Employee Engagement Tops the List of 2017 HR Trends

Employee Engagement Tops the List of 2017 HR TrendsEmployee Engagement Tops the List of 2017 HR TrendsEmployee Engagement Tops the List of 2017 HR Trends ConlanAfter a big hiring year in 2016, many HR managers say they are turning their attention to employee retention. The reason all that recruiting work is wasted if the employees dont stick around.Employee engagement will play a big role in the HR realm in 2017, says Brad Stultz, human resources director at Totally Promotional, which custom prints promotional products in Coldwater, Ohio. With record low unemployment rates continuing across the country, employees find themselves in a position to change career paths on a whim.To that end, here are the 2017 HR trends that HR managers envision.Continuing Evolution of HR AnalyticsLooking ahead, technology will play a central role in helping employers make decisions both in the shortand long term. We will continue to landsee an incremental shift to using sophisticated analytics to build H R strategy to benefit both the larger workforce and prioritize workforce development investments. Jewell Parkinson, head of human resources at SAP North America, Newtown Square, PennsylvaniaContinued Growth of Flexible SchedulesFlexible scheduling has been rising in popularity across all age ranges and I believe that in 2017 businesses will fully embrace it as a work perk. We offer all of our employees (Millennials in particular) flex scheduling and find that there are no downsides to this offering. We trust them to get their work done, and because of that relationship, they always get everything done and done well. Dana Case, director of operations at MyCorporation, Calabasas, CaliforniaIncreased Use of Benefits for RetentionAn HR manager should closely review their benefits offerings to ensure they are in league with comparable competitors. The Millennial worker is drawn to the ancillary benefits that an employer may offer. Brad Stultz, human resources director, Totally Promotiona l, Coldwater, OhioIncreased Communication of Mission and CultureBranding the employer culture from the start is the best way to recruit and retain top talent in a competitive global landscape. As Millennials shape the workforce, traditional items like bonuses and other perks dont matter as much as fitting in with the employer culture and sharing a common vision. Your company must focus on their unique culture and deliberately shape it to stay relevant to top talent. Laura Platt, director of human resources for Spreadshirt U.S., BostonBetter Education about Total RewardsWe have lots of long-term employees, and lots who are eligible to retire. We want to keep people who could be their replacements in the pipeline. Weve been focusing on a total rewards approach and working hard to educate employees about things we offer, such as pension, tuition reimbursement to help them gain skills and knowledge to grow in their career and wellness initiatives. Mary Faulkner, head of talent, public s ector water utilityMore Transparent CommunicationI think in 2017 were going to see a focus on having employees feel their voices are being heard. Town-hall-style meetings, fireside CEO chats and skip-level meetings will give employees ample chances to get their ideas pitched. This will make employees feel valued regardless of position or seniority.Keeping information communicated properly, including financials, will create a trust among employees and ownership, which will boost retention. For most companies, the days of high-level board room secrets are over. Those companies who demonstrate transparency will have high employee retention rates. Greg Kuchcik, human resources director, Zeeto, San DiegoIncreased Investment in DevelopmentEmployers will retain recent new hires by increasing the investment in development activities. fruchtwein employees want to stay with a company for many years, but will move if they dont believe the company is truly invested in their future. Unfortunatel y, some companies reduce their investment in learning and staff development as turnover rates rise, but it may be necessary to take the opposite approach to increase employee retention. Michele McDermott, senior vice president of human resources, Assurance, Schaumburg, Illinois

Common Area Maintenance (CAM) Fees in Leasing

Common Area Maintenance (CAM) Fees in LeasingCommon Area Maintenance (CAM) Fees in LeasingWhen you lease commercial space, you pay for mora than just the actual square footage you will occupy. In many commercial leases, and in particular retail and industrial space leases, extra fees are often referred to as Common Area Maintenance (CAM) fees. In non-industrial spaces, you may hear this expense referred to as Load Factor, which includes CAM fees. CAM expenses are allocated to tenants on a pro-rata basisthe moresquarefootagea tenant rents, the greater percentage of CAM expenses it must pay. There are two basic calculations for CAM fees variable CAM fees, where the amount a tenant is required to contribute increases based on a number of factors, and flat CAM fees, where the fees are a fixed amount. CAM fees may be paid monthly, quarterly, annually, or even charged from time to time when major repairs to the building or the entire business/industrial park are required. CAM fees can esca late at a different rate than the monthly lease rate because they tend to be more variable. As a result, it is important that your lease spells out the difference between variable and fixed CAM fees and includes some sort of cap, or make it clear the maximum your CAM fees can be increased each year. This rate of increase should be a separate consideration from how much your basic rent increases each year. Definitions Narrow and Misleading Many online definitions of CAM fees define them as fees for a tenant sharing a portion of the direct costs of maintaining very specific common areas. These oversimplified definitions are notlage entirely accurate, and a landlord may include many indirect costs as CAM fees that are not so obvious. This practice has been hotly debated among industry professionals as to whether or not this is ethical, or even legal. In short, you should never sign a lease without understanding what CAM fees cover in your unique commercial lease. The Purpose Bo th CAM and Load Factor fees serve the same basic purpose to require tenants to help cover the landlords direct expenses for common areas. Common areas can include both internal (hallways, elevators, lobbies, public bathrooms, etc.) and external expenses (parking lots, landscaped areas, etc.). List exactly what your CAM fees will cover in the lease, how often they are to be paid, and how much they can be increased each year. If you will be required to help with the cost of major renovations like parking lot repaving or any type of structural repairs, get it in writing. The landlord should list when behauptung repairs were last made and when they are scheduled or anticipated to be done in the future. Not all landlords will require tenants to help with expenses like roofing, parking lot maintenance, and structural repairs. There really is no standard that applies to leases, so do not rely on simply seeing CAM fees in your lease besure CAMfees are explained. A landlord may include a wid e range of expenses simply listed as CAM Fees or Administrative Fees on the premise that these are expenses the landlord pays for the benefit of all tenants. If CAM fees are not clearly listed or explained in a lease, be sure to specifically ask if you are paying for any of the following Security systems or salaries or other costs associated with onsite security personnelPermits, taxes, insurance, or any legal costsAdvertising, signs, orother general overhead expensesincurred by the landlord for operating or promoting the building (i.e., salaries or benefits for on-site or even off-site employees)Repair and renovations of the maintenance of the property, including landscaping additions or redesigns, exterior painting, exterior or parking lot lighting fixtures, paving or resurfacing, roofing, or repairs and upgrades to central plumbing, electrical, sewer, and HVAC systems Utilities, rent, or any other costs of maintainingseparate vermietung office spaceseither on- or off-site Unde rstandExactlyWhat CAM Fees Are Listed in Your Commercial Lease Here is a cautionary tale to take note of. In 1989, a professional rentedindustrial spaceto open a craft consignment and hobby store. The park appeared to be in good condition, and the landlord was a friend of the renters family and cut the rent by a third as a courtesy. Since this was thefirst industrial leasethe renter had signed, they did not fully appreciate the power of CAM fees. In other words, they signed a binding legal document without a clue as to what they were signing. They did not know what a Triple Net Lease was, only that they should avoid signing one. ATriple Net Leaseis the least favorable of all leases for tenants it requires you to pay for maintenance, taxes, and insurance. When the renter asked the landlord what type of lease they were about to sign, the landlord never mentioned the term Triple Net. Instead, the landlord told the renter that their lease included CAM and administrative fees. What they did not realize at the time was that the administrative fees included taxes, insurance, and a whole host of other very expensive costs. Only one month into the lease, the park owner began extensive park renovations, including redesigning the front units to appear more like retail space. Signs were changed, the building was repainted, and some structural changes were made to the front of the industrial park. The bill was divided among all tenants, and although the renter had a very small unit, they were stuck with a $5,000 bill- their portion of the park upgrades, even though their unit was on the side and in no way benefited directly from any of the improvements. Other tenants were hit with nearly $20,000 in renovation fees. Had the renter read the lease more carefully, they would have known enough to at least ask if any upgrades were scheduled in the near future and to see that what they thought was asimple lease was actually a Triple Net Lease in disguise.

How to Write Reprimand Letters for Employee Performance

How to Write Reprimand Letters for Employee PerformanceHow to Write Reprimand Letters for Employee PerformanceLetters of reprimand are letters written by the supervisor to provide an official statement of a wertmiger zuwachs problem that an employee must improve. Letters of reprimand are often a step in the formal disciplinary action process that can result in additional disciplinary action for the employee up to and including employment termination if the employee fails to improve. Letters of reprimand are a significant component in the documentation of an employee wertmiger zuwachs problem for the employee and the employer. Written letters of reprimand clearly and specifically state the performance that must improve and the consequences if the performance does not improve. Letters of reprimand generally follow verbal coaching by a supervisor. They are frequently preceded by a verbal correction to the employee, called a verbal warning or formal verbal warning, about the performance issue or related performance problems. Components of Letters of Reprimand Effective letters of reprimand have these components. A clear statement of the problem or the performance issue that the employee must improve.The reprimand letter might enumerate several examples of ways in which the employee can change his or her performance to comply with performance expectations. (This provides the employee with a shared picture or shared meaning around the supervisors expectations.)The impact of the non-performance on the employees and the organizations success. (How the failure to perform is having a negative impact in the workplace.) If relevant, a timeline within which the employees performance must improve.If relevant, a due date or end date at which time, the supervisor will re-evaluate the employees performance.A clear statement about the consequences an employee can expect if their performance fails to improve as described in the letter of reprimand.The signature of the supervi sor or the manager of the employee.The signature of the employee whose performance is the focus of the reprimand letter. The letter generally contains a statement that the employee signature represents that they have received the letter, not necessarily that they agree with its contents. An opportunity for the employee to object, in writing, to the contents of the reprimand letter. The employee may agree, disagree, express contrition, and so forth. Rebuttals written by the employee are attached to the original letters of reprimand. Following are two examples of formal letters of reprimand. Use them as you develop your reprimand letters. Sample Letter of Reprimand This is an example of a letter of reprimand. Download the letter of reprimand template (compatible with Google Docs and sie sagen es Online) or see below for more examples. deckblatt Letter Sample Letter of Reprimand 1 (Text Version) To Jeffery Jones From George Peterson Date September 1, 2018 Re Letter of Reprimand This is a formal letter of reprimand to notify you that your performance is not meeting expected levels of contribution. In your job as a technical expert for customer untersttzung, the job expectations were developed by the entire group of technical support experts and their manager. This means that they are the accepted voreingestellt for each technical support experts performance. You are failing to perform in the following ways. The number of customers that you serve in a week is 30% below the standard that the rest of the tech support experts are meeting.The degree of difficulty of the problems you choose to respond to is 40% below the standard that the rest of the staff are achieving.The length of time that customers spend on the phone with you exceeds the rest of the staff by 25%. As you can see, in the three most important performance measurements for your job, you are not succeeding. Your supervisor has spoken with you numerous times and you received additional training. Consequen tly, we believe that you are not willing to perform. This is adversely affecting the workload of the rest of the tech staff. We need to see an immediate improvement in all three areas of performance or additional disciplinary action up to and including employment termination will occur. We have faith that you can improve. We need to see immediate improvement. George Peterson, Supervisor Marian Demark, Human Resources Manager Cover Letter Sample Letter of Reprimand 2 (Text Version) To Linda Rodriguez From Mary Wilmont Date September 1, 2018 Re Letter of Reprimand The purpose of this letter of reprimand is to put you on notice formally that your attendance is adversely affecting your ability to complete your job. While salaried, exempt employees are not required to work specific hours, a forty hour work week is standard and expected. You have failed to show up for work at least one day a week since starting your new job and are working only thirty-two hours a week. Your manager has in formed you of the availability of FMLA time off for personal or family medical issues. He has also asked you if you need an accommodation so that you can effectively perform your job. He has suggested that you visit the Human Resources department to discuss these issues and your attendance. You have refused all three opportunities that we offered to help you improve this poor performance. The reality is that you cannot perform your job in less than forty hours. You are missing deadlines for your work assignments and your lateness is adversely affecting the work of your marketing department coworkers. They are missing their deadlines as a result of your failure to perform. Additionally, your unfinished work when assigned to your coworkers is putting their workloads into overload since they already have jobs that require forty hours of work a week. This is unfair and we will not tolerate these negative impacts on the workplace starting now. We need to see an immediate improvement in y our attendance or we will terminate your employment. This means that you must attend work five days a week. If you fail to attend work five days a week, you cannot meet the goals for which you have been employed. Our standard paid time off policies give you six paid sick days and two personal leave days that you must use over a year. You must apply for vacation days in advance. You have already used four of your sick days and all of your personal days with your current absences. We do not plan to give more time to you. This leaves you with only two sick days and your paid vacation time that you must request in advance. If you have an absence above your available paid time off, we will terminate your employment. We hope that you understand how close you are to losing your job. You will receive no more warnings. Regards, Mary Wilmont, Manager Thomas Credence, Human Resources Director See a sample acknowledgment of receiptfor guidance on how an employee receiving a reprimand has a righ t to respond. Did you enjoy this article? Youll want to sign up for the free HR newsletter now because you want to read all of the new articles as soon as they are available. Sample Letters of Reprimand Sample Letter of Reprimand Management IndiscretionWritten Reprimand Sample Attendance DisclaimerPlease note that the information provided, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. The site is read by a world-wide audience and ?employment lawsand regulations vary from state to state and country to country. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your location. This information is for guidance, ideas, and assistance.