how to evaluate medical exemption requests, but not every situation will be covered. Helene Hechtkopf* shares the basic process by which an employer should evaluate a medical exemption request and presents factors that will impact decisions. Source: Human Resource Executive, November 1, … [Read more...]
Why working women need a ‘culture of inclusion’ right now
A study by McKinsey at the height of the pandemic found that one in three mothers were considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers to better handle childcare responsibilities resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. Now the Delta variant challenges the return to school for millions of children and their working mothers, and indeed all parents, writes Rebecca … [Read more...]
Employees blamed for a problem created by employers
Peter Cappelli asserts it is time for a sharp realization by the human resources profession. He says employers are trying to hire a lot of people to fill their earlier layoffs, and they struggle to hire the people with the skills and experience they want fast enough at the wages they want to pay. That is not a labor shortage. Cappelli believes there are just under 22 million … [Read more...]
3 technologies that can help employers struggling to hire
The reasons for the imbalance between labor demand (open jobs) and labor supply (people willing to take those open jobs) are many and complex, writes Steve Boese. He discusses the role HR technologies could play in helping balance supply and demand, and consequently, place more people in open roles. Job losses have been felt most acutely by low-wage earners and low-wage … [Read more...]
She-cession. Pink collar recession. Getting women back in the workforce.
Pandemic-driven lockdowns forced many women to choose between work and family, setting women’s labor force participation back decades. Jen Colleta addresses what HR can do to stop this alarming trend. Colleta says the statistics are stark: More than 5 million payroll jobs held by women were lost in 2020. Of those women, nearly 2.5 million left the workforce entirely … [Read more...]
Employers can legally require COVID vaccines. But will they?
Should . . . and could . . . we make the vaccine mandatory for employees? The pros, cons and options get discussed surrounding this hot topic. Source: Human Resource Executive, December 21, 2020. Link. In guidance released December 16, 2020 < link >, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said employers can require that employees get vaccinated as a condition of … [Read more...]
10 states with the worst air quality
More than four out of every 10 Americans live in regions that have observed unhealthy ozone according to the American Lung Association. Smog, soot and other particle pollution have substantial implications for health and can even increase the decline in air quality. There are a couple surprises in the top 10 list of states. Source: The Outdoor Wear, November 20, 2020. Link. … [Read more...]
4 tips to encourage employees to get a flu vaccination
Chaz Hinkle reminds us of the importance of annual influenza vaccinations and the flu’s annual pressure on healthcare facilities and workers. The ongoing coronavirus challenge adds to the importance of getting everyone vaccinated. Source: Human Resource Executive, September 29, 2020. Link. Studies show that getting vaccinated can reduce flu illness, doctors’ visits, missed … [Read more...]
Immunity discrimination could become HR’s next legal nightmare
HR professionals are responsible for innumerable variables during these times. In addition to allowing for more flexibility as employees put family first, now comes considerations about immunity discrimination. Source: Human Resource Executive, September 22, 2020. Link. “It’s going to be hard for managers to not think about this when they’re making workplace decisions,” says … [Read more...]
Rising mobile use among women is a concern
Working parents have been some of the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to media reports, more than 50 percent of working parents are without childcare, and one in five said either they or their partner are considering leaving the workforce to care for their children. Women are reporting a 70 percent increase in mobile device usage compared to pre-pandemic and … [Read more...]
7 top ways to support employees during the pandemic
When you are an essential health care worker, the processes that work for other businesses don’t always apply to us. Still, there are universalities to managing and supporting people. Diane Adams, Sprinkler’s chief culture and talent officers, suggests that, among other activities, employer engage with employees with: Daily check-in calls Consistent communication … [Read more...]