Our current HR News Roundup features items on “brilliant jerks,” the new EEOC guidance on vaccine incentives, recognizing & rewarding employees, the lighter side and more.
The “brilliant jerk” dilemma and why so many managers get it wrong
Art Petty, Smart Brief
Joe’s superpower is his ability to translate his deep knowledge of customer operations into requirements that engineers use to create software solutions. Joe is a hit-creator whose products are largely responsible for his business unit’s rise to market leadership. Unfortunately, in the words of many of his team members, “Joe is a jerk and almost impossible to work with.”
8 Simple and Cost-Effective Ways To Recognize and Reward Employees
Brett Farmiloe, SHRM
To help your company find new ways to recognize and reward your employees, we asked HR experts and business leaders this question for their best advice. From crafting social media shoutouts to celebrating work anniversaries, there are several simple and cost-effective ways to recognize and reward your employees.
What new EEOC vaccine incentive guidance means for HR leaders
Kathryn Mayer, Human Resource Executive
Employers can officially offer their workers incentives for getting vaccinated against COVID-19, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Friday, guidance that will likely spur more companies to turn to rewards to boost vaccination rates.
Related from National Law Review: EEOC Gives Okay for Employer’s Vaccine Incentive Programs in Certain Instances
It’s not a ‘labor shortage.’ It’s a great reassessment of work in America.
Heather Long, Washington Post.
Hiring was much weaker than expected in April. Wall Street thinks it’s a blip, but there could be much deeper rethinking of what jobs are needed and what workers want to do on a daily basis.
But another way to look at this is that there is a great reassessment going on in the U.S. economy. It’s happening on a lot of different levels. At the most basic level, people are still hesitant to return to work until they are fully vaccinated and their children are back in school and day care full time. For example, all the job gains in April went to men. The number of women employed or looking for work fell by 64,000, a reminder that child-care issues are still in play.
There is also growing evidence — both anecdotal and in surveys — that a lot of people want to do something different with their lives than they did before the pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak has had a dramatic psychological effect on workers, and people are reassessing what they want to do and how they want to work, whether in an office, at home or some hybrid combination.
The Class of 2021 could transform hiring: Here’s what college seniors want from employers
R. Dallon Adams, Tech Republic
A new report focuses on sentiments among college seniors regarding in-person work, salary expectations, hiring and more as the class of 2021 joins the workforce.
How to protect your employees from online harassment
Rob Shavel, EBN
While studies show that up to 21% of people experience online harassment in the workplace, many organizations are unfamiliar with the extent of the problem their employees face. Responding to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, employees described frequent incidences of subtle and not so subtle workplace harassment with statements such as “A slight mistake in a message was twisted and re-sent out to my organization” and “Someone made a public post on Facebook criticizing my job performance.”
Diversity & Inclusion Applies to Wellness Programs Too. Here Are Some Workplace Standards to Consider
Laura Putnam, Risk & Insurance
The first step is to acknowledge that the vast majority of workplace wellness programs are inadequate to meet the needs of a multicultural workforce. This is particularly concerning given the push by employers to build an inclusive workplace in the name of productivity.
What’s required is a cultural retooling of resources, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), or work-based counseling and other services to assist employees dealing with personal or work-related issues.
HR News Quick Takes
- High (Pandemic) Anxiety
- Why Trust Is Paramount When It Comes to Successful Worker Recovery
- 2020 Workers Compensation Metrics
- 9 Ways to Ensure Employees Are Welcome and Included
- With Her Candor, Osaka Adds to Conversation About Mental Health
- Naomi Osaka Should Be a Strong ADA Reminder for Employers
- Explaining HIPAA: No, it doesn’t ban questions about your vaccination status
- The opportunity for action on Diversity, Equality & Inclusion after a year of protest
- Does Your Office Have a Jargon Problem?
- Do New Graduates Prefer the Old Workplace?
- How to protect your company—and reputation—against malicious disinformation
From the Lighter side …
ThanAverage – How similar is your thinking to the people around you? Maybe more similar than you think, This site says “Imagine you are in a room with 100 strangers. Imagine they’re similar to your peers and neighbors. Compare yourself to them. ”
Preparing for life after the pandemic (Twitter link)
What kind of modeling did we do for our kids as we worked at home? This young girl imitates her work-at-home Mom (Twitter link)
Whenever you need a pick-me-up, you can never go wrong with Sesame Street!