Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I ran across a statistic recently that – while it’s a bit dated – speaks volumes about the value of employee training programs. According to a study from the Association for Talent Development (ATD), organizations that make investments into learning and development realize 218% higher income per employee and 24% higher profit margins. Those are pretty significant numbers. And even if they dropped a little over time, they’re still significant. Getting 100%+ return on investment (ROI) is noteworthy. 

But this means that organizations need to do more than just implement one or two training programs. Training has to become part of the culture. Let me rephrase that … learning must become part of the culture. 

I know sometimes the phrase “lifelong learning” gets pushback but there is truth in it. I’m reminded of the Peter Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline” and how organizations can improve performance when they become learning organizations, meaning that they regularly learn from the successes and not-so-successful moments. 

Employee Training Is an Essential Business Activity

Basic employee training – the kind of training that employees need to do their jobs – isn’t a luxury item. If you cut it from the budget, you’ll pay for it somewhere else. If employees don’t feel that the company supports them by providing the training and tools to do the job, they will go somewhere else. Basic employee training isn’t a carrot to dangle in front of someone and say, “I’ll tell you how to do your job if you promise to stay.”

Managers Should Encourage Employee Development

It can be very tempting for organizations to say that “we can’t afford employee development right now” or “if we develop people, they will take jobs with our competition”. Companies that don’t develop their employees will lose those employees because they’re not demonstrating support for an employee’s career. No one is going to stay with a company that says, “We like you. We just don’t want you to be marketable.”  

Teach Employees How to Unlearn

Organizations often tell employees “Effective tomorrow, here’s the new procedure.” and not give anyone a chance to unlearn the old procedure. Not only does unlearning create buy-in for the change but it gives employees a chance to practice, which can improve their overall performance. And isn’t that what organizations want – good employee performance? Because good performance = good bottom-line.

Let Employees Learn by Breaking Things at Work

Speaking of learning new things, organizations and individuals need to find ways to be curious. There’s an old saying that the most dangerous six words in business are “We’ve always done it that way.” It’s true. If we want to continue delivering value, we need to be willing to “break things” occasionally. 

Team Building and Team Development Are Not the Same Thing

There are advantages and disadvantages to working in teams. In my experience, the number one reason from employees that they either love or hate teamwork is the team dynamic. Set employees up for success by giving them the tools and training.

3 Steps for Employees to Identify Their Own Learning Needs

It makes good business sense for organizations to give employees the methodology and tools to manage their own learning during orientation or onboarding. Employees start their jobs with a clear understanding of their role and expectations with goal setting, one-on-one meetings, and performance management. Meanwhile, managers can spend their time coaching employees to use the process well. 

As we move into the new year, there will be a lot of pressure to perform at a high level – both for organizations and for individuals. The best way to accomplish that is through learning. Organizations that make learning a part of their culture and the way they do things, will see positive results.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the Association for Talent Development Conference in Orlando, FL

The post Employee Learning Improves the Bottom Line – hr bartender appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I recently spoke on a webcast hosted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) where I spoke on the topic of leadership and management. I believe it’s important to remember that the two are not the same thing. The functions of management include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence others. Because the definition of leadership includes influence, it’s important to understand workplace power. 

Power is defined as “a person or thing that possesses or exercises authority or influence”. In essence, when we use power, we’re utilizing our influence to get something. This means that everyone has power. Yes, everyone. And that’s not a bad thing. The real question becomes what kind of power a person has and how someone uses that power. Here are the seven most common types of workplace power and how they might be used.

1. Coercive power is associated with people who are able to punish others. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them. Coercive power could be used by a manager as in “Do this or I’ll write you up.” But it could also be used by the scheduling department to give someone an unfavorable work shift. 

2. Connection power is based upon who you know. This person knows and has the ear of other powerful people within the organization. An example would be the administrative assistant who has a positive working relationship with their boss. If the assistant doesn’t like you…well, that could get passed along to the executive. And vice versa. 

3. Expert power comes from a person’s expertise (obviously). This is commonly a person with an acclaimed skill or accomplishment. Don’t assume that expertise always comes in the form of being a vice president or having a Ph.D. An expert could be the person who is able to fix things around the office. 

4. A person who has access to valuable or important information possesses informational power. I think of informational workplace power in two ways. First, it’s the person who always seems to be “in the know” about what’s happening in the company. You know who I’m taking about. But also, those individuals who can curate good information in today’s digital world. 

5. Legitimate power comes from the position a person holds. This is related to a person’s title and job responsibilities. You might also hear this referred to as positional power. When I was an in-house HR director, I had the ability to request a manual paycheck for an employee. That authority was given to me based on my job title. No one else was able to make that request. 

6. People who are well-liked and respected can have referent power. People like to do things with and for people they like. It’s the premise of the best-selling book by Tim Sanders, “The Likeability Factor”. This doesn’t mean being weak or a pushover. It also doesn’t mean that likeable people never deliver tough messages. But it does mean that they invest time in building relationships. 

7. Reward power is based upon a person’s ability to bestow rewards. Those rewards might come in the form of job assignments, schedules, pay or benefits. This could be perceived as the opposite of coercive power. Managers might use reward power. For example, “Do this project and then take the rest of the day off.” 

Please don’t be modest and say to yourself, “I don’t have any power.” As you can see, there are lots of different ways workplace power can manifest itself. And for that reason, it’s important to realize that power exists in everyone. It’s also possible that you have different kinds of power with different groups or situations. The two biggest mistakes I see with people using power revolve around (1) trying to use power they don’t have and (2) using the wrong kind of power to achieve specific results.

To help you better understand and identify your “power”, take a moment and think about how you try to influence the actions of others. You could use the descriptions above as a pseudo self-assessment. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 in each of the different kinds of power. With 1 being not at all characteristic of you and 5 being quite characteristic.

This can be a powerful exercise (sorry for the pun). If you’re honest with yourself, I hope you will find the results helpful. Not only for the way that you tend to use power, but in the ways that others use power with you.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Orlando, FL

The post Workplace Power: The 7 Types and Why They Are Important appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

As we approach the New Year, the topic of careers is often on everyone’s mind. From an organizational perspective, management is thinking about their staffing plans and where they are going to fill positions. Will we have to hire people from the outside? Or do we have internal talent that are ready to take on new roles? 

Meanwhile, employees are thinking about their careers. What do I want to focus on in the year ahead – improving skills, building relationships, or maybe identifying new opportunities? Those things don’t happen overnight, and employees have to plan how they will accomplish their goals. 

Ideally, both the organization and the employee are working together on career management. This allows the organization to accomplish its goal of finding and retaining the best talent. And it allows employees to accomplish their goals of finding rewarding work. 

This year, we’ve published several articles talking about both the organization’s and the employee’s roles in career management. 

Career Planning: The Organization’s Role in Creating Employee Success

Career planning is the process of matching an employee’s career goals with their capabilities. Simply put, it’s about connecting what people do well with what they want to do. Ideally, we want employees to enjoy their chosen career. If they do, it can translate to higher employee engagement, which ultimately has a positive impact on productivity and the bottom line. 

Servant Leadership: Excellent Leaders Focus on People and Profits

There is no clear path to being a good leader. If there was, we’d all have an index card with the steps to be a good leader and the conversation would be over. Leadership takes time and practice. But if there was one thing that we could all focus on to improve our leadership skills, maybe first serving the people around us is a good place to start.

Should Managers Be Coaches or Is There a Better Option

What if the organization said, “Asking managers to manage and be coaches is too much. Let’s hire some coaches to supplement what the manager is doing.” Remember the functions of management include planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. It is very possible that managers just have too much on their plate. And to do employee coaching well, the organization might want to consider having dedicated coaches.

Encourage Employees to Manage Their Career

While organizations need to encourage employees to manage their career, employees also need to take an active role in their careers. They need to learn how to evaluate their own performance and identify things they want to learn. Then they should set goals for themselves and monitor their progress. 

Career Planning: The Employee’s Role in Driving Their Success

Employees are an equal partner in their own career planning. Remember the definition of career planning is “the process of matching career goals with capabilities”. That can’t happen without employee involvement. Then it becomes the employee’s responsibility to communicate those goals to management. Ultimately, that’s how managers can support the employee and their future plans.

How to Find a Mentor

Deciding to have a mentor(s) is a great thing. But it takes some planning. Decide what you’re hoping to accomplish. Think about who might be able to help and determine their qualifications. Be prepared to talk about these things when you ask someone to take on a mentoring role. Oh, and consider whether your mentoring relationship needs to be in-person or could it be virtual. This could impact who you ask to be a mentor. 

5 Qualities Found in Excellent Mentors

According to the site MentorCliq, 92% of all U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 100% of the top 50 U.S. Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs . Mentoring is an incredibly popular activity because it works. It feels great to share your experience and knowledge with others, and you can also learn a lot along the way. But that will only happen if the mentoring relationship is built on the right foundation. That’s why it’s worth the time to learn how to do it well.

While we’re not talking about quiet quitting and loud leaving anymore (thank goodness!), this doesn’t mean that employees are completely content in their careers. Employees want to know that the organization values them and will make investments in their career success. In an article on the American Psychological Association site, 91% of respondents said it’s important to have a job where they can consistently learn. But only 47% say their employer offers that. 

As organizations and individuals are setting goals for the year, discuss where career management falls in those goals. Put a plan in place. Allocate resources to make it happen. Not only will it make employees more engaged, but it will help the business thrive.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Washington, DC

The post Career Management Involves Both the Manager and the Employee appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Achievers, the industry leading employee experience platform. They were recently awarded first place by HRO Today for their customer satisfaction ratings. Congrats to them and enjoy the article!)

As an HR professional, I’m sure I’m not alone in reading the 2024 workplace predictions that come out this time of year. I always like to see if the predictions confirm what I’m seeing in the business world. And for 2024, I’m noticing some common themes.

• Performance and productivity will remain a primary focus.
• HR Technologies, specifically artificial intelligence, will continue to evolve.
• Wellbeing programs will be a key differentiator for organizations. 

And diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) will remain a priority. Which is what I want to talk about today. Specifically, belonging.

I recently got my hands on the Achievers report “The Belonging Blueprint” which talks about everything organizations need to create a culture of belonging. One of the pieces of the report that immediately grabbed my attention was the welcome from Kumari Williams, vice president of belonging and diversity at Workday. I really liked the way that Williams explained how belonging plays a role in the employee experience, performance, and wellbeing.

Belonging is a fundamental human need that plays a crucial role in shaping our overall wellbeing and satisfaction, both in personal and professional contexts. When individuals feel a sense of belonging within their workplace, they are more likely to be happier, healthier, and more productive. Moreover, they tend to stay with the company for longer periods, contributing to increased stability and continuity within the organization.

– Kumari Williams

I continue to hear that one of the reasons that DEIB efforts fail is because organizations spend too much time talking and not enough time doing. I also hear that organizational efforts fail because they are too focused on the “D” (diversity) and not enough on the “B” (belonging). The latest research from Achievers supports that anecdotal feedback. 

• 26% of employees have a strong sense of belonging,
• 43% have a moderate sense, and
• 31% have a low sense of workplace belonging.

Couple these research findings with Williams’ comments about belonging shaping job satisfaction and it makes an instant and important connection. Organizations with a strong sense of belonging will have better employee experiences, better performance and outcomes, and better employee retention. 

5 Pillars of Workplace Belonging

I will admit that building a culture of belonging can be hard. Even if the definition of belonging is easy. Achievers defines it as “an experience of connection, security, and community – feeling at home in one’s place, without reservation”. I like to say that belonging means being able to bring your whole authentic self to work.

In their report, Achievers introduces a Belonging Model with five pillars – welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected. Here’s a brief description of each pillar.

WELCOMED is focused on integrating employees into the organization. This applies to new employees as well as people who are taking on a new role within the same company. Organizations should have structured onboarding programs for new hires and internal mobility.

KNOWN means that employees are recognized as themselves. This doesn’t have to be intrusive about someone’s personal life. One of the first things I think of when it comes to getting to know someone is understanding how they like to work. It reminds me of the concept of a personal user manual. Managers need to learn how employees like to work and be productive. Employees need to learn how their manager likes to work so they can effectively “manage up”.

INCLUDED is exactly that … a person feels that they are included to participate. I recently wrote about the SMARTIE model, which is a variation of the SMART model adding an “I” for inclusion and “E” for equitable. When the organization is making decisions, they need to have the right people in the room. 

SUPPORTED is focused on giving employees the support they need to be successful. This includes tools, training, teamwork, and management support. If organizations want employees to do their best work – and we all know they do – then they need to set employees up for success. Not just when they’re a new hire, but all along the employee experience. 

CONNECTED means that employees are able to build and maintain relationships across the organization. This doesn’t mean that employees have to be besties with everyone. It does mean that employees should feel comfortable interacting with others in the company in terms of feeling psychologically safe to have conversations and share feedback. 

One of the things that I liked in reading the research and learning about the five pillars is how Achievers provided a roadmap to focus on belonging. Because while belonging sounds easy to talk about, it can be challenging to bring it into an existing organizational culture. 

Employees Stay Where They Feel They Belong

Today, I’ve only shared a high-level overview of The Belonging Blueprint report. If you want to learn more, and I hope you do … you can download the full report on the Achievers’ website.

And, Kumari Williams will be chatting with Dr. Natalie Baumgartner, chief workforce scientist at Achievers on Wednesday, December 13, 2024 / 2p Eastern about the report and how organizations can improve belonging in the workplace. I realize the webinar is late notice, so if you’re already booked, sign up anyway to get the recording. 

Creating a strong sense of belonging will give your employees better experiences, better performance and outcomes, and better employee retention. Organizations can bring a diverse group of employees together, but if they don’t make that group feel like they belong, then employees will leave. I know this sounds obvious, but I’ll say it anyway. People don’t want to stay where they don’t feel that they belong. 

The post Organizations: The Employee Experience Starts with Belonging appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Poster Guard^© Poster Compliance Service from HRdirect, the leading labor law poster service that gets your business up to date with all the required federal, state, and local labor law postings, and then keeps it that way – for an entire year. Enjoy the article!)

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you an article highlighting how different industries have different labor law posting requirements. It’s very easy to dismiss warnings about labor law posters with “Oh, we have all the right ones.” or “There will be headlines everywhere when our posters need to be updated.” That’s simply not true. 

While I’m not saying that government agencies are out to catch organizations that aren’t in compliance, it’s important to realize that in today’s fast paced business world, there’s no guarantee that labor law posting updates are going to automatically move into the trending topics section of your favorite social media platform.

So today, I wanted to build on the conversation we had about the different industry requirements to talk about how labor law posters have some unique requirements for certain employee groups. 

Group #1: Postings for Job Applicants. Don’t Assume Labor Law Postings are Only for Employees.

We have a tendency to think of labor law postings as being just for our employees. Truth is, four of the six mandatory federal postings apply to applicants as well. There are also state and local requirements. Physical postings must be displayed for applicants that come into your work location for interviews, pre-employment testing, or any part of the hiring process. By law, applicants must be able to view these federal postings in your business:

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

And if your organization accepts online applications, there needs to be a way for applicants to view them there too. In an article on Yahoo Finance, 99% of Fortune 500 Companies are using applicant tracking systems (ATS), and 75% of recruiters are using an ATS to some extent. As organizations take more of their processes online, they need to be prepared to take their compliance online as well. 

Group #2: Spanish Language Postings. Don’t Assume Spanish Language Postings Only Apply When You Have Spanish Speaking Employees.

As of July 1, 2021, the U.S. Census reports that the Hispanic population of the United States was 62.6 million, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or racial minority. There are thirteen states with a population of more than one million Hispanic residents: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, NJ, NM, NY, NC, PA, TX, and WA. 

Twenty-one (21) states and territories are required by law to have certain labor law postings in English and Spanish, regardless of the composition of the workforce. Additional laws apply if you have locations with a significant number of Spanish-speaking employees who are not proficient in English. Those locations must post certain federal labor law postings in both English and Spanish. Though not mandatory, it is in your best interest to display all of the state posters in English and Spanish in those locations as well.

Organizations cannot assume that, if they do not have Spanish-speaking employees, they don’t need Spanish language posters. Also, they cannot assume if they have bilingual employees that they don’t need Spanish language labor law postings. 

Group #3: Postings for Remote Workers. Don’t Assume that Labor Law Postings are Only for Onsite Work Environments

In an article on Forbes, they reported that 12.7% of full-time employees work remotely and 28.2% work in a hybrid model. We all know the reasons that working remotely is popular for both organizations and employees. 

On the organization size, it reduces the costs for commercial office space and decreases our carbon footprint. From the employee perspective, it reduces the cost of commuting and can offer greater work / life balance. In an article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), remote employees are more productive and save companies billions. While the SHRM article is a few years old, it does have some interesting statistics about the cost of allowing employees flexibility.  

Organizations with a remote workforce need to audit their processes to ensure everyone has access to labor law postings. There are U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) opinion letters and court cases have determined that electronic notices are a reasonable alternative for remote employees. 

Close the Compliance Gap with Your Labor Law Postings

I’d like to think that organizations know they need to have labor law postings. But I can also see organizations forgetting to take the extra steps with applicants, Spanish language postings, and remote employees. 

But the good news is that organizations don’t have to spend hours researching this information. Our friends at Poster Guard have a Labor Law Poster Service that will do it for you. Yes, that’s correct. Poster Guard monitors labor law requirements (at the federal, state, and local level) and lets you know when things change. They also provide you with replacement posters every time there’s a change FREE of charge! And, they provide a 100% guarantee that the posters are in compliance or they’ll pay the fine. 

Oh, and one more thing about the service. It includes foreign language postings, if required for all employers, regardless of the languages spoken in the workplace. 

Honestly, this is a no brainer for me. As a HR professional, I have so many other things I need to spend my time on than researching labor law posting requirements. Personally, I would much rather have a professional service do what they do best, which frees up my time to recruit, engage, and retain the best employees.

The post 3 Employee Groups with Unique Labor Law Posting Requirements appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

I know that some people hate math. But I hope even if you’re not into math that you’ll stick with me on today’s article. 

I’ve been listening to some MasterClass sessions and stumbled onto one by Dr. Terence Tao, who has been nicknamed “The Mozart of Mathematics”. He is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles and has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field. I must admit, I had never heard of Dr. Tao, but I like math, so I decided to listen to his class … and I’m very glad I did.

Dr. Tao talked about how math makes things more connected. I thought this was a great business takeaway. In business, we often talk about math in the context of data and analytics. It’s possible that some people might say organizations talk about the numbers too much. Maybe instead of thinking about data and analytics as being cold and objective, it’s time to think of them as a way to connect the organization. And view them as a language to help us make those connections and communicate better. 

Keeping that in mind, Dr. Tao’s MasterClass was focused on how we can use math and problem solving to better make connections for ourselves and around the organization. I believe we can apply these takeaways to the way we use data and analytics.   

Getting stuck is normal. It’s okay to not know everything. Dr. Tao discussed how being a mathematician was challenging because everyone always expected him to have the answer and sometimes, he didn’t. It’s possible that we need to do more research to get insights which will help us get unstuck. Sometimes we just need to let problems go until they’re ready to be solved. There was one other thing he mentioned when talking about getting stuck and not knowing answers that really resonated with me. He said that if you never get stuck maybe you need to ask yourself if you’re challenging yourself enough. 

Have a mentor. Be a mentor. This also came up in RuPaul’s MasterClass. Mentoring is a valuable activity for our personal and professional lives. Mentors could be useful in helping us frame problems and solutions. They could be helpful in reminding us that getting stuck is normal and it’s okay not to know everything (see above).    

Learn how to identify problems. Dr. Tao talked about how organizations often set themselves up for frustration and possibly failure because they don’t correctly identify the problem. Three things to note: 1) If you have a big problem, it might be necessary to break it down into smaller more manageable parts. 2) Have a good problem-solving process and make sure people know how to use it. And 3) Become comfortable with being a part of a bigger process. We might need help from others to solve a problem. 

Disrupt your thought process to change your thinking. This ties into the first bullet about getting stuck. Sometimes we might get stuck because we feel that we must solve a problem a certain way, meaning that we feel we have to arrive at a specific outcome. It could make sense to do a “reset”, whether that’s individually or as a team. I’m not saying abandon your process but is there a way to look at the data differently to gain better insights.

Show your “outtakes”. Do you ever watch the bloopers from your favorite TV show or movie? I’m reminded of a scene in the Apple TV show Ted Lasso where the team loses badly. Of course, part of the coaching process is to review the game so the team can learn from the loss. But Ted shows the game on fast forward to the theme music from the “Benny Hill” show. It allows the team a light moment before discussing the seriousness of the loss. Often our flubs or first attempts can be very helpful and a learning moment. But we do have to get comfortable with facing mistakes. 

Failure is okay. Speaking of mistakes, it’s possible you will not achieve your original goal but that’s okay because you learned something along the way. Learning from that mistake could help you eventually solve the problem. Or possibly help the organization reframe the problem. Or even help us reset our thinking. The point being that we’re not perfect and we are going to make mistakes. 

One of the reasons that I liked Dr. Tao’s MasterClass is because of his authenticity and honesty in talking about data and analytics. He is a very smart and accomplished professional. Many of us are too. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments where we might feel pressure to have all the answers or be afraid to admit our mistakes. 

From an organizational standpoint, I sometimes see this in managers. Once a person is promoted to manager, they feel they need to know everything. That employees won’t respect them if they say that they don’t know something. Or they’re concerned about telling their boss that they made a mistake. Yes, we need to have well-defined processes and follow-them. But instead of punishing people for not being perfect, let’s help them turn the moment into a way to strengthen organizational connections. 

The post Use Data and Analytics to Make the Organization More Connected appeared first on hr bartender.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

I’ve mentioned a few times recently about projects that might be perfect for the end of the year and thought it would be good to expand on the idea. 

When I worked in a corporate office, I often worked during the final two weeks of the year. At first, because I had to. Everyone else had more seniority and vacation time. Later in my career, I did it because I wanted to. The final two weeks of the year were quiet. Fewer meetings. Less email. I could be productive, catch up, and cross off a few things on my “to-do” list.

So, if you’re looking at your schedule and are unhappy about having to work while your colleagues are taking time off, let me share a few things you can do to prepare for the upcoming year. In fact, you might want to bookmark this page and use it as an end-of-the-year checklist.

1. Clean out your contacts. I’m not talking about unfriending or unfollowing people, although you might want to do that too. I’m referring to professional contacts with outdated information who haven’t stayed in touch. That digital entry is just taking up space. If you want, reach out and try to connect with those individuals via LinkedIn. Then you will always have their most current contact information.

2. Update your social media accounts. Speaking of cleaning up contacts, use this quiet time to unfriend, unfollow, unlike, etc. those accounts that don’t bring value. Also take a moment to update your profile, photo, and contact information. The more accurate and up-to-date your profiles are, the more people will want to engage with you.

3. Get your planner ready for the New Year. While I have a digital calendar, I still like using a paper planner. There are many different styles available and they can serve multiple functions like planning, goal setting, journaling, etc.. This year I’m using a Hobonichi Techo. Planning is an important and productive activity that helps us stay focused and accomplish our goals. Find a system that works for you.

4. Do a mini-HR audit. Pull a half dozen personnel files and make sure they look the way they’re supposed to. You can do the same with Form I-9. It’s better to have some sense of how your files look before an official audit. Need an audit checklist? The SHRM Knowledge Center can help you with that. Members are able to request information for free!

5. Organize your reading. I don’t know about you, but I find that during the year, I add sites to my Feedly and then discover they’ve been abandoned, etc. So, it’s good to clean out those electronic newsletters, sites, and blogs to make room for new ones. Hopefully you’ll continue receiving HR Bartender!

6. Clean and dust your office. This is another area that I’m guilty of neglecting. Books get dusty. Computer cords get tangled. Take a couple of hours to move stuff and really clean. You’ll be amazed how good it feels (and smells!)

7. Delete electronic files that you no longer need. A word of caution here – please check with your legal counsel and/or technology department before doing this. But my guess is the company’s 1986 dress code policy that is still sitting on someone’s computer could be deleted. Organizing your electronic files will make you more productive. 

8. Talk with employees. I know that much of what we’ve discussed so far is about organizing paper. Remember management by walking around (MBWA)? This is also a great time of year to get out of your office and talk with employees. Find out what’s going on. And if you have team members who will also be working, this could be a great time to schedule an extra one-on-one to wrap up the year and plan for the future. 

9. Schedule one-on-ones with managers. Speaking of meetings, use the last two weeks of the year to meet with the managers who are also working. Talk with them about how HR can help and provide value. Plan some strategies together. Relationship building is a huge part of HR’s job. Here’s a great opportunity.

10. Take a class. Been trying to find a few hours for your own professional development? I know how hard it can be to squeeze time into an already busy schedule. Use the slow time to listen to an online seminar or take a MOOC (massive open online course). 

While we’d all like to spend the last couple weeks of the year on a tropical paradise, sometimes it’s simply not possible. So, if your plans involve work, use the time to your advantage. You can start the new year ready to make a huge impact.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the 34th Street graffiti wall in Gainesville, FL

The post The Most Productive Ways to Spend the Last Two Weeks of the Year appeared first on hr bartender.