Building Your Workplace Culture: Consider Employee Surveys

With the upending of the workplace over the last year, building and nurturing workplace culture is more important than ever.

One key reason for this: a healthy workplace culture – defined broadly as one in which employees feel valued, comfortable and have overt opportunities for growth – can help leadership recruit and retain employees for the long term.

In one example, a recent Deloitte survey of millennials shows job loyalty increases when employers address specific employee workplace preferences, such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability and re-skilling programs.

As part of this, organization leaders and managers should ask: “how can I re-recruit and re-engage my employees and, in some cases, my leaders?” An actively disengaged employee, for example, can spread trouble (and reduced productivity and morale) throughout an organization.

For leadership, including the C-suite and managers, it’s important to keep this top of mind and work to build the organization’s culture to support and value its people.

One practical way to begin this effort is through employee engagement surveys. This type of survey can you help gain a more accurate picture of how employees view their work lives. In other words, as noted in a recent New York Times article, “employee surveys . . . can help you engage with employees before any bubbling tension builds to mutiny.”

To be sure, when employees have the opportunity to give their feedback on the nature of their workplace, it helps answer the question for leadership: “how do I make this a place where people want to be and have the opportunities to do great things?”

Employee engagement surveys help organization leadership stay in tune with their employees, allowing them a way to get to know what’s important to them. This dynamic, in turn, gives leaders a concrete way to improve overall employee satisfaction and culture.

impactAction: If you would like to learn more about developing an employee survey in your organization, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.

SBA Launches Database of Funding Sources for Businesses

To further aid national economic recovery, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) recently posted a new database of qualified non-SBA funding sources for small and medium-size businesses.

This database, easily accessed along with information on SBA primary funding tools, is searchable by zip code and includes basic information on funding from other federal programs plus various state and local programs.

This new database is focused on long-standing business funding programs (and does not track one-time funds or short-term initiatives related to the impacts of COVID-19). For this reason, it’s a good resource for businesses to understand the overall base of small and medium-size business financing resources. Read more.

impactHR Client Focus: Nyla Technology Solutions

Fortune magazine has designated our client, Nyla Technology Solutions, number six on its rankings list of “100 Fastest-Growing Inner City Businesses.”

Based in Baltimore City, Nyla is a woman-owned (plus a HUBZone and 8(a) certified) small business focused on providing software systems development services to the federal government.

Founded in 2013 by CEO Shana Cosgrove, Nyla covers a range of information technology disciplines including software engineering, electrical engineering, cyber security, systems engineering, data science, and computer network protocols.

Nyla’s team also is engaged in a number of philanthropic activities, including providing support for military veterans through fundraising for K9s for Warriors program and its annual Back-to-School drive in support of Baltimore’s Collington Square Elementary School.

Our impactHR team is thrilled to work with such an amazing company on their HR and talent management programs. Congratulations to the Nyla team!

Read more.

DC Mayor Approves Measure Banning Non-Compete Agreements

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser this month approved a new measure that bans the use of non-compete provisions in employment agreements and workplace policies.

The “Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2019,” which must be approved by Congress before it becomes law, also protects employees’ right to make a complaint or file a court case and it bars employers from retaliating against employees who inquire about their rights.

Once fully enacted following Congressional review, the measure, according to SHRM, would be “the broadest ban on noncompetition agreements in the country.” Read more.

OSHA Form 300A Must Be Posted Beginning Feb. 1

Employers must post OSHA Log 300 – a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2020 – in their workplaces between February 1 and April 30, 2021.

This form (OSHA Form 300A) is required for all organizations that employed 11+ people in 2020 (unless they qualify as part of an exempt low-risk industry).

The summary must be certified by a company executive and posted in a conspicuous location where notices to employees are typically placed. If your workplace is currently closed because of COVID-19, consider posting it on a company intranet page or other location online where it can be seen and accessed by employees.

In addition, employers with 250+ more employees are required to electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) by March 2, 2020 via OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application. Learn more.

impactAction: If you need assistance with OSHA compliance, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.

In Case You Missed These impactnews Articles . . .

Planning for 2021: Conduct an Audit of Your HR Function
Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering a Tolerant and Productive Workplace
5 Ways Employers Can Support the Mental Health of Their Employees