| | New Board Member Announcement for 2021
Georgia Employers' Association's Board and Staff would like to welcome Corey Rieck as the newest addition to our Board.
About Corey Rieck, President & Founder, The Long Term Care Planning Group
Corey Rieck, CLTC, helps people better manage potential long term care expenses to avoid sacrificing their financial plans and family relationships.
He became focused on long term care planning after managing his parents’ finances as they aged and needed long term care. He realized there had to be a better way for people to receive the best possible long term care without forfeiting assets and depleting their bank accounts. Since 2001, he's been 100% focused on helping people understand long term care planning and find the best funding options available to them.
He earned a BBA from the University of Iowa in 1987 and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1990. Prior to founding The Long Term Care Planning Group, he had a successful sales career in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Corey began his career in the insurance business as a financial planning service professional, where he learned many lessons about the effect that an unfunded Long Term Care event can have on family relationships and personal wealth. He and his wife reside in Atlanta and share a common passion for running. The couple raises money for the leukemia and lymphoma research while training for marathons and half marathons.
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| | New! 2021 Virtual Leadership Training Series A Six Part Series for Lead Personnel, Team Leaders, Supervisors and Future Front-Runners
We will start training series on (Date Change) February 3rd, 2021.
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Register Now! FREE LIVE WEBINAR
Long Term Care Education and Planning for Your Employees - Understanding the Impact and Costs of Long Term Care
Presenter - Corey Rieck President & Founder of The Long Term Care Planning Group
Jan 26, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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| HR and Employment Law News |
| Today's Articles
- SHRM.org Article: Top Employee Handbook Updates for 2021
By Lisa Nagele-Piazza, J.D., SHRM-SCP
January 4, 2021
- Constangy.com Blog - News & Analysis
What employers can expect from the Biden Administration
12.17.20
- Overcoming the Leadership 'Good-News Cocoon'
By Pete Tosh, Founder of The Focus Group
- HRDive.com BRIEF: Business leaders report concern over coronavirus safety, training AUTHOR Aman Kidwai
PUBLISHED Jan. 4, 2021
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| | Top Employee Handbook Updates for 2021
Lisa Nagele-Piazza, J.D., SHRM-SCP By Lisa Nagele-Piazza, J.D., SHRM-SCP January 4, 2021
The start of the year is a good time for employers to review their handbooks and ensure policies are updated with the latest employment and labor law developments. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic may have prompted changes to employers' remote-work, paid-leave and other policies.
Here are the topics employment law attorneys said employers should review for 2021. Read more @shrm.org>>
Other Handbook Resources from SHRM:
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| | Constangy.com Blog - News & Analysis
What employers can expect from the Biden Administration
12.17.20 EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, the Electoral College confirmed the election of Joseph R. Biden as President. We asked our practice group heads and subject matter experts to provide their views on what a Biden Administration will mean for employers.Affirmative Action/Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (Cara Crotty): Generally, the OFCCP tends to shift from a focus on compliance assistance to more aggressive enforcement when transitioning from a Republican administration to a Democratic administration. I would expect the same shift this time. Here are few actions that I think we can expect from the OFCCP after President-elect Biden takes office.. read more @constangy.com>>
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| | Overcoming the Leadership 'Good-News Cocoon'
By Pete Tosh, Founder of The Focus Group
We work in a business world with such ever-increasing complexity that even the most talented leaders are challenged to understand, process & address all of the information & decisions they face.
Leaders are responsible for establishing & achieving organizational strategy. Yet to varying degrees - dependent on their position & behavior - leaders are insulated from some of the very information they need to set & execute the appropriate strategy. Leaders are naturally shielded by position barriers which develop between themselves & the reality being experienced by frontline employees, customers & suppliers.
Making matters worse, when contradicted or challenged some leaders feel threatened & less of a leader. Position power can cause some to be less likely to listen to others - especially those with contradictory opinions. And it's not uncommon for leaders to send signals that they'd rather others not speak up.
Research indicates that regardless of the leadership style, direct reports are more likely to keep mum than to question the leader's initiatives. In my years of corporate & consulting experience, I have never heard a leader say that he/she has a ‘closed-door’ policy. Yet, employees too infrequently share the unvarnished truth with their boss. It's much easier to say what they think the boss wants to hear - being concerned that their comments will be taken personally or come across as disrespectful. And when employees are hesitant to speak up, that hesitancy reinforces the perception that the culture is one where you just don't disagree with your boss. An ‘open-door’ policy is simply not enough.
Employees holding back suggestions & thoughts that might contradict or irritate their boss act as cheerleaders often not even pushing back on poor decisions. As a result, leaders can function in echo chambers which amplify their viewpoints versus double-checking or enhancing them.
Leadership barriers weaken a leader's decision making & effectiveness which require having as much relevant, unfiltered, firsthand information as possible. Leaders profit from stakeholders candidly offering their opinions & teams - who are closer to the action - supplementing the leader's know how. So, leaders need assertive ways of overcoming this leadership 'good-news cocoon.'
It takes a strong resolve for a leader to venture out of his/her comfort zone which causes each of us to feel less competent & less in control. There is always a seemingly good reason for not leaving the leadership ‘good-news cocoon.’ But the most effective leaders deliberately inject themselves into unfamiliar situations with people with whom they would not normally communicate in order to explore their 'unknown unknowns' - the things they don't know they don't know. There are a variety of approaches, but they all involve leaders venturing off the beaten path & putting themselves in situations where they are quiet, uncomfortable & aren't the expert. These approaches help leaders ask the proper questions, gain new insights, detect early warning signs & uncover new opportunities.
Jeff Bezoz, Chairman of Amazon, meets with frontline employees, customers, suppliers & leaders from other industries & asks them:- "if you were in my job, what would you be focusing on?"
- "what do I not know about that's broken?"
The leadership team at Salesforce:
- conducts company-wide chat groups soliciting & encouraging employee feedback as to what is not working & why
- and keeps these employees talking by mentally saying to themselves - 'Don't tell. Ask questions. Don't tell. Ask questions.'
The founder of software firm, Xero, shares the company's business strategy on the company intranet & encourages employees to ask questions, offer comments, challenge old assumptions, etc.
Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, shares with employees the mistakes the company has made & the lessons learned. "We do not want employees assuming that because we are successful, everything we do is right."
At company-wide meetings Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx, highlights the miscues she has had since founding Spanx
Scott Cook, Founder of QuickBooks, shadows customers in their offices gaining product & service improvement ideas by watching as they boot up & carry out their work duties
Cirque du Soleil has a section of its employee newsletter where employees offer the business insights gained from their work outside of their offices
A.G. Lafley, former Chairman of Proctor & Gamble, sets goals & exerts the self-discipline required to minimize the time he spends transmitting & maximize the time he receives information
Hal Barron, President of R&D at Calico, a life sciences company funded by Google, says "as long as I'm truly listening, as opposed to fitting what others are saying into my story, then I can ask good questions. Because I'm really not sure what the story is yet."
Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies, even posted his personal 360-degree feedback on the company intranet.
These & other leaders are removing themselves from their leadership ‘good-news cocoons’ by asking themselves:
- how many barriers do employees & customers have to pass through to talk to me?
- how much of my typical workday do I spend out of my office with people who know things that I don't?
- how often do I talk to the employees, customers & suppliers who make me uncomfortable?
- in a typical conversation or meeting what is the ratio of the number of questions I ask vs. the number of statements I make?
- how frequently do I ask for & receive from my direct reports opinions that are contrary to my own & then thank, publicly acknowledge & give them credit for offering those contrary insights?
- change my behavior as a result of feedback
Making this change in leadership style can be done but it's often not easy - Executive Coaches can provide useful approaches. But becoming more available, vulnerable & persuadable may very well improve a leader's decision making & benefit the organization - while enhancing the leader's career.
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| | | HRDive.com BRIEF: Business leaders report concern over coronavirus safety, training AUTHOR Aman Kidwai PUBLISHED Jan. 4, 2021
Dive Brief:- Many business leaders (41%) question their ability to enforce COVID-19 safety guidelines in the workplace and 51% do not think employees will follow guidelines, according to a Dec. 14 report from Stericycle. Additionally, 45% of business leaders surveyed said they doubt the safety measures in place are protective enough. Twenty-two percent of employees surveyed said their employer does not offer training on safety guidelines.
- A majority of business leaders (76%) are comfortable asking their employees to come to their place of work, although 58% are concerned that they themselves will contract the novel coronavirus at work. Meanwhile, 47% are concerned employees will take legal action if they contract the virus at work.
- Among employees, 44% of those surveyed said they are concerned other coworkers are not following safety protocols. Twenty-four percent said they would not feel comfortable at work without a vaccine, and 48% of companies said they intend to offer a COVID-19 vaccine at work.
Dive Insight:
As employers continue revising their workplace COVID-19 guidelines, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)..read more @hrdive.com>>
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Update from 01/04/2021 (State of Georgia)
Confirmed Cases 591,106 Confirmed Deaths 9,900 Hospitalizations 42,595
ICU Admissions 7,471
Probable Deaths 1,071
Visit Georgia Department of Health website for more information:
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