7 Ideas to Increase Employee Morale this Summer

According to sociologist Alexander Leighton, “Morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose.” Everyone wants this for their company. After all, good morale means employees collaborate better, miss fewer workdays, and are more productive and more satisfied with their work. 
For the employer, this will decrease turnover rates, create a team working towards a common goal and can provide a much more happy and healthy work environment. 

Clearly, this is a win-win. 

The best approach to tackling low morale is to embrace positive change before any negativity begins to spread in the form of eye rolls, decreased collaboration, fewer conversations and weak performances. 
With summer in the air, low morale may be in effect already as employees look longingly out the window at the sunshine or have to juggle work related obstacles with their children out of school. 

Here are some ideas to increase employee morale as a team and as individuals. 

1. Company Outing 

Everyone likes getting out of the office from time to time, especially now that the weather is warm. Instead of letting the higher-ups definitively decide your next company-wide outing, split the office into teams and put it to a vote. Giving employees the opportunity to shape rewarding activities ensures that your effort serves everyone. 

2. Volunteer Together 

Volunteering always feels good. As a team building exercise, you can get the employees out of the office while allowing them to feel connected to their community and see a different side of one another. 
This dose of positivity can raise the happiness factor within your team and can even supplement as a company-wide outing. (It’s free!) 
You can also look for nonprofits to partner with that tie into your corporate charity. 

3. Switch Up Traditional Emails 

According to a study, “92 percent of employees experience a spike in blood pressure and heart rate after reading an email in the office.” These types of stresses weigh heavily on the morale in the office. Try utilizing other forms of communication, such as integrating software like Trello, Asana, and Slack to lessen its impact and provide a fresh form of connection. 

4. Increase Vacation Days 

Some employees may be hesitant about actually utilizing their vacation time. Even companies that offer unlimited vacation days, find that employees aren't using them. Too much choice can be restrictive and confusing. However, employees need a break if they are going to continue to be productive. 
Try adding a bonus for employees who truly take a timeout without work emails and phone calls on their vacations. This will absolutely boost morale and allow employees to feel appreciated for their time and time off. 

5. Encourage Lunch Breaks 

Much like vacation time, a lot of employees don’t take proper lunch breaks either. Management professor Kimberly Elsbach told NPR that “staying inside, in the same location, is really detrimental to creative thinking.” 
As the employer, encouraging your staff to step away from their desk, go for a walk or eat lunch outside from time to time, is a great way to increase morale as well as teach your employees how to utilize this healthy habit more frequently. 

6. Themed Potlucks 

Let’s face it, food is motivating. It is also a great way to get your team engaged with one another. 
Plan a themed potluck for your next big meeting. Your team will have fun brainstorming ideas, like rainbow food, where everyone picks a color, Chinese food day or even a cereal day. Food will help your employees get excited about their work day and your next meeting. 

7. Fitness 

Active employees equal happy employees. We are all aware of the dangers of sitting in an office chair day in and day out with little to no movement. Encourage your staff to get healthy and fit together. Create weekly or monthly challenges, encourage daily walks or think of ways to combine fitness activities when you are volunteering or during the company outing. 
Activities such as these will bring employees together and are affordable for the entire company. 


Be sure to stay updated on HR news and updates by following VertiSource HR® on Facebook and Twitter!

5 Ways to Use Tech to Motivate and Attract Top Talent

Attracting and motivating the best talent for your company is going to take some work. Fortunately, the technological advances that have been made over the years has lead to a continuous flow of efficient apps, modules, and platforms for businesses to utilize to both attract and motivate talented employees.  


1. Mobile Hiring Apps

Since most millennials and Gen Z workers are extremely tech savvy, it is not surprising they use digital tools and platforms to look for work. According to Fast Company, “nearly two-thirds (64%) of 2015 grads have used a mobile app to search and apply for positions, and they consider social networking the most effective method for finding a job.” Employers must look where their future employees already are by investing in the many digital recruitment options. 

2.   Eliminate Geographical Barriers 

It may seem plausible to hiring locally to leverage your own network and train new hires in person. However, your network might not always sustain itself. By offering virtual work, you can expand your quest with freedom to search for talent across the nation, which will give you a significant competitive advantage. 
“Businesses are embracing remote workers because the absence of a traditional office environment and hours can increase efficiency and make employees more productive than ever”, according to Dan Schawbel of Time. And with studies showing that 45% of the U.S workforce now has a job that’s suitable for full-time or part-time telecommuting, making this shift to search outside of your geography can narrow your search for talent, and keep them motivated and happy, longer. 

3.   Flexibility and Time 

Technology enables you to evolve your position on flexibility and productivity, which offers a compelling perk to candidates. For some companies practicing this idea, the 40-hour work week is seemingly an archaic notion. 
Technology allows employees to complete work correctly and accurately, but not have to spend an unreasonable amount of time doing so. For the employer, this means saving time and money. While some employees may finish a task in 6 hours, others can complete it in 4, but they get the same amount of money to do so. For example, rather than hourly charges, employers can focus on productivity, which will deliver true value to clients or customers. Employees are then able to work independently, as much or as little as they like, as long as the job gets done.  
This kind of flexibility has been proven to empower employees, keep them positive and motivated and also produce the highest levels of productivity. 

4.   Real Time Performance Reviews

Traditionally, performance reviews are on an annual or quarterly basis. However, feedback should be ongoing if you want to keep a happy and productive staff. 
Investing in an automated performance review process with HR software, can make giving and receiving real-time feedback simple and effective. 

According to Matt Straz of Entrepreneur.com, “Instant feedback mechanisms can significantly improve engagement and motivation by consistently guiding employees in the right direction.” This tool can also allow employees the ability to offer suggestions to management, directly. Employees can feel that they have a voice that is being heard, which can also boost morale. 

5.  Preparing for the future

Technology enables you to stay relevant to both your clients and your talent. Most companies, as a whole, don’t run on paper and neither should you. The same goes for attracting top talent. Prospects won’t tolerate stacks of paper or driving long distances from home to get checks signed. And in this technological age, they shouldn’t have to. 
By implementing this mindset and a commitment to integrating the right technology, companies can attract and retain top talent to ensure success now and into the future. Preparation is key.

For more information on automating your company's recruiting, onboarding and HR/benefits efforts, contact VertiSource HR® and schedule a free demo of our brand new cloud software!

VertiSource HR® You Tube Channel: Watch Video Demos Now!

Improve Your Onboarding Process with VertiSource HR® Cloud

You probably spend a lot of time on candidate sourcing, screening and the selection processes. Because of this, it can be extremely frustrating when new employees don’t stay with your company for long.  Between recruiting, turnover and the lost productivity, costs can rise while many other key performance indicator percentages can go down like employee retention and relationships with customers.

Yet, despite this, many companies don’t put the time and resources into developing an effective employee onboarding process. 

The Importance of Onboarding Organization

Onboarding is a core component of your employment brand and the foundation on which employee engagement is built. Getting organized in this area can help your business and enable less issues when it comes to recruiting and introducing new members to your team.

At VertiSource HR, we have developed a 100% web based HR software that couples with our HR services, called the VertiSource HR® Cloud. We developed this program to provide a simplified version of HR strategies so that you can focus on the growth and development of your business. This service will save you countless hours every week by delivering industry-leading payroll, benefits, hiring and more, all with the help of our HR experts.

How It Works

Within the VertiSource HR® Cloud, we have created a module specially to speed up and organize the onboarding process.  This module will capture employee demographic information, federal, state and local tax filing forms. With a complete set of digital and online forms combined with electronic signature functionality, new hires can get started fast with complete, accurate records and data. All forms and documents associated with Onboarding and Enrollment are securely tracked and stored. With customized workflows and tracking, your Human Resources department can enjoy a seaming integration as the data gathered during the hiring process automatically gets stored all in one place.

How easy is that?

To find out more information about this simple and effective onboarding tool and other beneficial and time saving features VertiSource HR® Cloud contains, visit us at http://www.vertisourcehr.com or speak to a VSHR rep by calling 855.565.VSHR today!

Hot Topic: Accommodating Pregnancy in the Workplace

Women today are more likely to work while pregnant according to data collected by the Pew Research Center[1] . Women tend to work longer into their pregnancy and return to work sooner as well.

With this information in mind, it is important for companies and their HR departments to be ready when the time to accommodate a pregnant employee comes about. While pregnancy can be a wonderful time in a woman's life, it can also present a number of challenges in the workplace.

For example, fatigue, sickness, or pain may impact attendance. Restrictions in lifting, standing, or bending may affect the ability to meet the physical demands of a job. Some women may need to drink and eat more frequently or wear more comfortable clothing that may not adhere to certain policies. Back pain, high blood pressure, dehydration and even depression are other examples of limitations that can result from pregnancy-related complications.

The more knowledge and understanding of these possible limitations will better your HR department and allow the company to avoid any discriminations or retaliations.

Legislations

There are two federal laws that may require an employer to accommodate a pregnant worker: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The PDA[2]  is a federal statute that protects pregnant workers and requires covered employers to make job-related modifications for pregnant employees. The PDA forbids employment discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. The law requires employers to treat a pregnant employee who is temporarily unable to perform or is limited in performing, the functions of her job because of pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition in the same manner as it treats other employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work.

The ADA[3]  requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, so long as doing so does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. Although pregnancy alone is not a disability under the ADA, many pregnancy-related conditions are disabilities that an employer may have to accommodate under the ADA.

Both is these legislations can also be accompanied by addition laws, depending on the state. Some choose to go above and beyond the requirements of federal law by providing accommodations for as long as the employee needs, for as long as the employer can withstand hardship in the employee's absence. For example, the state of California considers pregnancy a temporary disability, as well as any illness or injury resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition.As such, an individual is deemed disabled on any day in which, because of her physical or mental condition, she is unable to perform her regular or customary work.

Ways to Accommodate

There are a number of ways employers can accommodate pregnant or nursing workers. HR should be at the forefront of these decisions, working to make adjustments when needed.

An example of this could be if a pregnant employee verbalizes that she’s having trouble, HR should have her discuss her job description with her doctor, focusing on the tasks affecting her pregnancy and accommodations that might help. This way communication is established and modifications can be made based on each woman’s personal need.

More examples of such accommodations include:

●      Allow for longer or more frequent work breaks to use the restroom or move her workstation closer to the restroom if pregnant employee is experiencing nausea and/or vomiting symptoms

●      Reduce or eliminate physical exertion and workplace stress if she is experiencing fatigue

●      Modify policy to allow eating/drinking at workstation/around facility to increase caloric intake and keep hydrated

●      Allow work from home or limit overtime

●      Allow a flexible or reduced work schedule

●      Provide a flexible chair or a foot rest

●      Limit lifting, bending, reaching, pushing, and pulling

●      Modify dress code

●      Allow telephone calls during work hours to healthcare providers and others for needed support

Also consider that employers don’t want managers to overstep by introducing an accommodation when it’s not necessary, which could be perceived as showing bias against the employee’s ability based solely on her pregnancy. However, ignoring someone who is clearly having difficulty performing isn’t advised, either. Find a balance within your HR department. One of the best ways to find this balance is to ask ‘What would the process be if the employee had a back injury or needed adjustments to her work schedule for cancer treatments?” Then, treat pregnancy accommodations the same way. Once the accommodation is implemented, it’s important to monitor the situation and make adjustments as needed.

Be sure to stay updated on HR news and updates by following VertiSource HR® on Facebook and Twitter!

Kailey Brennan, VertiSource HR Blogger®

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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/03/31/working-while-pregnant-is-much-more-common-than-it-used-to-be/

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm

Move and Grow Faster with VertiSource HR®’s Cloud

If you have been following us on social media, you have noticed we have been abuzz about our new automated platform, the VertiSource HR® Cloud.

VertiSource HR® Cloud is a 100% web based HR software that couples with our HR services, here at VertiSource HR®. Our goal is to provide a simplified version of HR strategies so that you can focus on the growth and development of your business. This service will save you countless hours every week by delivering industry-leading payroll, benefits, hiring and more, all with the help of our HR experts.

Here are some of VertiSource HR® Cloud’s top features that we are most excited about:

Fast and Efficient Payroll

This feature allows you to execute and manage your payroll on time. All your data is automatically integrated with other VertiSource HR® modules, so you don’t have to rekey anything from one system to another.

You can quickly review timesheets, process your payrolls, and even see payroll status in real-time.

Employees can also view payroll and benefits information from any device, which can save you a great deal of time, as well as open the lines of communication with your staff.

Access to payroll data is granted to individuals in your organization as needed, and you can control what specific data, fields, and reports each individual can see.

Bonus Feature: Your payroll can include your brand logos on checks, so your employees have a consistent experience.

Hiring

The Hiring module reduces the time it takes to hire new employees by 30% or more. It can help expand your candidate pool by posting jobs where candidates are looking for relevant positions.

With this feature, you can streamline posting jobs online, with integrations with dozens of job boards and social networks to post and advertise job listings, including: Indeed, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Craigslist, Twitter, and Facebook.

Next, you can receive resumes and sort through potential applicants, even schedule interviews.

Once you have found the ideal candidate, you can streamline onboarding, because his or her information will already be in the system, flowing right through to payroll and benefits.

Speedy Onboarding

Once you have found the right candidate, VertiSource HR® Cloud makes it easy to complete the onboarding process. This module can capture employee demographic information, federal, state and local tax filing forms. With a complete set of digital and online forms combined with electronic signature functionality, new hires can get started fast with complete, accurate records and data.

All forms and documents associated with Onboarding and Enrollment are securely tracked and stored.

Employee Friendly

Your employees can quickly view payroll, benefits and HR information such as earning statements and time off request with the employee Self Service portal. This easy-to-use platform is compatible with smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop so your employees can access the information they need when they need it.

Bonus Feature: The Self Service portal is easily customizable to represent your brand, including colors, and even a custom background.

Visit us at http://www.vertisourcehr.com/ today to speak with a representative about this exciting new service! Move and grow your business, fast and efficiently with VertiSource HR®.

Kailey Brennan, VertiSource HR® Blogger

How to Maximize Payroll + HR on a Small Business Budget

At VertiSource HR®, we know it is important to examine every component of the internal business processes, especially on a small business budget. In this post, we will focus on payroll and HR expenses, with some tips on how to maximize your costs.

According to the Small Business Chronicle[1] , HR expenses should be budgeted in the following ways:

●      Cost Allocation- How you allocate HR expenses relates to your organization's structure and business philosophy. “A single-entity business would centralize its human resources costs into one budget, while a firm with multiple locations might opt to include HR-related line items for each unit's portion of compensation, training and recruitment expenses.”

●      Recruitment- The HR budget should support your organization's strategic plan and objectives for the year, which requires estimating the number of workers needed. Factor in costs related to recruitment such as advertising, background checks, travel, relocation and any pre-employment testing you do.

●      Training and Development- Your HR budget has to cover both job skills and safety compliance, as well as any addition certification you offer to your employees.

●      Administration- You have to leave room in the budget for morale boosting activities. “Assign HR activities that support employee engagement such as recognition initiatives, awards for service milestones, company picnics and employee birthdays to a separate budget account or include them as a line item in the general HR administration budget.”

●      Compensations and Benefits- Last, but certainly not least, your employees need to be paid for their work and you need to be aware of the additional costs and taxes that go with this. Calculate anticipated changes in federally mandated employment costs such as Social Security or group life insurance and budget for overtime and incentive programs.

Speaking of Payroll, there are many ways to implement small business budgeting practices and still give your employees the compensation and benefits they need. The payroll process, if ran inefficiently, can drain essential resources from your business budget. Here are some effective ways to maximize our expenses:

●      Hire a payroll company. Taking advantage of payroll services that handle expenses for you will promote efficiency and organization within your business. A service such as this can handle the intricacies of employee compensation, reduce your business’ payroll expenses through digital recordkeeping and automated services like employee time tracking that reduce the margin for error. Companies, like us at VertiSource HR®, can cost-effectively outsource your payroll and save you time as well! 

●      If your budget is still too small to afford a payroll company, check with your bank to see if they offer payroll services. Usually, banks consider payroll processing a courtesy, which means the price will likely be substantially lower than what other payroll processing companies charge.

●      Remember to set your budget to include payroll tax. Wages are just the beginning. There is also federal and state payroll taxes and, depending upon the state in which your business is located, there are other employment taxes as well. Plus, you are required to match Social Security and Medicare that is withheld from your employee’s pay.

●      When it’s time to give raises, consider providing for your employees in the form of tax-free fringe benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance, child care subsidy, a cell phone or a retirement plan, as a way to maximize your budget.

Call or message a VertiSource HR® rep today so we can help your small business grow! We provide integrated services to effectively manage critical human resource responsibilities and employer risks. Take advantage of our payroll and human resource services so you can focus on the future of your business, worry free.

Kailey Brennan, VertiSource HR® Blogger

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Source:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/should-hr-expenses-budgeted-72108.html