by admin | Sep 23, 2024 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
Positive employee experience begets customer experience. It’s the circle of life in business, in fact. The concept is simple to follow. Employees, who feel valued and whose wellness at work is a priority of their managers and executives, will have the motivation to produce and treat customers with respect and white-glove service. Any organization who abides by this philosophy is rewarded with employee retention and repeat business.
“To be the best place to buy, you must be the best place to work,” Shep Hyken, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and customer service thought leader, has said. “Treat your employees the way you want your customers to be treated, maybe even better.”
Therefore, Human Resources professionals, who collaborate with the C-suite and middle management to improve the employee experience, can have a great impact on customer service and therefore the bottom line.
The Impact of Employee Happiness on CX
Recently, on CX Network, a sister portal to HR Exchange Network, writer Jerome Small shared a guide to the connection between employee engagement and customer experience. He offers much in the way of data and case studies. Here is one example:
“Spotify is a standout performer when it comes to employee engagement and its subscribers reap the rewards through innovative personalization, automation and a great customer communication strategy. When it comes to traditional employee engagement Spotify has a range of tech platforms to support collaboration and goal measurements, but the streaming platform offers a range of other competitive perks for its employees that help it stand out from competitors and motivate its huge global workforce.”
Another example is the retail chain Wegmans, which consistently get ranked on lists of the best places to work and leads in customer service, too. The company has made it a priority to connect employee’s purpose to their work as means of ensuring people feel purposeful and find meaning in what they do. They have established different channels of communication for employees to voice concerns or campaign for changes. Often, leaders respond and act on those suggestions. In addition, they have set up an employee advocacy system. And advocates do not report to people in the employees’ chain of command. Instead, they report directly to HR to ensure objectivity.
“We are united in delivering on this mission together, and recognize it takes all 53,000 employees to succeed,” said Peggy Riley, Vice President of Employee Communications and Engagement, on a case study on the website Great Place to Work. “On employees’ first days at Wegmans, we take time to explain our mission, values, and the integral role they play in our success. We explain how every individual’s work and role at Wegmans helps us collectively deliver on our mission.”
Nick Hedderman, Senior Director of Microsoft’s Modern Work business group, has talked at conferences about a study his company led that found a highly engaged workforce had a better performance on the stock market and therefore better profitability, according to CIO.
Key Strategies to Boost Employee Experience
Positive Work Culture – Building a culture that makes employees feel included and safe to share their genuine opinions, findings (even when they’re not positive), and experiences goes a long way to set the tone of a workplace.
The culture should foster a healthy relationship with management that is built on respect. It should also enable teams to get creative, brainstorm, and feel camaraderie. Leaders should demonstrate that they care for the employees, including their well-being, the well-being of their families, and their progress in the company and career.
Recognition and Rewards – Organizations that want to foster a positive employee experience must recognize the hard work and dedication of those who work for them. People need to feel appreciated. There are simple ways to show gratitude for someone’s work. Shout outs at the weekly meeting, an employee of the month, or a reward like a gift certificate can make someone feel valued. A simple thank you does not cost anything.
IAG in Asia-Pacific recently revamped its recognition program. They turned two previous programs into one, put more power into the hands of employees to recognize each other’s work, and created a system to help those with outstanding performances gain monetary rewards when appropriate. Niki Kesoglou, Executive Manager Culture, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at IAG and APAC Advisory Board member, shared details with the HR Exchange community recently.
Training and Development – Creating a way for people to learn and continue to grow both in their roles and careers is another way for leaders to show they care. It is also a necessity in today’s business world, which is centered on swiftly advancing technologies and unpredictability in geopolitics and the markets. To create an adaptable and flexible workforce, organizations must provide opportunities for continuous learning or risk getting left behind. Recently, Kathryn Carpenter-Fortin, Senior Technical Account Manager at LinkedIn, talked to HR Exchange Network about the skillsets being lost and how companies fail to teach at their own risk.
Measuring KPIs
HR can work with other departments in the organization to compare the results of employee surveys with those of customers. They can also look at the employee engagement versus sales and bottom-line results. Taking the pulse of the employees and the customers is vital.
Gartner calls this the Total Experience. Taking into consideration the multi-experience (MX), customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and user experience (UX) and how they all relate to technology is a strategic way to look at an organization’s road to success. The suggestion is to keep tabs on all these stakeholders and recognize the links in the data for each and how they relate to one another.
The point is that there is no turning back now. Employee experience is forever linked with customer satisfaction. This realization, although perhaps tardy, is motivating companies to simultaneously improve customer and employee experiences. Finding ways to reach employees through the building of a positive culture, recognition, and training are key to beginning this process. Once the plan is in motion, Human Resources leaders are charged with measuring KPIs and continuously tracking performance to ensure no one gets complacent.
By Francesca DiMeglio
Originally posted on HR Exchange Network
by admin | Sep 4, 2024 | Employee Benefits, Hot Topics, Open Enrollment
Navigating health insurance can feel like planning a vacation. You wouldn’t pack for a beach trip if you’re headed to the mountains, right? Similarly, choosing a health plan requires careful consideration.
Open enrollment is your chance to design a plan tailored to you; it is your yearly opportunity to review and adjust your employee benefits package.
What is Open Enrollment?
Open enrollment is a specific window of time, typically every autumn, when employees can enroll in, change, or drop benefits offered by their employer. These benefits typically include health insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, and medical spending accounts. Outside of this period, changes are usually only allowed under special circumstances. Open enrollment is like a health checkup for your financial well-being, ensuring you have the right coverage to protect yourself and your family.
Why is Open Enrollment Important?
- Life Changes: Major life events like marriage, birth, or adoption can significantly impact your benefit needs.
- Plan Changes: Insurance providers often adjust their plans and rates annually.
- Cost Control: Reviewing your options can help you find ways to save money on premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
- Maximizing Benefits: Ensure you’re taking full advantage of the benefits offered by your employer. You may even discover hidden gems in your plan like discounts or a wellness program within your current plan.
Tips for Open Enrollment Success:
- Understand Open Enrollment Terms
- Review Your Current Coverage: Understand your existing benefits and how you’ve used them throughout the year.
- Estimate Healthcare Costs: Consider factors like doctor visits, prescriptions, and potential major medical expenses.
- Compare Plan Options: Evaluate different plans based on premiums, deductibles, copays, and network size.
- Involve Your Family: Discuss your options with your family to ensure everyone’s needs are met.
- Ask Questions: If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact your HR department or benefits provider.
- Remember the 4 D’s When Choosing a Plan: Take into account doctors, drugs, diagnostics and deductibles. Be sure your doctors are in-network, your drugs are covered, and key diagnostic tests like blood tests and imaging are accessible and your deductible meets your financial needs.
Open enrollment season is right around the corner! Take the time to prepare now; remember, the decisions you make during open enrollment can have a significant financial impact on you for the following year. So, be sure to read up, think of your options, and select carefully!
by admin | Aug 12, 2024 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
The lack of affordable and available child care in the United States continues to take its toll on workers and employers alike. It not only affects working parents with child care needs, consider the effect on coworkers who have to pick up the slack of absent team members or the staffing shortages organizations experience, especially small businesses, when parents take leaves of absence or quit their jobs because of child care complications.
The Business Case for Providing Support
Employers lose an estimated $23 billion a year because of child care-related complications, resulting in a $122 billion hit to the U.S. economy (lost wages, productivity, and tax revenue), according to a recent study from ReadyNation.
KinderCare, one of the country’s largest day-care operators, is constantly fielding questions from employers asking for help in solving child-care needs—needs they didn’t realize they were a part of before COVID.
In an environment with a tight job market—more job openings than people looking for work—the child-care industry is hit particularly hard. There is a need for more people to work in child care and a need for a career pipeline. But it’s hard to attract workers into a profession that requires credentialing and where the pay is so low. The child-care workforce was one of the slowest to recover from the pandemic, and it was predicted it would lose another 232,000 jobs once the federal pandemic child-care subsidy program ended.
How Employers are Responding
Conflict can often prompt creativity. The same can be said of crisis. Employers are responding in some very unique ways, from the conversion of office space to building new, on-site centers.
Micron Technology opened a center across the street from its HQ in Boise, Idaho and one near a manufacturing plant in central New York. It also invested money to train care providers and early-childhood teachers to address the talent shortage.
The Washington Post reports that Tyson Foods built a center in Humboldt, Tennessee to accommodate its shift workers; Hormel is building a $5 million child-care facility in Austin, Minnesota; and medical services company VGM Group is converting 8,000 square feet of office space into a day-care center in Waterloo, Iowa. While costly, employers are finding that on-site child care can attract and retain employees.
Pittsburgh International Airport opened a child-care center with plans to expand it to round-the-clock care to accommodate night-shift workers. They also added public bus routes to make transportation to work easier.
A charter school in Wisconsin—to avoid losing staff in a tight labor market—converted space into an infant-care center and are providing a 25% subsidy to the parents.
Another creative option is offering tuition subsidies to parents that can be used anywhere or in any manner to meet their needs, such as summer camps or after-school programs. Since child care needs vary over time, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Organizations such as Bright Horizons and KinderCare report a large uptick in employers inquiring about on-site child care along with information on backup options for emergency care.
As employers are realizing they need to be part of the solution to this crisis, can they expect to see a return on these hefty investments? According to an analysis of five companies that offer child care benefits, the positive financial impact can include an ROI of up to 425%. The benefits included monthly stipends of $1,000, near-site centers, and emergency on-site daycare. The companies have seen reduced absences and better retention, not to mention increased morale:
“It’s not just the money, it’s the principle. It feels like a ‘thank you.’ It’s an incredible morale booster. Even if another company offered me more money tomorrow, I wouldn’t even consider it, given how much this company has invested in my personal life.”
Government Programs and Public Policymakers
As mentioned in the previous article, most child-care businesses operated with less than a 1% profit before the pandemic. Other countries address that instability by subsidizing parents’ costs, an investment that allows child-care providers to charge adequate rates. However, the United States spends less than almost every other rich country on child care and early education.
During the pandemic the federal government sent out $24 billion in aid packages to the industry, which helped head off 75,000 child-care center closures. However, the Child Care Stabilization Grant expired on September 30, 2023. The Century Foundation’s Child Care Cliff Survey anticipated the impact the expiration of funds will have, including a loss in tax and business revenue of $10.6 billion.
Long-term solutions are needed. In its 2023 Kids Count Data Book, The Annie E. Casey Foundation offers suggestions: federal, state, and local government investment in child care including reauthorizing and strengthening the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act; collaboration among public and private leaders to improve the infrastructure for home-based child care; expanding the federal Child Care Access Means Parents in School program which serves student parents.
Private industry is beginning to see a return on its investment in child care benefits. Imagine the results—and the effect on society—if policymakers along with industry leaders take the leap to implement programs and build a system to make child care more affordable, available, and accessible.
Beyond it being an economic issue, a social issue, and a workforce issue, “…it’s a humanity issue,” writes Petula Dvorak, Washington Post Columnist.
by admin | May 27, 2024 | Health & Wellness, Hot Topics
Mental health isn’t just the absence of illness. It’s a continuum ranging from severe symptoms such as panic attacks and major depression to excellent mental strength and well-being.
Sometimes you’re not ill, but you aren’t well either – and you need help. If you’re feeling down about work or a problem in your life and need to talk to somebody, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a great solution.
What is an EAP?
EAPs are mental health services available at work, and they can be beneficial in helping you work through problems. An EAP provides voluntary, confidential services that help you manage personal difficulties and life challenges under the guidance of a professional counselor.
An EAP can provide counseling, support groups, and other resources to help you cope. An EAP is usually offered 24/7, so you can always access it when you need it most. These programs are usually an employee benefit offered by your employer at little or no cost to you.
Employee Assistance Programs aren’t just for crisis situations. They can also provide advice and practical support for:
The Bottom Line
EAPS offer free benefits like short-term therapy, stress management, financial counseling, and relationship support, among other services. Even though they’re short-term, EAP benefits can help you to address issues that have been building up. The end goal of an EAP is to improve your well-being, using a plan that works for your unique circumstances.
by admin | Mar 5, 2024 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
A better work/life balance is at the top of the list for many employees. However, with the absence of nationwide paid leave regulations for American workers, employers typically determine the extent of paid time off for their employees. In an increased effort to remain competitive and improve employee attraction and retention, a new survey found that a majority (84%) of U.S. employers plan to add to their leave programs within the next two years to enhance their employees’ experience.
Due to changes in how and where people work in recent years, employers are contemplating updating their paid time off (PTO) and leave programs to meet the needs of their employees.
Specifically, these are the areas that are being revamped:
Caregiver Leave – Paid caregiving leave is time off with partial wage replacement to care for a family member with a serious illness. It is different than parental leave (leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child) and from medical leave (leave to care for one’s own serious illness.
Many companies are realizing that with the aging of the baby-boom generation, millions of working families are part of a growing “sandwich generation” as they juggle to care for young children as well as aging parents. Paid caregiver leave is gaining popularity; 25% of companies have a policy in place and another 22% are planning to offer it in the next two years.
Bereavement Leave – Bereavement leave is offered by some employers to provide time off to an employee following the loss of a loved one.
Many companies are realizing that since grief can have an impact on employees well- being, both physically and emotionally. Complications from unresolved grief may include anger, fatigue and depression and can plague employees for months or even years. Offering paid leave to employees dealing with grief isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s a smart move for companies. Employees that feel valued and cared for at work are more likely to stick around, reducing turnover costs.
Parental Leave – The purpose of paid parental leave is to enable the employee to care for and bond with a newborn, newly adopted or newly placed child. In fact, one-fifth of companies that offer parental leave plan on increasing the length of their programs in the next few years.
General Paid Time Off – PTO is a benefit where an employee has access to paid time off that may be used for personal reasons, vacation, or sickness. 23% of employers plan on increasing the number of days off provided.
Your workplace may be a “good” place to work but the truth is, your key employees might just be one LinkedIn message away from being recruited to another company. Having competitive leave policies in place to create the best employee experience is critical.
Retention and turnover affect everyone in the company, not to mention the company’s bottom line. After all, employee turnover is very costly. It never hurts to review your leave policies to ensure you are doing what you can to remain competitive while keeping your team happy and healthy.
by admin | Feb 6, 2024 | Hot Topics
Critical illness insurance is known by many names: heart attack insurance, catastrophic illness insurance and sick insurance are just a few. No matter what it’s called, it’s designed to guard against the financial costs of a serious disease or condition.
As the average life expectancy in the United States continues to increase, insurance brokers are finding ways to make sure Americans can afford the privilege of getting older. Critical illness insurance was developed in 1996, as people realized that surviving a heart attack or stroke could leave a patient with a mountain of medical bills.
Before you learn what critical illness insurance is, you should understand what it is not: medical insurance. This coverage is not meant to stand alone; it’s meant to be supplementary to other forms of coverage.
Critical illness insurance is simple – it provides a lump sum payment when you have a verified diagnosis of a covered illness. Critical illness insurance is offered as a voluntary benefit by some employers to supplement your regular medical coverage. You can use the critical illness benefit to pay for treatment, recovery or transportation costs associated with your illness, but unlike your existing health insurance, you’re not limited to medical costs. You can also use the money from a critical illness insurance policy to pay for a babysitter while you recover, utility bills, or however you see fit.
Common Critical Illnesses Covered
1. Cancer
2. Heart Attack
3. Stroke
4. Kidney Failure
5. Major Organ Transplant
Additional Illness and Conditions
Many policies also cover additional illnesses and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and severe burns.
Key Facts to Understand About Critical Illness Insurance:
- Critical illness insurance takes care of expenses that health insurance doesn’t normally cover and helps you meet your out-of-pocket costs
- Critical illness insurance only pays for certain conditions – you still need to rely on traditional health coverage for other illnesses
- You’ll receive just one large payment upon diagnosis, which may need to last for several years
- No networks, deductibles or co-payment
- Critical illness insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions
- Premiums become more expensive the older you are
- No restrictions on how you can use the funds, allowing you to choose what’s best for you
While it may not cover every disease, a critical illness insurance policy safeguards against many common and financially disruptive conditions. This coverage shields you from the impact of serious illnesses and unforeseen medical procedures by providing financial support for various needs—making up for lost wages, funding additional time off work, covering medical expenses, and even supporting travel for treatment. This support allows you to focus on the most important during this challenging time – getting better.
