Category: Learning & Development

Deciding on our futures can be a challenging and daunting prospect. Having someone to guide us and offer advice can help us figure out the right direction. That’s why it’s so important to get employee development planning right.

Managers are in a key position to help with this because employees trust them, they understand their employees’ strengths, and they know what opportunities are available within the business.

Employees may find that as they explore a particular path, it’s not for them. But they don’t know unless they try, and they’re much more likely to make the right decision with someone to help them along the way. The more information they have when they choose their path, the more likely they are to choose the right option the first time.

Let’s take a look at what you need to consider when it comes to employee development planning:

What are their skills?

Technical skills are, and always will be, important. This goes further than that, though. 

How are their communication skills? Do they want to improve them, or would they be better off spending their time elsewhere?

Knowing what their current skills are gives you a direction to start with that can then be influenced by my next point…

What are they interested in?

Being good at something and enjoying something are two very different things. Someone may be good at dealing with conflict, but they may dislike dealing with people. If you know someone like this, they’re probably not a great fit to be a manager. They’ll end up finding it increasingly frustrating over time.

Instead, you want to find that sweet spot between what employees enjoy and what their skills are.

Someone who enjoys going deep on a particular topic and likes poking holes in things would be a great subject matter expert, for example.

The more interested someone is in something, the more work they’ll put into learning the skills required to excel in a particular role. This will then lead to bigger benefits for your business.

Where do they need to grow?

To progress in our careers, we all need to grow in one way or another. It could be by learning a new programming language, a new social media platform, or leadership skills.

Having a clear list of areas to focus on as a result of employee development planning gives team members a clear idea of what direction to head in. It can essentially create a checklist of what they need to work on to hit their goals. This can help to motivate them and keep them focused.

What’s a hard no?

We all have our non-negotiables. For me, it’s noisy office environments. I just can’t concentrate in them, and they trigger my chronic pain.

Keeping in mind what someone doesn’t want to do narrows down the list of options when it comes to employee development planning. This can make the decision-making process a bit easier. 

It doesn’t matter how great your employee is, or how well they perform in a particular position. They’ll never enjoy a role that requires them to do things that make them uncomfortable or unhappy.

No amount of money, status, or training will make up for their discomfort. It’s therefore better to rule this out early so that you don’t risk losing them. If they’re doing something that goes against their values, health, or comfort, they’ll be much more likely to leave.

Can you offer them what they need?

If an employee needs to grow certain skills to achieve their career goals, can you help them get there? Does your business have the opportunities and roles that they need? 

If the answer is no, could you create them? If you don’t know how, can you find the answers elsewhere, either from your network or by researching?

When an employee is a great fit for your business, you don’t want to lose them because you can’t offer what they need. You’ll end up losing their loyalty and their company knowledge, and it’ll cost you more money to hire and train a new employee.

Finding external trainers and creating new programs helps you help that employee while future-proofing your business. If any other employees come along with similar needs as you continue to grow, you’ll be ready. Effective employee development planning extends beyond just one individual.

Make your plan

When you’ve answered all these questions, it’s time to create a plan. What do they need to learn, and by when? Setting deadlines makes it easier for employees to stay motivated. It also helps you track what’s happening and when, and gives you both something to work toward.

Consider setting SMART goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-sensitive

While the concept is one we’ve all heard ad nauseam, the specificity of SMART goals is what’s important. They’re more likely to be successful because you can pinpoint if, when, and how something is working. In this case, you can assess how effective your employee development planning has been.

Review your plan

Reviewing the results of your employee development planning process periodically ensures that it still aligns with what team members want to achieve. If they’ve hit any roadblocks, you can help them overcome them or alter the plan to fit their needs.

Alternatively, the employee may find that they no longer want to work toward the same goal. Perhaps their career trajectory has changed. That’s all fine and acceptable. 

It’s much better for them to realize this and come out and say it. That way, you can work together to change the direction, rather than risk losing them. If they don’t feel like they can communicate with you about how they’re feeling, they may consider leaving.

Think of the plan as scaffolding, i.e. a guide. What happens inside it can change based on employees’ needs as you continue to build together.

Conclusion 

Managers’ trusted and knowledgeable roles mean they’re in powerful positions to help with effective employee development planning. While paths can change, managers can use the information they have on employees and the business to make suggestions.

Helping employees identify areas where they can grow their skills can benefit everyone. Supporting them to lean into their strengths and work on weaknesses can lead to better long-term career outcomes as well.

Employee development planning can be tough. The work doesn’t end with the plan, though. You have to provide employees with ample opportunities to pursue their stated learning goals. Then, you have to make it easy for them to engage.

By organizing all your learning groups, programs, and events in one place with Workrowd, you can connect every team member to the resources they need to succeed. Plus, with real-time analytics, you’ll always know which initiatives are driving results for team members.

If you’d like to learn more and explore how Workrowd can accelerate the impact of your employee development planning, send a note to hello@workrowd.com. We’d love to chat and see how we can collaborate.

Employee training and development is important for upskilling your employees, making them better at their jobs, and driving retention.

It doesn’t have to come in the form of a sit-down class like we’re back at school, though. Shudder. 

Not everyone learns that way. And the longer someone must sit still in a training session like that, the less likely they are to pay attention or remember anything that was covered.

There are plenty of ways to make employee training and development engaging, interactive, and maybe even fun. No matter what industry you and your employees are in.

Here are some ways to help your employees grow their skills in 2023:

Books

Books are great because they allow us to learn at our own pace and refer to information easily. 

We can read them on an e-reader with a backlight; on our phones while we’re traveling; or as a physical copy. And we can annotate them or highlight passages that are interesting or relevant to us in any of these forms. 

If you’ve got a Kindle, for example, it can sync with Goodreads and remember your highlighted passages.

However, as an author and avid reader, one of my pet peeves is book recommendations. Most people explain why they liked the book, not what the person they’re talking to could get out of reading it. 

So, before you recommend a book, consider:

• What skills the other person could learn
• How it relates to their current or future role
• The book’s writing style—is it chatty and fast-paced? Or is it formal and academic? Which would they prefer?
• Length—is it a quick read or does it take time to digest? Do they have the time or patience for something longer/heavier?

Different types of books appeal to different people. Just because you found something game-changing, that doesn’t mean everyone else will. 

As part of this, you could put together a book club. But beware that everyone reads at different paces and people who enjoy reading for fun may prefer to learn by other means. 

Even for avid nonfiction readers like myself, something like a book club can turn a fun hobby into a chore if it’s not done right. Solicit input from team members to help you effectively incorporate books into your employee training and development program.

Emails and downloadable guides

Emails are great for drip-feeding information. This makes them a useful tool for employee training and development.

They take a few minutes to read, then the recipient can carry on with their day. Then the next training comes the following day or week, and so on.

Downloadable guides, meanwhile, are a longer version of this. They’re often used as sales lead magnets, but they can also be used internally for employee training and development. 

Quizzes

Remember those personality quizzes that used to be in magazines and were strangely addictive? The ones that are still all over Buzzfeed and other corners of the internet? 

Just me? Okay…

Well, less personality-focused, more fact-based quizzes, are a fun, engaging way to help employees learn and retain information. 

And when you combine them with my next point, the lessons become more memorable because employees can see what they need to do.

Show examples

Listening to someone talk about what to do or not do can get tedious quickly. Relatable examples help employees visualize what they’re trying to learn. 

This could come in the form of perfect examples, or not-so-perfect examples.

In a group environment, you could discuss why something works or doesn’t work, encouraging participation so that employees can share their trains of thought and understand what’s needed for the skills they’re trying to learn. 

This can also support employee training and development around soft skills, like analysis and feedback, alongside the skill they’re actively trying to build.

Live webinars and workshops

There’s something magical about a live workshop. Everyone’s working together on the same thing, at the same time, making a concentrated effort to better themselves in one area. The engagement can be contagious, too.

A webinar being live can also mean that the employee is more likely to carve out specific time to take part because they know exactly when it’s going to happen and can work the rest of their day around it, rather than working their employee training and development around everything else.

Virtual summits

Think of virtual summits like an all-day version of a live webinar.

If employees can’t travel to an event in-person, they offer an opportunity for them to grow their skills from the comfort of their own desk.

Some are free to watch live, with replays available for 24 hours. After that, there’s a fee. 

Summits often focus on one area, and they sometimes also include virtual networking. This means employee can grow their skills and get to know useful industry contacts for later. 

Groups

Employee groups help connect employees with similar interests. This makes them powerful for someone looking to expand their skills. They don’t need to search for external trainers—they’ve got a readymade group of people they can go to for answers!

If no group exists for their area of interest, they could create it, and invite others who share that interest to take part. 

If it’s a valuable workplace skill, there are bound to be others within your business who want to learn it too. Bottom up efforts like these can be an important part of your employee training and development program.

Mentoring and coaching

Mentoring and coaching programs can provide employees with specific, guided, hands-on tutelage. 

This can grow their skills faster because it’s concentrated on what they need, rather than the more generalized approach group programs must take so that they can cater to as many people as possible.

Work trips

A change of scenery is good for creativity and happiness. It can break someone out of a funk and help them solve a problem that’s been bugging them for weeks. 

Work trips and conferences allow employees to fully immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the event.

It opens up new conversations, generating ideas employees never would’ve come up with otherwise. 

Volunteer days

Doing something vaguely related—or completely unrelated—to your job can be surprisingly good for deep thinking. I often get content ideas while exercising, for example, but I rarely write about actual exercise. 

You could join the ranks of businesses who give their employees time each year to work with a good cause. This could be a local school, a food bank, or something else. 

This will reflect well on you as a business, boost employee morale, and can improve skills like teamwork, leadership, and communication—all vital skills in any workplace. Paid volunteering is an opportunity to do well by doing good, and can do wonders from an employee training and development standpoint.

Conclusion 

Everyone learns in different ways. To get the most out of your team members, you want to find employee training and development strategies that equip them to retain and act on their learnings.

You can do this by simply asking them what they’d like the most. They’ll feel like their opinions and differences are valued, and something you’re willing to take into account.

Getting employee training and development right isn’t just about putting programs in place, though. You also have to make it easy for team members to get involved, and track the effectiveness of your initiatives over time. This can be tough if your employee training and development efforts are spread across a variety of platforms and systems.

Luckily, Workrowd can help. With a central hub for all your employee groups, programs, and events, team members can join in with just one click, and real-time analytics make it easy to track your impact. If you’d like to explore how our user-friendly tool suite can support your employee training and development efforts, send us a note at hello@workrowd.com. We’d love to accelerate learning outcomes for your team in 2023.

The transition to remote and hybrid work created an array of new concerns around employee productivity. Employer responses varied, from installing surveillance software to reimagining incentives, all focused on increasing productivity in the workplace.

How your organization responded says a lot about your company culture and the employee experience you provide. Similarly, the tools you give (or don’t give) employees can make or break that experience and deeply impact productivity.

In this post, I’ve put together a list of 9 tools that will help you provide a better employee experience while increasing productivity in the workplace. It includes both software and hardware, as well as best practices to ensure you can maximize their value.

Some of these tools will be better suited to employees with specific health needs. Most though, can benefit everyone when it comes to increasing productivity in the workplace.

E-Ink tablet

E-Ink tablets are really good for people like me who like to write things such as their to-do list by hand, prefer to draw things, or find they come up with better ideas when they’re writing by hand. 

If employees are conscious of wasting paper, or things getting lost, this is the perfect solution. 

It can sync with phones or laptops, meaning it’s easy to switch between devices, send files to colleagues, and jot down ideas on the go. 

Plus, there are a lot of templates out there for things like to-do lists, general notebooks, budget planners, and more.

Dictation software

RSI is a common injury among those of us who work at a desk all day. Dictation software allows employees to keep working without worrying about doing further damage to their muscles or joints.

Dictation software can be used to write documents, navigate devices, send emails, browse the internet, or complete other tasks they may need to do as part of their role. 

Ultimately, it’s great for increasing employee productivity in the workplace at little additional cost. As an added bonus, it also reduces sick days from RSI.

Task and project trackers

Tools like Kanban boards, or other ways of tracking tasks can be incredibly useful both on an individual and a team basis. 

If you’re not already using one of these tools, I’d highly recommend them. They allow you to visualize exactly what’s happening and when. 

You can also set priorities and everyone on the team can see everything at a glance. This makes it easier for people to keep track of what they have to do and by what date.

You could track progress on a Trello board, TickTick, or even a physical tracker on a flip chart or whiteboard.

Video call software

Whether you’re a Mac or PC user, the right video call software is essential for a remote or hybrid team. 

For remote teams, this will be one of the main ways they communicate. Obviously then, you want something that’s easy for people to use and that is compatible with their devices. 

Ergonomic mouse and keyboard

In a previous role, I got RSI in my right wrist a lot. When I switched the type of mouse I used, the pain vanished. 

It’s all about how your wrist is comfortable sitting and what you’re most comfortable using. 

There are lots of different solutions available. For instance, keyboards that are flat to the desk, padded wrist supports, or keyboards split in two to mimic how our hands should naturally sit.

Sit/stand desk

We’ve all heard the stats about how sitting at a desk all day is bad for us. But how many of us do it anyway? 

A sit/stand desk gives us the option to adjust how we sit or stand when we’re at work. 

Standing when we’re working helps with blood flow around the body. This means we can be more creative, come up with better ideas during meetings, and be more engaged with what we’re doing.

That doesn’t even include the physical benefits of standing for a little while, like improved posture and better cardiovascular health. Of course, better overall health is also great for increasing productivity in the workplace.

Timer

It’s all too easy for meetings to run over, or for us to forget to take breaks because we’re really getting into what we’re doing. 

However, ensuring meetings stay on time, and taking breaks regularly, is good for physical and mental health. 

Having a timer—whether it’s built into a phone or laptop, or a separate one—ensures everyone stays on track. It may even be a novelty cooking timer if you want to make people smile! It helps prevent meetings from running into things like lunch breaks or the end of the day. 

Workrowd

Workrowd helps your team stay on task by organizing your employees’ extracurriculars separate from their work notifications. That way, they can focus on their projects, and engage with all your great employee groups, programs, and events when it makes sense for them. 

No one wants to rush to check a chat message from a colleague only to discover it’s a reminder about a free company yoga class. Or sort through a tangle of work emails to see when the next leadership development session is being held.

Instead, they can simply visit their Workrowd dashboard to learn about upcoming events and opportunities. It’s sort of like stepping into a digital break room and checking out the bulletin board.

Plus, they get to meet their colleagues from different departments, learn new skills, and take part in activities that may be unrelated to their day job but that form the basis of a great employee experience.

Connecting with different employee groups can make them feel like they belong in their role. They also may find or learn a new skill or rediscover an old one. 

Workrowd is one easy tool that equips you with multiple ways of increasing productivity in the workplace.

Training on how to make the most of things

It’s all very well and good providing these tools, but employees also need to know how to use them and get the most out of them. 

Sometimes, if we have to figure things out ourselves, we may only learn the basics. It’s hard to find time to really learn how to do everything.

Investing in an hour’s training that shows users how to get the most out of their new tool can make a huge difference. It can take someone from a basic user who doesn’t really feel like they understand the tool, to a power user who is excited to use it.

When employees feel empowered to make the most of every tool in their toolkit, it can go a long way towards increasing productivity in the workplace.

Conclusion

Simple tools can make a huge difference to employee productivity, wellness, and engagement.

They don’t have to be super expensive. They just have to improve employees’ quality of life at work, allowing them to do things faster and easier in a way that makes sense for them and fits their role.

If you’re interested in exploring more opportunities for increasing productivity in the workplace, give us a visit or send a note to hello@workrowd.com. We’d love to chat about how our customizable tool suite can help with increasing productivity in the workplace without resorting to spyware or surveillance.

Instead of setting out some basic social media guidelines for employees, many businesses’ policies consist of “don’t post on social media, the end.”

Unfortunately, this type of policy demonstrates several things:

• A lack of understanding about how social media works
• Potential mistrust of employees
• Naivety about how employees use social media

The fact is, most employees are going to be on social media during their working hours at some point.

Whether that’s reading an influencer’s post on LinkedIn, scrolling through TikTok while they wait for their laptop to update, or chatting with their bestie on Facebook.

You can no longer stop—or deny—the reach of social media.

Pretending that employees don’t talk about work on it is also pretty naïve.

Social media is a ubiquitous part of our lives. Even if you’re not a fan of it, at least some of your employees will be. So why not use that to your advantage?

Let’s explore how developing social media guidelines for employees, and encouraging them to post, can help with talent acquisition and retention.

It reflects an open culture

Many businesses say that they have an open and transparent culture to the outside world. In reality though, it’s the opposite.

When companies allow employees to post about work on social media, it shows the company trusts them. 

You can’t vet everything employees post, which means you have to focus on two things: education and trust.

An interactive quiz, complete with examples, is a really good way to train employees on the types of posts that get engagement, and how to reflect company values on social media.

The average person trusts employees much more than brand accounts or even your company experts. If they’re on social media praising you, it will attract potential candidates who want to be part of that, too. Putting some simple social media guidelines for employees in place can help bring in more star players.

Employees get to learn new skills

Training employees in new skills—such as using social media to build their brand, network with peers, and research their industry—can help disconnected employees reconnect with their role.

It also shows them that you’re invested in their future career by upskilling them.

Employees can build their personal brands

Employees building their personal brands helps business. A post on an employees’ LinkedIn profile has 500% more reach than the same post on a branded account.

So, while you may feel uncomfortable allowing employees to post on social media, failing to give them that option means that you’re missing out on some massive reach. Is your fear really worth slowing your business growth?

There’s really no downside to encouraging employees to build their personal brands. They’ll feel supported in their roles, meaning they’ll want to stay to continue to grow those skills and their careers.

And if they ever decide to leave, they’ll have stories about how you helped them build their career. This will then attract more candidates to future roles. Creating social media guidelines for employees empowers them to grow their brands in a positive direction.

It helps to change people’s ways of thinking

Establishing an employee advocacy or social selling program requires an open culture. It also requires behavior change. You must do this first, before the policy is introduced, or you’ll end up with setbacks.

Changing people’s ways of thinking to become more open, honest, and active on social media for work takes time. But it’s this type of culture that will help you attract—and retain—the best employees.

People want to work for more than just money nowadays. They want to feel like they’re making a difference in the world. Setting social media guidelines for employees that encourage them to share their experiences and opinions shows the outside world that you’re a values-driven business.

It builds employee loyalty

When you show employees that you really do care about their career progression, they’re more likely to feel loyal and want to stay.

You can show off real diversity, equity, and inclusion

As I mentioned earlier, people will trust your employees more than anyone else. Which means when they talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, outsiders are more likely to believe them.

When brands talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion too often, it feels like lip service or a box-ticking exercise.

But when people see employees posting about how their employer has supported them through health issues, sponsored their career growth, or encouraged them to try something new, it shows that you really do care.

If you post a testimonial through a brand account, it may seem trite. But when an employee posts it on their personal profile, people are much more likely to believe what they see.

Candidates know what to expect

When people see your employees posting about work on social media, they get a feel for whether it’s the type of company they’d like to work for. This can then mean that when a new role opens, they’re coming in with a higher degree of awareness. This will reduce your time to hire and the likelihood that they’ll leave in the short-term.

Conclusion 

When employees become your advocates on social media, outsiders can see what a great place your company is to work. This can build a pipeline of warm leads who are eager to come on board when a job opens up.

Investing in skills that can help employees grow their network, research techniques, and brand, also helps you to retain employees. They’ll feel excited to learn new skills that can help them in their roles and along their future career paths.

First, though, you need to start with an open culture. Employees need to know you trust them enough to post things in their own voice. That requires some change management.

It’s worth it, though. The more you allow employees to post on social media, the more your culture will shine through, and the more potential candidates you’ll have to choose from. Setting some social media guidelines for employees can mean the difference between attracting and repelling top talent.

If you’re looking to build a positive and open culture based on trust, a platform like Workrowd can help. With tools to launch events, groups, and programs employees love, you can foster real relationships and create great experiences. If you’re ready to future-proof your culture and drive recruitment and retention, drop by our site or send us an email at hello@workrowd.com. We’d love to learn more about your goals and explore opportunities to help you achieve them.

Creativity and innovation in the workplace are key to the success of any business. They’re also key to employee happiness and motivation. After all, who doesn’t love feeling creative?

The more employees feel like they can be creative, the more likely they are to keep being creative. Ideas only grow when they’re allowed to. 

The more an organization encourages groupthink, the less employees will bother suggesting new things. Over time, their creative muscles will deteriorate and they’ll find it much harder to be creative in any context.

To prevent that from happening, here are some tips to encourage creativity and innovation in the workplace.

Consider every idea

When you have an idea but don’t speak it or write it down, it acts like a plug, preventing other ideas from coming through. 

Dismissing it mentally isn’t always enough because your brain will still be thinking about it (consciously or subconsciously) and trying to find a way to make it work. 

It may not be a ground-breaking idea, but it may lead to something that is. You don’t know unless you try.

Encouraging employees to adopt this mindset is a great way to foster creativity and innovation in the workplace.

People dismissed many big technological advances, from computer mice to smartphones and tablets, as too “out there” or something nobody would use. And look at them now! 

Sometimes those “out there” ideas are just what you need to take things to the next level. If you dismiss them before an idea has had a chance to mature or even be vocalized, you’ll never know.

Break up the routine

When you do the same thing day in and day out, you start to run on autopilot. It’s therefore important that you find ways to break up employees’ routines and make things more interesting for them. This jolts the brain into action and can help with everything from mood to productivity to engagement. It’s also a great way to encourage creativity and innovation in the workplace

Ways you could do this include: changing where the team catch-up meeting is held (even if that’s on Zoom instead of Teams, the different software still makes the brain work harder initially); combining office-based and remote working; or even encouraging remote employees to work from a café once per week. Whatever will give them a change of scenery, and therefore a change of headspace.

Go for a walking meeting

Walking meetings are great for creativity and innovation in the workplace because exercise helps our brains solve problems.

I’ve had some of my best ideas during workouts when I wasn’t even trying to solve the problem in question. It ticked away in the back of my mind anyway, and the solution appeared without me stressing myself out over it.

We’re all so connected now that there’s no reason walking meetings can’t be done over the phone or even over video. You could try on the treadmill if you really wanted to, just maybe not in the gym where you’ll disturb your fellow exercisers.

Get moving

If you wanted to, you could take things a step further. Don’t just encourage walking meetings, encourage exercise. The fun kind, not the high school-flashbacks kind.

There’s a type of exercise out there for everyone, whether that’s chair yoga, boxing, rock climbing, or something else. Giving employees access to a variety of exercises, and explaining the physical and mental health benefits, will make it more inclusive and encourage employees to try different things.

For instance, did you know that one aerobic exercise session can boost our focus for several hours after?

You could even start meetings with a simple stretch to help with tense back and shoulder muscles that often come from sitting at a desk all day. It can be surprising how amazing that feels.

Leave comfort zones behind

Comfort zones, if we stay in them too long, become prisons. They make life boring, diminish our confidence, and make it harder to innovate.

Confidence only grows when we challenge ourselves to do something new or different. That’s also where true creativity and innovation lie.

Maybe it’s time for someone who’s camera shy to try a live stream, or for a quiet employee to lead a meeting. 

If that’s too much of a leap, start with training programs that can teach employees the skills they need to tackle these challenges head on, and continue to grow those skills when they go out and perform them in the real world.

Give employees thinking time

Some people don’t think well on the spot. If you put a new idea in front of an employee and ask them “What do you think?” their mind may well be filled with tumbleweeds. 

I’ve been there and it’s neither fun nor comfortable, and you come out not feeling very good about yourself.

Then, an hour later, you have a great idea. But decisions have already been made and everyone has moved on.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Sending out agendas and big ideas you want feedback on prior to a meeting can give employees time to weigh up the features of the idea and ruminate on them. 

It doesn’t have to be days or weeks in advance. Sometimes a few hours are enough. 

But putting employees on the spot and asking for feedback isn’t always helpful, especially in a large group setting. 

If this regularly happens for employees who need thinking time, it will make them more self-conscious and even less likely to speak up.

Conclusion 

To build creativity and innovation in the workplace, you need novelty. Our brains love it. I don’t mean novelty as in a pen with an octopus on the top, or a cute stuffed animal. I’m talking about new and different things.

Breaking up our day-to-day lives—whether that’s taking a different route when you go for a walk, or trying a new food—makes our brains work harder. 

The more often we challenge our brains, the stronger and more capable they get.

We can then come up with better ideas, think more clearly, and find solutions faster.

If you’re interested in driving more creativity and innovation in the workplace, Workrowd can help. By providing employees a dedicated digital gathering space and supporting efforts like hackathons, intrapreneurship groups, and more, our platform makes it easy to ensure you never lose your competitive edge. Visit our site to learn more or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

Amidst endless Zoom calls, it’s easy to find your mind wandering to thoughts of how to have better meetings. A study by the University of North Carolina discovered that 71% of managers find meetings to be a waste of time. 65% believe meetings prevent them from finishing their work, and 61% said meetings keep them from deep thinking.

And yet, meetings are an unavoidable part of the working world.

They’re seen as an important element of business, but these stats show that they may not be as necessary as some of us might think. There may just be less stressful or less mentally draining ways of updating people. Slack, Teams, Workrowd, emails, or even a quick recording, maybe?

Let’s take a look at some simple tips for how to have better meetings, including ways to make them both shorter and fewer.

Don’t have meetings for the sake of having meetings

Some people really love meetings. Instead of sending a quick email or message, they’ll schedule a meeting to share something that only takes one sentence to explain.

This isn’t an effective use of anyone’s time. It disrupts the attendees’ days, leaving them with less time for their actual jobs.

It can also be a source of anxiety for employees if they don’t know why you want to talk. They can feel stressed even if they have nothing to worry about.

Face-to-face meetings can help you to read other attendees, and also help teams to bond, but they’re not always necessary. Especially if you’re sharing news rather than having a discussion. 

If it’s something that doesn’t require a discussion, and it’s quicker to write an email or record a video, do that instead. Because you want to…

Respect other people’s time

Time and energy are finite resources. The longer a meeting goes on for, the more time and energy it drains.

For some people, it can take even more time and energy. They may need a break to recover before returning to their actual job.

Let’s not forget that meetings aren’t technically in most people’s job descriptions. They’re just an accepted part of the working day.

If it’s a spontaneous meeting, sprung on someone when they were in the middle of something, it can be even worse. They may struggle to get back into what they were doing even if they have a deadline looming.

If it isn’t important to everyone, does it need to be discussed now? Does everyone you’ve invited really need to attend?

It’s all too common for a meeting organizer to invite an employee simply because their boss wanted them there. But then that same boss asks the employee not to speak during the meeting. So, what’s the point in them attending?

Things like business updates can easily be shared with the rest of the company via email. 

The sender can then answer any questions over email as well, or during a much shorter call. This allows employees to digest the information in their own time, instead of when their employer tells them they should.

It also ensures that nobody’s day is broken up by unnecessary meetings. 

Being transparent doesn’t mean having to invite everyone to everything. You can still share information without eating into employees’ days. Being selective about when you actually need to meet is a key element of how to have better meetings.

Have a time and space for small talk

Sometimes, the start of a meeting—or even halfway through, when people start to lag—can get filled with discussions about the latest Netflix show or a book someone’s read. 

While this is a great way for teams to connect, it’s not a great use of people’s time. 

It can drag out the meeting, reducing how much time and energy attendees have left for the rest of their days.

When employees have somewhere to actually chat about these things—like a dedicated krowd in Workrowd, or a regular book club—they’re less likely to have conversations about this stuff during a meeting. The meeting is then more efficient, and teams still get to discuss the latest Netflix true crime documentary.

Stick to the agenda

It’s common for people to discuss an idea in a meeting, then for that idea to trigger another, completely separate idea. Which turns the whole session into a different discussion. Then another idea comes up. And another discussion takes shape. This drags out the meeting, completely changing its course and purpose.

If someone has a great idea that doesn’t directly affect the direction you’re going in, jot it down and save it for another meeting/conversation. 

Just because it’s a great idea, it doesn’t mean that it needs to be discussed in person. Some ideas are just as great when talked about via email or group chat.

And the more focused your meeting is, the more efficient it will be, too.

Send the agenda in advance

When people don’t know what’s going to be talked about in a meeting, it can be harder for them to know what to say when questions are raised or when their opinion is asked for. Not everyone thinks well on their feet. 

Sending out the meeting’s agenda in advance gives those who prefer to ruminate on ideas before sharing them the opportunity to think about things. You may then find you get more employees speaking up in meetings and better ideas as a result.

Notice when someone is taking over

There’s always someone who talks more than others during a meeting. It’s important that a different person is in control of the discussion, and can rein in anyone who’s doing this. 

Having one person not just in charge of the agenda, but of who speaks and when, will help quieter attendees feel more comfortable speaking because everyone will get equal time and space to share their thoughts. 

Sometimes the person speaking too much doesn’t have anything useful to share, is repeating themselves, taking credit for others’ ideas, or changing the direction of the meeting. This drags out the meeting and can make everyone else in attendance disengage out of frustration.

Just because someone doesn’t speak without encouragement, that doesn’t mean they don’t have ideas worth sharing. It may just mean that they’re uncomfortable speaking over the loudest person in the room.

Work toward a takeaway, even if it isn’t a resolution

Another key recommendation for how to have better meetings is to ensure that every meeting has a purpose. What problem are you trying to solve?

Even if you can’t work toward a solution, if you’ve narrowed things down, that’s a win.

Forcing everyone to keep going when they’re falling asleep over their coffee will drag out your meeting and make it harder to decide on anything. Nobody has ever made a great decision when they’re mentally exhausted.

Instead, it may be more effective to have several shorter meetings on the same topic, narrowing down ideas and discussion points each time. 

Having a short, set time to talk about something can lead to more creativity and room for discussion. The shorter time frame means there’s less time to waste on small talk or segues, and the set time gives employees the chance to plan and consider ideas before entering the room.

It also avoids any rushed decisions that come from the need to solve everything in one meeting.

If you’re looking for an easier way to keep employees connected, and to cut down on unnecessary meetings, drop us a line at hello@workrowd.com. Our one-stop platform streamlines the process of sharing information with employees, and ensures they have open lines of communication with peers for both work- and non-work-related discussions.

Did you know that more than 50% of Gen Z-ers aim to start their own business? As organizations strive to capture the next generation of talent, understanding their needs and training them to take on leadership and innovation roles will be key. Today we are covering intrapreneurship programs and how organizations can use them to gain a competitive edge.

What Is Intrapreneurship?

To begin this conversation, we first have to define what intrapreneurship is.

An intrapreneur is a leader who works within the confines of your organization to innovate instead of starting their own business. These employees will use company resources to brainstorm and create new products and services.

Organizations need intrapreneurs. Otherwise, companies can become stale or simply follow the lead of other companies in their industry. Innovative employees help companies think of interesting ideas to try.

Post-It® Notes as an Example of Intrapreneurship

If you want to understand the power of intrapreneurship, look no further than 3M’s Post-It® Notes brand. Post-It® Notes started as a collaboration between two 3M scientists: Dr. Spencer Silver and Art Fry.

Dr. Silver worked on finding new adhesives at 3M. The adhesive used in Post-It® Notes wasn’t what most people were looking for. For the most part, people wanted stronger adhesives. The adhesive that Dr. Silver discovered held a light bond that could be taken off without damaging what it stuck to.

Art Fry, another 3M scientist and member of a church choir, was growing frustrated. Before these sticky notes, he was writing on tiny scraps of paper in his church hymnal. Unfortunately, these paper scraps weren’t very helpful because they would fall out.

Art Fry began thinking that the adhesive Dr. Silver discovered could be used for bookmarks. With further testing of how these notes could be used to communicate, Post-It® Notes began to take shape.

Now, Post-It® Notes is a huge brand underneath the 3M umbrella, with tons of products being sold every day. However, this innovative product wouldn’t have been easily discovered without intrapreneurship because 3M’s focus wasn’t on products with light adhesive.

Best of all, innovative employees like Dr. Spencer Silver and Art Fry stayed with 3M until their respective retirements in the 1990s. Companies that don’t encourage innovation could see these employees feel underappreciated, leading to employee turnover and/or a toxic workplace.

5 Intrapreneurship Program Benefits

Now that we understand what intrapreneurship is, let’s dig into some of the benefits of a program like this when implemented at your organization.

Intrapreneurship Programs Help You Keep Your Best Talent In-House

Entrepreneurship is easier to pursue now than ever before. The playing field continues to be leveled with easy access to information online. As a result, the future generation cares about owning their own business and chasing their dreams.

Your organization has a ton of powerful minds and innovative thinkers. The next step in their career doesn’t have to be finding another company that values them or working for themselves.

Organization leaders know the struggles of running a business. Your company has built a ton of working relationships and resources. Sharing those resources with team members helps them feel valued and keeps them inside your organization.

Intrapreneurship Drives Creativity and Innovation at Work

Creativity and innovation are essential to creating unique and interesting products and services for your target market. On the other hand, stale thinking leads to feeling and looking obsolete to current and potential customers.

When you let employees innovate and create things that are interesting to them, you could create a product that your customers were looking for.

Again, let’s go back to the Post-It® Notes example. Once they finally got these products into people’s hands, it blew them away and created viral growth for the product. As a result, 3M customers were able to purchase something simple that made their lives easier.

Intrapreneurship Strengthens Employee Engagement

When employees work on something they are passionate about, employee engagement increases significantly.

As your organization strives to improve its relationship with workers, try to offer projects that excite your team.

Focus on creating a balance of innovation and projects that need to be worked on to keep up with industry standards.

Intrapreneurship Programs Can Be a Recruitment Booster

As you try to showcase your organization’s strengths, consider how you support your team.

Highlighting your organization’s intrapreneurship program can be a wonderful selling point for employees who are struggling to choose between being an employee and an entrepreneur.

Let potential employees know that you value innovative thinking. For example, you could:

• Show how employee feedback goes into each new product launch at your organization.
• Feature innovative employees in recruitment material.
• Create an employee referral program so that innovative employees can easily recruit their friends.

Intrapreneurship Can Bring in More Revenue for Your Organization

What was your personal introduction to the 3M brand? Most people would say Post-It® Notes was one of their first introductions to this company. From there, they probably checked out another 3M brand like Command™ or Scotch™. It all starts with being introduced to sticky notes.

Innovation within 3M introduced a flagship product that can lead to customers discovering other 3M-owned brands. Post-It® Notes made 3M more approachable to the average consumer.

If you are trying to bring in more money for your organization, give company employees a chance to innovate and research products that your audience will love. Your team members work with customers, listen to their concerns, and guide them through your products/services. If you are looking for a new product, your team is probably teeming with money-making ideas.

How to Make Intrapreneurship Work at Your Organization

So, how do you make intrapreneurship programs work within your organization? Here are a few tips:

• Get company buy-in. Everyone needs to be on board (especially company leaders).
• Set parameters on who gets the credit. Your intrapreneurship program won’t work if the organization takes sole ownership of the innovation without a nod to the employees. Set parameters around what happens if the innovation is successful.
• Give employees time. Innovative thinking takes time. Product development isn’t easy. So you might have to invest some time and money before the project takes off.

Conclusion

Innovation at work is key to the continued success of organizations. Being an industry follower will not lead to organizational growth. You have to be an industry leader and stand out with interesting ideas. Intrapreneurship programs help take companies to the next level.

Do you want to create an intrapreneurship program at your organization? You could easily run the community behind this program with Workrowd! Reach out to us at hello@workrowd.com to see if our product is right for your organization.

Employee-led learning has a lot of potential benefits; is your organization taking advantage of them? From catering to different learning styles to lowering the burden on human resources and learning and development departments, this alternate approach to the more traditional, top-down processes can revolutionize how your organization reaches its training goals. Why limit these benefits to just training, though? Employee-led learning can help with engagement, retention, and more, but how about empowering your team members to grow a wholly employee-led culture?

We’ve said it before, and we’ll definitely say it again: the transition to hybrid work represents an incredibly exciting opportunity to transform the way workplaces work for people. Rather than returning to ‘business as usual’, we can instead imagine a new way of doing that delivers a world-class employee experience to every worker, no matter where they’re based. Shifting more of our processes to be employee-led rather than top-down can help us get there, and quickly, too. In the following sections, we’ll outline what’s been demonstrated so far around the outcomes of employee-led learning, then discuss ways to encourage more employee-led efforts throughout your organization.

How employee-led learning can help you achieve your training goals

Way back in 2017, McKinsey estimated that 375 million workers (14% of the global workforce) would have to change their occupations or acquire new skills prior to 2030 due to advances in technology and automation. In the early, pre-pandemic days of 2020, they further reported that 87% of executives were already experiencing skills gaps or expected to within a few years. Unfortunately, at that time fewer than half of the respondents had a plan to address the problem, and the pandemic has only accelerated the issue.

During the pandemic, employees had to adapt to a lot of new changes virtually overnight. While some companies engaged in extensive training to ensure that everyone was up-to-speed, many employees had to self-train on a number of fronts. Although live walkthroughs can help, employees who had to use new software every day in order to complete job functions that previously occurred in person had to learn as they went along in most cases. Essentially, remote working has been hailed as “an overwhelming success for employers”, and much of the learning process was employee-led as workers retreated to their homes and sorted out the logistics on their own. We already know this can work, and with asynchronous working expected to become the norm post-pandemic, live, company-wide, in-person training is really no longer viable. That’s where employee-led learning comes in.

As a final point, the recruiting firm Hays surveyed 23,000 respondents and found that while many are certainly seeking specific knowledge and expertise, the top skills employers are looking for are soft skills. This was true as far back as 2018, though. When LinkedIn Learning published their 2018 Workplace Learning Trends Report, their findings showed that the most in-demand skills were leadership, communication, collaboration, and only then role-specific skills. Unsurprisingly, training for these soft skills was the most important focus for talent development efforts as well.

From the employee side, the data also showed that 68% of employees prefer to learn at work, 58% of them prefer to learn at their own pace, and 49% prefer to learn at the point of need. In other words, employees want to learn, and they want to be able to direct their own learning so that they can learn what they need when they need it. This makes sense given that 94% of employees say they would stay with an employer longer if the company invested in their career, but their main reason for not learning as much as they’d like is that they don’t have the time. Converting to an employee-led learning approach meets all of these employee needs and empowers team members to work on difficult topics like soft skills in an environment in which, and at a time when they feel comfortable.

How to integrate more employee-led initiatives into your post-pandemic workplace

Now that we’ve explored why employee-led learning makes sense, all that’s left is to find the right systems to enable it at your organization, right? That may be the best choice for you at this point however, why not consider taking things a step or two further? Why should learning have all the employee-led fun? Below, we’ve listed a handful of other ways you can integrate employee-led efforts into your employee experience.

• Employee resource groups/affinity networks. ERGs are one of the most obvious employee-led efforts you can integrate into your strategy. This employee-led approach dates all the way back to the 1960s, and can confer a wide array of benefits. ERGs are typically part of an organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, but affinity networks in general can be expanded to encompass many different employee needs and interests. By empowering employees to form groups around identities, interests, or needs that are important to them, you can deliver a more tailored employee experience that meets more employees’ needs without increasing your overhead. Employee-led communities can help better support working parents, assist with mental health needs, or just provide social and/or recreational opportunities with colleagues, so they can create a great deal of value across the organization.
• Innovation. Companies like Google understand that if you give your employees space to innovate, your organization will ultimately come out on top. Their ‘20-percent time’ policy, in which employees are allotted 20% of their workweek to focus on projects they believe will benefit Google, has spawned such advances as Google News, AdSense, and Gmail. Innovation is crucial to staying on the cutting edge of any industry, and if you’ve hired well, you likely have an untapped brain trust languishing amongst your employee ranks. Make the most of that resource! In addition to employee-led learning, employee-led innovation efforts can supercharge your company’s products and services and help you succeed in the long-term. If Google’s approach seems like too much to start off with, consider giving employees one day per month to work on bottom up innovation projects with their colleagues. Still too daunting? Even running hackathons once or twice per year for employee-led innovations can make a radical difference in whether your company remains a leader, or falls behind.
• Social impact. As we recently discussed on this blog, social impact is extremely important to employees, and even more so after the pandemic. Why should you invest time and money in top-down fundraising or service activities though, when many employees may not be interested in the cause you chose? Instead, empowering employee-led impact efforts can ensure higher levels of team buy-in alongside greater payoff in terms of engagement and retention as employees get to support organizations whose work they are truly passionate about. Plus, your company will benefit from a significantly stronger employer brand boost as employees post and talk about the great charity work they get to do as part of their jobs.
• COVID-19 safety. Returning to the office in whole or in part represents uncharted territory for every company. Why not involve your employees in your planning and execution to ensure your return is a success? Taking an employee-led approach to COVID-19 safety entails asking employees their opinions on when and how to return, integrating them into the work of deciding on processes and policies, and having volunteers ready to help out on the ground as employees come back on site. You’ll need employee buy-in to make this effort a success either way; you might as well involve them in all aspects of the process to lighten some of the burden on you.

Employee-led learning has been around for years, and it’s because it offers a flexible framework within which every team member is given the tools they need to succeed. As we envision a whole new world of work though, why wouldn’t we apply this intuitive framework to more initiatives such as diversity, equity, and inclusion; innovation; social impact; and more? It can be daunting to imagine putting more power in the hands of employees, but it can also be liberating as it frees you up to spend your time on more pressing matters. If you’re interested in exploring the employee-led approach but would like to start off with some guardrails, we invite you to check out Workrowd’s platform. We’ve got a central hub for all the initiatives employees can get involved in, but we’ve also included straightforward administrator settings and on-demand analytics so you can always monitor how things are going. If you’d like to learn more, drop us a line at hello@workrowd.com; we’d love to hear from you.

If you asked the average person, they would likely tell you that HR leaders and startup founders don’t have much in common. Startup founders are typically viewed as fast-moving risk-takers, while HR has long been perceived as highly risk-averse and resistant to change. In reality though, tech founders and People leaders have a lot more in common than it might appear at first glance. They both have to manage a large number of competing priorities at once, they both have to deal with rapidly changing objectives, and they both have to navigate all of this amidst a high degree of uncertainty.

One benefit startup founders have over HR leaders is that they typically have the final say as to what course of action the company will take, making it easier for them to make decisions quickly and remain agile. Just because some HR teams operate within the context of large companies with layers of bureaucracy though, doesn’t mean that they can’t take some of the principles of agile startup building and apply them to their own work. In support of more innovation in HR, we’ve summarized what HR can learn from startups (and vice versa!) below.

The value of agility, regardless of department or role

In the early aughts, agile software development came to the fore as a way to speed up processes and reduce time to market. It is grounded in the knowledge that every endeavor involves a high degree of uncertainty, and enables cross-functional teams to self-organize and self-manage in response to these ever-changing circumstances. It does not prioritize hierarchy or policies, but rather places the focus on responsiveness and progress towards the goal.

There has been a great deal of discussion in HR circles recently around the rigid focus on policy as a tool to solve problems. If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that in order to be effective in a variety of circumstances, more innovation in HR is needed and policies must be able to flex and adapt. This is just the arena in which agile processes are primed to succeed. Additionally, agile encourages involving the end user (for HR, the employee) in the development process both early and often. By talking to customers, developers can ensure they’re only building the features that users truly want and which will have the most impact towards enhancing the digital experience. This couldn’t be more important in context of supporting employees during a year that has involved so much upheaval. The need for agile processes and innovation in HR is urgent.

Startup maxims that HR should take to heart

HR has a pressing mandate as we continue to flounder under the crushing weight of the pandemic, and it is one that will only become more urgent as we eventually begin to emerge from under the threat of this scourge. People are struggling. HR is the department tasked with supporting them through that struggle, and it is not an easy job. Accordingly, and as we’re in entirely unfamiliar territory, HR would do well to think of themselves akin to a startup where teams must effectively ‘build the plane as they fly’. This has already been the case over the past 9+ months, and realistically, it should continue indefinitely. We’ve seen the future; there’s no room or reason to go back to ‘the way we’ve always done it’. It’s time to move forward without hesitation and drive more innovation in HR.

In support of that goal, we’ve assembled a brief list of startup maxims for HR leaders to begin mulling over as they work towards a more agile approach to their field and more innovation in HR:

• If you’re not embarrassed of your first product, you launched too late. This is perhaps the recommendation most at odds with how HR has historically operated. In the past, HR has typically given projects excessively long lead times in order to ensure that every ‘T’ is crossed and ‘I’ is dotted before rolling anything out to employees. For instance, most large companies’ digital transformation timelines were upwards of two years before lockdowns forced them to accelerate that to two weeks. Waiting to roll out initiatives until they’re ‘perfect’ just increases the likelihood that whatever you’re launching won’t meet employee needs. Get it out there earlier, get feedback, and iterate on it to actually make it perfect.
• Fail fast. Doing small tests of innovative solutions rather than undertaking giant, sweeping projects can help HR better serve the entire employee population more quickly. If you want to try a new innovation in HR but you’re not sure it will work, devise a small test with a limited subset of employees, and see what they think. If it doesn’t work, you will only have wasted a minimal amount of time and resources. If it does work though, you won’t have spent years wondering whether it might be useful with nothing to show for it, and instead will have an already completed pilot to justify moving forward with it.
• Your most unhappy customers are your biggest source of learning. HR has typically viewed troublesome employees as problems to be solved rather than opportunities to be seized. Maximize the impact of your employee surveys and particularly of your exit interviews to identify critical needs that aren’t being met. Turn dissatisfaction and disengagement around by jumping on every chance to learn and improve. Really begin to think of your employees as customers of your services and products, and make sure that every one of them would give your ‘company’ a 5-star review.

HR has had a lot to deal with this year, and many antiquated systems and approaches proved fallible in the face of the onslaught. Now is the time to take a page from the agile technology startup’s book and prioritize ‘user’ feedback; build responsive, cross-functional teams; and move quickly and innovatively. One way we’re doing that at Workrowd is with the upcoming launch of our Global ERG Network, a new community for ERGs, BRGs, and Diversity Councils to network and learn across the globe. Packed full of best-in-class resources, exclusive events, and on-demand analytics, you can learn more in our post here, on our page here, or at our upcoming webinar on 12/15. As always, you can also reach us directly at hello@workrowd.com.

Well, it’s finally election day here in the U.S. It’s certainly been a long road to get here, and no matter what the outcome, the next few days are likely to be pretty emotional for many employees. As our media outlets have grown increasingly sensationalistic, and the two parties more and more polarized and obstinate, the disagreement and animosity have spilled over and we’re now hearing of many tense political conversations at work. In an age when many companies claim to be focused on striving for inclusion, how do people’s party affiliations factor into the equation?

The old recommendation to never discuss politics or religion in ‘polite’ conversation has become untenable amidst a 24-hour news cycle that thrives off of these two supposedly taboo topics. Things have gotten so out of hand that it’s even impacting people’s health and wellbeing. As far back as September of 2019, a survey found that 40% of respondents felt that politics were a source of stress in their lives. Approximately 20% reported losing sleep over it, and roughly the same number noted that politics exacted an emotional toll on them. The numbers are undoubtedly higher now, on the day of the election, and after such extraordinary circumstances in the lead-up. How do you manage all of this as an employer?

Pros and cons of allowing political discussions in the workplace

The overwhelming advice to employees across the board is to simply avoid having political conversations at work at all. Many workers seem to agree. During the also extremely polarized 2016 election season, 79% of survey respondents noted that coworkers are the people they would be least likely to discuss politics with, beating out even neighbors and complete strangers. The logic behind this is difficult to dispute; many people don’t know their colleagues very well, and yet they have to see and collaborate with them every day. If they get into any particularly heated political conversations at work, it can impact both their prospects with that employer, as well as the general office environment due to the increased tension.

On the one hand, you run the risk of employees fighting to the point of not being able to work productively together, and potentially even coming to blows, while on the other hand, completely ignoring the fact that employees are stressed and anxious isn’t a stellar option either. By forbidding employees from expressing themselves or voicing their concerns, they have no choice but to bottle up their anxiety which leads to distraction and disengagement. While in many ways this conundrum requires choosing the lesser of two evils, there are some strategies you can pursue to find some middle ground.

Strategies for enabling healthy dialogue

There are a number of alternatives to stifling and ignoring people’s beliefs without inviting full-on battles into your office. While encouraging political conversations at work outright is likely inadvisable in efforts to prevent anyone from feeling offended and/or victimized, it’s important to at least acknowledge that a big national event is underway. Pretending it’s not happening isn’t going to lead to any sort of positive outcome. Consider the following steps to help support your employees through this charged time:

• Make it clear that the company understands that employees are under immense stress right now. As mentioned above, it’s important to lead with empathy during this time. The election is undoubtedly impacting your employees, so to pretend otherwise is simply tone-deaf. Ensure your managers are being mindful of the stress that their direct reports may be under, and acknowledge that they might not be at their best.
• Don’t ban political speech that otherwise complies with your larger behavioral requirements. Political conversations are going to come up; it’s simply a fact of the current day and age. Banning them and making them punishable simply makes employees feel like they can’t bring their whole selves to work, and sets unreasonable restrictions on employee interactions. Stress that your standard expectations of respect, professionalism, etc. remain in place, but don’t add to employees’ anxieties by threatening termination if they slip and mention something about this huge issue that is undoubtedly on their minds.
• Take a stand against hate as a company. The political rhetoric in this country has reached a fever pitch, but as a company you can still take a stand against hate and in favor of acceptance without it being political. Make sure your employees know you’ll support them no matter which candidate they choose, and offer them security during this highly unstable year.

As has long been the case, political discussions in the workplace are often better when just avoided, but you can still take steps to ensure your employees feel safe and supported. If you’re looking for ways to keep your employees connected during this decentralized time, consider checking out Workrowd. We’ve got solutions for diversity, equity, and inclusion, professional development, social impact, and more. You can reach us at hello@workrowd.com.