A solid maternity leave policy is important. The emphasis on company culture requires all businesses to remain competitive in terms of offering staff benefits that enhance their work/life balance. It’s equally important to make sure the benefits you offer make sense: are legal, reasonable for your bottom line, and favorable among your employees.

While devising a new maternity leave policy, here are some factors to keep in mind for successful implementation:

1. Become an expert in state policy regarding maternity leave. You must be knowledgable of your legal requirements before introducing any policy to staff and maternity leave particulars can sometimes be confusing. This is where an HR consultant can be particularly useful! We’re here for the purpose of making sure policies are legally sound from the start.

2. Educate managers on the policy and on adhering to professional conduct. Companies have gotten into trouble when managers do not adhere to the policy and/or approach pregnant staff in a discriminatory manner. Be sure they are familiar with the policy AND with professional conduct when discussing maternity leave with staff.

3. Clearly outline the policy with employees during onboarding and again BEFORE they go on leave. It doesn’t need to be said that having everyone on the same page in terms of comprehension and expectation is invaluable. But there, we said it!

Also important to keep in mind are the benefits of offering more than what is legally required to. Why would a company enhance a maternity leave policy? It can strengthen a positive company culture. Some studies we’ve read have suggested that comprehensive employee benefits are more valuable to staff than salary. A happy staff? Higher retention rates! And increased talent acquisition!

All things a successful company possesses.

Ready to revisit your maternity leave policy? Give Eos HR Consulting a call! We’ll make sure you stay compliant AND better maintain a happy and healthy staff.
How HR Can Build Your Brand

7/13/2017

Ever thought of looking to HR for inspiration to improve your marketing campaigns? If not, it’s time.

If your HR and Marketing departments are not talking to one another, they should be. Your company’s marketing is only as good as its’ success in engaging with your target audience, and that’s done by effectively creating content that is industry-relevant and useful to the consumer. As a resource for this content, HR is indispensable.

And creating a line of communication between the two departments is easier than you think! It’s simply a matter of making it a point to outline the goals of each, and by doing so, it’s inevitable that commonalities will be identified. What to do from there?

Create useful content. Effective marketing is providing information that is of value to your audience. It’s no secret that traditional advertising is out of fashion, so it’s important to keep up on the latest “information trends” your target audience needs and HR can help with that by pinpointing areas of industry importance. Once you have identified imperative issues, design marketing campaigns that reflect them and support both department’s goals. A good tip? Engage the entire team. An incredibly effective way to craft an authentic (and authoritative) message is by incorporating as many industry voices in your message as possible (as long as they are relevant). Guest blogs and testimonials relaying industry experience can be indispensable with keeping your company’s brand in the mind of your audience.

Utilizing HR for more than traditional functions can be smart way to grow your business. By aligning department goals, you’re also effectively creating inter-departmental communication that can only serve to benefit the culture, and therefore productivity, of your team. Another win!

Need help getting started? We can provide that! Contact us today to find out how Eos HR can streamline and assist in your company’s goals.
Combatting Boredom in Your Team

5/28/2017

​Has your team hit a plateau of productivity? Are they no longer engaged in the day-to-day functions of the business? It may be time to jump-start their enthusiasm! This week we’re going over three easy ways to go about this.

Training

When employees are engaged, challenged, and experience professional growth, they are overall happier and more inclined to stick around. This doesn’t mean just adding additional duties to their workload and giving them a new title. Identify the useful skills they need to learn and set them up for success: sign them up for classes, invite trainers to the workplace, and make learning new skills a central theme to all-staff meetings.

Competition

Competition can be a good thing! We’ve talked about the benefits of team-building games (they’re essential) but a current trend that is sure to motivate your team is a health challenge. Set daily goals for your employees to meet (and encourage them to team up with one another) and keep track of their progress. The winning team? An afternoon off and tickets to an entertainment event!

Teamwork

Another winning way to keep the sparks flying? A mentorship and/or partnership program. Assign senior-level staff to entry-level employees for training or pair up employees with different skill-sets and have them collaborate on a project. Make sure to set clear goals and deadlines.

Maintaining enthusiasm within your team is key to retention and a healthy company culture. Two things that are also essential to the success of your business! If you need help improving your company structure to increase productivity, we can help! Eos HR can work with you on solutions that make the most sense for your business. Contact us today!
Creating a Diversity Program for the Small Business

4/13/2017

Small businesses are taking cues from larger corporations lately and developing diversity programs to complement their hiring goals. By recognizing the effectiveness of such programs, the small business can take advantage of the team strengthening and higher production that inevitably follows a successful diversity program.

But where to get started? There are several factors to consider when customizing a program that fits your business (key word here is customize). We break them down for you:

1. Research! Watch webinars, attend seminars, read testimonials of teams that have implemented successful diversity programs. Learning what has worked, and especially what hasn’t, can better prepare you for making smart choices in your own strategizing.

2. About that word customize. While it’s important to do the before-mentioned research, it’s equally important to make sure you keep your own company goals and culture in mind when developing strategy. What do you want a diversity program to do for your team? How will you support the program in a way that makes sense for your company? What challenges do you envision will arise and how will you meet them? These questions, and the others that will spring up, are important to consider through the lens of your specific company culture.

3. Select like-minded team members to your strategizing meeting. Involve those employees who will be a) instrumental in implementing the program, and b) enthusiastic for seeing it through. It’s important to highlight the achievements of the program and appointing a few cheerleaders can be make that happen.

4. While customizing your strategy, think less is more. An effective plan is one that is easily understood and therefore implemented.

5. Make your diversity program…diverse. Include a variety of different resources to support the program: speakers, team-building games/projects, brainstorming sessions, and conferences are all great examples of maintaining the program.

6. Adjust…but stay consistent. Pay attention and make changes when necessary, otherwise remind consistent. Everyone being on the same page is vital to success.

7. Hire a consultant! If you recognize the benefits of a diversity program but are overwhelmed with strategizing the perfect fit for your company, hire an HR consultant! Eos Human Resources Consulting can work with you on a policy that will make the most sense for your business, effectively alleviating the stress of implementation while steering your team in the right direction.

Contact us to learn more on how we can assist you in achieving your team productivity goals!
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