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What Exactly Is A Family-Friendly Workplace?

November 14th, 2019 | Posted by ATS in ATS TimeWork OnDemand | Careers | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Canada | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Toronto | Leave Management | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Canada | Time and Attendance Toronto - (Comments Off on What Exactly Is A Family-Friendly Workplace?)

Family-friendly employers do exist, however, with competition for talent at an all- time high, some companies are offering; nap rooms, in-house entertainment and laundry service, minimizing the need to ever leave the office. While those are all nice perks, many working parents, don’t necessarily want to be working 60 hours a week while trying to manage a family. And, so in the talent-perk field of today’s landscape, how hard is it to find a company that embodies the family friendly workplace?

Alice Gomstyn article How to tell whether a prospective employer is actually ‘family-friendly’ illuminates the age-old argument about what constitutes a family-friendly workplace. It reads, in part;

“Fewer hours. Less travel. More flexibility. Minimal stress.

The promise of having it all led Al, a father in suburban New Jersey, to leave a high-pressure career at a New York City talent management agency to work as a marketing director at a theater just a few miles from his home. Al (who asked that his last name not be used so he could speak candidly about his employers) wanted to devote more time to his son, who has special needs, and be available to visit the boy’s elementary school when necessary.But things didn’t work out as expected. Al’s hours grew longer and his boss began calling him on weekends. Occasional requests to leave work to deal with issues at his son’s school were met with disdain.

“What was presented to me at the interview,” Al says, “was very different from what the reality was at the workplace.”

Sometimes the quest for work-life balance can lead parents to change jobs. Those who believe they’re moving to a more family-friendly company or industry may face a rude awakening, though, when hiring managers don’t keep their promises, or when personnel changes transform a once laid-back department into a high-pressure environment.

The family-friendliness of a workplace often depends on who’s running it at the moment, says Samantha Ettus, a work-life balance expert and author. People commonly “leave companies for the grass-is-greener mentality of ‘maybe that other company is going to afford me a better lifestyle,’” she says. “But if they’re working for a boss who doesn’t have any boundaries with their own personal life … [that boss] is certainly not going to care about protecting yours.”

Rachel, a Memphis-based accountant who asked to be identified by her first name only to speak candidly, felt like no one was protecting her when she faced a dramatic increase in her workload. She had traded 60-hour-plus weeks at a public accounting firm for what was supposed to be a better quality of life at an in-house corporate tax department. For a few years, Rachel was satisfied with her move. That changed quickly, however, after several members of the department left. When their positions went unfilled, much more work was heaped onto Rachel’s plate.

She still managed to get out of the office in time to pick up her young son from day care, but it meant spending hours catching up on work each night. The stress took its toll and affected her home life. “I was leaving every day from work in tears,” she says. “I was on edge most of the time. My poor husband probably got my sharp tongue way more than he deserved.” Exhausted and distraught, Rachel reached out to supervisors asking if she could get more support, but she says her pleas were ignored.

Companies today are often quick to tout family-friendly benefits such as parental leave and remote-work options, but the hard truth is that employers are generally under no obligation to deliver on those promises and accommodate parents struggling to balance their duties at work with their responsibilities at home”.

Bottom-line: Employers shape their workplace policies and culture and so, working- parents should be prudent in asking as much information as possible about a prospective company’s expectations before signing on the dotted line of a work contract.

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To learn more about ATS Time and Attendance Solutions, go to our website. You can download a free demonstration or register for one of our bi-weekly webinars.

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Has The Annual Performance Review Past It’s Best Before Date?

December 19th, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Employee Self Service | Leave Management | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Has The Annual Performance Review Past It’s Best Before Date?)

Some have argued that the annual performance review should have been ditched ages ago. After all performance reviews are taking into account what employees did 12 months ago and it’s a process that most managers and employees alike detest. According to a recent Washington Post article, consulting firm Accenture along with several other fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft and Adobe have decided, to do away with performance reviews and/or replace it with a easier process.

Has The Annual Performance Review Past It’s Best Before Date?

But how did a process that was so beloved by so many companies, and used as a barometer to; gauge performance, enhance benefits and employee pay premiums and bonuses elicit so much hate in recent years? Times have changed and, in most cases, the annual performance process has not. And, according to an article by Ratan Tavawala for Eremedia here are three reasons why:

“Work is different-Work moves at a much faster pace today, with goals and projects measured in days and weeks instead of months and quarters. Performance reviews traditionally occur on a twelve-month cycle — which means they’re not keeping pace with production. In addition, companies are putting greater focus on team success over individual outcomes. At an organization where global teams are connected by virtual technology and work outcomes are a shared experience, individual yearly performance appraisals do not reflect the reality of how work is accomplished.

Ties to compensation– Historically, pay raises and bonuses have been directly tied to performance appraisals. This sets up a skewed power dynamic that can hinder the type of candid conversation that leads to real improvement. Separating employee performance discussions from raises allows for more focused, coaching conversation about day-to-day job performance, areas for improvement, professional development resources, and opportunities for growth.

Lack of honest dialogue-The power dynamic at play in traditional performance appraisals is top-down, with few companies focusing on assessing the supervisory and leadership skills of managers. Allowing employees to provide feedback to (or even formally evaluate) their managers not only improves efficacy, but leads to better employee engagement and empowerment.”

Traditional performance reviews have been, for many years, anxiety inducing, and have been reduced to an awkward for managers. Employees, in turn, cringe at the notion of having to sit in front of their manager to go through this process, which from their viewpoint is an exercise filled with criticism.

So, what’s the answer? Why not look at changing it. As some have suggested, instead of doing an annual review, reduce it to once a month or better yet, spend a day with your employee while they are performing their tasks and offer feedback. Whichever method you choose, one thing is for certain the old way of doing performance reviews are out of step with today’s workforce.

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Canadian Federal Government Is Contemplating New Leave Management Policy

May 3rd, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Employee Scheduling | Employee Self Service | Leave Management | Time and Attendance - (Comments Off on Canadian Federal Government Is Contemplating New Leave Management Policy)

The Canadian federal government recently mused about the possibility of updating parental leave, specifically for new dads. It made news and, for those who love and hate the idea both came out in full force and articulated their respective arguments through a variety of social media platforms. Whether you are or against it, one thing is clear, time is changing. This would perhaps be unheard of some 30 or 50 years ago. In actuality, there is nothing new about such a leave, because in the province of Quebec, new dads can take up five weeks leave while the province covers 70% of their salary.

The role of fatherhood has changed dramatically in the last several years. Josh levs a journalist for CNN wrote a book titled “All In” after he approached his employer to request time-off for the birth of his new baby. During an interview with Brigid Schulte of The Washington Post, he revealed, in part, “I’d been covering parenting issues for CNN, and then all of a sudden I was in the news. I was doing stories and columns on fatherhood, then my wife was about to have our daughter. My employer, Time Warner, had an extremely unusual policy: anyone could get 10 weeks of paid leave to take care of a new child – except the man who’d impregnated the mother of his child. Me. The biological father.”

Canadian Federal Government Is Contemplating New Leave Management Policy

So, will this type of leave management affect Canadian businesses? All indications are this is in the infancy stage. However, if you are one of those businesses who currently track employee vacation, and other time-off requests through a series of spreadsheets, it’s not too late to make the switch to an automated time and attendance system that will automatically track your company’s leave management.

ATS Time and Attendance Leave Management System automates employee time-off request. With ATS Leave Management System employers can accurately enforce leave management policies, and approvals based on an organization’s unique business processes.

To learn more about ATS Time and Attendance Leave Management System, go to our website to download a demonstration or a brochure. To reach an account executive by phone, call 866.294.2467.

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Software And The Internet Of Things, Is At Its Best, When It Embodies Simplicity

April 19th, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in iPad | Payroll | Software-as-a-Service (saas) Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Canada | Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Software And The Internet Of Things, Is At Its Best, When It Embodies Simplicity)

Software should be simple to use, are words you hear from some software providers and the purveyors of cutting-edge technology, including those who form part of The Internet of Things (IoT) industry. Some companies have the words, “simple or easy-to-use” splashed across the website, but once it is adopted, it is anything but simple. After all, why would any company deploy workforce management software that’s difficult to navigate? Of course, colourful dashboards that excite users is one thing, but having to navigate through several screens to complete a task, can be mind boggling, not mention frustrating.

A recent article authored Hayley Tsukayama for The Washington Post and titled ‘Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software’ laments the struggles that behemoths that Google and Apple are undergoing. “Companies like Apple and Google are expanding the scope of what they offer — they aren’t hawking one kind of hardware or one type of software, but rather a combination of both, often with several cloud services thrown in for good measure. Apple is no longer a focused iPod-and-Mac company. So the current version of iTunes has to offer so much more than just a way to get digital music. Google (or Alphabet) is no longer just a search bar on a Web page, it’s a whole ecosystem of information, software programs and an expanding universe of devices. The simple designs of the past products from these companies were never meant to accommodate the range of offerings that are now demanded by consumers.”

Software and The Internet of Things, is at its best, when it embodies Simplicity

The question remains, with the appetite of consumers and businesses evolving can software providers adjust, and at same time, ensure the applications are easy to use? For example, if you are using the latest toothbrush that embodies the Internet of things (IoT) do you have to glance at your phone while you are brushing to ensure you are keeping on track? These and many other questions remain unanswered.

The article continues; “What started as a simple program for buying, storing and downloading music has morphed into a much larger program for TV shows, movies, podcasts, apps, streaming music and device management. At times, it can feel like a building that’s being repeatedly expanded and renovated in a new architectural style every time.”

In conclusion, the Internet of Things (IoT) is here to stay and the same is true for cloud-based workforce management solutions, payroll, ERP and other related business management software. And, while they may be tweaked to adjust toe business and consumer demands, they shown no signs of abating.

Interested in learning more about ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance? You can register for this week’s free webinar by going to our website. You can also download a demonstration and see how easy it is to track and management employees hours.

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