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Guides & Whitepapers
Our whitepapers and guides collect our best thought leadership and expert advice on a wide variety of HR and finance topics. (And they’re beautifully designed, so you’ll actually enjoy reading them.)
How to Recruit, Coach and Develop Teams
Employee engagement is a constant challenge. According to Gallup, only a third of workers say they feel motivated to add value and succeed on the job. Why is that? One reason might surprise you.Paycor surveyed more than 1,000 HR and finance leaders and found that while nearly everyone agrees teamwork is important, only a third say their company promotes effective teamwork. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that ineffective teams reduce employee morale and engagement. So, what to do?Hire the right people, not the “best” people.Research shows that putting together a group of type-A high performers generates a degree of competitiveness to a point that can be counterproductive. Instead, focus on creating a team of mixed personalities...
2020 Report: The Future of HR
The landscape of HR is shifting from everyday HR functions to strategic HR initiatives like recruiting, people & labor cost management and more. To gauge the present and future of HR, Paycor interviewed more than 500 leaders of medium and small businesses.In this trends report you’ll learn: Where the best HR & business leaders plan to invest the most money Why CFOs are losing faith in HR’s ability to work with data (and what you can do) Which 2020 compliance regulations are keeping leaders up at night and what you should do to mitigate risk Why 48% of business leaders believe many core HR functions will be automated by 2022 And more!HR
The HR Playbook: Reduce Turnover with Employee Benefits
You know benefits are important to employees, but you might be surprised how big of an impact they actually have on employee turnover. After analyzing data from more than 30,000 medium and small businesses nationwide, Paycor discovered that as organizations add benefit plans, there is a significant decrease in turnover.In fact, organizations that offered the right mix of benefits saw turnover decrease 138%.The key is finding that right mix of benefits. Different generations want different things, and designing a benefits plan that fits a multigenerational workforce isn’t easy, but worth it in the long run in order to retain and attract talent.And that’s just the beginning. There are several factors to consider when designing competitive...
If an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19, Here’s What to Do
Everyone needs a plan to fall back on if and when an employee gets sick or tests positive for COVID-19. Below you'll find the step-by-step guide on how your company should proceed if one of your employees tests positive for Coronavirus.Get Communication Letter Template to Use if Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19 6 Steps To Take If an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19 Offer Support We’re all moving fast in this new world and it can feel like we’re flying blind, so this is just a reminder of what you already know: if an employee lets you know they’ve tested positive for COVID-19, take a moment to be there for them. As a leader of your company, there are of course professional limitations of what “being there” means—you won’t be able...
How to Make Tax-Free Disaster Payments To Employees
The pandemic is putting a big strain on everyone, maybe most of all your team, and you want to do everything you can to help.In a national emergency, employers have the freedom to offer unlimited tax-free financial assistance to employees who need it, with minimal administrative burdens. These disaster payments will be exempt from both federal income and employment taxes. What Disaster Payments Cover Disaster payment to affected employees can cover a broad range of “personal, family, living or funeral expenses (not covered by insurance)”. These may include: Unreimbursed Medical Expenses This can range from vitamins and over-the-counter medications to co-pays. Cleaning Products Disinfectant and hand-sanitizer for employee’s homes can help...
Essential Business Letter (Template)
Many states and cities are imposing complete or partial lockdowns, with most businesses forced to temporarily shut their doors or move to remote work and only “essential businesses” unaffected. This has left many employers and employees asking what exactly counts as an essential business.Download Essential Business Letter Template What Counts as an Essential Business? On March 19, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA, overseen by the Department of Homeland Security) issued guidance on what business count as critical infrastructure. Some businesses are obviously essential—hospitals, pharmacies and law enforcement. The list is extensive—other essential businesses include stores selling supplies which allow people to...Recruiting
Universal Structured Interview Guide: Downloadable Template
Add structure – hire faster. Structured interviews keep hiring on track and prevent missteps.Unstructured interviews tend to introduce error and bias into the hiring process. If you’re looking to hire impartially or you’re experiencing a stage of rapid growth, it’s very possible you’re looking to implement some form of structured hiring.One of the most common problems all recruiters and talent acquisition professionals face is getting consistent and useful feedback from hiring managers. The problem gets worse when you are looking to hire for many roles in a short period of time.Structured interviews involve the use of standardized interview questions and incorporate a scoring system so feedback is easy to get and candidates are easy to...
How To Create a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Policy - Template Included
Many employees are working remotely so now you have to ask: should they take company equipment (laptops for example) home or should they use their own personal devices?If you have the option to give employees company equipment for home use—great, do it—just make sure you document the process and get everyone to sign on the dotted line.Download BYOD TemplateBut for many companies, there’s just not enough “company equipment” to go around, in which case you’ll have to develop your own Bring You Own Device (BYOD) policy to establish best practices and expectations. What is a BYOD (Bring Your own Device) Policy? There are advantages to BYOD. Employees can work with the devices they prefer and know well, and you may be able to cut costs and...
Coronavirus Layoffs and Furloughs: Letters, Templates and Forms
Everyone is Feeling the Pain of COVID-19 As of March 22, 2020, the federal government asked state labor officials to postpone releasing unemployment data and to instead use phrases such as “very high” or “large increase” to describe the situation, according to the New York Times. When official numbers are released on March 26, experts warn of a double-digit unemployment rate in some areas of the country. An early indicator: 55,000 people in Michigan filed for unemployment between Monday and Wednesday, a 1,500% increase over expected levels, according to the Detroit Free Press.Access The Furlough Letter Templates Understand What a Layoff Means A layoff is a termination of an employee’s contract with your company due to issues unrelated to...
5 Ways to Make Work from Home Successful
There are nearly five million workers in the U.S. who telecommute (work from home) for at least a portion of the week, according to a recent survey by Global Workplace Analytics and Flexjobs. That’s an increase of 159% over 12 years. Working from home is no longer a “nice to have” for job candidates and employees—it’s a perk that workers are starting to demand. Remote employees tend to be more productive, healthy and less stressed, but there are some considerations to keep in mind as you transition your workforce to a WFH environment.Set Clear Expectations for Your Employees Company leadership and managers need to set clear expectations from the beginning. What hours of the day do you expect your employees to be online and available? How...
SMB Leaders' Guide (And Template) to Coronavirus Communications
Tips to communicate to your employees and customers during a crisis Whether it’s a natural disaster or a global pandemic, SMB leaders are on the frontlines of communication. During times of crisis, rumors spread and if we’re not careful, people have been known to panic. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.In this article, we’ll talk about how to get communication right and keep employees and customers informed. Effective communication builds trust. It’s much more than a single PR statement or website alert.Get Coronavirus Communications Template Assemble a communications team First, identify who will be part of the crisis comms. team. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, so if you have a plan in place, all the better. If not, your best bet is...
Small Business Payroll Guide
In 2020, there are 4 payroll mistakes small business leaders can’t afford to make. From misclassifying workers and disregarding pay equity to failing to stay current with Worker’s Comp Insurance and miscalculating federal & state payroll taxes, there are a lot of regulations to follow.In The Small Business Leader’s Guide to Payroll you’ll learn: How to classify employees & independent contractors How to ensure pay equity How to create an injury and illness prevention program (IIPP) Tips to mitigate federal and state tax risk What to look for in an HR & payroll provider
Our 2020 Report is Here
Paycor recently surveyed more than 700 business leaders about their people management practices. The findings might surprise you.
Read NowUnlock the True Power of HR
In many ways, this is the whitepaper that started it all: Unlock the True Power of HR. We surveyed business leaders of medium and small companies and found that less than 10% of HR professionals devote time to making their case and proving the value of HR to the C-suite. Frankly, that finding surprised us, and so we decided to do something about it. The HR Center of Excellence provides HR leaders with actionable plans that help them assess, optimize and excel at the six most important pillars of HR: benefits, people management, compliance, employee experience, labor costs and recruiting. Unlock the True Power of HR is based in large part on proprietary data gleaned from our active customer base of more than 30,000 companies. It’s the foundation of much of the work that came after, and we look forward to building on the story in the years to come.