#RedBranchWeekly: Best Workplace Practices to Prep for the Unexpected

How prepared would you be in the case of your CEO’s sudden retirement? Or if some unprecedented natural disaster slowed down your workflow? If mishandled, either one of these could cost you.

Even if you can see the problem coming from a mile away, it helps to be prepared. Our partners at ThinkHR, Inspire Software, and ClearCompany have put together articles to help prepare your team for a number of challenges. Whether it’s a fast-spreading flu or a dwindling workforce, there’s something for you to take away from each article.

ThinkHR: Why Paid Sick Leave is Becoming More Popular

With the flu season in full swing and COVID-19 spreading fast, it’s important to make sure your employees are taken care of. If they need to call in for a day, let them! In fact, you should encourage it. By offering paid sick leave, you’re letting your employees know they don’t have to worry about missing a couple of days of work.

“Some employers encourage sick employees to stay home and rest. To that end, they offer paid sick or personal time so that employees who already feel lousy don’t have to suffer the stress of a smaller paycheck. While paid leave doesn’t work 100% to keep sick employees home, it helps. In fact, more and more states have passed laws requiring employers to offer paid sick leave.”

Yes, it’s important to ensure work gets done, but it’s also important that your other employees are healthy. It doesn’t take much to spread a cold. ThinkHR has more to say on this topic in their new article, give it a read. 

Inspire Software: How Your Succession Plan Can Inform Your Workforce Planning

Having a succession plan that works and is effective already puts you ahead of the curve. Nearly half of all transitions to new leadership are considered failures after two years. This is an unavoidable situation every company must face eventually. Enter strategic workforce planning:

“So, what exactly is strategic workforce planning? SWP takes an organization’s key people objectives and details their hiring and development needs for the year in order to reach those objectives.”

An effective succession plan goes hand-in-hand with an effective workforce plan. The similarities between their benefits and needs are striking. Inspire Software has the explanation and more in their latest article here.

ClearCompany: How to Fine-Tune Your Hiring Process

How can you best prepare to meet your goals? Will you always have the workforce to complete what you want to accomplish in a given year? Thinking realistically about this problem allows you to make the right adjustments and preparations for what might happen.

“After taking the time to assess your workforce, you should have a clear idea of what your organization will look like throughout the year. Now is the time to focus on the yearly goals set for your business, which will help steer your talent management strategy and hiring plan.”

Read More: Building a Diverse Talent Pipeline

Based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, voluntary turnover was at 2% monthly. That number may seem small, but it could still happen at any given point — and you need to adjust accordingly when it happens. ClearCompany’s latest article has the steps to take to fine-tune your hiring plan, so you don’t have to scramble when your employees decide to move on.

Want to see your company covered in a future #RedBranchWeekly? Get in touch with us @RedBranch!

The Branchers

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