SHRM Blog

We Need Authentic Leadership to Rehabilitate from the Trauma of the Pandemic

This article inspires a new wave of thinking in the fields of leadership and organizational studies. It helps you to achieve your plans and goals as you recover from the pandemic. The most important aspect of the post-pandemic recovery is YOU as a leader. And we recommend trying to be an authentic leader to make the right decisions for your followers. This is what you and executives need to do in the post-pandemic era.        

 The pandemic has set people back and there is a need to be healthy...

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In a Competitive Labor Market, Small Things are Big Things

At a time when employees begin returning "back to the office" in a post-pandemic economy, human resource officers and corporate leaders seek ways to make their corporate culture most accommodating. 

One thing employers can help facilitate is the financial life of their employees outside of their nine-to-five grind. They can assist in attaining employment and income verification swiftly, without the pain of long waits and red tape.

Take the case of an employee buying a...

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Ask an Advisor: Completing an I-9 for a Remote Worker? You Might Need to Get Creative

As an HR Knowledge Advisor, members regularly ask me how they should complete the Form I-9 for a new hire who will be working remotely from another state. Since the pandemic began, and remote work has become increasingly common, this question comes up quite frequently.

As HR professionals know, when completing Section 2 of the Form I-9, employers must view employees’ original supporting documents—not photocopies, not e-mailed pictures, not images over Zoom or Skype. So how can an employer comply with this requirement...

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Storytelling: Amplify Learning for Effective Employee Training

You may know that stories are a great way to convey complex messages. But did you know they are also a powerful way to make employee training especially effective?

That’s because stories can break down barriers to create meaningful connections with the listener. And by artfully weaving in related activities, the memorable aspect of storytelling can be further enhanced to reinforce a learner's ability to retain new knowledge. Here are some steps you can take to effectively include exceptional storytelling in a way that amplifies learning to create an immersive...

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11 Ways Companies Can Address Workforce Shortages

With immigration to the U.S. being at its lowest levels in decades, what is one thing companies can do to fill critical or high-skilled job openings?

To help you best recruit skilled talents to mitigate the growing workforce shortage, we asked business leaders and HR managers this question for their best insights. From searching specialized social networks to shifting attention to a pipeline-driven approach, there are several directions companies may take to...

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Ask An Advisor: Pointers on Having Difficult Conversations

As an HR Knowledge Advisor, I often receive questions on how to go about having a difficult conversation with an employee. The reason why this topic is so popular is because many HR professionals feel uncomfortable when faced with having to speak to employees about matters ranging from performance issues to internal investigations.

I would like to share some methods that have helped me in planning for and conducting these types of conversations.

First, just breathe. This conversation is not comfortable for you or the employee. But you will be setting the...

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What if You Started by Redesigning the Onboarding Process?

While onboarding can be the most efficient tool to foster a great connection through shared stories and experiences, poor onboarding - quite common during the pandemic - has caused people to leave quickly.

Turnover can be at its peak during the first months in a company and especially in the first 90 days. Almost 40% of turnover occurs during an employee's first year.

In my experience as an HR leader, I had to revamp onboarding processes in large companies. And I can tell you that your attention to your new hires needs...

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Running on Empty

I’ve lived in the same house since 1991. It was the first house my wife and I bought on our own. Hard to believe that 31 years have passed !! One of the attractive features of where I live is that we have a half-acre lot. There are some massively mature trees scattered throughout, but the majority of the lot is the lawn.

As you know, you can’t keep up with growing grass. We live in the Midwest and we’re fortunate to have fairly consistent rain. I’m grateful for that because I...

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Defined Contribution 2.0: The Pursuit of Building a More Equitable Retirement Program

Defined contribution plans are one of the most common ways American workers save for retirement. Yet statistics show DC plans are not benefitting everyone equally. Data from the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and elsewhere suggest low-income workers, women and people of color tend to have significantly less access to retirement plans and accumulate less retirement plan assets relative to other demographics.

In terms of income percentile, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is clear that employees in lower wage groups struggle across the board, with low access to, participation in, and take-up rates for defined contribution plans.
        
When it comes to gender, women in their retirement years have a median household income that is nearly $10,000 less than men in the same age group.

And the numbers are even worse across racial and ethnic lines, with Black and Hispanic households averaging...

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Hybrid and Remote Mentoring for Effective Integration of Junior Employees

Forward-looking organizations use hybrid and remote mentoring to solve one of the biggest challenges in hybrid and remote work: on-the-job training and integration of junior employees. Yet despite solving this major problem, such mentoring programs pairing recently-hired staff with senior employees are all-too-rare.

Instead of using this best practice methodology, many leaders simply complain about how hybrid and remote work undermines on-the-job training and employee integration, and try to force employees to return to the office. Senior leadership and management need to adopt the  best practices for leading hybrid and remote teams for mentoring employees in the future of work.

Remote Mentoring to Solve Junior Employee Integration
To address the problem of integrating junior employees in remote and hybrid settings requires an effective structured mentoring program. You need to pair up senior staff members with junior staff members for virtual mentoring sessions.

Make sure to have one senior staff member from the junior colleague’s...

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