HR Daily Advisor is BLR’s FREE daily source of HR tips, news, and advice. HR Daily Advisor offers free webcasts, articles, and reports on topics important to HR and compensation professionals.
The entire workforce has been rattled and shaken over the last 3 years, but there are strategies to implement to improve your company culture.
This article was first published August 18, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
As more and more companies have shifted their employees from in-office workers to remote work, people are starting to see a major change in the way their teams at large interact with one another. These types of interactions add up to a vague but important term: company culture.
But what is a company culture? The phrase gets tossed around a lot, but it’s hard to pin down or define. Is it ping-pong tables and swimming pools? Is it employees being in each other’s weddings? Is it Friday night ragers held after the office closes?
No. (Well, maybe!) Company culture is simply the overall behavior of the employees of a business.
Why does company culture matter?
It affects performance. When people at your company aren’t able to work together in a cordial matter, balls will be dropped and goals will be missed.
It makes recruitment easier.Over 70% of workerssay they consider a company’s culture when deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.
It influences employee turnover. People are much less motivated to hang onto a job where they don’t like their coworkers.
It has an impact on your brand. When people love where they work, they share about it!
If you’re a human resources manager who feels like their company culture could use a major upgrade, you’re not alone. The entire workforce was rattled and shaken by the Coronavirus pandemic and other political challenges of the past few years. Employees have been feeling the stress, and have in turn been bringing it into their workplace. That can influence your company culture in any myriad of ways.
But company culture is something that can be adjusted and transformed. In fact, it doesn’t even require massive changes (although sometimes it does!) Here are a few things you can consider implementing in order to improve your company culture.
Create an Employee Recognition Program
Sure, you clap a salesperson on the back when they make a huge deal, and everyone gets Christmas bonuses. But do you have a formal employee recognition program? By creating some type of rewards system or bonus incentive, you’ll help employees feel appreciated by your company. This is the foundation of company culture: that people feel seen, valued, and known. It can sometimes feel as if employees should just do their jobs well without any recognition—after all, that’s what they were hired to do! Why should they get extra celebration? But by going this extra mile, you’ll improve your company culture, which in turn affects things like turnover and productivity as discussed above. Employee recognition programs turn something that’s easy to forget—public, clear recognition of employees—into a process, making it harder to forget.
Employees who don’t feel acknowledged, on the other hand, are more likely to speak negatively about your company, let resentment start to grow in their minds, and start looking for jobs elsewhere. So employee recognition? A necessity in 2022.
Communicate With Your Employees About Their Career Aspirations
Are your employees satisfied with where they’re at in their careers? Having more career conversations with current employees is an easy way to make sure employees feel cared for within your company structure. For instance, where do they see themselves in a few years? Are they hoping to be with your company long term? Are they interested in moving up the career ladder? Would they like to try their skills in a different department? By communicating with your employees openly and often about what their long-term career motivations are, they’ll understand that you take their careers seriously, and you’ll have a better eye on how committed they are to your business.
Be as Transparent As Possible
Employees don’t like the feeling that things are being kept under wraps. If your business tends to be hush-hush about shake-ups, new product launches, or changes in company structure, consider being more open. Obviously, some things are need-to-know for executives only. But try and give as much information as you can to your employees. For instance, if people have been asking for ages for a work-from-home policy but you’re still developing it, just tell them where you’re at in the process and what’s taking so long instead of brushing them off with a brief “that’s something we’re exploring”. If a product isn’t selling well, ask for their opinions on why. If you’re going to start asking people to come into the office more often, give lots of notice instead of just springing it on people in an email. The more you hide, the more your company culture becomes one of secrets, cliques, and gossip. When there’s a void of information, people will rush to fill it—and oftentimes, they fill it with things that aren’t quite accurate. Transparency goes a long way in helping employees feel like vital parts of the team, which will help improve your company culture.
Another part of transparency is simply making conversations easier to have. Who does someone go to if they’re having a hard time with their manager? How easy is it for someone to express displeasure at a choice made by a superior? These types of things factor into transparency overall: how open a business is to feedback can be an incredibly important aspect of company culture.
Don’t Sweat It!
Believe it or not, employees don’t need to all be best friends. In today’s world, it can sometimes feel like if coworkers aren’t going out for Happy Hour together every single Friday, you’re somehow failing as a company. But if people are thriving, your business is hitting its goals, and you aren’t seeing significant employee turnover? Things are probably just fine! Think about company culture in terms of your business, and what works for you—not just what you’ve seen on TV or heard about from friends. If you employ a lot of parents of young kids, they probably don’t want company parties every weekend, for instance. Company culture doesn’t have to look one specific way in order to be positive.
It's become more important for employees to have these skills during the pandemic, as remote work has become more common.
This article was first published August 17, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
In the current labor market, companies often feel fortunate if they can find anyone to fill a role, let along someone with all of the preferred technical qualifications.
Recruiters and employers often focus on these “hard skills” when filling a role, but increasingly, many are seeing the technical ability to perform the essential functions of the job as simply a baseline, with soft skills being seen as valuable assets that distinguish top candidates from the rest of the pack.
Soft Skills Matter More These Days
Soft skills, writes Kate Morgan in an article for BBC Worklife, reflect employees’ personal characteristics and behaviors. It’s become more important for employees to have these skills during the pandemic, as remote work has become more common.
Ironically, Morgan suggests that as non-human assets become increasingly important in the workplace, human qualities are becoming more desirable.
“As many of the highly technical parts of work are becoming increasingly automated or replaced by technological tools, companies are instead looking for workers who can problem-solve, juggle larger responsibilities and work well with others,” she says.
“The ongoing labour shortage also has organisations focused on longevity: employees who have the interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to grow into leadership positions offer a lot more value.”
Evaluating the Presence—or Absence—of Soft Skills
Judging soft skills is generally a more challenging task for recruiters. Ten years’ experience writing Java code or a degree in civil engineering with a 3.5 GPA can be conveyed in a few words on a resume and fairly easily verified in a background check.
Determining whether a candidate has strong leadership potential, problem-solving skills or conflict resolution abilities requires getting to know a candidate or possibly talking to reliable references.
Employers may not be in a great position at the moment to be picky about soft skills when sifting through the available labor pool. Nevertheless, they are increasingly emphasizing the importance of such intangible qualifications when making hiring decisions.
Meet Laure Rudelle Arnaud, chief people and impact officer at Sendinblue, a digital marketing platform dedicated to helping small businesses grow.
This article was first published August 4, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Meet Laure Rudelle Arnaud, chief people and impact officer at Sendinblue, a digital marketing platform dedicated to helping small businesses grow. We recently connected with Laure to discuss how she got her start in the industry, her biggest influences, best mistake, as well as her thoughts on what business leadership looks like now and for the foreseeable future since the Covid-19 crisis. What’s one strategy Laure has found successful as a leader during this new work era? She says it’s all about connection.
Laure Rudelle Arnaud
“During this period of uncertainty, isolation and deployment of full remote work at a fast pace, I did emphasize the connection with my team members and people I was supporting,” she recently shared with HR Daily Advisor. “As an HR leader, there is one specific initiative that I have put in place and that has been particularly successful: the peer-to-peer coach approach through “co-development.” We invited leaders in the organization, on a voluntary basis, to join with a group of 6-8 peers and gather virtually for 90 minutes monthly to share leadership situations they had to face during turbulent times.
“During each session, one or two leaders had the opportunity to share with their peers one challenging business situation that they were facing and ask for coaching advice from their peers,” she continued. “Facilitated by an internal or external coach, these rotative structured sessions reinforce knowledge sharing, active listening skills, empathy, ability to show vulnerability, break the silos in the organization, and first and foremost, avoid social isolations for leaders, and create a space for deep and authentic conversations. Feedback from participants has been extremely positive. It is a successful strategy that I recommend to others.”
In our latest Faces of HR, meet Laure Rudelle Arnaud.
How did you get your start in the field?
I started my career as a consultant in strategy, and very quickly, it became apparent that I was interested in topics related to people and change management, which is why I decided to switch to HR. I joined Sodexo in 2011 as HR Project Manager, where I oversaw employee engagement and quality of life for 40,000 employees. I then took on different HR responsibilities related to talent management and HR development at a global level but also supported big business transformation cycles from an HR perspective. At my last position, I was the SVP HR for Group Senior Executives, namely for the top 200 Sodexo Senior Executives, supporting them in their career choices, crafting succession plans, and performance and potential assessment.
Who is/was your biggest influence in the industry?
Rohini Anand, who used to be the Chief Diversity Officer at Sodexo, who really paved the way on this area within the organization and for many other companies has been very inspirational for me. Sheila Heen, author of “Thank You for the Feedback,” is also an inspiration. I discovered her during a SHRM event 5 years ago. I loved her personality and her approach, and really try to implement and deploy her philosophy around feedback and performance management. This is the same for the author of “Radical Candor,” Kim Scott, who really helped me to structure a new cultural approach of an organization.
What’s your best mistake and what did you learn from it?
My best mistake was probably to push myself starting my career in strategy consulting. I learned a lot in terms of project management, framework, structure, and analytics but realized very fast that I was not analytical and detailed enough to do this job well. The thing that I really liked was the human side of the projects, the change, and people management aspect. It was full of learning and a great way to jump with strong roots into the HR industry.
What’s your favorite part about working in the industry? What’s your least favorite part, and how would you change it?
My favorite part about working in HR is helping connect the dots between the purpose of individuals and organizations while keeping a good balance between systemic approach and individual journey.
In parallel to that, I love developing the organizations in which I work to discern the line of their own values and identity as a social body and deploy it through statements, leadership initiatives, strong employer brand and so on. My least favorite part is the administrative and pure legal aspect of the job. I admire my team members who excel in it and are amazing HR back-office supporters, but it is not my favorite side of HR.
It sounds like through your experience you really care about people, and you want to help them feel safe and comfortable, which is important in the industry. Please elaborate here.
Indeed. My conviction is that the more people feel safe and comfortable physically and emotionally at work, the stronger they will be in their work, in their conviction, in their capacity to improve the way the work is done and to be a source of innovation and inspiration. I do believe that each of us should aim at becoming a leader. What does it mean? It means feeling empowered to know who you are, know your needs and get a good understanding of their business and social environment. Based on that, they are stronger to make the right choices for them and for the organization. Additionally, they dare to speak up, to innovate and, thus, they are the best ambassadors of the organization.
I do believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion as a great enhancer of quality of life at work. How do we make sure that each employee feels fully respected and proud of who they are with their specificities, their disability, their sexual orientation, their origin, their personality, and/or their personal situation?
How can company leaders make HR a value within their organization?
When they do care sincerely about the people, about how people react, can develop themselves, can react in their day to day and strategic decisions, they put HR as a value. When a leader embarks HR to think together about organizational design, career, and competencies mapping, they make HR a value within their organization. Finally, when they recognize HR to enhance innovation and impact, they make HR a value within their organization.
Where do you see the industry heading in five years? Or are you seeing any current trends?
I do believe that HR will be less and less in silo but will be more connected and approached jointly with impact, with innovation since people and human capital is the best intangible asset that an organization has to push the change deeply.
At the same time, in the last three or four years, the strategic and critical role of HR has been thrusted into the spotlight due to the Covid-19 crisis, and several lockdowns and with the need to manage our employees’ safety, to maintain connection, to restructure workplace initiatives, and to cope with the “great resignation.” For me, the part of the role, which consists of connecting the dots and being the “glue” of an organization, is the most relevant and critical in order for an organization to succeed.
What are you most proud of?
I am proud of the balance that I cherish between my intense professional life and my personal life. Having four kids at home, some of them with special needs, and helping them to grow as individuals on one side while having professional and business impact is something that I am very grateful for.
Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Dare to challenge and to innovate – HR needs to be pushed to move ahead, to keep reinventing the way we work. Try to be balanced in your assessment, behavior, and recommendation, and avoid being too judgmental; human nature is complex and requires a lot of adjustment. Finally, work on your own self-awareness. The more you know about yourself, the best you will be to support others.
Anything else you’d like to add? We can talk about anything you’d like to discuss here.
As new HR in an organization, it is extremely important to get a fast sense of what is the quintessence of the culture of this organization. What makes it special? What explains the boundaries of the employees to this organization? That’s the best way to build a successful people and value strategy, especially in a scale up environment where things grow very fast, and the culture needs to be protected while the company is growing.
With that, the ability to empower and develop the leaders to work and exemplify the values of the organization is a major workstream to focus on to succeed in keeping this culture alive. It is something that I learned from Pierre Bellon, Sodexo founder, who in 1966 understood the importance of giving pride through values to field employees within his organization. At the time, it was very innovative.
The sky is the limit in terms of what you can offer your employees, in order to keep them around.
This article was first published August 3, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
When it comes to benefits, your business is likely already offering some obvious ones. Healthcare. Dental. Vision. All of these things are important, to be sure, but in today’s recruitment market, you may need to go above and beyond to recruit great employees to your company. The sky is the limit in terms of what you can help your employees within order to keep them around.
60% of employees name benefits as “very important” when it comes to job satisfaction. People don’t just want a paycheck; they want flexibility, freedom, and financial resources. If you’re having a hard time recruiting new job candidates or seeing a high amount of employee turnover, it may be time to check out your benefits package and consider how you can improve it.
Benefits Beyond the Norm
Here are some out-of-the-box benefits that are gaining popularity in many industries. Before you jump in headfirst, keep in mind:
The norms for your industry (you don’t need to go from 0 to 100 if it isn’t industry standard)
The average age/family structure of your employees (the old and the young have different health and leave needs)
Cost of living in your area (employees may prefer a higher paycheck to better benefits if your office is in a very expensive area)
How satisfied employees are currently (if you regularly take employee surveys and no one’s ever voiced an issue with benefits, they probably aren’t something you need to change)
Once you’ve taken stock of your industry, your employees, and your needs, start brainstorming which benefits may improve the package you currently offer. Here are some ideas to get the ball rolling.
Adoption Assistance
Adoption in the United States is an incredibly expensive process. Some companies are getting creative by reimbursing their employees’ adoption expenses. Adoption reimbursement benefits are pretty rare, which means they can help employers with employee recruitment and also be a major sign of goodwill towards their employees. By demonstrating that you care about your employee’s family, you’re showing that you’re more than just a money-making machine—you provide a caring, compassionate workplace. At the risk of sounding cliché, you’re also making it easier for employees to do a good thing, and sturdier families will lead to a sturdier world (and in turn, a sturdier economy).
Financial Planning
You give your employees a paycheck. But do you help them understand how to use that paycheck? Helping your employees achieve financial literacy will improve your employee retention and help them understand how to financially function. When employees are stressed out about finances, they aren’t productive: they’re stressed, scared, and distracted. They’re also more likely to jump ship in order to find a higher paycheck. Avoid that by providing a reimbursement for financial planning, or a planned speaker/guest lecturer on the topic.
Continued Learning
Plenty of companies offer to help pay for employees to attend graduate school or get advanced degrees in exchange for the employee planning to work for them for a mutually agreed upon amount of time. But a continued learning stipend doesn’t have to be for a large amount of money or a formal education program. If an employee finds an e-course they’d like to take about your industry, an in-person class at a neighboring college, or a conference they’d like to attend purely for education, are those things you’re able to help pay for?
By helping employees learn more about your industry, you’re investing in your company long term. They’ll be able to use the information they’ve gathered to be better at their jobs, which will help your business to flourish. Even something as small as helping to pay for educational books can make a huge difference.
Summer Scheduling
Everyone appreciates flexibility in the summer. Consider allowing employees to choose their working hours during the months of June, July, and August, so long as they’re getting their work done or working a set number of hours each week/month. With kids out of school and the weather being perfect for the beach, employees would love the chance to take an afternoon off and make work up in the evening. Summer scheduling can go a long way to helping employees feel flexible and free, while keeping them loyal to your business.
Obviously, for some positions or industries, this isn’t feasible—you may need customer service representatives to be on the phone for a certain number of daytime hours, for example, or colleagues that need to collaborate. But summer scheduling is something to consider if you’re able to do so.
Paid Volunteer Days
If your company is looking for ways to give back to the local community, paid volunteer days can be a great way to do so. Give employees a certain number of days throughout the year where they can get paid to go and volunteer for their favorite causes. By doing so, you’re demonstrating your care for the community and helping your employees become better citizens.
Furthermore, it’s been shown that volunteering helps advance your career and keep you physically healthy. Paid volunteer days are a win-win-win. You could also create opportunities for “group volunteer projects”, where entire teams can go volunteer at an event together.
Flexible Holidays
There are a few standard holidays that companies tend to give off. But by making holidays flexible, you can give employees more freedom over their schedules. A Jewish employee may not see the benefit of taking Christmas off, and one employee might value the Fourth of July while another prioritizes Thanksgiving. By giving a set number of holidays instead of an arbitrary list, employees will be able to take off when they want to and work when they need to.
Gym Reimbursement
Studies have shown time and time again that better physical health leads to less stress, a more optimistic outlook on life, and higher productivity. By offering to reimburse the gym membership of your employees, you’re helping your workers become better at their jobs. You could even partner with a local gym to secure a group discount.
Trends and insights that are starting to emerge as companies and staff continue to cut their teeth on hybrid work.
This article was first published July 26, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced companies around the globe to embrace remote work. For most, the results were far better than feared, and the majority of employees tend to prefer the arrangement as well. Still, now that the impetus for remote work has subsided, there’s little need to maintain the remote work paradigm. Many companies are trying to split the difference with their staffs by attempting so-called hybrid work models, whereby an employee comes into the office on some days and works remotely on others.
In an article for BBC Worklife, Meredith Turits discusses some trends and insights that are starting to emerge as companies and staff continue to cut their teeth on hybrid work.
3-2 Splits Struggling
Many company’s version of hybrid work involves coming into the office two or three days a week and working remotely the rest of the week. “Many workers—and subsequently companies—are calling these meet-in-the-middle set-ups ‘duds’,” says Turits. “And research is beginning to bust the idea that approximately three days is the right in-office number: according to April 2022 Harvard Business School research, the sweet spot for office days may, in fact, be as few as one.”
No One-Size-Fits-All Model
It’s certainly not the case that the traditional, full-time in-office employment model was universally revered by employees. However, they were accustomed to it. It was familiar and accepted. Now that employers are trying to tinker with the model, they’re finding it’s impossible to please everyone.
“If there’s one thing employers and employees alike have learned about work during the pandemic, it’s that people have very different needs,” writes Turits. “What an ideal work set-up looks like for one worker couldn’t be a worse fit for another – and it’s virtually impossible to design a policy that accounts for every situation (and, no, fully remote work isn’t a universal panacea, either).”
Re-Designing the Office
When workers are only spending part of their productive time in the office, the structure and layout of the office often needs to change. Collaboration has become one of the primary reasons for staff to be physically present together in the office. Consequently, more space has been dedicated to group workspace than was the case pre-pandemic.
Now that there’s no longer a public health need for staff to work remotely, many employers are trying to find a balance between continuing remote work and bringing staff back into the office. This hybrid approach is relatively novel for most organizations, and they’ve been learning some important lessons about the effectiveness of different policies.
Hiring remote isn't the same as hiring in-person, so you need to look for these traits when recruiting remote workers.
This article was first published July 22, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The data is clear: employees want the flexibility to work remote. Whether it’s a desire to miss commute time, an itch to travel the world, or the simple ease of working in their pajamas, more and more employees are requesting to be remote workers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic helped prove that remote work can, in fact, be just as productive, more and more companies are shrugging their shoulders and saying “fine”.
Are there some downsides to having a remote team? Of course. There’s nothing like working alongside your employees in person. Sometimes, collaboration is more effective and creative when done in a more tactile way, like everyone using the same whiteboard. For parents, getting out of the house to work makes a major difference in their productivity—no Encanto playing in the background can work wonders for the mind!
But having a remote team has perks, too. In today’s economy, the No. 1 one perk is that it will likely make recruitment much easier. You’ll have a wider talent pool to pull from and you’ll have an advantage over your competitors that require people to traipse into the office. Studies have also shown that remote work can lead to employees having less stress, which may mean a higher level of productivity and lower employee turnover.
Companies can also save a ton of money by getting rid of their physical office space (although an investment will have to made in software to have a functioning remote team). With clear expectations and the right people in the right positions, a remote team can flourish and impact your company for the better.
That being said, there are some important traits you need to look for when recruiting remote workers. Hiring remote isn’t the same as hiring in-person, and you need to keep that in mind when sifting through your applicants. Here are four traits you should be on the lookout for when you’re looking to hire remote.
1. A Solid Technology Stack
If someone’s going to work remote, they need to be able to depend on their technology infrastructure. Does the person you’re hiring have a modern laptop, a working microphone, and a reliable internet connection? If you’re doing a virtual interview and the candidate is lounging on the beach in Jamaica while their internet fizzles, it’s an obvious red flag.
It’s great that people feel the freedom to work anywhere, but if the job position requires the internet—as most do—it’s going to be necessary that they’re able to easily access it. Ask the candidate what kind of tech they’ll be using and how familiar with it. You can also ask how they’ll solve the problem if their internet is out for a day or their laptop isn’t working (do they have an Apple genius bar near by? A coffee shop that they like to work from? Does your company offer remote technical support?)
It’s always good to be prepared—after all, remote workers won’t have the same access to IT that your in-person crew will.
2. Significant Self-Motivation
When an employee is working remotely, it’s essential that they’re able to get things done without someone looking over their shoulder. Out of the office, there are more distractions and more opportunities to let things slide. An employee can be so sure they’re going to tackle their to-do list from start to finish that day … until, oops—they realize they have laundry to fold, a major news story just broke and they want to read commentary of it, or their kids burst into their home office.
Self-motivation is an important tool in their toolkit in such times. It’s also important to ensure the candidate has the ability to not just brainstorm, but execute. When they’re by themselves, they’re still going to have to finish products from top to bottom. To try and decipher how high someone’s self-motivation is, ask about times in the past that they’ve had to be self-motivated and how they were able to overcome the temptation to be less-than-productive.
Consider asking how big of a role their manager and teammates have played in their work in the past—if they voice that a manager has been key to their success, it may actually be a bit of a red flag. After all, if others were so vital to their success at work, how will they be able to handle being separated from their colleagues?
3. Communication Skills
Okay, okay—communication is important for nearly every single job position. But with remote workers, it becomes even more important. Communicating in person requires one particular skillset, and communicating remotely takes things to a whole new level.
Are they clear and concise in their speech, since they’ll need to be speaking up in Zoom meetings? Are they able to express their thoughts in a written format, since so many more e-mails will be sent on a remote team? Are they comfortable expressing their opinions, since they’ll have less opportunities to bump into teammates at their water cooler for quick debriefs?
Communication is key to remote work. It should be one of your highest priorities when looking to hire. A virtual interview can be the perfect place to see how well a candidate is able to express themselves.
4. Reliable Judgment
Remote employees are likely going to have to make decisions by themselves. They won’t have a manager just over in the corner office, or teammates in surrounding cubicles. Of course, tools like Slack allow for teams to communicate regularly, but there’s still going to be a lot of opportunities for them to make judgment calls solo.
When hiring a remote employee, make sure you have 100% confidence in their abilities to make good decisions. Ask them for times when they had to make judgment calls in their past work experience and see if their decisions align with yours. Having someone on your team who’s afraid to make decisions is never a good idea, but when that person’s remote, you’ll feel the effects even more intensely.
The pros and cons to consider when making a new hire that seems well branded.
This article was first published July 11, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The idea of a brand might bring up images of company logos or social media guides. Every business has a brand, whether or not it was professionally crafted and implemented. But what is the personal brand? Do your employees have one?
A personal brand is simply someone’s online presence and how he or she presents himself or herself to the world. Someone who has a personal brand is someone who’s taken the time to cultivate his or her social media followings, written about topics of interest, and gone the extra mile to settle into an industry niche. Your neighbor who simply shows up to his 9–5 every day and does his job? He doesn’t have a personal brand. The job candidate applying for a job at your clean energy company who runs a blog on endangered animals and the importance of conservation, all while running an Instagram account dedicated to the plight of penguins? She does have a personal brand.
In today’s job market, you may be having a hard time finding the perfect candidate. Sometimes, a personal brand can help a candidate stand out and seem more appealing. If you’re not able to find the right person for the job, you could consider reaching out to people in your industry with personal brands. On the flip side, if you have too many applications for a particular position, a personal brand can help you get to know a candidate before you even bring the person in for an interview.
But does that mean a candidate with a personal brand is always the best option? Not necessarily. There are times when hiring a candidate with a personal brand makes sense, and other times it may be a mistake. Here are a few pros and cons to consider when making a new hire that seems well branded.
Pro: Candidates with personal brands come with a passion for the industry.
If you’re looking for candidates who are truly on fire for your mission, hiring those with a strong personal brand might be the way to go. It demonstrates that they aren’t just showing up to collect a paycheck; they’re invested in your industry and how you can improve it with products and services. People who are passionate about what you do are going to go the extra mile and put care and attention into everything they do. They will also have more ideas and a positive spirit. It’s always better to have someone who genuinely cares about your industry rather than someone who is just there to do a job.
Con: Candidates with personal brands may need to be enticed.
If a candidate is already well known in your industry, that person likely has a strong network of people willing to hire him or her. That means you may need to offer candidates with personal brands a higher salary, better benefits, or a more flexible work schedule, whereas you may be able to hire someone without a personal brand at a more affordable rate. The competition is simply going to be stronger for someone who has more of an industry track record.
Pro: Candidates with personal brands may need less education.
If someone has been researching and writing about your industry, that person probably already knows a great deal about what you do. In that situation, you’d be able to save time and resources on training, as the candidate is already an expert. You may even be able to rely on the person to teach others about a topic he or she is interested in. For instance, if you run a life coaching agency and this person has blog posts on the importance of utilizing the Enneagram in life coaching and you’ve been wanting more of the life coaches who work for you to embrace the Enneagram, it can be a win-win situation.
Con: Candidates with personal brands may already have one foot out the door.
If you recruit a person who already has a strong personal brand, you’re likely recruiting someone who has large career aspirations. On the one hand, that can be a great thing for your company—you want to hire people who want to grow alongside you and progress in their career. But on the other hand, it might mean the person is constantly looking over his or her shoulder for other opportunities.
Candidates with personal brands are more likely to get poached by competitors, and they’re also more likely to strike out on their own. Furthermore, how much time are they able to spend on the job at hand vs. their own brand? If someone is spending all of his or her time running a YouTube channel or a popular newsletter, the person may have less time to devote to your business.
Pro: Candidates with personal brands may bring an audience to your company.
If a candidate has a large Instagram, YouTube, or podcast following, that person may bring his or her platform to your business. This can give your company a big boost and provide it with some brand recognition. You could even use it to drum up some press. The candidate (now employee!) may mention you on his or her platform going forward, as well, bringing more eyes to your products, services, and/or events.
Con: Candidates with personal brands may now serve as a mouthpiece for your company, whether you like it or not.
If you’re going to publicize your relationship with this candidate, you may find yourself aligned with things he or she has said in the past or things he or she will say in the future. Before you decide to hire this person and give him or her permission to mention you on his or her platforms, you’ll want to do a deep dive of past content and make sure you feel comfortable with the worker’s tone and language moving forward.
Of course, just because someone works for you doesn’t mean you’re liable for that person’s words or actions. But if you hire someone with a giant following and that person starts talking about politics or culture in a way you aren’t comfortable with, that link may be clear in your customers’ minds. It’s simply something you’ll want to be prepared for.
Taking a flexible approach to the use of cameras can go a long way toward removing a source of unnecessary stress.
This article was first published July 8, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The widespread shift to remote work has been a blessing for millions of wardrobe-conscious workers. Instead of worrying whether colleagues will notice an outfit worn twice in the same week, most virtual meeting attendees can get by as long as they have a not-too-wrinkled dress shirt laying nearby.
But even though virtual meetings don’t require participants to be as “there” as traditional, in-person meetings, there are many who argue that even the relatively laidback virtual meeting can be unnecessarily stressful.
Continued Zoom Fatigue
“Platforms such as Zoom were a blessing when Covid-19 lockdowns hit, allowing many people to work from home,” writes Bryan Lufkin in an article for BBC Worklife. “But, two and a half years into the pandemic, that same technology has become something of a curse, too. These days, millions of workers spend hours each day on video calls, exhausting themselves trying to decode colleagues’ body language or distracted by their own image on screen.”
Readers might reasonably ask how being on camera is any different—or at least any worse—than spending that same amount of time in an in-person meeting. But while active virtual meeting participation isn’t necessarily worse than in-person meetings, Lufkin argues it does carry the same pressure of presenteeism.
The continued requirement that cameras be on reflects the default, Lufkin says. Why? Because, he writes, the expectation is “tied to long-standing, problematic norms linked to presenteeism that preceded the pandemic.” Historically, he says, employees have long felt the pressure to be “visible in front of the boss.”
The Pressure to Stay Visible
In office settings, being visible meant working long hours, chitchatting at the watercooler, casual conversations with colleagues in the hallway, etc. “Once remote work started, that pressure to be seen shifted to virtual meetings,” Lufkin says. “Staff felt they had to have cameras on so the bosses could see them and their commitment.”
For many organizations and managers, it doesn’t seem like a particularly intrusive request to ask virtual meeting participants to turn their cameras on; however, many employees find that this pressure can start to add up with the sheer number of virtual meetings they’re expected to attend. Simply taking a flexible approach to the use of cameras can go a long way toward removing a source of unnecessary stress.
'We expect our employees to work hard for our customers so we in turn should do our best for them,' says chief people officer of online music instrument and audio gear retailer Sweetwater.
This article was first published June 30, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
Before Jeff Ostermann got his start in the HR industry, he held various finance and business leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies. Now with nearly three years of skin in the HR industry, Ostermann says stepping into a chief people officer role was a “natural evolution.”
“Throughout my prior business career, I had always been focused on adding value through developing people and building high-capacity teams, so stepping into a CPO role was a natural evolution of this,” he recently shared with HR Daily Advisor.
Ostermann is Chief People Officer at Sweetwater, the #1 online retailer of music instrument and professional audio gear in the United States. In his role, he develops the talent, teams and culture that help Sweetwater serve its customers and grow its impact on music-makers in the U.S. and worldwide.
“The scope of my responsibilities includes talent acquisition, organizational design, talent management, talent analytics, total rewards, well-being, learning and development, and diversity and inclusion,” Ostermann explained. “My approach to HR is to treat it very much like its own business unit. Our HR team members deliver products and services to our customers, and we must continually do so at a high level. Our customers just happen to be employees, candidates, and their families.”
In our latest Faces of HR, meet Jeff Ostermann.
Who is/was your biggest influence in the industry?
I can’t necessarily identify one key person within HR that has shaped me. But I’ve been shaped throughout my career by gathering insights on work and life from a variety of sources and writers including C.S Lewis, Tim Keller, Patrick Lencioni, and Stephen Covey.
What’s your best mistake and what did you learn from it?
Very early in my career, I was dramatically called out by a family member of a colleague for having made some overly critical and negative comments about my coworker. I took the feedback to heart and decided at that moment that I would not speak anything about anyone that I wouldn’t be comfortable sharing with them directly.
What’s your favorite part about working in the industry? What’s your least favorite part, and how would you change it?
I love being able to positively impact our employees and their families – to see the joy and sense of purpose that someone can gain when they are aligned to work and to an environment that brings out the best of who they are.
My least favorite part is in recognizing that we can’t always provide everything someone needs to find their best path for their work and life. Sometimes we just aren’t a match for the environment that someone is looking for but when that happens, we work hard to help them discover a better option.
It sounds like through your experience you really care about people, and you want to help them feel safe and comfortable, which is important in the industry. Please elaborate here.
Absolutely! Especially in today’s world, many people can be skeptical of organizations. They’ve had past bad experiences or been burned by people or companies that didn’t treat them well. My hope is that we can create an environment where our employees realize they are deeply cared for and that then frees them to deliver their best work. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we’ll always agree on everything or that we can meet every possible need someone may have (an employer can only do so much) – but at a fundamental level, the sum of our efforts should send a signal that we are here for our employees who are serving the customers who count on us. We expect our employees to work hard for our customers so we in turn should do our best for them.
How can company leaders make HR a value within their organization?
HR leaders need to continually hold themselves to a standard of service excellence mirroring that of the best organizations in the world. If we are taking the time to deeply understand our customers and ensure we are delivering outstanding value – all while helping them tackle and solve their most pressing issues, then how can we not be valued? In the past where I’ve seen HR undervalued, it’s often because the HR team is reactively waiting to be told what to do or what problem to solve – not proactively anticipating issues and driving the business forward.
Where do you see the industry heading in five years? Or are you seeing any current trends?
I believe HR professionals are better positioned than ever to make a strategic difference in their organizations – but they must step up to seize the moment. They must also ensure they have the broad-based skills to handle a seat at the table when the opportunity presents itself. I believe organizations will increasingly be looking for HR leaders who have experience outside of a narrow HR vertical. The speed and complexity of decisions facing businesses today simply require leaders who can draw from both a depth and breadth of insights.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of being able to operate with a strong balance between my home and work life. As important as leading an organization is, my family means more. We need more leaders who visibly demonstrate this balance, so employees are empowered to do the same. The organizations that champion this will be the best positioned to attract high level talent that values people over performance. Perhaps somewhat paradoxically they will then end up creating more long-term value in both areas.
Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Roll up your sleeves and dive in. Embrace opportunities to take on the messy work and the hard projects. Figure out how to make your boss’s life better and pathways will open for you.
An employee transitioning out of your business can provide valuable feedback about their role, experience, and thoughts on your company, and in a way that may be more honest than current employee surveys.
This article was first published July 5, 2022, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
In the hustle and bustle of hiring a replacement for a former employee, the exit interview can be one of those things that slips your mind. While it is important to continue to look forward and make progress on hiring to fill your open positions, an employee transitioning out of your business can also provide valuable feedback about their role, their experience, and their thoughts on your company. Furthermore, they can do so in a way that’s more honest than current employee surveys—after all, they’re leaving and likely already have another job; what’s to lose from being forthcoming?
Exit interviews aren’t the be-all end-all; obviously, this employee no longer felt they were a good fit for your company, and at the end of the day there may just be personality or cultural differences that were too difficult to overcome. But there may also be nuggets of information that can be helpful when hiring a new person to fill the open role. You’ll never know unless you take the time to schedule the interview.
Don’t skip the exit interview. Here are seven exit interview questions you should always ask to learn from your former employee.
1. Why are you leaving our company?
First things first: why is the employee leaving? It may be a reason that has nothing to do with your company (a move, an industry change, retirement, a dream job opening) or a reason that has everything to do with your company (conflict with a colleague, an inability to progress, difficulty succeeding, better pay elsewhere). By starting with the basics, you’ll be able to set the tone for the rest of your conversation and understand why the employee was no longer feeling satisfied with their role.
2. What ideas do you wish you could have implemented during your time here?
Almost everyone has something that they would like to do in their job, but can’t for whatever reason. Whether it’s a major product overhaul or a brand-new service, find out what the leaving employee wishes they could have done differently. This will help you see blind spots in your current offering, and may help you understand why they weren’t able to contribute in the way they would have liked. Did they feel like they had too much on their plate? Were their colleagues or manager unsupportive? Did they feel like the current structure of your company couldn’t support their ideas? It can also help you get insight into the business they’re transferring to; they likely mentioned their ideas to the person hiring them, meaning you can get a glimpse into where their new company is headed. If you consider their new company your competition, that can be extremely helpful information to have.
3. What do you think is the most important skill the person taking over your job will need?
This question will help you in two important ways. First of all, it will help you understand what you need to be looking for when replacing the employee. This answer can craft your interview questions and/or the job description for the open position.
But it will also help you understand if you had a blind spot when it came to the position. For instance, say the person leaving was in a sales role. Think of the skillset usually connected with sales: communication, tenacity, the ability to think on your feet. But if the former salesperson answers they need to be able to use the product perfectly, or they need to be great at social media, you may start to get a better picture of what the position actually entails. Maybe you didn’t realize how often product demonstrations are used, or how much your company relies on social media to sell. By learning what the leaving employee thinks its important, you’ll have a better understanding of the role.
4. Do you feel like you had the support you needed to succeed here?
One common reason employees leave their current position is because they didn’t feel supported by management. If they see no opportunities for promotion, no mentorship, or no investment in their future, they’re likely to look for employment elsewhere. Make sure you get an understanding of how management treated that employee, and where any bumps in the road occurred. It can give you an idea of how to better support employees in the future to prevent further turnover. Again, this is the type of question a current employee may be afraid to answer honestly—but employees on their way out the door have nothing to lose by sharing their honest thoughts and feelings.
5. What will your salary and benefits be like in your new position?
This isn’t something every employee is going to be comfortable sharing, and they certainly don’t need to. But it they are willing to spill the beans, it’s incredibly helpful because it allows you to see how your company measures up to the competition in terms of compensation. You can typically get a sense of the market rate through your network and websites like GlassDoor but hearing it from someone who’s recently been hired is priceless—no pun intended.
6. What was your experience of our company culture?
You may have a vision of your company as a place where people thrive, are appreciated, and can be completely themselves. But does that measure up to reality? Asking an exiting employee who has nothing to lose can be the best way to understand what employees truly think of your company culture.
7. What advice would you give a new employee here?
Lastly, ask the exiting employee what advice they would give to the person taking over their role. This can be a treasure trove of valuable information: what skills they think the person will need to utilize, what kind of tasks they’ll need to tackle, how they can best fit into your company culture, etc. It’s kind of a catch-all that helps you truly understand the position and what is needed for a person to succeed in it.