Failing to use the benefits available to them can be particularly significant for working families facing serious medical issues, such as cancer or surgery. The end results of this failure are poorer health outcomes and higher employer and employee healthcare costs increases.

There are many reasons your employees may not use the benefits they have:

1. Fear of Choosing Wrong

According to a study by AFLAC, 46% spend 30 minutes or less on choosing a benefits package.[ii] This decision is stressful, partly because the cost of choosing wrong can be high.

2. Unclear Options

A survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans indicates that more than 80% of organizations believe that employees clearly understand their benefit options.[iii] Choosing the wrong benefits package can be a costly mistake, to your employee’s finances and health.

3. Benefits are Complicated

When your employees are facing multiple benefit options from multiple providers, it is overwhelming. Even if they have access to information that could help them, they are likely to give up and make a fast decision that may not be a smart decision. This leads to rising healthcare costs and poorer health.

4. Lack of trust in benefit providers

Can you trust an insurance company to advise you on your health insurance? Many people feel like they cannot. It is difficult to know that the insurance provider actually has your best interests in mind. This makes them unlikely to seek out case management and other services that could be helpful.

Opportunities to enhance employee engagement

There are three key ways of encouraging employee engagement with health benefits. Addressing these issues can improve health outcomes for your employees and reduce healthcare costs.

• Preventive opportunities

Taking steps to stop preventable health issues helps your employees be happier and healthier. Employer-sponsored programs such as stress management classes and fitness incentives are fun ways to make your business a better place to work.

• Predictive opportunities

Many health issues and accidents can be predicted and prevented. The key to these opportunities is analyzing insurance claims to find patterns. These patterns can help you identify employees who may need extra support and resources.

• Emergent opportunities

When one of your employees is hit with a serious medical issue like a cancer diagnosis or a surgical recommendation, it can be difficult for them to assess their treatment options objectively. When this happens, you have a chance to support your employees with health counseling services.

Success with any of these approaches depends on clear communication.

Encouraging employee engagement with health benefits pays off for both you and your employees. This issue deserves your attention.

[i] https://collectivehealth.com/insights/consumer-health-benefits-survey-2015/

[ii] https://workforces.aflac.com/download/pdf/overview/open-enrollment-guide.pdf

[iii] https://www.ifebp.org/aboutus/pressroom/releases/Pages/Spotlight-on-Employee-Benefits-Communication-for-Many-Organizations.aspx

More than anything else, your staff is what sets your restaurant apart. Learning how to better manage a restaurant workforce is an essential part of making your restaurant a place your customers want to visit again and again.

Are You Stuck in the Past?

Changing your décor, menu, or style may help set you apart temporarily, but changing the way you do business is a better long-term solution. A pencil and paper are arguably the cheapest tools available to manage your staff, but you will be spending a great deal of time and energy using them. Many restaurants have moved to automated tools to manage marketing, reservations, and sales.

Effective management tools help speed the process of HR, payroll, and scheduling, freeing your managers to interact with your customers, employees and suppliers. In addition, these automated tools make it easy to expand when the time comes. In short, a modern workforce management tool will save you time and money, while opening new opportunities for growth. However, many restaurant owners are reluctant to change the way they do business.

The Future Is Waiting

While many restaurant managers are already seeing the benefits of modern management tools, some managers are reluctant to make the change. They worry that technology-based tools are complex, expensive or hard to learn. This is a misconception.

Today’s systems are well entrenched in the industry. These tools are mobile, online, and user-friendly. Furthermore, the cost of using these tools continues to drop. Finally, these modern tools let you pay only for the services you actually need.

Better Management Means Better Business

Running a successful restaurant is hard. The challenges of managing the staff can quickly overwhelm pencil and paper management techniques, leaving little time to build your business and serve your customers better. If you are looking to save money on administration, communication, payroll, and scheduling, an online workforce management tool could be the answer.

Today’s workforce management tools allow your chefs, managers, and wait staff to collaborate across different locations and job positions and wow your customers. Do you need to know how to better manage your restaurant workforce? Today’s technology-based tools could be the key.

[i] https://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2017/01/29/no-most-restaurants-dont-fail-in-the-first-year/#15dfe60e4fcc

It is crucial to have the right kind of training. Preventing sexual harassment begins with fostering a culture that rejects unacceptable behavior. This has usually been the responsibility of the HR department, but stopping sexual harassment requires a commitment at all levels of an organization.

Starting at the Top

Are you uncertain how to prevent sexual harassment? This article will help you learn how to build a harassment-free workplace culture. The culture of your organization reflects the values of your leaders. A healthy culture is essential if you hope to attract and retain top talent. There are several steps you can take to eliminate sexual harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has several suggestions for reducing sexual harassment in their 2016 report, Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace[i],

1.Emphasize Inclusion

Trying to prevent sexual harassment by making rules is likely to fail. Fostering an environment of inclusion is more likely to succeed.

2.Get the Information

Do you think that sexual harassment is not an issue in your organization? A sexual harassment survey is the only way to know.

3.Put Policies in Place

To stop sexual harassment, put the right policies in place, then train your employees on them.

4.Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The right policies are just the starting point. Support your policies with adequate training and resources. This is the best way to demonstrate to your employees that you are serious about stopping sexual harassment.

5.Everyone Is Responsible

Every department should be responsible for keeping themselves harassment-free. Give your department heads the authority and power to deal with sexual harassment.

Training That Makes a Difference

The most easily recognized type of harassment is “quid pro quo”, where employees are expected to give sexual favors in exchange for promotions or other perks. Gender-based harassment, where employees of different genders are treated differently is actually much more common. According to the EEOC, nearly 13,000 claims of sex-based harassment are filed each year.[ii] Your training should emphasize that any behavior that makes an individual feel badly about his or her gender or sexuality is unacceptable, no matter who the perpetrators and victims are.

The Costs of Harassment

Stopping sexual harassment is about more than legal compliance. It has economic benefits as well. In 2012, businesses in America paid more than $356 million in settlements and court costs to settle sexual harassment claims.[iii] This staggering drain on resources is easily avoidable.

Every organization must learn how to build a harassment-free workplace culture. When your leadership dedicates the resources to create a harassment free workplace, the benefits are far reaching.

[i] https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc

[ii] https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment_new.cfm

[iii] https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/task_force/harassment/report.cfm

The appropriate procedures, processes, and technology can help you optimize your workforce for the highest performance and the lowest labor costs. This involves more than simply making a schedule; there are many factors to account for. Each of your staff members and volunteers has different schedule preferences. You need certain types of workers to get the work done. Optimizing these variables by hand can quickly get out of hand. Nonprofit workforce management solutions can help you do the heavy lifting and come up with a solution that best meets your needs.

Effective workforce management offers five key benefits:

1. Lower Labor Costs

An automated workforce management system reduces your labor costs in two ways. First, accurate timekeeping virtually eliminates mistakes and fraud that can cost you money. Second, you can reduce costly overtime. When it comes time for payroll, your time-tracking software can send the hours to your payroll system or provider.

2. Predictable Scheduling

Many of your employees and volunteers probably enjoy having a predictable schedule. A workforce management system lets you set up regular schedules for certain employees, then supplement your staffing requirements with additional staff as needed.

3. Improved Compliance

Every organization is subject to federal state and local regulations. Accurate records are the best way to ensure that your organization remains compliant from the start. If you ever need to demonstrate compliance later, you will already have the records you need.

4. Better Employee Satisfaction

A workforce management system is the fairest system possible to manage employee shift preferences and requests for time vacation. When your employees know that their needs and wants are being considered in the most equitable manner possible, they are more likely to be pleased with the outcome.

5. Higher Productivity

Improving employee morale and reducing labor costs will naturally lead to higher productivity. Your productivity gains will pay for your investment in workforce management.

In the business world, accomplishing more with less is the best way to increase your profits. In the nonprofit world, accomplishing this goal frees more of your resources to do the work of your organization. Nonprofit workforce management solutions are a key tool you can use to improve your employee morale and ultimately increase the impact of your nonprofit.