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Values That Lead To Quality Culture

Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational DesignLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain

 

Johnson & Johnson are the prime example of corporate cultures that boost success. With a focus on Wellness, Health and Performance, J&J clearly defines its ethical and business priorities while understanding how this approach impacts the bottom line.

To adapt to increasing competition, J&J had to implement changes in quality management. Through a well established culture within the workplace, the company is able to develop a team lead by a common objective, which is “to produce quality products that would explore the natural world and satisfy its three main business cornerstones, which include the investors, the customers and the staff.”

Companies Need to Start Long Term Planning With Their Contingent Workforce

Independent Contractors, Life at work, Temporary workersLeave a comment

Over the past several years there has been a shift in corporate America to utilize contingent workforce not only as a method to handle needs during peaks and troughs of demand, but rather as a method to manage their day to day operational needs.  Contingent labor has been trending to comprise up to 30% of the total workforce a corporation has these days and needs to be managed effectively just as all their human capital is.  Because contingent labor is now becoming a strategic resource for corporate execution, they must start managing, investing and planning around this workforce to retain long term value from their labor force.  Below are some suggestions on what to consider:

Reducing Employee Turnover

Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational DesignLeave a comment

“High employee turnover hurts a company’s bottom line. Experts estimate it costs upwards of twice an employee’s salary to find and train a replacement. And churn can damage morale among remaining employees.”

Wsj.com

 

By Alexandra Zatarain

 

Even in times of high unemployment, turnover rates can be high. Industries would expect to see lower rates, but the reality is surprising.

Employee Turnover: The Silent Killer Costs

Life at workLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain

 

Eventually good and bad employees come and go. No matter how great your company is, people will leave at some point. Employee turnover is inevitable, and it’s accompanied by costs due to the person leaving, the need for replacing the worker, training, productivity lost in the interim period, and other.

According to Lola Kakes of Effortless HR, there are two main groups into which the costs can be placed: hard costs and soft costs. The hard costs that can be easily identified are:

Figuring Out the Revolving Door: Employee Turnover

Job search, Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational DesignLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain

 

A turnover rate  is “the percentage of employees that a company must replace within a given time period”. Employee turnover is a HR concern, because it can come at a high cost for companies, especially in lower-paying jobs which tend to have the highest turnover rates.

When an employee leaves, either because of personal choice or for being fired or let go, the organization will have to perform various administrative tasks and maybe even incur in severance pay or other payments. And replacing the employee might require even more effort and monetary investment, especially in the present economic times in which the talent pool is so big and the amount of applicants can be overwhelming. Given the unemployment numbers and the number of people looking to change jobs to ones better compensated, companies have to incur in more activities to find the right hire. From advertising the open position, using a head hunter or staffing firm, carrying out interviews, and eventually training, the process can be expensive and exhausting.

Leveraging Social Networks for Reference Checks

Job search, Life at work, Organizational DesignLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain
 

Organizations can leverage their social network, which stems from its own workforce, in order to optimize its performance. Benefits can be seen in the organizational structure, in product innovation, production improvement, or individual employee performance.

Social networks can also “help an organization leverage the entire workforce to market new products, find new sales leads, or find top performers by using existing social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook.” This according to Yves Lermusi, founder of reference check company Checkster.

The Core of Affirmative Action

Diversity, Life at work, Organizational CultureLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain

 

“New research demonstrates that when affirmative action programs are used, the quality of the applicants increases.”

Curt Rice

VP Research & Development, University of Tromso

 

Employers make use of affirmative action policies to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. As the US Department of Labor states, “affirmative actions include training programs, outreach efforts, and other positive steps.” It can be understood as a management tool “designed to ensure equal employment opportunity.”

Chaos, Stability, and High Performance

Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational DesignLeave a comment
By Alexandra Zatarain
 

Achieving maximum productivity and consistency overtime requires a great effort from the organization as a whole. And the organization’s design is a crucial element that can shape and boost outstanding results. Because organizations, like systems, change constantly and must adapt themselves to the environment, it’s highly probable that its design will shift as well at least until the company finds a good fit for an extended period of time.

Paired with each stage of organizational growth will come a particular organizational design. It is this design that can help the company move ahead to the next growth stage; or rather it can hinder that possibility.

A Quality Culture with Six Core Values

Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational Design1 Comment
By Alexandra Zatarain

 

Values set a standard for behavior. We use values to understand and judge circumstances, as well as to decide what to do.

In an organization, leaders are held accountable for establishing the values and behaving consistent to them. Leaders must also analyze if the company’s procedures and activities hold up to the standards set by the organization’s values.

Values are an essential part of a company’s culture, and if the company wishes to reach high levels of productivity, its values must be fixed in the same direction.

The Musts in Employee Benefits

Life at work, Organizational Culture, Organizational Design1 Comment
 By Alexandra Zatarain

 

Even though benefits are commonly considered an “extra” incentive provided by the employer, there are actually some types of employee benefits that are mandated by law. These include: minimum wage, overtime, leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, unemployment, and workers compensation and disability. The rest are an option for employers to provide or not and the decision usually has to do with the company’s policies on employee wellness, retention, motivation, and their overall approach to their human capital.

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