The Hiblog

Culture

3 company best practices for increasing remote work productivity

Staying productive in the age of distraction is a constant struggle—especially when the kitchen is a few steps away. How can we get anything done when we are always being interrupted by push notifications and barking dogs? It's possible, but to get everything done we have to become more aware of how to structure our time. To help your remote teams stay productive, you can work on a company level to create a more supportive culture. Adopting these three practices will help your people across the organization stay motivated, engaged,…

10 ways managers can build culturally-safe teams

As organizations around the world increasingly recognize the importance of engendering healthy culture in the workplace, cultural safety has become a vital part of the conversation. For employees to be motivated and productive, they must feel recognized and valued for their unique and diverse identities. Cultural safety enables employees to flourish, regardless of race, religion, gender, physical or intellectual differences, or sexuality, and creates opportunities for each member of an organization to put their best foot forward, every day. Managers are the gatekeepers of cultural safety, and, by extension, of…

2 months ago ·

How COVID-19 impacted employee wellness

Across continents, genders, and seniority levels, it seems we’re all feeling the same thing: we’re having a hard time. We checked in with 2000 workers across the US and UK about their mental health at work and how it’s been affected by the pandemic. To get the full picture we surveyed full-time employees from all walks of life, spanning different industries, seniority levels, and genders, and talked to them about how their lives have changed since COVID-19 took over the world. We discovered that, across the board, we’ve all been…

5 months ago ·

5 tips for dealing with stress while working from home

I’ve been working from home for years, no problem. But working remotely during a pandemic? Oooooh boy. That’s a tough one. Government-enforced solation, health-related concerns, a constant stream of negative news, plus the stress inherent to working from home, have combined to form a big mushroom cloud of anxiety. Due to those immediate modifications including isolating workers due to social distancing, existing stress have been magnified alongside the new ones that have popped up. Many of the stress-busters we know from regular office life don’t apply to WFH, especially for…

5 months ago ·

How to keep your extroverts happy while working from home

Whether working from home is your dream finally come true or your worst nightmare, it seems like we’ll be working from home for a while. With the light at the end of the tunnel slowly dimming, how can we keep our passion, our interest, our thirst to succeed alive while sitting on the couch in a tiny apartment? It’s not always easy, to say the least, but it’s possible. Here are some useful tips for keeping your extroverts happy while working from home. Keep your face-to-face game on When no…

Vacation Shaming:The Phenomenon is Real

Vacations. There’s no better way for working people to get clear, rejuvenate, and appreciate what’s important in their lives. Sadly, colleagues and superiors are increasingly using peer pressure and guilt trips to discourage people from taking time off. This alarming workplace phenomenon is known as ‘vacation shaming’ and it’s one reason that one-quarter of all workers will quit their jobs this year. For HR, actively encouraging its people to step away periodically from the workaday world is a must. But, what’s the most effective way to combat vacation shaming? Managers, leave…

How HR Leaders Can Enrich High EQin Their People

Some may say emotional intelligence is a desirable trait in a partner. Others will argue that it’s crucial to raising a child, or that it far surpasses the value of IQ (intelligence quotient) due to its connection of logical and emotional reasoning or understanding. All of this and more might just be true - but, EQ is hardly recognized as a favorable characteristic in one place where emotions, human relationships, and sound reason-making meet at one busy intersection: the workplace. High EQ belongs in the workplace for one very simple…

Hey, HR! Wanna Pull Your People Out of that Summer Productivity Dip?

Sublime once said it best. “Summertime… and the living’ s easy.” Except, not for anyone who has a full-time job with deadlines and quarterly goals to meet. Luckily for us, though, the modern office has made great leaps into the future of work and so far, we’ve been able to meet new accommodations that make the Summer season easier to enjoy. As HR professionals and managers, the trick is still striking that perfect balance between optimal employee productivity and allowing them to submerge their toes in the beachy sand worry-free. …

People Analytics 101: What is ONA and How Will it Help Your Organization?

Are you in the 70% of companies who name people analytics and organizational network analysis as a high priority? If so, congratulations! It’s a discipline that’s receiving a lot of interest due to its huge potential to transform the way organizations manage their people resources. But, it also turns out that only 9% of companies report an understanding of which talent dimensions drive performance in their organization. It seems that while we are recognizing the possibilities on a theoretical basis there’s a substantial gap between the will to do so…

No More Sunday Scaries: HR’s Role in Addressing Workplace Anxiety

Based on recent research, work-related anxiety has grown to epidemic proportions. A LinkedIn survey finds that 80% of people get stressed about work even before a new work week begins, a phenomenon known as the “Sunday scaries.” Most people occasionally feel anxious at work. Hard deadlines, upcoming presentations, personnel changes, and office politics can contribute to heightened stress levels at certain points in time. But if some of your people feel anxious routinely, that’s when HR’s alarm bells should be going off. To ensure that your team members are maximizing…

How to Foster a Healthy Work Environment for Your Employees That’s Free of Bullying

As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I would like to discuss one of the most influential factors on employee mental health in modern office settings; workplace bullying. Once regarded as incidents that only took place on school playgrounds, bullying is now running rampant in offices and other workspaces, leading to a high negative financial impact for companies. According to a report by Michelle McQuaid, workplace bullying costs the U.S. economy an estimated $360 billion annually due to high turnover and diminished work productivity. This is why experts refer to…

Wellbeing Workshop: Mental Health at Work

With Mental Health Awareness week fast approaching, here at Hibob we thought what better opportunity to host a ‘Wellbeing in the Workplace’ workshop and breakfast, all the way up in East London’s very own cosy and calming Shoreditch Treehouse. Hosted by the truly delightful Suki K Bassi (AKA Founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Maven: Wellbeing in Business), here’s a quick summary of her key insights around wellbeing at work; symptoms, triggers, and that all-important business case for your own company. 1) What is mental health? According to the…

How Gender Equality in the Workplace Boosts Company Profits

According to the World Economic Forum, it’ll take 108 years to close the gender pay gap. The Global Gender Gap Report also found that the second largest area of gender disparity is in economic participation and opportunity, at 42%. This and other recent studies confirm that the pervasiveness of gender inequality not only hinders women’s ability to advance, it’s also costing the entire global economy. According to McKinsey Global Institute’s latest research, the Australian economy could increase by a massive 12%, should women’s equality be promoted. Gender Equality At…

Can You Afford to Miss Out on an Employee Experience Platform?

In his latest white paper, Josh Bersin examines the shifts in needs and demands of employees in today’s workforce. As companies need to be more innovative with how they keep their employees happy, employees also have a greater expectation in terms of employee experience. The most recent Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey of over 11,000 HR and business leaders found that 84% cited careers and experience as important, yet only 37% described organisations as ready to meet this expectation. The desire to improve and better manage employee experience is…

Is ‘Loving What You Do’ an Attainable Feat?

‘Love what you do’ is a popular expression, but is it attainable in today’s new era of work? A recent study by consulting firm Eagle Hill found that a whopping 71% of tech employees (and 51% of all employees) in the Washington DC Metro Area would consider leaving their current job to work for Amazon. This statistic is a cause for alarm for any manager or CEO. So, how can you compete to retain the best talent and even go one step further by getting your employees to actually love…