| | GEA Fall Conference - Ritz Carlton Lake Oconee - November 8, 2018 |
| | We are excited and looking forward to seeing everyone at the GEA Fall Conference this week. We are thankful for all of the presenters, sponsors, and all of you who are attending. Thank you for your support of the GEA.
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Email or Phone or Meeting
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At each class session, students share communication challenges and successes from the past week. Many stories involve never-ending email battles where a project manager isn’t receiving the desired response. At the end of such stories, I ask the class how they would proceed. Often, their answers involve ''send an email saying…''
I have posed these questions to my students many times over the years, to seminar audiences, and to corporate training classes. Each time, after a thorough discussion, we have concluded that people reach too quickly for email. Every communication has an underlying goal; sometimes that goal is better served by a visit, phone call, or meeting.
If the goal is to convince, email cannot rival the rich body language that can be brought to bear in person. If the goal is to clarify, email cannot compete with the phone’s real-time capabilities, where listener and speaker can adjust their tone, pace, and content based on the counterparty’s feedback. If the goal is to reach consensus, email will never allow a project manager to gauge the participants’ facial expressions and head-nodding before asking for a vote. Does this mean email is not a valuable project communication tool? No.
Through trial and error, I have determined that email is often the most effective medium for providing information, requesting information and requesting action.
I have also determined through trial-and-error, that phone calls, visits, or meetings are usually more effective for achieving most other goals, including convincing, clarifying, building consensus, congratulating, discussing, creating, problem-solving, resolving controversies, conveying or receiving emotion.
When communicating, I consider my goal and match the medium to that goal. If I need to provide a project update: email. If it’s convincing my boss to grant an exception: a visit. If I need to gauge the feelings of the project team: a meeting. When I receive an email, I no longer automatically click the ''reply'' button. Often, emails spawn phone calls, visits, or meetings. If I find myself in the middle of a chain of unproductive, or even destructive, emails, I walk away from the computer and choose another method to improve the situation.
Email is a powerful addition to the project manager’s toolbox. Used properly in appropriate situations, it can disseminate or gather information quickly and efficiently. Used inappropriately, it can cause confusion and frustration. This is the lesson I’ve learned the hard way and tried to teach my students.
What should be your primary means of communication with stakeholders? It should be the medium which works best to achieve your goals.
Credit HR Crossing Website - Author Steven Birmingham |
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| Over 40 Percent of Employers Offer Paid Parental Leave - Survey Results (Oct. 29, 2018) |
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In 2018, 41 percent of employers offered paid parental leave to their employees, up from only 25 percent in 2015, according to recent research from Mercer. The 2018 Survey on Absence and Disability Management found that birth parents tend to get more time off than non-birth parents. The median amount of leave offered to birth parents is six weeks, compared to four weeks for non-birth parents, which is unchanged from 2015. Mercer noted that while more employers are offering leave, the amount of leave being offered has not increased noticeably.The survey found that more employers are offering leave for the adoption of a child—38 percent provide this type of leave in 2018, up from 24 percent in 2015. The median allowance of eight weeks for adoption leave has also remained unchanged.
Employers recognize that a new addition to the family is just one of many life events that cause employees to need additional paid time off. Most employers allow employees to use their own paid sick days to care for a sick family member (82 percent, up from 74 percent in 2015). In addition, 19 percent of respondents offer company-sponsored paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health issue; the median allowance is eight weeks.
Source: www.mercer.us
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| | Medical Worksite Clinics Offered by Increasing Numbers of Employers |
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A full one-third (33 percent) of U.S. employers with 5,000 or more employees offer general medical worksite clinics in 2017, up from 24 percent in 2012. This is according to a survey from Mercer. The Mercer Survey on Worksite Medical Clinics 2018 was conducted in collaboration with the National Association of Worksite Health Centers (NAWHC), a non-profit trade association for employers who sponsor worksite clinics.Worksite clinics focused on occupational health are still slightly more prevalent (38 percent), but not growing as fast as those offering general medical services. While just 16 percent of organizations with 500-4,999 employees currently provide a general medical clinic, another 8 percent say they will add one by 2019. “More and more employers are finding measurable value in providing high quality healthcare and patient experience via worksite clinics,” said David Keyt, Worksite Clinics Consulting Group Leader, Mercer. “Given the high rates of employee satisfaction and utilization, I think we will continue to see growth in offerings of clinics and expansion of the health services that clinics provide.” Larry Boress, Executive Director, NAWHC, commented, “Employers of all sizes and industries are finding they can effectively address the wide variations in quality and cost from local providers by offering clinics that are easily accessible, low or no cost to employees, high quality medical services at or near the worksite, and that are not driven by the need to generate volume and fees.” Using a worksite medical clinic as a primary care provider and even as a “medical home” is another growth trend that aligns with many employers’ strategy of leveraging Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) and other network approaches. A patient-centered medical home is a healthcare delivery model whereby patients (often very high risk or chronically ill) have their care coordinated by a primary care physician, a nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant. More than a third (35 percent) of survey respondents with general medical clinics say their clinic serves as a patient-centered medical home, up from 26 percent in 2015. In addition, two-thirds (67 percent) allow employees to select the worksite clinic as their primary care provider, compared to just 49 percent of respondents in 2015 .
Carly Deer, NAWHC Board Chair and Senior Benefits Leader at Target Corporation, said, “Employers are becoming more directly involved in shaping the health care market and improving their employees’ health. Properly structured onsite medical facilities can create a foundation of primary care and associated services that can assist moving care upstream, which can help improve outcomes, manage cost and increase productivity.”
Source: www.mercer.us |
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| GEA Member Benefits - Did You Know? |
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| HR Phone Consultation
Free HR phone consultation for challenges related to Performance Appraisals, HR Strategy, Staffing, Compensation, Employee Development, Turnover, Employee Relations, Coaching, etc... |
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