GreatWork Blog

Building better workplaces through compliance, culture, connection

You know how much employees enjoy holidays off … especially when they get paid for them. So, to help you determine if your holiday practices are competitive, Cascade Employers Association just conducted a Holiday Practices Survey to provide you with valuable insights regarding the remaining 2013 and all 2014 holiday practices for employers in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

According to research conducted by the Families and Work Institute (FWI), providing workplace flexibility improves business results.  Workplace flexibility (or workflex as they often call it) matters to all employees to some degree. 

Ethics is rarely discussed unless we are being scolded or threatened by litigation, but ethics has to do with being a great place to work and gaining commitment from employees because they trust managers and other co-workers and they care about doing the right thing. Trust comes from knowing that, while mistakes may be made, decisions and actions are based on values and ethics.

If you’ve been thinking about developing an Employee Supervision Handbook, now is the time and Cascade will help. Our model is designed to make the development and implementation of your own Employee Supervision Handbook quick and painless. 

As human beings we are challenged every day. Sometimes really bad things happen. Perhaps you’ve been fired or abused or treated unfairly or injured severely. You can place blame or whine, seek revenge or play the victim – or you can be resilient, problem solve, see the upside of change and bounce back stronger than before. Is this merely a Pollyanna-style philosophy? Maybe, if you are pretending that there is no injustice or pain. But while some jump into a victim role and want others to suffer right along with them, those who think win-win and make the best of their situations end up better off.

We are hard wired to focus on threats, things that might put us in danger and things that are wrong.  Unfortunately, that wiring does us a disservice is some situations because it pulls away our focus from what’s right.  

When struggling big box retailer Best Buy followed in the footsteps of Yahoo! Inc. by altering its telecommuting policies for employees, some undoubtedly concluded that there would soon be a flood of companies doing the same. However, a new survey indicates that Best Buy may be in the minority, with the overwhelming percentage of companies planning to maintain their telecommuting policies.

According to a recent report from Aon Hewitt, there are three current drivers of employee engagement in the United States. How would your employees rate your organization in these areas? 

This month, a Portland Commissioner released a proposal to require employers in the City of Portland, or who have employees who perform at least 240 hours of work in the City of Portland to provide sick leave. Under the new ordinance, sick leave is generally available for absences resulting from certain illness, injury, health conditions, diagnosis, and preventative care of the employee or their family member.