Preparing Your Business for a Mid-Pandemic Return

Tips and Tales From Our Own Experience with Managing During Coronavirus

Whether you felt ready or not, here you go: you’re now the leader of a 100% remote team.

Even under normal circumstances, going totally remote is very different than managing a department in a shared workspace – even if you’re used to supervising occasional or part-time telecommuters.

Whether you’re an experienced telecommuter, or this is the first time you’ve ever set up a virtual work station, the truth is: nobody has worked from home like this before.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been tapping into our favorite resources, gathering up some of the best tips we can find on how to survive – and thrive – during quarantine-forced telecommuting. We’ve found a lot of solid advice out there from very seasoned, highly successful professionals who have been doing this for years. These are people who know all the tricks for staying productive, engaged, and happy as full-time telecommuters.

How Transparency Earns Employee Trust

Think HR is obsolete? Maybe you’re just not doing it right.

And Why Eliminating Them Might Be Even Worse

A few years ago, a number of large, highly respected employers, including Cargill, Microsoft, and The Gap made headlines when they decided to do away with their annual employee performance reviews and ratings.  Since then, a growing number of organizations have followed suit. 

Zero in on these Critical Areas for Fast, Effective Onboarding

You’ve probably seen the studies linking employee retention to new hire experience.  If you haven’t, you might start with this one by the SHRM Foundation.  In it, you’ll find a compelling argument for re-investing in your onboarding process.  Whether your new hire is fresh out of school or a seasoned veteran, they need to experience a guided, intentional introduction to your organization, their new team, and their role within it.  And if you thought that you could save a few dollars by just “buddying them up with Betty Lou over here because she really knows the ropes…” well… no, you can’t.

In the ongoing battle for top candidates, a liberal vacation offering is a powerful perk.  In fact, a generous and flexible PTO policy does more than attract great new candidates.  When designed, communicated and managed well, it can also help you retain your current employees.

Every February and March, my email starts filling up with one specific kind of request.

If you’re a hiring manager, you’ve heard of “flexible work arrangements.” You’re likely already enabling some form of workplace flexibility within your own team. Or maybe you’ve managed to bob and weave and dodge the need up until now. But wherever you are on the “flexibility” spectrum, there are a few things you should know as you enter 2020.