by admin | Oct 5, 2026 | Health & Wellness, Hot Topics, Human Resources, Uncategorized
baseWhen HR leaders evaluate employee retention, it is vital to recognize that turnover rarely starts with a formal resignation letter; instead, it often begins much earlier and much more quietly through subtle signs of disengagement. In today’s highly connected workplace, social withdrawal—such as skipping lunch with coworkers, declining meetings, or contributing less in Slack—can serve as one of the earliest indicators that an employee is considering an exit. Although voluntary turnover has decreased to 13.5 percent from 24.7 percent in 2022, lower turnover does not equal higher engagement, with Gallup reporting that over half of U.S. workers are actively looking or keeping an eye on outside opportunities, and one in three would consider leaving without another job lined up. Gallup terms this trend the “Great Detachment,” where employees appear productive on the surface while emotionally disconnecting from the organization.
The Root Cause: Missing Relationships, Not Just Missing Perks
While compensation, career growth, workload, and flexibility matter, they do not tell the full retention story because employees often leave due to a lack of meaningful relationships rather than just job gaps. When employees feel excluded from informal conversations, disconnected from peers, or removed from collaboration, their sense of belonging erodes.
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Employees situated on the outer edges of an organization’s network—possessing few meaningful workplace connections—are two to three times more likely to leave.
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Some employees intentionally move themselves to the edge by choosing to reduce collaboration and pull back from coworkers, mirroring research from Thred showing that recently resigned employees had 36 percent fewer connections than the average and double the likelihood of reporting no workplace friendships.
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Conversely, highly connected employees are 24 percent less likely to leave than those with fewer relationships.
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Employees who share dual-purpose relationships blending professional collaboration with personal rapport are 37 percent less likely to quit than those with strictly transactional connections.
The Ripple Effect of Central Departures
While central connectors stabilize teams, they also introduce organizational risk if they become burned out or frustrated. When a central employee exits, research suggests that up to 25 percent of their immediate network may follow in subsequent months, creating a relational chain reaction where one departure influences others to reassess their own future.
Actionable Strategies for HR Leaders
To address quiet detachment before it turns into a formal goodbye, HR teams can implement four practical strategies:
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Use network analysis to identify early warning signs: Conduct regular organizational network analyses or look out for behavioral changes like quietness, decreased participation, and leaning back.
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Create intentional opportunities for connection: Foster meaningful human connection through interest-based matching, peer mentoring, curated mixers, and team exchanges, particularly in hybrid or remote environments.
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Build teams where relationships can deepen: Encourage cross-functional collaboration and cultivate psychologically safe environments where employees can ask for help and show up beyond their job titles.
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Stay close to highly connected employees: Conduct regular check-ins with central employees who hold outsized influence on morale to identify risks before they trigger a broader talent drain.
by admin | Apr 28, 2025 | Uncategorized
Let’s be honest, HR leaders: how many teams have poured hours into crafting an employee handbook, only to find it languishing in some digital abyss, unread and unloved? We’ve all seen the statistics aren’t great. If you haven’t, they show that a staggering percentage of employees avoid reading them at all.
That’s a problem.
So, how do you transform your handbook from a dusty legal tomes into a dynamic resource that employees actually use?
The answer lies in a blend of clarity, engagement, and a genuine understanding of your company’s unique identity. Let’s break down the 15 essential sections every modern employee handbook should include, with a focus on making them both informative and approachable.
1. Foundational Principles: Introduction and Company Overview.
Your handbook must begin with a clear, compelling introduction outlining your organization’s mission, values, and strategic vision. This section sets the tone for the entire document, providing employees with a foundational understanding of your company’s purpose and culture.
2. Commitment to Equality: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Anti-Discrimination Policy.
Your organization needs a robust EEO and anti-discrimination policy. This section should explicitly state your commitment to a workplace free from discrimination and harassment, outlining prohibited conduct and establishing clear reporting procedures.
3. Behavioral Standards: Workplace Conduct and Expectations.
It is essential to define the standards of conduct expected from all employees. This section should cover professionalism, dress code, use of company resources, and communication protocols, ensuring a consistent and respectful work environment.
4. Financial Clarity: Compensation and Benefits.
Your handbook must provide detailed information regarding compensation and benefits. This includes pay schedules, overtime policies, and comprehensive details on health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
5. Time Management Framework: Hours of Work and Time-Off Policies.
Your organization needs to clearly define work hours, break policies, and procedures for requesting various types of leave, such as vacation, sick leave, and personal leave. This ensures consistency and fairness in time management.
6. Growth and Development: Performance Management.
It is vital to outline the company’s performance review process, performance expectations, and opportunities for professional growth. This section should emphasize your organization’s commitment to employee development.
7. Safety and Security: Workplace Safety and Security Protocols.
Your handbook must prioritize workplace safety and security. This section should detail safety procedures, emergency protocols, and guidelines for reporting workplace accidents or hazards, as well as security measures related to building access and data protection
8. Technology and Communication: Usage Guidelines.
Your organization needs to establish clear guidelines for the appropriate use of company technology. This includes computers, email, internet, and mobile devices, with a strong focus on data security and privacy.
9. Dispute Resolution: Employee Relations and Grievance Procedures.
It is crucial to provide a formal process for employees to address workplace concerns or grievances. This section should outline the steps involved in resolving disputes and ensure confidentiality.
10. Attendance and Punctuality: Requirements.
Your company needs to clearly define the company’s expectations regarding attendance and punctuality. Clear call out procedures are also necessary.
11. Transition Procedures: Resignation and Termination.
Your handbook must outline the procedures for resignation, including notice requirements, and the company’s policies on termination, including grounds for termination and final pay procedures.
12. Protection of Assets: Confidentiality and Proprietary Information Protection.
Your organization needs to define confidential information and outline the employee’s responsibility to protect it. This section should address intellectual property and trade secret concerns.
13. Wellness and Safety: Substance Abuse Policy.
It is essential to clearly state the company’s policy on drug and alcohol use in the workplace, including any testing procedures and employee assistance programs.
14. Modern Work Arrangements: Remote Work Policy (if applicable).
If your organization offers remote work, your handbook must provide clear guidelines for remote work, including communication expectations, technology requirements, and performance standards.
15. Policy Management: Handbook Acknowledgment and Revision Procedures.
Your handbook needs a section for employees to acknowledge receipt and understanding of the handbook, as well as a policy on handbook revisions and communication of updates.
Your employee handbook is more than just a legal document. It’s a reflection of your company culture. By blending formality with a conversational approach, you can create a resource that employees actually read, understand, and use. Let’s move beyond the dust and create handbooks that truly work for our teams.
Originally posted on Mineral
by admin | Apr 1, 2025 | Uncategorized
The generations at work – Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers – continue to fascinate business leaders and especially those in HR, who are charged with talent management. Trying to understand each generation’s attitudes, habits, and history is important. While each person is unique, these shared generational experiences can help people better orchestrate teams and get the most out of individuals. Of course, nothing beats one-on-one training and communication, but generational preferences can be a starting point for leaders.
As a result, Corey Seemiller, an award-winning professor in the Department of Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations at Wright State University, continues to research the generations at work. Recently, she co-wrote the book Generations in the World of Work (Routledge, 2025), which includes firsthand research. Along with her co-author, Meghan Grace, Seemiller provides an overview of how each generation is facing certain workplace issues like work from home versus return to office policies.
Seemiller recently sat down with HR Exchange Network to share her thoughts on the generations at work during what is an inflection point for the workplace and geopolitics. Discover what she thinks about how the next generations will carry us into the future:
HREN: What are some key findings about generational differences in the workplace?
CS: Our study revealed both commonalities and differences across generations. We found that trust and loyalty are important to all generations. However, there were notable differences in perceptions of well-being, leadership, and feedback preferences. Each generation also has distinct preferences for delegation and management styles.
HREN: How do different generations prefer to be managed?
CS: Baby Boomers tend to prefer participatory leadership. Gen X values independence and clear objectives. Millennials often need detailed instructions and frequent feedback. Gen Z typically requires clear boundaries and expectations. It’s crucial for managers to understand these differences and adapt their management style accordingly.
HREN: What impact might younger generations have on traditional business hierarchies?
CS: We’re seeing a trend where younger employees are sometimes turning down promotions, which could lead to a “conscious uncoupling” from traditional career paths. This shift may significantly impact traditional business hierarchies. Organizations will need to rethink how they cultivate future leaders and create attractive positions to retain talent.
HREN: How are remote work policies affecting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives?
CS: There’s growing concern that backlash against remote work and the implementation of regressive policies could negatively impact DEI initiatives. Younger employees, in particular, may be less willing to accept these policies. This could potentially lead to increased freelancing or exits from the corporate sector, affecting the diversity of the workforce.
HREN: What misconceptions exist about Gen Z in the workplace?
CS: A common misconception is that Gen Z is lazy. However, this view fails to consider the significant economic challenges they face. These include high costs of living, substantial student debt, and often low entry-level wages. It’s important to look at the broader context when assessing Gen Z’s work ethic and motivations.
HREN: What does the future of work look like according to your study?
CS: Our research suggests that the future of work will likely involve more flexibility in work arrangements and an increased emphasis on employee choice. Organizations will need to clearly demonstrate their commitment to inclusion to attract and retain talent. We may also see potential leadership challenges if younger generations continue to opt out of traditional career paths.
HREN: How can organizations better understand and manage different generations in the workplace?
CS: Organizations should focus on recognizing the different motivations and values of each generation. They should tailor management styles to suit different generational preferences and provide comprehensive DEI training. It’s crucial to create attractive, fair positions to retain talent across all generations. Ultimately, the key is to focus on understanding the experiences and perspectives of different generations for effective collaboration and management.
By Francesca Di Meglio
Originally posted on HR Exchange Network
by admin | Dec 23, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Despite its broad coverage, there’s a lot of confusion about what the law requires and what its terms entail. A big reason for this confusion is the language of the law itself; the ADA speaks of nebulous concepts like undue hardship and reasonable accommodation. Words like undue and reasonable are by their nature open to some interpretation, which is not exactly a comfort to employers.
Fortunately, employers can feel confident in their application of the law by reviewing and understanding its most important concepts. In this article, we’re going to define and analyze the terms disability, undue hardship, reasonable accommodation, and interactive process. These are the big four terms that serve as the foundation of your responsibilities as an employer under the ADA.
Disability
Let’s start with the term disability. Under the ADA, a person with a disability is someone who:
- Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
- Has a record of such an impairment; or
- Is regarded as having such an impairment.
Major life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, such as digestive, circulatory, and reproductive functions.
Although determining whether an impairment meets the definition of disability is an individualized assessment, some conditions “virtually always qualify.” For example, according to the EEOC, deafness substantially limits hearing; HIV substantially limits immune function; and bipolar disorder substantially limits brain function. Other conditions may vary from case to case in whether they substantially limit a major life activity.
It’s important to note that the definition of disability is broad. After the ADA was originally passed, the courts interpreted the definition very narrowly, and Congress responded by amending the ADA in 2008 so that more disabilities are covered. If an employee asks for an accommodation because of a physical or mental condition, it often won’t be hard for them to show that the condition substantially limits a major life activity.
Reasonable Accommodation
Employers often encounter the ADA when an applicant or employee asks for a reasonable accommodation. A reasonable accommodation is a change to the workplace or the job application process so that people with disabilities can perform the essential functions of their job, access employment benefits, or be considered for a job they’re qualified for. The intent of reasonable accommodations is to remove workplace barriers for people with disabilities—barriers that don’t prevent people without disabilities from performing the work or applying for the job. But don’t focus too much on the word reasonable; in the context of disability accommodations, reasonable means feasible or plausible.
Common types of accommodations include modifying work schedules, altering the way job duties are done, re-assigning a non-essential job duty (like asking the receptionist to stack the monthly 100-lb paper delivery in the storage room), granting additional breaks, providing accessible parking, and providing materials in alternative formats (e.g., Braille, large print). Another type of accommodation is a temporary leave of absence. Although a bit counterintuitive (because the employee isn’t working while on leave), the theory with a leave as an accommodation is that the time off will enable to employee to perform the essential functions of their job when they return.
Not every requested accommodation is required, however. For one, employers don’t have to remove an essential job function (e.g., the receptionist can still be expected to answer the phone). Employers also aren’t required to provide items for personal use, like wheelchairs or hearing aids. And, as we turn to next, an accommodation doesn’t have to be provided if it causes an undue hardship.
Undue Hardship
Under the ADA, an employer is not required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees or applicants with disabilities if doing so creates an undue hardship on the organization. The basic definition of undue hardship is an action that creates a significant difficulty or expense. Generally, this is a high standard to meet.
The cost of an accommodation could be an undue hardship on the employer, but so could an accommodation’s duration or disruption. An accommodation that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business would be an undue hardship even if the cost was negligible. But if cost alone is the basis for claiming undue hardship, employers should remember that the standard is a significant expense.
Undue hardship is determined on a case-by-case basis, considering the following factors:
- The nature and net cost of the accommodation, including the availability of tax credits and deductions, as well as outside funding;
- The overall financial resources of the facility providing the accommodation, the number of employees at the facility, and the effect of the accommodation on expenses and resources;
- The employer’s overall financial resources, size, number of employees, and the number, type, and location of its facilities;
- The type of operation of the employer, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce, and the geographic separateness and administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility providing the accommodation; and
- The impact of the accommodation on the operation of the facility, including the impact on the ability of other employees to perform their duties and the impact on the facility’s ability to conduct business.
An employer can’t claim undue hardship based on employee or customer fears or prejudices toward the disability. An undue hardship also can’t be based on the possibility that an accommodation could reduce employee morale.
Interactive Process
The interactive process is an ongoing conversation between the employer and employee to explore potential accommodations so that the employee can perform their essential job functions or access the benefits or privileges of their job.
Basically, the interactive process starts with brainstorming. The employee—and in some cases their medical provider—is often the best source for accommodation options. However, the employer should do some research too, for example, by searching for the disability or functional limitation on the Job Accommodation Network website.
Next, the employer chooses an accommodation from all the options. Employers should give consideration to which accommodation the employee prefers, but, at bottom, whatever accommodation they choose must be effective. If it’s not clear initially, the employer can implement an accommodation for a trial period to determine whether it’s effective. If that accommodation doesn’t work, employers should then try a different accommodation. In addition, circumstances may change over time, so the best practice is to keep an open dialogue with the employee to see if further adjustments are needed throughout the employment relationship.
By Megan LeMire
Originally posted on Mineral
by admin | Feb 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q: My wife and I work in the same small company. Is having her on my plan as spouse allowed? Can we both contribute separately from our own paychecks into our own Health Savings Account (HSA)? Or does it need to be my deduction only since I am the policy holder?
A: Yes, each spouse can have an HSA. The family limit, however, is divided between the two spouses, meaning the contributions to both HSAs combined cannot exceed the family HSA contribution limit.
| This information is general in nature and provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice. You should not act on this information without consulting legal counsel or other knowledgeable advisors. |
| ©2024 United Benefit Advisors |
