On Retaining Millenials

Whether you subscribe to the idea that there are or are not generational differences in employees, it is important to make an effort to try new methods for retaining employees of all ages. However, when considering the massive ambition that Millenials are said to have, it is hard to ignore that employers are looking for ways to hold onto younger talent that may be likely to leave for advancement opportunities. The following are a few quick tips for communicating with Millenial employees in such a way that they feel valued and empowered to achieve great things at your company. Continue Reading →

Communication, Employee Engagement, Employee Life Cycle, Employee Retention, Employees Leaving, Generations in the Workplace, High Performance, Human Resources, talent management, Work Life Balance Shortlink

Millenials in Hospitality

CB055356Just as any other industry, the hospitality industry faces many of the same challenges with multiple generations in the workforce. However, some admit that finding great talent within the Millenial (or Generation Y) group can be difficult. One might think that many positions in the hospitality industry would be a great fit for a young adult as it is common to begin with little experience and to receive on-the-job training (except for upper level positions). It could also be beneficial for college students to work in the hospitality industry as seasonal employees during breaks from school while gaining business experience. So why is it still so hard to find and, more importantly, keep Millenial employees?

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Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Generations in the Workplace, talent management Shortlink

A 25 Hour Work Week: Crazy or Clever?

Recent news about  a controversial proposal by James W. Vaupel (a Danish professor who is the head of the new Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging) that a 25 hour work week would be a better alternative to the 40 hour work week has stirred up conversation within the working world. This idea reflects on efforts to improve employee work-life balance while capitalizing on patterns of work productivity. Continue Reading →

Employee Engagement, Employee Life Cycle, Generations in the Workplace, High Performance, Miscellaneous, talent management, Time Management, Work Environment, Work Life Balance Shortlink

The Secret to Engaging Hospitality Industry Employees

There are countless resources in existence for those who hope to increase employee engagement within their organization. Many are general and vague that can be applied to many different industries. For example, to increase engagement, one might try improving the quality of feedback given to employees regarding their performance. In many situations, this broad advice can be helpful, but what happens when an industry has a unique problem that is not as prevalent in other industries? Continue Reading →

Communication, Employee Engagement, High Performance, Miscellaneous, talent management, Work Environment Shortlink

High Turnover in Hospitality

The hospitality industry is a unique one that exists to serve customers in their recreational time. This time is often spent in the form of lodging and travel, amusement parks, cruises, and more. To best serve customers’ needs, there are a vast variety of employees that staff businesses in the hospitality industry from entertainers, to customer service representatives, to maintenance staff. Unfortunately, these employees tend to have a high turnover rate that has long been unexplained (Hinkin & Tracey, 2000). Continue Reading →

Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, High Performance, Human Resources, Leadership, Miscellaneous, talent management, Work Environment Shortlink

Leader Theories

Leadership is both a popular and important subject of research with industrial/organizational psychology because all organizations must include some system of leadership in order to run smoothly. There are a multitude of different theories that describe what it takes to be an effective leader ranging from the trait perspective, to the behavioral perspective, to the contingency perspective. Each of these understandings of leadership provides unique insight into who makes good leaders and what kinds of behaviors a good leader should exhibit. Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, High Performance, Leadership, talent management Shortlink

Improving Your Reference Checks

As a human resource professional, it is easy to make mistakes in the hiring process even when not intended, which is a problem for hiring and managing top talent. Specifically, conducting reference checks can be done in such a way that it provides inaccurate and misleading information as opposed to helpful insight. It is actually becoming a trend to seek out other hiring methods to avoid the problems associated with obtaining reference checks.

If this step is required for hiring in an organization, it is important to make the process as structured and objective as reference information can be. Since the nature of reference checks is already somewhat subjective due to supervisors’ opinions and the candidate’s ability to select the most favorable recommendations, there are many steps that should be put in place to ensure accuracy. Continue Reading →

Education & Training, High Performance, Human Resources, Labor Laws, talent management Shortlink

3 Ways to Develop New Leaders

With the first quarter of the new year comes new changes in businesses across the globe. Many companies look to develop current leaders’ skills in such a way that provokes change and progression in the company, while other organizations may be looking for new talent to place in leadership roles. Either way, some trends have emerged for effectively developing old and new leaders that can be summed up in a few succinct pointers. Continue Reading →

Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, High Performance, Leadership, talent management Shortlink

What’s with millennials anyway?

Guest Author: Maggie Coffey, marketing intern for Hireology

Before you know it, the job market will be replenished with the latest set of recent college graduates. We’re eager, we’re dedicated and we’re picky. Even with a bleak job outlook and the impending repayment of student loans, millennials aren’t going to settle. Continue Reading →

Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employees Leaving, Generations in the Workplace, High Performance, Job Search, Miscellaneous, talent management, Work Environment, Work Life Balance Shortlink

Bonding through Branding

If I were to ask someone to name 10 brands, it would likely be an easy task. Brands are all around us and so deeply engrained in American culture (as well as many other cultures) that naming 10 brands would be simple for most. Not only can many individuals name multiple brands but describing attributes and key characteristics of those brands comes easily as well. People like easily recognizable brands and can even feel attracted to organizations and products because of the feeling they get when associating with the brand. Moreover, individuals are more likely to be attracted to companies and products that are consistent with how they perceive themselves. For example, if I wanted to buy a new car, as an eco-friendly individual that values preserving the environment, I would be more likely to buy a car that fit with that self-concept than a car that did not. Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Employee Engagement, Job Search, talent management, Work Environment Shortlink

The “Dreaded” Performance Reviews


We all dread performance reviews. And not just the topic, but the actual meeting that must occur in managers delivering the performance reviews and employees feeling awkward as the review occurs. There seems to be a strong negative connotation when saying the words, yet we all know how important performance reviews are to our development as employees. So, how do we lighten the topic? Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Life Cycle, Employee Retention, High Performance, Human Resources, talent management Shortlink

Cultivating Employees as Brand Ambassadors

Note: for more on this topic, tune into our upcoming webcast with LinkedIn Talent Solutions on January 29.

Author: TNS Consulting and Marketing Team

We’ve already established the reasons why it pays to engage employee connections and company followers on LinkedIn. You can do some of that yourself, but in reality you’ll get from 0 to 60 much faster if you partner with your employees. Your brand, whether corporate or employer, is no longer about the message you control, but rather the authentic experience you deliver.

LinkedIn and TNS Webcast - 4 Tips to convert your employees to talent brand ambassadors

A recent analysis by TNS offers the top drivers of employer brand ambassadors to deliver the brand promise, or what people expect from every interaction with your company: Continue Reading →

Employee Retention, Employee Surveys, Generations in the Workplace, Human Resources, talent management Shortlink

Work Group Effectiveness on Individuals


In the world of sports, a common adage used to motivate members of a team is to use the stronger team members to push you harder and help you improve your own skills. I played soccer from kindergarten all through high school and there is truth to this. I always had a sense for the “best” player on my team and I learned as much skill as I could from their example. Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Life Cycle, Employee Retention, Employees Leaving, High Performance, Miscellaneous, talent management Shortlink

Keeping Employees in “The Know”


Think of an organization as a family. Members of a family like to know what is going on with one another. When big changes happen such as someone changes jobs or deciding to move, family members generally want to know about it. The same can be said for employees in an organization. Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, talent management Shortlink

Sick Leave Banks

Does your company make use of what is known as a sick leave bank? A sick leave bank is a policy that some companies adopt in which employees are permitted to “donate” their excess sick time to a organization-wide bank. This bank is made available to other employees who may need additional sick leave above and beyond what he or she may normally accrue due to serious illness.

Sick leave banks are actually not a new concept. However, more and more organizations are beginning to put similar policies into effect in order to better support employees with serious illness. As a student of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and someone who has had her fair share of jobs in different types of organizations, I was surprised to only just now learn of this concept when apparently it has been at work in organizations for decades. A quick internet search will reveal a myriad of personnel handbook policies from  numerous companies that use this benefit.

While this seems like a perfectly logical policy for organizations to better support certain employees, there is a small risk in that some employees may feel inclined to abuse this benefit. Some companies require employees who draw from the bank to have a long-term condition documented, while other companies do not. If your company has a sick leave bank, do you find that anyone abuses the benefit or is it truly as good as it sounds?

Our recent panel data revealed that only 55% of all employees surveyed felt that their supervisor cared about them as an individual, leaving much room for improvement. In theory, a benefit such as a sick leave bank would help employees with serious illnesses to understand that the organization cares about them and wants to help them through any difficulties that illness can cause, particularly for one’s work life. This feeling of compassion would likely translate to a greater connection and commitment to the employer. The question is: does it really work?

Behavioral Science, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Health & Fitness at Work, Miscellaneous, talent management Shortlink

All Work But No Play

As jobs require employees to take on more and more responsibilities and work, employees can get burnt out very quickly. Long hours and lack of resources can leave employees feeling anything but engaged on the job. While organizations are not currently always able to give employees large wage increases, there are other options available to keep morale high.

The Ping Pong Table and Bags set setup in a storage area at the TNSei office near Chicago. Employees can take a break, have some fun, and team build at the same time.

One of the most effective ways to take all the work out of the workday is to provide employees with opportunities to step away from the desk and refresh themselves. This does not have to mean that the organization needs to take extravagant measures, however, something as simple as a group lunch out can provide employees with a break. Not only does this allow employees to eat away from their desks, but also it provides valuable bonding among employees.

Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Life Cycle, Employee Retention, Employees Leaving, talent management Shortlink

No Rungs Left on the Ladder: Keeping Employees Engaged


In my graduate program, some of my classmates who worked full-time spoke often of a fear of getting bored in their career. Many spoke of feeling that they may hit a point where “climbing the corporate ladder” ceases and they become stuck in a position they are unhappy. With organizations tightening promotions and creation of new jobs, this a real fear that many employees experience. Continue Reading →

Communication, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employees Leaving, Miscellaneous, talent management Shortlink

Investments in Employee Education Reaps Great ROIs

by guest blogger Kyle Lagunas, HR Analyst of Software Advice

While there are many potential benefits of tuition assistance programs (or TAPs), the challenge for business leaders is to manage investments in employee education in a way that maximizes returns–both for the employer and the employee. Not only does a TAP need to encourage the development of specific skills in your workforce, it also needs to empower employees to pursue their educational goals.

For companies who want to launch a new TAP—or revamp an existing one—it’s hard to know where to begin. To that end, I connected with John Zappa, CEO of EdLink to identify a few key steps to get you started.

1. Identify Goals, Support with Investments
Work with your senior management team to set quantifiable, measurable goals. Address the question of cost early on, using your goals as a guiding compass. The more critical a goal, the larger your investment in a TAP. Alternatively, you can follow industry standards for less-than-critical goals.

You might consider breaking qualifying coursework into groups. Here is an example:

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Miscellaneous, talent management, Work Environment, Work Life Balance Shortlink

TNS at HRMAC Summit NOW!

TNS Employee Insights is at HRMAC Summit today in Rosemont, Illinois. If you are already coming to the summit, please stop by booth 120. Christy Kessler and Mary O’Brien will be available to speak with you. If you’re not going to the HRMAC Summit, you can always call us at 847-726-4040.

Behavioral Science, Education & Training, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employee Surveys, Exit Surveys, HR Surveys, Human Resources, Miscellaneous, Summit, talent management, Trade Shows Shortlink

Looking At Employee Engagement Differently


It is easy for us all to look at a concept and think of it in terms of what we have always defined it as. For example, when we think of job satisfaction what typically comes to mind is how happy or unhappy an employee is. While this is correct, there is much more to job satisfaction than just level of happiness. The same is true for employee engagement. Continue Reading →

Behavioral Science, Communication, Employee Engagement, Miscellaneous, talent management Shortlink