What You Need to Know About Age Discrimination

What You Need to Know About Age Discrimination

In the Best Money Moves Roundup, we run down the latest news on unemployment, age discrimination, hiring tech and retention.

The July jobs report from the Labor Department shows that unemployment has dropped to 3.9 percent. Employers will need to develop new strategies to build successful workforces with unemployment is at its lowest rate since 2000.

The latest study from AARP gives employers some insight into a key demographic – older workers. AARP found that most experienced employees enjoy or feel useful doing their work, but more than 60 percent of them have witnessed or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Over 40 percent of older job seekers are still asked for age-related information from potential employers.

Older employees are talented, tested and want to stay in the workforce. Employers who value experienced workers might have the advantage in today’s increasingly competitive labor market.

How to Stay Competitive

What We’re Reading

New Tech Improves Hiring Practices. Several new platforms help employers eliminate hiring bias and connect employers with quality hires for their industry. What are the apps and how do they work?

Avoid Turnover Disasters. Turnover can cost 6 to 9 months’ of an employee’s salary, and coupled with low unemployment it could take even longer to find a valuable replacement. Try these 7 helpful tips to improve retention.

Find the Right Talent. It’s no secret that the way people hunt for jobs has changed and it’s critical to get on potential candidates’ radars. Use these 10 strategies to reach job seekers in the digital age.

Healthcare Expenses for Emergencies. A supplemental health program that aims to speed up the payment of unforeseen medical claims can help the 40 percent of Americans that can’t afford an unexpected expense of $400. How does it work?

Implicit Bias Workshops Don’t Solve the Problem. Implicit bias isn’t something that can be fixed with one workshop, it’s something that requires continued awareness. What that looks like.

Soft Skills Your Employees Need. Competition can be good for morale, but empathy can be even better. Learn how to spot emotional intelligence and promote empathy in leadership.

What Can You Do to Stop Age Discrimination in the Workplace?

What Can You Do to Stop Age Discrimination in the Workplace?

Older employees offer immense talents but often face age discrimination and high unemployment rates. Here’s how employers can help.

The July jobs report from the Labor Department shows that unemployment has dropped to 3.9 percent. Employers will need to develop new strategies to build successful workforces with unemployment is at its lowest rate since 2000.

The latest study from AARP gives employers some insight into a key demographic – older workers. AARP found that most experienced employees enjoy or feel useful doing their work, but more than 60 percent of them have witnessed or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Over 40 percent of older job seekers are still asked for age-related information from potential employers.

Older employees are talented, tested and want to stay in the workforce. Employers who value experienced workers might have the advantage in today’s increasingly competitive labor market.

“With rich work histories, varied experiences and expertise, older workers want to work, they’re ready to work, and they need to work,” said AARP Vice President of Financial Resilience Susan Weinstock. “More employers are looking for qualified candidates and experienced workers should have the opportunity to be judged on their merits, rather than their age.”

The majority of experienced workers strongly support strengthening age discrimination laws, but until those laws are passed and implemented employers can help by addressing age discrimination within their own organizations.

If HR hasn’t received a complaint about age discrimination that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Less than five percent of older employees make a formal complaint to a supervisor, HR representative, another organization or a government agency.  

Commit to developing diverse, high-performing organizations by leveraging workers of all ages and join 650 employers who are doing the same by signing AARP’s Employer Pledge. Review and refine hiring practices so potential applicants can be confident their age won’t be the deciding factor in whether or not they get the job. Establish a policy against age discrimination in the workplace for the quarter of older workers who report being subjected to negative comments about their age from a boss or co-worker.

More than 90 percent of workers see age discrimination as somewhat or very common. It’s up to employers to tackle this issue directly until legislature catches up with appropriate age discrimination policies. Those employers that are up to the task will be in the best shape to face off with the lowest unemployment since the turn of the century.

What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout

What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout

In the Best Money Moves Roundup, we run down the latest HR news on retention, mobility and pollution.

Employee engagement drives productivity and retention, but it’s not all good news.. Research from Yale University revealed 50 percent of moderately to highly engaged employees are burnt out. They’re passionate about their work and show high skills acquisition, but they’re also the employees most at risk for turnover.

Dr. Jochen Menges, a co-author of the study, claims his research can help employers. “By shedding some light on some of the factors in both engagement and burnout, the study can help organisations identify workers who are motivated but also at risk of burning out and leaving.” A shortfall of Menges and his colleagues’ research is its inability to pinpoint when engagement stops being productive and starts exhausting valuable employees.

The challenge is to find the fine line between engagement and burnout. It’s different for everyone. One way to tell is to watch for signs like frustration and anxiety.

How to Find the Right Balance

What We’re Reading

Women appointed to boards at a record high. Close to 40 percent of vacant board seats at Fortune 500 companies went to women in 2017. Learn more about this rising trend and its implications.

New LinkedIn research. It’s no surprise that attracting and retaining top talent is imperative with unemployment at a low, but how do you do it? Use these strategies to stay competitive.

Focus on mobility and stability. If you’re in an industry with high turnover consider offering opportunities to move into different positions and benefits that support employees and their families. See what ROI on employee investments looks like.  

WeWork bans meat. In a bold move WeWork announced it won’t serve or reimburse meals that include red meat, poultry or pork. Why they’re doing it and more importantly, can it work?

What are stay interviews? Instead of waiting for an exit interview to get some feedback start conducting stay interviews to find out why employees stick around. How this can help you retain more employees.

Are you using the 20/60/20 rule? Instead of trying to win over 100 percent of your team, use this rule to strategically focus your attention on your most valuable team members. What the 20/60/20 rule is and how to use it.

Digital distractions. Employees can’t get a full 30 minutes of work in without being distracted by work instant messages and emails or personal text messages and notifications. How to deal with communication overload.

Job insecurity and sexual harassment. Three separate studies found that sexual harassment is driven by the harasser’s fear of being called out for inadequate job performance. Now that we know, what can we do about it?

Know the Warning Signs of Employee Burnout

Know the Warning Signs of Employee Burnout

There’s a fine line between employee engagement and burnout. Know the warning signs of employee burnout for higher retention and productivity.

Employee engagement drives productivity and retention, but it’s not all good news. Research from Yale University revealed 50 percent of moderately to highly engaged employees are burnt out. They’re passionate about their work and show high skills acquisition, but they’re also the employees most at risk for turnover.

Dr. Jochen Menges, a co-author of the study, claims his research can help employers. “By shedding some light on some of the factors in both engagement and burnout, the study can help organisations identify workers who are motivated but also at risk of burning out and leaving.” A shortfall of Menges and his colleagues’ research is its inability to pinpoint when engagement stops being productive and starts exhausting valuable employees.

The challenge is to find the fine line between engagement and burnout. It’s different for everyone. One way to tell is to watch for signs like frustration and anxiety.

The study measured engagement, burnout, demands, resources and how they interact and influence each other in over 1,000 U.S. employees. Employees that were ‘optimally’ engaged reported high resources and low to moderate demands. They had support from their supervisors through rewards and received recognition without having to struggle with cumbersome bureaucracy, demands for concentration, or heavy workloads. On the other hand, 64 percent of employees experiencing burnout reported high demands and high resources. Finding the right balance between resources and demands might be the key to productive engagement.  

Look for common symptoms like exhaustion, frustration, anxiety, and inability to keep up with daily tasks. Monitor workloads to find out when it’s time to dial demands back and expand resources. Wellness programs can ease stress and help employees manage work-life balance, but if demands are too high employees will still burnout.

Research from Business Point Innovation Network and Pollfish found that 60 percent of working mothers and fathers experience burnout. Employees with children might be more likely than others to experience burnout, but there isn’t enough research on demographics to confirm which employees are most at risk.

Until there’s more research, it’s best for employers to assume any employee could be at risk for burnout.

Open Offices Are Trendy, But Are They Effective?

Open Offices Are Trendy, But Are They Effective?

In the Best Money Moves Roundup, we run down the latest news on open offices, paid leave, and keeping employees engaged during summer.

Supposedly, open offices improve communication and collaboration.  However, a recent study published by The Royal Society indicates that the open office may be doing the exact opposite.

According to the study, face-to-face communication takes a 70 percent dive in open offices. Instead of fostering collective energy the study found that “open architecture appeared to trigger a natural human response to withdraw from officemates and interact instead over email and IM.”

The research also found that productivity declined after eliminating spatial boundaries. Considering 70 percent of Americans work in open offices, this is an issue companies are going to have to tackle in order to recoup possible productivity losses.

See more on effects of open offices and what you can do about it here. 

What we’re reading: 

What paid leave program works best for you? Paid absence policies are valuable to employers and employees, but they require a balance to make sure it’s beneficial for both sides. Ask yourself these 3 questions.

Help avoid the summertime slump. Summertime weather and activities mean there are a million things your employees would rather be doing than work. Use these tips to keep employees happy during summer.

“Ghosting” at work. The term “ghosting” that Millennials traditionally apply to relationships is also relevant to work. Learn more about new hires ghosting and the challenges facing HR.

Navigate the many options for employee well-being. There are endless employee benefits and with low unemployment you want to make sure you select the right one’s for your staff. Here are 4 tips to help build an effective wellness program.

Get ahead of termination. Problems that eventually result in termination can be prevented. Given the costs of turnover, it’s advantageous to try. See if any of these 11 strategies to prevent problems resulting in termination can help.

Amazon’s unconventional “Pivot” program. Underperforming employees can have a courtroom-style video conference with a jury of peers to make evaluations more fair and communicative. So why are some employees are protesting it?

Custom medical plans. Each employee has different healthcare needs and some new companies are offering the ability to customize their medical plans. How this trend is developing and its implications.

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.