There are many of ways to review the level of employee engagement among your team members, and it’s good to take a look at the various methods—especially with the latest statistics suggesting that 71% of American workers are not engaged in their current positions. That’s a staggering number! One simple question may get you on the right track to determine if your employees fall within that 71% or the coveted 29%: “Would you recommend that your friends work at our company?”

Recommendations and referrals cannot be taken lightly. For some businesses, they constitute a bulk of their revenue stream, and those companies know that a referral to a trusted friend, family, or colleague is earned. Therefore, it means a lot if your employees are willing to refer their network to work for you. After all, their reputation is on the line. More importantly, they could lose a friend if they hook him up with a job he hates.

For some companies with a strong corporate culture and engaged employee base, they frequently cull new recruits from their already vibrant base. In fact, many find those to be their best employees, since like-minded people tend to flock together. The trick, of course, is to get your high performers to bring on people like themselves; you don’t want the person who’s just phoning it in to recruit new employees with a similar work ethic!

So take some time to think about it: Would you want your friends to work for your company? Do you receive many referrals from current employees? This one question may help you to determine just where you stand and whether your team is in the 71% or 29%.

If you have more questions about how to inspire your employees and create a more solid culture, check out Human Capital Strategies’ community training seminars, HCS C.A.R.E.S.

According to a recent Gallup poll, only 28% of employees are engaged. That means that 72% are either neutral or negatively engaged. While you’re beating yourself up trying to devise methods of improving employee engagement in your office, consider that no matter what you do, it may not matter. Instead, you may need to look at who comprises your team.

Naturally, people put themselves into boxes. We have the dutiful employee, the team motivator, the entrepreneur, and the slacker, just to name a few. What if you had a company full of motivated, dutiful employees who came to work excited and spread that energy everywhere they went? It would likely change the whole dynamic of your company, wouldn’t it?

The good thing is that you probably have a few of these dynamos in your ranks already. But how do you find them? More than just being happy, there are some factors that are pervasive, according to a recent article on the Business Insider:

• They are highly engaged with your company.
• Their personality jives with that of your company’s, as if they’re cut from the same cloth.
• You can pick them out no matter what their jobs are or how much responsibility they have.

Find these “it” people and start to identify what it is about them that makes them so fantastic for your company. Then start searching for their work twins, those people who embody similar traits and ideals. The “it” person at one organization will differ from one at another because of company mission differences, but once you create a profile of your great contributors, you’ll have a map for finding more likeminded employees to drive the business forward.

Need help finding just the right employees? Human Capital Strategies will help you source additional team members. Contact us today!

For retailers, November 1^st signifies the beginning of the winter holiday season, namely putting out the Christmas and Hanukkah decorations and playing multiple versions of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” over the loud speakers. But if you own a company that is not in the retail business, the way you approach the holiday season may come into question and potentially open you up to legal repercussions if your employees perceive that they are being discriminated against or are not allowed the freedom to practice their religious beliefs.

Simple questions such as whether or not to decorate, how to allocate days off, and hosting parties or gift exchanges can become tricky when an employer looks to accommodate all of his or her team members. The issues occur when an employer seems to be favoring one religion over the other by only referring to the Christmas holiday or displaying overtly religious decorations, such as a Menorah. A better approach, if you choose to decorate or host a party, is to opt for secular decorations and call the gathering an “end-of-year celebration” or other PC title.

Make any events or activities optional for all employees, and be sure that everyone knows that your work policies are fully in effect throughout the holiday season. Sexual harassment is not tolerated, regardless of how much alcohol one has at the company party, and gift exchanges should always be focused on work-appropriate gifts. Also, if you allow one person to take off a day or two to celebrate Christmas, be sure that the employee who wants a day off for Hanukkah enjoys the same opportunity.

The holidays can be a great time to celebrate with your employees, as long as you maintain a focus on your team and their perceptions. Just stay neutral and PC and you’ll coast through without incident.

The leaves are turning, the air is cooling down, and no matter where in the country you live, you can notice the distinct feel of fall in the air. That can only mean one thing: Open enrollment season is here!

This is the time when your employees have an opportunity to choose their insurance coverage for the coming year. If you’re working with a Professional Employment Organization (PEO), such as Human Capital Strategies, all you need to worry about is scheduling time for your representative to come and speak with your employees. That rep will share with your team their options and help to guide them through the process of choosing the appropriate coverage.

However, if you’re doing it on your own, there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that you’ll need to do to protect yourself, your company, and your employees.

This is the perfect time to start planning if your renewal date is January 1. You should be looking 60-90 days out so that you can be sure to have everything complete in time. Some of the items on your checklist should be:

• Considering your company goal, including why you want to offer insurance benefits, how much you’ll contribute, and if employees will share costs.
• Taking a census of employees to determine who is full time or part time and who is eligible for benefits.
• Creating healthcare questionnaires to share with employees to determine their needs.
• Identifying your renewal rate with your current carrier after providing them with any updates in employee coverage.
• Meeting with a group health insurance broker to provide options.
• Setting up payroll with the new deductions.

Once you start educating your employees on their options, one of the things that often gets overlooked is an option to decline coverage. If this form is not offered—and signed—the employee may choose to come back to you at a later date and argue that coverage was never offered. This is a huge liability risk.

When working with a PEO, all of these components are handled on their end. A PEO is proactive in determining your insurance coverage needs, soliciting bids for coverage, and creating a marketing plan to share that information with your employees. Why are they so involved? Naturally, they want to provide the best customer service, but another important component is that, because the PEO is handling your payroll, it shares liability for those benefits and deductions.

If you have questions about group health insurance and how it affects your company, please contact Human Capital Strategies. Now is the time!

Is your corporate culture obvious to new employees—and pervasive to the entire team? Creating a strong corporate culture isn’t always an inherent task when launching and growing your business; you need to be deliberate and ensure that your message is easily understood and adopted.

In a recent post by Jesse Lyn Stoner, she clearly laid out the five factors that define whether or not a company is values driven. While it isn’t mandated that your corporate culture be linked to values, it is a great way to be sure that it’s “sticky,” meaning that employees take it to heart and begin to embrace—even live and breathe—the culture.

Stoner suggests the following ways to identify a values-driven company:

1. Employees remember what the company’s values are.
2. Employees can describe specific activities and behaviors that demonstrate what the values look like in action.
3. The company’s values are visibly integrated into how it does business.
4. The company’s public message matches your own experience as a customer.
5. You can use your own personal experience to identify the real company values.

When you’re establishing and evaluating your company’s culture, look at the companies you admire and see how they’re doing things. You’re not likely to create one that is completely new, and it’s okay to adopt approaches from other places to make something that is unique to your company, employees, and customers.

The most successful companies have a clearly defined culture that is obvious no matter from what angle you’re observing the company. It’s never too early or too late to establish an effective culture and get everyone on board for success. One additional benefit is that a pervasive culture will make your company more attractive when it comes time to sell. For questions about the value of your organization and preparing it for sale, contact us.