By The Kin Team
Aug 10, 2022
Today, Canadian fintech company Wagepoint is doubling-down on its mission to bring happiness to small businesses and their teams with a new acquisition. KinHR – soon to become People by Wagepoint – has joined Wagepoint’s family of products, which will create a single solution that takes payroll, time and attendance and (now) human resources tasks off small business owners’ hands so that they can get back to doing literally anything else (aka not spreadsheets!).
What is KinHR?
KinHR is known as a simple, friendly and reliable people management software among its 4,500 global users. This makes it the perfect Jenga piece to complete Wagepoint’s stack of small business products, offering everything CEOs and founders need to take care of their people right from the moment they’re hired.
A simply sweet solution for people management
People by Wagepoint will offer features like an employee directory, time-off management, new hire onboarding, document storage and eSignatures, in addition to ongoing employee performance management tools like employee objectives and reviews. The product will help make workplace operations easier, and maybe even a little “sweeter”, for both employers and their teams.
“Payroll and HR go together like summer and popsicles – minus the sticky fingers! When done right – that is, with a focus on keeping it simple and truly caring about the human experience – both payroll and HR can contribute to a happy workplace, just like ice cream! We’re excited to welcome People by Wagepoint to our family of products. Now, we can help our customers create a delightful experience for their employees, right from the moment of hire and at every touchpoint that follows.”
– Shrad Rao, CEO, Wagepoint
Delighting customers with People by Wagepoint
Delighting customers will remain a key pillar as the company moves forward with the rebrand and builds a team around People by Wagepoint.
Both Wagepoint and KinHR have a Capterra rating of 4.6 out of 5 by their users – notably, for friendly customer support – and the new product will continue building on that trust, says Melissa Benzo, former Director at KinHR and current Director of People by Wagepoint.
“KinHR has always been about creating a simple approach to HR software so that small businesses can focus more on their employees and their business, rather than the management of ‘stuff’ that comes with HR. Wagepoint is just the company to continue that effort and expand on that idea by keeping all things light, friendly, and simple. I always tell KinHR customers ‘we’re here to help,’ and I feel that echoed throughout the entirety of Wagepoint.”
– Melissa Benzo, Director, People by Wagepoint
A merry group of tech friends
People by Wagepoint is the second small business software to be acquired by Wagepoint in 2022. Earlier this year, Timesheet Mobile joined the Wagepoint family and will soon be available to customers for all of their time and attendance needs, rebranded as Time by Wagepoint.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Kasia Wind
Brand, Content and Communications Manager
kwind@wagepoint.com
By Melissa Benzo
Jul 30, 2021
Most adults spend 30% of their lifetime at work, more than enough time for work to be a large contributing factor to an employee’s wellness. According to a survey of CEOs by Ginger, “80% believe that poor employee mental health negatively impacts employee productivity. Meanwhile, 95% of employees report that mental health support helped them feel more positive, less stressed, and more productive at work. As one employee shared, “It made me very productive to know employers cared… If I am valued, I want to offer that back.”” Happy, engaged employees can impact everything from turnover to your bottom-line.
Simply introducing a wellness program may not be the answer to ensuring employee wellness though, and it’s not “one size fits all.” First, we need to understand an individual employee’s relationship to work, and their feelings of fulfillment both with work and life. As employers it’s important to see our employees’ peaks and valleys in life and work, and how one impacts the other. We can ensure that our employees are getting what they need to be a successfully “well” employee when we have the whole picture.
Here at Kin, we’ve implemented some ways to help our leadership team better understand the nuances of an employee’s relationship to work (not to mention our own). These insights are helping us be more in-tune with our employee’s work, how it’s impacting their life, and visa-versa. Here are 4 ways to gauge employee wellness at work:
Frequent check-ins
In a busy company, it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day, task-driven work without time to stop and reflect. Suddenly, the stress piles up and leaves employees feeling overwhelmed without knowing why.
Checking in with employees at least once per week can help employees and leadership better understand an employee’s relationship with work. In a weekly check-in, employees can offer a summary of what they are working on, document successes and blockers, offer timely feedback, and jot down ideas before hand. Documenting check-ins allows employees some time to reflect on what’s working and what’s not, and over time can improve processes and decision making. Check-ins are also a great place to keep goals and objectives top of mind and record progress.
In practice, we use KinHR’s employee performance review feature to conduct frequent, informal check-ins. Each week, a manager and an employee enter their check-in into KinHR and discuss them during a set weekly meeting. A record of the check-ins are accessible to managers and employees to reference at any time.
“Having weekly one-on-one check-ins with each member of my team has been super helpful, allowing us to share feedback, ideas, questions, and thoughts, that we can act upon in a timely and relevant way, rather than waiting for quarterly or annual reviews, which may be too late. The regular check-ins we have, create a running conversation that continues from week to week, ensuring that we don’t lose sight of our goals and objectives. One of the best parts of having these regular checkin-ins, is that I get to know the team better on a more personal level, knowing their likes, dislikes and how they approach their work, helps me align the team for success and tailor my help and feedback for each person.” Tom Stanley, Managing Director at Kin
Regular wellness surveys
The best way to get an answer is to ask! Taking check-ins a step further, companies can implement a survey tool to ask employees how they are doing in and outside of work. Here are a few examples of questions we have employed to gauge an employee’s wellness:
- How fulfilling is your work?
- How are you feeling about life outside of work, in your family, community, or otherwise?
- How comfortable are you with your current workload?
- How is your stress level in general?
Getting answers to these questions (again, ideally with weekly frequency) has helped our leadership team better understand an employee’s balance between work and life. Once armed with the data, we can take action, which leads us to our next point…
Tracking trends over time
The importance of frequent check-ins and survey-taking are great on their own, but we have seen even more value to be had from tracking individual employee trends over time. Doing so has helped us see how an employee’s life and work ebbs and flows, and what support that employee needs through different scenarios.
Not everyone is going to be balanced at all times, and everyone handles pressures inside and outside of work differently. If someone has outside stressors, maybe that’s the time they like to dig in to work and focus more on something that’s not life (and visa versa). Another employee might be the opposite. There may be employees that are smooth sailing 99% of the time, and it’s hard to pinpoint those moments when they’re not.
Seeing trends helps our employees better understand their relationship with work, and helps our leadership team know who may thrive or struggle when certain work or life issues arise. Trends help everyone grasp a better understanding of wellness over time and what factors impact wellness.
Anticipating needs
Check-ins, surveying, and tracking trends when it comes to employee wellness all lead to better understanding of an employee’s relationship with work, and being able to anticipating the needs of employees through the peaks and valleys of work and life.
Consider a scenario where a large project is about to kick off. By looking back at similar situations and how employees reacted to them, we can anticipate who will need an adjustment period when a new project is beginning, and who might feel comfortable diving in. Employees are able to anticipate how a large project may effect them in life and make preparations to better absorb the impact and find balance.
“Since we changed up how we check-in with one another at Kin, I’ve had a much more holistic sense of how everyone is doing. Sometimes life outside of work is stressful and work becomes a solace of sorts (like during a pandemic!). Other times it’s the other way around. Knowing where everyone is on that push-and-pull continuum has made me a better coworker, and it’s shined a light on who our leadership team needs to help out, and how.” Craig Bryant, Founder and CEO at Kin
Caring about employee wellness beyond the standard wellness benefit offerings leads to a better understanding of an employee’s relationship with work. By taking steps to understand an employee’s wellness and how it impacts their work and life, a happier, balanced, a more fulfilled workplace can be achieved.
By Melissa Benzo
Jul 28, 2021
Burnout in the workplace has been a hot topic recently, and it’s no surprise. In 2020, 33% of time-off was left on the table in the US during the pandemic. Studies showed that the average workday lengthened through 2020 over an hour. People are working more, taking less time-off, and dealing with the litany of pressures life during a pandemic presented (and continues to).
One of the best ways to combat burnout is to take a break. Employers offer paid time-off for just that reason, and studies show that employees who use their time away from work are more productive, less stressed, and less likely to burn out. In an era when employees are working harder than ever, how do employers encourage team members to use their time-off?
Clearly define and manage policies
Employees who know the time-off benefits that are available to them are more likely to use those benefits, and clearly defined time-off policies make that information easily accessible.
There are several ways to manage time-off, from accrual to up-front to unlimited policies. Some companies have one policy to handle all types of time-off, some choose to break time-off into different policies like vacation, sick, and bereavement time. Because there’s not a standard way of managing time-off across the board, clearly defining policies is important. The less confusion, the more likely employees use their time-off regularly.
Do you have clearly defined policies, but they are managed on a spreadsheet and you rely on email for requests (that go unanswered or get lost)? One big problem small companies have is that managing time off policies in a spreadsheet is a hassle and inaccurate. If this sounds like your company, consider using a time-off management software that will allow employees to look into the future to be able to plan their time-off accordingly. Employees can easily see all of the policies available to them and make time-off requests that are trackable. Systems like KinHR store historical policy information so there’s never a question of how much time off is available to an employee from year to year.
Set time-off minimums
Requiring a minimum time that employees are expected to be out of the office sets a tone that 1. it’s OK to take time off, and 2. it is anticipated by your employer and team.
There are a few ways to consider minimums in a time-off policy.
- Require one (or more) consecutive 5-day break per year.
- Set a minimum amount of time-off in your policy, like 20 days. Allow employees to take more time if needed, but require they use at least all 20 days in a year.
- Require employees use a certain number of days per quarter.
Of course, there are exceptions to consider. If an employee has a life event (like a wedding or a big vacation) planned, they may need to save their time-off for those events.
Setting minimum time-off expectations can help combat “vacation shaming” (yes, that’s a thing!), and remove the guilt that some employees feel being out of the office.
Set an example
The best way to encourage your employees to take a break is to take one yourself. You will see the benefits first hand, and be able to encourage employees to do the same because of your own experience.
Being on vacation doesn’t mean that you’re not readily available for meetings but will check email and answer messages. Trust that your employees can handle business for a few days without your supervision and totally disconnect. It might even help you see skills in your employees that have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Another consideration that some companies have made is to close the office entirely for some length of time throughout the year. Many companies have decided to close for a week during the summer as a way to get employees out of the office with no pressure of work. Others close on Fridays during some (or all) of the year (making a case for a 4-day workweek) to help get employees more free time.
Here at Kin, we close the office between Christmas Eve and the new year, giving our employees a break at the end of each year during a typically busy time in life. We don’t require that employees use their set vacation time for this week. Setting the example that time away from work is expected (or required) encourages employees to use their own time-off even when it’s not dictated by leadership.
Post-2020 time-off
While we are still very much in a pandemic, there are hints of “normal” life resuming. Like most companies, we at Kin found that time-off was underutilized last year with many of our employees taking a lot of time off in the last quarter to use up their benefits. In 2021, we’ve seen an increase in time-off usage overall especially over the last few months (which is a good thing!). Employees are taking time off for vacations, time to themselves, and reuniting with family members and friends.
We have implemented required minimums: at least one 5-day span of time-off per year. We also check on time-off usage each quarter, and remind team members that it’s important to take a break if we notice they haven’t been away from work for a long time.
One opportunity that we’ve seen as a company, especially lately, is better planning for absences farther in advance. It’s important, especially in a small business, that there is coverage for those that will be out of office and that work is still able to move forward without one or two players. It’s a work in progress, and one that KinHR’s time-off calendar is helping us solve.
Encouraging everyone in your company to use their time-off benefits curbs burnout, increases productivity, and helps employees feel valued. Finding ways to encourage employees to take some time out of the office may take some creative thinking and changing your current policies and procedures, but in turn will result in a happier and healthier workplace. If you have questions about managing your time-off policies, reach out to us— we’re happy to discuss.
By Lisa Arnold
Jul 20, 2021
Burn out in the workplace can be a mystery, especially if you work remotely. It’s easy for us to only see snapshots of each other’s lives and assume that everything’s fine. While working remotely has so many benefits for both the employer and the employee, there are also additional responsibilities such as understanding your employees’ mental health in a way that is much more involved compared to working in the office.
In our last post, we talked about ways to identify mental burnout at work. It’s not just something that affects the quality of the employee’s work, it affects their entire being. Burnout goes well beyond the keyboard, and can hurt employee’s personal lives, including the relationship with their spouses and children. It’s so important as employers that we understand the effects of burnout and how we can help reverse what we see.
Here are a few ways to help combat burn out in your workplace that can easily be put into place starting today.
Increase employee/manager check-in frequency
Many employees experiencing burnout often say the root cause is that their workload is beyond the capacity that they can handle.
It is excellent to get a lot out of your employees and leave them feeling valued. However, it’s important to also understand that putting an employee under that much pressure can easily diminish their connection to their work and their satisfaction in their jobs.
Some employees can handle the pressure for years before they break, other employees only a few months. But the issue is not with the employee in these cases, it’s with the employer.
If your business model requires unsustainable workloads on each employee, it’s not stable. It’s important to understand what you ask of your employees and to check in frequently to ensure that the amount of work you are requiring of them is not unachievable. It’s easy to get this lost in the mix if you’re not doing frequent check-ins.
This is a big reason why we at Kin are against annual reviews and promote more frequent check-ins with team members. By having these monthly or quarterly check-in times, it’s much easier to catch someone being overworked and correct the issue versus waiting each year to watch their performance decrease.
Lessen the workload, but don’t remove it entirely
Identifying burnout or being overworked is one thing, aiding an employee in the ability to recover from it is another. Very rarely does the same workplace that contributed to burnout allow for recovery. You can change the course and make it happen. Here’s how.
Once you’ve identified burnout, it’s important to put a plan in place to remedy it for that employee. Overworking is one key cause of burnout, but others include being given tasks that are outside of the employee’s ability, feeling like values are mismatched. They may also have a lack of sense of community, or feel as though they are given goals that are unrealistic based on the employee’s resources.
Identifying the reason behind burnout is key. If the employee is overworked, the employer should understand this employee likely took on a large workload at first to feel valued and helpful. Removing all work from them now would make the employee feel devalued and as if they’ve failed.
Instead, begin by sitting with the employee to discuss what’s on their plate. Are there two or three large items that you could immediately remove so that the employee can focus on completing the other tasks? Remember, this conversation is about understanding. It’s not about blaming.
In addition to removing some, but not all, tasks, it’s important to understand the workload in total. Are there some things that are on your employee’s plate that are just not achievable? Having big goals are great. Having unachievable goals creates burnout. Be realistic when we creating objectives and key results with employees – could you achieve it with the same resources that this employee has? If you have hesitancy saying yes, it’s time to readjust the goal.
This is especially true as we go into a new post-pandemic season, where we feel there is a need to make up for lost time.
Allow employees to safely step back
Burnout can sometimes require time away from what’s burning you out in the first place. But with 62% percent of American employees scared to take time away from their work for a mental health reset day, this can be easier said than done.
Each case is unique and should be treated as such, but giving employees time outside of work to recollect and recharge is important. It’s even more important in the midst of burnout.
Consider offering mental health days as part of your paid time off plan, or at least covering that PTO can be used for days to reset and recharge. By setting a precedent that mental health is valued by your organization, your employees will prioritize it, too.
We’ve experienced burnout at Kin, too. No one is untouchable. Here’s our owner’s own experience with burnout.
By Melissa Benzo
Jul 16, 2021
In our “Where we work” series, we ask Kin team members to share their home office and experience with remote work.
I’m Melissa Benzo, Managing Director of KinHR. I live and work remotely from South Carolina, just over the border from Charlotte, NC.
Melissa with her husband, Francesco.
I love my office space because it’s so very “me.” I’ve worked from home for 10 or so years, and I’ve learned that I work best surrounded by things that make me feel creative and happy. I have a large desk (that’s actually a kitchen table, pro tip), several bookshelves that hold my current book collection, treasures, and music. I have natural light all throughout the day. My office windows look out to the front of my house so I can see what’s happening out there, and intercept anyone who comes to the door before my canine coworker finds out.
Melissa’s office space.
Melissa’s coworker, Penny the Beagle!
I very rarely work elsewhere in my house because I do my best work in my office. It gets pretty hot here in the summer so once the fall hits you might find me working outside more often.
What can’t you work without in your office space?
I must have a notebook to keep my todo list and thoughts. It’s low-tech, but I prefer it to digital note taking. I’m also pretty hooked on having a double monitor. I’m the type who has no less that 1 million browser tabs open at a time, and it’s also very helpful when I’m researching customer accounts and running chat support. I always have water or coffee on hand.
Do you have tech that you think helps you do your job better?
As a mentioned above, my extra monitor is #1! I do rely on a lot of SaaS apps to do my job effectively, the top two being Intercom for interfacing with customers via chat, and Zoom for calls with customers or potential customers. I especially love that more people have gotten comfortable with video calls through the pandemic. As a work from home veteran it’s something I am very used to but others might not have been. Now though, almost 100% of my calls are video calls.
From low-tech to high, Melissa’s work set up.
Do you have a favorite item or trinket?
My office is full of trinkets and photos that remind me of the people and places I love. I have photos and art, a small Harry Potter collection, shells and sand from a beach where my grandma lives, and a book collection of trusty favorites and recent reads. Yoda sits on my computer monitor, along with some pretty rocks from the aforementioned beach.
Melissa’s curated bookshelves.
Yoda reminds Melissa to “Do or do not.”
Any work from home tips to share?
My favorite tip is to ensure there’s a separation between work and life, which is hard to do! If you don’t have a separate room for an office, at least have a dedicated space to leave your work equipment at the end of the day, out of sight. Also, remember to take breaks! I’m definitely guilty of feeling like I have to be working 100% of my day but it’s easy to get burnt out by 3pm. Take breaks, and take a lunch break (preferably without checking Slack on your phone the whole time).
It’s also a nice change of pace to hang out with a coworker once in a while on a video call with no agenda other than to chat. That happens organically in an office all the time! I highly recommend doing that once in a while— It’s a refreshing “brain break.”
What do you like best about where you live? Did you choose to go there because you could work from home?
My husband and I have tried many areas on for size over the past few years. We definitely chose the Charlotte area because we could work from home and it made moving so much easier. We moved to a rural suburb just a little while ago because we both work from home and wanted a little more space. I like that we can stretch out a bit, but still get to the heart of Charlotte in 45 mins. This area is rapidly growing and bustling, and it’s exiting to be a part of it!
By Lisa Arnold
Jul 15, 2021
Noticing a lag in performance among your remote employees, or a sudden change in attitude towards work from one of your star performers?
You might be watching burnout take hold in real time.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: 1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and 3) reduced professional efficacy.”
Burnout is a widespread issue, according to Gallup, 44% of employees report feeling burnout at least occasionally while at work.
The effects of burnout on employees can also have a financial impact. Every year, more than $100 billion in healthcare spending results from the physical consequences of burnout (some estimates put it at nearly $190 billion).
As so many companies pivot towards remote or hybrid workplaces, spotting burnout among your employees can become more difficult when communication is limited. You can’t see someone looking visibly frustrated or checked-out unless you’re on a video call and they show it. However, it’s not impossible to spot.
Let’s quickly walk through four telltale signs your remote workers may be experiencing this common issue.
Less use of video on video calls
Do you find you have a formerly stellar employee who now attends video conferences with their camera off, or cancels on the call last minute more consistently than before?
They’re probably feeling checked out of whatever’s happening due to feelings of burnout. A key symptom of burnout is feeling like one lacks control or autonomy over their work, and even small actions like turning off a camera during a call can feel like a way of taking some form of control.
It’s also a way to not face the problem, quite literally. If someone has their camera off, they don’t have to make “eye contact” or express themselves anymore than necessary.
If you’re noticing this shift, take quick action by pulling the employee aside and checking in on their well-being.
A slower response time to emails, messages
The ‘always on’ mentality of remote work can create a feeling of being overwhelmed among employees. Their initial quick, succinct responses may trail off as they become more and more overloaded with information.
If you notice a typically high-performing employee becoming slower and slower to respond to emails, Slack messages, or texts, hit pause on your communications and reassess the best way to reach out. Are you hitting them with too many angles of communication, and they feel like they’re drowning?
The best way to find out? Just ask.
During your conversation with them, point out concrete examples where communication fell through the cracks. Ask them if the amount of work they have on their plate is overwhelming, and what, if any tasks, could be handed off to give them a better handle on their responsibilities.
The key is to approach the employee with empathy and understanding. Burnout doesn’t get better with blame, it gets better with helping the employee take control of their work/life balance again.
Reduced sharing of personal stories, outside work talk
Not sharing personal stories may just be a sign of someone who is more conservative in the workplace, but if it’s a new trait, watch out.
Burnout can create a feeling of alienation and cynicism among employees towards work. When employees begin to resent their jobs, they’ll share less about their personal lives. They see work as just another blocker between them and their ‘real life’.
When all conversation becomes about work, it’s a sign the individual no longer sees you as someone invested in their life beyond the office. This lack of social support can become a destructive cycle, as lack of relationships in a work environment can exacerbate existing burnout symptoms.
Worried this is happening? We’ve written about changing your team’s culture, including the importance of taking a break. Paid time off can result in a reset that allows people to reassess their impact on the company, and the company’s impact on their mental wellness.
Work quality is degrading due to burnout
One of the most clear signals of burnout is loss of work quality. Workers lose energy, find it more difficult to generate creative ideas, and may even begin to experience physical symptoms (headaches, stomach pain, etc.) that interfere with work.
Managers should remember that loss of quality may not be merely because an employee has checked out, the physical and mental toll of burnout can be intense enough to affect deliverables.
Burnout is a far-reaching and serious issue for any modern day workplace. As you begin to recognize signs of burnout in your remote workers, adopt an attitude of empathy and ensure your employees have access to resources that address their symptoms.
Burnout can happen to anyone, including the founder of the company. Read more about our founder’s journey with burnout here.