Employee Experience

Empowering Employee Voices: A Guide to Fostering a Culture of Open Communication

2025-04-29T16:13:05-04:00

Building a great workplace for all isn’t a solo endeavor. By creating space for employees to voice their thoughts and put forward ideas, you foster a culture of open communication that drives engagement, innovation, and trust.

What makes an organization a great workplace for all? Through our research, we know it’s one defined, in short, by a shared sense of trust, pride, and camaraderie among employees.

One way leaders build a workplace culture where every employee can experience this is simple: give your people a voice.

As the workplace has rapidly evolved over the past five years, it isn’t surprising that “employee voice” has entered the conversation. With organizations embracing remote and hybrid work and a flattened hierarchical structure, it’s critical that leaders create space to listen to employees.

As Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work®, says, “Employees want to be heard, valued, and cared for.”

Employee voice is a powerful way to tap into your greatest resource — your people — to increase employee satisfaction, drive innovation, and productivity.

What is employee voice and why does it matter?

Employee voice, also known as “voice of the employee” (VoE), means employees have the ability to share their thoughts, ideas, or concerns within an organization without fear of negative consequences.

Giving employees a voice is the cornerstone of building a positive work culture, one where different perspectives are welcomed. When employees have a safe space to share insights, they can put forward creative ideas, suggest improvements, or provide valuable insights on issues leaders may not be aware of.

The benefits of strong employee voice

Employee voice helps organizations move away from a top-down culture to one of collaboration and open communication. The benefits to leaders, organizations, and their people speak for themselves:

Trust: When employees feel safe enough to speak up, it builds trust between people and leadership. Trust is integral to the Great Place To Work Model and an indicator of a healthy workplace culture. High-trust workplaces are more resilient and see better stock market success.

Engagement: When leadership creates spaces for employees to give honest feedback, they’re more likely to be engaged, and employee satisfaction increases. Improved team morale means employees can engage with new ideas, share knowledge, and support teammates.

Productivity: When employees feel heard, they are more motivated and committed to their work. This sense of validation not only boosts morale but also encourages individuals to contribute their best efforts, leading to higher productivity, driving strong business results.

At the Fortune 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For®, where an “always listening” culture is prioritized, the willingness to give extra at work is 70% higher compared to a typical U.S. workplace.

Retention: Research shows that at any given time, on average, more than half of your workforce is considering new opportunities. Replacing talent costs time and money. However, giving employees a voice is a powerful retention strategy. It amplifies the message that your people are vital for the company’s success.
Inclusivity: In any diverse organization, creating a workplace for all is critical for success. Tapping into the voice of all employees not only maximizes the potential of every person, it also helps create a more inclusive environment — which leads to greater innovation, employee retention and higher revenue growth.

Strategies for encouraging employee voice

Some people may feel anxious or hesitate to exercise their employee voice and share concerns or opinions. Here’s the role leaders can take in creating an environment where everyone feels encouraged to speak up:

Create a safe environment: A safe environment is one of trust, open communication, and mutual respect. Reassure confidentiality, such as with survey confidentiality, or other channels, and encourage honest feedback to create psychological safety.

For example, Ryan LLC fosters psychological safety by encouraging risk-taking and celebrating mistakes.

Leaders at Ryan model vulnerability by openly sharing their own mistakes and learning experiences, which sets the tone for a culture where trying and failing is seen as a natural part of growth.

This approach helps employees feel safe to take risks and share their ideas without fear of negative repercussions. By recognizing and rewarding efforts, even when they don’t lead to success, Ryan reinforces the message that the organization values growth and development, building trust and encouraging employees to continue voicing their thoughts.
Active listening: When employees feel heard, they feel valued. Stay calm and set aside assumptions when employees are talking. Pay attention to both the explicit and implicit things people are saying and acknowledge their concerns.
Recognition: Show appreciation when employees voice concerns or make contributions. Show that their input is taken seriously and provide feedback on any next steps being taken.
For example, The Breakers Palm Beach uses an employee opinion survey (EOS) stamp to visibly acknowledge that certain changes or programs were products of employee feedback. This stamp, which reads “Product of EOS employee opinion survey,” is a powerful tool that validates employees’ contributions and fosters a sense of ownership and pride in the workplace.

By seeing their feedback lead to tangible outcomes, employees feel appreciated and recognized. This boosts morale and encourages ongoing participation in feedback mechanisms.
Provide multiple channels for feedback: Give employees more than one way to voice their thoughts. Use a variety of feedback mechanisms, such as employee surveys, employee resource groups, skip-meetings, or one-on-one conversations.

For example, Wegmans Food Markets has implemented several employee voice channels to ensure their frontline workers feel heard and valued.

One notable example is the “Ask Jack” initiative, where employees can submit suggestions and questions directly to Jack DePeters, the company’s SVP of operations.

Since its launch in 2002, Jack has responded to over 16,000 employee comments, with 68% of employees choosing to identify themselves by name rather than submit anonymously.

The role of leadership in fostering employee voice

Leaders affect 70% of the employee experience, which is why leaders must model open communication and create a high-trust environment where employees are comfortable sharing their concerns.

An inclusive culture requires transparency, accountability, and vulnerability.

Create a space in meetings and interactions by letting people know their input is welcome. Put opinions aside and give attention to people’s thoughts and experiences from a place of humility and empathy.

When leaders demonstrate a high level of care, it creates a safe space for others to share their opinions, in turn unlocking employee performance.

How to measure and analyze employee voice

To effectively measure and analyze employee voice, organizations should take a multifaceted approach that is both qualitative and quantitative:

Employee surveys: If you aren’t gathering feedback at least once a year, you might fail to notice changes in your employees’ experience. Employee surveys are an opportunity for employees to give honest feedback.

카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 Trust Index™ Survey protects employees’ voices as the data is encrypted and de-identified. The result: reliable feedback you can act on and the opportunity for your people to speak honestly, knowing their voices won’t be singled out.

Employee resource groups: ERGs create a safe place for employees to come together and feel comfortable sharing their experience. Use the insights from ERGs to surface employee perspectives and understand the unique experience of specific groups within your organization.

Town Halls or Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions: Town Halls and AMAs can be a powerful vehicle to give employees a voice and raise concerns directly with senior leaders. Synchrony’s listening practice includes “ask us anything” meetings with senior leadership. The sessions are open to 20,000 employees, as leaders answer questions on a variety of topics until there are no more questions from the audience.

One-on-one meetings: Establish regular, informal check-ins with employees to invite individual feedback and address any concerns.

Once organizations have garnered feedback, here are some suggestions on how to analyze employee feedback:

Review data: Review results at a high level. Look at data across demographics or employee groups to identify disparities in employee experience. Take a more granular look at the data to get a clear picture of what employees are saying.

Reflect on feedback: Surveying employee voice can provide invaluable insights into leadership and company culture. Reflect on feedback before responding or creating action plans. Ask questions such as:

Which feedback is the most surprising?
What steps can we take to show we are truly listening?
Which feedback feels most difficult to address?
What barriers might be preventing action, and how can we overcome them
What strengths are emerging from the feedback? How can we amplify these to reinforce a positive workplace culture?

Identify improvements and develop plans: Identify and prioritize one or two areas for improvement, rather than tackling everything at once. Define attainable goals, communicate your commitment clearly, assign accountability partners across the organization, and establish a timeline for success.

Take action: Employee voice falls flat if leaders don’t commit to action. Develop a strategic, data-driven action plan. Be transparent and keep employees updated on the process.

Measure and review: Commit to continuous improvement and make adjustments as needed. Gather ongoing feedback from employees to gauge what is working and what additional ideas they would recommend.

How to overcome challenges in implementing employee voice initiatives

Introducing new initiatives, even something as beneficial as encouraging employee voice, can present challenges for organizations.

One of the most common obstacles leaders face is employee silence and fear of speaking up. Earlier, we defined employee voice as being able to share their thoughts without fear of negative consequences.

This part of the definition is key.

To overcome employees’ fear of speaking up, leaders need to cultivate psychological safety in the workplace. As Julian Lute, senior manager and strategic advisor with Great Place To Work, says, “When people feel psychologically safe in the organization — are able to share ideas, questions, concerns — the company is more agile.”

Here are some ways leaders can overcome resistance and foster a company culture of open communication:

Create a safe space by reassuring confidentiality and encouraging honest feedback without fear of retribution.
Be willing to be vulnerable, which will open the door for employees to feel comfortable raising concerns or offering suggestions.
Make communication open, honest, and credible. Communicate consistently and make sure your actions match your words.
Rather than leading top-down, be curious. Ask questions and be open to hearing the ideas of employees. Acknowledge any uncertainties and foster a company culture of problem-solving.
The Best Workplaces™ commit to acting on feedback in a way that builds trust. Communicate regularly so employees understand how their feedback helps drive meaningful action.

Case studies: Successful employee voice programs

How listening to their people helped Brains increase its purpose and employee pride

As a B Corporation, commitment to sustainability and environmental care ranks high for Brains. However, only 72% of its people felt good about the company’s contribution to the community.

The challenge for the creative agency was to redefine what community meant for its employees. The Trust Index Survey was an opportunity for their employees to voice that they valued contribution to charitable organizations more than receiving a personal gift.

The solution? Brains transitioned from individual birthday gifts to increasing their overall donations to not-for-profits as a company. Not only were those donations making a positive impact, but employee pride in working for the company increased by 13 points.

Moe Rice, director of people and culture, describes the agency’s partnership with Great Place To Work as “a game changer for our culture and our work.”

How ECI Software Solutions listened to new employees and revitalized its onboarding program

When you go to work at a global tech company, you would expect onboarding to be smooth.

However, that wasn’t the case at ECI Software Solutions. Between 60% to 70% of people voiced that they had an inconsistent onboarding experience.

The software company didn’t wait to act. They surveyed new hires about their experience to get a clear picture of what was going wrong: missing laptops, insufficient access to systems, a lack of communication from managers, and other missteps.

“The first surveys were brutal,” says Andrew Prior, CHRO at ECI. Now, Prior reads onboarding surveys each week, and if something happens to go wrong, leaders immediately act to rectify the issue.

The result of listening to new hires has been unmistakable: More than 90% of the time, employees have the equipment and access they need on their first day — setting them up for success.

The future of employee voice in the workplace

As more companies move to hybrid and remote work, organizations don’t just need to reimagine the office, but also how to build a more equitable workplace where everyone has a say.

Fortunately, digital platforms make it easier for leaders to solicit feedback. Tools like virtual town halls and messaging apps like Slack mean employees can share their thoughts regardless of whether they work remotely or onsite.

Advances in AI will also revolutionize the future of employee voice through predictive analytics and data-driven insights. Soon, tools like virtual reality (VR) could also be used to collaborate, solicit feedback, and create an immersive sense of community.

Great Place To Work is also ensuring leaders have the data they need to succeed with Manager Access in the Trust Index Survey. Leaders can receive real-time insights into their teams’ experience to pinpoint areas of improvement, implement changes, and then track progress over time.

As workplaces and technology evolve, the role of employee voice in shaping organizational culture and driving business success remains constant.

Maximize your employee voice strategy

Employee feedback is a powerful tool to drive engagement, innovation, and trust in an organization. By creating a safe space to speak up, soliciting feedback from various channels, and taking meaningful action, employees can see how their voice matters.

Great Place To Work’s employee engagement software is a valuable tool for organizations looking to enhance their employee voice initiatives. Employee surveys are inclusive of all lines of business and deliver detailed, reliable data so you can unlock meaningful insights into your employee experience.

Not already a customer of Great Place To Work? Try our employee engagement software today and listen to what your employees have to say.

Current customers: Reach out to your Customer Success Manager at Great Place To Work® for expert guidance on expanding and improving your employee voice strategy.

From Micromanagement to Empowerment: A Leader’s Guide to Accountability

2025-04-21T14:09:32-04:00

Great leaders nurture accountability by motivating and inspiring employees to work hard for them. Employees don’t get the job done because they’re told to — they do it because they want to succeed.

Business leaders have a lot on their plates. The last thing they need to be doing is micromanaging their employees.

Not only is micromanaging a waste of leaders’ time, but it also reduces employees’ engagement and quality of work. In turn, a leader might feel they need to micromanage even more to get employees back in line, creating a vicious cycle where no one is performing at their best.

The way to move from micromanagement to empowerment and a more purpose-driven culture is to build trust with your people. Make sure they understand how their job is tied to the company’s purpose. Set clear expectations and ensure employees are recognized for their efforts.

Micromanagement vs. accountability

Keeping employees accountable doesn’t mean constantly looking over their shoulders.

When leaders micromanage, they overly control how employees complete their tasks. Whereas when leaders let employees take accountability for their work, they’re still setting expectations and measuring results, but without dictating how the work gets done.

It all comes down to ownership:

Accountability is about taking ownership of results, both good and bad. To feel like they own a result, an employee needs a degree of independence and control over how they achieve that result.
Micromanagement is when a leader takes ownership. And in doing so, they take away that employee’s accountability. They’re interfering in work that should fall within the employee’s control. This is proven to be a major cause of employee burnout.

Ultimately, accountability is rooted in trust, whereas micromanagement is rooted in a lack of trust. The message accountability conveys from leader to employee is, “I believe you are responsible and capable.” Micromanagement says the opposite.

How to hold employees accountable without micromanaging

We typically think of “holding people accountable” as something that happens when people aren't meeting expectations. But true accountability is about ownership of both good and bad results.

Having a clear plan for accountability when everything goes well — such as rewards, recognition, and career growth — is just as important, if not more, than your plan for what happens if expectations aren't met.

Set clear expectations and goals

One of the most important pieces of the accountability puzzle is ensuring company goals are well-defined.

Not only does this give employees clarity on what’s expected of them, but it also provides a sense of purpose — and when employees feel like their work has purpose, they’re more likely to stay with an organization longer and work harder.

“Accountability is rooted in trust, whereas micromanagement is rooted in a lack of trust.”

It’s also important to ensure employees have their own goals. What do they want to learn? How do they want to grow? Where do they see themselves in the future?

Help employees develop their own SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

For example, maybe an employee wants to develop their leadership skills. Together, you might decide for them to lead two team projects (specific) over the next quarter (time-bound), with success measured by on-time completion and peer feedback (measurable). This builds valuable skills (relevant) through a manageable number of projects (achievable).

Then, when assessing that employee’s performance, don’t only consider how they’re supporting the business’s goals, but how the business is also supporting theirs.

Delegate effectively and trust employees

Another important part of accountability is collaboration. This includes inviting employees into conversations about company goals and delegating the ownership of tasks rather than managing every step.

When leadership intentionally involves people in decisions that affect their jobs or work environment, this gives them ownership. And the more sense of control employees have, the more likely they are to hold themselves accountable.

Autonomy also unlocks our natural problem-solving abilities. When people have the freedom to tackle challenges in their own way, they become invested in finding solutions rather than just following orders. This sense of ownership translates into higher engagement, enabling employees to see themselves as valuable contributors.

Establish regular feedback loops

Consistency is key when it comes to employee performance. Ongoing constructive feedback will encourage accountability since employees will have clear direction and support. Otherwise, employees may not know what’s expected of them — and if they don’t meet expectations, management may be tempted to step in and micromanage.

While the traditional approach to performance management has been annual reviews, many great workplaces have found continuous feedback to be a better approach.

For example, financial services firm Penn Mutual found that changing its performance calendar to align with its business cycle allowed leaders to address issues in real time. The firm also adjusted its rewards cycle to create a clear connection between a job well done and receiving a bonus or other incentive.

Foster open communication

When leaders actively listen to employee concerns, it creates a culture of transparency. And transparency fuels trust, which in turn leads to better innovation, reduced employee turnover, and even better business performance.

Being transparent doesn’t mean laying it all out. It means ensuring every employee is receiving information that’s relevant to them, with the opportunity to ask questions. Broad, sweeping messages won’t resonate with employees the way that tailored communications will.

Some of our customers demonstrate how strong communication builds trust in leadership. CarMax recognized that effective leadership is ensuring every employee has a personal connection to management. To achieve this, it set up a guide to ensure regular meetings between every employee and their manager at each of its stores.

IT company WP Engine is transparent about pay ranges for internal opportunities that an employee might be qualified for, thereby encouraging them to grow within the company.

Focus on outcomes, not processes

No two people are exactly the same, and this also goes for how they work. Micromanagers focus on the process, when the reality is that there may be several ways for an employee to take a project from start to finish.

Instead, put your focus on results when evaluating performance. This shows employees that you trust their judgment and are willing to give them the space to complete tasks in a way that makes the most sense to them.

For example, you might:

Measure the number of email subscribers rather than how many emails were sent on a marketing campaign
Evaluate customer satisfaction scores instead of monitoring how many minutes each support call takes
Track positive reviews and return visits instead of monitoring if front desk staff follow a rigid check-in script word-for-word

How to address accountability issues without micromanaging

Address performance issues promptly and fairly

The best way to manage poor performance is to get ahead of it.

Avoiding difficult conversations about performance issues doesn’t make them disappear — it magnifies them. When you let problems linger, your top performers may wonder why others aren't held to the same standards. Meanwhile, the struggling employee misses out on the opportunity to improve.

The longer you wait, the more uncomfortable the eventual conversation becomes for everyone involved.

But when an employee has had experiences where their manager helped their performance go from good to great, they’re more likely to turn to that manager and be an equal partner when their performance slips and needs correction.

If a manager waits until performance slips to get involved, the employee instead will feel that performance conversations with their manager are a liability rather than an asset, and will be defensive and disengaged.

Get in the habit of proactively managing exceptional or good performance as well — positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator.

Some ways to provide constructive criticism that motivates improvement include:

Using concrete examples instead of generalizations
Explaining the impact of the behavior on team goals or outcomes
Asking questions to understand their perspective
Collaborating on solutions rather than dictating them
Balancing criticism with recognition of their strengths
Providing resources or support to help them succeed

Use performance management systems

It's nearly always true that employees who are underperforming need at least one of three things:

1. More time and attention from their manager

2. Firmer boundaries on certain aspects of their work

3. Tougher criteria to demonstrate improvement

Many of these actions can feel like micromanagement, so the way to avoid this is to ensure the employee feels engaged in their own performance management and success. If the employee isn’t, corrective measures from their manager will feel like an imposition instead of a mutual agreement.

It’s a good idea to set up regular performance check-ins with every employee from day one. That way, you can track changes in performance before they become an issue and also empower employees to take ownership of their own performance plan from day one.

Ask employees to come prepared with their own personal assessments and ask for feedback on how you’re supporting their success. Make sure to connect their individual goals to the goals of their team and the company overall.

Also, remember that a good performance management system doesn’t just look at employees’ day-to-day. It also considers their personal goals and growth opportunities.

For example, many great workplaces offer leadership training programs that motivate employees to perform at their best. Such a program could work in tandem with more traditional performance reviews and check-ins.

Recognize and reward accountability

A sign of a great employee–manager relationship is when the employee is the one who takes the lead on correcting their performance.

The employee is the person who has the most vested interest in their own success, so if they’re underperforming and not reaching out to their manager for help, it’s often because they don’t know they’re underperforming or don’t feel they’ll get the support they need to do better.

Of course, employees need a high degree of trust with their managers to feel safe doing this. One way to create this sense of safety is to foster a culture of recognition.

Celebrating employees’ efforts is an important leadership behavior for creating a high-trust workplace, where employees feel empowered to speak up and take more accountability in their work.

According to a 2025 Great Place To Work® survey of 1.3 million employees, when employees feel that everyone in the company can get recognition for their work, they’re 60% more likely to give extra effort and 40% more likely to participate in company innovation.

Here are some ways you could reward employees for taking initiative:

Offering special assignments that align with their career goals
Encouraging professional development opportunities, such as conferences or training sessions
Providing opportunities to lead new initiatives or mentor other team members
Giving rewards such as financial compensation or time off after completing a challenging project

Creating a leadership culture that drives accountability

The most important factor when it comes to employee accountability is trust. When leaders trust their employees, they’re more likely to see higher engagement, improved performance, and better business performance.

Want to know if your company promotes a culture of accountability — or stifles through micromanaging? Great Place To Work’s employee engagement software uses a data-driven approach to the employee experience and can help you build a high-trust culture where employees take ownership and pride in their work.

To our customers: If you're looking to hold employees accountable without falling into the trap of micromanagement, the Trust Index™ Survey's Manager Access feature is your ideal tool. This feature provides managers with detailed insights into their team's survey results, allowing them to see whether their reports trust them — a key indicator of great leadership and not micromanaging. By using these insights, managers can build a culture of trust and accountability, ensuring employees feel valued and motivated to take ownership of their work. The Manager Access feature helps managers compare their team’s performance against industry benchmarks and develop actionable plans based on your Trust Index data. If you’re already using the platform but haven’t activated the Manager Access feature, talk to your Customer Success Manager about upgrading today to transform your leadership approach and drive your team towards success.

Creating a Culture of Recognition: Tips for Driving Loyalty

2025-02-26T06:00:00-05:00

Employee recognition is a method of support that helps employees know their contributions are recognized and appreciated. Employees want to know how they are doing and recognizing employees demonstrates what success looks like. 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 recognize employees for going above and beyond, achievements, tenure or service, or desired behaviors.

8 Key Elements of Company Culture with Inspiring Examples

2025-02-26T04:31:06-05:00

The secret to attracting and holding onto the world’s best talent isn’t about the work perks — it’s about relationships.

It can be hard to define, but you know it when you see it: a great company culture. One where employees feel seen and heard, where management is transparent, and where teams are proud and excited to work together.

Too often, company culture is presented as flashy perks: free lunches, unlimited time off, and dog-friendly offices, but the substance of a strong culture lies not in these amenities, but rather in how employees are valued, trusted, and encouraged to develop both professionally and personally.

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While perks and benefits are certainly great to have, and can help employees to feel supported and appreciated, they merely sit on the surface.

A great corporate culture goes much deeper: It involves open communication, mutual respect, shared goals, and a commitment to employee growth and development.

Why does a good company culture matter?

A great company culture makes for a stronger company overall.

In fact, when we compared the annual returns of the Fortune 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For® against the Russell 3000 Index® (the broadest benchmark index for U.S. stocks), we found that these companies had a cumulative return of 1,709% since 1998 — compared to a 526% return for the Russell index alone during the same time period.

Strong organizational culture is also closely correlated with employee engagement, retention, innovation, and even customer service. For example, our research has found that employees at Great Place To Work Certified™ workplaces (where company culture is prioritized) are 34% more likely to believe their company’s customer service is excellent.

Achieving Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™ shows that your company values its people and is committed to building a high-performing company culture that drives business success.

By thoughtfully investing time and effort into these eight areas, and drawing inspiration from successful company culture examples, you can show your people that you care about them, improve employee experience, and put your company on a path to creating a great culture.

An example of great workplace culture

At technology company UKG, culture begins on day one, with a warm welcome that shows new employees they’re joining an organization that cares. Pat Wadors, UKG’s chief people officer, describes it as “getting human” — showing employees that you’re ready to support their workplace journey with a positive first impression and helping them to feel connected with their new colleagues.

Other ways that UKG creates a positive company culture is by being adaptable and transparent and by prioritizing “who you are” over titles.

“카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 titles will change over time, but what an individual brings to the table every day matters,” says Wadors.

Employee recognition, mentorship programs, mental health support, and social justice initiatives are all ways that the Best Workplaces™ demonstrate their company cultures. Check out these company culture examples for inspiration.

The 8 elements of great company culture

There are numerous things you can do to improve your organization’s culture. 카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 data shows that great workplaces focus on these eight elements of company culture:

1. Credibility

Employees at great workplaces find their people managers and leaders to be more credible: According to our research, 83% of employees at the 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 said management’s actions match its words, versus 42% of employees at the average workplace.

Trustworthy, credible, and personable managers have a significant positive impact on:

Employee retention
Overall workplace satisfaction
Employees’ willingness to recommend their company
Motivation to give extra effort at work

When employees say managers are honest and ethical, they’re five times more likely to want to work there for a long time, and 11 times more likely to think the workplace is great.

2. Respect

We all know this: You need to show people respect to earn respect in return. Respect can take many forms, but the best workplaces regularly show respect by recognizing employees’ efforts, seeking employees’ input, and caring for employees as people with lives outside of work.

For example, many of the 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 trust their employees to work flexible hours and from remote places. This workplace flexibility makes employees more dedicated and engaged because they feel respected and trusted to meet their business goals in a way that works for their life.

Many companies today even offer unlimited paid vacation and let employees work from anywhere; strong employee relationships prevent people from abusing the policy.

3. Fairness

Humans place a high value on fairness. 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 where employees feel like everyone is getting a fair opportunity consistently report more positive employee experiences.

Fairness is an area that great workplaces excel at, as our workplace study revealed. When rating equal compensation and recognition, employees score these companies 37 to 42 percentage points higher than the national average.

Employees at these companies also report issues with favoritism and politicking far less often. On employee surveys, these companies score 38 percentage points higher when asking their people about these experiences.

Surprisingly, fair pay isn’t the factor that most impacts employees’ overall workplace satisfaction and intent to stay. Other, less tangible aspects of the workplace, such as pride and strong leadership, play a much larger role.

Employees say that being paid fairly for their work makes them twice as likely to think their workplace is great. But when employees are proud of their work, they are 20 times more likely to say it’s a great workplace.

4. Pride

Employees who have pride in their workplace believe in the company and what it stands for, from what it produces, to how it operates, to how it engages with the local community.

There are three levels of workplace pride:

Pride in your job and the work
Pride in the team
Pride in the company and its reputation

Pride is much more than a pat on the back. When employees feel proud of their workplace, they are more engaged: According to our data, they are 2 times more likely to want to stay with the organization for a long time and 6 times more likely to endorse their workplace to others.

Ideally, employees feel pride in all three areas, but this isn’t always the case — and that could be a problem. That’s because workplace pride needs to be reinforced over time, through consistent actions, no matter the circumstances.

For example, at the 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 employees express a sense of winning together when times are good — and sticking together even when times are tough.

5. Belonging

Belonging in the workplace is an employee’s sense that they are accepted and valued by the organization. This goes beyond feeling appreciated for what they do, and into feeling appreciated for who they are.

Every company says it values employees. The 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 don’t just say it; they show it. They celebrate employee accomplishments, they ensure new employees feel welcomed from day one, and they embrace the diversity and individualism of their employees.

For example, at the Best Workplaces, we’ve see things like parental leave practices becoming more inclusive, and employee resource groups being empowered to guide business decisions.

The result? Employees who feel a sense of belonging are 3 times more likely to look forward to coming to work and 5 times more likely to want to stay at the company for a long time.

카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 research also shows that workplaces that are consistently great for all employees grow revenue 3 times faster than less-inclusive organizations.

6. Effective leadership

Leadership can make or break a team. A great leader will inspire, motivate, and drive innovation. A bad one will demoralize, kill productivity, and push employees to walk out the door.

The Great Place To Work leadership effectiveness index measures business leaders in four areas. How much management:

aligns their words and actions
avoids favoritism
demonstrates competency, honesty, and approachability
shows genuine interest in employees as people

Effective leadership is more than hitting company targets. It is fostering a team mentality that ensures everyone is working together and to their best of abilities. That environment will then help to hit those necessary targets.

카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 research on effective leaders has found that they:

Seek out ideas from team members and involve them in decision-making
Recognize and celebrate employees and support their professional development
Demonstrate competence and honesty so that they can earn employees’ trust

The good thing is that people don’t need to be born as great leaders. A great leader can be created. The Best Workplaces invest in leadership development, identifying employees with leadership potential, and helping them to learn the skills and qualities needed to succeed — and thereby creating a pipeline of future leaders.

7. Values

Your company’s core values are your guiding star: the beliefs and principles that shape who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

The best workplaces lead with shared values rather than rules and policies. That’s because when rules are the guiding force, rather than an organization’s values, trust isn’t at the core of the employer-employee relationship. Shared values can engage and empower, which in turn boosts innovation, creativity, and productivity.

8. Innovation

When managers create a safe environment to express ideas and make suggestions, employees are 31 times (!) more likely to think their workplace is a breeding ground for innovation. Workplaces that have innovative cultures inspire employee loyalty, confidence, and willingness to give extra.

Employees at innovative companies are:

4 times more likely to say they’re proud to tell others they work there
9 times more likely to think their company is a great place to work
4 times more likely to give extra to get the job done

What is a toxic company culture?

If your current culture isn’t strong, you’re on a slippery slope into toxicity.

A toxic company culture is one plagued by negativity, where employees don’t feel engaged at best, or don’t feel safe at worst. There could be gossiping, backstabbing, bad habits and a general feeling of mistrust.

And while that may sound like a big jump, it’s not really — a mediocre corporate culture, where employees and leaders are merely going through the motions, can easily descend into something far more sinister. Things like a lack of values, ineffective leadership, and no sense of belonging can kill employee trust and morale.

On the other hand, employees that experience a healthy culture are more likely to give significantly higher levels of discretionary effort, reports Workhuman.

How to use employee surveys to improve company culture

By thoughtfully investing time and effort into these eight areas, you can show your people that you care about them, improve employee experience, and put your company on a path to creating a great culture.

To ensure you’re on the right track, conduct regular pulse surveys to get employee feedback on how they are feeling about their work, their workplace overall, and their place within it.

Employee Training and Development: The Benefits of Upskilling or Reskilling Your Team

2025-02-14T18:32:52-05:00

Employee training and development isn’t just about teaching employees to do their jobs. It’s about showing employees they are valued and that upward movement in the organization is possible. When employees don’t see opportunity, they don’t bring their best selves to work.

“Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”

It’s a proverb we all know — so common it’s become cliché. But clichés come from truth. Amid the busyness of running a business, it’s easy to forget the importance of training and development in creating a thriving workplace.

How often have you said, “I’ll do it myself” because teaching someone else seemed too time-consuming? But how often are you also frustrated the next time that same task comes around, and you still have to do it yourself?

Of course, employee training isn’t just about delegating or making things easier for management. A solid and unique training and development program can give employees a sense of ownership in their role and a future vision with the organization.

And when companies don’t invest in learning and development and create paths for growth (beyond pay bumps), employees will start looking for jobs elsewhere.

In fact, in a 2021 Pew Research Study, 63% of respondents said having no opportunities for advancement is what pushed them out the door. Lack of growth opportunities was the top reason for leaving — above pay, benefits, and workplace flexibility.

A recent Great Place to Work® LinkedIn poll also shed light on the critical importance of training and developing employees for retention. According to the poll, 43% of people called out a lack of growth opportunities as the top reason they quit their last job.

63% of employees cite no opportunities for advancement as the top reason they quit.

“Employees view it as a way of support,” says Julian Lute, senior manager and strategic advisor at Great Place To Work. “You’re assisting them in doing their jobs. But if you go one level deeper, you’re also supporting this very human need for growth. When people don’t see themselves growing, you don’t get the best out of them.”

What is an employee training and development program?

An employee training and development program is a series of educational activities designed to improve employees’ knowledge and skills.

The most obvious type of employee training is technical training — teaching them their job duties, the company’s processes and systems, and the organization’s overarching mission and mandate. But training can also cover soft skills such as people management or upskilling beyond an employee’s current role to prepare them for a promotion.

Training and development opportunities can take many different forms, such as group workshops, one-on-one sessions, formal education (such as college or university), job shadowing, mentorship, seminars, or job sharing.

The key benefits of employee training and development

Employee training and development programs aren’t just a “nice-to-have” — they are a strategic necessity. And the benefits go two ways: The employee feels more valued and better skilled, and the employer sees increased productivity and innovation.

The benefits of training and development for employees

A good training program not only enables employees to learn and practice skills to support them in their current role — it also gives them a stepping stone into new opportunities.

The best results come when training aligns personal growth with professional goals. Where do your employees want to be in a few years? What skills do they want to learn? What areas of the business interest them the most?

Making that connection is when the magic happens:

Improved job performance — Employees become more effective and efficient at their tasks, leading to better business results
Increased job satisfaction — Employees feel valued and supported, boosting morale
Opportunities for advancement — Employees are prepared for new responsibilities and internal promotions, creating a clear career path

The benefits of training and development for organizations

Employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from training programs. By offering development opportunities, companies can build a workforce that is more efficient, more motivated, and better equipped to bring forward new ideas.

Organizations that prioritize learning see tangible benefits, such as:

Increased innovation and adaptability — Teams stay competitive by learning new technologies and methodologies
Higher retention — Employees are less likely to leave when they see growth opportunities
Reduced hiring costs — Developing internal talent is more cost-effective than external recruitment
Strengthened employer branding — 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 that show they have robust training programs attract top talent

On the other hand, not offering employee training and development can have a serious impact on your bottom line. Research by McKinsey & Company found that lack of skills and inefficiency could cost a median-size S&P 500 company roughly $163 million per year.

The 4 approaches to employee development

While the types of employee training and development programs can be as varied as your employees themselves, all training plans will typically fall into one of four categories:

Formal education — The formal training and practical requirements for a given role, such as a specific degree, licence, or certification
Assessment — The employee performance reviews, one-on-ones, and any other efforts used to measure strengths and weaknesses and find ways for employees to improve
Job experience — The day-to-day, hands-on learning employees do as they master their roles, take on new challenges, and grow within the organization
Interpersonal relationships — The coaching, mentorships, and any soft skills or interpersonal training employees may complete, such as customer service training, resilience training, mental health education, or conflict resolution training

Why it’s important to train and develop your employees

Employee training and development is important for ensuring that staff are prepared for their role; that they feel supported, valued, and capable; and that they have upward movement. Training and development can have a direct impact on employee engagement and retention and should be an integral part of your talent management strategy.

Engaged employees want to grow, and they want to be challenged. They aren’t looking to simply work at a job; they are looking to further their careers.

Learning and development are at the core of Panda Restaurant Group’s employer value proposition (EVP). On Panda’s careers website, learning and development is front and center.

Founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng are deeply committed to being the world leader in people development, providing growth opportunities for associates professionally and personally at every level.

Panda’s commitment to opportunities for advancement is strongly linked to their employees’ intent to stay. When asked what makes the company a great place to work, employees at Panda frequently mentioned the words “growth,” “grow,” and “development.”

“Compared to other companies I have worked with, Panda truly exemplifies what it means to care about people. I feel like my team always has my growth and development in mind and challenges me to be better. They offer so many resources to develop myself personally and professionally. I really feel like part of the Panda family and look forward to staying for many more years. It really is a great place to work.”

— Employee at Panda Restaurant Group

Employee training and development is both present- and future-focused. Employee learning programs support your people in meeting the challenges of the business today and create a pipeline of leaders to meet the societal and technological challenges of tomorrow.

Julian says employee training also ensures people feel valued and that their employer sees them playing a role in the long term. This feeds into the overall company culture. In fact, in our survey of employees at the 2023 Fortune 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For®, 87% said they often or always feel like they are offered training and resources to develop professionally.

“This is the way that people feel valued in the business,” Julian explains. “If you’re training me, you’re telling me that you want me to be prepared for the future of the organization.”

The difference between training and development

While employee training and development are commonly lumped together, and both serve a critical role in the employee experience, there is an important distinction between the two.

Training is job-specific. It is ensuring an employee has the correct tools and learns the correct skills to complete their tasks. It is immediate and measured in short-term results.
Development is about employee growth. It is long-term and more behavioral-focused.

“Development is much more of a conversation than training,” says Julian. “Where do you want to grow? How do we need you to grow? It requires a bit more vulnerability. Training assumes you have a skill gap or knowledge gap, whereas with development, you must be willing to lean into it to fully realize the benefits.”

For example, Mastercard has a company philosophy of “Owning Your Career” with ongoing conversations between employees and their managers about career development opportunities. Objectives are set, goals are agreed upon, and there are dedicated discussions about career growth and progression.

Similarly, American Express has a career and development plan template for employees to map out their career journey, thinking through where they’ve been, how they want to grow, and what sort of support they might need along the way.

Both employers demonstrate how employee development is a two-way conversation, not a one-way, top-down instruction. This kind of approach to employee development can have a huge impact on employee engagement, especially among younger demographics.

Development is a two-way conversation, not a one-way, top-down instruction.

At Panda Restaurant Group, for example, retention among millennial employees is particularly high, thanks in part to its mentorship approach and its “University of Panda” program, which helps employees earn certifications and continue their career growth outside of the workplace.

Job seekers go where they can grow

Given the basic human desire for growth that Julian mentioned, companies that are seeking top talent would be wise to promote their training and development efforts. Featuring opportunities for growth and development as major benefits in its EVP demonstrates an employer’s commitment.

Use your career site to highlight your company’s opportunities for professional growth and development — whether it be challenging work assignments, a strong investment in training and development programs, frequent opportunities to work closely with senior leaders, or a commitment to promoting from within.

“Even if you don’t know where people want to be in their life or what’s important to them, I guarantee you there is something at the end of the rainbow for them,” says Julian. “And training and development is the way that people feel valued.”

Tech company Bitwise Inc., for example, is attracting a wider pool of candidates by removing degree requirements from the recruitment process. Instead, the company offers training to promising new talent who wants to break into the industry but might otherwise be overlooked.

Delta Air Lines is proactive about attracting aspiring pilots through its “Propel Pilot Career Path Program.” Students complete certified flight instructor training and can then work up to becoming a first officer at a Delta Connection carrier. As of 2025, 171 participants now fly for Delta, with 870 aspiring pilots currently enrolled.

Developing by building an internal talent marketplace

Some organizations are helping employees advance with an internal talent marketplace. An internal talent marketplace is a platform or system within an organization that facilitates identifying, developing, and retaining top talent by providing employees with opportunities for growth and career advancement.

This marketplace enables employees to explore different roles, projects, or positions within the company, promoting internal mobility, skill development, and cross-functional collaboration.

For example, energy management company Schneider Electric has developed its own “Open Talent Market,” used by Schneider employees to plan their careers, seek out new opportunities within the organization, and develop their skills.

By creating an internal talent marketplace, organizations can better retain talent, improve employee satisfaction, and enhance their overall agility while reducing the need for external hiring.

Examples of unique employee training and development programs

Employee training and development programs at the Best Workplaces™ go beyond the day-to-day of employees’ jobs — they feature everything from professional development courses for future promotions, to emotional intelligence training, to wellness workshops.

For example, the benefits team at Panda offers a monthly series of educational webinars covering topics such as healthy habits, nutrition, sleep, finance, and self-care. They also work directly with regional and department leaders to curate programs specific to their teams and provide free wellness coaches to teams in need.

At The Cheesecake Factory, managers are trained in de-escalating emotionally charged situations and given tools for understanding how to connect with others and find commonality amid diversity. The organization also provides resources to support employee mental health, addressing the importance of training and development for both personal and professional well-being.

Similarly, industrial services distributor Grainger has a mandatory e-learning course on unconscious bias. The one-hour course outlines what unconscious bias is, explores how it may emerge in day-to-day work, and offers effective behaviors for managing it.

The Best Workplaces also offer training programs that are ongoing, beginning on an employee’s first day and carrying through their entire life cycle with the company. They know that training applies to all levels of staff, from frontline workers to the C-suite, with a focus on forward momentum for all.

At HubSpot, for example, learning and development starts on day one, with a robust orientation and onboarding experience. No matter the role, team, or level, all new hires undergo one week of new employee training together to learn about HubSpot’s culture, missions, values, and operating model. The company also offers a global mentorship program to help employees of every tenure reach their full potential.

Consulting firm Plante Moran has another unique approach to staff development, with partners directly accountable for guiding and mentoring their team members. The aim is personalized coaching that ensures each staff member’s career development is tailored to their individual needs. It also creates a legacy of leaders training the next generation of leaders.

Some workplaces offer special events focused on training and development, such as Intuit Inc.’s “Career Growth Sprint.” This biannual virtual event features keynotes and workshops covering topics such as goal setting, time management, and communication.

Grocer and manufacturer Publix hosts career fairs for its associates to learn what opportunities are available at the company. Employees also have access to tuition reimbursement and funding for GED testing, and pharmacy associates are eligible for financial support to attend pharmacy school. The company also offers specialist training programs for drivers and technicians.

5 steps to building a successful training plan

For an employee training and development plan to be successful, you need to ensure it’s focused on the right things, suitable to the audience, and measurable. And you need to be willing to revise as needed, based on both results and stakeholder feedback.

Here are five steps to ensure you roll out an employee training and development plan efficiently and successfully.

1. Assess what’s needed

Before any plan takes shape, assess what is needed — both by the organization and by the employee. This applies to both company-wide training and personal development plans. Which areas should you focus on? What is the organizational strategy and how does this fit into an employee’s own role and personal goals?

“You really have to incorporate it into the workflow,” says Julian. “Ascertain what people need and directly deliver to that.”

For example, your company could be rolling out a new software program that’s going to change how your sales team tracks leads. It will be a critical change for the business and the initial plan may be to train only those who will use the new program day-to-day. What about the employees whose personal goal is to join the sales team? Learning such a program could help them make that move.

“Get feedback using employee surveys,” says Julian. “People will tell you what they need help with or training on. Sometimes leaders think that because we got this new thing, or because some consultant tells you, ‘You need this, it’ll make you more efficient.’ Start with what you know employees need and what they’re telling you they need.”

2. Set clear objectives

What do the organization and the employee each hope to gain? It could be something job-specific like learning a new program or process, or something more behavioral-based like emotional intelligence training. Determine what you hope to achieve and how you’ll measure success.

It’s also important that employees understand the objectives just as well as management does, and why a particular training or development plan is important. This is especially the case when it’s long-term, behavioral-based programs like leadership training.

“Employee training is most effective when leaders are demonstrative,” says Julian. “When communicating new learning programs, talk about it through the lens of company values. For example, ‘We’re doing this in service of our customers and that’s one of our values.’ … Be very clear about what this is supposed to change. Help people understand the impact and why you’re training people.”

3. Design and develop

Once needs and objectives are set, it’s time to create a program or plan that considers the following:

What content or materials are needed?
How will the training be delivered?
Who will lead the training?
How often will training sessions take place?
Where will the training happen?
For group trainings, what size will the groups be?
What are the participants’ learning styles?

Julian recommends that participants be given the chance to talk through the training, to understand what fits and wrestle with problems, rather than running passive sessions where the trainer talks and participants sit and listen.

He also notes that bite-sized lessons and trickling the training down from large groups to small groups to the individual level, like a waterfall, tends to work best.

Trickling the training down from large groups to small groups to the individual level, like a waterfall, tends to work best.

“I would not expect to put people in a room for 90 minutes at one time and expect they get all the information they need,” he says. “A big group is a way to get people on the same page. Then move people into smaller groups so that they can really engage with the learning content. A group of eight or fewer is ideal for getting more granular. And then find ways for people to individually test their knowledge.”

4. Implement

Once the training plan is developed, it’s time to roll it out — strategically. A pilot program with a small group of employees can help you refine a plan and ensure it’s hitting all the right notes, both for the organization’s objectives and employees’ expectations.

“Don’t try to boil the ocean,” warns Julian. “Figure out who the test people are and pilot this with a small group of people. Take feedback. Make sure it’s really aligned with the business needs.”

Only after you’ve piloted the program and adjusted as needed is it ready to roll out to the wider organization.

5. Evaluate and revise

Finally, don’t file the training plan away once it’s completed. Solicit feedback from both employees and managers using employee surveys to identify both successes and weaknesses. Use the measurements you set early on to check whether the training achieved its objectives.

Providing employee training and development opportunities can enhance job satisfaction, boost productivity, and improve employee retention. Equipping employees with new skills and knowledge increases their potential for advancement within the company. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.

How to Build Psychological Safety in the Workplace

2025-02-04T16:32:04-05:00

Psychological safety is often misunderstood and undervalued in the workplace. When leaders cultivate a psychologically safe workplace, employees are more engaged and far more likely to bring forward game-changing ideas.

I once was in charge of running the social media channels for the company I worked for. When I shared a post to the company’s Instagram channel, one of my colleagues would often make a sarcastic remark or roll their eyes. They would comment on little details, from the choice of words to the choice of images.

Their constant criticism made me feel anxious and self-conscious about my work. I started questioning whether I was doing a good job. I second-guessed every post, trying to anticipate every possible criticism and making sure everything was perfect. I felt paralyzed by the fear of making a typo or facing more snide comments.

As these small criticisms accumulated, I increasingly felt like I couldn't take any risks or be creative in my work. I was so afraid of being criticized or judged that I started playing it safe, putting up bland and uninspired posts that wouldn't draw attention or invite any criticism. The more my psychological safety eroded, the more my work suffered.

What do we mean by psychological safety?

Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being able to speak up, take risks, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences.

The term psychological safety was first coined by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School. She described it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

In 1999, while studying the rate of mistakes made by medical teams, Edmondson found that the teams that made more mistakes performed better than teams that made fewer mistakes — or at least, that’s how it seemed at first. Rather, it was the teams that had a culture of openly admitting to making mistakes that had better outcomes. The other teams were making mistakes, too; they just hid them.

Simon Sinek later wrote about psychological safety in the workplace in his 2014 book “Leaders Eat Last.” Inspired by military organizations, where leaders literally put their lives on the line, he wrote that great leadership is about making employees feel safe so they can focus on work without fear for their own survival.

Why psychological safety matters in the workplace

Psychological safety isn’t merely a nice to have — it’s essential for a business to operate efficiently and effectively. Without it, employees won’t trust their employer, and the whole business can suffer.

“If you think about it from the business perspective, when people feel psychologically safe in the organization — are able to share ideas, questions, concerns — the company is more agile,” says Julian Lute, senior manager and strategic advisor with Great Place To Work®.

“We’ve seen through our research on psychological safety that when people question their every move, when people aren’t sure if they should raise questions, initiatives and programs roll out very slowly.”

A lack of psychological safety in the workplace can thwart new projects, processes, and procedures. Without it, employees fear anything from being criticized if they can’t keep pace, to being made redundant because of new, “better” initiatives.

Psychological safety in the workplace allows people to bring their full selves. It allows you to show up in a way that’s much more authentic.

But creating psychological safety goes beyond just encouraging people to speak up. It also includes how an employer views work/life balance.

“Great leadership is about making employees feel safe so they can focus on work without fear for their own survival.”

“Psychological safety allows people to bring their full selves,” says Julian. “It allows you to show up in a way that’s much more authentic. The company is looking out for you. You’re not just a cog in the machine, and they care about your long-term success. And then the benefit that the company gets is that employees actually care about the success of the organization.”

Psychological safety vs. psychological health

Feeling psychologically safe is not the same thing as feeling psychologically healthy, although the two are closely related, says Marcus Erb, vice president of data science & innovation at Great Place To Work.

Psychological health refers to an individual's overall well-being and mental state, he explains. It encompasses a range of factors, such as emotional regulation, self-esteem, resilience, and the ability to cope with stress and adversity.

“Psychological safety is one component of a psychologically healthy workplace, where employees feel supported and empowered to express their opinions and ideas without fear of retribution,” he says.

“A psychologically safe workplace can contribute to better psychological health, as employees who feel safe and supported are more likely to experience less stress and anxiety and have better overall employee well-being.”

While psychological safety and psychological health are related, they are not interchangeable. Psychological safety refers to the context in which an individual interacts with others, while psychological health refers to the individual's internal state of well-being. Both are important factors in creating a positive and supportive work environment that promotes overall well-being and success.

6 signs your workplace is psychologically unsafe

If you’re unsure whether your company is creating a psychologically safe work environment (and there’s no obvious factor like my belittling manager), there are a few red flags to watch out for, says Julian:

1. Projects take too long to roll out

Agility suffers when a workplace is psychologically unsafe. Employees are suspicious of new processes and procedures and may even work around them rather than give feedback. When psychological safety is low, instead of asking for help or clarification, employees would rather keep quiet and soldier on in uncertainty.

2. People don’t ask questions or share ideas

In meetings, few people (or no people) speak up or contribute. Ideas are presented in a top-down manner, with little room to question decisions or raise concerns. If an employee felt like their ideas were valued, they’re less likely to internally label something a “dumb idea” or hesitate to bring new ideas up in a meeting.

3. The rumor mill is rampant

Rather than address issues openly, employees air their grievances within cliques or other teams. There is mystery and speculation about why or how a new initiative will happen.

4. High absenteeism

Employees may take unplanned leave or call in sick to avoid a micromanaging boss, microaggressions in the workplace or intense pressure on the job, even if they are not physically ill. The lack of psychological safety can create a culture of disengagement, where employees are not motivated to come to work, leading to increased absenteeism.

5. High presenteeism

Presenteeism refers to the phenomenon of employees coming to work even when they are sick, injured, or otherwise unwell, and not fully engaged in their work.

Digital presenteeism is a phenomenon where employees feel pressured to constantly remain connected to their work through digital devices, like checking and responding to emails, in an effort to appear to be working hard and often.

Presenteeism can be a sign of low psychological safety in the workplace because it indicates that employees do not feel comfortable taking time off when they need it and are struggling to perform at their best.

6. High turnover

Employees are simply leaving. Without a voice, they leave for roles elsewhere that encourage more open discourse.

How to foster psychological safety in the workplace

Writer Dr. Timothy Clark identified four stages of psychological safety:

Inclusion safety — You are welcome into the organization as your authentic self.
Learner safety — You are free to ask questions and make mistakes while you learn.
Contributor safety — You are encouraged to share your ideas without fear of retribution.
Challenger safety — You are safe to question the status quo, raise concerns, and provide dissenting opinions without fear of negative consequences.

All these stages apply to the workplace, and employees may move back and forth in the stages as new projects are rolled out or they change teams or roles. Here are five ways that managers can ensure psychological safety at every stage:

1. Be vulnerable

Leaders are human, too. A manager who admits to making mistakes or to not having all the right answers will create a far more psychologically safe workplace than a manager who hides their flaws or pretends to know it all.

At Ryan LLC, a tax services and software provider, mandated training sessions address well-being, psychological safety, failure tolerance and setting boundaries. To demonstrate vulnerability, the training includes leaders sharing their own stories of failure, and participants are encouraged to share their experiences of being on teams that got things done versus teams that didn’t.

Julian, too, says he has witnessed first-hand how powerful this can be while he was working with an organization that demonstrated high psychological safety.

“The company was rolling out this strategy for go-to-market with customers,” explains Julian. “And there were some big questions. When we got to our meeting to talk about it, our leader said, ‘I’m acknowledging there are some holes in the plan. We don’t have all the answers right now.’”

He says that simple display of vulnerability opened the door for employees to raise other concerns, resulting in a far more effective problem-solving session.

2. Be transparent

“Sharing what you know is good, but what’s better is sharing what you don’t know. And best is sharing information transparently: what you know, what you don’t know, and how you’re going to help people get through it,” says Julian.

Communication that is open, honest, and credible feeds into psychological safety. Communicate consistently and directly, and make sure your actions match your words.

3. Be fair

Review every aspect of the employee experience and assess its fairness. What are the pathways to promotion? Are there pay gaps among any equivalent roles? Are people compensated and rewarded fairly?

Fairness can be an especially thorny issue with hybrid teams, where employees who are primarily remote may feel that they’re often overlooked due to a lack of “face time.” Ensure that they feel heard and supported as equal members of the team.

“Sharing what you know is good, but what’s better is sharing what you don’t know. And best is sharing information transparently."

4. Be curious

Strong leaders model curiosity — they ask questions and don’t necessarily assume the status quo is the right way. Acknowledge any uncertainties and foster a company culture of learning and problem-solving rather than blind following.

For example, the team at SAP America, an IT company based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, acknowledges that psychological safety must begin at the top. Their new leadership credo, “Do what’s right. Make SAP better for generations to come” asks company leaders to think about the long-term impact of their actions and decisions.

“It is a clear signal that SAP’s leadership culture is moving away from one where leaders feel they need to make short-sighted decisions to make quarterly numbers, and toward a trust-based and ethical environment where teams have the space to be themselves, learn, grow, and thrive,” an SAP team member told us.

SAP’s leadership diverges from a company culture where leaders feel they need to make short-sighted decisions to make quarterly numbers. Instead, they move toward a trust-based and ethical environment where teams have the space to be themselves, learn, grow, and thrive.

5. Be reasonable

Unrealistic expectations — whether that’s how much someone can accomplish in a day or how available they need to be last-minute — can kill psychological safety.

Julian notes this is especially an issue for hourly workers who have less flexible schedules or schedules that are only set two weeks or so in advance, such as retail and hospitality workers. He warns that when people have a week-to-week schedule, they can’t manage work/life balance and, as a result, can’t feel like they fit in with the organization.

This can also be an issue for remote or hybrid teams, especially when they cross time zones and employees may be working while management is sleeping, or vice versa. Show that you respect employees’ personal lives and that you trust them to get their work done, even when out of sight.

How to measure psychological safety in the workplace

Conducting employee surveys on a regular basis will ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of how psychologically safe employees are feeling. Great Place To Work’s precise and rigorously tested Trust Index™ Survey statements are specifically designed to elicit meaningful employee feedback and insights.

To learn more about the psychology of high-trust workplaces, subscribe to our newsletter or inquire about Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™, which can help you to measure and understand how psychologically safe your employees feel.

Why and How To Build Trust in the Workplace

2025-01-08T07:00:50-05:00

The three essential elements that all great workplaces have.

You might have several theories about what makes an organization a positive place to work.

Happy employees are surely those with inflated paychecks and unmatched benefit programs. Perhaps they get a share of company profits in employee stock ownership plans, or have ditched traditional hierarchy for a more equitable “flat” structure.

You’d be wrong.

Trust in the workplace

The employee experience isn’t fundamentally determined by whether a company is privately owned or publicly traded, whether its workers are hourly or salaried, or whether a company writes software in Silicon Valley or manufactures automobiles in Michigan.

The key ingredient is deceptively simple: trust. Do your workers trust you?

Discovering the magic ingredient was the result of thousands of hours of interviews and focus groups conducted by the founders of Great Place To Work® in developing its Trust Index™.

“For pretty much every theory we had, we found consistent exceptions,” says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, vice president of global recognition at Great Place To Work. “What we didn’t find an exception for was trust.”

The Great Place To Work Model

What builds trust in the workplace?

Trust can feel like a squishy word, even as it becomes more and more recognized as an essential business asset. Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer shows the way trust in institutions like the media and government can have profound implications for markets.

But what does it mean for employees to experience trust? Telling them to trust you doesn’t work. You have to build a high-trust culture over time.

According to Great Place To Work research, such a culture is built on three components:

Credibility. Do workers believe leaders are competent, communicative, and honest?
Respect. Do workers feel respected both as professionals and individuals with lives outside of work?
Fairness. Do workers see the organization as a place where everyone has a fair chance to succeed?

“What we're really talking about is that everyone in the organization is treated with credibility, respect, and fairness … regardless of their job role, their gender, any race, ethnicity, or other demographic category,” says Lewis-Kulin.

For a workplace to be great, the employee experience has to be consistent for everyone. If only senior-level, male managers say they trust the organization while front-line employees or women in management are having a very different experience, that won’t build trust.

That’s why Great Place To Work introduced its For All™ model, where gaps between different employee groups are measured to identify how every employee feels at work — not just the majority.

The building blocks of trust in the workplace

How do great leaders cultivate credibility, respect, and fairness within their companies? Closing the “say-do gap” is crucial, as trust only develops when words are followed by action.

For any culture to develop high levels of trust, it has to start with leaders.

“You can't create a trusting organization without it being modeled as a value from the top of the organization,” Lewis-Kulin says. Otherwise, you might have a pocket of employees who trust each other, but they get their backs up when working with people outside their team.

Machiavelli might approve, but it’s no recipe for success in the modern workplace.

Here are some ways for leaders to start building trust:

Credibility

Communicate consistently and directly.
Ensure your public actions mirror the values you subscribe to internally. If your PR team, for instance, publicly proclaims that your company champions DEIB, but employees aren’t experiencing an inclusive culture, they’ll view your actions as hypocritical.
Demand that public value statements match the internal experience of employees.
Make sure that communication goes both ways— listen to your people as much as you share information with them.
Take tangible actions every time you ask and receive employee feedback.

Respect

Create a culture that supports employees’ work-life balance, allows them to use PTO and flexible schedules offered, and acknowledges their lives outside of work. And don’t forget to set a good example yourself.
Show genuine interest in who your people are and what matters to them outside of work.
Show appreciation for employees’ good work and extra effort.
Provide development and training programs, give employees time to do them, and reward employees who complete them.
Ensure everyone can bring their full selves to the workplace by focusing on belonging and inclusion.

Fairness

Review compensation and close any pay gaps for employees doing equal work.
Add seats to the board of directors to ensure marginalized voices are heard.
Analyze workplace well-being programs to ensure they serve the needs of all employees.

7 ways to build trust in the workplace

Once your organization is committed to building trust, your leaders must develop an action plan to transform your culture. A great place to start is with the Great Place To Work Trust Index, which provides unmatched insight into the experiences of your workforce. Based on your data, you might consider focusing on one of the nine high-trust leadership behaviors that our research shows make the biggest difference in building trust.

Here are seven ideas for applying those principles to your workplace:

1. Make sure every employee has the chance to share their feedback with leaders

Listening is the foundation of all the high-trust leadership behaviors. Poor listening is one of the most likely culprits for a breakdown in trust, and the best organizations go to great lengths to ensure every employee’s voice is heard.

Employee surveys are a great place to start, but the best companies also host listening sessions with top leaders, engage with employee resource groups (ERGs), and even make employee listening a dedicated job within the HR function.

Top tip: Consider how different job roles in the organization experience communication from leaders. Can you bring frontline teams off the floor to participate in a brainstorming session with your leaders? Is there a team that never meets with the C-suite? The best companies find ways to make sure every employee, regardless of role or job level, has a chance to share their ideas.

2. Find ways for every employee to be recognized for their contributions to the organization

Thanking employees for their unique contributions is a crucial way to build trust. The best companies don’t just recognize one employee of the month. They ensure every employee is visibly recognized and celebrated even when a project ends in failure.

To do this right, leaders must get to know their employees on a personal level. What are their unique passions and talents? What are their career goals? The best expressions of gratitude are personalized to the recipient and are a consistent affirmation of their value to the business.

Top tip: Connect recognition programs to specific examples of how employees can live the values of the organization. Use recognition to connect employees with your mission, and help them find meaning in their work.

3. Provide training and development opportunities that help employees build meaningful careers

Employees expect to have opportunities to learn and grow at work. Nine in 10 (91%) respondents to the 2023 Work In America Survey from the American Psychological Association said it was very or somewhat important to them to have consistent opportunities to learn.

Helping employees learn new skills and develop their careers is a powerful way to build trust and boost business performance. The best leaders are mentors and coaches, finding ways to open doors and challenge their direct reports with new projects and opportunities.

Top tip: Identify employees by their skills, not their credentials or education. 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 can create libraries of skills and use technology to match employees with those skills to open projects and roles within the organization.

4. Prioritize employee well-being with investments in flexibility and health programs

Employee well-being has declined to pre-pandemic levels. Great workplaces are responding to this trend with increased benefits and renewed commitments to flexibility and balance. When leaders demonstrate care for their workers, they focus on creating inclusive and welcoming environments. They ask about the individual needs of employees and launch programs to cover gaps that are causing unnecessary stress.

Top tip: Consider how your workplace can address external factors that are causing problems for your workforce. Can you invest in the community, sponsor child care services, or promote a healthier environment near where your employees live?

5. Go beyond compensation to ensure every employee gets a fair share of the rewards for business success

Fair pay is an important place to start, but compensation is not the only reward that employees value from their work. Recognition, learning and growth opportunities, and charitable activity can also be highly valuable to employees and can create a sense of unfairness when some employees are left out.

Great leaders make sure every employee can share in the benefits of working for a successful business. That means ensuring employees have equal access to information and roles that are structured to allow them to participate in the full range of company activities, from social gatherings to charitable events.

Top tip: When considering fairness, make sure you are measuring the right metrics that capture the full experience of employees. Invisible dynamics in your organization might be creating an unfair system, and correcting measurement mistakes is the first step to fixing those issues.

6. Make sure new employees receive a warm welcome when joining the organization

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Onboarding is a crucial part of the employee experience, and poor execution can dramatically impact trust for new employees.
This starts with the recruiting process, where experiences with hiring managers can set expectations and send important signals about how welcome a new employee is to bring their authentic self to the organization.

Top tip: Go beyond the handbook for orientation. Send new hires a welcome note and start getting them integrated into your culture before their first day. Pair new hires with a buddy other than their direct manager, and find ways to connect new hires immediately with important groups in the company, such as ERGs.

7. Connect every employee to your purpose as an organization

Meaningful work is a crucial driver of the employee experience and makes a big difference in how likely you are to want to stay with your company long-term.

The best companies make sure that every company has the opportunity to experience the impact of their work on the world, whether that is meeting with a customer or testing a new product. This sense of purpose then contributes to the pride employees feel in their workplace.

Top tip: Engage frontline managers early and often to ensure they are helping their teams connect to the big picture. When frontline managers are not clear about the direction and mission for the company, the business is less likely to experience the benefits of being a purpose-driven workplace.

The business case for trust

The good news for leaders is that building trust has an unmistakable impact on financial performance for organizations across industries.

According to independent investment firm FTSE Russell, cumulative stock market returns outpace the market by a factor of three for publicly held organizations on the Fortune 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For® List.

The data is clear: 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 that invest in their workers deliver stronger financial results over the long term. Even better, those companies have the resilience to ride out economic downturns. Great Place To Work research shows that companies that supported key employee groups were able to grow during the Great Recession from 2008 to 2010, and have vastly outstripped the competition in the decade since.

The outcomes of employee trust on the bottom line are undeniable:

High-trust cultures have half the attrition turnover of industry competitors
High-trust cultures have accelerated rates of innovation
High-trust cultures see more employees go above and beyond to deliver for clients and customers

Take your first step towards a healthier company culture with Great Place to Work’s research-backed engagement survey.

How Flextime Supports Employee Well-Being and Work-Life Balance

2025-01-07T17:01:49-05:00

Flextime policies allow employees to build a schedule that matches their biological sleep patterns, bolstering employee health and performance.

Why should business leaders care if night owls get enough sleep?

When employees lose sleep, their health is affected and productivity dips. Research shows one fourth of the world’s population isn’t sleeping as well as they should — not because they are lazy or improvident, but because their bodies are hardwired against the typical 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule.

For leaders who want to help employees find their optimal sleep schedule — and boost worker health and business performance — flextime arrangements are key.

What is flextime?

Flextime is a scheduling arrangement that offers full- and part-time employees input on what hours they work. Employees still work the same number of scheduled hours but have the freedom to alter their start and end times.

While the standard eight to five schedule suits roughly 55% of the population, it harms employees who don’t fit the mold. Night owls, roughly 25% of the population, force themselves into standard working hours at the cost of their sleep. Rigid schedules can result in higher sick days, decreased productivity, and higher turnover. If employees are offered flextime, leaders can unlock the potential of employees who are fighting against their biology.

By taking time to learn about genetic time clocks — called chronotypes — leaders can improve employee productivity and protect employee well-being.

What are chronotypes?

Everyone has a unique 24-hour master biological clock, or circadian rhythm. Chronotypes are classifications based on when a person’s circadian rhythm dictates they should be awake or asleep.

Broadly, there are three chronotypes: morning-types, evening-types, and somewhere-in-between-types. Individuals can begin to understand their chronotype by asking, “If I had no plans tomorrow, what time would I like to wake up?” Those who naturally rise before 6 a.m. are categorized as the morning-type. Wake up after 9 a.m.? You likely fall in the evening-type category. And if you naturally start your day between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., you belong to the in-between category.

When you experience chrono-misalignment (your sleep/wake cycles clash with your body’s natural sleep schedule), you are more likely to suffer exhaustion or make poor decisions that can have serious consequences for your personal and professional life.

Why should employers care about chrono-misalignment?

A healthy workplace does more than make employees happy. It drives essential business outcomes.

In Great Place To Work® research conducted with Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, four out of five employees worldwide reported not flourishing at work, leading to higher turnover and talent costs. When companies prioritize well-being, employees are three times more likely to intend to stay with their employer.

Consider how chrono-misalignment can have a negative impact on your business beyond just the employee experience.

1. It’s expensive.

Absenteeism costs employers big money. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sick day absenteeism costs U.S. employers over $225 billion annually.

Some of that absenteeism is directly linked to poor sleep, a direct effect of chrono-misalignment. SleepWatch data shows that morning-type individuals get 48 more minutes of sleep per night than evening-types. For evening-type workers, that’s 16 fewer hours of sleep per month.

The good news: Flextime offerings have positive impacts on reducing absenteeism. A recent study showed flextime policies increased job satisfaction, ultimately reducing employees’ intent to leave.

2. It’s dangerous.

In a 2014 study using a driving simulator, researchers found that evening-types made more errors and were less attentive at 8 a.m. compared with their morning-type counterparts. Not only are these employees more dangerous on the road, but their impaired, sleep-deprived thinking can continue to impact their job performance throughout the early morning.

Evening-type individuals also report more general exhaustion than morning-types. In fighting chrono-misalignment, employees expend extra energy trying to maintain performance standards in suboptimal conditions, leading to chronic exhaustion — a key factor in burnout.

Additionally, experiencing chrono-misalignment is linked to decreased attention, poorer decision-making, and increased irritability — it can even lead to less ethical behavior.

3. Employee work suffers.

Chrono-misalignment and subsequent sleep deficiencies have been linked to increased job procrastination. When employees don’t get adequate sleep, they lack the energy to focus their attention and resist distractions, and productivity suffers.

Offering flexible work has an opposite effect. A study found that flextime arrangements were positively associated with employee motivation and productivity.

Where should employers start implementing flextime in the workplace?

There are several ways HR professionals and leaders can begin to help different chronotypes thrive in the workplace:

1. Start by allowing full-time employees to adjust their working schedule by one hour.

Even just an extra hour can offer evening-type individuals more time to sleep, offsetting the 48-minute average deficit they face in a traditional schedule. A later start time shifts their work responsibilities to a time more aligned with their biology, allowing for better control over their attention and greater alertness on the job.

2. Reset expectations around when work gets done.

With employees opting for flextime arrangements, your workforce won’t all be clocking in on the same schedule. Leaders should encourage employees to stick to their personal work schedule and resist pressure to always be “on,” or immediately responsive, simply because others are working beyond traditional hours.

When leaders make a point to acknowledge different schedules in their communications, employees feel empowered to preserve their time away from work.

3. Reduce stigma for employees who ask for flextime.

When implementing flextime policies, consider how your culture supports or hinders employees from participating.

Traditional American work culture praises early risers and stigmatizes night owls as less ambitious and less productive. Employees requesting or using flexible schedules often face prejudice from their supervisors.

To reduce bias, make flextime standard across your whole organization. When employees ask for a different schedule, make sure their careers don’t suffer.

4. Host annual training about healthy sleep habits.

Discuss healthy sleep habits with your workers. Reminding employees to take care of their well-being can foster feelings of organizational trust and work engagement, and most importantly, improve employee health.

When companies prioritize well-being, employees are three times more likely to intend to stay with their employer.

The global workforce has seen numerous changes in how and when we work. As companies work to create inclusive workplaces, sleep should be included in the conversation about flexibility.

Embracing flextime is more than simply allowing employees the “flexibility” to take breaks to pick up their kids or run to a doctor’s appointment.

Flextime allows employees to adjust their schedule to fit their biological needs. To create an environment of openness and respect, organizations should educate their employees on the importance of understanding their chronotype and allow them to make informed decisions about their work schedules.

Employee Satisfaction Survey Questions: Improve Your Culture

2025-01-03T17:02:22-05:00

These research-backed GPTW employee survey questions reveal what employees really think of their experience and help you create a high-trust workplace culture.

Having a listening strategy is an essential part of creating a positive employee experience. Leaders need to be able to hear employees’ feedback and respond to their needs to build a company culture where employees feel valued and find purpose in their work.

Employee survey questions are one of the most powerful tools in any listening strategy because they can:

Provide quantitative data that can guide action planning
Uncover inconsistencies in experience between different groups of employees
Enable organizations to objectively compare their employee experience to the experience at other organizations

How well your employee engagement survey questions do these things will depend on the quality of the questions you ask. Great Place To Work survey questions give you a detailed picture of the employee experience in your organization.

The problem with survey questions that only measure employee satisfaction

Employee satisfaction surveys focused solely on benefits like PTO may miss deeper issues, such as burnout, that impact overall employee experience. Strategic employee satisfaction survey questions lead to improved morale, increased innovation, and higher productivity.

For example, a company may want to know if employees are satisfied with their compensation and benefits, or if they have issues with their manager.

Some companies also use employee engagement survey questions to try to measure employee engagement, or the extent to which employees feel motivated and excited by their work.

Both employee satisfaction and employee engagement are important. The most insightful surveys, however, are those measuring employee experience: a holistic view that closely links satisfaction and engagement.

For example, an employee might be satisfied with their allotted paid time off (PTO), but still struggle with work-life balance. Why? Because their manager expects them to be reachable even when they’re supposedly offline. This practice usually leads to burnout.

A survey that only measures whether employees are satisfied with their PTO benefits would miss this burnout – the bigger issue – because employees would only report PTO satisfaction.

However, a survey that simply measures employee burnout might misinterpret the problem and companies would not realize additional time off won’t solve it.

It’s only through a comprehensive GPTW trust index survey that we can see the full picture, address the root cause, and achieve the right solution.

Remote Work and Flexibility
Remote work is quickly becoming a new norm. This shift has introduced new challenges and opportunities in maintaining employee satisfaction.

It might be beneficial to explore “How satisfied are you with the company’s remote work policies?” or “Do you feel you have the flexibility you need in your work schedule?”. GPTW trust index survey questions take these aspects into account.

Mental Health Awareness
There is a growing trend of companies paying more attention to their employees’ mental health. This is especially important given the increased levels of stress and anxiety many people are experiencing.

GPTW trust index survey questions acknowledge issues such as “Do you feel your workload is manageable?” or “Do you feel comfortable discussing mental health with your manager?”.

Career Development Opportunities
With the changing job market, employees are increasingly looking for opportunities for growth and development within their current roles.

Questions might include “Do you feel there are sufficient opportunities for professional growth in your role?” or “Are you satisfied with the learning and development resources provided by the company?”.

Rather than viewing employees’ relationship with management as a binary “satisfied/dissatisfied,” an employee experience survey seeks to understand the level of trust that employees have in their company leaders, including during a crisis.

An effective survey strives to understand how management’s leadership style impacts employees’ perceptions of fairness, or whether certain practices are undermining employee well-being. Leaders must be able to demonstrate consistent credibility, respect, and fairness to earn – and sustain – their employees’ trust.

5 questions to Ask in an Employee Experience Survey

1. Does management try to connect with employees on a personal level?

When it comes to employee experience, it’s essential that you build a high-trust relationship between management and employees. Trust, however, is a deeply personal feeling – it’s nearly impossible to earn someone’s trust without establishing a personal relationship of some kind.

The first step in building that relationship is for management to show that they care about their employees as people, not just what they’re able to bring to the table from a professional standpoint. Answers to this question reveal the quality of your employee-management relationships.

2. Does management recognize outstanding work or effort?

This question measures two critical pieces of a high-trust relationship between management and employees:

How much management shows employee recognition in a way that resonates with employees (essential for making employees feel valued, appreciated, and cared for).
How much management is perceived as impartial: Is the recognition tied to the work people do, or do certain people get recognition more easily?

3. Does management listen to employees’ ideas?

It’s difficult to trust someone if you don’t feel that they trust you, so management should constantly seek out opportunities to make employees feel trusted. One great way to do that is to listen and respond to employees’ ideas – it shows that managers respect and value what their people think and feel.

Encouraging managers to be receptive to employees’ ideas also makes employees more comfortable sharing feedback about their experience at work. This gives you more valuable information that you can use to further improve your employee experience.

It’s difficult to trust someone if you don’t feel that they trust you, so management should constantly seek out opportunities to make employees feel trusted

4. Are people treated the same regardless of their background or personal characteristics?

When measuring employee experience, it’s essential to not only look at the big picture but also understand that different groups of people may have very different experiences at the same workplace.

Questions like this one help measure how employees feel about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging(DEIB) within their workplace, and can point leaders in the right direction as they expand their DEIB efforts.

It’s especially useful to break out the results to DEIB-related questions by demographic group (for example, by gender) so that you can identify and analyze any differences in experience across groups.

5. Is it a psychologically healthy workplace?

Employees need to feel psychologically and emotionally safe to have a positive experience at work. Measuring these forms of safety is an important function of an effective employee experience survey.

If a company is doing everything else right, but employees feel burnt out, feel trapped in a toxic culture, feel uncertainty or feel they can’t get the support they need, it can severely impact the overall employee experience.

On the flip side, when employees do feel psychologically healthy, they’re much more likely to be willing to extend trust to management, which means other attempts to build trust are more likely to succeed.

Launch an employee survey that asks the right questions and helps you improve the employee experience

With the detailed results of GPTW survey questions in hand, leaders can build a better employee experience. What does this look like? It includes managers who fulfill promises and express genuine care; who provide all employees with equal opportunities for growth and recognition; and who strive to be as competent, authentic and honest as possible.

Such efforts naturally lead to happier employees, greater innovation and increased productivity. Employees with deep trust in their company leadership will be less likely to quit and more likely to generate winning ideas.

Great Place To Work® 카지노커뮤니티™ looks beyond basic employee satisfaction to measure the level of trust between leaders and employees.

Reach out today to see how the GPTW trust index survey can help you attract and retain top talent.

Hiring People with Disabilities: Why It Matters & How to Do It Right

2025-01-02T07:57:01-05:00

It’s time to update your thinking on hiring and engaging people with disabilities. Being intentional about how you engage employees with disabilities is not only ethical, it’s also a talent acquisition strategy that can benefit your company long-term.

The population of people with disabilities is an untapped talent market. This group is made up of many incredible individuals with invaluable skills and knowledge. However, many companies struggle to ensure that their workplace includes employees with disabilities.

A Center for Talent Innovation study found that only 39% of disabled employees disclose their disability status to their managers. Of those employees who are open about their disability status, 65% state they regularly feel happy or content at work — versus only 27% of those who don't discuss their status.

At Great Place To Work®, our research tells us that employees who feel like they can bring their whole selves to work, and disclose their support needs without hesitation, are exponentially more likely to give their best every day.

In other words, psychological safety leads to engaged and thriving employees. On the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey, and in U.S. workplaces in general, disclosing a disability is not required. 카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 research on the link between business resilience and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) has shown that for every 10% of employees that chose not to respond on the survey, there was a 6-point decrease in a company’s overall levels of trust, pride, and camaraderie.

Hiding one’s identity in a survey can signify that a workplace culture suffers from favoritism, toxic work relationships, and microaggressions.

Psychological safety helps team members feel comfortable sharing opposing ideas or presenting new ones. But central to psychological safety is the willingness to be vulnerable in front of others.

In our research, employees who believe their managers “care about them as a person” are 36% more likely to bring innovative ideas to your workplace.

The payoff is clear: Supporting employees with a disability will help your business thrive. Mental health resources, ergonomic equipment, robust short- and long-term disability, and paid medical leave are all benefits that support and retain people with disabilities.

The flexibility of remote work compared to in-person work can be especially valuable when hiring employees with disabilities.

What is considered a disability in the workplace?

When we think of a disability, we often think of something we can easily see, such as having difficulty walking or using a wheelchair. Those “visible disabilities” are usually prioritized in professional and public settings over other disabilities.

In recent years, more research has been emphasizing “invisible disabilities.” These are disabilities that can’t be easily identified by looking at someone. Examples can include neurodivergence, PTSD, and cancer.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a disability is a physical or mental impairment that limits at least one major life activity. A major life activity may be a basic task such as standing, walking, sleeping, lifting, reading, or working a major bodily function like the digestive, circulatory, or respiratory systems.

On the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey, employees are considered to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if they have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Some disabilities covered under the ADA may not immediately come to mind. For example, major depressive disorder, diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, learning disabilities, anxiety, migraine headaches, and gastrointestinal disorders.

One out of four adults in the United States have a disability. In 2021, an additional 1.2 million people over the age of 16 were identified as having a disability compared to 2020.

These numbers are steadily rising due to COVID-19. We are still learning the full implications of long COVID, which some specialists believe will significantly impact the number of people with disabilities worldwide. Only 19.1% of people with a disability were employed in 2021, versus 63.7% without a disability, demonstrating the overall lack of effort towards including this population of employees.

How businesses benefit by hiring people with disabilities

Recruiting and hiring people with disabilities isn’t just the morally and ethically right thing to do. It can also influence business outcomes such as innovation, inclusivity, customer growth, and profitability.

1. Spur innovation

Hiring people with disabilities can expand your opportunities for innovation. That’s because people with disabilities tend to be excellent problem solvers — many have ample experience thinking of creative solutions to problems as they navigate a world that is often not built for them. They can have a unique perspective on challenges and are often persistent when encountering a roadblock.

KPMG, Great Place to Work Certified™ company on the Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For® List recognizes the value of hiring people with disabilities and has prioritized recruiting and increasing its support for people with visible and invisible disabilities. It has developed an accessibility strategy and launched Neurodiversity@Work to help unleash the potential of neurodiverse talent at KPMG and for its clients.

The program has helped KPMG establish a university council with 12 schools, engage more than 45 volunteers, enter two formal partnerships, create six job openings, and initiate nearly two dozen internal and external marketing initiatives.

2. Improve bottom-line performance

Hiring people with disabilities also has proven financial benefits. A 2018 Accenture study found that companies that were inclusive towards people with disabilities had 28% higher revenue on average over a four year period compared to their less-inclusive counterparts.

Employers who create a culture of accommodation and accessibility for employees with disabilities lower barriers to performance.

Think about it: When an employee living with chronic migraines doesn't have the workplace flexibility to visit a doctor or fit work around their migraine, it adds up to countless hours of lost production, thought, innovation, and advancement.

3. Understand and target your customers more accurately

People with disabilities make up a sizable portion of the consumer marketplace. Having more employees with disabilities can help ensure that products are being designed with this population in mind to reach more customers.

4. Promote an environment of inclusion and understanding

Hiring people with disabilities fosters an inclusive work environment. Diverse teams create bigger and more frequent opportunities for cultural exchange. Team members can witness the experiences of employees with disabilities, building greater empathy and awareness across people from diverse backgrounds.

Hiring (and keeping) people with disabilities – 6 tips for a successful employee life cycle

Here are six ways to make your organization more appealing to current and potential employees with disabilities.

1. Detail accessibility in job postings

List any potential accessibility concerns when advertising a job and prepare recruiters to answer applicants' questions. This includes elevator access, stairs, curbs, and width of passageways. Less obvious factors, such as harsh fluorescent lighting, loud noises, accessible desks, and lack of cell service or internet, could be deciding factors for an applicant.

Taking the time to outline these details in your job posting sends a strong message to people with disabilities that their needs are considered and cared for.

2. Train managers on the accommodation process

Managers are often the first people an employee with a disability will go to for guidance with accommodations during the hiring process or on the job. Ensuring that managers have a working knowledge of the accommodation process and can support their employees while they work (including opportunities to be social, network, and celebrate as a team) is vital, especially since there is often a stigma around having a disability.

100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 like Experian realize the importance of inclusive training. Experian employees now have access to a “Disability Fundamentals for Managers” course through Disability:IN — a 30-minute interactive training that helps managers learn about disability awareness, etiquette, disclosures, and accommodations, as well as how to hold accessible meetings and events.

Giving all employees, especially managers, a high-level overview of what it means to be an employee with disabilities helps build empathy and develop inclusive leadership skills.

3. Focus on inclusive benefits

For many employees with a disability, benefits can be a deciding factor in choosing a job. If someone has regular doctors’ visits or expensive medications, they may not be able to wait 60 or 90 days for their health insurance to kick in.

In addition, make sure that your healthcare plans have adequate coverage and listen to feedback from employees with disabilities about what other benefits they need. Mental health resources, ergonomic equipment, robust short- and long-term disability, and paid medical leave are all benefits that support people with disabilities.

4. Fit disabilities into the larger DEIB and values discussion

When it comes to DEIB, disabilities are often left out of the conversation. Educating employees about the experiences of people with disabilities and normalizing the concept of accommodations can help remove the stigma and ensure an accessible work environment.

Certified workplace Rocket 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 developed the “empathy generator,” a tool that helps employees create products that are accessible to people with disabilities. It simulates the experience of having the disabilities that team members such as coders, designers, and researchers are trying to accommodate.

Most people who do not live with disabilities may find it difficult to fully conceptualize the barriers that people with disabilities face daily, so these kinds of tools and exercises can help increase awareness.

The population of people with disabilities in the United States also highlights the importance of intersectionality. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black and Hispanic people with disabilities are more likely than their white counterparts to be without a job.

5. Allow flexible schedules and remote work

The flexibility of remote work compared to in-person work can be especially valuable for employees with disabilities. For example, if someone has chronic pain and cannot drive an hour to get to the office, they cannot accept a job. If they can work remotely, they are better able to manage their pain and work in a safe environment.

6. Ensure that training and development opportunities are inclusive

Present information through different modalities, including visual, written, and auditory. For audio or video components, ensure that captions and transcripts are available and work with screen readers.

Wise organizations are catching on to the value of hiring and engaging people with disabilities. Research by the Economics Innovation Group found that people with a disability aged 25 to 54 were 3.5% more likely to be employed in the second quarter of 2022 than pre-pandemic. How is your organization adapting and making your workplace more attractive to employees with disabilities?

Want to know exactly how you can support your employees?

Being intentional about your DEIB initiatives starts with understanding your workforce in detail. Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™ helps you measure and track your employee experience with our research-backed Trust Index Survey. Ask us today about how to get started on your 카지노커뮤니티 and access the workforce data you need to improve your workplace for diverse groups, including those living with a disability.