Changing your Culture in the Workplace

The world is changing and so his how we work.  Due to breakthrough technologies like AI, robotics, seasonal viruses and racial tension; over 96% companies plan to redesign how they work according to Forbes.  In addition, the culture of where we work will see some drastic changes as well.

It will be important for organization will need to adapt and change their culture, which means humans or employees will need to change their habits to keep up with the altering work environment.  While it is true that investments in digital will be the latest trend, there are still people running the show.  The way they think, their approach to collaboration and how they innovate will be a huge factor in the success of any transformation.

Although a vast majority of companies plan to redesign how they work, very few employees feel “change agile.”  In retrospect, less than 40% of change initiatives succeed which is frightening.  That means that the majority of firms trying to adapt to a new world simply won’t succeed.  This will cause a lot of upheaval, unemployment and disruption which can be avoided.

The biggest factor in why organizational change fails, involves a failure to change human habits. In case after case, everything was right — the strategy, the plans, the budget — but the people were not changing.  The prevailing theories for how to change organizational culture simply don’t line up with the latest science about how humans learn, develop, and grow.

There are three types of activities needed to occur for an organization or even an individual change to succeed.

1.        Every employee needs to understand that there are new priorities that really matter. These priorities need to be easily recallable, sticky ideas that make complete sense with everything else going on and get people thinking in new ways. They need to appear desirable, as well as feasible. Without those three factors, people will not pay sufficient attention to a change.

2.       The harder work, involves building true habits that support these priorities. Building habits take time and attention, it doesn’t happen by just wanting to.

3.       Create systems that support everything, to keep the priorities and habits alive. As a simple example, you can get people to want to be healthier, but to do so they have to actually go and exercise, and that’s much easier if give them a gym to use and get them to schedule this in their calendars ahead of time.

Staying consistent and keeping change simple will profoundly influence the culture of your organization touching every single employee without lowering productivity.  By imagining the future, inspiring your team; you will make it happen.

Questco is there to help you inspire your labor force through a plethora of HR Services such as: Payroll Services, Benefit Plans, Benefits Administration, HR Technology and Workers’ Comp & Safety Services.  Utilizing Questco’s vast experience, your company can thrive in today’s environment.

Charlie Reeves, Senior Business Development Manager, has decades of experience in Human Resource Solutions.  He is one of the most senior members at Questco and recognized for helping clients of all sizes save money, improve labor efficiency and provide the strongest support for HR Services.  As an entrepreneurs himself, he has lived the long days and sleepless nights on the road to success.  He brings the skill and scale to support you in the pursuit of your goals.  For more information on payroll services, benefit plans, benefits administration, HR technology, workers’ comp and safety services email Charlie.Reeves@questco.net or contact him directly at 936.521.5841.

Keeping Calm and putting your people first

Like you, your employees have access to the news.  Whether they get their information through social media, watch the 6 o’clock news or hear the latest gossip through casual conversations; your employees are forming their opinions have those opinions have spread throughout the workplace.  Today, the latest topics of discussion are race relations and coronavirus concerns.  Tensions, anxiety are just a few of the emotions your employees have which can limit production and moral within your company.

Central to a strong leadership response is communication and decisive action, both to inform employees of changes in policies and to assuage fear and anxiety. Be prompt, accurate, and honest in your communications. Outline the measures you’re taking and why you’re taking them.  Adopt a multi-pronged approach for communication on your HR team. Use electronic methods but adopt physical communication methods as well.  Always be prompt, accurate and honest in your communications.

Make plans and share them with your team.  Understanding that travel may be limited, face-to-face meetings might not happen and an increase in absenteeism can occur; it is important that you have a plan of action.  Knowing how you are going to respond and spread out the responsibility will be crucial to the survival of your business.  Of course, understanding your business’ legal obligations can be tricky in light of these unprecedented events.  Rely on internal HR experts or seek legal advice to answer important questions.  Also consider remote work.  Sometimes a company-wide work from home arrangement is perhaps the best answer to stalling the spread of a virus and even curtailing the strong opinions on race relations.  Safety of your employees is key.

Like in industries that rely on the presence of physical workers such as healthcare, hospitality, retail, and manufacturing, WFM isn’t always possible. In these cases the HR department and business owners have to answer difficult questions about how to protect workers, customers, and the workplace. This may mean operating with a reduced staff level — or even closing during peak absenteeism.  However, sales and marketing roles still rely heavily on face-to-face contact and relationship building. Provide emotional and logistical support for the cultural changes this adjustment will entail.

Remember that the outbreak will pass and race relationships will continue to improve. Your employees and customers remember your businesses’ response and develop long lasting impressions of how you reacted during these times. Resilient, prepared, and people-first leadership will carry you through to the other side.

Questco is there to help you rebuild your labor force through a plethora of HR Services such as: Payroll Services, Benefit Plans, Benefits Administration, HR Technology and Workers’ Comp & Safety Services.

Charlie Reeves, Senior Business Development Manager, has decades of experience in Human Resource Solutions.  He is one of the most senior members at Questco and recognized for helping clients of all sizes save money, improve labor efficiency and provide the strongest support for HR Services.  As an entrepreneurs himself, he has lived the long days and sleepless nights on the road to success.  He brings the skill and scale to support you in the pursuit of your goals.  For more information on payroll services, benefit plans, benefits administration, HR technology, workers’ comp and safety services email Charlie.Reeves@questco.net or contact him directly at 936.521.5841.

Understanding and Identifying Your Employees Fear

Today, you can go to the grocery store and see fear.  This fear is a normal reaction by what people have seen on the news and read through their social media feeds.  As businesses are beginning to reopen, there will still be fear and at the very least some anxiety by going back to group settings in the office.  For the last 90 days, employees have been told that as many as 2.2 million people would die from the Coronavirus, the virus can last for days on surfaces and even that they are susceptible to catching the deadly disease just by saying hello to their neighbor.  This emotion is justified and businesses must understand that their employees will display different types of reactions in an office environment.

There are a few common signs and some helpful tips on how to regain their confidence:

1.       Employees Are Afraid to Speak Up.  Before the shutdown of your office, you had employees who regularly contributed to team meetings or were open with their managers.  Now as they have come back to work, they have gone silent and are speaking up less.  Remember, over the last 3 months they have had a lot more access to spending time on the internet.  Although not physical, their social circles have a much larger reach virtually.  They have been exposed to differing of opinions and negativity.  It will be vital that you express understanding and let them know they are in a safe place to talk about their fears.

2.       Employees Become Negative and Often Say No. Your employees have had their whole world turned upside down.  They may have had a loss in wages from either them or their spouse, their kids had to complete their last semester of school from home and they have had to learn how to work from home while balancing their once “normal lives”.  Many of them had a difficult time balancing their work and home life by not having the office as a barrier.  Be proactive and prepared to step in and provide extra support. Your goal is to help your employee become more productive to benefit your team and company progress.

3.       Employees Gossip.  Employees who gossip around rumors talk from a place of insecurity and self-doubt. They’re employees who might not like the process or policies of the workplace, but they gossip around everyone else instead of speaking with leadership.  This can escalate, especially since there is a division on how serious the virus was and the need to shutdown businesses for the last several months.  Be prepared for them to forge a buddy system with like-minded people who also like to gossip.  Get ahead of the gossip.  The things people make up about what is going on are always worse than what is actually going on.

Creating a consistent two-way communication with your employees to become aware of fearful situations and create mutual trust and confidence.  Having a professional team to help lead the conversation guiding your employees to understanding their fear and take positive action.

Questco is there to help you rebuild your labor force through a plethora of HR Services such as: Payroll Services, Benefit Plans, Benefits Administration, HR Technology and Workers’ Comp & Safety Services.

Charlie Reeves, Senior Business Development Manager, has decades of experience in Human Resource Solutions.  He is one of the most senior members at Questco and recognized for helping clients of all sizes save money, improve labor efficiency and provide the strongest support for HR Services.  As an entrepreneurs himself, he has lived the long days and sleepless nights on the road to success.  He brings the skill and scale to support you in the pursuit of your goals.  For more information on payroll services, benefit plans, benefits administration, HR technology, workers’ comp and safety services email Charlie.Reeves@questco.net or contact him directly at 936.521.5841.