October 2023 | 40th EDITION NEWSLETTER

How to Help Your Staff Feel Heard

ASAE | Brian Haney | August 11, 2023

If you want productive, motivated, and happy employees, they need to feel heard, be engaged, and have a sense of belonging. A look at some strategies for improving both workplace culture and employee well-being. Employees who feel disregarded by their organization are more likely to get frustrated, feel burnt out, and quit. Forbes listed being unheard by supervisors and feeling “overlooked or ignored” as two of the top ten reasons employees leave their jobs. 

3 Ways to Shift the Perception of HR From Administrative to Strategic

HR Executive | Jennie Yang | September 27, 2023

From recruitment and hiring to mediating issues among co-workers, HR’s work is often seen as an administrative function within an organization. Case in point: A recent study by Sapient Insights found that only 46% of business leaders see their organization’s HR function as strategic. That’s compared to 67% who view the finance role as strategic and 60% who consider the supply chain role as such.

The Anxious Micromanager

Harvard Business Review | Julia DiGangi | From the Magazine (September–October 2023)

Why some leaders become too controlling and how they find the right balance 

In my work with corporations, I commonly hear managers say they are stressed because they don’t have enough “self-starters” on their team. But when I analyze their interactions, I find that the same people are often micromanaging their employees by, for example, asking too many questions, checking in too frequently, or giving too much advice. On multiple occasions, I’ve heard managers say to team members: “I want you to take total leadership on this project—just make sure you run everything by me first.” Those messages send conflicting signals and cancel each other out. 

HR’s Layoff Strategy Could’ve Gone Better. Here Are Some Communication Lessons for Next Time

HR Brew | Mikaela Cohen | September 29, 2023

Nobody likes layoffs, but there’s always room for growth in how HR handles them. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...The words of Charles Dickens could be used to describe the current state of the economy, but for HR pros conducting layoffs, it’s mostly just the worst of times. Over 400,000 workers were laid off between 2022 and 2023, according to Layoffs.fyi, an online layoff database, and while there are few hard-and-fast rules for how HR should handle layoffs, one communications expert offered insight into where some have gone wrong in communicating layoffs, and some lessons for next time.

Whole-Body Health: 3 Ways to Approach Employee Wellbeing

Fast Company | Jennifer Gendron | September 29, 2023

Mental, physical, and social health are related, and must be considered as a combinationLately, I have been thinking about how we define health. Too often, we try to slot health into neat and tidy categories. We view mental, physical, and social wellness as existing independently of each other. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth: All aspects of our wellbeing are interconnected and impact each other. As a business leader, a parent, and a former social worker, I’ve seen how the mind impacts the body, and vice versa, again and again. Personally, I’ve seen that on days when I get too busy to get in some movement—whether that means my regular spin session or a quick hike outdoors—my mood suffers, as does my sleep.

How to Be a Better Leader Amid Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity

Harvard Business Review | Angus Fletcher, Thomas L. Gaines, and Brittany Loney | September 28, 2023

Your environment is changing fast. You lack the data to make confident decisions. Your operations sprawl with processes. You’re spotting trends that could be good — or not.

These are the four challenges of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. They’re the reality of business today. But they’re not new. They’re intrinsic to markets, sales, manufacturing — and life in general. So why do some organizations respond better? How do they succeed when others struggle or even surrender?

What's Left for the Human Leader in a World of AI?

Power to Fly

AI is a powerful engine to make bold decisions and drive change. But the decision-maker must still be human. HR and L&D leaders should see AI as a force for great leadership. But, for its potential to be realized, and its pitfalls avoided, key human qualities – communication, collaboration, empathy, critical thinking, and emotional judgement – must be prominent in all organizations.

What HR Needs to Know About the EEOC’s New Enforcement Plan

HR Executive | September 25, 2023 | Stephen Paskoff

The EEOC’s newly adopted strategic enforcement plan aims to increase the public’s access to the EEOC and increase investigation training and resources. The plan describes the EEOC’s vision of fair and inclusive workplaces and details expanded efforts to reduce systemic barriers to equal opportunity, including an enhanced focus on identifying offenses and additional staff and resources for enforcement.

3 Ways to Shift the Perception of HR From Administrative to Strategic

HR Executive | Jennie Yang | September 27, 2023

From recruitment and hiring to mediating issues among co-workers, HR’s work is often seen as an administrative function within an organization. Case in point: A recent study by Sapient Insights found that only 46% of business leaders see their organization’s HR function as strategic. That’s compared to 67% who view the finance role as strategic and 60% who consider the supply chain role as such.

Pandemic-Era Child Care Funding Runs Out Saturday. HR Has an Opportunity to Step In.

HR Dive | Caroline Colvin | September 28, 2023

An estimated 70,000 childcare programs are set to shutter soon. How can employers help parents avoid further burnout? At the 6th annual National Maternal and Infant Health Summit on Sept. 19, advocates, labor professionals and politicians imbued their panels with a sense of urgency. Not only are working mothers buckling under the lack of structural support in general: The clock is running out on pandemic-era federal child care funding, leaving working parents with sparse benefits options in a lurch.

Financing The Future

Fast Company | Michael Grothaus | September 29, 2023

Single Generation X women are earning more than their male counterparts in 15 cities. The gender pay gap persists in most metro areas, but single Gen X women have a notable edge when compared to other cohorts. Pay equality still has some ways to go in the United States. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor found that women working full-time earned just 83.7% of what their male counterparts did.

However, a recent study from LendingTree shows that there are areas of the country where single women are out-earning single men of the same generation.

What is the OSHA poster and why do I need it?

The OSHA Job Safety and Health: It's the Law poster, available for free from OSHA, informs workers of their rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. All covered employers are required to display the poster in their workplace. Employers do not need to replace previous versions of the poster.

Employers must display the poster in a conspicuous place where workers can see it.

READ MORE

FLSA Protections to Pump at Work

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for their nursing child for one year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk. Employees are entitled to a place to pump at work, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.

READ MORE

The new version of Form I‑9, Employment Eligibility Verification is now available for use. This version contains changes to the form and instructions, including shortening the Form I‑9 to one page and reducing the instructions to eight pages.

What Form I‑9 versions may be used

·       Employers may begin using the new Form I‑9 today, Aug. 1, 2023.

·       The Form I‑9 dated "10/19/2019” may continue to be used through Oct. 31, 2023. The version date can be found at the lower left corner of the form.

·       Beginning Nov. 1, 2023, only the new Form I‑9 dated "08/01/23” may be used.

·       A revised Spanish Form I‑9 dated “08/01/23” is available for use in Puerto Rico only.

READ MORE

_______________________



E-Verify: What Organizations Need to Know

HR Bartender | August 27, 2023

READ MORE

Religious Discrimination & Work Situations

The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.

READ MORE

THANK YOU to all 2023 Conference Sponsors!

Sponsor support is integral in continuing the growth, quality & integrity of the continuing education unique to this conference year after year. You are appreciated!

Without a game plan, you’ll likely forfeit any savings opportunities within your employee benefit plan. Why gamble? Bukaty Companies combines technology, data, consumer engagement tools and good old-fashioned ingenuity to develop a winning hand for our clients.

2023 conference was a huge success! Two full days of learning, networking and tons of laughs.

Susan G. Komen - Missouri

Our mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs of our communities and investing in breakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer.

List of Haunted Houses & Trails in the Ozarks

Are you ready for haunted house season? Well here is a list of haunted houses and trails around the Ozarks you can visit this month.

ozarksfirst.com | October 2, 2016

These are the Best Pumpkin Bars I’ve Ever Had

And here’s why: 

·       Big pumpkin flavor

·       Generously spiced with pumpkin pie spices

·       Sweetened with brown sugar

·       Soft, yet sturdy (just like my soft pumpkin cookies)

·       Super moist

·       Cakey, but not as cakey as others—no fork required!

·       Finished with spiced cream cheese frosting

·       …and sprinkles!

Sally's Baking Addiction | September 2023

I don’t think any of us understand, until it’s too late, just how much we care for and depend on those we love. We only have so much time on this planet to let people know - then in a minute, in the blink of an eye, in one single heartbeat, they’re gone, and we’re left with the overwhelming doubts of - did they know how much we loved them? How much we needed them? How special they were in our lives? Did they know – REALLY know?

It been 29 years since my sister, Kathy, died of breast cancer at the incredibly too young age of 48. When she broke the news I thought, wow, this sucks. But I never ever had a doubt she would beat it... 

Excerpt from our own Sue Kmet's journey of loss and awareness | October 1, 2023