Workforce - May/June 2018

workforce.com

May/June 2018

HR HOSTS 2018

Hilton’s people practices put the hotel chain in the Workforce 100.

Heidi Wallman, Canyon Ranch Corporate People Systems Director

Peace of mind isn’t reserved just for guests.

With an integrated HR solution from ADP, wellness spa Canyon Ranch streamlined data to understand the trends that informed a new, enlightened talent acquisition strategy.

In addition to a 20% improvement of new hire retention, the wellness spa resort discovered that nothing helps a company achieve peace of mind more than being in complete control of its talent needs.

To learn more about ADP talent solutions and how to unleash the potential of your employees, visit adp.com/talent.

ADP, the ADP logo and ADP A more human resource are registered trademarks of ADP, LLC. Copyright Š 2018 ADP, LLC.

Payroll | Talent | Perfect Fit

NOMINATIONS OPENING

AWARDS

Have an HR initiative or program that’s achieving results?

The annual Optimas Awards from Workforce magazine will help you recognize it.

Awards presented in 10 categories: u Benefits u Business Impact u Corporate Citizenship u Global Outlook u Innovation

u Managing Change u Partnership u Recruiting u Training u Vision

Nominations open April 20.

Visit Workforce.com/Optimas to apply. #OptimasAwards

From Our Editors

FROM PERSONNEL TO WORKFORCE

In the land of gourmet catered lunches, loungelike corporate HQs and limitless vacation time, it’s hard for a company to compete for talent. Hard but not impossible.

Look no further than this year’s Workforce 100, our annual list of the best companies for HR.You’ll see some of the stalwarts of the new economy — Apple, Google and Netflix — as well as talent-centric firms like Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey & Co. and KPMG. But you’ll also spot sandwich-slingers Chick-fil-a and In-N-Out Burger and quirky grocer Trader Joe’s.Their presence proves that good HR doesn’t depend on being on the technology vanguard or offering perks that grab headlines.

It’s about something more fundamental. Caring about your people and making their success a priority every day.

— Mike Prokopeak, Editor in Chief 4

Workƒorce | w o r k f o r c e . c o m

The workplace has changed a lot since 1922. That year The Journal of Personnel Research debuted, rebranded later as Personnel Journal and finally Workforce. Now in our 96th year, we take a look back at what was on the minds of past generations of people managers.

‘Reskilling’ in the Great Depression, JUNE 1935 The Great Depression’s effects on the working population were far-reaching but the lack of available work made some people unhireable even when jobs did return, wrote W.H. Lange in “Regaining Lost Skill,” in the June 1935 issue of Personnel Journal. Often, vacancies required work experience within the past five years, which was impossible for many people.

“The loss of opportunity to use their skill possessed in earlier years has led to a loss of the skill itself and has forced many to forget their former occupations,” Lange wrote.

Reemployment was also tricky. Even when someone did get their job back, they showed signs of “nervous tension,” for fear of not qualifying for a job.They may “have suffered severe mental shocks which must be overcome.” Also, they might have a serious physical health problem due to malnutrition common during the Depression.

The June 1935 issue also featured a book review of “Controlling Depressions” by Paul H. Douglas, who argued against a common idea people held at the time that the Depression would cure itself. Recovery is not inevitable, he said. Rather, it depends on society taking action.

There also was a summary of the benefits of a six-hour work day. Many benefits were business-related, like elimination of certain meal periods and cafeteria expenses, decreased overhead and increased daily production for the factory.Workers also had more time to “play tennis, ball [or] go swimming and motoring.”

— Andie Burjek

Introducing the Personnel Man,

JANUARY 1957

Today’s numbers tell us that women dominate the human resources profession by roughly a 70-30 split.

Some 60 years ago that wasn’t necessarily the case. In the January 1957 issue of Personnel Journal, the lead story addressed its target reader: the personnel man.Yep,“New Management Thinking Lifts Personnel Man’s Status” not only gave the pre-HR practitioner a gender-bending pep talk, it was also an early push for the proverbial seat at the table.

Chief of Personnel Services Frank J. Householder Jr. wrote,“The place a personnel man holds in his organization is a reflection of his own stature.The job can be a tremendously big one with a big man in it and a pitifully small one with a small man.” You go, big personnel man!

The issue also addressed “Older Workers Are People Too,”“Why Men and Women Get Fired” (immorality and disloyalty, the author notes) and employee engagement. Paul A. Brinker of the University of Oklahoma wrote in “Morale Among Professional Workers: A Case Study” that “Dissatisfaction in about one-third of low-morale offices could be attributed to middle management” and that “Good middle management also contributed in some instances to fine morale.”Workers don’t leave jobs… .

— Rick Bell m ay / j u n e

2018

We Know People Hogan pioneered the use of personality testing to predict job performance more than three decades ago. In the years since, our research has set the global standard, ensuring that our products and services are second to none. There simply is no more reliable and useful source than Hogan for excellence in employee selection, development and leadership practices.

Learn more at hoganassessments.com

A PUBLICATION OF May/June 2018 | Volume 97, Issue 3 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH AND John R. Taggart ADVISORY SERVICES jrtag@workforce.com Sarah Kimmel PRESIDENT skimmel@workforce.com Kevin A. Simpson RESEARCH MANAGER ksimpson@workforce.com Tim Harnett VICE PRESIDENT, tharnett@workforce.com GROUP PUBLISHER DATA SCIENTIST Clifford Capone Grey Litaker ccapone@workforce.com glitaker@workforce.com VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH CONTENT EDITOR IN CHIEF SPECIALIST Mike Prokopeak Kristen Britt mikep@workforce.com kbritt@workforce.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA Rick Bell PRODUCER rbell@workforce.com Andrew Kennedy Lewis MANAGING EDITOR alewis@workforce.com Ashley St. John MEDIA & PRODUCTION astjohn@workforce.com MANAGER SENIOR EDITOR Ashley Flora Lauren Dixon aflora@workforce.com ldixon@workforce.com PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE EDITORS COORDINATOR Andie Burjek Nina Howard aburjek@workforce.com nhoward@workforce.com Ave Rio VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS ario@workforce.com Trey Smith COPY EDITOR tsmith@workforce.com Christopher Magnus EVENTS CONTENT EDITOR cmagnus@workforce.com Malaz Elsheikh EDITORIAL INTERNS melsheikh@workforce.com Aysha Ashley Househ EVENTS GRAPHIC ahouseh@workforce.com DESIGNER Tonya Harris Mariel Tishma lharris@workforce.com mtishma@workforce.com

WEBCAST MANAGER Alec O’Dell aodell@workforce.com BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski vince@workforce.com MARKETING DIRECTOR Greg Miller gmiller@workforce.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGERS Derek Graham dgraham@workforce.com Robert Stevens rstevens@workforce.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jennifer Benz Patrick J. Castle Kris Dunn Sarah Fister Gale Jon Hyman Anna S. Knight Patty Kujawa David Mendlewicz Rita Pyrillis Michelle V. Rafter Daniel Saeedi Rachel L. Schaller

Daniella Weinberg dweinberg@workforce.com DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Kevin Fields kfields@workforce.com DIRECTOR, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Cindy Cardinal ccardinal@workforce.com DIGITAL & AUDIENCE INSIGHTS MANAGER Lauren Lynch llynch@workforce.com DIGITAL COORDINATOR Mannat Mahtani mmahtani@workforce.com LIST MANAGER Mike Rovello hcmlistrentals@infogroup.com BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Melanie Lee mlee@workforce.com

WORKFORCE EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Arie Ball, Vice President, Sourcing and Talent Acquisition, Sodexo Angela Bailey, Associate Director and Chief Human Capital Officer, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Kris Dunn, Chief Human Resources Officer, Kinetix, and Founder, Fistful of Talent and HR Capitalist Curtis Gray, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, BAE Systems Jil Greene, Vice President, Human Resources and Community Relations, Harrah’s New Orleans Ted Hoff, Human Resources Vice President, Global Sales and Sales Incentives, IBM Tracy Kofski, Vice President, Compensation and Benefits, General Mills Jon Hyman, Partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis Jim McDermid, Vice President, Human Resources, Cardiac and Vascular Group, Medtronic Randall Moon, Vice President, International HR, Benefits and HRIS, Lowe’s Cos. Dan Satterthwaite, Head of Human Resources, DreamWorks Dave Ulrich, Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Workforce (ISSN 2331-2793) is published bi-monthly by MediaTec Publishing Inc., 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 1200, Chicago IL 60601. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Workforce, P.O. Box 8712 Lowell, MA 01853. Subscriptions are free to qualified professionals within the US and Canada.

Digital free subscriptions are available worldwide. Nonqualified paid subscriptions are available at the subscription price of $199 for 6 issues. All countries outside the US and Canada must be prepaid in US funds with an additional $33 postage surcharge. Single price copy is $29.99 Workforce and Workforce.com are the trademarks of MediaTec Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2017, MediaTec Publishing Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of material published in Workforce is forbidden without permission.

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FREE LIVE

ONLINE EVENTS

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER WORKFORCE 100: THE BEST HR HAS TO OFFER It’s the fifth year of our list that honors the best in HR. Hilton’s HR team is among them.

COVER PHOTO BY JOHN HARRINGTON

24 SECTOR REPORT

FEATURES

48 EAP PROVIDERS

24 THE WORKFORCE 100

50 REWARDS & RECOGNITION PROVIDERS

38 HR REBOOTS ITS ROOTS

Companies need to destigmatize employee assistance programs if they want employees to get help.

Customization, ease of use and lots of options make voluntary benefits an attractive recruiting tool.

8

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Find out which company topped the list in the fourth annual Workforce 100.

Where once HR eschewed personnel in pursuit of strategy, the pendulum may be swinging the other way.

44 THE FIRST-TIME MANAGER

A manager’s debut means previously unseen challenges.A daily outlook can help management newbies keep ahead. m ay / j u n e

2018

ON THE WEB SPEAK UP!

44

The Workforce online community provides you with virtual meeting places to chat about issues and trends affecting you and your workplace.

LIKE US: facebook.com/workforce.magazine

FOLLOW US: twitter.com/workforcenews

38

JOIN THE GROUP: workforce.com/LinkedIn

WATCH US: workforce.com/youtube

FOR YOUR BENEFIT COLUMNS 4

YOUR FORCE

Nothing wins talent like care for your people and their success.

14 WORK IN PROGRESS

Identify ambition and how it fits in your culture.

16 TRICKLE-DOWN BENEFITS

Money from the tax reform bill is beginning to find its way to some employee 401(k) plans.

17 WAR ON DRUGS

Mailing it in? Only when employers offer employees a fresh new way to fight the opioid crisis.

19 BENEFITS BEAT

Engagement is a shared goal by many benefits and HR leaders.

22 THE PRACTICAL EMPLOYER There is no such thing as reverse discrimination.

54 THE LAST WORD

Much can change in a decade or seven.

m ay / j u n e

2018

17 SPEAK UP

One health insurer is finding its voice when it comes to answering frequently asked coverage questions.

18 ON AN ISLAND

No doubt workplace loneliness is sad for employees but it is also proving to be bad for business.

TRENDING 10 FIGHT ON, P-TECH HIGH!

An IBM academic model helps students secure two-year degrees.

11 FROM THE WEB, PEOPLE MOVES AND BY THE NUMBERS

Ultimate podcast; Jones leads Munich RE; HR stats.

12 Q&A

Former Netflix HR executive Patty McCord’s new book.

12 NO ALIEN NATION

Clampdown dramatically drops number of refugee workers.

LEGAL 20 MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Employers face substantial jump in biometric privacy lawsuits.

21 LEGAL BRIEFINGS

Pay history; personal email.

w o r k f o r c e . c o m | Workƒorce

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TRENDING

P-TECH A LESSON IN CLOSING HIGH-TECH SKILLS GAP IBM’s academic model helps high schoolers secure two-year degrees.

By Sarah Fister Gale

W

hen Azzaria Douglas was just 16 years old, she secured an internship with the IBM Watson analytics department in Chicago, where she managed data and built websites. By 18, she had already completed a two-year applied science degree in web development and landed a full-time job offer with IBM. Douglas isn’t a prodigy. She’s one of thousands of students taking part in P-TECH, Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, across the country.

P-TECH is an accelerated curriculum that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math. The coursework is specifically designed to get high school students ready for the workplace faster so they can take on hard-to-fill midlevel tech jobs.“It was an amazing opportunity,” Douglas said. “It showed me the link between school and the workplace and helped me think about what I was going to do in the future.”

P-TECH was originally conceived by leaders at IBM in 2010 as a solution to the growing tech-skills gap in the marketplace.

Some reports estimate 500,000 tech jobs go unfilled each year, creating lost revenue for companies across many industries.

At the same time, they recognized that many high school students struggle to find a career path, or to secure funds to pursue a college education. “P-TECH Azzaria Douglas brings these two challenges together,” said Grace Suh, IBM’s director for corporate citizenship.

Suh noted that many of today’s midlevel tech jobs that are challenging for organizations to fill require a two-year college degree.The P-TECH schools help to create that talent pool in the community, she said.

Working in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the City University of New York at Armonk, New York-based IBM opened the first P-TECH school in Brooklyn in 2011 and eight more schools in other commu10

Workƒorce | w o r k f o r c e . c o m

nities where they have offices. They also extended their model to other companies, and many have stepped up. In seven years, more than 90 P-TECH schools have been launched with the support of more than 400 companies including SAP, Kaiser Permanente and Johns Hopkins University.“It was designed to be replicated,” Suh said.

While every school is unique, the model combines free public high school with free community college courses, allowing students to graduate in six years or less with an associate degree in an in-demand skill identified by the community.Though these schools offer more than just STEM courses, according to Suh, the entire program is built around preparing students for the workplace.

TEACHERS EXPLORE ISSUES AROUND LEADERSHIP AND WORKPLACE LIFE. After choosing an academic track linked to one of the offered degree programs, students are paired with a mentor who works for their corporate sponsor, receive opportunities for internships with that company and get to participate in hackathons, corporate field trips and other events.

“We tie everything that happens in the classroom to the real world,” said Karen Amaker, director of Norwalk Early College Academy, a P-TECH school in Connecticut that offers degrees in software engineering, mobile programming and web development. Daily coursework and class projects mimic workplace activities, and teachers explore issues around leadership, professional ethics and workplace life in their lectures. “By their fourth year they have the skills to be in the workplace,” Amaker said.

They also have the connections.When P-TECH students graduate they are first in line to apply for jobs with their spon-

P-TECH mentors and proteges in New York.

sor company and can rely on their mentor and internship experiences to land their first position. Douglas said that her internship manager recommended her for a role in another department, which helped her land the job. “She appreciated my work and reached out on my behalf,” Douglas said.

Join the Movement IBM hopes more companies will embrace the P-TECH model and offer a guidebook and support in getting started.

She noted that sponsoring a P-TECH school does not require significant financial investment because they are operated and funded as public schools. However, being a sponsor does require substantial commitment of time and expertise. Employers are expected to help map the curriculum to in-demand skills in the community, then once the school opens they need to provide mentors, internship opportunities, in-class speakers, classroom support and interview opportunities for new grads.

“It’s a huge source of pride for our employees to be a part of this,” Suh said.

It’s also appears to be a good business decision.While IBM conceived P-TECH as a corporate citizenship program it has always had a clear business purpose — create a pipeline of young candidates with in-demand technical skills who are ready to enter the workforce.

“It’s a purpose that a lot of other companies can get behind,” Suh said. m ay / j u n e

2018

TRENDING

FROM THE WEB RESPONDING TO #METOO HR has been maligned for its lack of unified response to sexual harassment in the workplace. However, stepped-up compliance and awareness training are just the beginning of efforts to show employees the industry is on their side in ongoing workplace sexual harassment claims. Still, when your HR team is a department of one, how do you handle it?

Workforce.com/MeToo THE ULTIMATE PODCAST Workforce Editorial Director Rick Bell reports from the Strauss Room at theWynn in Las Vegas where Ultimate Software hosted its Ultimate Connections conference this year. He spoke with Lauren Dixon dur ing a recent “Talent10x” podcast about conference keynote speakers, what makes a user conference successful, and the pay-on-demand movement.

Workforce.com/ UltimatePodcast AN ONBOARDING HOW-TO How-to HR, Workforce’s new monthly video series, takes a look at the do’s and don’ts of onboarding. An employee’s first day can be a disaster or a dream.Your onboarding program needs to be viewed as a process, not just a single event.

Include retention strategies and management support that goes beyond the initial first-day experience.

Workforce.com/ GetOnboard m ay / j u n e

2018

PEOPLE

moves

NERISSA E. MORRIS Cincinnati Children’s Hospital named Nerissa E. Morris as senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Her civic and professional affiliations have included board of directors positions with the American Red Cross of Greater Miami and the 30% Keys and the College & University Professional Association for Human Resources.

CHERYL JONES Munich Reinsurance America Inc. has named Cheryl Jones as head of human resources. In her new role, Jones will lead talent strategy, focusing on driving efficiency and enhancing employee engagement, retention and recruitment. Jones joined the company in 2014 after more than a decade in financial services HR roles.

IRIS DRAYTON-SPANN Washington, D.C., public broadcasting station WETA named Iris Drayton-Spann vice president of human resources and organizational development.

Drayton-Spann will head the hiring and HR development operations for the Greater Washington region’s public TV and radio broadcaster and national television producer.

Drayton-Spann will work with a workforce of 290 employees.

To be considered for People Moves, email a brief announcement and a high-resolution color photo to editors@workforce.com. Include People Moves in the subject line.

By By the the Numbers Numbers compiled by Rick Bell

The Humans in Human Resources

25%

By gender, by rank, by pay

Men

75%

Managing Up

Women

287,000 693,000 HR managers

HR workers

Source: U.S. Department of Labor/Boston Globe, 2017

Age Is Just a Number?

44.7

Growing Ranks

43.7

HR pros per 100 employees

The average age of HR managers

2017 2015 2013 2011 2009

Source: Data USA, 2015

Source: Bloomberg BNA HR Department Benchmarks and Analysis survey, 2017

The Pay’s the Thing

74 cents

What female HR managers earn on male HR managers’ dollar

1.4 1.1 1.3 1.1 1.0

HR managers median weekly earnings $1,737 $1,283

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016

$123,510 Annual mean pay, HR managers Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2017

Men of Influence

39%

workforce.com

Women among top 100 HR influencers

Source: Engagedly Top 100 Influencers of 2017

The Race Is On

HR managers, by ethnicity 5.7% Asian

11.8%

77.4% White

AfricanAmerican

Source: Data USA, 2015

| Workƒorce w o r k f o r c e . c o 10 m | Workƒorce

11

TRENDING

Clampdown Clips Refugee Hires

By Aysha Ashley Househ

STREAMING AN HONEST STORY OF HR

By Aysha Ashley Househ

A

Patty McCord, author

Patty McCord’s approach to HR culture inspires some and sparks irritation in others. Her co-creation of the Netflix culture deck, a key onboarding document for companies, still follows her around, which is why she thought it needed an “instruction manual.”That manual is her new book, “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility,” and focuses on how the culture at Netflix was formed. Workforce intern Aysha Ashley Househ spoke to McCord about the difficulties of applying unconventional changes.

Workforce: What was the most difficult thing about applying the unconventional changes to HR? Patty McCord: It happened gradually, and that’s the part that’s hard for me to explain. They think that either I woke up one morning, or Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, woke up one morning and went, let’s undo everything. That’s not how it worked. One of the first things that we did that was really important was we wrote stuff down. That was how the Netflix culture deck came about. We value honesty.

WF: What made you realize a change needed to be made?

McCord: It was when I started examining the why of what we did. If I said why do we do the annual performance review? Well, it’s to give people feedback on their performance. OK, does that mean constructive criticism, which is negative feedback — which nobody wants to give, or is it giving you feedback: Wow you’re doing a great job, keep doing that. It wouldn’t be very effective to do either only once a year; it’s too infrequent.

WF: One of your main points is to motivate people through a challenge instead of using incentives.

McCord: I started thinking about the bonus system. We were moving so fast that I honestly couldn’t come up with an annual bonus plan because I couldn’t figure out what needed to get done right at the end of the year, and I could be 50 percent wrong because we were inventing things as we went along. I spent my whole life around bonus plans. And I found that the time it took to write, communicate and administer them and to rejigger them was time that we could’ve been getting work done. If I said I want to fill the company with high-performing employees who are really talented and get great work done on time, then why do I have to bonus them for it? They’re already going to do it anyway.

WF: You mention that this is defying convention and it was scary to do that. What made you take that risk?

McCord: It worked. And it was the people I was surrounded by. They were taking risks all the time. They’re experimenting all the time. And that’s how we created a service that I’m sure you love. Because we kept taking risks and experimenting with it.

12

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s immigration issues swirl around businesses seeking to hire foreign talent, a new guide published by the Tent Foundation still touts the benefits of hiring refugees.

The “U.S. Employers’ Guide to Hiring Refugees” highlights the positive aspects businesses reap when hiring refugees. Diversity tops the list of what refugees bring to the workplace, according to Gideon Maltz, executive director of Tent Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with businesses to help them integrate refugee workers.

“A more diverse workforce fosters new ideas and innovations, which is necessary in our more competitive, global market,” Maltz said.

Finding those refugee workers poses a challenge, based on recent statistics.

A recent report in the San Diego Union-Tribune indicated the number of refugees entering San Diego has declined significantly following the Trump administration’s restriction on the refugee resettlement program. According to the Refugee Processing Center, as of February, San Diego has settled 40 refugees, compared to more than 1,100 the same time last year.

That reflects national numbers, too.

This year 6,708 refugees have been settled, compared to 32,448 last year, statistics show. According to its website, the Refugee Processing Center is operated by the U.S Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in Arlington,Virginia.

“Eighty-five percent of respondents say the U.S immigration program policies have impacted their ability to hire,” said Richard Burke, CEO of Envoy Global, an enterprise platform that works with companies to make the hiring and managing process of a global workforce easier.

The guide focuses on entry-level positions in industries such as manufacturing and service, according to Maltz. m ay / j u n e

2018

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13

TRENDING

GET AMBITIOUS IN YOUR HIRING

By Kris Dunn |

Wo r k i n P r o g r e s s

“D

issatisfaction is a symptom of ambition. It’s the 2. Behavioral characteristics. If you’re into assesscoal that fuels the fire.” ments, a good way to see ambition is to look for the — Trudy Campbell, “Mad Men” combination of high assertiveness and low team. High Ambition. As much as many of us are uncomfortable assertiveness means they’ll take action when needed, saying publicly that it’s a value/feeling/potential factor including to better themselves in a variety of circumwe want in our organization, ambition is needed in stances. Low team doesn’t mean bad teammate. It your company to get great results. means that a candidate is motivated for scoreboards, You know your high-ambition employees. They are rewards and recognition that reward individuals, not the ones that often do great things and occasionally teams. put tire tracks across the back 3. They are building a of some teammates in the portfolio of work. As they process. Are you better with have worked for you or othor without these people? And ers, high-ambition individuals if everyone is happy with are creating a book of citable their current status, who work and they’re pulling it tomoves the company forward? gether in a way that’s going to A few years back, I was doget them the next job or beting a classic “section 2” in performance management ter circumstances in their current job. at a previous company. As part of that exercise, we 4. High-ambition candidates are always netwere trying to change the traditional company values working. Look at a candidate’s LinkedIn profile and to rate people to “potential factors,” which are more you’ll see the marks of ambition. High-ambition indiactionable “DNA” strands your high achievers have re- viduals have more connections than others, are sharing gardless of position. content and have fully fleshed-out profiles.

As part of that exercise, we established 51 potential One problem that is universally related to direct refactors to whittle down to the five or six we would ports with high ambition levels is that they can beeventually live with. The ones you would expect most come hated by their peers. It’s simple to see why. The — innovative, communicator, etc. — were there. folks with ambition treat life like a scoreboard. Their Two members of the leadership team were adamant peers want to do good work but don’t have designs to about including ambition in that list. But as it turns rule the world. Friction ensues. out, the rest of the team couldn’t get past the fact that The key to control this in my experience is to conambition comes with negative perceptions. No matter front that reality with the high-ambition employee. how the two leadership team members came back to “You’re looking to do great things. You’re driven. You the positives associated with ambition, the others want to go places and you’re willing to compete with couldn’t get over the negative attributes. anyone to get there.” Start with that level set.

Fact is, you need ambitious people. You probably Then tell them they must get purposeful with recogdon’t have enough of them. nition of their peers.

To truly maximize the positive effects of ambition at If a high-ambition direct report starts a weekly, inforyour company, you’ve got to do two things: hire for mal pattern of recognition of their peers, a funny thing the trait and ensure the negative effects of the ambi- happens. They start to look human to those around tious FTEs don’t kill your culture. them. The gift of recognition makes them look less zero Here are four ways you can determine candidates sum, less cutthroat and more like one of the team. with ambition in their DNA: If you find all four ambition marks when recruiting, 1. Find young candidates who spend two years it’s likely you have a high-ambition candidate on your in a job, then jump to another company to get hands. Soften their edges via some direct and prescripthe equivalent of a promotion. If you see this in a tive coaching.

30-year-old, it’s likely they have some form of ambiAnd if you find high-ambition candidates but don’t tion. Note: I’m not talking about someone who simply want to hire them, send them my way. switches companies without a promotion. I’m talking about the clear path of changing companies to prog- Kris Dunn, the chief human resources officer at Kinetix, is a Workforce ress in their career via title, responsibilities and money. contributing editor. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

YOU NEED AMBITIOUS PEOPLE. YOU PROBABLY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH OF THEM.

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m ay / j u n e

2018

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15

FOR YOUR BENEFIT

Tax Reform Trickle Down Is Drip-Filling Employee 401(k) Plans Employers look to grow business, loyalty with compounding financial investments.

By Patty Kujawa

M

anagement at Advance Financial considered bumping the matching contribution to its 401(k) plan last August but didn’t have the money to do it.

Then in December, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 — also known as the tax reform law. The sweeping rule made the most significant changes to the tax code since 1986. Most notably for companies, it slashed the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. That increased many companies’ net income, allowing them to put that money to work for their businesses.

Advance Financial CEO Tina Hodges said that after the tax reform bill passed, the Nashville-based company circled back, ran the numbers again and realized they could raise the matching contribution. In January, the financial services company increased its Tina Hodges 401(k) match dollar for dollar up to 5 percent of pay from 3 percent for its 630 active participants.

Anecdotally, Hodges added that since the bump in the corporate match, participants have increased what they are putting into their accounts.

“Increasing contributions to our 401(k) plan is a longterm investment in our people,” Hodges said.

Overall, the financial windfall for all U.S. employees hasn’t been overwhelming, yet the number of organizations passing through financial perks is not insignificant, either.

Nearly 500 U.S. companies have said the new tax reform law has allowed them to invest in their workforces, restructure or make extra contributions to 401(k) plans, write bonus checks and give pay raises or other perks, according to the politically conservative taxpayer advocacy group Americans For Tax Reform. Meanwhile, nearly half of 333 large and midsize companies plan to boost employee benefits, total rewards and/or executive pay programs as a result of the law, a January survey by consulting firm Willis Towers Watson showed.

Two-thirds of the companies surveyed plan to make changes to benefit programs. The most popular changes include expanding personal financial planning, increasing 401(k) matching contributions and bumping or accelerating pension plan contributions.

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Many large, publicly traded companies including Visa Inc., Anthem Inc. and Hostess Brands LLC have announced changes to the 401(k), but smaller companies are making sizable changes to their benefit programs as well.

In addition to Advance Financial, Pilgrim Bank in Cohasset, Massachusetts, gave full-time non-officers a $1,000 bonus and part-time employees a $500 check to their 401(k)s in February. Twenty-six people qualified for the benefit, said Chris McCourt, treasurer and chief financial officer.

“We knew this was something, as a result of the tax reform bill, that we wanted to do,” McCourt said. “Putting money into the 401(k) gives a much greater impact to our employees.”

For smaller companies, it’s early in the game to decide what to do, if anything, said Kathleen Kelly, founder and managing partner of Compass Financial Partners LLC. To create awareness, Kelly said her firm wrote a tax reform update in its first quarter letter to clients. Because there is intense competition for talent right now, employers need to think about creating incentives to retain and attract high quality workers.

One client is analyzing whether it can make an additional contribution to its 401(k) plan, she noted.

“Our clients are very interested in learning what others are doing,” Kelly said. “There is a sense of optimism in the business community. We are seeing so many other companies take action that I think there is a sense of not wanting to be left behind.”

For many of the larger companies, sweetening benefits were already in the works, said Gregg Levinson, senior consultant at Willis Towers Watson. For months, there was not a lot of certainty about tax reform, but there was confidence with company performance and ability to make investments in workers, he added.

Companies interested in enhancing retirement benefits for workers first need to look at plan documents to determine what is allowed, Kelly said. Other ways to help workers without needing to change plan documents include adding financial wellness programs or calculators.

“Our clients seem more open to spending in this area,” in the short term, Kelly said.

Giving employees a flat dollar bonus can be riskier than adding cash to 401(k) accounts, which may be a better way to reward loyal employees, Kelly observed. After a check is cashed, workers can take the money and quit; with the 401(k), vesting schedules, tax penalties or other terms might make it just hard enough for workers to have to wait to access the cash.

“This is an opportunity to put employees on a stronger financial ground for retirement,” Kelly said. “Getting balances to grow and compound over time is very powerful.” m ay / j u n e

2018

FOR YOUR BENEFIT

Insurer Gets Vocal Over Health FAQs

Employees Asked to Mail It in to Fight Opioid Crisis

By Rita Pyrillis

By Andie Burjek

T

ech tools designed to turn employees into savvy health care shoppers are everywhere and can be accessed 24/7 from most devices, yet many consumers still struggle to understand basic health insurance terms.

In fact, 96 percent of consumers can’t explain what these terms mean, according to a 2016 survey by Policygenius, an online insurance broker.

While most people know what a premium is, most could not define copays, deductibles, coinsurance or out-of-pocket maximum, the survey of 2,000 consumers found.

“Employers are recognizing that technology hasn’t met their needs,” said Julie Stone, a benefits consultant at Willis Towers Watson. “They are looking for something different that will allow people to quickly interact with a digital hub.

Meeting people where they are is critical.”

Health insurance giant Cigna is convinced their new tech tool Ask Cigna will do just that.

It is an Amazon Alexa skill-designed to educate users by providing answers to more than 150 commonly asked health care questions, according to Rowena Track, vice president of digital marketing at Cigna. Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated service, which allows third parties to tap into Alexa’s voice controls to accomplish tasks or ask questions.

Ask Cigna users can query, “What is long term care?” “What is a deductible?” or “What is an ACO?” “But it’s important to note that the skill is much more than a glossary of terms,” Track said in a written statement. “We’ve built in user-tested intelligence into the skill, which helps us understand what other questions people will ask and be proactive in providing answers and recommendations. For example, if someone asks, ‘What’s an HSA?’ we know they’ll likely also be curious as to what an FSA is. So, the skill will ask them if they want to know what an FSA is. We also have connectivity, so we can send information back to the Alexa app.”

Consumers with a high level of health plan literacy make choices that can lead to better health outcomes and to greater satisfaction with their health plans compared to those with only a moderate level of literacy, according to a 2016 report

by Willis Towers Watson. m ay / j u n e

2018

W

ith the opioid epidemic costing employers upward of $18 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity, one company is offering a remedy to get excess drugs out of employees’ hands.

Safe disposal of the drugs could help as a preventive benefit to combat the opioid epidemic, according to Meg Moynihan, marketing program strategist at waste management company Stericycle Environmental Solutions.

“I think there’s increasing awareness on the corporate sector of the value of providing employees with safe and secure medication disposal,” she said. “It’s a logical counterpart to pharmacy benefits programs.”

In September 2014, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released new regulations for the disposal of pharmaceutical controlled substances, thus allowing authorized organizations such as Stericycle to collect the substances from people through a prepaid mail-back program.

A mail-back program offers advantages for employers, said Moynihan.They do not incur any liability or have to register with the DEA, and there are few barriers to entry.

It’s still relatively unusual in the employer setting because the DEA regulations are so recent, she added. Currently, Stericycle’s customer base for the envelopes primarily consists of retail pharmacies and several other types of retail customers like big-box stores and discount stores.

Anyone in the workplace, including HR managers, can purchase prepaid envelopes and distribute them to employees, who receive no financial or other incentives to participate.The plastic envelope can hold up to 8 ounces of medication, including liquids.

Even though people are encouraged to black out their names or other personal information on a label for privacy reasons, the envelopes are not opened unless there are extenuating circumstances, said Moynihan.

“There’s anonymity in the content and where they came from,” she said.

Although the program won’t stop addicted people from consuming the extra medication, it can help create a culture where people regularly clean out their medicine cabinet with a secure option to dispose of the drugs, she added.

There are also environmental benefits, Moynihan added. Certain opioid and non-opioid medication can pose environmental dangers if people dispose of them by throwing them in the trash or flushing them down the drain.

Employers play a vital role in the fight against opioid overdoses, said Maureen Vogel, spokeswoman for the National Safety Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes health and safety. There are many other preventive measures companies can take, she added.The council, for its part, created the Prescription Drug Employer Kit to give companies the tools and resources to address the opioid epidemic.

“Many employers are implementing comprehensive policies around opioid misuse, including employee education and supervisor training around how to spot the signs of potential misuse and where to go to get help,” she said. w o r k f o r c e . c o m | Workƒorce

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FOR YOUR BENEFIT

Workplace Loneliness Is Sad for People and Bad for Business Studies show connection between absenteeism, productivity and a sense of belonging.

By Rita Pyrillis

F

rom communication tech tools to open-floor office plans, employers are finding ways to encourage collaboration.

Yet loneliness in the United States is on the rise and that is proving detrimental to worker well-being and bad for business.

Nearly three-fourths of Americans experience loneliness, according to a 2016 Harris poll. For many it’s not an occasional occurrence but a persistent problem, with one-third saying that they feel lonely at least once a week, the survey found.

Those at the top are especially at risk for feeling socially disconnected, with half of CEOs reporting feelings of loneliness in their roles, according to a 2012 survey by RHR International, a leadership development firm. More than half of that group believe their performance suffers as a result.

Employees without close or supportive relationships at work are more likely to feel disconnected from their jobs and that can affect their performance, according to Darcy Gruttadaro, director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health.

The center is a program of the American Psychiatric Association.

“That’s the cost of loneliness and social disconnection,” Gruttadaro said. “There is a direct correlation between loneliness and productivity and absenteeism.”

The quality of an employee’s interpersonal relationships has a significant impact on how they perceive and connect with their workplace, according to research conducted by California State University and the Wharton School of Business.The 2012 report found that loneliness at work “triggers emotional withdrawal,” which affects not only the individual but co-workers as well, leading researchers to conclude that loneliness is an organizational problem not a personal one.

One way employers can address the problem is by measuring and tracking perceptions of inclusion and belonging, said Laura Hamill, chief people officer and managing director of the Limeade Institute, the research arm of HR technology and wellness company Limeade.

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The Bellevue, Washington-based company recently launched an online platform called Inclusion Plus, which surveys employees and uses the data to develop strategies to building a more inclusive workplace, according to Hamill.

“You have to feel like your voice matters in order to feel engaged,” she said. “Employers tend to think about how connected we are from a tech perspective, but that doesn’t mean that employees feel connected or included. We tend to think of inclusion in terms of diversity but once that person is hired, what happens in their day-to-day experience? Do they feel included or that their voice is being heard?”

The platform sends supervisors a list of recommended activities based on employee survey results, such as prompting managers to ask all their employees for project status updates so that everyone feels valued, Hamill said.

EMPLOYEES’ INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON HOW THEY PERCEIVE AND CONNECT WITH THEIR WORKPLACE. At Nielsen, the company tackles loneliness by promoting human connection through its wellness program, which is called The Whole You. “We’re partners, spouses, friends, neighbors, members of our community and it’s my mission to support all of them,” said Jackie Good, wellness manager for Nielsen Audio, a consumer research company based in Columbia, Maryland. “We want to embrace the idea that we see the person as an entire person and not just an employee. We were thoughtful in how we branded our wellness program to reflect that.”

Each of the company’s more than 100 locations host regular social gatherings for employees from painting parties and

picnics to community volunteer projects, such as dog walking at the local shelter or exercising with seniors at a retirement center, Good said.

“It’s important to foster social connection because it’s part of being human and it’s as important to our survival as food and water,” she said.

Nearly two decades ago, Gallup Press published a list of 12 elements of great managing. The most controversial finding revealed that having a best friend at work could improve job performance. A Gallup researcher noted at the time that leaders who balked at the idea of workplace friendships viewed close social ties between employees as “detrimental to productivity.”

But those views are changing, according to Gruttadaro.

“My sense is that employers are starting to pay attention to loneliness along with workplace mental health,” she said.

She recommends surveying employees to determine how socially connected they feel and examining how office design and alternative work arrangements, like telecommuting, can affect relationships.

“Loneliness can contribute to depression, which is a costly problem,” she said.

“It’s important to teach managers how to start a conversation with an employee who seems lonely.” m ay / j u n e

2018

FOR YOUR BENEFIT

ONE WORD FOR YOU: ENGAGEMENT

By Jennifer Benz |

A

Benefits Beat

high-tech company rolled out several new family benefits last year and wants its people to take advantage of them.

A university created new medical plans and successfully moved employees and their families into those plans during enrollment; now it needs those families to use the plans.

A professional services leader — traditionally quiet about the rich benefits it offers — has realized this is “just not the way things work anymore.”

I spent the first part of this year meeting with our clients — large, talent-focused organizations that make a big deal about their employee benefits. Regardless of the size and type of company, they all have one goal in common: engagement.

And many of them aren’t just thinking about this in the United States, but globally, too.

Engagement is a shared goal by many benefits and HR leaders. Those leaders frequently talk about two types of engagement, often i n t e rc h a n g e a bl y.

There’s what I like to call “Big E” engagement — or employee engagement.

The definition I like best for this is one I learned when I started my career: say/stay/strive. Do employees say good things about the company? Do they want to stay?

And, are they motivated to go above and beyond their job requirements?

But what’s top of mind for benefits leaders is a different form of engagement, a connection with the benefits programs themselves. Are people actually using the programs available to them? You can measure this type of engagement by looking at program enrollment, participation and plan balances. When people are engaged with their benefits, they appreciate them more.

And that helps build “Big E” engagement with their company. This form of engagement helps connect benefits to the employee value proposition. They become tangible and emotive reasons people feel cared about and connected to their organization.

My entire career has been focused on driving engagement with benefits. For too long, I’ve heard things like, “We don’t know how to engage employees,” or “Nothing we do will make a difference.” Or even worse, “No one has cracked the code on employee engagement.”

These statements couldn’t be further from the truth.

Just as we know how to build best practices for design-

ing HR programs, we’ve also developed best practices for driving engagement with benefits. During the past couple of years, in particular, I’ve worked with my team to codify the way to get employees to engage with benefits. We have documented them as our “10 Keys to Employee Engagement,” and they’re based on more than 11 years of research and client work.

The 10 steps go from foundational elements to how you manage resources. We recommend that every organization start with a strong foundation.You must have a strategy that includes clear goals, a recognizable and emotive brand, and a single destination for information and action — most often, a website that is built outside the firewall.

Then, you must take a marketing approach to communicating about benefits. That means using employee feedback, prioritizing simplicity in messaging, using a multichannel and year-round approach, targeting messages whenever possible and ensuring everything connects in the overall employee experience.

Finally, you need the right resources to support this effort. That means having both the budget to cover your year-round approach and the right partners (internal and external) to get it all done.

We have documented these steps fully in our new e-book series, which you can find on our website at benzcommunications.com.

Any organization that fully embraces these 10 steps will see results with their benefits.

I’ve been delighted to hear from our clients about the results of their efforts — the accolades they are receiving externally and the praise they are receiving internally. But what’s especially gratifying is the satisfaction they get from knowing employees are taking advantage of the programs designed to improve their health, wealth, and happiness.

As more companies share their successes, engagement will no longer be a mysterious or intangible goal, but something we diligently plan for, build and measure.

JUST AS WE’VE BUILT BEST PRACTICES FOR DESIGNING HR PROGRAMS, WE’VE ALSO DEVELOPED THEM FOR DRIVING ENGAGEMENT WITH BENEFITS.

m ay / j u n e

2018

Jennifer Benz is CEO and founder of Benz Communications, a San Francisco-based employee benefits communications agency.

She was honored as one of Workforce’s Game Changers in 2013.

To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

w o r k f o r c e . c o m | Workƒorce

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Legal Biometric Privacy Lawsuits Rising Asking employees to authenticate their time using similar technologies could have far-reaching legal implications for employers.

By Patrick J. Castle and Anna S. Knight

Y

ou can hardly pick up a smartphone these days without reading about — and experiencing — how biometric authentication technology is changing our lives and businesses.

Finger and facial recognition have become so commonplace that you might not think twice before asking your employees to authenticate their time using similar technologies, especially because traditional punchcard systems can be inefficient and vulnerable to fraud or abuse.

But a recent spike in litigation illustrates the legal risks to introducing biometric authentication devices and practices to your business. More than 50 companies are now defending class-action lawsuits under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, which provides rules for the disclosure, retention and protection of biometric data, and permits any person aggrieved by a violation to recover $1,000 for each negligent violation and $5,000 for each intentional violation.

Texas and Washington have passed similar laws, and New York has a labor law governing the collection of biometric information, but unlike BIPA they do not create an individual right to sue.

BIPA governs “biometric identifiers” and “biometric information.” Biometric identifier means “a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or scan of hand or face geometry.” Biometric information means “any information ... based on an individual’s biometric identifier used to identify an individual.”

To comply with BIPA, companies that collect or possess biometric identifiers or information must satisfy six statutory provisions.

1. Written policy. Companies must have a policy, “made available to the public,” that describes their retention schedule and guidelines for permanently destroying the biometric data it handles. Importantly, the policy must provide for the destruction of a person’s biometrics at the earlier of (a) when the company’s initial purpose for collecting that information has been satisfied; or (b) within three years of the person’s last interaction with the company.

2. Written notice. Companies must provide written notice to each person whose biometrics it handles, stating (a) that it is collecting/storing their biometrics; and (b) the specific purpose and length of term for the collection, storage and use.

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3. Written release. Companies must obtain a “written release” from each person whose biometrics will be handled.

4. Consent to disclose. Companies that disclose biometrics to third parties must, in most circumstances, obtain consent to do so.

5. Safeguard. Companies must store, transmit and protect the biometrics it handles in a manner that is both reasonable and commensurate with the protection it affords similarly confidential and sensitive information.

6. Do not use biometrics for profit. Companies must never sell, lease, trade or “otherwise profit from” the biometrics it handles.

Courts Interpreting BIPA Though BIPA was enacted in 2008, it was not the subject of litigation until the past few years, and the most dramatic uptick in filings occurred in late 2017. The majority of those actions involve the same basic factual situation: a current or former employee is suing because they scanned their finger to clock in and out of work.

But the most important BIPA case so far, decided Dec. 21, 2017, has a slightly different context. In Rosenbach v. Six Flags, the plaintiff, Stacy Rosenbach, sued Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and Great America LLC under BIPA for scanning her son’s fingerprints to m ay / j u n e

2018

verify his identity as a season pass holder. The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a plaintiff “must allege some actual harm” to sue under BIPA, adding that “[i]f a person alleges only a technical violation of [BIPA] without alleging any injury or adverse effect, then he or she is not aggrieved and may not recover[.]”

The Illinois Appellate Court’s ruling makes sense.

First, looking to BIPA’s language, only a “person aggrieved” is permitted to sue, strongly indicating that a plaintiff must allege an actual injury. Second, from a practical perspective, the vast majority of plaintiffs acknowledge voluntarily scanning their own fingers.

Even so, this decision is poised to have far-reaching implications, and it seems likely that the authoritative interpretation of “person aggrieved” will ultimately come from a future decision of the Illinois Supreme Court.

With all this in mind, what can you do to minimize the risk and expense that biometric privacy class actions pose to your business?

First, determine whether any biometric privacy laws apply to your business. This may require consulting with an attorney familiar with biometric privacy laws and professionals who understand your underlying technologies. Even if your business does not collect biometric data from Illinois,Washington, Texas or New York residents, consider whether it might in the future or whether similar laws may be adopted in applicable jurisdictions (Michigan and Connecticut are considering similar laws). Second, if biometric privacy laws apply, understand the requirements and get into compliance. Regardless of whether you have been sued, you will need to determine whether your existing policies and practices satisfy some or all of the biometric privacy legal requirements. For those policies and practices that are noncompliant, you will need to design and implement new ones. Finally, if you have been sued, then in addition to assessing and remediating compliance issues, your attorney will need to consider employing certain strategies inherent in these cases with the potential to reduce litigation costs and increase your chance of success.

The recent spate of BIPA lawsuits represents a coordinated effort by the plaintiff ’s bar to catch corporate legal departments off guard. Nevertheless, it is less likely an anomaly than a sign of things to come as biometric technologies continue to pervade our personal and business lives. Companies would do well to assess their technological and legal options and vulnerabilities now and to maintain vigilance over this emerging field in the future.

Patrick J. Castle is an attorney and Anna S. Knight is administrative managing partner with Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Chicago. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

m ay / j u n e

2018

Legal Legal Briefings ARE PAY HISTORY INQUIRIES … HISTORY? Prior salary and experience may not be a bias-free basis for wage disparities.

In Bowen v. Manheim Remarketing Inc., Qunesha Bowen sued her employer, Manheim Remarketing Inc. for pay discrimination in violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. Bowen worked for Manheim for three years before being promoted to arbitration manager. Her male predecessor in the same position was paid nearly 50 percent more than her in his first year. Bowen’s predecessor also had more relevant experience and a higher salary than Bowen prior to promotion. But even after six years of working as an effective arbitration manager, Bowen still earned only as much as her male predecessor did during his first year in that role.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that Bowen demonstrated a pay disparity between her and her male predecessor. Manheim attempted to defeat liability by showing it considered a “factor other than sex” when it relied on Bowen’s prior salary and experience to set her salary each year. However, the court held that after Bowen performed as an effective arbitration manager for many years, her prior salary and experience no longer seemed to justify treating her differently than her male predecessor. The 11th Circuit overturned the lower court’s finding that Manheim’s reasons for paying Bowen less than her male predecessor were nondiscriminatory, and remanded the claims for trial.

IMPACT: Many jurisdictions are adopting laws that prohibit employers from asking employees about prior salary, including California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Delaware, Puerto Rico, New York City, Philadelphia and New Orleans. Even outside of these jurisdictions, employers should be wary of consistently setting salaries based on compensation history.

NOSY EMPLOYERS AND PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS Lois Owen was an employee for Professional Consultants Inc. Owen occasionally would access her personal email account on her work computer.

After leaving PCI, Owen filed a discrimination complaint with a state agency, accusing PCI of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. During the discovery stage, Owen learned that PCI employees had accessed her AT&T account without her permission after she left PCI. Owen sued PCI for violation of the Federal Stored Communications Act, which prohibits the intentional unauthorized access of a plaintiff’s electronic communications stored at a third party facility. The court denied PCI’s motion to dismiss Owen’s SCA claim. The court rejected PCI’s argument that it had authorized access, merely because it owned Owen’s work computer. To the contrary, the court stated that Owen’s personal email account was private and could not be accessed by an employer without authorization. Owen v. Cigna, 188 F. Supp. 3d 790 (N.D. Ill. 2016) IMPACT: Employers should revisit their information technology protocol regarding the handling of employee computer systems and devices. And, employers (and their IT staff) should beware of letting curiosity get the best of them and refrain from logging into any employee’s personal accounts.

Rachel L. Schaller and Daniel Saeedi are attorneys at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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Legal

Reverse Discrimination? Nope Jon Hyman |

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The Practical Employer

orkplace diversity has two sides.

One side says that employers cannot discriminate against minorities. The other says that employers cannot discriminate against nonminorities in favor of minorities.

Some people call this reverse discrimination. I just call it discrimination.

For example, Title VII does not define “African-American” or “men” as protected classes; it merely says “race” and “sex.” Thus, if you discriminate against a white person in favor of an African-​ American, or against a man in favor of a woman, you’ve violated Title VII no differently than the converse.

There are a few exceptions to these general rules.

• Age: In 2004, in General Dynamics Land Systems v. Cline, the U.S. Supreme Court conclusively ended the debate over whether younger workers can challenge employment decisions favoring older workers. They cannot. According to the Court, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act is “a remedy for unfair preference based on relative youth, leaving complaints of the relatively young outside the statutory concern.”

• Disability: The Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect the nondisabled. Nothing prohibits an employer from granting preferences to the disabled. Indeed, to alleviate any possible confusion over this point, the ADA contains a specific clause that states that it does not protect those who claim discrimination because of a “lack of disability.”

• Religion: Because of the First Amendment’s protections of religious freedoms, religious employers are permitted to recognize a “ministerial exception” to Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination. Thus, a religious employer can apply a preference to fill positions that convey the Church’s message and carry out its mission.

• Bona Fide Occupational Qualification: If sex, religion, national origin or age is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a particular enterprise, and the job qualification at issue relates to the essence, or the central mission, of the employer’s business, then an employer may discriminate based on that protected class.

Most courts now agree that Title VII’s definition of “sex” inherently includes LGBT individuals. If, however, you are going to include “LGBT” in Title VII’s definition of “sex,” then, just as employers cannot discriminate against LGBT employees in favor of non-LGBT employees, employers also cannot reverse the equation.

In light of all of this, consider Philadelphia’s Mazzoni Center, an LGBT-focused health care and wellness nonprofit.

It recently took some heat in Philly’s LGBT community for hiring a straight woman, Lydia Gonzalez Sciarrino, as its new CEO. Some have criticized her lack of LGBT-​ specific health care experience (which, if true, would be a valid criticism), while others are more pointed, claiming that her hiring is a shameful “act of violence and deliberate silencing of the very communities Mazzoni is funded to serve.”

The Mazzoni Center defends its decision not only on Sciarrino’s qualifications, but also its nondiscrimination policy: “When it comes to matters of employment, Mazzoni Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender identification or gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, marital status or any other protected status covered by federal, state or local law. Thus, all employment-related decisions are made solely on the basis of a candidate’s skills, ability, experience, education, training, and other legitimate factors related to the requirements of the job.”

The Mazzoni Center’s board considered Sciarrino the most qualified person who applied. If Title VII covers LGBT-status as sex (which I, and most courts, argue it does), then neither the Mazzoni Center, nor any other employer, can favor an LGBT applicant over a more qualified straight applicant.That would be illegal sex discrimination.

Let me suggest a more practical approach to this issue. If the Mazzoni Center decided that Sciarrino is the most qualified candidate to fill its CEO position, then that business decision should end the discussion. Her sexual orientation should be irrelevant to the conversation. Part of that decision-making process could be the candidates’ understanding of core issues important to the LGBT community. And, if Sciarrino meets that hiring litmus, then who are we (or anyone) to second guess that business judgment.

Employers create legal problems when they hiring via quota filling. “We need a __________ person to fill this position,” is the wrong question. Instead,“We need the best person to fill this position.” Subject to the four exceptions outlined above, best is not only blind, but also the best legal defense to a hiring discrimination claim.

Let’s all stop worrying about labels and focus our hiring energies on finding the most qualified candidate.

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Jon Hyman is a partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland. To comment, email editors@workforce.com. Follow Hyman’s blog at Workforce.com/PracticalEmployer.

m ay / j u n e

2018

SECURE. AUTOMATED. INTELLIGENT. Workforce management solutions with a human-centered workflow in real time.

Attendance on Demand Drives Positive Business Results attendanceondemand.com/why Š2018 Attendance on Demand, Inc. All rights reserved. Attendance on Demand is a registered trademark of Attendance on Demand, Inc.

1 2018 Salesforce.com, an honoree the past four years, finally nabbed the top spot on 2018’s list.

Compiled by Workforce editors

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Cindy Robbins, President and Chief People Officer Industry: Software San Francisco Employees: 30,000 Performance Index: 9.575

2

W

hile this past year shed light on certain blind spots in some HR departments regarding harassment claims, 2018 has revealed that many companies continue to show true excellence in HR. Just as bad people practices sour employees on their employer, a great HR department can turn even the most difficult circumstance into an opportunity for a better workplace.

Now in its fifth year, the Workforce 100 recognizes companies that excelled in HR over the course of the previous year.

To determine which companies make the list, Workforce editors work with researchers from the Human Capital Media Research and Advisory Group, the publication’s research arm.

The research team created a model to sift through publicly available data on HR performance to separate the best from the rest. To give employees more of a say in the rankings, we asked recruiting and job-review website Glassdoor to provide data on what workers are saying about the companies that made our list. From there, we combined that information with the public data available to create our 2018 Workforce 100 list.

Besides being No. 1 this year, Salesforce.com is also one of 22 companies to make the Workforce 100 all five years.

One trend this year was the inclusion of many companies in industries known for high turnover, like the retail, fastfood and hospitality industries. This was the first year for ChickMETHODOLOGY fil-A (No. 45), Ikea To create the Workforce (No. 92), In-N-Out 100 ranking, the Human Burger (No. 22), REI Capital Media Research (No. 73) and Trader and Advisory Group colJoe’s (No. 69). Meanwhile, Starbucks (No. 8) lected available public has risen into the top data from a representative 10 this year after consislist of established benchtently improving in marking and ranking rank over the past programs in the identihalf-decade. fied categories. To read Congratulations to more about the methodall the companies that ology, see Page 31. made 2018’s Workforce 100 list!

SALESFORCE.COM INC.

DELTA AIR LINES INC. Joanne Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Industry: Airline Atlanta Employees: 80,000 Performance Index: 9.425

3

BAIN & CO. Russ Hagey, Partner & Worldwide Chief Talent Officer Industry: Management consulting Boston Employees: 8,000 Performance Index: 9.183

4

ULTIMATE SOFTWARE Vivian Maza, Chief People Officer Industry: SaaS HCM software Weston, Florida Employees: 4,000 Performance Index: 9.182

5

FACEBOOK INC. Lori Goler, Vice President of People Industry: Social media Menlo Park, California Employees: 25,105 Performance Index: 9.06

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2018

6

Accenture Employees: 435, 000 Industry: Consulting services Top Ranking HR Person: Ellyn Shook

Chicago Performance Index: 9.008

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VMware Inc. Employees: 21,557

7

Deloitte

Employees: 263,924 New York Performance Index: 8.963

24

Intuit Inc. Employees: 8,200

8

Starbucks Corp. Employees: 330,000

25

McKinsey & Co. Employees: 27,000

9

Google Employees: 80,000

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HEB Grocery Co. Employees: 96,270

10

Adobe Employees: 18,000

27

Ryan LLC Employees: 2,200

11

Southwest Airlines Employees: 56,110

28

Microsoft Corp. Employees: 126,079

12

Johnson & Johnson Employees: 124,744

29

Verizon Communications Inc. Employees: 155,000

13

T-Mobile Employees: 51,000

30

Fast Enterprises Employees: 1,016

14

Kaiser Permanente Employees: 208,975

31

Texas Health Resources Employees: 24,000

15

Capital One Employees: 47,300

32

Apple Inc. Employees: 130,000

16

Amazon.com Inc. Employees: 541,900

33

Roche Employees: 93,734

17

Nike Inc. Employees: 74,400

34

United Airlines Inc. Employees: 88,000

18

SAP SE Employees: 88,543

35

Cisco Systems Co. Employees: 73,711

19

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. Employees: 24,000

36

Mastercard Inc. Employees: 11,900

20

The Goldman Sachs Group Employees: 36,600

37

CDW Employees: 8,516

21

The Walt Disney Co. Employees: 199,000

38

Procter & Gamble Co. Employees: 95,000

22

In-N-Out Burger Employees: 16,000

39

Hyatt Hotels Corp. Employees: 110,000

Industry: Professional services Top Ranking HR Person: Michele Parmelee Industry: Consumer products/retail Top Ranking HR Person: Lucy Lee Helm Industry: Technology Top Ranking HR Person: Eileen Naughton Industry: Computer software Top Ranking HR Person: Donna Morris Industry: Airline Top Ranking HR Person: Julie Weber Industry: Pharma, consumer products Top Ranking HR Person: Peter Fasolo

Seattle Performance Index: 8.936 Mountain View, California Performance Index: 8.877 San Jose, California Performance Index: 8.783 Dallas Performance Index: 8.649 New Brunswick, New Jersey Performance Index: 8.51

Industry: Telecommunications Bellevue, Washington Top Ranking HR Person: Elizabeth A. McAuliffe Performance Index: 8.477 Industry: Insurance/health care Top Ranking HR Person: Chuck Columbus Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Jory Berson Industry: E-commerce Top Ranking HR Person: Beth Galetti Industry: Consumer products Top Ranking HR Person: Monique Matheson Industry: Software Top Ranking HR Person: Stefan Ries Industry: Consulting services Top Ranking HR Person: Betty Thompson Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Dane Holmes Industry: Mass media/entertainment Top Ranking HR Person: Jayne Parker Industry: Restaurants Top Ranking HR Person: Katherine Sauls

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Oakland, California Performance Index: 8.444 McLean, Virginia Performance Index: 8.416 Seattle Performance Index: 8.277 Beaverton, Oregon Performance Index: 8.266 Walldorf, Germany Performance Index: 8.246 McLean, Virginia Performance Index: 8.244 New York Performance Index: 8.243 Burbank, California Performance Index: 8.194 Irvine, California Performance Index: 8.157

Industry: Computer software Top Ranking HR Person: Betsy Sutter Industry: Enterprise software Top Ranking HR Person: Sherry Whiteley Industry: Management consulting Top Ranking HR Person: Michael Barriere Industry: Grocery retail Top Ranking HR Person: Tina James Industry: Consulting, tax services Top Ranking HR Person: Tony Bridwell Industry: Computer software Top Ranking HR Person: Kathleen Hogan Industry: Telecommunications Top Ranking HR Person: Marc Reed Industry: Software Top Ranking HR Person: Lindsey Sittko Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Michelle Kirby Industry: Technology Top Ranking HR Person: Deirdre O’Brien Industry: Medical technologies Top Ranking HR Person: Cristina A. Wilbur Industry: Airline Top Ranking HR Person: Kate Gebo Industry: Technology Top Ranking HR Person: Francine Katsoudas Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Michael Fraccaro Industry: IT products and services Top Ranking HR Person: Melissa McMahon Industry: Consumer products Top Ranking HR Person: Mark Biegger Industry: Lodging/hospitality Top Ranking HR Person: Malaika Myers

Palo Alto, California Performance Index: 8.102 Mountain View, California Performance Index: 8.09 New York Performance Index: 8.029 San Antonio Performance Index: 7.974 Dallas Performance Index: 7.863 Redmond, Washington Performance Index: 7.84 Basking Ridge, New Jersey Performance Index: 7.827 Centennial, Colorado Performance Index: 7.776 Arlington, Texas Performance Index: 7.718 Cupertino, California Performance Index: 7.696 Basel, Switzerland Performance Index: 7.69 Chicago Performance Index: 7.679 San Jose, California Performance Index: 7.678 Purchase, New York Performance Index: 7.677 Vernon Hills, Illinois Performance Index: 7.668 Cincinnati Performance Index: 7.667 Chicago Performance Index: 7.635

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26

40

QuikTrip Corp. Employees: 22,000

41

Costco Wholesale Corp. Employees: 230,000

42

Monsanto Co. Employees: 20, 273

43

Power Home Remodeling Employees: 2,400

44

USAA Employees: 33,015

45

Chick-fil-A Employees: 1,600 (corporate offices)

46

Paylocity Corp. Employees: 2,300

47

Northrop Grumman Corp. Employees: 70,000

48

General Motors Co. Employees: 180,000

49

3M Co. Employees: 91,000

50

EY Employees: 250,000

51

Raytheon Co. Employees: 63,000

52

KPMG Employees: 197,000

53

Nestlé Employees: 328,000

54

AbbVie Inc. Employees: 29,000

55

Lockheed Martin Corp. Employees: 100,000

56

Intuitive Research and Technology Employees: 340

Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Walter Smith Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Pat Callans Industry: Agribusiness Top Ranking HR Person: Steven C. Mizell Industry: Exterior remodeling Top Ranking HR Person: Deirdre E. Collins

Tulsa, Oklahoma Performance Index: 7.629 Issaquah, Washington Performance Index: 7.624 St. Louis Performance Index: 7.613 Chester, Pennsylvania Performance Index: 7.576

Industry: Insurance, banking, financial services San Antonio Top Ranking HR Person: Pat Teague Performance Index: 7.574 Industry: Restaurants Top Ranking HR Person: Bill Dunphy Industry: Payroll software Top Ranking HR Person: Jay Schedler Industry: Security Top Ranking HR Person: Denise Peppard Industry: Automotive Top Ranking HR Person: Jose Tomas Industry: Consumer products Top Ranking HR Person: Marlene McGrath Industry: Consulting services Top Ranking HR Person: Wendy Edgar Industry: Aerospace and defense Top Ranking HR Person: Randa G. Newsome Industry: Professional services Top Ranking HR Person: Darren Burton Industry: Food company Top Ranking HR Person: Peter R. Vogt Industry: Biopharmaceutical Top Ranking HR Person: Tim Richmond Industry: Advanced technologies Top Ranking HR Person: Patricia L. Lewis

Atlanta Performance Index: 7.563 Arlington Heights, Illinois Performance Index: 7.554 Falls Church, Virginia Performance Index: 7.524 Detroit Performance Index: 7.518 Saint Paul, Minnesota Performance Index: 7.507 New York Performance Index: 7.479 Waltham, Massachussetts Performance Index: 7.463 Amstelveen, Netherlands Performance Index: 7.452 Vevey, Switzerland Performance Index: 7.429 North Chicago, Illinois Performance Index: 7.428 Bethesda, Maryland Performance Index: 7.427

Industry: Technical solutions program management Huntsville, Alabama Top Ranking HR Person: Juanita Phillips Performance Index: 7.426

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Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. Employees: 33,000

58

Brown-Forman Corp. Employees: 4,700

59

SpaceX Employees: 6,000

60

Zillow Group Employees: 3,150

61

Nordstrom Employees: 72,500

62

Slalom Employees: 5,000

63

General Electric Co. Employees: 295,000

64

Hilton Employees: 165,000

65

Stryker Employees: 34,000

66

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. Employees: 47,000

67

Boston Scientific Corp. Employees: 29,000

68

Aetna Employees: 46,000

69

Trader Joe’s Employees: 38,000

70

AT&T Inc. Employees: 254,000

71

Genentech Inc. Employees: 15,000

72

Navy Federal Credit Union Employees: 17,000

73

REI Employees: 12,000

Industry: Insurance Top Ranking HR Person: Gale King

Columbus, Ohio Performance Index: 7.418

Industry: Distilled beverage/wines Top Ranking HR Person: Kirsten Hawley

Louisville, Kentucky Performance Index: 7.404

Industry: Aerospace Top Ranking HR Person: Brian Bjelde

Hawthorne, California Performance Index: 7.365

Industry: Real estate Top Ranking HR Person: Dan Spaulding

Seattle Performance Index: 7.337

Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Christine Deputy

Seattle Performance Index: 7.313

Industry: Professional services Top Ranking HR Person: Katie Townsend

Seattle Performance Index: 7.248

Industry: Conglomerate Boston Top Ranking HR Person: Raghu Krishnamoorthy Performance Index: 7.229 Industry: Lodging/hospitality Top Ranking HR Person: Matthew W. Schuyler Industry: Medical technologies Top Ranking HR Person: Katy Fink

McLean, Virginia Performance Index: 7.093 Kalamazoo, Michigan Performance Index: 7.092

Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Kevin Stickles

Rochester, New York Performance Index: 7.082

Industry: Medical device Marlborough, Massachussetts Top Ranking HR Person: Wendy Carruthers Performance Index: 7.048 Industry: Health care insurer Hartford, Connecticut Top Ranking HR Person: Thomas W. Weidenkopf Performance Index: 7.04 Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Laurie Mead

Monrovia, California Performance Index: 7.032

Industry: Telecommuniations Top Ranking HR Person: William A. Blase Jr. Industry: Biotechnology Top Ranking HR Person: Nancy Vitale

Dallas Performance Index: 7.007

South San Francisco, California Performance Index: 6.965

Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Angela Culbertson Industry: Sporting goods and outdoor gear Top Ranking HR Person: Raquel Karls

Vienna, Virginia Performance Index: 6.943 Kent, Washington Performance Index: 6.937

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The Five-Timers Here are the 22 companies that have made all the Workforce 100 lists to date.

Accenture Hyatt Hotels Corp.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. American Express Co. Johnson & Johnson Apple Inc. Kaiser Permanente AT&T Inc. KPMG BASF Corp.

Lockheed Martin Corp.

Capital One Nationwide Mutual Cerner Corp.

Insurance Co. Cisco Systems Inc. Procter & Gamble Co. Deloitte Salesforce.com Inc. Genentech Inc. TheWalt Disney Co. USAA Google

74

Mars Employees: 100,000

75

BASF Corp. Employees: 115,319

76

Northwell Health Employees: 66,000

77

Netflix Employees: 4,000

78

Travelers Cos. Employees: 30,000

79

DaVita Inc. Employees: 76,000

80

American Express Co. Employees: 55,000

81

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Employees: 240,000

82

Dell Employees: 140,000

83

Northwestern Mutual Employees: 7,500

Industry: Products and services Top Ranking HR Person: Eric Minvielle Industry: Chemicals Top Ranking HR Person: AndrĂŠ Becker Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Joseph Moscola Industry: Entertainment Top Ranking HR Person: Jessica Neal Industry: Insurance Top Ranking HR Person: Diane Bengston Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Eric Severson Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: L. Kevin Cox Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Robin Leopold Industry: Technology Top Ranking HR Person: Steve Price Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Joann Eisenhart

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McLean, Virginia Performance Index: 6.904 Ludwigshafen, Germany Performance Index: 6.898 Great Neck, New York Performance Index: 6.897 Los Gatos, California Performance Index: 6.865 New York Performance Index: 6.832 Denver Performance Index: 6.813 New York Performance Index: 6.81 New York Performance Index: 6.798 Round Rock, Texas Performance Index: 6.782 Milwaukee Performance Index: 6.776

84

TD Bank Employees: 85,000

85

Scripps Health Employees: 13,000

86

NextEra Employees: 9,000

87

PwC Employees: 46,583 (U.S.)

88

Paychex Inc. Employees: 13,900

89

Kimberly-Clark Corp. Employees: 42,000

90

FedEx Corp. Employees: 400,000

91

Nvidia Employees: 11,000

92

Cerner Corp. Employees: 26,000

92

Ikea Employees: 194,000

94

The Dow Chemical Co. Employees: 54,000

95

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Employees: 8,100

96

ADP Employees: 59,000

97

Abbott Laboratories Employees: 99,000

98

Qualcomm Inc. Employees: 33,500

99

Nielsen Holdings Employees: 46,300

100

Comcast Corp. Employees: 164,000

Industry: Financial services Top Ranking HR Person: Sue Cummings Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Richard Sheridan Industry: Electric utilities Top Ranking HR Person: Deborah H. Caplan Industry: Professional services Top Ranking HR Person: Mike Fenlon Industry: Business process outsourcing Top Ranking HR Person: Laurie Zaucha Industry: Personal care Top Ranking HR Person: J. Scott Boston Industry: Courier Top Ranking HR Person: Judy Edge Industry: Consumer electronics Top Ranking HR Person: Shelly Cerio Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Julie Wilson Industry: Retail Top Ranking HR Person: Ulrika Biesert Industry: Chemicals Top Ranking HR Person: Johanna Soderstrom Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Tricia A Keith Industry: HR management software Top Ranking HR Person: Sreeni Kutam Industry: Health care Top Ranking HR Person: Steve Fussell Industry: Telecommunications Top Ranking HR Person: Michelle Sterling Industry: Research Top Ranking HR Person: Nancy Phillips Industry: Telecommunications Top Ranking HR Person: Bill Strahan

Toronto Performance Index: 6.765 San Diego Performance Index: 6.76 Juno Beach, Florida Performance Index: 6.726 London Performance Index: 6.715 Rochester, New York Performance Index: 6.71 Irving, Texas Performance Index: 6.698 Memphis, Tennessee Performance Index: 6.693 Santa Clara, California Performance Index: 6.69 North Kansas City, Missouri Performance Index: 6.665 Delft, Netherlands Performance Index: 6.665 Midland, Michigan Performance Index: 6.654 Detroit Performance Index: 6.621 Roseland, New Jersey Performance Index: 6.615 Chicago Performance Index: 6.565 San Diego Performance Index: 6.554 New York Performance Index: 6.51 Philadelphia Performance Index: 6.46

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Back row from left: Hilton’s Idris Stover, Matthew Schuyler, Laura Fuentes and Amanta Mazumdar.

Front: Christine Maginnis and Gareth Fox.

Traditional high-turnover industries drive through the Workforce 100, including one CEO who onboards new staff at his dinner table.

BY AYSHA ASHLEY HOUSEH

PHOTOS BY JOHN HARRINGTON

HOME-COOKED HR

“C

ongratulations, you’re hired!” It’s the statement every hopeful job candidate wants to hear.

Then the onboarding begins. You join your fellow newly hired employees gathered not around a conference table or in a sterile classroom setting, but at a dinner table awaiting the host.

The host also happens to be the company’s CEO. Dan T. Cathy is head of Atlanta-based fast-food eatery Chick-fil-A. His onboarding policy includes dinner at his home as his personal welcome to the company’s corporate ranks. It’s one example that sets Chick-fil-A’s culture apart from its competitors in the fast-food industry, according to Darya Fields, senior manager of culture and engagement at the company.

Chick-fil-A also has an ambitious career-growth track for hourly workers and a tuition reimbursement program for high school employees, as well as the enticing closed-on-Sunday policy.

Such employee-friendly policies are shifting the perception of indifference surrounding workers in traditional low-wage industries like fast-food, retail and hospitality.The 2018 Workforce 100 list, which ranks the top 100 companies excelling in human resources practices, features a growing list of companies in those industries — including newcomers Chickfil-A (No. 45) and In-N-Out Burger (No. 22) — that prove a commitment to quality HR practices contributes to a successful culture and financial profitability.

As further proof that good people management practices aren’t exclusively found at high-flying tech companies, this year’s Workforce 100 also includes Starbucks (No. 8) and Hyatt Hotels Corp. (No. 39) and grocery chains HEB Grocer (No. 26), Wegmans (No. 66) and Trader Joe’s (No. 69). This is Trader Joe’s Workforce 100 debut.

Hilton (No. 64) offers a robust internship program along with quality benefits, pay and a welcoming work environment. It also offers advanced scheduling opportunities, a practice that sounds basic on the surface but historically is not common in the hospitality industry. At its corporate headquarters just outside of Washington, D.C., hospitality takes on new meaning with the recent launch of The Social, a 10,000-square-foot hub located in the ground floor of its global headquarters that acts as a gathering space to promote productivity among employees and is open to the public.

“Some companies are great employers for certain segments of their population. For us, it’s important to be a great place to work for all, and that is the underpinning of the value proposition we put into effect in our HR strategy,” said Matthew W. Schuyler, Hilton’s chief human resources officer. “We spend time listening to the needs of all our team members around the world, and we try to create, build and sustain people programs that meet their needs.”

Hilton’s internship program stands out as a quality people practice, according to Robin DiPietro, a professor at the University of South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management.

The hotel offers a series of internships and apprenticeships around the world. One popular program acts like an accelerator for recently graduated students, Schuyler said.

The hotel recruits from schools such as Cornell, Penn State and Michigan State that have well-known hospitality programs and puts the recruits in a management development program. They rotate from department to department, and come out either as assistant or full-fledged managers at smaller Hilton properties.

The idea is that these are the people who will move up the ranks into management positions at bigger properties over time.

“We’ve had a lot of success in that program in terms of garnering next generations of general management talent,” Schuyler said. “It’s a key sourcing initiative for us to have interns. We literally have thousands of them around the world.”

Chick-fil-A has a yearlong onboarding process, which helps new employees not only learn their administrative duties, but also thoroughly immerses them in the company’s culture and values, according to Fields.

“I would say what happens at Chick-fil-A from a retention and engagement standpoint is less about our process and practices and more about the culture as a business,” said Fields. “I think that because Chick-fil-A started as a small, privately held, family-owned business there’s very much a strong sense of accountability to one another.”

Chick-fil-A has an annual turnover rate of less than 5 percent among its 1,600 corporate employees, according to Fields, and individual franchises Darya Fields account for 120,000 employees overall. The corporate headquarters office offers many benefits that attracts workers. There is an on-site child care center for parents who need a place for their children to stay during work hours. Chick-fil-A employees can enjoy free lunch at the on-site café, work out at the wellness center with facilities that include gym equipment, personal trainers, nutritionists, massage therapists and free fitness classes.

FOR EMPLOYEES IN TRADITIONALLY LOW-WAGE INDUSTRIES, CULTURE IS KING.

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Even with these perks, Fields believes the culture is the selling point. That stems from the fact that it grew from the people that founder S. Truett Cathy knew and went to church with, Fields said. The company also follows four core values: share to serve, better together, pursue what’s next, and purpose driven.

“Our corporate purpose [‘To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A’], is our north-star principle,” said Fields.

“Just the fact that we’re doing more than selling chicken, we’re here to have a positive impact on our community.”

In 2012 Chick-fil-A found itself entangled in controversy when Dan T. Cathy, now chairman and CEO, commented that he does not believe in same-sex marriage.

Six years later, the company remains steadfast to its core beliefs and has moved past the backlash in part by reaching out to the community at large and changing the focus of charitable giving from churches to schools.

Human resources has also evolved within the company.

“It’s a relatively new function here because all of our focus has really been on the restaurant operation side. So, HR is really a relatively new practice within the last six to eight years,” said Fields, who has been with the company since 2013.

In-N-Out Burger, which declined to comment regarding its HR practices for the story, shares commonalities with Chick-fil-A beyond drive-thru windows, according to University of South Carolina’s DiPietro, who also has 20

years of fast-food experience. DiPietro first worked for Burger King in high school and then as a manager after college before eventually becoming the director of training and operations.

“I made my way up from making drinks to basically doing the manager training for 31 restaurants in the Midwest,” DiPietro Robin DiPietro said. She worked on her doctorate while at Burger King but then left the company to research and teach restaurant food service; “to help the industry long-term with solutions for HR and operational issues,” she said. The change has been a rewarding second career, according to DiPietro, as she has gotten to continue working within the industry and with students who will become future managers.

Both companies have roots as family-owned restaurants with a family-like environment and generous benefits, which has helped them achieve success. Both companies pay their employees above minimum wage and offer free meal perks. Both companies have a higher customer check average, which means higher revenue and in turn allows them to provide better benefits, according to DiPietro. However, she believes Chickfil-A’s closed-Sunday policy is the biggest draw.

“I worked 20 years in fast-food and if I could’ve worked for a company that didn’t work on Sundays, I may still be there,” said DiPietro with a laugh.

DiPietro added that when she asks her service and restaurant management students to provide examples of companies with great service, In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A are among those mentioned.

“Both companies have cult followings. I don’t mean that in a negative way,” DiPietro said. “By having that cult following of loyal customers, they also have these loyal employees that really enjoy the company.”

Both companies also offer career growth opportunities, according to Amelia Green-Vamos, corporate communications manager at Glassdoor.

The research arm of Workforce partnered with Glassdoor to include data on employee satisfaction in the Workforce 100 rankings (see facing page).

“You’re seeing people being offered training programs, so it’s hands-on and in classroom environments,” said Green-Vamos.“For instance, at InN-Out Burger they have In-N-Out University, From left: Hilton’s Maginnis, Fuentes, Mazumdar, Fox, Schuyler and Stover.

30

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First Year on the 100 List: AbbVie Inc. Brown-Forman Corp.

Chick-fil-A Comcast Corp.

Fast Enterprises HEB Grocery Co. Ikea In-N-Out Burger McKinsey & Co. Nestlé Netflix NextEra Northwell Health Northwestern Mutual

Nvidia Paylocity Corp.

Power Home Remodeling Raytheon Co. REI Ryan LLC SAP SE Slalom SpaceX Trader Joe’s Travelers Cos. United Airlines Inc. VMware Inc Zillow Group

which is something that helps prepare managers to be really well equipped to manage their teams.”

Another highlight of both Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out is that employees feel comfortable with their executive leadership, according to Green-Vamos.

“You’re hearing and reading things about senior leadership as being approachable, supportive, available for questions and helping people grow on their own careers,” Green-Vamos said.

Along with dinner at his home, Cathy spends time

Methodology The Workforce 100 is the rank order and scores of the 100 companies that performed best in seven core areas: workplace culture, employee benefits, diversity and inclusion, employee development and talent management, human resources innovation, leadership development, and talent acquisition. The working assumption behind the list is that high performance in these core categories provides a reasonable proxy for overall HR excellence.

This year’s change in methodology created a ranked list that made comprehensive HR participation and employee feedback on their respective employers the primary focus rather than excellence in one core area.

Using this method, organizations that are recognized on multiple lists but do not perform perfectly will be ranked higher than organizations that are ranked in one area but perform better in a single discipline. In addition, organizations that are not as heavily represented in external recognition programs are still acknowledged for their HR efforts through the posted opinions of their employees.

To generate the score, researchers first looked at how many lists with HR relevance a particular company appeared on, which makes up half of the total score (maximum of 5 points). The other half of the score (also with a maximum of 5 points) was derived from an average of the company’s Glassdoor performance in areas pertaining to HR. These scores are then added together to create the final score.

Component Lists: Top Companies Lists, Overall: World’s Best International Workplaces, 2016 (Great Place to Work)

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with new employees throughout their first year. He tours key sights and landmarks in Atlanta that have impacted the founder and business. The president and chief operating officer, Tim Tassopoulos, hosts roundtables, and Chief People Officer Andrew Cathy hosts onboarding and culture sessions.

“They’re just exposed to a variety of senior leaders. It’s not just a welcome and you’re on your way,” said Fields.

DiPietro points out that even the language these companies use contributes to a successful HR environment.

“The three companies [Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out and Hilton Hotels] don’t refer to them as employees, they refer to them typically as associates, team members,” said DiPietro. “And they use that term ‘work with them’ instead of ‘work for them’; shows respect I think.”

It seems more companies are catching on to the fact that they need to take a different approach to workplace culture.

“It needs to change quicker with regard to HR practices. But I do think that companies realize that they need to change,” said DiPietro.

It might be a more folksy attitude toward HR, but the approach Chick-fil-A is taking appears to work, according to Fields.

“Because we’ve been so small, we don’t have a lot of the formal HR processes and practices that you might see at a lot of other companies,” said Fields. “To me, it’s something about the culture and the spirit of the people who are here.”

Associate editor Andie Burjek contributed to this story. Aysha Ashley Househ is a Workforce intern. To comment email editors@workforce.com.

Best Small Workplaces, 2017 (Great Place to Work) Best Medium Workplaces, 2017 (Great Place to Work) Best Places to Work, Small and Medium Companies, 2018 (Glassdoor) Best Places to Work, Large Companies, 2018 (Glassdoor) 50 Top Startups, 2017 (LinkedIn)

Top Companies Lists, Leadership:

Top Companies Lists, Benefits

Best Places to Interview, 2017 (Glassdoor) Candidate Experience Awards, 2017 (Talent Board) 25 Most Attractive Companies for Job Seekers, 2017 (Indeed)

Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles (National Business Group on Health) 30 Best Workplaces to Retire From, 2016 (Fortune) Top 10 401(k) Plans (BrightScope) 20 Best Retirement Plans (GOBankingRates) 20 Companies with Best Work-Life Balance, 2017 (Indeed) 20 Companies with the Best Benefits, 2017 (Glassdoor) America’s Top Companies for Compensation and Benefits, 2014 (Glassdoor)

Top Companies Lists, Diversity Best Employers for Vets, 2017 (Military Times) Disability Equality Index, 2017 (AAPD) 100 Best Companies, 2017 (Working Mother) Top 50 Companies for Diversity, 2017 (DiversityInc) 100 Best Workplaces for Diversity, 2017 (Fortune)

Top Companies Lists, Innovation: The Most Admired for HR, 2016 (HR Executive) 4 Innovative HR Departments, 2016 (Spark) World’s Most Admired Companies, 2017 (Fortune)

Best Companies for Leaders, 2016 (Chief Executive) Wealth Creator Index, 2016 (Chief Executive) Highest Rated CEO, 2017 (Glassdoor)

Top Companies Lists, Recruiting:

Top Companies Lists, Talent Management Learning Elite, 2017 (Chief Learning Officer) Learning in Practice Awards, 2017 (Chief Learning Officer) Excellence in Practice Awards, 2016 (Association for Talent Development) Training Top 125, 2017 (Training) 50 Most Engaged Workplaces, 2017 (Achievers)

Glassdoor Data Used: Career Opportunities Rating Compensation & Benefits Rating Culture & Values Rating Work/Life Balance Rating Recommend to a Friend Rating Note: Some of the component lists are compiled by active participation from the companies listed and therefore do not recognize companies that decline to participate.

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industryinsights Why International Business Expansion Needs a New Model Seizing a new opportunity abroad has significant organizational impact

By Andrea Dumont, Vice President of Marketing, Globalization Partners

Global business expansion should be simple. A company sees an opportunity in a new market, or finds talent in a new market, and opens a sales channel there. Done.

It’s what happens in between that makes this sort of global growth a prohibitive challenge. To get even one sales person on the ground overseas, a U.S.-based human resources staff has to navigate the myriad laws, local regulations, tax implications, bank accounts, and payroll hurdles unique to the locale. As a result, the process often fails before it ever had a chance to begin. This scenario is especially true for companies without the infrastructure, expertise, and bandwidth to investigate these challenges abroad.

And the problems HR faces when it comes to global expansion are only going to continue. Wells Fargo recently reported that 81 percent of U.S. companies surveyed expect the international components of their businesses are important and will expand through 2018.¹

“Consequences for not adhering to GDPR could result in a company being forced to pay out up to 2 percent of total global revenue or 10 million euros in fines (whichever is higher), or 4 percent of total global revenue or up to 20 million euros in fines (whichever is higher), depending on the infraction.”

Until now, there was no reliable model on which HR (or any segment of an organization; legal, finance, etc.) could rely to handle what amounts to the most nuanced

and important portion of expanding to a new country: the technical ability to hire.

There has been a need for a new model, and one is beginning to emerge. It’s called the “Global Professional Employer Organization” or Global PEO model. It borrows from an age-old concept in the U.S. described most commonly as co-employment—when one organization outsources its back office human resources to another organization for a variety of reasons.

But the U.S. is way ahead of the rest of the world in terms of this model. Which is why Global PEO must take an entirely different approach to co-employment than what exists in the United States.

There are three key ways in which a Global PEO model sets itself apart from the relative simplicity of coemployment HR has relied on for years: established foreign subsidiaries, built-in data compliance, and a strong understanding of local norms (ie. benefits).

Established foreign subsidiaries Popular countries in which Globalization Partners has active professionals (or, people on our payroll but who work for our client companies, hence, co-employment) working today are the United Kingdom, Singapore, Mexico, China, and Canada. We are prepared to get anyone working in those countries with relative ease.

The reason: recognized business subsidiaries.

In fact, about 75 percent (and rising) of all professionals on our platform are working through our established subsidiaries in locations the world over.

This is the gold rush of the Global PEO industry. The more land we can grab, the better it is for everyone: us, our clients, the professionals, and the in-house HR staff responsible, ultimately, for managing those professionals.

Data compliance In the European Union, beginning in May 2018, a new

Andrea Dumont is Vice President of Marketing at Globalization Partners, a Global Professional Employer Organization which helps companies expand internationally without having to set up their own subsidiaries overseas. Andrea has over two decades of experience in human resources marketing; Her passion for international expansion and digital marketing has led her to accelerate growth at startups as well as Fortune 500 companies.

set of rules will take effect known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulation provides sweeping changes to how employee data is shared, stored, and ultimately protected by corporations.

Consequences for not adhering to GDPR could result in a company being forced to pay out up to 2 percent of total global revenue or 10 million euros in fines (whichever is higher), or 4 percent of total global revenue or up to 20 million euros in fines (whichever is higher), depending on the infraction.

The Global PEO model fits into this in two ways: Global PEOs (should) have a compliant workforce management software (built with the legal standard of “privacy-bydesign” as a template), and an experienced in-house legal staff with international labor law expertise, specifically.

Expanding to new countries is all about following the procedures put in place by local governments, or, as plainly evidenced through the GDPR-penalty example, the costs—if HR hits a legal or regulatory snag—far outweigh the benefits of opening up shop in the new country.

Understanding of local norms Each country has its own set of unique benefit

1

requirements, making offering benefit programs to international professionals a distinct challenge for HR. For example, Germany uses a “top up” system, which means the government provides adequate benefits to professions (typically including medical, dental, and vision coverage), but companies may be expected to add supplementary benefits often depending on seniority or other factors.

It’s this way in much of Europe, with many countries offering state-provided health care entirely. In fact, highend medical benefits are a point of continental pride in the EU. And in Asia, there is a set of culture norms which a U.S. company must learn. In the Philippines, it is typical for an employer to offer a monthly allotment of rice to the employee, for example.

Technically, the Global PEO should provide a wide range of solutions to this most challenging of international HR problems. This is a country-specific problem; but the Global PEO is a worldwide solution.

There is no one-size fits all approach to the problems facing HR when it comes to global expansion—largely due to the sheer volume of territorial rules and regulations concerning business. But it is in this morass in which the Global PEO industry will continue to thrive in the decades to come.

Wells Fargo International Business Indicator, April 2017, https://wholesale.wf.com/global-focus/international-business-indicator/

industryinsights A Catalyst for Company Success

By HRCI

Harnessing the Full Power of HR in a Changing Economy From preventing workplace behavior that could threaten a company’s reputation to recruiting and retaining talent, the importance of human resources is apparent. Additionally, companies are struggling to harmonize the work styles of various generations, unify the efforts of workers in disparate locations, and adjust to the changing nature of work in the digital age.

We spoke with the CEO of HR Certification Institute (HRCI), Amy Schabacker Dufrane, Ed.D., SPHR, CAE, about how the role of HR has evolved and what companies can do to maximize HR’s impact.

How has the role of HR changed over the past 25 years, and what does its future look like?

Many HR functions have become automated, which frees up HR teams to provide strategic thinking and analysis to help organizations outperform the competition.

HR’s influence is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years because most businesses now realize the importance of getting the right talent and making sure employees and teams thrive.

How important is company culture and what role does HR play in its development?

With millennials moving into management positions, it’s incredibly important. They demand that company culture aligns with their values – it’s a high priority in their job searches.

“HR professionals should be 100 percent integrated into the business and need to be prepared to be business leaders, not just HR leaders.”

Another component is embracing diversity. I speak to many CEOs about that, but HR is crucial to helping organizations strategize the best ways to become more diverse.

Culture is set in the boardroom, not through HR. But HR can make sure that company culture stays at the forefront of every discussion and is modeled at every level. The old adage that culture eats strategy for breakfast is really true.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing organizations today and how can HR help to address them?

HRCI has identified three major challenges that every organization should be thinking about for success in ever-changing work environments: Be able to adapt to change. Technological and cultural evolutions have changed how and where we work. Businesses can only be successful if they’re able to adapt to these changes and stay current on the latest strategies, technologies and talent skill sets. An HR team that’s tied into the business strategy can be invaluable when helping organizations adapt to change.

Grow and nurture your talent. A recent survey by CareerBuilder in partnership with Inavero found 76 percent of full-time workers are either actively looking for a job or open to new opportunities. At the same time, 48 percent of employers are unable to fill their job vacancies.

An HR team with the proficiencies to develop recruitment and retention strategies can help protect and grow a company’s most important asset: its people.

Minimize risk. Risk management continues to be a priority for many C-suite executives. Thanks to social media, viral videos and sensationalized news, companies face a new set of challenges that require expertise in how to avoid – or handle – these problems. Having an HR team with a grasp on best practices plays an integral part in risk management by helping create high internal standards that are in line with a company’s culture

Dr. Amy Schabacker Dufrane, SPHR, CAE, is CEO of HR Certification Institute® (HRCI), where she focuses on developing collaborative long-term partnerships with individuals and organizations looking to help people and organizations excel. Dufrane holds a doctorate from The George Washington University, an MBA and MA from Marymount University and a BS from Hood College.

How can an organization best prepare for these challenges?

Companies can rest assured their HRCI-certified professionals have critical thinking capabilities and are current on best practices. They help minimize risk because they know what the risks are. HRCI-certified teams have the skills to ensure the company can anticipate future needs.

They know how to hire and retain the right talent to meet the organization’s goals.

What is HR’s role in preparing the next generation for leadership roles?

HR must work with leadership to improve culture and make sure the new generation of employees have the opportunity to become future leaders. Having a professional development plan in place is essential to any retention strategy.

Millennials place a premium on being able to make an impact with their talent and are eager to work for organizations that align with their values. When they don’t achieve this with their current organization, they go elsewhere.

What does it mean for HR professionals to be change agents, and how can companies encourage that?

HR professionals should be 100 percent integrated into the business and need to be prepared to be business leaders, not just HR leaders. Employee turnover and employee satisfaction data is just noise until it’s analyzed and turned into a comprehensive strategy that can help a company succeed.

They need to understand how their industries are evolving and how their organizations are impacted. They also need to know where the organization wants to be in one, three, five years down the road and work with leadership to achieve those goals.

HR is more than hiring, benefits, policy and the like.

Companies that bring HR into their business strategy are more successful.

industryinsights The Right Tools to Hire the Right People Using personality assessments for quality hiring

By Caliper

Whether you’re looking to hire and develop top performers, identify high-potential employees and future leaders, address performance issues, or build more collaborative and productive teams, personality assessments can be a valuable tool. An effective assessment shines a light on people’s intrinsic strengths, behavioral tendencies, and developmental pitfalls, enabling you to make more informed decisions about your human capital.

The challenge is choosing the right assessment that will provide the critical insights you need to make informed decisions. A good one can help transform your organization; a bad one is, at the least, a waste of time and money. With so many options on the market, how do business leaders find one that works? Keep the following ideas in mind.

Work-Related Behaviors Does your assessment specifically measure work-related behaviors, as opposed to general characteristics and styles? Assessments that reveal information about a person’s style are often entertaining and helpful to know, but the usefulness of this information varies greatly depending on the job. For example, while a strong degree of accommodation is important in a customer service representative, it’s a much less desirable trait for a collection agent who needs to be firm and persistent.

An effective assessment measures traits that can predict someone’s performance in the workplace and behaviors relevant to a specific job.

Validity Is your assessment valid for job matching? For this aspect of an assessment to be valid, your vendor should be taking measures to ensure the predictability and reliability of the tool today and over time. This means conducting continuous research, evaluations, and revisions regarding the science behind the tool. A good assessment meets

scientific standards for validity (showing that it really measures what it claims to measure).

Versatility Can the information gleaned from the assessment report also offer insights that can be used for other phases of talent management? If your applicant is going to spend an hour or more completing a personality assessment, you should be gaining a multi-dimensional view of that person’s motivations and inclinations. A versatile instrument not only measures a person’s dynamics relative to a given position, but it can also be used later to support coaching and development, team building, succession planning, and department or organizational engagements around performance improvement.

The data can be used throughout the employee lifecycle without having to spend valuable time retaking assessments.

Cognitive measurement Does your tool also measure how a person approaches problem solving? In evaluating concrete versus abstract thinking, a good assessment makes a valuable distinction regarding which assessee would be better at straightforward decisions and which would be more adept at tackling complex business issues. This data is valuable on its own, but it can become even more beneficial when combined with other key attributes to predict performance in broader competencies, such as business acumen and strategic thinking.

Compliance Does your assessment comply with federal and state guidelines? When using any assessment for hiring, you want to know that the results don’t discriminate against any protected class. Assessments used for selection must be compliant with labor laws and regulatory guidelines.

Caliper is a human capital analytics company leveraging decades of data and validated assessment results to help organizations predict and select high-quality candidates. Caliper is uniquely positioned to help companies reduce the risk of bad hiring decisions; build high-performing teams; and engage, develop, and retain their employees. Whether your business needs to hire for an important position, reduce turnover, improve team effectiveness, or develop current and future leaders, Caliper can help you make the best talent management decisions.

Top assessment companies do their own research and testing, which includes evaluating their products for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance to ensure their products never discriminate based on gender, race, age, or physical disability.

Format Can your assessment be faked? One of the biggest sources of skepticism toward personality assessments is the potential for fakability. While validity testing can help an assessment company ensure its instrument is consistent, proper construction is required to limit the potential for distortion. Don’t be fooled by assessments with overly rosy results — nobody can be the best at everything.

that prevents fakability. A brief assessment that only takes a few minutes to complete can be easily faked, which suggests it won’t be very accurate. It’s harder for individuals to consistently manipulate answers over time. Duration enhances consistency and accuracy of trait distribution, leading to more reliable results. A good assessment is long enough to obtain a detailed picture of an applicant’s behavioral tendencies while still respecting that applicant’s time — and your speed of business.

Duration

With assessment instruments, data accuracy is critical both to making good talent management decisions and to gaining commitment from your employees in their coaching and development. By ensuring that the tool you ultimately choose meets these seven fundamental standards, you’ll achieve better business results and, in the end, a far higher return on your investment.

Is the length of the assessment up to standards regarding the tool’s reliability? Assessment length is another factor

For more information, visit www.calipercorp.com.

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HR Reboots Its

Personnel Roots Where once HR eschewed personnel in pursuit of strategy, the pendulum may be swinging the other way.

BY MICHELLE V. RAFTER

A

fter spending years automating workforce administration, companies are looking for ways to put the “human” back in human resources.

Organizations are creating concierge positions for HR practitioners to provide individual attention, in some cases going above and beyond what would normally be considered HR work.

Some companies are even bringing previously outsourced HR operations back in-house to offer a more personal touch.

And in an ironic twist, more are using technology with human-like characteristics, including artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, to handle employees’ questions and complaints.

“As transactional as HR can be, we have to make sure we keep the human aspect,” said Nicole Roberts, a regional HR director for the Compassion-First Pet Hospital emergency veterinary chain and a popular HR blogger. “These are people. Benefits and payroll have an impact on people. Our job is to support people in being able to focus on doing their jobs.”

The move to infuse HR transactions with more humanity is part of broader changes that organizations are making to people operations. Companies are moving away from a centralized HR model to one that views the HR team as internal consultants who coach and support managers and supervisors. The objective is to empower HR managers to become people-centered organizational leaders, according to Jonathan Westover, an associate professor of organizational leadership and ethics at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Refocusing on the human side of work reflects a wider

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READER REACTION

Has HR lost its human touch? @9Arati: Digital HR is spreading its tentacles. The challenge is for us as HR professionals to strike a balance on use of tech HR and exact value it offers but not to lose the human touch. HR is about people with emotions and machines are not.

Ed Baldwin: No, but it has evolved to not be one dimensional, and focus on several key success factors, not singularly the human factor.

Jerrilyn Hahn Richards: Yes, it has lost human touch. We’re all about applying online. There’s nothing personal about it and good/ great candidates are being passed over due to lack of work experience or the use of buzz words. Being trainable is almost more valuable than related work experience. Sometimes you can’t unteach things and people get stuck and can’t learn new.

Daniel Williams: Relatively speaking, too much emphasis on screening out instead of screening in.

Join the discussion at http://tinyurl.com/ycpuccua or follow us on Twitter @Workforcenews.

societal trend toward “tech-light” days and logging off electronic devices, said Dan Schawbel, a consultant on the future of work and author of the upcoming book, “Back to Human.”

“We are inherently rebelling against the sheer amount of technology we’re using because we have an inborn need to create human connection, and HR can be part of that change,” Schawbel said.

The push to make HR more compassionate also comes in a response to criticisms springing from the #MeToo movement that HR managers haven’t had employees’ backs in situations where workers have alleged harassment or other toxic workforce behaviors.

A Reaction to Employee Self-Service It’s hard to find an HR process that hasn’t been digitized and added to a company’s HR information systems suite.

At major enterprises, it’s common for HRIS managers to oversee dozens of platform-based applications, from applicant tracking to exit interviews. As those systems have got40

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ten more complex, HR has looked for ways to offload some of the work from its staff to employees.

Enter employee self-service. Over the past decade, the HR technology that gives employees direct access to pay stubs, benefits, shift schedules, performance reviews and other personnel data has exploded. In 2017, 77 percent of U.S. companies offered employee self-service of some kind, and 73 percent had a one-stop, single sign-on employee portal for HR-related information, according to the 2017-18 Sierra-Cedar “HR Systems Survey” annual report.

But as use of portals, platforms and other employee self-service technology has grown, satisfaction with work has receded. Overall employee engagement has been almost flat since 2009, according to research from Bersin by Deloitte and Glassdoor. About HR specifically, some employees complain that the department emphasizes hiring over accommodating existing staff. “These generalists at talent management don’t do any personnel work anymore,” one Workforce reader said in a letter to the editor.

The move to make HR more personal comes at the same time companies are grappling with a low jobless rate that has put workers in the employment driver’s seat. In January, 2.2 percent of the U.S. workforce willingly quit a job, the highest rate in 17 years, according to the latest voluntary turnover data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With more employees open to leaving for greener career pastures and replacement costs ranging from 10 to 30 percent of their salary, organizations are willing to do more to hang onto valued workers. A lot of the heavy lifting falls to HR.

Concierge Service Comes to HR In early March, Bill Maley, director of HR at Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., in San Leandro, California, was looking for someone to fill an open HR position who could handle administrative duties but also serve as an ambassador to guide new employees through their first day of work. He added the term “HR concierge” to an advertisement for the job he posted on Indeed.com to emphasize its people-oriented, customer-service nature.

Shortly after posting the opening, Maley said he had received 200 inquiries. “There are limited resources, and you have to deal with humans and you have to like it. If you can live with that and still have that spark in your eye, it gives us the idea that you’re the right fit for us,” he said.

Bigge Crane, which rents and sells cranes and other construction equipment from multiple locations and manages building projects in several states, has doubled its head count in the past four years, to 360 nonunion and more than 500 union employees.The increase made Maley more aware of the need to give new hires the red-carpet treatment. That includes greeting them when they walk in the door, touring them through the facilities, “and giving them a warm welcome,” Maley said. “That’s when I started thinking that the job is more of a concierge.”

The same family has owned the 102-year-old business for four generations. As with many small businesses, the owners m ay / j u n e

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COMPREHENSIVE. CONNECTED. CONVENIENT. WORKFORCE DATA FOR YOUR NEEDS

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expect employees to pitch in and do whatever needs doing.

For HR, that has meant finding a standing desk for one employee and coordinating with the IT department to create a help-desk ticketing system that employees use to make all kinds of requests.“If the owner wants us to sweep the parking lot, we sweep the parking lot,” Maley said.

To make onboarding more personal — and entertaining — Maley replaced a half-day, in-person training with two hours of YouTube-style video segments on crane operations and safety. Clips also feature interviews with the company’s owner, C-suite executives and himself. New employees get a better feel for the company watching the videos than they would by sitting through a half-day orientation, he said.

“They’re getting more value over a short period of time.”

Bigge Crane isn’t the only businesses looking for HR staff to offer concierge-style services. Advantage Resourcing, a Palo Alto, California, temporary agency that’s part of a global staffing company, describes an opening for a shortterm workplace concierge to support the company’s HR team as equal parts culture curator, organizational strategist, welcome wagon, safety guard and broadcaster.

Responsibilities of an HR administrator job at Connect First listed recently on Indeed.com included acting as a “benefits concierge” for the Boulder, Colorado, call center’s employees. Along with more traditional HR activities, a recent job ad for an HR generalist at Belmont Village Turtle Creek, a Dallas-based continuous-care facility for seniors, listed duties that included hiring, training and supervising a concierge to “ensure customer satisfaction [and] prompt and high quality service.”

Openings for HR staff that can provide a personal touch show the gap in what present-day employee self-service and HR technology can do, including sophisticated systems that depend on AI and natural language processing.

Despite recent advances, AI is as yet unable to provide the kind of hands-on service people want from employment data offerings, said Westover. “In recent years, there has been a bit of a pendulum swing back toward putting the human back in HR, and HR professionals working in a more hands-on capacity,” he said.

Using Software Walk-Throughs to Stay Connected Even in situations where employee self-service is helpful, some people need one-on-one guidance getting started.

That’s where Roberts comes in. Before she became a regional HR director for Compassion-First Pet Hospital, she was HR manager at a Cincinnati pet hospital operated by the fast-growing chain. Part of her job was answering questions from employees and managers about HR tech platforms for things like payroll and performance management. If she couldn’t resolve someone’s issue within an email or two, she’d suggest a screen share. She used an online service called StartMeeting to share her screen on the person’s computer to better teach them how to use the programs in question.“You can only do so much through email,” said Roberts, who runs the blog “HR Without Ego.” 42

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HR Getting ‘Intimate’ With Employees Human resources is returning to an employee-centric workplace culture — and it’s about time.

According to Tom Haak’s HR Trend Institute, one of the major HR trends for 2018 is a switch from pleasing the boss to employee intimacy. This trend is arguably the most important one HR has made since switching from personnel administration to HR management.

Many HR pros read “Human Resource Champions,” by management guru Dave Ulrich. Unfortunately, many readers are left with one key message: become a strategic partner, which meant chief human resources officers had to get close with management. This left out Ulrich’s biggest and most influential point: You need to focus on developing employee champions.

Now that CHROs are getting the message, it’s time to redevelop a workplace culture revolving around employees’ needs.

The workplace should never feel stagnant to an employee. However, when HR is more focused on pleasing the boss, employees often resort to simply checking off one rote task after another.

In an “employee intimacy” setting, HR can shift the focus to each employee’s journey and experiences. This makes room for a better understanding of soft skills, offering more independence, and allowing motivation to naturally skyrocket.

When employees are motivated by their own actions and passions, a ripple effect is created. This fills the entire company with employees who are improving companywide goals without extreme pressure from the top.

Create a workplace culture where leaders empower employees to feel in control of their own paths within the organization. ­ Val Matta is the vice president of business development at — CareerShift.

After her promotion, Roberts started supervising other HR managers working for the Tinton Falls, New Jersey, pet hospital chain and sharing screens at least once a day. “During heavy implementation times or performance review times, I have them scheduled back to back,” she said.

ROOTS continued on page 53 m ay / j u n e

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PLEASE JOIN US AT ONE OF THESE

H R WORKSHOP Investing in your career

2018 HR WORKSHOPS

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP EVENTS.

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Please visit our booth at these national tradeshows:

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• SIOP Annual Conference:

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Dates and locations are subject to change.

Chicago, IL - April 19-20

• APA Annual Congress:

National Harbor, MD - May 15-19

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Visit our our website to learn more about the educational and fun events. Ultimate Software is hosting and participating in this year.

Go to www.ultimatesoftware.com/events for details.

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A manager’s debut means previously unseen challenges from new bosses, a varied workload and winning over staff. Here’s a seven-day outlook to keep management newbies a step ahead.

BY DAV ID MENDL E WICZ

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Y

ou did it! You’re a manager now.

Did you update your LinkedIn headline? Great.With that out of the way, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get down to business.

No surprise here, but being a manager is hard work. It doesn’t come naturally to many people, but the good news is with the right foundation you’ll be on your way to becoming a great leader.

While every week will present new challenges, the first week will be a deep dive into the trials of managing your employees as well as meeting the expectations of executives above you.With so much on your plate and you brimming with excitement and trepidation, here’s a seven-day rundown to help keep you focused as you begin your managerial journey.

Now, before you go into full TED Talk mode at your debut team meeting, take time to pause, breathe and assess the situation facing you.You’ll be onboarding for part of the day, but take time to mentally audit the tools and resources you have available and the ones you do not. If you work at a large company, you likely have experienced and dependable human resources professionals there to guide you as you begin your managerial duties. But if you’re at a smaller company or a startup, it’s probably you against the world.

Some important questions to consider as you get through Day One: What does your company’s HR team look like?

Who are the key people to get to know?

What are the key processes you should be familiar with when it comes to management training and team development?

When are performance reviews?

What’s the process as a manager?

How are bonuses paid out?

What is the manager’s role in that process?

What is the process for when an employee is failing to meet their objectives?

Once you assess and get a full grasp for what your department is like, you’ll be able to have a deeper understanding of your team and know how to communicate with them more effectively.

Whether you were promoted up from within a team or are starting a brand-new job as a team lead, you’ll want to get acquainted with their personalities as well as their dynamics with each other, early on.

Don’t wait to schedule one-on-ones with all team members to get a sense of their overall engagement and job satisfaction. Set the tone early by transparently and candidly getting to know them as individuals: What motivates them, what frustrates them and where do they see their career going in the future.

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Tiffany Pham, CEO and founder of Mogul

The best piece of advice for the early conversations: Clearly communicate to your team members that you’ve got their back from the outset. Establish a foundation of transparency and trust early on that will carry through your relationship. Here are some things to explore during these get-to-know-you meetings: Career journey: How did you get to this job?

What is your favorite thing about your job now?

What do you wish there were more of?

How do you feel about senior leadership?

How do you feel about the team’s overall dynamics?

How do you feel about the office environment?

What are your personal career goals and how can I help create a plan to get there?

And here’s a meeting tip from a pro: Tiffany Pham, CEO and founder of Mogul, says she prefers to schedule one-onones with her team members outside of the office. “I never eat alone,” she told me. “By getting your team members out of the cube and into a more relaxed setting, you’ll learn more about them and how their work and their lives intersect.”

So find alternative ways of connecting and getting to know your team and start setting up time in your schedule to make it happen. Set up a quick lunch, coffee or even walk around the office, as they can all be healthy ways to connect with your team.

You can read blogs and advice books until you’re blue in the face, but know this: The single best way to become a better leader is to watch a great leader in action. Whether your company is 10 people or 10,000 people, strong leaders will stand out. Identify a leader who matches with your own leadership style or personality and invite them to coffee to propose a mentorship relationship to them.

When setting up these meetings, avoid vague phrasing such as “I’d like to pick your brain.” Explain exactly what you hope to benefit from the relationship, and set expectations for the mentor so they know exactly what to expect.

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For example, perhaps you schedule a standing 20-minute coffee break, where you stroll out of the office and tackle one question or topic at a time. This makes the ask much more manageable for your mentor and also gives you a framework for guiding actionable conversations. Some topics to address with your management mentor: What do you wish you knew when you first became a manager that you know now?

What is your advice for giving tough feedback?

How should I celebrate wins within my team?

What’s the best way to motivate the range of personality types on my team?

How can I better collect feedback on my management style from the team?

How can I lead by example when it comes to work/life balance?

Since you’re new to managing a team, you might think delegation is simply a matter of forwarding emails or assigning tasks that you might not want to do with others on your team. If you’ve had a bad manager at any point in your career, no doubt you’ve been on the other side of this equation. Effective management is as much about scaling your talents across your direct report or team as it is about developing that person in their own role. Effective delegation involves pairing the right individual with the right tasks, and creating a framework for which types of tasks you delegate to whom. One of the most important pieces of delegation involves providing context — that is, clearly communicating to your team what the objective of the task is and why it’s important to the team or company mission. Here are some additional best practices to consider pre- and post-project: Project communication. How you communicate the tasks you delegate will set the tone for the project ahead.

Phrases like “I would like you to own this project end to end” and “Handle this ASAP” will have drastically different effects on your team.

Providing support and micromanaging are two very different things. Offer help or step in as needed, but create timelines that allow your team to learn and do with some breathing room for bumps along the way.

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ing that you welcome open and transparent communication. Clearly communicate to teams how and when they can provide feedback to their manager.

You made it to Friday. Congratulations! There’s still work to do as a newbie manager.Within the first week of being a manager, you’ll notice that the hours seem to slip by quicker than they used to. At many companies, managers operate as player-coaches, tasked with their own responsibilities while also being in charge of the performance and ongoing development of their teams. With more on your plate, efficiency will become exceedingly important to maintaining a healthy work/life balance. A 10-second Google search will yield hundreds, if not thousands, of time management tips. As a manager, it’s on you to develop processes that work for you and your unique work habits. Here are some hacks to test out in your first weeks: Know your “top three”: Each morning, write down the top three priorities you want to advance on that day. Set clear and realistic milestones and hold yourself accountable.

Block your calendar: Instead of creating to-do lists, block windows in your calendar to complete specific tasks or projects within a given window.

Stop multitasking: Interruptions are the enemy of efficiency. Establish discreet windows for checking email and hold “office hours” so your team knows when you’re available for questions (and when you need to focus your attention elsewhere).

Prioritize and say no. Savvy managers know how to rank the projects that are most important to the team and company objectives. They also know when to say “no,” or push things off to a later date.

A common pain point for new managers is the pressure of having other individuals dependent on you for success. While your team is ultimately supporting the priorities you set as the team leader, your support of them is perhaps even more important.

You might be familiar with the term “servant leadership” coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. Within this philosophy, managers focus on team development as their top priority, tirelessly working to “serve” their teams in this capacity. Servant leadership requires a tangible presence of the manager in the lives of their team members, one that emphasizes support and guidance as opposed to micromanagement. Here are some quick ways to exert yourself as a servant leader: Be an active listener. Give your team members a platform for providing feedback and make that feedback actionable.

Demonstrate empathy. Make it a point to gauge how your team members are feeling not just at work, but in their lives more holistically.

Work on your self-awareness. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses will allow you to serve your team better.

Do You Want to Be a Better Manager?

OK, so technically Day Six is Monday. But it’s a continuation of your first-week indoctrination in your new role. Giving and receiving feedback is one of the easiest ways to create stronger relationships with your teams, yet too few managers have feedback systems in place. The real-time nature of work means that communication has become instantaneous and ongoing, and yet most companies still rely on annual reviews or infrequent employee engagement surveys. By the time managers receive the data, it’s no longer timely and probably not actionable. Whether you rely on technology to collect and give team feedback or not, the most important step to take is to formalize feedback loops early.

Continue setting the tone in your first week by reinforcm ay / j u n e

2018

It obviously takes longer than a week of self-reflection to be considered a great manager. It’s a long process that will require you to get to know your employees, your company, and most importantly you’ll have to make sure to know your own strengths and weaknesses.

If you want to be a great manager, it’s important to be curious and keep a growth mindset. You’ll always have to learn and do a little more to understand the needs of your employees.

As a manager, you’ll have to know what to do in order to push your employees to be successful individuals who will shine at your company and beyond.

David Mendlewicz is the CEO of Butterfly.ai, an AI-driven software that harnesses employee feedback to create a customized learning experience for managers. To comment, email editors@ workforce.com.

w o r k f o r c e . c o m | Workƒorce

47

SECTOR REPORT

EAP Providers

Anxiety and the Employee Assistance Program Stress in the workplace is on the rise, but companies need to destigmatize EAPs if they want employees to get help.

By Sarah Fister Gale

A

merican workers are stressed, and for a lot of reasons.

The American Psychological Association’s 2017 “State of the Nation” report found that health care, financial concerns and trust in the government top the list of stress-inducing issues. It also found respondents are more likely to report symptoms of stress, which include anxiety, anger and fatigue, than they have in the past.

This is not good news for employers, said LuAnn Heinen, lead expert on employee assistance programs for the National Business Group on Health, a Washington, D.C.based nonprofit organization focused on national health-policy issues.

“Stress and anxiety are huge issues in the workplace and it is spreading globally,” she said. Stress can have a huge impact on productivity and performance, and drive up absenteeism and turnover, all of which affects the bottom line — which is why EAP programs are so important.

EAPs were originally designed to address employee drug and alcohol abuse problems, but they have expanded over the years to cover many aspects of mental health, including anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and stress, Heinen said.

These programs can have a positive impact, but only if employees feel confident taking advantage of them.

Despite more open dialog about the importance of mental health, many employees can be embarrassed to take advantage of these services. “It’s important to destigmatize their use and to communicate that anyone can benefit from an EAP,” Heinen said. “For a lot of people, just a few conversations can be enough.”

Companies can foster a more open attitude around mental health by training managers to identify signs of stress or other issues, and by supporting peer advocacy

ANXIETY AND STRESS WERE AMONG THE TOP THREE REASONS THAT EMPLOYEES ACCESSED EAP SERVICES IN 2016.

48

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and employee groups to support use of mental health programs, said Barb Veder, vice president of clinical services and research lead for Morneau Shepell, an HR services and technology company headquartered in Toronto. She also encourages benefits managers to think about the barriers of use for EAPs, and to work with their vendors to ensure they are offering a variety of platforms, education materials and communication strategies to encourage its use. For example, offering multiple digital services including apps, telecounselling and remote support tools provides greater flexibility in how these services are accessed and can reduce some of the anxiety around being found out, she said.

These varying EAP platforms also address the way different generations want to take advantage of support services. “Millennials are all about ease of access,”Veder said.

They want multiple ways to access information, including videos, online content and self-paced solutions that don’t require any human intervention, whereas older workers may still prefer to talk to someone on the phone or face-to-face. “You need to design programs that adapt to these needs, and offer many ways to access information,” she said.

Millennials’ digital upbringing also impacts the kinds of EAP services they may use. This generation tends to feel more lonely and isolated, compared to prior generations, in part because they spend so much time online. A 2017 study found that young

POOR MENTAL HEALTH COSTS EMPLOYERS ROUGHLY

$30 BILLION

PER YEAR IN LOST PRODUCTIVITY, ABSENTEEISM AND TURNOVER.

m ay / j u n e

2018

adults who use a lot of social media feel more socially isolated than their peers. Millennials also report higher stress levels than other generations according to the APA report. Providing services that address these issues and target younger workers may make the service offerings more relevant. “It’s important to be mindful of these dynamics, and to create programs that address these issues,” Veder said.

Heinen agreed. “When you create an employee centric program that provides access to services based on learning style and lifestyle preferences, the likelihood that employees will use the program is higher.”

Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in the Chicago area. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

HOT LIST EAP Providers Listed alphabetically; compiled by Aysha Ashley Househ; editors@workforce.com REVENUE DERIVED FROM EAP SERVICES

NUMBER OF EAP EMPLOYER CLIENTS

TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES COVERED

$11 million

12,000

11.5 million

CIGNA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INC. cigna.com

Would not disclose

900

14 million

COMPSYCH CORP. compsych.com

$475 million

45,000

100 million

FIRST SUN EAP firstsuneap.com

$2,450,000

476

165,000

HEALTH ADVOCATE EAP+WORK/LIFE healthadvocate.com

$30 million

3,000

10 million

MAGELLAN HEALTHCARE magellanhealth.com

$70 million

1,100

12 million

MINES AND ASSOCIATES INC. minesandassociates.com

Would not disclose

Would not disclose

200,000

MORNEAU SHEPELL* morneaushepell.com

Would not disclose

8,000

20 million

PERSPECTIVES LTD perspectivesltd.com

Would not disclose

550

300,000

COMPANY NAME & Web Address ACI SPECIALTY BENEFITS acispecialtybenefits.com

*Morneau Shepell acquired Chestnut Global Partners in 2017.

Note: Integrated Behavioral Health Inc. and Beacon Health Options declined to participate.

Source: Companies m ay / j u n e

2018

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49

SECTOR REPORT

Rewards and Recognition Providers

Variety Is the Key to Voluntary Benefits Success Customization, ease of use and lots of options make voluntary benefits an attractive recruiting tool.

By Sarah Fister Gale

V

oluntary benefits used to be a necessary add-on — giving employees the option to add auto, home or life insurance to their list of annual benefits. But today’s voluntary benefits packages are far more diverse, offering a range of services including pet insurance, financial wellness, legal help, long term disability and even genomic mapping, said Amy Hollis, national leader of voluntary benefits for HR consultancy Willis Towers Watson. In the consultancy’s most recent benefits sur vey, almost 70 percent of employers said voluntary benefits and services will be an important part of their employee value proposition in the next three to five years.

“Companies are using voluntary benefits to enrich their offerings without additional cost,” she said.

The variety of benefits also addresses the expectations of today’s workers, said Wendy Herndon, second vice president of product development and implementation for insurer Aflac. “People today want to customize everything in their lives, and benefits are no exception.”

Among the new programs, financial wellness is gaining the most attention as employees from every generation struggle to manage debt, pay off loans and plan for retirement. College loan repayment support is especially popular with millennials, noted Rob Shestack, chairman and CEO of the Voluntary Benefits Association in Philadelphia. These programs can include employer matching through 401(k) programs and refinance options to lower monthly payments, along with financial planning tools and education.

Student loan repayment programs are still relatively new; only 4 percent of companies offered them in 2017,

67

%

OF EMPLOYERS BELIEVE VOLUNTARY BENEFITS IMPROVE WORKER MORALE AND SATISFACTION.

50

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according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. However, as more young people come to the workforce with crippling college debt, these kinds of programs could become attractive recruiting and retention tools, Shestack said. “Millennials change jobs every two to three years,” he said. “Employers can use this kind of program to get and keep the best talent.”

Identity theft protection is also gaining popularity in the financial wellness category, he said. These programs help employees to both protect their identity from hackers, and to recover when theft has taken place, Shestack said. “It is driven by the world we live in.”

All of these programs can add value, though companies should be thoughtful about what they offer. While variety is in demand, it’s only useful if employees want what is being offered, Shestack said. “There are so many innovative programs out there, but you have to fit them to the demographics of the company,” he said.

And even though employers don’t pay for these benefits, managing so many offerings can be an administrative nightmare, added Hollis. “Administration is the top obstacle companies face with these programs.”

This is giving benefits providers the opportunity to add value for their clients by creating simple solutions to ease program management. For example, some vendors will provide a single interface to manage multiple service offerings, so employees can find and access any benefit through a single portal or platform.

“Addressing administrative obstacles is viewed as a significant advantage,” Hollis said. She has even seen larger companies prioritize ease of administration over cost when choosing vendors.

Vendors are also expanding into more digital

77

%

OF COMPANIES PLAN TO OFFER FINANCIAL PLANNING OR COUNSELING BY 2019. m ay / j u n e

2018

education and enrollment options, providing clients with apps, online portals, videos, and chatbots along with traditional phone and face-to-face support. This is all part of the personalization of voluntary benefits, according to Herndon. “The insurance industry is focused on creating the best customer service by providing an omnichannel user experience,” she said. “Meeting the customer where they are is the biggest challenge for us right now.”

Once companies choose their voluntary benefits options, they should actively promote them and educate employees about their value.

“The most frustrating thing is when HR makes the effort to provide these programs then does passive enroll-

ment,” Shestack said. “It’s like saying you don’t care if people use them or not.”

He believes HR should run open enrollment for voluntary benefits and provide employees with educational materials, reminders and workshops to help them choose the benefits that are appropriate for their needs. “It is the number one thing employers can do to encourage enrollment,” he said.

The more employees are aware of these programs, the more value they bring to the business, he added.

Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in the Chicago area. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

HOT LIST Rewards and Recognition Providers Listed alphabetically; compiled by Aysha Ashley Househ; editors@workforce.com COMPANY NAME & Web Address

ANNUAL REVENUE

NUMBER OF CLIENTS

KEY CLIENTS

ACHIEVERS achievers.com

Would not disclose

250

Visa; Bank of Montreal; Ericsson; Samsung; Allianz; Save Mart Supermarkets; Meijer

ENGAGE2EXCEL INC. engage2excel.com

Would not disclose

2,700

Aflac; Procter & Gamble; Honeywell; Colgate-Palmolive; Emory Healthcare; UPS

GLOBOFORCE globoforce.com

Would not disclose

Would not disclose

Merck; Cardinal Health; Cisco Systems; Eaton Corp.

*HALO RECOGNITION halorecognition.com

Would not disclose

800

Marriott; PPG Northwell Health; HealthSouth

IDENTITYFORCE identityforce.com

$50 million

Would not disclose

Rochester Institute of Technology; Federal Aviation Administration; City of Nashville

O.C. TANNER octanner.com

$500 million

4,000

Dow; Thomson Reuters; Taco Bell; American Eagle

RIDEAU INC. Rideau.com

$150 Million

960

RBC Financial Group; Intel; Boeing

Notes: *Michael C. Fina rebranded as Halo Recognition in 2017.

CultureNext did not respond to requests for information.

Source: Companies m ay / j u n e

2018

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ROOTS continued from page 42 Roberts works from home, and not sharing an office with her team made her more aware of the need for good communication and people skills. In addition to holding ad hoc trainings, she schedules weekly one-on-ones with the HR managers she leads. During sessions, her direct reports share projects they’re working on.

“They show me anything they are proud of or struggling with, especially if they’re putting a communication out and want my input on it,” she said.

Using collaboration tools isn’t the same as being on-site, but it allows her be as hands on as possible. And it’s taught her to be more intentional in her communications, she said.

Compassion-First Pet Hospital’s personal approach to delivering HR services doesn’t end with sharing screens. The company assigns employees a designated HR contact person to reach out to when they have questions. It’s a step up from a departmentwide email address where messages

“go into an inbox and you don’t get the same person who you know who’ll take care of you,” Roberts said. The personal touch “gives employees the feeling of someone cares about me.”

By automating administrative tasks and reserving HR practitioners to deal with people-related issues that machines can’t handle, HR departments are positioning themselves for a future when all administrative tasks will be managed by AI-based systems, said Schawbel. “It’s the best way they can add value in the age of AI,” he said.

In the future, HR will become a company’s emotional support arm, providing the feedback, training and safety that employees need to succeed on the job, Schawbel said.

“For HR to stay relevant, they need to use their emotional capital, relationships and soft skills.”

Michelle V. Rafter is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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53

LAST WORD

Rick Bell

A LOT CAN CHANGE IN A DECADE — OR SEVEN

T

he Society for Human Resource Management’s annual Workforce, and its predecessors. It’s apparent that the more soiree is headed back to Chicago in June. things change, the more they remain the same.

SHRM last visited the Windy City five years ago, just a Think for a moment about your biggest people couple of months after Human Capital Media had ac- management challenges. Attracting and retaining the quired this publication from our previous ownership, best and the brightest? Maybe that clichéd phrase is Crain Communications. relatively new but vying for top talent, whether wadSHRM also brought 14,000 or so of its closest friends ing through social media profiles or enticing future to Chicago in 2008 when Workforce was based in Irvine, grads on college campuses, is as old as wearing racCalifornia, and published two magazines a month. Work- coon skin coats and shouting “boola boola” at the Satforce has since relocated to Chicago and now publishes six urday afternoon game against Harvard. print issues annually.

Generational issues did not start when the first millennial set foot in the workplace.Wizened old vets versus the cocky hot shots and wise guys (today we’d call them rock stars) is an age-old issue. And today’s laser-sharp focus on gender, racial and pay equity in the workplace finally intensifies issues that have existed for decades.

Revisiting the lifetime employment pact so prevalent in the 1950s and ’60s could help narrow those divides. Indeed, the gig economy continues to grow but the wisdom in caring for employees to bring out their best has proven to be beneficial to business results as well as workers.

I was at both conferences and will make it a Windy It could also help ease the swelling around HR’s City trifecta when SHRM kicks off at McCormick Place black eye for failing to protect women in #MeToo siton Father’s Day afternoon, which also is a long-winded uations. A return to that people-first loyalty perspective way to say that a lot changes in 10 years. of the mid-20th century isn’t a cure-all but is a smart A decade ago HR’s leading association also was under- place to start. going big changes of its own as SHRM entered its 60th Workforce and SHRM were founded at a time when huyear. Highly respected CEO Sue Meisinger was relin- man resources was known as personnel. Our initial titles quishing her leadership after six years. Unfortunately reflected that era, too. Workforce was originally called the even with five months’ notice, Meisinger’s successor had Journal of Personnel Research and shortened to Personnel Journot been named by the time she gave her farewell speech nal several years later. SHRM was known as the American that Sunday afternoon.

Society for Personnel Administration. Our names changed Through China Gorman’s interim management to Lon (ASPE became SHRM in the early ’70s, while Personnel O’Neill’s short-lived time at the top, it wasn’t until the Journal was renamed Workforce in the early ’90s) because of 2011 SHRM conference in Las Vegas that there appeared the shifting role of people management. to be a permanent leadership solution when Hank JackAnd, to be perfectly honest, SHRM and Workforce are son was named CEO. working well past retirement age. SHRM celebrates its Fast-forward to 2018 and succession planning is no 70th anniversary this year, while Workforce, first published longer an issue for SHRM. Johnny C. Taylor will address in 1922, turned a spry 96 this year. Today we embrace his inaugural conference as the organization’s seventh artificial intelligence but also must be wary of its threats.

CEO prior to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s opening The big tech challenge in the Roaring ’20s? Teaching keynote on Sunday — a full year after he was named as employees to drive a vehicle.

Jackson’s successor.

As the rubber hits the road on the way to SHRM this As SHRM enters its seventh decade with steady lead- year, remember that there are valuable lessons for all HR ership and a growing membership of 285,000 HR prac- leaders embedded in past SHRM conferences and the titioners, I have come to realize that the challenges back issues of Workforce. In order to steer through your faced by today’s people managers are strikingly similar future challenges, it’s helpful to look in the rearview to to the ones faced by SHRM’s handful of founders — see how you addressed them in the past. likely a collection of ubiquitous personnel men of the 1940s and ’50s.

Rick Bell is Workforce’s editorial director. To comment, email We’ve recently spent time poring over old issues of editors@workforce.com.

VYING FOR TOP TALENT IS AS OLD AS WEARING RACCOON SKIN COATS AND SHOUTING ‘BOOLA BOOLA’ AT THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON GAME AGAINST HARVARD.

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m ay / j u n e

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