Business.com |
- How to Go Mobile-First in the Age of Mobile Marketing
- Why Subscribers Mark You as Spam, and How You Can Prevent It
- 12 Accounting and Cash Flow Management Lessons From 10 Years as a CEO
- How to Get More Interactions on Your Website Forms
- How to Mitigate Employee Absenteeism
- What to Know About Bereavement Leave
| How to Go Mobile-First in the Age of Mobile Marketing Posted: 11 Jun 2020 03:17 PM PDT  Today, mobile is the main platform for online activities such as searches and even online purchases. It's where information flows and social interactions happen. For businesses, this means having to shift towards a mobile-first mindset. Need some statistics to reinforce why mobile is the future? Here are some mobile marketing statistics to consider:
It's little surprise, then, that we're seeing a greater push towards a mobile-first strategy in digital marketing. Let mobile platforms and experiences steer your marketing activities to stay on top of swiftly changing trends. What is a mobile-first strategy?A mobile-first strategy is largely applied to website design and development. One of the spurs towards a mobile-first design orientation came from Google's announcement regarding how it will index websites. Google announced a mobile-first indexing initiative in 2016 as most people were doing searches on mobile devices rather than desktops. However, the search engine was still evaluating desktop content first to determine whether it's relevant to a query. In doing so, it would miss the fact that many mobile sites did not have content that's actually useful to a person doing a mobile search. A mobile-first indexing initiative means that Google's algorithms will primarily use the content on a mobile site in the following ways:
What was promised in 2016 will become a reality in September 2020. Businesses will likely see a shift in its ranking, and it's important to be prepared. The widespread use of smartphones and Google's own mobile-first indexing policy are strong drivers for more mobile-oriented marketing. Let's dive deeper and understand how to implement a mobile-first marketing strategy that keeps your business riding the crest of these new waves of changes. Ways to create a mobile-first strategyTo get started, here are some of the steps you can take to make sure that your website design, structure and content, all reflect a mobile-first strategy. Create the same content for mobile and desktop sites.Many businesses focus on building content for desktop browsers as the wider screen size allows them to provide more attractive content. The mobile version of the site is often pared down and contains different text. Sometimes these mobile sites miss entire pages and other information that's available on desktop sites. This can hamper your search rankings. To make sure that you're not making this mistake, build your site for mobile devices first. Then scale up for desktop browsers if you need to. Here are some other tips to consider regarding content creation for mobile sites:
It cannot be stressed enough that your content on mobile and desktop sites need to be virtually identical. According to Google's instructions for developers, even differences in the site layout can affect how Google interprets content and therefore how it assesses the ranking of a page. Look after your visual content.In the previous section, we covered a few points that are applicable to all content. However, it's helpful to look at visual content, like images and videos, on their own to make sure we don't miss anything important. Here are a few checkpoints to help you keep visual content the same on mobile and desktop sites:
It's easy to forget important little details like structuring your information correctly or making sure that all your content is the same in mobile and other versions of your website. Checking off the points given here will help you develop your mobile-first design more easily. Use responsive web designs.Your web design also plays a role in how your site will be ranked. When two different websites offer equally helpful information but are different when it comes to the user experience, search engines will prefer the one that's easier to read on mobile. You can support your mobile-first strategy by prioritizing mobile-responsiveness. Use themes and website builders that allow you to create great content for different platforms easily. For content management platforms like WordPress, there are a number of brilliant tools and solutions to help you easily build a responsive site. Check your structured data.Search engines do their best to understand your content. You can explicitly tell them what your content is about by adding markups. A simple example can be found in the content of a food blog. You can add special markups that tell search engines things like the cooking time, ingredient list, whether it's vegan, meat-based and a host of other details. A search engine can pull details about your content and choose to showcase them in a "gallery" style result or by featuring specific content in the search results page itself. Some websites may have configurations where the content and markup is different on mobile and desktop sites. Here are some things to correct or check:
Markups help you add meaning to content and they can also signal important information that gives you higher rankings. They are one of the main things Google wants to see on your site. With a mobile-first strategy, it's important to prioritize your mobile content structure and to have your desktop site reflect the same information. Make content accessible to search engines.Your mobile site content may not be visible to Google's search crawler. It's vital to double-check that your mobile content is accessible in a few different ways:
It takes a great deal of effort to build a great-looking mobile and desktop site. The last thing you want is for it to be invisible to search engines. Carrying out small steps like these will make sure that Google's searchlights will find and rank your site pages. ConclusionWe know that search engines like Google are constantly changing and updating their algorithms, which means that we need to be prepared to meet these changes with the best practices possible. Also, changes in technology and user behavior form an irresistible movement that businesses need to roll with. Today, you need to ramp up your marketing strategies by implementing mobile-first marketing. Follow the steps here to ensure that Google can find and index your website. And so it can 'read' your content and assess how well it meets users' needs. With some preparation, you're certain to grow with the changes the future brings. |
| Why Subscribers Mark You as Spam, and How You Can Prevent It Posted: 11 Jun 2020 03:05 PM PDT  How many spam complaints did you get on your most recent email campaign? If this question feels intimidating, fret not: Everyone who sends emails will get a few spam complaints – and the larger your list, the higher the risk. It's part of the game. However, that doesn't mean you can ignore users who express discontent with your messages. The average spam complaint rate is 0.1%, and it's vital to keep it under that threshold. How do you do that? To find the best approach to spam complaints, it's important to understand why you get them. So, first, let's see what are some of the reasons subscribers may mark you as spam. You don't have their consentIt's the most common reason people hit the spam button: They never consented to receive your emails. They may see you in their mailbox, but they have no idea who you are. Perhaps you've inherited or purchased your email database and these recipients aren't familiar with your brand. They think you don't have their consentYou may have added contacts to your list in a lawful manner. However, if those people don't remember signing up, they'll think you never asked for consent, and they won't hesitate to complain about it. They forgot they ever subscribedThis happens, too: Someone gets on your email list just to download a content offer or to receive a discount. A little while later, when you email them again, they label you as spam because they forgot they opted in. Your content looks spammyMany people can easily distinguish a spam email from a legitimate one. Nonetheless, there are legitimate emails that may come across as spam due to certain aspects. For instance, poorly written copy placed in a broken template doesn't help anyone gain trust. How to avoid the spam folderIt's every email sender's goal to reach people's inboxes and see palpable results after each campaign. Although it may seem easy to accomplish that, there are several factors to consider for the highest email deliverability. Let's take a look at some of the most important best practices to keep spam complaints at bay and land your emails in the inbox. Avoid purchasing an email listEspecially for businesses that are just starting out, buying an email list may seem like the ideal shortcut. It's not – in fact, it's one of the riskiest tactics you could adopt and it can backfire big time. "Don't send mail to users who didn't sign up to receive messages from you," Google advises. "These recipients might mark unwanted messages as spam. Future messages from your server to these users are marked as spam," Google's representatives add. Spam complaints will tarnish your sender reputation and affect your inbox placement. Grow your own list and practice permission marketing. As marketing strategist Seth Godin said, "it's a privilege (not a right)" to be able to send messages to people who want to receive them. Weed out known complainersSome email service providers will automatically remove contacts that have complained about your emails. But by the time they do that, the damage is done. To prevent it, consider running your email database through an email verification system. Such services can spot known complainers and remove them from your list so you can avoid any risks. Of course, this means you'll diminish your email list. On the other hand, your campaigns will be more efficient when you communicate with people who want to hear from you. Use an email verification APIApart from regularly cleaning your list in bulk, you can also install an email verification API on all your signup and registration forms. The API is a piece of software that checks every new subscriber's email address, in real time, and ensures it's valid and safe to add to your list. If the system encounters an email address that has a history of complaining, it prevents it from subscribing. Getting access to an API is easy – your email validation company should provide you the code you need to install on your forms. What's more, the API will prevent other bad addresses from subscribing, thus maintaining your email hygiene longer and helping you avoid the spam folder. Include an 'Unsubscribe' link in every emailJust the other day I received an irrelevant email and wanted to unsubscribe. Despite it being from a legitimate company, there was no Unsubscribe link anywhere. That's poor email marketing, and you don't want to be part of that group. Every person who has subscribed to your emails must have the choice to opt out anytime they wish. If they don't, they may label you as spam to prevent you from contacting them again. Every spam complaint is a stain on your reputation as a sender. Make sure subscribers recognize youWhat do people see in the "From" section of every email you send? Is it the name of your brand? That's the case for many companies. At some point, though, you may want to run several email marketing programs and send a specific series of emails to each group. Depending on where your subscribers are in the sales funnel, you can personalize your content and make it highly relevant to each list. Furthermore, you might want to humanize your brand by having your sales representatives write emails on behalf of the company. This will make your messages more efficient, but make sure subscribers can easily recognize who the email is from. For instance, consider editing the "From" section and changing it from "John Smith" to "John Smith from Company." Email regularlyThis is one of the most beneficial habits an email marketer could have. First, it helps you develop a relationship with your subscribers. The more familiar you become as a brand, the more likely they are to choose you instead of your competitors. Also, if you don't show up in people's inboxes consistently, they may forget about you – and complain by hitting the "Mark as spam" button. So, to stay top of mind and avoid the spam folder, stick to your sending schedule. A regular sending behavior also keeps your IP warm and supports your deliverability. Test your inbox placementAlthough you may be following best practices, some of your emails may still go to the spam folder. Once you send them, there's nothing you can do about it – actually, you won't even know how many emails went to inbox and how many landed in spam. What you can do is test every email before you send it to see exactly where it goes – and make adjustments. An inbox placement tester returns valuable insight on how email service providers handle your email. Such tools allow you to send a test email and see your deliverability with popular email providers (such as Gmail or Yahoo) in a matter of minutes. If you see your email landing in spam, you get a chance to adjust it ahead of time, so you can reach more inboxes. Once you're in the inbox, there are no limits to what you can accomplish through email marketing. |
| 12 Accounting and Cash Flow Management Lessons From 10 Years as a CEO Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:53 PM PDT  Many small businesses start off strong, with a solid business plan, an impressive product or service, sufficient funding to get off the ground and a growing customer base. And then somewhere along with the way, the business stalls, usually because of a cash flow problem. Why small businesses failA study conducted by Jessie Hagen of the U.S. Bank found that a staggering 82% of businesses fail because of poor cash flow management or a poor understanding of cash flow. Think of cash flow as the blood running through your business's veins. When it stops, so does your business. How do you avoid this? By monitoring your cash balance and learning how to manage it so that you always have a means of paying employees and suppliers. Cash flow management is a fundamental skill that every business owner should have. If you've been having a hard time with accounting and cash flow management, these 12 tips can help you get a handle on your bottom line. These are hard-won lessons from a decade as a small business co-founder, president and CEO. Anticipate and prepareEvery industry has unique periods of high and low sales. One of the first things you need to do when starting a business is to identify your industry's sales pattern. If you have this knowledge, you can anticipate weak sales periods and take steps to avoid shortfalls. Set benchmarksIf you're just starting out and don't have a clear picture of how much you should be spending, take a look at the other businesses in your industry. Use benchmarks taken from those companies to guide your cash flow projections, but don't forget that your own inflows and outflows will still depend on the amount of cash you have. Lower your operating costsCut unnecessary expenses and reduce costs where you can. Think about what you can do without (participation at certain trade shows or subscriptions to certain services) and what you can spend less on (leasing equipment instead of buying). Reducing your overhead helps increase cash flow, which means having more readily available funds every month. How you reduce your operational costs will depend on the nature of your business, but there are certain steps most business owners can take. Looking for less-expensive suppliers, cutting back on rent and utilities by hiring remote workers, and renegotiating loan payment terms are just a few. Ask for a depositPayments from customers give you access to cash to pay your bills and employees on time. If you run a service business and charge a monthly subscription fee (or bill the customer at the end of the contract), your cash flow is limited and is dependent on the timeliness of payments. Consider having your customers pay for a deposit or a partial payment instead of billing them monthly or upon completion of a project. This way, you generate enough cash to cover your operational expenses instead of waiting for the next batch of payments so you can pay your bills. You can incentivize this by providing a discount for those who choose to pay early. Make getting paid on time a priorityIf your customers don't pay you on time, you won't have the cash to pay your bills and other expenses. And if you don't pay your bills, you won't have a business to run. Running out of cash is not an option, which means you have to be proactive about collecting payments. Don't hesitate to send invoice reminders. And if you want to avoid having to follow up on late payments, try to get your customers in the habit of paying early. You can do this by enforcing a late fee and by making sure that your payment terms are communicated clearly. Make it ridiculously easy for clients to pay youThe less you wait for invoice payments from customers or for fund transfers from payment processors, the better your cash flow. To avoid late payments and expedite the invoice cycle, give your customers lots of payment options. Aside from letting them pay via cash and credit card, look into payment apps like PayPal, Stripe, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
Editor's note: Looking for the right credit card processor for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs. Keep an eye on your cash reservesMany small business owners learned the value of cash reserves the hard way when COVID-19 froze economies and companies everywhere struggled to stay afloat. Cash reserves help you through periods when business is slower than usual or when there's a major unexpected purchase to make, such as when you have to replace an expensive piece of machinery. They get you through challenging times, like the pandemic, when business operations have to pause and there's little or no money coming in. Experts say that a healthy savings amount is about six times your monthly operational costs. Unfortunately, the JPMorgan Chase Institute says that half of all small businesses have cash reserves equal to less than a month's expenses. About 25% have a cash buffer equal to fewer than 13 days of expenses. If six months seems unrealistic, aim for at least three times your basic operating costs. Make sure you put aside a portion of your profits every month, even when times are hard until you have a sufficient amount saved up. Finance long-term assets instead of using cashBusiness owners frequently make the mistake of draining their coffers to purchase major resources instead of getting financing. Even if you're not feeling the crunch right now and are confident that dipping into your cash reserves won't hurt, think about what will happen if you wind up short on cash because of a crisis or a sudden revenue shortfall. But pay off debt as soon as possibleThe sooner you pay off debt, the less you have to pay in interest and the less cash flowing out of your account every month. Try to pay off debt whenever you have a cash surplus, such as during your peak sales periods. Regularly examine your cash flowA key part of effective cash flow management is learning how to analyze your cash flow. Managing your cash flow means knowing when money enters your account when it leaves your account, what you can do to get cash faster, and how to control your spending to avoid issues. Every month (or a week, if you're diligent), go through your cash flow statements to figure out how money is flowing in and out of your business. The more you do this, the more you'll learn from it. When you understand your cash flow, you're able to identify patterns and spot opportunities for increasing your income and avoiding a cash flow crunch. Automate itAnalyzing your cash flow statements should be a regular part of your routine. Accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero make it easy to do this. These tools also keep your data safe in the cloud so that you can manage your business finances wherever you are. Get helpCash flow management isn't easy, but it shouldn't be a burden either. If you're struggling to track your cash flow, or if you just don't have the patience for the nitty-gritty of accounting, hire someone to assist you. A bookkeeper can review your sales and expenses, and generate cash flow statements for your review. Whether you do it all yourself or hire someone to do the heavy lifting, the important thing is to give cashflow management the attention it deserves. Final thoughtsAside from being critical to your business's growth, effective cash flow management also frees you up to do what you do best: run your business. When you're not constantly worrying about your cash flow, you have more time to take care of your customers, explore business development opportunities, grow your team, and, ultimately, make more money. |
| How to Get More Interactions on Your Website Forms Posted: 11 Jun 2020 02:42 PM PDT  Website forms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Business owners and marketers use forms to promote offers, build their email list, answer customer questions, and to encourage engagement with a comments section. There are a ton of things you have to consider when you're adding forms to your website. You need to make sure that they are visible, functioning and engaging if you want to increase the number of interactions consumers have with your brand. Today we are going to take a look at several things you need to keep in mind if you're a business owner who wants to get the most value from your online forms. Keep things simpleDid you know that 67% of people will abandon your form if they encounter any complications? There's a good chance that once these folks leave, they are gone for good. You can work on ways to recover consumers that abandon your site, but, generally, you want to encourage people to engage with your forms the first time they visit. Simplifying your forms and layout will help you improve your conversion rate, and as a result, you'll see more traffic and sales. One of the best examples that come to mind revolves around contact forms. When someone visits your contact page, they want to get in touch with your business. When a potential lead clicks on your contact section and gets redirected to an FAQ page, they may leave – even if the answer is on the page. Why?Because they clicked a button expecting a specific action, and, instead, they were redirected to a page that might have the answer but no guarantees. As a result, the process of contacting your business now seems more complicated than before, and this will push some people away from your site. Instead, you can include your FAQ page below the contact form. Now, a user that navigates to your contact page will see the form they needed, and the FAQs as an optional link that can help them with their issue. Make customer feedback a priorityCustomer feedback is a valuable asset when you're looking to grow your brand. Understanding what people think of your company, product and customer support can help you make smart marketing decisions down the line. The best way to hear what customers have to say is by simply asking them. We suggest adding feedback forms to your website in prominent places, such as your homepage or specific blog posts. While feedback does encompass things like customer satisfaction surveys, general industry inquiries are also extremely helpful for understanding your target audience. So if you own a website that focuses on email marketing, your first question should be, "What is your biggest email marketing struggle?" This question will resonate with your target audience and encourage them to leave their feedback. Once you understand the pain points and goals of your audience through feedback, you can start making changes to your website that reflect what consumers want to see. If you posed the previously mentioned email marketing question, and most people said they were struggling to accumulate their first 100 subscribers, you've just been handed a valuable piece of information on your audience. The pain point is their list in stagnant; the goal is to grow their leads drastically. Now that you know this information, you can start creating content that answers this question and offers actionable solutions. Consumers are likely to stick around if you take this step because they can see that you're listening and want to engage with your website in other ways. Optimize for mobile usersAt this point, we all know that mobile users have disrupted traditional marketing as we know it. Business owners and marketers are always looking for new ways to reach 3.7 billion+ mobile users worldwide. Due to the availability of mobile devices, over 58% of internet traffic in the United States stems from smartphone users. The message here is clear; if you want people to interact with your site, including your contact forms, you have to optimize your website for mobile users. It's important to note that focusing on a mobile-friendly design doesn't necessarily mean you have to cut the quality on your site's desktop version. You can optimize both aspects of your business for maximum engagement and conversions. Your mobile forms should be organized, easy to understand and accessible to people that are using their phones to fill out their information. When you're working through the mobile-responsive version of your site, make sure you spend some time going through the forms that you expect your users to submit. The key is to look at how long it takes you to complete the form whether a new user might have questions, and how to streamline the process. Optimizing for mobile users is a time-consuming process, but it is certainly worth your time, especially if you want to see more interactions on your forms. Test your formsFinally, we are going to talk about testing your forms for better results. Marketers test various aspects of their website to see if they can achieve significant results by changing seemingly insignificant factors, such as CTA color and placement. When testing your forms, make sure you only change one variable at a time for the best results. You don't want to experiment with too many factors at once, and then have to figure out which elements improved performance and which ones hurt your results. Testing single elements will allow you to dive deep into your campaign and make fine-tuned changes that will help you get more from engagement, traffic and potential sales. Instead of changing placement, the call-to-action color and the text copy, start with one piece, and work your way through the list until you have a form with all of the highest-performing elements intact. There are plenty of things you can experiment with when testing your forms. For starters, you could limit the number of fields you use in each form. Typically, three to five fields outperform everything else, but you may want to test this theory for yourself just to be sure. You can also test your forms by changing the placement on the page. Most business owners find that their forms perform best when above the fold, meaning, immediately visible before a user has to scroll down. The best part about split testing your forms is you have the freedom to experiment in ways that you think will have a significant impact on your business. Everyone's journey is a little different in this regard, but analyzing your metrics can help you make educated guesses about which elements you should test. Testing will help you fine-tune your forms, which can lead to overall more completions and happier customers. Back to youForms are an essential part of every website, and it's a safe bet that consumers will continue to use this tool to engage with our brands in many exciting ways. If you want to make the most of these customer experiences, take precautions to ensure that your forms are giving you plenty of accurate information. Use the tips outlined today to get started, but don't be afraid to try new things and expand on your knowledge. Mastering the form building process isn't easy, but it's one website feature that can help you grow your business exponentially. |
| How to Mitigate Employee Absenteeism Posted: 11 Jun 2020 05:37 AM PDT  Employee absenteeism is something every small business owner must manage even during the best of times. In the midst of COVID-19, managing employee absences is more fraught than usual, as public health guidelines dictate that any employee experiencing illness must be allowed to self-quarantine at home for a minimum of two weeks. We asked HR professionals for their insights on mitigating employee absenteeism during both COVID-19 and normal times. Read on to learn the three steps they recommend taking as well as their answers to frequently asked questions about managing absenteeism. How to mitigate employee absenteeism during COVID-19Typically, when a business is suffering high levels of employee absenteeism, the first mitigating step is to figure out the underlying cause. In the case of unscheduled absenteeism due to COVID-19 symptoms, obviously that is not necessary. Rather, you should create clear workplace policies, manage with compassion and communicate effectively. 1. Make clear policies.Nearly every HR pro we heard from stressed the importance of clear communication and consistent policies. Shradha Kumari, HR manager at SurveySensum, told business.com that consistency in carrying out policies is just as important as writing good policies to begin with. "We trained all supervisors and managers on how to put in place the attendance policy and informed managers about the flexibility criteria," she said. "Some managers may be lenient, and some can be harsh. This inconsistent behavior can lead to resentment from employees. So, maintaining consistency in the attendance policy is very crucial." Karen Oakey, director of HR at Fracture, also shared some great advice with us on how to manage employee absences through policy: "My best nugget of advice to share with business owners is simply to be fair, firm and consistent always, but remain open-minded and empathetic during these strange times. Review the roles of each person in your company and how they support your business." In addition to suggesting flexible work hours, Oakey advises small business owners to "reach out to your local peers and see what they are doing. If you don't have an HR expert on staff, connect with one on LinkedIn, and see if they can offer insight. Put some legwork into the process, because your employees are your company's most valuable resource, and their health and well-being should be the No. 1 priority of any HR strategy." Another HR director we spoke with, Jenna Carson from Music Grotto, told us it's important to have policies that help employees feel like they can stay home if they get sick and that also help manage productivity. "We've established some strong communication channels to ensure that everyone knows what their colleagues are up to with their work and projects, and have access to their files should they need to take over for a while if someone gets sick," she said. "I feel this has removed a little anxiety for the team and for us, as we know business can carry on as usual if we're sick." 2. Keep supporting remote work options.Despite the excitement and pressure many business owners feel to reopen, several HR reps we heard from were quick to point out that remote work shouldn't be taken off the menu yet. Tim Reitsma, an HR professional at People Managing People, put it well: "A supervisor has to realize that people are still deeply afraid. If the employee has shown a good track record working from home, offer them an extra WFH day or two to ease them back into the work environment." Tatyana Tyagun, HR generalist for Chanty, told us that her company plans to continue offering employees the option of working remotely. "We have a policy where everyone can work from their preferred location – either home or the office, whichever suits them – so long as they get their work done for the day. That way, absenteeism is decreased to a minimum and people show up for work almost all of the time." 3. Offer flexible hours, and plan for temps.Planning for employee absences is key to stay afloat. Two recurring ideas from the HR professionals we spoke with were offering flexible work hours and hiring temps. In fact, some HR experts recommended that small business owners reach out to temp agencies before they need additional help, just in case. Other alternative flex work concepts experts suggested include running your business in day and night shifts and staffing them at 50% capacity. Another innovative scheduling option we heard is to have employees work in two-week shifts and then take two weeks off, cycling through to minimize potential virus spread. According to Hilliary Turnipseed, founder and president of HR consultancy Hill Street Strategies, a little scheduling leeway can go a long way. "Some recent popular approaches are to offer a four-day workweek, make Fridays optional or designate a day with no meetings. These are small changes that can have a profound effect on mitigating burnout and amplified stress, and promoting work-life balance." FAQs about employee absenteeismManaging employee attendance is not the most glamorous aspect of running a small business, but it's vital. Small business owners often lack in-house HR professionals, so they face the task of creating sick leave and absenteeism policies on their own. If this sounds like a familiar challenge to you, this FAQs guide is a great place to start. Should you have a formal attendance policy?There are benefits to having a comprehensive absenteeism policy as a small business owner, but the major reason is to help you avoid possible discrimination issues. Managing absenteeism requires clear communication of your expectations for employees requesting time off or asking for reasonable accommodation. Most HR professionals recommend creating a workplace absenteeism document and not only disseminating it to employees but also walking them through each point in case they have questions. How do you solve excessive absenteeism?Chronic absenteeism is a costly problem, but it should be dealt with carefully. If your workplace has mostly good attendance and the issue is with an individual, you should plan a meeting with that employee – with an HR rep present if possible – and simply ask them if there is a reason for their chronic absenteeism. Go into the meeting with a plan for reasonable accommodation it it's warranted, or to issue (and document) a warning if appropriate. If the excessive absenteeism is widespread in your company, a more in-depth investigation may be necessary. For instance, if unscheduled absenteeism is mostly happening in a specific department, you should investigate the relationship between its workers and managers. Absences can sometimes indicate a toxic work environment, including harassment or other forms of misconduct. If it's a companywide issue, you should have a serious meeting about your current attendance policy. Consider conducting an anonymous survey with all your employees that covers how they feel about not only attendance and work-life balance, but also the company culture in general. Companies with rampant absences often also have high employee turnover. What is a high absenteeism rate?The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes absenteeism rates among different demographics. Most HR professionals quote an average rate of about 2.8%, so if your organization is experiencing a much higher absence rate than that, you may have cause for concern. Can a workplace absenteeism rate be too low?Yes. As with high workplace absenteeism rates, there is no magical number, but if your worker absence rate is around 1.5% or lower, that could also indicate a problem. An extremely low rate of unscheduled absences may indicate that employees are working while sick because they are not being given enough sick leave, are afraid to risk their job security by calling in sick, or are scared to ask managers for time off due to a toxic work environment. How do you calculate employee absenteeism?You can calculate your rate of individual employee absenteeism by dividing the number of absences by the total possible number of days worked in a certain period. Absenteeism rate = Absences/Total possible workdays For example, if you are looking at the absenteeism rate of an individual for the month of April and your business only operates Monday to Friday, the base number of possible workdays would be 22 days. If they were absent for three of those days, you would divide 3 by 22. This gives you 0.136, which is an absenteeism rate of 13.6%. You'd use the same formula to calculate absences for a group of employees, but make sure you multiply the total possible workdays by the number of workers, or else you'll end up with an artificially high absenteeism rate. How much will COVID-19 impact employee absenteeism?No one can predict exactly how much workplace absenteeism might increase in the coming months and years, but it is wise to assume your business will not be spared. Since coronavirus outbreaks seem to be concentrated in certain metropolitan centers, it is reasonable to assume businesses near virus hotspots will experience more unplanned absences due to COVID-19 than businesses in rural or other less affected areas. |
| What to Know About Bereavement Leave Posted: 11 Jun 2020 04:05 AM PDT  If your employee loses a loved one, it is important to support them with compassion and care. One way to help them through the initial days following their loss is to offer bereavement leave, which is time away from work to grieve the loss of a loved one, attend the funeral and tend to immediate post-death matters. Although there are no federal laws requiring businesses to offer employee grief support and bereavement leave, every business should offer it. Read on to learn about the best practices surrounding bereavement leave. Why should your business provide bereavement leave?Mindy Cassel, a licensed psychologist, thanatologist, co-founder and senior clinical advisor to the Children's Bereavement Center, said that companies and supervisors have an opportunity to influence the recovery of their employees by supporting them after a loss. "The benefit to the company is that of greater appreciation and loyalty by both the griever and the staff for their compassion during a critical life event," Cassel told business.com. "The adjustment of the bereft employee will be enhanced by reduced stress, flexibility and social support." The basics about bereavement leaveNavigating an appropriate response when an employee loses a loved one can be uncomfortable and confusing – especially as an employer. However, rather than shying away from the situation, offer your employee the support they need. A great way to do this is to have a well-defined bereavement leave policy in place. What is bereavement leave?Bereavement leave, also known as compassionate leave, is a period of paid or unpaid time off work an employee can take after they experience the death of a family member or friend. Employees can use bereavement leave to grieve the loss of their loved one, take care of arrangements, and plan or attend funeral services. Is bereavement leave mandatory?There are not currently any federal laws that require you to offer bereavement leave to your employees, and aside from the Oregon Family Leave Act in Oregon, there are no states that require employers to offer bereavement leave either. Still, you should familiarize yourself with the laws in your state. Who can take bereavement leave?Although any employee can take bereavement leave (e.g., full time, part time, entry level, management, etc.), it is up to your company to determine who those employees are. Some companies may restrict bereavement leave to apply only to full-time employees who lose an immediate family member; other employers may offer more comprehensive policies that support any employee who experiences the loss of a loved one. The best bereavement policies are comprehensive and allow eligible employees to take paid leave after the loss of any loved one, regardless of the employee's relationship to the deceased (e.g., spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, stepparent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, friend or neighbor). Your company bereavement leave policy should clearly state who is eligible for bereavement leave. How long is bereavement leave?The average bereavement leave policy grants an employee three to four days of time off for the loss of an immediate family member, like the employee's spouse, and often less time for the loss of extended family or friends. Employees can often negotiate additional time off by using paid vacation days, sick leave or unpaid time off. Because bereavement leave is optional in most states, the number of days an employee can take off work will depend on what your bereavement leave policy dictates. Is bereavement leave paid or unpaid?Bereavement leave can be paid or unpaid; however, most businesses offer full or partial pay for the allotted days off. Is "proof" required to take bereavement leave?It is up to your company bereavement policy to determine whether an employee should provide documentation or proof of death to take bereavement leave. Requiring proof can be uncomfortable, and you may appear insensitive, so approach the situation compassionately. If your policy requires proof, try to make it as easy as possible for the employee. Shirley L. Toliver, founder and chief power officer of Life On Power, said reasonable examples of proof can include an obituary, funeral notice or written request that discloses the deceased's name, date of death, the relationship of the deceased to the employee, and city of death. If your bereavement policy requires proof, consider adding a clause that allows the employee to submit it after they have returned to work. Bereavement policy advice for business ownersAlthough bereavement leave is not legally mandatory in most states, it is a best practice for every business to offer some form of it. Companies can support their employees by creating a clear and comprehensive bereavement leave policy. Toliver said a comprehensive bereavement leave policy should address the following:
It is important that your bereavement leave policy aligns with your available resources and is as inclusive as possible. When determining the guidelines for immediate and extended family members, Toliver advised owners and managers to remember that blended families are a large part of employee family life in our current society. You may also want to create a policy that allows for flexibility as to the days that the employee can take off (e.g., the policy can indicate the number of days for bereavement leave, but the employee can schedule the specific days off with their immediate supervisor). Include the policy in your employee handbook and update it as needed. Apply the policy fairly across your organization. "For optimal acceptable use of the bereavement policy, members of management should have an annual policy review, along with other annual pertinent policy reviews," said Toliver. How to support a grieving employeeIn addition to offering a bereavement policy, there are many ways that you and your team can assist a grieving colleague when they return to work. Cassel shared the following tips on how business owners can support a grieving employee:
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