There is one factor that separates good HR teams from great ones: the ability to adapt in the face of a crisis.

Ask yourself: How has your team adapted to the sudden shift to remote work? Are you performing at full capacity, or are there still hurdles to overcome?

If you want your team to flourish, you have to learn to work together not just in the office, but from afar. 

What’s the best way to do that? With these three steps:

1. Identify Major Obstacles

Going from a face-to-face environment to a virtual one can be a tough transition for your employees. Certain tasks and lines of communication that were once simple in the office have now become complicated. 

That is why it is imperative to identify the major obstacles and pain points that your employees are facing in this transition. Ask them how they are doing: They most likely won’t open up about their stressors without a little prompting. 

What about work could be stressing them out? Uncertainty. Make sure they’re clear about who does what, how, and why while the team is remote. 

Think through these questions:

• Who is the point of contact for any technical issues?
• In what contexts should different lines of communication be used?
• Where will documentation that everyone needs access to be stored?
• How will I, as a manager, stay connected with my employees?

Don’t be surprised if workers raise additional questions. Keep a list of pain points related to working remotely so that you work on mitigating them. 

1. Monitor Employee Morale

People are — and always will be — the most important asset to a business. That’s why, as an HR leader, your job is bringing out the best in them. 

If your HR team’s morale is low, they can’t possibly do their best work. The way to raise it is simple: listening.

On a remote team, making your HR team feel heard isn’t as simple as taking your headphones off. To check in on them, and to show that they should feel free to check in with you:

• Hold regular one-on-one chats.

Block out 30 minutes per week for each employee. Ask how they’re doing not just at work, but on a personal level. A video call works best.

• Make yourself approachable.

What’s the best way to reach you? When are you typically free to chat? Don’t make employees guess, because they’ll simply stay quiet instead. 

• Talk as a team.

Hold either weekly or daily full-team meetings. These don’t need to take a long time, but they should give everyone a chance to talk through their wins and challenges. 

• Make sure they have a solid space.

Your team needs to know you care about their working conditions. Nobody should be forced to sit in a closet for eight hours a day. Encourage everyone to set up a dedicated workstation in a quiet room to maintain a sense of work-life balance. 

• Make it fun.

Perhaps on Friday afternoons, hold weekly virtual happy-hours. Play trivia games on video conferencing software. Host a bingo game with prizes like coffee delivery. 

• Revisit your benefits.

Right now, a lot of people are worried about the future. There’s never been a better time to provide fully paid health insurance or beef up your retirement benefits. Do your best to provide a sense of security. 

• Be transparent about the company’s performance.

Nothing is more stressful than being in the dark on the company’s performance. Remember, employees depend on it for their livelihood. Send regular updates to keep everyone in the loop, and encourage them to email or call you with questions. 

• Establish new traditions.

Working from home may be a long-term arrangement. Create a shared spreadsheet where everyone can share activities and hobbies they have picked up during quarantine; suggestions for movies, podcasts, and books are also great to include. 

Together, these tactics remind your HR staff that you’re a team. They provide a feeling of closeness, encourage collaboration, and remind everyone what they enjoy about their work. 

1. Streamline Communication 

Communication is critical. But without a clear communication strategy, things tend to get confusing quickly. 

Emails, phone calls, and Slack messages flying every which way make it tough for people to do their jobs. And when too many of these are directed at any one person, the result is communication overload. No one person can possibly answer every question themselves, whatever their title or typing speed might be. 

That’s why it is important to designate which forms of communication are to be used in which contexts, otherwise known as your “rules of engagement.” For example:

• Short, urgent messages can be sent as instant messages. 
• Whole-team announcements can be sent out via email. 
• Task-specific comments should be made in project management software.
• Phone calls and texts can be used for after-hours needs.
• Video calls work well for one-on-one chats with company leaders.

Think through these rules together. Ask everyone to sign off on them, or to bring up concerns until they’re satisfied. Communication is one of those things the whole team must agree on. 
Working together remotely is a lot tougher than it sounds, even for human resource specialists. Miscommunications happen. Deadlines get missed.

Be empathetic and forgiving. There’s no other way to work together, remotely or otherwise.

It is every employer’s goal, to get the best possible employee to come work for their business. Unfortunately, wanting the best employee and being able to get the best employee, are two completely different things. The employment process can be long and drawn out, and even at the very end, you cannot be really sure if you have gotten the best candidate. There is also the possibility that when you hire them, they might leave a short time later, and then you have to start the whole process over again. This can actually cost thousands of dollars to get the right person.

The better alternative.

However, there are alternative ways that are much more effective, and the likelihood that you will get the best client, and that they will stay with your company long term, is greatly increased. Hiring your staff through a professional company like at  jvrecruitment.com.au, is a very wise move, and one that will offer you so many benefits. The following are just some of those benefits.

• You get the best candidates – These recruitment agencies have access to a large amount of qualified candidates, and they already know about their abilities, and suitability for this job. They also help job seekers to find your company, because many people who are looking to change companies and find a new one, are often signed up with a recruiter. If you are feeling stressed, here is a useful article that might help with stress relief ideas.

• It saves time and money – As mentioned briefly before, if you go through the recruitment and hiring process yourself, then it could end up costing you thousands of dollars, and you still might not get the right person for the job. A recruitment agency has already collected and assessed potential candidates, they have checked their references, and they know who is suitable or not. This means that they will find you the right employee faster.

• Specific industry expertise – The good recruitment agencies will offer you specialist potential clients, for your specific industry. This means that they will have an in-depth knowledge of your business, and they know about the salary levels and the skills required for that. Click here for useful information for employers in Australia, which outlines liabilities.

• Employment law knowledge – It is important to understand employment and recruitment law, so that there is no confusion on your part. The government encourages diversity in the workplace, and these recruitment agencies keep themselves very up-to-date with current recruitment laws. By going through this professional recruitment agency, you get to avoid any legal issues on hiring a new employee.

Once you start using these recruitment specialists, you get to enjoy the many benefits, and you also get to build a relationship with them. This means that every time you require a new employee, you can turn to them immediately, and they will fill your needs. They will ensure that you get the best talent, and that you receive the best recruitment support. They are there to help, so make sure that you use their trusted, professional services. You would be foolish not to.

The CBD industry is growing more quickly than almost any other industry in the world. Some projections have it estimated at A 50% annualized Rate of growth For the next few years. So, how do you get in on some of the action in this explosive industry? 

Quick Breakdown of the CBD Industry

CBD is a cannabinoid chemical found naturally in cannabis and hemp. It produces beneficial effects on health without causing inebriation the way THC does. 

• Hemp CBD

Most CBD sold is harvested from hemp to avoid the legal issues associated with growing cannabis. Hemp is simply cannabis with a measured THC concentration below 0.3%

• Isolate or Full Spectrum

Currently, CBD products are sold in one of two forms: either as CBD isolate or Full Spectrum. Isolate only contains CBD, while full-spectrum has the whole array of cannabinoids found in hemp. 

Launching Your Own CBD Company

Starting a company is almost similar in the CBD industry to any other industry. There are rules and regulations you need to follow to operate the business legally. Then, you still have to attract customers who will buy your products. 

• Following the Letter of the Law

CBD is in a legal grey area of sorts. While the bill passed in 2018 did make hemp a federally legal product to grow, sell, and market, there still have not been any rulings set in place by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA). Follow the right channels for new updates as they come.  If you have a business that is operating once regulations are in place, make sure you adhere to the rules 100% of the time to avoid any potential legal issues you could face. 

• Finding Customers and Selling Your Products

CBD oil, CBD edibles, CBD extract, and more are all products known by many people across the country for the beneficial health effects they produce. However, just because you have something available for resale does not mean you will find customers. Make sure you use your social media and any other platform you have available to spread the message for customer outreach. As long as the products are of high quality, you can expect many of the first customers to become regulars. Running the rest of the business is similar to running any other, except that CBD businesses face some key obstacles that others do not. 

Obstacles Currently Facing the Nation’s CBD Companies

• Federal Regulations

The lack of clear guidance from the FDA leaves a lot of grey areas for vendors to operate. It can change at any moment and can cause significant disruption to businesses that are not ready for the change. 

• Lack of Traditional Banking Support

Due to the lack of clear federal guidance, many banking institutions refuse to work with companies that sell CBD products. Therefore, it has made finding access to capital for Tyne business more difficult. Until new laws are in place, this is unlikely to change. However, we are optimistic that we can still work around it.

Businesses are turning into victims of personal injury claims, with an uptick of advertising pushing plaintiffs to sue for millions of dollars. Many lawsuits are frivolous in nature, but the plaintiff has everything to gain when getting injured.

A few million dollar payday is enough for a person to purposely slip and fall in your building.

Businesses are being sued for personal injury claims every day of the week. People sue for spilling hot coffee on themselves. Others sue for tripping on a sidewalk. People ignore caution signs, walking into a slippery area and falling in the process.

Can your small business withstand these hefty personal injury claims?

If not, you need to know how to protect your business from personal injury claims.

1. Review or Obtain General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance is coverage that every small and large business needs to safeguard themselves against personal injury claims. If you don’t have general liability insurance, your business is under a serious risk from personal injury claims.

The good news is that this insurance is often tied into property insurance.

But even so, you may be a small contractor that operates out of your home, so you might not think to get general liability insurance.

If you already have insurance, you should:

• Review your policy annually
• Discuss your business’s finances and insurance with a professional

General liability insurance will be priced based on four main factors:

1. Business type
2. Location
3. Number of employees
4. Level of risk exposure

If there’s one thing you do after reading this article, it should be discussing your options with an insurance agent to get coverage as soon as possible.

2. Label Dangerous Areas Properly

“Danger high radiation area” or “Caution wet floor” may be all that’s needed to prevent a person from winning a slip and fall lawsuit against your business. Your business has a duty to protect customers, so if a floor is wet, labeled as wet, and a customer decides to risk walking on the floor, you’re better prepared if a lawsuit is filed.

You should:

1. Assess the premises often for potential for injury
2. Supply the proper signage to warn of potential hazards
3. Remove dangers in the workplace

If you remove dangers or warn of them ahead of time, this will make your business inherently safer from personal injury claims.

3. Protect Employees Via Training and Education

Safety must always come first in your business. Not only do you want to protect against claims, but you also want to do everything in your power to protect your employees. A business can protect its workers through:

• Training: Proper training ensures that employees are properly trained to use equipment and perform their duties up to the highest standards.
• Identify Hazards: When possible, identify all hazards in the workplace that an employee may encounter. Through proper identification, you’ll be sure that your employees have less risk of injury or death.

When you do your best to train and protect employees, you’re also safeguarding your business if a claim is filed. You can show that an employee was properly trained to use a dangerous piece of equipment and your business took all of the proper safety measures in the process.

You can use this in your defense to prove that an employee acted negligent despite knowing the risks.

It’s also up to you to provide your employees with the proper safety equipment. If you provide your employees with training and safety equipment that they fail to use, you might be able to sway a claim by showing your business took every precaution to protect employees from injury.

Safety guidelines should be implemented across your entire workforce in an effort to protect against injury and further safeguard your business from costly lawsuits.