June 2012 Newsletter

Keeping Your Cool in the Heat

Let’s face it, life at work and at home gets busy and stress can creep into our lives unknowingly. We start feeling rushed, our temperature rises, and we can lose our cool.  Not only is stress not ‘cool’ while at work, but it is also unhealthy and can take a toll on the body. So what can we, as employees, do to reduce or even eliminate daily stress in the workplace?

Take steps and empower yourself to throw off the tension like a bad habit.  Understand how to keep calm and instead of letting that energy erupt, divert it into a productive process where you flow from task to task with focused motivation.  Not only will you feel better, but you will also find that communication with clients or co-workers improves and that the workload starts reducing right before your eyes.

  • Breathe:  Yes, it’s a simple step but when we start to feel stress overtake us and get so worked up that we forget to breathe; it only makes the situation worse.  Carve out time throughout the day to take deep breaths and clear your mind of  ‘clutter’.  Deep breaths fully oxygenate the brain and you will be refreshed to tackle one thing at a time and complete your assignments.
  • Be Proactive: There are certain situations where we know ahead of time that a particular task, meeting, or presentation might cause stress.  Plan ahead and do something to relieve anxiety.  Take a short walk outside, take a break, go sit down in a quiet place, listen to some music, talk to a co-worker for moral support, etc.  These small steps can help tremendously in creating a calm environment, controlling emotions, and preparing for the task at hand.
  • Prepare:  A healthy body and a healthy mind go together.  This is one place where you can take your work home.  If we are creating a healthy environment for ourselves including exercising on a regular basis, eating the right foods, getting a good nights’ sleep, and staying hydrated, we will perform at our best on the job, we will feel calm, alert and ready to tackle the demands of the day.
  • Take a Vacation:  We can all get into the bad habit of not taking sufficient time away from work to go on a vacation or just spend time at home.  Work can avalanche and we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel but ‘burn out’ is not good for an employee or the company. This down time is so important to help employees regroup, revitalize and de-stress. 
  • Ask for Help:  Work can be overwhelming at times.  Employees should not feel that they have to do it all on their own or try to work 24/7. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  In return, help to your co-workers when they ask. Work together. Work smarter. Work healthy and happy and reap the benefits of a team environment.

Body Language in the Workplace

Each day, we witness and speak some form of body language whether we are aware of it or not. Learning to identify and understand body language can be very useful in the workplace and other social circumstances.

Good body language allows for that positive “first impression” you have undoubtedly heard of. In the first 30 seconds of someone meeting us for the first time, most have formed an opinion. It is important that you utilize good body language to ensure a positive outcome. If the goal is to have a receptive audience, a few simple steps taken will help including:

  • Make Eye Contact – If no eye contact is made, it can signal deception. Be aware though, some cultures will not make eye contact as a sign of respect for you.
  • Lean Forward Slightly – This communicates interest in what others have to say.
  • Relax Your Hands With Palms Open – This relays sincerity and openness.

Human beings are genetically programmed to look for behavioral clues and to instantly make a judgment as to the intention of a gesture. Right or wrong, we have been doing this for a very long time, often even before we learned spoken language. We almost instinctively know how to identify bad body language and to use it to get our point across.

  • Tightly Crossed Arms = Defensive and Uninterested
  • Slumping In a Chair = Arrogance
  • Playing With Your Hair = Inner Build-Up of Anxiety
  • Shrugging Shoulders = Disbelief In What Has Just Been Said
  • Fidgeting = Worry

Everyone perceives things differently. Many factors can play a part in our body language on any given day and we should not assume we know exactly what the intent was. Understanding the gestures will take some decoding on your part to understand the context, assess the consistency, and filter any cultural influences. Learning to constantly look at the overall picture and understanding body language will allow you to gain the nonverbal advantage.

Stop the Cutting!

Sales are growing and costs are staying at a relatively even level.  Expenses are right where they should be.  So, why are net profits even or down?

The answer could be that the price of the product or service was cut or discounted at the time of sale.  Why? It could be that your sales staff:

  • Feels like the only way to win the sales war or maintain or gain any market share is by cutting or discounting their price.
  • Fears that the sale will be lost.
  • Prefers to sell on the lowest price in order to retain the customer or close the deal.
  • Doesn’t have a feel for what the customer is willing to pay.
  • Cannot communicate the value proposition of the product or service.

Cutting the price of the product or service to close a deal takes less skill. Selling the value of the product or service takes a deeper understanding of the product, its uses, and the intrinsic value.

So, how do you stop the cutting of your selling price?  Start by educating your sales team. At your next sales meeting, discuss the product, its uses for the consumer and how to communicate the value of your product.  Discuss why your price may be higher or why your service plans are different. Talk about the features, differentiators, and the brand messaging. Provide client testimonials and press releases.  Arm your sales staff with knowledge about the product so they can communicate the value.

As the company owner or manager, it is your responsibility to protect the pricing strategy of your products or services.  Continually educating your sales staff on the value proposition of the product or service is a necessary part of that strategy. If necessary, have rules in place for any discounts to be approved or parameters for discounts to be given.

OSHA Announces New National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities to protect workers from serious safety and health hazards that are common in medical industries. OSHA develops national emphasis programs to focus outreach efforts and inspections on specific hazards in an industry for a three-year period. Through this NEP, OSHA will target nursing homes and residential care facilities in an effort to reduce occupational illnesses and injuries.

In 2010, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and residential care facilities experienced one of the highest rates of lost workdays due to injuries and illnesses of all major American industries. The incidence rate for cases involving days away from work in the nursing and residential care sector was 2.3 times higher than that of all private industry as a whole, despite the availability of feasible controls to address hazards. The data further indicate that an overwhelming proportion of the injuries within this sector were attributed to overexertion as well as to slips, trips and falls. Taken together, these two categories accounted for 62.5 percent of cases involving days away from work within this industry in 2010. For this NEP, OSHA will target facilities with a days away, restricted, transfer (DART) rate of 10 or higher per 100 full-time workers.

“These are people who have dedicated their lives to caring for our loved ones when they are not well. It is not acceptable that they continue to get hurt at such high rates,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “Our new emphasis program for inspecting these facilities will strengthen protections for society’s caretakers.”

Health care workers face numerous serious safety and health hazards, and the NEP will provide guidance to OSHA compliance staff on the policies and procedures for targeting and conducting inspections specifically focused on the hazards associated with nursing and residential care. These hazards include exposure to blood and other potentially infectious material; exposure to other communicable diseases such as tuberculosis; ergonomic stressors related to lifting patients; workplace violence; and slips, trips and falls. Workers also may be exposed to hazardous chemicals and drugs. Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants had the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders of all occupations in 2010. The incidence rate of work related musculoskeletal disorders for these occupations was 249 per 10,000 workers. This compares to the average rate for all workers in 2010 of 34.

Source: OSHA. For more information, please contact the Risk Management Department at Four Point HR.

Effective Performance Appraisals

This month we will talk about another one of the tasks that many managers would rather not undertake.  It’s important to recognize the fact that when we ignore a performance feedback opportunity, we send a message that we do not consider the job important enough to talk about.

Following these simple steps will ensure that you are sending the right message to your employees and that you care enough to take the time to appreciate the hard work.  If there are issues with the employee’s ability to do the job, be sure you cover those as well.

We have talked about how important the job description is.  We used it to create the job itself, we used it on the employee’s first day to make sure that the employee understood their job responsibilities, and we will use it now to formulate the specifics around which we evaluate our employee.  If there are specific goals that were set up in addition to the job description like projects or special tasks, then we want to look at all the tasks that employees were asked to complete for the specific timeframe.

Once we have the full list of responsibilities and special tasks, then we should make sure that the employee is in agreement with our task list.

Using a document that allows the employees to rate themselves first, gives employees a specific voice in the process.  Additionally, the employee may remind us about things that were accomplished that we may not remember.

Go ahead and consider a specific list of goals for the next review process.  Even if you simply take the job description and pull the most important tasks and define the level of quality you would like to see going forward, it will be a clearer process next time.  If you have other, specific goals to add, do that as well.

Once you have completed your part of the evaluation then you and the employee will meet to review both views of the same performance.  Consider the following points when conducting the meeting:

  • Establish a comfortable environment away from usual meeting rooms or the manager’s office.  Begin by thanking the employee for taking the time to complete their form, explain the agenda and what you would like to accomplish in the meeting.
  • Start by comparing the ratings that you gave the employee—with those that the employee submitted.  Talk about the differences in scores and come to agreement on a final score for each of the job responsibilities.
  • Work together to prepare a list of goals for the next performance period, or take the existing tasks and come to agreement on amount of time that should be spent on each task and the level of quality you wish to see next time you meet.
  • Include the list of skills the employee utilizes to complete their responsibilities.  Praise those skills that are outstanding, and talk about those skills that the employee needs to improve.  What training might the employee need?
  • If your organization (or department) has multiple promotional paths, talk about what the employee might like to do next.  If the employee is not nearly ready to make that move, take the time to tell them why, and discuss the additional training needed before any changes take place.
  • Make a list of follow-up items to ensure that the performance appraisal is complete, next quarter’s goals are set, and any necessary training is included.
  • Talk about the level of feedback that has been present in the relationship up to now, agree on more coaching if necessary, and decide if interim meetings between performance appraisals would be helpful.  Some employees need more feedback than others.)

Making employees feel valued for their contribution, appreciated for their efforts, and rewarded appropriately with additional training or coaching is one of the more important things you will do this year. Whether quarterly, semi-annually or annually, take the time to complete this most important step in the employment process.

Important Hint:  If employees are given specific goals, and they are reviewed quarterly, then employees do not link the performance appraisal process with an increase in pay, but rather part of the plan that the company uses to ensure goals are met and that employees are focused on meeting their objectives.

Fully or Self-insured Plans

There are times when healthy people who have never had medical issues elect not to carry health insurance.  They do not pay into the risk pool, leaving others with the rising costs of insurance premiums.  To combat this situation, the healthcare reform law has mandates for both individuals and groups with 50 or more employees.

Federal regulators are now examining whether small companies with healthy employees will go the self insuring route rather than the traditional fully insured route which will allow companies to absorb more out of pocket risk for the employees’ medical services.

A self-insuring or stop-loss insurance policy allows a company to set the amount of risk or claims expense per employee.  For example, a company may limit their risk or claims expense to $30,000 per employee and the insurance carrier will take on anything beyond $30,000.

If this potential trend grows to be lopsided in favor of self-insured plans, we could see higher costs for the business remaining under the traditional fully insured plans – making coverage unaffordable.  It could also affect the Small Health Option Program (SHOP) Exchanges that are set to begin in 2014.

With this trend, it’s possible that the government may step in again, adding additional regulations to self-funding programs. Jay Fahrer, government relations director at Self-Insurance Institute of America, states in a Bloomberg Businessweek article, “We argue strongly that it’s an incorrect perspective that only healthy groups will leave the exchange and self-insure”.  Fahrer further states “Employers do not know how healthy their workers are because they often do not have access to claims data from their insurance companies.”

It’s something to think about when evaluating health insurance options.

What Impression Do You Make

Using proper grammar and correctly spelled words is extremely important. For business professionals, poor grammar and spelling can be embarrassing and could mean losing a new client, blowing an important deal, or sending the wrong message. All communication, written or verbal, must leave a good impression, as it is a reflection of our attitude, capabilities and skills.

Poor writing lacks credibility and persuasiveness. It can portray the writer as poorly educated or a faulty thinker. Strong writing makes a good first impression. It instills confidence in the recipient of the communication. It demonstrates professionalism and shows attention to detail and care. In a business environment, proper spelling and grammar reflects the quality of the company and the expertise of the staff member.

Many of us have more to do than we have time available in the workday and our spelling and grammatical errors are due to rushing and not reading over a communication before it is sent. Some disregard tools like spell and grammar check that help catch these errors. Frequent text-messaging and social networking have over-abbreviated communication and factor in as well.

What to do? Send important emails to yourself first or to a colleague whose skills you trust and read it as the addressee so you can catch errors in grammar, spelling, and meaning before it goes out. Print out the email / document before you send it – sometimes it is easier to catch errors on paper. Utilize spell and grammar check tools when creating documents. When making a call, make a list of items to cover on each telephone call and plan ahead in case you need to leave a voicemail message.

For Our Clients

On July 1, 2012, Four Point HR is switching our ancillary product offerings – Dental, Life, Short Term Disability, and Accidental Death & Dismemberment – from Reliance to Lincoln Financial.

The conversion will be automatic, so our clients will not need to complete new enrollment applications during this process.  The vision coverage will stay with VSP with no changes to the benefits.

In June, we will be sending a new enrollment package via email to each HR contact within our client portfolio to distribute to their employees.  The package will contain the summary of benefits for each product line with the respective pricing.  Four Point Agency will be available for employees to call or email with their questions or requests.

Beginning August 1st, we will be offering two additional supplemental products — Critical Illness and Accidental — to our clients on their respective open enrollment periods.