RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Wait, what?

At a time when layoffs are dominating headlines, it may be hard to believe that an almost century-old company has yet to downsize its workforce. But flavored syrup manufacturer Torani has done just that.

Founded in 1925, Torani has never had to reduce its staff through layoffs—be it on a small or large scale. Not during the Great Depression (though, at the time, it was a two-person operation), not during the Great Recession, and not during the Covid-19 pandemic. During these periods, US unemployment reached 24.9%, 10%, and 13%, respectively.

Melanie Dulbecco, Torani’s CEO, attributes the company’s track record of zero layoffs to its low turnover and high tenure. “Our voluntary turnover last year was 4.2%,” she told HR Brew, compared to that of the manufacturing industry as a whole, which is currently 36%. Torani’s average tenure hit 6.3 years in October 2023, more than 50% higher than the national average.

Going almost a century without conducting layoffs might seem like catching lightning in a bottle, but Dulbecco, who has led the 350-employee, California-based company for almost 33 years, believes employers can avoid layoffs, even in difficult situations.

Keep reading here.—AS

PRESENTED BY BETTERHELP

Bring on the benefits

Let’s talk numbers: Depression and anxiety cost the global economy an estimated $1t every year. What’s driving that $$$ amount? Loss of productivity.

If your business is struggling, it might mean your people are struggling too. That’s where BetterHelp comes in. Their new service makes it easy for employers to offer online therapy as a workplace benefit.

BetterHelp Business gives organizations access to the largest network of professional, licensed, vetted therapists. The platform is built specifically for HR professionals, so you can count on a functional, straightforward interface that’s easy to manage.

Amplify access to mental healthcare for your employees. Request a demo to learn more about BetterHelp Business.

TECH

Analyze this

To a non-French speaker, Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport is a challenge; the French rather prefer their language to, say, English, and understanding the signage and navigating the EU’s largest airport is best attempted with a connection that’s longer than 45 minutes. But we all manage.

HR pros spend time managing data that doesn’t always speak the same language, from a number of sources and on many different platforms. But the people analytics field is growing quickly, and execs are relying on teams to draw insights, and data that talks to each other can best inform those insights.

Employee engagement platform Culture Amp announced this month it plans to acquire Serbian people-analytics company Orgnostic. The acquisition will bring more people data into the Culture Amp platform and help people leaders make better decisions based on insights.

Zoom out. Leaders rely on a multitude of sources for information about the workforce. Data can be predictive, or come from sources like responses from surveys, info on performance, attendance, compensation, and more. The data is only as valuable as its use case in the company.

Keep reading here.—AD

HR STRATEGY

Hourly workers

Most folks have worked an hourly job at some point in their careers.

Nearly 56% of wage and salary workers over 16 years old are paid hourly rates, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In his recently published book, Stop the Shift Show: Turn Your Struggling Hourly Workers Into a Top-Performing Team, author, speaker, and franchise expert Scott Greenberg urges companies to prioritize these employees to recruit and retain them.

He spoke with HR Brew about what hourly workers want and need from their employers.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you hope HR pros take away from your book?

First of all, that there is a major meaningful difference between hourly workers and those on salary, and because of those differences, they must be managed differently. And therefore, management at every level needs to be a lot more aware of those differences and be willing to continuously adapt to meet the needs of their hourly workforce.

Keep reading here.—MC

TOGETHER WITH SELECTSOFTWARE REVIEWS

Need some HR software guidance? HR Brew subscribers: Find software that’s right for your organization with a little help from SelectSoftware Reviews. Their team is ready to help companies of all sizes find the right tools at the right price. And the best part? Their unbiased advice is totally free. Get your advice.

WORK PERKS