Productivity / Performance

Here comes the summer help!

03/23/2023

How to welcome, prep and manage those seasonal employees.

5 trends shaping the state of remote work

03/20/2023

The sudden shift to remote and hybrid work spurred significant change for employers and employees. But after three years of adjusting, what’s the current state of practice telling workers where and when they can perform their jobs?

Shift to remote work has a mental-health downside

03/15/2023

An analysis by the nonprofit Integrated Benefits Institute found that 40% of fully remote workers and 38% of hybrid workers were more likely than in-person workers to report symptoms associated with anxiety and depression.

Is March Madness unproductive? You bet! Embrace it anyway

03/15/2023

March Madness is back for 2023, reviving annual concerns that the games—and associated bracket-pool betting—will distract employees and sap productivity. Is filling out tournament brackets and obsessively tracking game results a massive waste of time? Of course it is. Should employers crack down on office betting pools and tell everyone to get back to work? Maybe not.

Poll: 70% say financial stress harms work performance

03/13/2023

Seven in 10 workers surveyed by insurance company YuLife believe their own financial worries negatively affect their on-the-job performance.

Keep it Legal: Tread carefully when monitoring employees

03/10/2023

With rapid advances in technology, monitoring the workplace has become easier and cheaper. It’s no longer just cameras in common areas. Now it’s possible to examine productivity measures like keystrokes taken during a shift and out-of-office activity through vehicle location or company-issued cell phones and laptops. But there are definite areas managers should be aware of—and legal implications to keep in mind.

Medical marijuana and positive drug tests: Employer rights

03/06/2023

As more states legalize medicinal and recreational use of marijuana, employers have to grapple with confusing and seemingly contradictory rules.

It’s about time … to consider switching to 4-day workweek

03/06/2023

A recent experiment sought to test whether a four-day workweek at full pay would be popular with employees and their employers. The results are in.

Are your employees happy?

03/02/2023

Tomorrow is Employee Appreciation Day! So it’s a good time to assess whether employees are happy. Not skipping down a rainbow happy, but happy at work and with their work. Maybe happy-ish would be a better description. If you want to know whether employees are happy, ask them.

Decided to terminate? Don’t wait to act

02/13/2023

Once you have made the decision to fire a worker, try to carry out the firing promptly. Delaying can backfire. If you must wait, write a memo memorializing when and why you made the discharge decision. That documentation can help you later if the terminated worker files a lawsuit.