July 2022 - Prescott HR

Kimberly Prescott
Blog
July 25, 2022

Setting Your Workplace Up for Productivity

Nothing can kill a team’s productivity quite like a workspace full of clutter and distractions. When your team spends hours upon hours at their desks each day, even the little things can hinder overall productivity – and even your team’s wellbeing. That’s why the experts at Prescott HR are sharing a few helpful tips to seat your workplace up for productivity. Keep reading to learn more!

Proper Lighting

This may surprise you, but good lighting is essential to a productive workspace. In fact, studies have shown that good lighting can improve your work output, as well as your overall health. And natural lighting is best of all. If it’s possible, situate your desk in a position that gets the most possible natural light, like from a window or skylight. If natural light is not an option, there are many lamps on the market that simulate daylight.

Speaking of light, you also want to make sure that your desk does not have too much light, which can cause a glare on your computer screen.

The Right Chair

If you think about it, we typically spend an eight-hour workday sitting in a chair. That’s more than a third of your entire day! You deserve a nice chair to work in. Make sure that your chair is set to the right height above your desk, so you’re not straining or leaning too much in it. The right chair should offer proper lumbar and seat depth support, so you can keep your body as healthy as possible during the day.

Declutter Your Space

This step is so important! You will be hard-pressed to stay productive if your desk is filled with distracting items, like piles of papers, stacks of folders, etc. We recommend taking ten minutes at the end of each week to organize your desk for the work week ahead.

File or store all paperwork in a place that is not the surface of your desk and wipe down your space with a disinfectant. You will thank yourself on Monday when you walk into a clean and organized workspace, ready to start a new week.

Get a Houseplant

Houseplants have a surprising amount of benefits for increased productivity and overall health. Not only will adding a plant to your desk help create a pop of natural color, but houseplants have been shown to decrease anxiety and stress.

Make sure that you select the right plant for your desk, especially if you work in an area without a lot of natural light.

Work with Prescott HR

Does your organization need help creating more productive workspaces? Hire the experts at Prescott HR to help you. Prescott HR offers a wide range of services that can help your organization get more productive. Our unintimated HR practices allow us to be focused and effective, providing your business with exactly what you need.

Give us a call today at 443-351-8818 or contact us online.

Kimberly Prescott
Blog
July 18, 2022

Financial Wellness Programs in the Workplace

In today’s competitive job market, companies are always looking for new ways to stand out and recruit top talent. One suggestion to gain a competitive advantage over other organizations is to offer financial wellness programs to your employees. If you haven’t heard of a financial wellness program, keep reading to learn how you can help your organization stand out and hire top notch talent.

What is a Financial Wellness Program?

Most employees do not wake up and come to work each day for the fun of it. They are there to earn an income, save for retirement, pay off debt, or other financially-motivated reasons. A financial wellness program can help empower your employees to achieve their personal financial goals.

The Benefits of Implementing Financial Wellness Programs

There are many positive benefits to implementing a financial wellness program in the workplace. One major example is helping your employees decrease the chances of a major financial event that could affect their ability to come to work. Another important factor is that having less financial problems can alleviate individual stress. Offering financial wellness programs to your employees also sends the message that you value your team members and their contributions to your organization.

Examples of Financial Wellness Programs

Employee financial wellness programs can include helpful training in areas like debt relief, student loan repayment options, retirement savings plans, and more. Here are some financial wellness programs your company could consider offering in the future:

Educational Programs: If your team members are concerned about student loan repayment or retirement savings, have an expert from that field come into the office and help educate your team. These experts can provide guidance and coaching that your team members can implement in real life.
Benefit Matching: Many employees seek careers with organizations who are willing to match certain workplace benefits, like retirement savings. Consider offering a 401K match, a 529 match, or student loan repayment match to all employees.
Build Financial Awareness: There are many programs available out there to help professionals succeed. Why not offer a free lesson to your team members? We recommend a monthly lecture series that focuses on different topics that would be helpful to your team. Some examples include a health savings account specialist, a mortgage lender to discuss home loan assistance, how to avoid identity theft, or an expert in medical bill negotiations.

Work with Prescott HR

Does your organization need help selecting a financial wellness program to offer your employees? Hire the experts at Prescott HR to help you. Prescott HR offers a wide range of services that can help your organization plan for one or more layoffs within your organization in a compassionate and authentic way. Our unintimated HR practices allow us to be focused and effective, providing your business with exactly what you need. Give us a call today at 443-351-8818 or contact us online.

Kimberly Prescott
Blog
July 11, 2022

How to Build Workplace Resilience

Resilience is more than just a workplace buzzword. In fact, fostering an environment of workplace resilience is something that all leaders should strive for to create a better work culture. Does your organization need some guidance on how to create resilience in the workplace? Keep reading for some helpful tips to build resilience in the workplace from the experts at Prescott HR.

What is Resilience?

Before we begin, it’s helpful to define what exactly resilience in the workplace looks like. Generally speaking, being resilient means that an individual is able to recover or quickly adapt from a challenge or stressful event. Resilience in the workplace looks like team members who are able to rise to the challenge and handle a stressful situation with a positive outlook. Studies have shown that resilient individuals are more likely to excel at personal growth and development, too. An example of resiliency in the workplace is a team member who is faced with a challenging deadline, but meets it anyways through proper planning and problem solving.

The Benefits of Workplace Resilience

Not only does a resilient workforce encourage personal growth for individuals, but it can also contribute positively to an organization as a whole. Building a team of resilient individuals can help create leaders who are able to think quickly and adapt when faced with challenges. Resilient employees are also able to work together more efficiently to help a team member when he or she is struggling.

How to Foster Workplace Resilience

There are many ways to help foster an environment of resilience in your workplace. Here are several suggestions from our team at Prescott HR:

Offer Stress Relief: There are many affordable and easy options to implement that can help your team alleviate stress. Consider playing calming music or offering a group meditation in the office during the week. Offer wellness programs like exercise classes or breathing exercises to promote a stress-free work environment.

Ask Your Team: Rather than try to come up with new initiatives, seek out opinions from your team. What initiatives could your organization offer to make their lives and jobs easier, so that they may feel less stress in the workplace? Chances are your co-workers have already given this some thought and can provide valuable insights.
Hire Motivational Speakers: One interesting idea is to hire a motivational speaker to come in and discuss ways to become more resilient with your team. You will want to seek out individuals who are motivating or have experienced resiliency in their own personal life.

Work with Prescott HR

Do you need help guiding your organization in becoming more resilient? Hire the experts at Prescott HR to help you. Prescott HR offers a wide range of services that can help your organization plan for one or more layoffs within your organization in a compassionate and authentic way. Our unintimated HR practices allow us to be focused and effective, providing your business with exactly what you need. Give us a call today at 443-351-8818 or contact us online.

Kimberly Prescott
Blog
July 1, 2022

How to Prevent OSHA Violations

Does your organization have concerns about violating OSHA laws? OSHA violations can incur high fines and put your organization at risk for health and safety standards. Learn how you can help prevent OSHA violations from the experts at Prescott HR!

What is OSHA?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, was created in 1971 to assure that all working men and women are provided with healthy and safe working conditions. This is accomplished through set standards by the U.S. Department of Labor and requires businesses to undergo training to meet OSHA requirements. Common OSHA violations include:

Fall protection
Hazard communication
Respiratory protection
Scaffolding
Powered industrial trucks
Eye and face protection

Here are some helpful tips and plans to implement so your organization can avoid costly OSHA violation penalties.

Train Your Staff

This is probably the most important step you can take in assuring your organization avoids an OSHA violation. Every employee that is hired must be trained on their role and made away of any safety standards to avoid workplace injury. Making your employees aware of potential safety hazards can help reduce workplace injuries in the future.

Create a Safety Plan

Take some time to evaluate your organization and any potential workplace hazards that may exist. Familiarize yourself with common OSHA violations and then conduct a “run-through” of your organization to see if you could potentially be vulnerable to one. Also, make sure that you have PPE (personal protective equipment) available to your staff wherever it’s needed.

Conduct Regular Safety Checks

It’s not enough to just evaluate your organization’s workplace safety once a year. Businesses should be regularly conducting workplace safety checks to help avoid any future injuries and identify areas of potential harm. You can even involve your employees in the process! OSHA protects employees from owner retaliation, should they report a potential safety concern at their workplace. Make sure that your employees know they can come to you or a manager to discuss and address a safety concern before they feel the need to report to OSHA.

Provide Safety Equipment

As we mentioned above, always be sure that your team has the right PPE (personal protective equipment) to perform their work safely. These can include items like goggles, hard hats, and masks. There are other safety equipment considerations you should incorporate into the workplace, too. OSHA also requires respirators to be on site when employees have to work in environments with insufficient oxygen or where harmful materials are involved, like dust, fog, smoke, fumes, gases, or vapors.

Work with Prescott HR

Does your organization need help with making your workplace safe? We are here to help! Prescott HR offers a wide range of services that can help your organization recruit new talent, including creative hiring ideas. Our unintimated HR practices allow us to be focused and effective, providing your business with exactly what you need.

Give us a call today at 443-351-8818 or contact us online.