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Not Sure If You Work In A Toxic Environment? Here are 7 Signs

October 8th, 2019 | Posted by ATS in Absence Management | ATS TimeWork OnDemand | Career | Cloud Computing | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Canada | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Toronto | HR | Payroll | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Canada | Time and Attendance Toronto - (Comments Off on Not Sure If You Work In A Toxic Environment? Here are 7 Signs)

A toxic work environment cannot be created, unless, it’s tolerated by the company’s leaders and is allowed to continue.

In addition to recruiting, retaining talent, managing business management software, and mirage of other duties, HR also has to be vigilant and look for instances of hostile leadership styles, retaliation and bullying in the workplace. When a toxic environment is left unchecked, it can lead to employee stress (physical and mental), and high turnover. And, the era of social media, word will spread fast, about the working conditions of a particular company who allow toxic people to remain, while wreaking havoc on the rest of the team.

Not sure if you are working in a toxic environment? In his article, 7 Sure Signs Your Workplace Is Toxic, Marcel Schwantes lays out the signals one should look for. They are as follows:

“1. All sticks and no carrots-Management focuses solely on what employees are doing wrong or correcting problems, and rarely give positive feedback for what is going right. Or mostly carrots for the best performers, sticks for the rest.

2. The creeping bureaucracy-There are too many levels of approval and management to get things done and a singular focus on micromanaging employees.

3. The gigantic bottom line-Profits, beating the competition, and cost cutting are solely focused on without consideration of other bottom lines.

4. Bullies rule the roost-Management bullies employees, or tolerates bullying when it occurs among employees.

5. Loss of the human touch-People are considered to be objects or expenses rather than assets, and there is little concern for their happiness or well-being. There’s also little evidence of leaders’ compassion and empathy for employees. As a result, you’ll encounter high levels of stress, turnover, absenteeism, and burnout.

6. Internal Competition-Employees must compete internally, which is enforced by a performance assessment system that focuses on individual performance rather than team performance.

7. Little or no concern for work-life balance-People’s personal or family lives must be sacrificed for the job; overwork or workaholism is commonly evidenced by 50-hour-plus workweeks, little or no vacation time, and 24/7 availability for work communication. There is little or no commitment to making contributions to the community, worthy causes, or making the world a better place”.

Bottomline: If those 7 signs are not a wake-up call to the leaders of an organization, that’s likely the problem.  In addition, to these signs are many other telltale signs of a toxic work environment, including ones that see new recruits leave after a very short time with an organization.

About ATS

ATS offers a broad portfolio of time and attendance solutions that streamlines the collection, calculation, and reporting of employee hours for workforce management and eliminates the manual tasks of payroll preparation, increasing efficiency and reducing errors in corporate payroll departments.

Thousands of organizations across North, Central and South America and Europe- including more than half of the Fortune 500 – use ATS TimeWork OnDemand, Workforce Planning, Employee Scheduling HR and payroll solutions to manage their workforce.

In addition, ATS provides modular analytic solutions that includes; workforce planning, benefits management, employee self-service, business intelligence, human resources, payroll, and advanced analytics based on a robust cloud computing platform for information and data needs. It also offers design, rapid deployment, support services, software updates, and enhancements; and consulting and training services.

To download a demonstration of ATS TimeWorkOnDemand, or to register for a bi-monthly webinar, go to our website. And, to reach a sales rep, call; 866.294.2467.

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Your Employees Are Slacking Off At Work: What Should You Do?

August 31st, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Benefit Accruals | Business Software Automation | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Your Employees Are Slacking Off At Work: What Should You Do?)

So, your employees is slacking off. Perhaps, they are bored with their daily tasks or your work environment is not fun. Bridget Miller’s blog for the HR Daily Advisor titled, How to Get Employees to Goof Off Less at Work reads in part,

“Reducing employee time spent “goofing off” is probably a reasonable goal. But the idea of “goofing off” is probably not the main issue—the real issue is productivity loss. That productivity loss may come from a variety of employee activities, such as spending excessive of time talking about nonwork things with coworkers, doing personal things like browsing online articles or social media, or even taking care of personal errands (like buying gifts online or spending time away from work without taking paid time off (PTO). It could also come in the form of frequent personal calls and texts. Regardless of the specific activity, the concern is that too much time is being spent not working.”

Your Employees Are Slacking Off At Work: What Should You Do?

The article has a few suggestions for employers looking to engage its workforce and increase productivity. In no particular, order here is three out of the seven suggestions:

Invest in good tools for employees. If employees are frustrated at work, or even if they’re overworked, they may be more likely to need to take (too many) breaks and feel more justified in doing so. Conversely, giving employees good tools to enhance productivity can allow them not only to be more efficient but also to have a greater sense of satisfaction because the employer invests in its employees and cares about how well things get done. Likewise, good tools can increase productivity and can offset some of the otherwise “wasted” time.

Consider implementing more flexible working arrangements whenever possible. When employees have options that allow them to handle the demands of their personal life at the most opportune time, they’re less likely to be distracted when they’re working. They’re also less likely to be sneaking in personal calls if they have the flexibility to handle such issues without causing problems. Flexible working arrangements might include things like allowing employees to work nonstandard hours (which could allow for personal matters to be handled at better time of day) or allowing employees to make up time taken away from work on other days.

Ensure employees know where their role fits compared to the big-picture organizational goals. If the employee can clearly see his or her role and how it impacts the bottom line (directly or indirectly), he or she will be more likely to spend spare time on activities that work toward achieving the big-picture goals instead of just wasting time. The employee will feel that his or her contributions make a difference.

Today’s workforce wants flexibility, freedom, and equality. And that includes, work-life-balance and telecommuting opportunities. What they don’t want is to be told that they have to respond to work e-mails at all hours of the night, on their days off or while they are on vacation. And, as for micromanaging employees, it’s both archaic and demoralizing and the quickest way to have turnover. The best and more resourceful managers can always find ways to keep their employees engaged and at that same time, ensure productivity is also high.

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Mindfulness Is Doable When It Becomes A Habit

July 11th, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Mindfulness | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Work-Life Balance - (Comments Off on Mindfulness Is Doable When It Becomes A Habit)

You don’t have to go to a quiet room each day to reach a mindful and meditative state to achieve the work-life-balance that so many yearn for, yet, find unattainable.

Mindfulness Is Doable When It Becomes A Habit

Here are 3 tips by Anna Verasai from her an article titled A Not-to-do List to Cultivate Work-Life Balance

DO NOT CHECK EMAIL AT BED
“We avoid reading emails before going to bed for two reasons: 1.) It gets your mind working and makes it difficult to be able to fall asleep, and 2.) the ‘blue-light’ from back-lit devices like mobiles, tablet, or even laptops, throws the body’s biological clock out of balance. The nighttime light exposure deters the production of melatonin in the brain, making it even more difficult for you to sleep.

DO NOT ENGAGE IN NEGATIVITY-FILLED CONVERSATIONS
This kind of conversations are taxing on energy and morale. If it’s a conversation that can be avoided, for example, it’s coming from a co-worker who needs to vent, try changing the tone of the conversation: ask the person what they’d do to improve the situation?

Negativity perpetuates, breeds in itself, and clutters the mind with dissatisfaction. And when your mind is filled negativity, happiness is much harder to come by.”

DO NOT CONSUME MEDIA AIMLESSLY
Cut yourself off from media consumption before you’re about to do something important. The daily repetition of news gives us a pessimistic, fatalistic, and desensitized worldview. It also kills creativity and is one reason why novelists, entrepreneurs, composers and mathematicians don’t consume media ravenously. The more we consume arbitrary storylines, the craving gets increasingly hypnotic and hard to ignore.

You can read the rest of the article on The HR Digest site.  Additionally, numerous scientific studies have revealed that practicing mindfulness can lead to a happier and healthier you, especially when you focus, holistic part of it as oppose to material goals.

Happy Mindfulness!

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Is Work-Life-Balance Doable Or Mere Chatter?

March 9th, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Is Work-Life-Balance Doable Or Mere Chatter?)

Some have argued that work-life-balance is not doable for the average worker, while others have suggested it is a choice and anyone can a life outside of work and point to the attitude some European countries have towards it and, in some cases, laws that have been enacted to help employees.

The dogmatic approach to work which stems from the industrial era is still prevalent in some work environments i.e. driving to work every day for a 9:00am-5:00pm shift while, sitting at a desk, attending useless meetings, and working most evenings and weekends. Today’s workforce especially millennials, are having none of this. But what does a flexible work life look like in 2017?

Is Work-Life-Balance Doable Or Mere Chatter?

An Article in HRM Online titled ‘Men and flexible work: Why is it so difficult?’ written by Laura McGeoch it states in part; “There is also a small but growing number of men who are opting to work part-time or flexibly to better balance work and family. Others want to, but are hampered by workplace culture and social stereotypes. Thirty per cent of men – up from 16 per cent 20 years ago – now work flexibly to help care for children, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, the number of dads working from home to care for children has doubled from seven to 14 per cent since the mid 1990s.”

The fact that many of in today’s workforce want more flexibility is driven, in part, by a growing shift and attitude towards work. Men today, want jobs that offers; flexible hours, paternal leave, the ability to work from home occasionally and not have to worry about answering a boss e-mail at all hours of the night. These changes in attitudes are also seeing more women as either the one bringing home the bigger salary or the sole breadwinner. In the short, the societal norms of how we approach work, while still pervasive is dealing with a new breed of workers that do not want to be tethered to norms of the last several decades.

So, will anything change? As with everything else it takes human being a long time to accept and/or adopt to change. Perhaps it might take generations for the real change to take place. In the meantime, the tug of war between proponents for and against  work-life-balance will continue.

To learn about more about ATS go to our website.

 

 

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Are You Required To Answer Emails After Working Hours? If so Why?

January 31st, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Are You Required To Answer Emails After Working Hours? If so Why?)

Some jobs require its employees to always be on call through phone or email. But for the vast majority of the workforce, you are required to work a certain amount of hours, perhaps some overtime and then go home. That could be considered the norm. In supervisory and senior management circles, these individuals take on bigger roles and so, it’s not unusual to see your boss work ungodly hours. But that mean that employees should go to sleep with their phones beside their beds in anticipation of emails or phone calls from their boss?

Well French lawmakers are having none of this and have proposed a law called ‘Right to Disconnect’ whereby employees should not be required to respond to emails after they have completed their shift and left their place of work. Some might argue, and with good reason, that it’s reasonable if a boss sends an e-mail after work, especially if it’s important. The flip-side to this argument is, by responding to an occasional email once a week, will this open the floodgates to the boss expecting you to respond to emails at 2:00am in the morning?

Are You Required To Answer Emails After Working Hours? If so Why?

An article written by Maura Thomas for Harvard Business Review, titled ‘Your-Late Night Emails Are Hurting Your Team’ offers some poignant advice to leaders who expect their employees to always be available. She writes in part;

“A frantic environment that includes answering emails at all hours doesn’t make your staff more productive. It just makes them busy and distracted. You base your staff hiring decisions on their knowledge, experience, and unique talents, not how many tasks they can seemingly do at once, or how many emails they can answer in a day.”

The article also offers the following:

  • “Ditch the phrase “time management” for the more relevant “attention management,” and make training on this crucial skill part of your staff development plan.
  • Refrain from after-hours communication.
  • Model and discuss the benefits of presence, by putting away your devices when speaking with your staff, and implementing a “no device” policy in meetings to promote single-tasking and full engagement.”

Of course not all companies subscribe to this notion that their employees have to be available at all times. In fact, many companies expect their employees to have a healthy work-life-balance. However, the ones who expect employees to constantly respond to emails after hours, perpetuate an ‘always-on’ culture, that essentially prevent employees from fully disengaging from work, which in turn, can lead to chronic stress.

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Don’t Think Millennials Have The Ambition And Drive? Well, Think Again

November 21st, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Employee Scheduling | Employee Time and Attendance | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Don’t Think Millennials Have The Ambition And Drive? Well, Think Again)

We’ve heard it all before, today’s young people are idealistic, and don’t like listening to their elders, well, the same was said of generations of past. How quickly the older generations tend to forget, that they too, were young not too long ago. Today’s millennial group is by far the most diverse, highly educated and well informed demographic to come of age. You have likely heard how they are disrupting everything that comes in their path with technology and plan on eradicating the once coveted industrial revolution with its corporate culture and rules with their advanced and collaborative approach. And, for those who love clinging to everything of yesteryear, they won’t stand a chance, if they do not embrace these changes. In other words, it is going to happen whether we like them it not.

An excerpt from an article written by Chad Brooks for Business News Daily titled ‘Work-Life Balance, Not Income, Defines Success for Millennial Entrepreneurs’ reads, in part;

“Young business owners don’t define success by how much money they make. Instead, 79 percent of millennial small business owners measure the success of their business on whether they have a flexible work environment and a healthy balance between their personal and professional worlds, found a study from Xero.

Additionally, 67 percent of those surveyed said being able to maintain a schedule that allows them to travel and pursue personal interests is the second most important benchmark of a successful business.

Being in charge of their careers is why most young entrepreneurs wanted to become business owners. More than half of millennials surveyed said being their own boss was one of the biggest motivators for starting their own business.”

Yes, it’s true many millennials have their own set of challenges like everyone else. For example, mounting university debts are forcing these cohorts to come up with innovative ways to address their challenges. And, starting their own business, while immensely stressful, affords them an opportunity to tap into their creative juices and work, how and when they want to.

The article continues “the research shows that millennial small business owners are taking the lead on using the cloud and social media to run their operation. More than one-third of millennial entrepreneurs run the majority of their business functions in the cloud, compared with only one-fifth of baby boomers.”

According to Pew research more than one-in-three American workers today are Millennials (adults ages 18 to 34 in 2015), and this year they surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

So what do with millennials? They have given notice to the world that, among other things, they not going to work for hours on end without purpose, like some baby boomers and are determined to chart their own course in an unconventional fashion. And, why not? they are the future leaders.

Don’t Think Millennials Have The Ambition And Drive? Well, Think Again

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