Rose Street Advisors + HRM

02/11/2022

Are you looking for ways to energize your team? As the pandemic hits its second year, we're all ready to move on to more positive things. See what you can do to help your team regain some energy!

Let’s face it, we’re all tired of talking about the pandemic. But it’s still here and it’s giving leaders a run for their money.

01/06/2022

Returning to 2022 – What Employers Need to Know

While a New Year typically involves a fresh start, 2022 may find employers feeling the New Year is kind of like a bad movie sequel: 2021 – part 2. Many of the issues that we thought would be ending with the past year, have continued.

Each January we publish a blog with thoughts of what to expect in the coming year. With the speed of change this past year and a half, it has been difficult to accurately predict much in advance. Currently, some of the things we’re watching, include the spike in Covid cases, the vaccine mandate that may or may not happen on January 10th, the great resignation, maintaining a culture for employees who are spread between working remotely, in hybrid arrangements, and onsite, and pandemic fatigue.

So how do you make plans for this year? Here are some things to take into consideration:

• Be Flexible: There will be new things to consider in 2022. Be prepared to change whatever plans you make based on the newest conditions.
• Be Creative: Think about your unique culture and ways to get out of the traditional work environment box. I’ve had some great customer meetings on hiking trails this year. What could your organization be offering?

• Plan for the short term: When you roll out your plans, announce that you will be doing it for 60-90 days to start. That will give you time to evaluate the effectiveness and sends the message that we’re all trying something new together.

• Overcommunicate your plans: If this is a significant change, make certain that you provide advance notice and communicate via multiple channels. Adding the element of surprise to a major change is a clear recipe for disaster.

• Be Understanding: None of us have done this before, so there are bound to be some hiccups.

The good news is that organizations have been able to demonstrate their resilience in 2021. With what we’ve learned, 2022 should be a breeze!

Our best wishes to all of you for a safe, healthy, and productive New Year!

11/18/2021

Concerned about what your holiday conversations are going to be like? Between politics, vaccines, and mask mandates, there are a lot of stressful topics to talk about during the holidays. Check out our blog for tips on keeping Thanksgiving fun for everyone around the table!

As the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaches, most folks are stocking up on their holiday supplies and planning for the big meal. At the same time, many of us are wondering how we are going to manage those awkward dinner time discussions that can come up during the holidays.

09/09/2021

How effective have your EDI efforts been? Looking for a way to make a bigger impact? Check out our latest blog. Have you found something that really works for your organization? Let us know, we'd love to hear about your successes!

This past year has brought EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) conversations to the forefront more than ever before. As a part of that focus, organizations have formed EDI committees.

03/26/2021

Are We There Yet? Post Pandemic Planning

When the pandemic started a year ago, employers had to react quickly to an unknown crisis with vague and conflicting information and significant employee concerns.

HR professionals were particularly challenged. There were ever changing guidelines, newly emerging medical information, and even politics entering the fray, adding to the confusion. There was the challenge of connecting with and engaging employees while they worked remotely, some with kids who were in and out and in and out of school.

It’s been an interesting twelve months.

As vaccines become more easily available and restrictions are loosened, employers are looking to the future to determine what the post Covid workplace will be like. Will we return to what we’ve always done? Do something new? Will we land somewhere in the middle?

The good news is that this time around, we will have more space to plan and prepare for the return than we did for the exit.
Whatever we do will be another significant change. Change, of course, is uncomfortable so it will be important to do it well.

Here are some suggestions that we have for navigating the change to a post pandemic workplace:

• Communicate a lot: A year ago employees understood that circumstances were changing quickly and employers weren’t necessarily driving the decisions. This time is different. We (hopefully!) can plan ahead for our next steps and communicate them in advance so employees have time to prepare and adapt.

• Engage employees in the process: Employees have proven themselves to be resilient, creative, and resourceful. Keep that energy going by engaging them in the process for what’s next. From virtual water coolers and electronic birthday cards to setting up creative home offices, employees have demonstrated their ability to find ways to be successful.

• Keep safety a priority: We’ve learned a lot about safe practices during the pandemic. Keep those. We’re not certain when we will be out of the woods and your employees will appreciate appropriate efforts to keep them safe.

• Try new things: We’ve successfully learned creative ways to accomplish our work. Don’t go back to the old ways without giving consideration to what we’ve learned recently.

• Be supportive: People have had a tough year on many fronts. We can help by being supportive and limiting additional surprises heading their way.

As the pandemic unfolded, the organizations we work with handled these challenges with care, compassion, and flexibility. It was no small feat. Like the palm tree that has survived a year of neglect in my office, we’ve come out the other side, maybe a little more bruised, but definitely stronger. Let’s make certain that we make the return easier than the exit.

02/24/2021

Is your virtual message getting through or is it lost in the noise? Here are some tips for keeping people focused on your message. Shout out to Kelly White-Duggan and Dominick Gladstone for sharing their expertise!

As the first quarter of 2021 flies by, most of us are still spending significant time each day on Zoom, GoTo Meetings, or Teams. While we’ve been doing that for a year now, we still have our glitches and challenges.

12/15/2020

Check out our latest Fun Socks blog post. Things We learned in 2020!

What did you learn this year?

2020 was an interesting year and we learned a lot. We learned new words like: Covid, Zoom, and social distancing.

11/19/2020

Are your remote workers staying engaged? Here are some tips that we learned for staying connected with them. What have you tried?

As the pandemic drags on and the weather turns colder, it is becoming harder to keep remote workers engaged as active participants in our organizational cultures. As we head into the holidays, this isn’t going to get any easier.

10/09/2020

How are you managing political conversations in the workplace? Check out there best practices for keeping politics from being a disruption.

You knew it was only a matter of time and today was the day that you got the call. Two employees in your organization ended up in a heated argument over the upcoming election.

09/17/2020

Need help as a parent or an employer balancing remote work with your child's remote learning? Join us for some answers to this difficult equation!

09/15/2020

Thinking about celebrating the tax holiday? Here's what leaders and HR professionals need to know:

On August 8th, President Trump sent a memorandum to the Treasury Department allowing for a tax holiday. The tax holiday allows for employees earning less than $104,000 per year to defer paying their Social Security taxes during the months of September through December.

08/27/2020

As we head into the start of the school year, employees are struggling to balance their work and family obligations. How can your organization help?

Last week we hosted a webinar about employees with school aged children featuring an interview with local Covid law expert Rebecca Strauss from Miller Johnson. In the webinar, she referenced a USA Today article that talks about the impact of the pandemic on working families.