Diagnosing The Workplace: Not Just An HR Podcast

In this episode, we examine skills and try to bring a fresh perspective to the separation between "soft" or "essential" skills and "hard" or "technical" skills.

Our prescription for this episode: let's start looking at skills through the lens of Employability, especially in how we recruit, develop talent, and groom people for leadership

You can reach out to us to talk more about Employability Skills at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we explore 3 questions posed to us by our listeners:

  1.       How do we know when something is AI or just marketed as AI?
  2.       How do you handle a toxic employee?
  3.      How can I implement wellness accommodations for a team member without burning out everyone else on the team?

Our prescription for this episode: never underestimate the negative impact of job dissatisfaction and poor psychological safety. Toxic employees, employee burnout, and low productivity are natural outcomes of a workplace culture that is riddled with job dissatisfaction.

You can reach out to us with your own questions, at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

Statistic Referenced:

Housman and Minor (2015). Toxic Workers, Harvard Business School.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine what it means to "do" employee engagement. Our conversation explores the pitfalls that come from not truly understanding employee engagement and the consequences of doing it wrong.

Our prescription for this episode: understand that employee engagement is an outcome, not an activity. There are very practical and tangible things you can do that will create motivation and enthusiasm in employees, but you need to be strategic in your efforts.

You can reach out to us to talk more about RAMP at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

Past episodes referenced:

Episode 14: Why Is Employee Engagement So Difficult? 
Episode 15:  Is Job Dissatisfaction Really That Dangerous? 
Episode 16: How Do We Build A Workplace Culture? 
Episode 21: How Do You Motivate Employees Through Meaning And Purpose?
Episode 24: What Makes Employee Engagement Actually Work?
S2 E7: What Happens When Businesses Counterfeit Psychological Safety?

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine an all-to-common situation in most workplaces - Chaos Solutions. This is the reality of not fully understanding the complexity of workplace challenges or looking for shortcuts to resolve issues, which ultimately creates more harm than good.

Our prescription for this episode: we need to think critically about the situations we are trying to resolve and ask ourselves the question: "What needs to exist first before this solution will be effective."

You can reach out to us to talk more about avoiding Chaos Solutions at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine what it looks and feels like when a workplace has counterfeited psychological safety, or to put it another way, has made some of the easy steps to merely create the illusion of psychological safety. 

Our prescription for this episode: understand the red flags for counterfeit psychological safety, and take the time to learn, measure, and effectively engrain psychological safety into your workplace is you really want to reap the benefits of it.

You can reach out to us to talk more about psychological safety at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the important workforce events that happened in 2023, as well as what we should be the fundamental takeaways from this very busy year. We identify 5 main lessons to learn from 2023 that will impact our success in 2024.

Our prescription for this episode: realize that things have permanently changed, and if we want to have success going forward, we need to think differently, revise our priorities, and move beyond the traditional way of doing things.

Statistics Referenced:

• The number of workers on Strike in 2021 was 141,000 for the full calendar year
• The number of workers on Strike in 2022 was 242,000 for the full calendar year
• The number of workers on Strike in 2023 was 453,000 as of October

Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations' Labor Action Tracker
Data as of October 2023

• (29%) of companies enforcing office returns are struggling with recruitment.
• 76% of employees stand ready to jump ship if their companies decide to pull the plug on flexible work schedules
• In the SHED survey, the gravity of this situation becomes more evident. The survey equates the displeasure of shifting from a flexible work model to a traditional one to that of experiencing a 2% to 3% pay cut.

Fortune (2023).  We’re now finding out the damaging results of the mandated return to the office–and it’s worse than we thought.

Past Podcast Episodes Referenced:

The 7X3 Rule:
S2 E15 - Is Job Dissatisfaction Really That Dangerous

The Autonomy Freeway:
S2 E6 - Can we fix talent attraction and burnout with PTO

Fractional HR Supports:
S2 E25 - When Should A Small Business Prioritize HR And Their Workplace Culture

AI in the Workplace
S2 E6 - What Is The Impact Of AI On HR

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity.

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we explore 3 questions posed to us by our listeners:

  1.       What are the biggest risks facing small businesses around HR compliance?
  2.       How do you make coaching and team building programs have a lasting effect in a workplace?
  3.      How do you effectively measure DEI?

Our prescription for this episode: pay attention and look for effective ways to evaluate the work environment that you and your employees work in. A huge risk that every business faces is what we don't know. Making the need to properly view and measure our workplace an essential part of reducing risk and creating success.

You can reach out to us with your own questions, at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

Past Episodes Referenced:

Episode 25: When Should A Small Business Prioritize HR And Their Workplace Culture?

Episode 22: What Is Missing From Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)?

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the realities of artificial intelligence (AI) in our workplaces, specifically looking at its impact on Human Resources. We break down AI into practical terms with the intent to make its use and integration into our workplaces more practical and meaningful.

Our prescription for this episode: understand what is and is not AI, as there are a lot of misconceptions out there. Also start thinking of AI as a productivity tool, that is like adding another member to your team.

Statistics referenced:

49% of HR professionals say they leverage seven or more employment systems of record, inclusive of their HRIS, ATS, benefits administration, payroll, and time-tracking systems.

38% of HR professionals whose organizations have more than 1,000 employees report having ten or more employment systems in their tech stack.

The vast majority (84%) of HR executives at the VP level or higher (e.g., Head of HR, CHRO, etc.) believe their teams are using generative AI, yet only 34% of individual contributors report doing so.

- Finch. Early Look: Finch Survey Finds Many Opportunities to Improve the Employment Tech Stack. (2023)

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the importance of collecting, not just any data, but the right data to inform your People and Culture decisions. We highlight the importance of having targeted diagnostic tools to make smart business decisions that will improve organizational efficiency.

Our prescription for this episode: think beyond surveys when collecting data. Many rich sources of data can come from tasks, assets, and efforts you likely already have.

If you would like to learn more about People and Culture diagnostic tools, and/or our OCEAN suite of tools, let us know at info@roman3.ca or check out operations.roman3.ca/for-organizations.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity.
 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the hidden costs that come with typical workplace culture challenges. We call these additional expenses and productivity wastes Labour Value Loss, and they eat away at profits and potential in almost every business.

Our prescription for this episode: understand that doing nothing about these everyday challenges comes at a steep cost, whether you are aware of the problems or not.

Statistics referenced:

On average, companies are running at 33% efficiency.
-  Gallup. Treat Your People Like Assets, Not Expenses -- Invest in Them (2019) 

The result of 22 case studies show a typical cost of turnover of 20% of salary.
 - Center for American Progress. There Are Significant Business Costs to Replacing Employees Report (2012)

The cost of burnout-related absences and lost productivity can be close to 25% of an employee's annual salary.
 - Morneau Shepell. Morneau Shepell's Annual Mental Health Index  (2022)

The relationship between Sexual Harassment and reduced productivity has been directly established. A person experiencing Sexual Harassment losses productivity equivalent to 45% of their annual salary.
 - Willness, Steel & Lee. A Meta-Analysis Of The Antecedents And Consequences Of Workplace Sexual Harassment. University of Calgary. (2007)

An uncivil workplace (where microaggressions and rude/passive aggressive behavior are common) can reduce employee performance to a cost of $14,000 annually, or about 26% of the average annual salary.
 - Pearson, C., & Porath, C. The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It (2009)

Research by Grammarly and The Harris Poll found poor workplace communication is a pervasive problem burdening businesses and employees alike costing businesses approximately $12,506 per employee every year or 21% of that average employee's annual salary.
 - Grammarly and The Harris Poll. State of Business Communication report (2023)

The need for additional wages to make up for a poor reputation as a bad employer, businesses need to spend about $4,723, or at least 10% more, per hire to convince a candidate to take a job at such a company.
 - Harvard Business Review, A Bad Reputation Costs a Company at Least 10% More Per Hire (2016) 

 About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the all-to-common reality of organizations and managers using rules, standards, and policies as weapons to control, retaliate, and oppress employees.

Our prescription for this episode: understand where this common practice of using policies as weapons comes from, and realize that there are more effective ways to create rules and policies that will yield far better results and employee performance.

Email us with your stories of the Policies as Weapons at info@roman3.ca.

Quick Correction: The Three Fragile Grips are The Harsh Grip, The Weak Grip, and The Stable Grip (Not the Supportive Grip)

Statistics referenced:

59% of managers report having no training at all.
-  West Monroe. Companies are Overlooking a Primary Area for Growth and Efficiency: Their Managers (2018)

A manager or supervisor directly influences a shocking 70% of an employee’s motivation and engagement.
 - Gallup. The Gallup Business Journal (2015)

 About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the difficult reality of managing a workplace full of employees with different political and social views. How can we employees get past their differences and find common ground in the workplace?

Our prescription for this episode: we need to broaden our view of others. People are complex and we need to see past the parts we disagree with and look to find alignment in the harder-to-see, but certainly present, areas that we can agree with.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the different aspects of wellness in the workplace and explore the potential challenges and areas of growth that can come with improving employees' physical, mental, and emotional health.

Our prescription for this episode: understand that wellness strategies cannot be successful in a silo. We need to look at physical, mental, AND emotional health all together. Employee wellness is how you maintain employees in the long term.

Statistics referenced:

Employees take an average of 4 sick days a year, but admit to being unproductive an average of 57.5 days a year.
 -GCC Insights. Clocking on and Checking out: Why Your Employees May Not Be Working at Optimal Levels and What You Can Do About It. (2016) 

The cost of burnout-related absences and lost productivity can be close to 25% of an employee's annual salary. 
-Morneau Shepell. Annual Mental Health Index. (2022) 

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we explore 3 questions posed to us by our listeners:

  1.       How would you use a framework, like Integrity Leadership, to guide your decision-making?
  2.       HR and managers need to be more focused on workplace culture, but what does that look like in the everyday processes they have to go through?
  3.      What are your thoughts on performance management, tips, mistakes, and new ideas?

Our prescription for this episode: reflect on our thinking and how we lead others. We cannot think of HR processes and procedures as being separate from our organizational culture. How we structure and measure employee performance says a lot about how performance and success are viewed in our organization.

You can reach out to us with your own questions, at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

***SEASON 2 Starts October 13th***

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine common expectations that exist in our workplaces that severely damage our organizational culture. We also provide some practical ways to look at our workplace and the expectations we place on employees that can resolve these issues.

Our prescription for this episode: we need to accept that the highly visible signs of success are the most important ways to measure success. Often is it the less tangible, everyday improvements that actually matter.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine the common assumptions that many businesses make when they are looking to attract talent. Many of these assumptions come from favoriting a more traditional approach to talent attraction and retention, increasing the risk of being left behind.

Our prescription for this episode: Consider the more unconventional candidates, and beware of the value of transferable skills.

Stats referenced:

• Globally, just 35 percent of those who quit in the past two years took a new job in the same industry. In finance and insurance, for instance, 65 percent of workers changed industries or did not return to the workforce.
• Reasons why people are leaving: 41% Lack of career development and advancement; 36% Inadequate total compensation; 34% uncaring and unispiring leaders; 31% lack of meaningful work; 29% unsastainable work expectations.

- McKinsey (2022)
The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools?

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine an all too common, yet vitally important dynamic, being the new boss of your friends and former co-workers.

Our prescription for this episode: manage the expectations of those around you and create confidence and consistency in how you lead. This will help you maintain the trust and respect you need to be successful as a new manager in their new dynamic.

If you would like to learn more about Integrity Leadership, you can check out our webinar on Confident Leadership on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@solutionsexplained or our Integrity Leadership article on our Knowledge Suite: https://www.academy.roman3.ca/knowledge-suite/integrity-leadership/

Let us know if leadership and management skills are something you want us to talk more about! Email us at info@roman3.ca.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we examine key indicators for small businesses to know when they should be prioritizing and investing in their People and Culture. We also provide some practical options to make this vital investment more accessible to small businesses.

Our prescription for this episode: understand the growth of your business is dependent on your internal growth being aligned with your external growth.

If you would like to learn more about Roman 3's HR Consulting and Fractional HR supports, please reach out to us at info@roman3.ca or visit https://operations.roman3.ca/for-organizations/

Stat Referenced around employee engagement levels are higher in remote and flexible work environments than in fully onsite work environments were from Gallup's latest report: State Of The Global Workplace 2023: The Voice Of The World’s Employees 

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we will examine the fundamental ideas around employee engagement and provide some clear advice on how we can avoid the common mistakes that most organizations make.

Our prescription for this episode: Employee Engagement is an outcome, a result of a culture that supports higher employee motivation and enthusiasm. It is not a collection of actions to make employees happy.

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.

In this episode, we explore 3 questions posed to us by our listeners:

  1.       What is the best way to begin to investigate your workplace culture?
  2.       My company's professional development program doesn’t seem to be producing much in the way of higher skill and talent, how can we fix that?
  3.      You talk a lot about the old ways of doing things, what are the main old ways of doing things that we need to avoid?

Our prescription for this episode: get the most out of your efforts and talent, you need to be always looking at the aspects of your workplace through the lenses of Policy, Practice, Pe.

You can reach out to us with your own questions, at info@roman3.ca or through our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/roman3

Statistic Quoted: (James was a little off)
"Globally, just 35 percent of those who quit in the past two years took a new job in the same industry. "
- McKinsey & Company
The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools? (2022)

About Our Hosts!
James is an experienced business coach with a specialization in HR management and talent attraction and retention. 

Coby is a skilled educator and has an extensive background in building workforce and organizational capacity. 

For a little more on our ideas and concepts, check out our Knowledge Suite or our YouTube Channel, Solutions Explained by Roman 3.