Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Human Resources

We know HR. Read our Human Resources blog archives for stories and best practices from our work with real clients and personal experiences in the world of HR.

  • 3 Ways to Lead with Grace

    3 Ways to Lead with Grace

    We recently selected our next Book of the Year, and while I won’t give away the surprise just yet, I will say that we’re laser focused on grace. We’ve talked a lot this year about Graceful Accountability – the practice of giving grace and expecting high performance – and this week I’d like to share 3 simple ways that we can all lead with grace in our workplaces, in our homes, and in our communities. 

    1. Practice the GREET model. Originally intended for healthcare providers learning the delicacies of bedside manner, we train on the GREET model across industries to anyone who works in customer service…which turns out to be all of us. We all have a customer, be it an internal colleague, an external buyer, or simply someone we want to become (and stay) our friend. So, here’s what we do: 

    • Greet – Don’t underestimate the value of a simple “hello”, “good morning”, or “how are you”. People notice. 
    • Rapport – It’s a cliche that we talk about the weather or sports when making small talk, but sometimes cliches are really important. Building rapport is a way of leading with grace by treating someone like a person first. 
    • Expectations – Clearly state the purpose of the conversation or meeting. When Mary Ila calls me with questions or guidance on a current project, we spend the first minute or two on Greet and Rapport, and then she’ll say, “Well thanks for calling, I don’t think it will take long, I wanted to talk/ask about ______.” 
    • Explanation – Often omitted, explanations bring a lot of value. Explaining the why or providing details helps someone feel informed and part of the discussion. This is also where psychological safety (grace) comes into play. 
    • Thanks – Always, always, always thank someone for their time and input. Even if (especially if) the conversation was difficult or the feedback uncomfortable.

    2.  Be the bridge. Mary Ila wrote a series earlier this year about meeting Survive and Thrive needs in our workplaces, and she talked about relational needs being the bridge between the two. Fueled by insight from Celeste Headlee, Mary Ila talks about communicating with voice, not just with writing. When was the last time you spoke gratitude for someone instead of sending a thank you email? Are we really creating a bridge to help others cross from Survive to Thrive if we’re not talking to them?

    I’m ashamed to admit that right now I cannot remember the last time I spoke gratitude. Of course I say “thank you”, but it’s like a reflex. That’s not gratitude. When it occurs to me to show gratitude, I turn to texts or emails or may even send hand-written postcards and thank you notes by snail mail. I’ve never really liked talking on the phone, and my schedule is too busy to add more get togethers – and this is where I’ve failed in my mission to lead with grace and be the bridge. I’ve put my focus on time and efficiency, not on relationships. I’m working on it, but I have a long way to go. What about you? 

    3.  Set the tone by going first. If you want to help others lead with grace, you have to be the first domino. Be upfront about your own personal work style and preferences, and ask your team to do the same. Leading with grace is about meeting people in the middle, and allowing flexibility for people to be people first. It’s also about showing that you are also a person first, and that you need a little grace sometimes, too. 

    At the end of the day, the old saying that “you get what you give” rings true. If you give grace, others will give it right back when you need it. How are you leading with grace in this holiday season?  

  • Bring Me a Rock

    Bring Me a Rock

    My husband has a great analogy for ineffective communication that goes like this: 

    It’s like when they say, “Bring me a rock”. You go outside, grab the first rock you see, and take it to them. They say “No, we need a different rock.” You go back outside, grab a different rock, take it back, and they say “No, not that rock. It needs to be gray.” And so on and so forth until you eventually figure out that they wanted a big, round, gray rock from the bottom of the Mississippi River. How were you supposed to know that? If they knew what they wanted, why didn’t they just say it? 

    When people experience this type of interaction over and over again, they become less trusting and less engaged with the work. They start to feel like nothing they ever do will be the right thing, because it’s never clear what the right thing actually is. It’s a very demotivating work environment where accountability is high and psychological safety is not: the anxiety zone.

    We should all be working to find the right balance between accountability and psychological safety. In other words, we can absolutely have high standards of performance and a people-first, inclusive culture. I call this Graceful Accountability. 

    If you’ve heard me talk about Graceful Accountability, you know I’m serious about it. I’ve seen countless healthy and unhealthy teams over the years, and the difference is almost always the result of either too much “speak up” or too much “do what we tell you to do”. It’s either so relaxed and accepting that results suffer, or it’s so structured and rigid that people suffer. When we practice Graceful Accountability, we reset the balance. 

    Next time you need someone to bring you a rock, meet them in the middle – figure out what it is you really need and communicate those expectations clearly (accountability), then allow space for questions, discussion, and gratitude (psychological safety). 

    What are you doing now to find the right balance of accountability and psychological safety? 

    —

    Attending the UA HR Conference? Catch Jillian’s session October 27th at 11am. Learn more about #UAHR22 at horizonpointconsulting.com/whatsup. 

  • Today I Was Biased

    Today I Was Biased

    This morning my 16-year-old informed me that tomorrow is “Senior Day” for Homecoming week and as part of the SGA leadership team, he has to dress up as a senior citizen. The immediate image in my head was that of an old man with a branded t-shirt, khaki pants held up by wide suspenders, and clunky white tennis shoes. So that’s what we went with.

    Why that’s the image that popped into my mind, I don’t know. My dad is 71, he’s a senior citizen, and he’s never dressed like that. My uncles don’t dress like that. In fact, no senior men I know dress like that. But yet that’s the first image I have when I think of a senior man. And I realize that’s a very biased image.

    Biases and perceptions have been on my mind a lot lately. On October 24th, my colleague Jillian and I will be traveling to Perdido Beach Resort to speak at the Alabama Association of Regional Councils Annual Conference and one of our sessions will be on Overcoming Bias. I’ve also been researching job requirements and disability accommodations for my capstone thesis for law school and much of my research includes discussions on biases and perceptions.

    We all have biases and perceptions. Some are conscious biases, we know we have them, and some are unconscious. We may react a certain way in a given situation but haven’t yet connected the dots to understand why we always react that specific way. So, what are some steps we can take to minimize bias in the workplace?

    • Sit with your feelings. If you’re familiar with Emotional Intelligence, the first skill is self-awareness. Being aware of your own feelings. If you’re dealing with a difficult situation or decision, have to have a tough conversation, or just have some pressing thoughts running through your mind, find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted and ask yourself how you’re feeling and be honest about it. Are you angry, frustrated, sad, happy, confused? Don’t try to talk yourself out of how you’re feeling or think you should feel guilty for the emotions you’re experiencing, just feel them and ask yourself why you feel the way you do. Acknowledging the feelings is the first step to understanding them and learning how to manage them, which is the second skill of emotional intelligence; self-management.
    • Understand that biases can be positive or negative, and both can have a huge impact. We tend to think that biases are negative beliefs or views, but that’s not always the case. Imagine you have a great employee that reminds you of yourself when you were “that age” and so without even realizing you do it, you begin to give them preferential treatment. They get all the best assignments, you take them under your wing and teach them everything you know, you end up going out to lunch together more days than not to discuss work, and eventually the other members of your team start to get resentful of always being left out. Their performance starts to deteriorate, their morale slips further and further down, and you just can’t figure out why. And before you know it, your star performer seems unhappy too and appears to be avoiding you. You’re guilty of engaging in the Similar-to-Me Bias, you showed a preference toward the employee who you felt was most similar to you, without even realizing you were doing it.
    • Practice change. Your biases and perceptions are formed based on your experiences and environment. When we experience similar situations, we begin to create biases towards those types of situations; same with people. For example, if you hate going to the dentist, you talk yourself into how horrible going to the dentist for your checkup is going to be and the closer it gets the more you dread it and you are miserable the entire time you’re getting your cleaning done and you come out and you think about how miserable it was. What if you purposefully changed your approach. Instead of self-talk about how horrible the visit was going to be, what if instead you gave yourself a pep-talk about how it wouldn’t be that bad and you could handle it and that the dentist and hygienist are both really nice. And during the visit you tell yourself how well you’re doing and when it’s over you congratulate yourself on doing so well and how it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Do you think that maybe after a few visits that might help change your mindset about going to the dentist? Same with those dreaded weekly meetings that last forever – try some positive self-talk and see if you can’t change your biases and perspective towards them, even if just a little.

    My challenge for you this week: Pick one bias or perception that you want to change and start practicing.

  • Top Payroll Errors

    Top Payroll Errors

    My theme for the summer seems to be money. It’s been a huge topic of conversation in my house and with clients, from trying to help my oldest navigate scholarships, FAFSA, and how to responsibly manage having a credit card, to teaching my 16-year-old to understand income taxes, to helping clients answer questions about wages and payroll. 

    Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked about misclassifying employees, both as Independent Contractors and as exempt employees. This week I want to shift a little and talk about some of the common payroll errors and how to avoid them. 

    Overtime Pay: 

    • Comp time for hourly employees: Unfortunately, unless you are a government agency, employers cannot opt to provide comp time in lieu of payment of overtime wages. Any employee who works over 40 hours in a workweek must be paid for that time. 
    • Averaging hours across the pay period: The federal law states that anything over 40 hours in a workweek must be paid as overtime. A common error that employers make is averaging that time over a two-week period. “Well, the employee worked 80 hours over two weeks, with 50 hours in one week and 30 in the next, so we don’t owe them overtime.” Unfortunately, this is not the case. If your workweek is Sunday through Saturday and an employee works over 40 hours in that workweek, they must be paid for overtime hours worked, even if you pay biweekly and they work less than 40 hours in the second week. And keep in mind it’s based on the workweek, not calendar week. So, if your workweek is from Wednesday to Tuesday, it’s 40 hours within those days. Keep in mind that a few states, such as California, have overtime laws that are more stringent than the federal law, so be sure to confirm state overtime laws as well. 
    • Overtime wasn’t approved in advance, so we don’t have to pay it: Regardless of whether or not the employee followed proper procedures, you are still required to pay them for all hours worked, even if it’s unapproved overtime. In such cases, you should pay the wages and then follow your disciplinary process to counsel the employee on not getting pre-approval to work the hours. 
    • Miscalculating overtime pay: Many employers believe that overtime pay is based on an employee’s hourly rate, but in fact, there are other wages that may need to be added to that calculation. The FLSA states that “employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay.” Note that this does not say hourly rate, but “regular rate of pay.” This is important because an employee’s regular rate of pay could include shift differentials, premium pay, stipends, and nondiscretionary payments (for example quarterly bonuses based on production). 

    Improper Withholdings: 

    • Not withholding correct income taxes: This has become a bigger issue with the increase in remote workers post-Covid. Many employers are not sure how to navigate figuring out how to set up taxes for out-of-state employees. It’s important to know that some states have a reciprocity agreement, meaning that an employee can live in one state and work in another and only be taxed in the state where they live. For example, given the mobility across state lines in the Virginia, Maryland, and DC areas (DMV), employees who live in one of those locations but work in another DMV location do not have to pay taxes to the location in which they work. 
    • Not setting up state tax accounts: In addition to understanding reciprocity agreements, the employer must understand what business accounts they need to set up in each state. This will vary but usually includes a state tax account and a state unemployment insurance account. Failure to set up and pay into the proper state accounts can lead to hefty fines and penalties. 
    • Improper deductions from wages: Federal law allows employers to make certain deductions from an employee’s wages without their written consent. These include tax deductions, garnishments, and meals and lodging. Beyond that, employers must have written consent to deduct from an employee’s wages. For example, if you as the employer require an employee to pay for their own PPE, you must have them sign a payroll deduction consent form. 

    Direct Deposit:

    • Requiring direct deposit: One item that many employers are not aware of is that some states regulate whether or not an employer can require payment of payroll wages via direct deposit. While direct deposit is the easiest method of payment and the preferred method of most employers, it’s not legal to mandate direct deposit in some states. As with many employment laws, the regulations vary by state. 

    What are some of the payroll errors or questions you have faced in your organization? 

  • Unlimited Paid Time Off- The What, How, and Most Importantly, the Why

    Unlimited Paid Time Off- The What, How, and Most Importantly, the Why

     

    If you believe employees need strict rules and enforcement to be productive, hiring and retaining high-performance people will be a challenge for you. You hired these people for their tenacity and talents. Get out of the way and let them be great. Deal with any people who choose not to meet expectations on a case-by-case basis.” 

    Sue Bingham, HBR article

     

    My husband came home one day and told me about a conversation he had with a friend about her company’s recent switch to unlimited paid time off (PTO).

    “Is that really a thing?” he asked me.

    “Yep,” I said. “That’s what we do.” 

    “Your team has unlimited PTO?” he inquired.

    “Yep. It works well,” I said. 

    “Well, she was saying that she feels like she’s less likely to take time off now that it’s ‘unlimited’ than when there was a clear-cut policy on how much she had and if she didn’t use it, she would lose it,” he said.

    “Interesting,” I said.  Culture, I thought, with a little bit of personality probably mixed in as well. 

    Unlimited PTO is, in fact, a growing trend. Whereas only about 2% of companies offer it and 9% of workers have it, the growth of unlimited PTO is a real imperative in recruiting and retaining talent given that the number one priority of job seekers is work-life balance, as cited in a recent study by LinkedIn. 

     

    What is it? 

    In most cases, it is exactly what you think it is.  It is that time off, whether for vacation, illness, or any other reason, that is paid and unlimited.  People aren’t assigned a set number of days off they can take and time off isn’t earned and accrued. 

    This means some good things for organizations:

    • If done right, it should build a culture of trust and productivity between employees and leadership, leading to more positive outcomes- ie- what most organizations claim to be doing it for- improving recruiting and retaining the best talent.
    • You don’t have the administrative burden of keeping up with and regulating it.
    • You don’t have the administrative burden of answering questions about how much people have or don’t have.
    • You don’t have to (if this has been your normal policy) pay it out when people leave.

    This means some good things for employees:

    • They can take off when they need it for whatever reason and don’t have to justify, lie, or explain why they are taking it.
    • They don’t have to track it and keep up with it either.
    • If done right, it should build a culture of trust and productivity between employees and leadership leading to employee engagement and satisfaction.

     

    How you do it

    In order for unlimited PTO to be successful, there are some keys for organizations and employees. 

    For organizations: 

    • Like almost everything, you train leaders of people how to handle it, with the focus on managing and developing performance, not managing time, and instead focusing on trust and autonomy as key drivers of productivity and positive outcomes.  You ensure leaders are ensuring rewards and motivation are based on results, not time. Train leaders to help them understand how to handle underperformance related or unrelated to the unlimited PTO policy on a case-by-case basis. 
    • If you are changing to it, communicate clearly what it means and how it will be implemented and what it will change for people.  Make sure you handle how any accrued time under an old policy will be handled.
    • You ensure your leaders model it by taking time off when they need it; people believe demonstrated behaviors more than they believe policy.

    For employees: 

    • Take time off when you need it.
    • If you perform well, everything will take care of itself.

     

    Why to do it

    Unlimited PTO, like any other policy or lack thereof, should be linked back to your organizational values and should be lived in the day-to-day behaviors of all people that are a part of the organization.  

    Yes, you do it to enhance business outcomes, but that is not the end or why.  This is the outcome of the right why. 

    I don’t know why my husband’s friend felt she would take less time off with an unlimited PTO plan. I don’t know if that feeling was more about the intent of her employer for shifting to one, linking back to their culture and values. Much has been written about this as it relates to the perceived malicious intent of employers switching to it.  It may have simply said more about her personality and her view of work. 

    But what I do know is that it works for our team.  And I trust that it will continue to even as we hopefully grow our business and team. And I hope and pray that is because it says something about our culture and its link to our value of People First. 

    How do you feel about unlimited PTO? 

     

    To read more and to see references to statistics cited in this post, check out these articles: 

    Forbes

    Fortune

    TandemHR

    SHRM

    Why Unlimited PTO is Becoming and Industry Standard

    The Stats Behind Unlimited PTO

    Unlimited PTO is a Deceptive Ploy