HR Girl 4'11" Blog

How Are We Doing? - Feedback Slips For Your Employees

Many companies offer a feedback slip to it's customers in order for them to receive critical feedback whether it be good or bad, in order for the company to monitor it's customers' satisfaction. Likewise, feedback should be an assurance that it's customers will continue to come back on a regular basis.

But what about your employees? Have you ever thought about a comment slot for them? Do you fear what will be said? Are you certain that your top talent will remain on board with your business?

Offering employees an opportunity to write down their thoughts and provide feedback in a confidential space is one of many positive steps towards retaining top talent and monitor your employees' overall satisfaction with their job, regardless of your industry.

A simple feedback program is of ZERO cost to you, therefore it is not necessary to purchase fancy software and/or facilitate long meetings. Simply print out a slip for them to fill out anonymously. Once they have completed it, they may place it into an assigned slot or with a trustworthy staff member (non management).

Here are a few questions that should be included on the slip, feel free to use this as your actual form:

Is your boss knowledgeable about the requirements for your position?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Do you receive feedback on the tasks performed; either correctly or incorrect?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Are decisions made promptly enough for you to have the materials necessary to complete your tasks?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Is your work space efficient for you to perform your tasks within reason?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Is your work space safe and cleared of possible hazards?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Do you feel as if you received proper training / orientation for the position?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Is there more training that you would like to have access to in relevance to your position?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Are you currently enrolled and utilizing the benefits offered by the company?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Are there more benefits that you would like to see offered by the company?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Do you feel as if you are able to use your skills for your position?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Overall satisfaction with your immediate boss?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Overall satisfaction with company benefits?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Overall satisfaction with company culture?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Overall satisfaction with your job?	0	1	2	3	4	5
What can we do to improve?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Cleanliness of the building (if outside company is responsible for cleaning)?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Quality of foods available in the lunch area?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Responsiveness of the HR Department?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Responsiveness of the IT Department?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Responsiveness of the Maintenance?	0	1	2	3	4	5
How likely are you to refer qualified candidates to work for this company?	0	1	2	3	4	5
Please share your thoughts on what we can do to improve your work life experience with us.:	0	1	2	3	4	5

Here Comes GINA

No, she's not your long lost cousin, however, it's the EEOC's cousin, and certainly something you should be concerned about if you are an employer. Effective November 21, 2009 there will be a new regulation in place which "will protect Americans against discrimination based on their genetic information when it comes to health insurance and employment".

GINA stands for Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the bill was finalized back in 2008. It's a very simple rule that applies not only to employers, but also to the health insurance providers. As an employer, make sure that your group health insurance provider is not requesting genetic information from your employees, this will certainly keep you out of hot water.

You may order a poster from any compliance poster provider such as www.laborlawcenter.com or www.complianceposter.com. In the meantime, you can utilize this pdf for your reference http://www.eeoc.gov/self_print_poster.pdf For more information go to http://www.genome.gov/Pages/PolicyEthics/GeneticDiscrimination/GINAInfoDoc.pdf

What ' s your H1N1 Plan

Flu season? Yes it's that time of year. But for some, it's been flu season all year it seems. The H1N1 "Swine-Flu" pandemic has been the talk of the town and/or world. Has your company developed a plan to deal with the possibility of a contagious employee walking into work and sneezing on someone? Well if you don't, here's some background information and a key to getting ready.

H1N1 is a new strain of virus which is highly contagious and spread from human to human. Often times a person is contagious 1 day prior to showing symptoms of being infected, and 5 to 7 days after being sick. The virus lives on surfaces for 2 to 8 hours.

Developing a plan is simple. Organize a meeting with ALL employees whether they are in the office or working remotely and discuss this issue with them along with your plan. This creates not only awareness but an educational opportunity. Your preventative plan should include the following:

• Encourage the use of antibacterial soaps that are available for your employees.
• Educate them on the importance of sneezing and coughing into their elbow, not hands or open field.
• Routine cleaning of desks, phone, tools and other objects that are touched frequently.
• Increased physical distance from coworkers.

If an employee is diagnosed, then obviously they should be ordered to stay at home at least 24 to 48 hours without fear of losing their job. Make sure that your leave policy is in place in order to cover sicknesses such as this. Reasonably so, ask for a doctor's note to verify this sickness within a reasonable amount of time, after the sickness is over.

As you would want for business to continue as usual, make sure that you have a backup plan, whether its cross training or utilizing a temporary worker. Also, keep this in mind in the event that your employee has to take time off in order to take care of a sick household member. More information can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/guidance/