Our HR News Roundup features tips for successful onboarding, the value of failure, happiness vs engagement and more – including items from the lighter side.
7 Problems with your onboarding program
Gallup, Ben Wigert and Ryan Pendell
“But a recent study by Gallup has found that most organizations are falling woefully short of the mark. Only 12% of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job of onboarding new employees.
The consequences are significant regrettable turnover within the first year of employment and low engagement among employees who stay. Organizations may have great talent attraction strategies, but they stumble once new employees get in the door.
What’s gone wrong with onboarding? And how do we fix it?
Based on Gallup’s recent onboarding perspective paper, here are a few ways your organization may be getting new employee orientation wrong”
Related: 5 Easy Onboarding Strategies for Small Businesses
The Risk of Mixing Up Integration and Onboarding
The Value of Failure: How We Can Make the Most of Losing
Scott Cowen, Knowledge @ Wharton
Instead of just focusing on what it takes to be successful, we should be keenly aware of shortcomings that hinder our success. As much as we like to win, we are all prone to making mistakes. Failing is a natural, necessary process. Some failures must be experienced first-hand so we can “live and learn,” but there are common leadership failures that we can learn from, and hopefully steer clear of, in order to be more effective leaders. The following list describes failures that were part of my personal leadership path as well as failures that I have observed in other leaders or that emerged as common themes in conversations with leaders.
How to Keep Communication Quality High When Things Head in the Wrong Direction at Work
Art Petty
It’s not-surprisingly easy to engage with coworkers and project team member when things are going great. People are in good moods. Disagreements are readily laughed off and agreeable solutions easily discovered.
Yes, it’s easy to be a communication superstar during the good times. The real question is what happens to your effectiveness as a communicator when the train rolls off the tracks and the you-know-what hits the fan? This article offers approaches to keep your communication quality high and rolling along smoothly when everyone and everything around you is on the brink of derailing.
Related: Avoiding conflict when dealing with difficult people
Employee engagement vs. happiness at work – what should companies focus on?
Alexander Kjerulf, Chief Happiness OfficerBlog
“Happiness at work, as we define it, is how work makes you feel more broadly. It’s not about feeling good every second of every work day, but it is about experiencing mostly positive feelings about your job.
Just to make it clear: We think employee engagement is a useful concept and we are not arguing against it. We just want to argue that of the two, it is much more effective for a company to focus on making their employees happy than on making them engaged. Here are the four main reasons why.”
Preparing for and addressing workplace violence
Alicia Sienne Voltmer, Property Casualty 360
Workplace violence can occur in many forms, including active shooters, arson, criminal or gang violence, explosives, cyberattacks, and terrorism. Aside from the devastating human trauma, it can have far-reaching costs and consequences for employers, such as government agency citations, lawsuits, insurability issues, loss of consumer confidence, service disruptions, increased labor and health care costs and negative publicity.
Understanding the types of workplace violence as identified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the FBI can assist employers with crafting a customized and comprehensive approach to the issues of prevention and preparedness.
Related: 70% of nonfatal workplace assault injuries are to women
Workplace Violence infographic from SHRM based on 2019 study
More HR News: Quick takes
- HR Bartender: Turnover 2019: Why Employees Leave [survey results]
- Here are 8 ways to spot exceptional employees
- 10 questions to consider when treating trauma in first responders
- How to Speak Up in a Meeting, and When to Hold Back
- 3 mindsets that increase conflict competency
- How to Delegate Responsibilities in the Workplace (The Right Way)
- Why today’s workplace wearables could become tomorrow’s EPL claims
- New consumer protections for prepaid debit cards
- Five steps to workplace investigations
- How to Recover From a Huge, Fireable Mistake
- 5 Simple Steps Toward Creating a Safer Workplace
From the lighter side…
- What’s the secret to reaching the age of 111? ‘Avoid dying,’ but ‘Porridge Is helpful’
- Portraits of Women at Work during World War I
- When you get a troublesome neighbor in the next cubicle (link to Twitter – click image to animate)
- Out-of-this-world hoodie for casual Fridays?
- And in the “workplace of the future” category, this 5+ minute video will give you an idea what a job at a Mars Habitat might be like.