HR Advisor Newsletter – March 2021

HR Advisor Newsletter – March 2021

How to Make Good Use of Your Employee Handbook

Employee handbooks are a nifty communication and reference tool for the workplace, but only if they’re used and not collecting dust on some physical (or digital) shelf. A handbook is only as good as what it does. At the minimum, it should do the following:

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HR Advisor Newsletter –  February 2021

HR Advisor Newsletter –  February 2021

How to Help Employees Communicate More Effectively

In an ideal world, communication would be easy. We’d immediately know exactly what to say or write. Emails, Slack messages, and reply threads would practically write themselves. And there’d be no confusion about what anyone meant, ever.

Of course, communication never works that way. We stare at the computer screen trying to decide how to begin an email. We misspeak or garble our words. We don’t always convey exactly what we intend. We misunderstand, overlook, or forget information we’ve been given. We also sometimes read emotions into words that weren’t what the writer was feeling. Or we pack our speech with such an emotional punch that it distracts from the point we’re trying to make.

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HR Advisor Newsletter – November 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter – November 2020

How to Support a Grieving Employee


Everyone experiences grief at some point in their life, and yet for being such a common experience, it’s also one that few of us are fully equipped to navigate when it comes. In part, this is because grief is such an overwhelming and horrible experience. Nothing can prepare you for it. You just have to go through it and get through it. Grief is also a unique experience for each person. Everyone has their own path through its stages, and what helped one person work through their grief may not help another.

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HR Advisor Newsletter – October 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter – October 2020

Key Definitions to Help You Understand the ADA

If you hadn’t engaged with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) before the pandemic, you probably have by now. The ADA comes up a lot these days, both with respect to confidentiality of medical information (like employee temperatures) as well as with reasonable accommodation for those who are at high risk for a serious case of COVID-19. In this article we’ll tackle some of the key terms in the ADA that every employer should be comfortable with. 

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HR Advisor Newsletter – September 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter – September 2020

Leading During a Pandemic

No one knows what the workplace is going to look like in three months. COVID-19 continues to spread. School reopening and attendance plans remain tenuous. Further action from Congress is uncertain. Official rules from the Department of Labor might even be struck down in court, further adding to the confusion about what employers are supposed to be doing.

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HR Advisor Newsletter – June 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter – June 2020

Don’t Forget to Document, Document, Document

With all of the changes everyone has had to make over the past few months, not to mention the heightened stress we’re all feeling, it may be tempting to let certain practices slide or be less strict about following particular workplace policies. Flexibility during crisis situations may make sense in certain situations, but there are some areas where you don’t want to fall short of your usual standards. Documentation is certainly one of those.

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HR Advisor Newsletter - May 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter - May 2020

How Employers Can Support the Mental Health of Their Employees During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. People have experienced financial hardship, additional challenges with childcare and school cancellations, job loss, reduced hours, sickness, and grief. The future is uncertain, and the present is extra stressful. And to make matters worse, many of the networks and practices that people use to support their mental health are currently unavailable due to social distancing.

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HR Advisor Newsletter - April 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter - April 2020

 

How to Pay for Leave Required by Families First Coronavirus Response Act

To take immediate advantage of the paid leave credits, businesses can retain and access funds that they would otherwise pay to the IRS in payroll taxes. If those amounts are not sufficient to cover the cost of paid leave, employers can seek an expedited advance from the IRS by submitting a streamlined claim form that will be released soon.

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HR Advisor Newsletter - March 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter - March 2020

How Employers Can Rethink Training and Team Building

Writing in Harvard Business Review, Seth Harris and Jake Schwartz argue that competing for skilled workers is a mistake—that organizations would be better served by growing the talent they need from within. Employers are often reluctant, however, to invest in training programs, and it’s not hard to see why. Additional skills may make an employee more “marketable” to other employers, and if the employee takes a job elsewhere, the investment goes with them. 

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HR Advisor Newsletter - February 2020

HR Advisor Newsletter - February 2020

How to Help Underperforming Employees

There are a lot of reasons why an employee or a team may be underperforming, and sometimes it takes a little digging to get at the root of the problem. Under-performance could be due to a skill gap, unclear expectations, or a lack of incentive to perform. It could be due to obstacles in your organization that prevent people from completing their assignments or getting their work done on time. There could be a combination of factors that would need to be addressed before employees could routinely do their best work. 

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