HR Girl 4'11" Blog

Keeping Your Employees Cool & Safe This Summer

It’s official; summer is here, and so far it has been a hot one! So what should you do in order to keep your employees cool this year? You need a plan of course, especially for your employees who work outside of the office environment. Workers who are constantly exposed to the sun should be aware of the possible dangers affiliated with the heat. An open line of communication from you to your workers in the field will be the starting point. They will be depending on you for guidance and safety, so make sure you are aware of their work environment.

Here are 6 things to share with your workers this summer, which are all critical to their health as well as reducing your risks:

Sun Screen & Block Application

On a daily basis, sunscreen and/or sun block should be applied, and reapplied as necessary throughout the day. These lotions will help reduce the amount of damage to the skin, due to it’s direct exposure to the sun. Remember, SPH 15 and higher is recommended in order to protect your skin from UVA and UVB damage. The most popular makers of these lotions are ww.bananaboat.com, www.coppertone.com, and www.neutrogena.com.  IDEA: You may furnish small bottles of sunscreen to your employees, so they can always have a small back-up supply.

Heat Stroke and Exhaustion Awareness

Knowing the signs of heat exhaustion or stroke is critical knowledge that your staff should be armed with. Heat exhaustion can occur if your employee has been doing heavy work in the heat, accompanied by lack of fluid intake. Signs of heat exhaustion include: rapid heartbeat, rapid and shallow breathing, dizziness / lightheadedness, confusion or irritability, and nausea. Heat strokes have similar signs, however, a heat stroke can be deadly. IDEA: Train your staff about the signs of heat stroke & exhaustion and how to respond to such emergencies such as these. If all employees cannot be trained, make sure at least one person on site has the proper training, preferably First Aid & CPR certified.

Staying Hydrated

It’s imperative that your employees remain hydrated by taking in plenty of fluids throughout the day. It is recommended that a person should drink 8 to 10 cups of water a day, but if your employees would like to mix it up a bit, and add a little flavor to quench their thirst, they may choose a sports drink such as Gatorade or Powerade which provides a healthy amount of electrolytes for their bodies so they may remain hydrated throughout the course of the day. IDEA: Provide a cooler for your employees to keep in their vehicles at all times. If not, furnish them with a coupon to purchase a cooler.

Shade Provisions

You may find it beneficial to provide your employees with adequate shade near their outdoor workspaces. A 10X10 or 8X8 canopy (www.canopycenter.com or www.dickssportinggoods.com) can be purchased for less than $200, perfect for the employees who remain stationary for long periods of time. This will cost a fraction of an emergency room visit. And whether your company provides vehicles or you require the use of your employee’s personal vehicle, you can suggest frequent breaks to their vehicles. This will allow them a place to access some cool air throughout the day.

Heat Advisories

These advisories are normally issued in the morning on your local news station as well as the national weather service (www.nws.noaa.gov).  So it’s critical for these warnings your priority is to communicate these warnings to your staff, because their lives depend on you. IDEA: Up to date weather can be accessed via cell phone applications, and you may choose to utilize texts notifications in effort to keep your employees in the know.

Weather Flag System

Depending on your geological location, you may develop a flag system that informs employees of the weather conditions along with your companies requirements for working in those conditions. The military uses a similar system that alerts the troops to the current weather conditions so they will know when to limit outdoor activities during those peak hours of high temperatures throughout the day. Here’s an example of a flag system that you can use:

Green Flag – Calm conditions and safe 70° – 89°

  Yellow Flag – Stay alert and safe. Temperatures range in between 90° – 97°.

Red Flag – Extreme caution with frequent breaks. Stay alert and hydrated.                                Temperatures range in between 98° – 102°.

Black Flag – DO NOT WORK! Temperatures exceed 103°.

IDEA: These flags may be disbursed to your staff on the site supervisor vehicle or via text alerts.

Get ready to enjoy a safe summer with your employees by keeping them in the loop. Doing so will reduce your risks as well as furnishing a great and safe working environment for your employees.

Disclaimer: Products mentioned are not being endorsed. These are merely suggestions offered in effort for you (the reader) to make an educated decision in regards to providing a safe working environment for your employees.

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

Longevity Doesn't Equal Contribution

Finding a candidate with some staying power is such an awesome thing. There are a lot of candidates out there who are willing to stick with a good employer, and there are others who are just looking to build their resume.

Though you may find candidates who have been with a company for several years. They may appear to have staying power, or they could have a bad case of the "Warm Body Syndrome". 

Before your recruiting campaign kicks off, look at your current employees to see what their track record has been and how much they are contributing to your business. Think about it:

• When was the last time your employees were evaluated for performance?
• When were they held accountable for the things they do?
• Does your company have an invisible grandfather clause?

Ask them for some feedback on how they enjoy their job and what could happen in order to make their job a little better. Besides there is always room for improvement. Some of your old timers may not like the fact that you are asking questions, however, it is critical to your bottom line. Be brave and just do it! You both will have a lot to gain from it.

The idea here is simply to slow down the hiring mistakes. You don't want a warm body migrating from another company, to sit in your chairs for another 15-20 years. It doesn't necessarily mean that an employee who has managed to stay under the radar for a long period of time without any spots, has the capability to make a contribution to their employer.

Here are some critical questions to ask your candidates:

1. When you participated in a team project, what position are you normally nominated for?
2. When was the last workshop / seminar you attended? Was it mandated or voluntary?
3. What are some of the goals that you foresee setting in this new role?
4. How would you like to grow with this company?
5. How do you stay on top of your field?

The goal here is to hire staff with some staying power, along with the ability to contribute and grow. The bottomline is you have a business to run. Though there is no such thing as a perfect person or candidate, you still should strive towards a contributor and steer away from the warm body.

Girl Bullies in the Workplace

The fact that 40% of workplace bullies are women, should make you wonder who's really getting their work done. That victim has to put up with a lot of crap from a bully, while maintaining their quality of work. The reality is, bullies are a drain to your business, and could cost you thousands down the road. Even though the person doing the bullying is a manager or a top performer. So what should you do at this crossroads?   

If your company doesn't have a culture, now is the time to get one established along with a set of behavioral standards. A policy has to be written and signed off by all employees, even those out in the field. This policy will fall somewhere in between harassment and hostile workplace tolerance. Which actually should be ZERO. It should cover all the events that are considered bullying, i.e. screaming, shoving, setting traps, nagging, scheming and physical contact etc.

Now wouldn't it be nice if women solved problems similar to men? Like either dukeing it out followed by a handshake and a beer. But this isn't the case. What we have here is simply one woman picking another woman to pick on who appears to be a little weaker or presents some sort of threat to her position. Other factors could include stress on the home front, or just the need to be evil.

But if you would like to hear my opinion, i think that if a woman is taking her career seriously she wouldn't have time to worry about what other women are doing and if she poses a threat, so MYOB.

No body likes a bully, and no business owner wants their profit to suffer because of a bully. Nor wanting to end up in court or face an act of violence in their place of business as a result of retaliation from the victim. At any rate, action should to be taken immediately in order to exterminate the fire so everyone else involved can get back to work.

Job Title Change

I created a poll in LinkedIn that is open for discussion for both employer and employee. I'm curious to see how much a job title really means, is it a confidence booster?

Is there an emotional connection to what your title is? Does it really matter what your title is, just as long as you do a good job? How far off the mark is your current job title, to what it is that you really do on a day to day basis?

Take the poll here: If your job title were to change, would it affect the way you felt about your job? http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/61636/yodqj

Blind Employment Ads

With many avenues for advertising your vacancies available, such as the internet, local newspapers, job boards, and networking groups. You are sure to receive many inquiries and applicants.

Your main purpose is to fill that position, and your main objective is to find a quality / qualified candidate. You also would like to get your point across, precisely so there isn't any questions as to what the job will intel. Yes, all of this must be done in a few short sentences so your advertising budget doesn't explode.

Why spend all that time, money and effort into posting your positions, only to receive mediocre responses. You must ask yourself, why am I receiving such responses. Why didn't these candidates who claim that they are interested in working for my business, take the time to read the ad and respond appropriately. Well, the answer could more than likely be right at your finger tips.

The truth is, you didn't clarify the job and its requirements, and possibly the consequences of submitting incorrect information if the candidate chose to ignore the guidelines for your request. Also, if you didn't include an email, address, phone number or point of contact, it will lead to candidates having to hunt around for your information and in return, they will contact the wrong individuals within your organization for employment opportunities.

So save yourself a lot of grief, be clear precise and to the point. And all will live happily ever after.......

Take Your Kiddos to Work Day

I'm curious as to how many companies participated in the program this year. This program is such a cool concept in which companies encourage parents / guardians / mentors to bring their child to their workplace if they are in between the ages of 8-18. The idea is to be instrumental in making sure that our children understand the importance of work and setting realistic goals for the betterment of their future. And it certainly beats dressing our girls up as princesses and prancing them around the city. If your organization is unfamiliar with this program, visit www.daughtersandsonstowork.org for more information.

Kid at work