by Nancy Rodriguez June 30, 2019

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Remote work is becoming the new normal for many companies. With the new Millennial and GenZ joining the workforce there is a rise of workers who are joining the ranks of telecommuters.

Companies must be able to manage and adapt to this new way of having employees working remotely, but how can remote workers be effectively managed?

It can be very challenging to manage from the distance, but the truth is, this is the way of the future workplace where companies must adapt to this new working situation.

A manager can still be successful in managing a remote employee and it could be very similar as having an employee on site. The # 1 rule is to treat them as local employees.

Some tips for managers below:

1. Set Goals and Expectations.  Assist the employee in setting goals that must be accomplish and ensure they are in alignment with the company and your objectives. By having a goal and clear expectations and deadlines for meeting those goals it prepares the employees to be successful in their role. For example, if emails must be responded within certain time frame, have that discussion with your remote employees of when they need to be responded.
2. Regular Engagement.  Check up with remote employees on a daily basis. When employees work remotely they may feel disconnected or distant from the rest of the team. Ensure to check up with them and keep them in the loop every step of the way. Inform of any aspects of the organization including any new information or news. This will help keep them engage and connected. Planning regular face to face meetings can improve communication and help them stay engage with the company.
3. Use Technology. It is important to use technology to keep those remote employees engage. Skype is a good way to have those face to face meetings via technology and it helps build the relationship.
4. Increase Communication.  Regularly communicate the company’s goals and strategies this is critical. Provide regular feedback on their performance and see what you can do to support them meet their goals or career development. Be available and let them know how they can access you if there are any questions or issues to be resolved and make sure to respond.
5. Show Appreciation. Too often managers forget to say thank you or show appreciation, this can be express even if the employee is working remotely.  Just don’t send an email to say good job!, calling them will have a greater impact, than just an email. Providing positive feedback goes a long way, it motivates employees, engages them and in turn you have better , stronger high-performance team.  
6. Make them Part of the Team. Having weekly meetings with the group via video and local employees it will help build the relationship among the team. Include them in all the training available to local employees.
7. Create a Positive Culture. Create a culture where employees are aligned with the company’s values and of inclusiveness.

Having a strategy to manage those remote workers it important to make them feel engage and motivated. The end result is that performance and productivity would increase.

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Nancy Rodriguez June 29, 2019

So, who are the Millennials and Gen Z?

The term millennials are those individuals who were born between 1980s -1995 and Gen Z are those born between 1996-2010

These generations are known as having tendencies of been flaky but they have shown to be loyal to employers who invest in their development and training.  Millennials say that their employers are expecting too much from them and that they are experiencing burnout at the workplace. Today we see more millennials occupying managerial positions, director or higher. Millennials are changing the traditional management styles as they tend to be in favor of flexible schedules and having a remote workforce.

Millennials need to know the reason for completing a task before they actually execute on it.  They want to see how this fit into the bigger picture. Millennials are also known for been the job hoppers usually with a tenure of three years.  They are also known as individuals who are savvy in surfing the Web.  This is the generation that first connected to the technology revolution. Millennials are known for asking questions and are not afraid to ask questions.

Gen Z has some differences from the millennials. They tend to be less focused and process information faster than prior generations. They are great to multitask they can research on a table with doing other activities at the same time. They are also more entrepreneurial, they are constantly creating new content thought various platforms and sharing ideas of the things they see and hear.

Millennials grew up during a time that was a very rapid change. Millennials and Gen Z are expected to be the dominant generation. The number of millennials is projected to reach 73 million in 2019 according to National Post. Generation Z will account for 40 percent of all consumers in the U.S.

Examples of how millennials and Gen Z are reshaping the workforce:

1. Millennials like to Plan Ahead. This generation tends to make planning a priority more so than the prior generations.
2. Remote Working and Flexibility.  This generation tends to work more remotely. Those managers in these generations tend to work remotely as well as their teams. They want to be in control of their own working hours and location.
3. Reskilling– the majority of employers feel that reskilling is important for their employees.

Whereas Millennials and Gen Z like more self-development and training.

• Open Communication. Millennials want to feel as their opinion is important and having open and honest communication is expected.
• Socialization. Millennials want to be able to socialize and connect with their co-workers in and out of the office.
• Contest Feedback and Recognition. They want to receive feedback more often than just a mid-year review.  They also want to be recognized for their performance than just on one off event.

In conclusion millennials and Gen Z generations are wanting things different and their expectations differ from those of other generations. Employers must encourage the adoption of different management style as their values are different from those of prior generation.  They should also encourage flexibility as more and more are demanding to have a flexible schedule where the can work anytime of the week.  Each manager will be facing some big challenges on how to understand these newer generations and also need to come up with ideas to attract, engage, motivate and retain them.

by Nancy Rodriguez June 23, 2019

Having engaged employees increases productivity, reduces turnover, number of days missed from work and creates a higher level of satisfaction.  The benefits created by having an engaged workforce it translates to higher revenues as employees feel that they are valued all facets of the business increases.

Here are 5  Ideas To Keep your Employees Engaged:

1. Show them you care!

 A simple effective way is by learning about your employees and who they are outside of the workplace, have a genuine care to learn about them as individuals this is key as employees feel they are appreciated when their boss ask about them.

2. Empower Employees

It is not only important to get to know your team, but also to allow them to take responsibility for their work and the opportunity to grow beyond. Welcome their ideas and involve them in the decision-making process.  Micromanaging is not empowering employee to do their jobs instead give them the autonomy to do their job in their own way.

3. Have a Good Listening Ear

Employees feel more engage when they have a voice in the workplace, it is important for your employees to know that management cares and that they have a genuine care for their input. It allows them to feel as part of the company.

Ask them for their opinion and feedback or you can also do this through anonymous surveys and do not forget to act on the feedback that is received.

4. Keep an Open Communication

Provide frequent communication on how the company is doing through meetings and the areas that the company needs to improve it gives the employee the opportunity to look at the areas where they can make an impact to help the company achieve its goals. They would know what the expectations are and how they can support the plan and contribute to the company’s goals.

5. Employee Recognition.

This is simple just say “thank you” or “good job” Recognition is very powerful especially when is your boss who is recognizing your job, Try to be specific on the praise as this could be very motivating to the individual when they are recognize for a special task where they went above and beyond.

One of the most important aspect in today’s organization is to embrace diversity at the workplace.  Many individuals when they hear the word diversity first thing that comes to mind is either ethnicity or national origin. Diversity is very broad, and it is more than just these two mentions. It includes sex, race, age, religion, people’s background, life experiences, upbringing, education, abilities overall it includes people with different characteristics as all of these shape an individual’s character and creates diversity.

Organizations must make sure that they have a workplace that embraces diversity and encourages individuals to foster an inclusive environment where people feel valued and respected.   An inclusive workplace begins from the top with senior management as they are the model for everyone else to follow as leaders of the organization. It also sends out a loud message that they do support diversity at the workplace. In order to do this, they have to align “workplace diversity” with their business goals and company strategies.

To increase diversity at the workplace employers must ensure that their hiring strategy resembles the community in which they operate in. They should reach out to the local organizations, institutions and colleges and reach out to minority job recruiters. The search should not just concentrate to local entities, but it can be broadened to other cities, states or even countries

It is important to develop and implement an equal opportunity employment policy that follows the Federal EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines.

There are many benefits to having a diverse workforce. There is a link between employee engagement and workplace diversity, if employees feel included then they are more engaged.

In an article in Summit DD on “Everyone Benefits from Inclusion” Senior Manager of Children’s Services, Tina Overturff when asked about the importance of inclusion she responded, “Our world is headed toward cooperation and working together,” “If we keep an entire population of people separate, we are not helping to move things along. Segregation is never OK. Each person matters. We need to teach lessons beyond textbooks”

Companies that have a diverse workforce achieve better business results and reap more profit. People with different background bring a unique set of experiences to the workplace and offers a different perspective and point of views which lead to better creativity. Also, by having diversity in the workplace it provides a better image for an employer which makes it a more favorable place to work and it helps attract top talent. Adding diversity to the workplace helps reduce turnover as employees feel valued, they may tend to stay longer with the organization.

06/19/2019 posted Nancy Rodriguez

This weekend we threw the most amazing health fair which was our 2^nd annual wellness initiative to raise awareness among our employees in issues such as health and to show them that the company cares about their well-being!

This event was all about planning early to make sure that we had all the various details worked out.

1 Planning, Planning and Planning!

I can’t emphasize this enough as it takes a lot of planning to put an event together.  The earlier you start the better to find out what your resources are.  Our department staff was very motivated as we had identified a Champion within the group who was the glue in keeping us together and excited throughout the planning of this great event.  I’m excited to have a team of dedicated individuals that got us all excited about our event. They had a lot of fun coordinating this event and offered a lot of ideas.  Do include others in the planning process to provide you with the financial support as well a long the way.

2. Create a Mission for your Wellness Program and Logo.

Having a mission of your program gives everyone a sense of direction and objectives to reach the goals.  By having a mission statement, it provides the employees guidance and makes it meaningful to start making changes in their lives.  Our Program is called Vivelo, which means “Live It Up” ‘We are committed to creating a unique a meaningful workplace, fueling growth through an inclusive culture, benefits, wellness programs and dedication to the staff”

2. Vendors and Sponsors: Support

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your network. We contacted our health insurance company who provided us with a Wellness Coach who guided us through the process and maintained us motivated throughout the process.  They contributed $10,000 towards our wellness event. Including biometrics screening onsite and onsite massages and it was all cover under wellness dollars.

Some of those vendors who participated in our event that you may want to incorporate in your wellness event:

• American Heart Association
• American Diabetes Association
• Local Gyms- who did Zumba free of charge!
• Nutritionists
• Carson City Parks & Recreation
• Local Credit Unions for financial wellness

Not only did they provided a wealth of information, but some also brought some giveaways, which added to our giveaways to encourage activity.

3.  Giveaways

Have a welcome booth and provide your employees with a passport to encourage them to visit each vendor at the end they can submit to win raffles that emphasize in the wellbeing and activity.

4. Have Healthy Snacks or Food

Promoting health is what your event should be focused on. Your health fair event should promote healthy habits. Having a salad bar, infused waters, and activities throughout the event is key to encourage the employees to build healthy habits.

5. Award

Provide awards to those who have participated regular on the wellness fair initiatives and encourage them to continue and take others with them as they promote Wellness.

6. Other amazing ideas you may be able to incorporate in your wellness event are:

• Chair Massages
• Zumba
• Nutrition Classes
• Yoga
• Aerobics
• Healthy Cooking
• Martial Arts

You can incorporate what may be the needs of those in the organization.

7. Besides Planning, Planning, and more Planning. It is important to promote the event to encourage attendance and to get as many employees motivated to attend the event.

Some things you may be able to do to announce the event.

Start announcing it early

Place it on your monitors or Newsletter

Post it on the Company’s HRIS system for everyone to see.

Keep in mind Wellness is not just on time event, but it is all year round.  Think of other creative things you can do. At my work my co-worker came up with “Wellness Wednesday” which we celebrate every month. We either have a smoothie station, a salad station or we just get creative with the ideas.

Hope you found these tips helpful and don’t forget to have fun!

Posted June 9, 2019

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Many businesses are faced with the rising cost of health insurance and are introducing Wellness Programs to raise awareness and improving their employee’s health and overall well-being. Deciding which wellness program is the right would depend on the overall culture of the organization

These wellness programs have many benefits to employees and offers a competitive advantage to the organization.  Engaging the senior leadership is one of the most important aspects of having a successful program.

In a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association on the effects of wellness programs reported that those who participated in these programs increased their exercising and maintained healthier weight.

Here is a list of 6 key benefits of employee’s wellness program

Benefit 1. Improved Productivity. When employees call in sick and are unable to work then productivity suffers. Having a workplace wellness program in place can assist in mitigating some of those losses by encouraging employees to improve their health by making better lifestyle choices.

Benefit 2. Better Company Culture

This is important as employees feel the company cares about their well being and it strengthens their relationship. Businesses that promote a culture of wellness have a competitive advantage.

Benefit 3. Higher employee satisfaction

Research shows that employees who work for organizations that offer a wellness program like their jobs, because they feel their employers care about their well-being. 

Benefit 4.  Easier Recruiting

Also, a study by Virgin Health Miles/Workforce Magazine found that 87% of employees ask for wellness packages when they consider an employer.

Benefit 5. Reduced Absenteeism

Employees who participate in a wellness program are less likely to miss work.  The Wellness Council of America estimates that 100 million workdays are lost. Educating the employees about nutrition and fitness programs is key for a healthier workforce.

Benefit 6. Lower Health Care Costs

Wellness programs can also lower health care cost by having a healthier workforce and reducing the number of claims each year.

 There is an obvious link between a company success and improved health and well-being of its employees.  There are more benefits to healthier workforce.