By Melissa Benzo
Jun 29, 2021
In our “Where we work” series, we ask Kin team members to share their home office and experience with remote work.
I’m Andrew Edwards, Back-end Engineer at Kin. I live and work remotely from Oregon, USA.
Andrew and his wife, Valerie.
Describe your office space— what makes it a place you are comfortable working in?
I’ve dedicated my office to be a shared working/hobby space for some of the things I like to do. I think its fun to have all of my beekeeping gear and brewing equipment nearby as a reminder of all the cool things I get to do because I have an awesome job.
He’s a bee-keeper, a home-brewer, a goat farmer, and mushroom cultivator!
What can’t you work without in your office space? What are your must haves?
At least one of the dogs has to be in the office with me, they’re great to have hanging around for meetings and just good company overall. I also love having my guitar around for times when I’ve hit a wall and need to jam for a bit to break my train of thought. I’ve also got a series of notepads that have all of the processes I learned as I started here, and every time I’ve got a new process to remember, it gets added to one of them so I can refer to it later.
Also key is a comfy chair. It’s definitely worth investing into, since you’ll be there most days of the week. My desk also converts into a standing desk when I feel like switching it up.
What’s on your “office space” wish list?
Finishing decorating, and putting up some of the stuff I bought just for my office. I’ve got some posters and things to hang on the wall that I’ve been sitting on for some time. There’s a running joke on calls where teammates can see the packages of shelves I’ve yet to install, but I got one installed finally!
Andrew’s co-worker, his axe, and those boxes he’ll get to unpacking… eventually.
Do you have tech that you think helps you do your job better? What is it and why?
The dual external monitor setup is key for me. It allows me to have different screens dedicated to communication and email, one for my IDE, and one for any browser research I need to do. It might mean I’m a little less flexible about where I work physically, but its kind of grounding and definitely feels like I have all the tools I need.
Andrew’s sitting/standing desk and tools of his trade.
Any work from home tips to share?
Definitely take breaks where you can get them– even to do things like chores around the house. Ten minutes of doing some dishes makes me feel better knowing that won’t be waiting at the end of the day, it also gets a small win out of the way if I feel stuck.
Reach out if you’re stalling on things, and either get another person’s perspective or just talk through where your thinking is. It doesn’t even have to be a co-worker, I’ll talk to my wife frequently to bounce thoughts and ideas off of her. It helps to know you aren’t alone in your job.
What do you like best about where you live? Did you choose to go there because you could work from home?
I moved to Oregon when I got my job here at Kin, and I love living here and working here. I knew I wanted to live in the northwest before getting my remote job, and the job was really the last piece of the puzzle to make it happen. I’m really big on gardening, and that’s just so easy in a climate like we have up here. I think the culture around homesteading up here makes it a lot easier to get involved. Having a remote opportunity also made me less reliant on being in a larger city, so I could spread out in the country a little bit.
By Melissa Benzo
Jun 24, 2021
Fair pay, good benefits, and work that aligns well with an employee’s skills are the basic ways employers can show their employees they are valued. But, we all know humans are more complex than that…
Kin’s founder, Craig, once said that “our job as employers, in my opinion, is to mentor employees on their professional path while they discover whatever life has in store for them. That often means reminding one another that work simply isn’t as important as whatever is going on outside of it.” Being that mentor requires getting to know your employees on a deeper level than their productivity at work can show.
What happens at work when we, as employers, value employees as “whole people” with whole lives outside of work? Employees don’t feel the need to leave part of themselves at the door when they come to work, which carves a path for vulnerability, honesty, and enrichment. In turn, employees feel empowered to bring perspective and skills to our workplaces that we might otherwise have squandered.
Here are four ways to foster an environment of “whole employees.”
Be open about diversity and what it means to your workplace
Most workplaces have an equal opportunity statement baked into their handbooks, but do you go beyond a statement to truly embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace?
The benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace are vast— from expanding your company’s understanding of different cultures and communities, to better problem solving skills within your teams, and improved relationships and retention.
When you intentionally cultivate an environment where every team member feels included, respected, and embraced, you’re telling your employees that their life experiences are valued and necessary to what they do at work and you recognize the things outside of work that have a profound impact on their lives. This commitment fosters an environment of openness and trust with all of your employees.
Encourage mental health days
Mental health and illness have very broad meanings and cover everything from stress and burnout to depression, anxiety, and other serious medical issues. 40% of adults in the US report struggling with mental illness in 2020, and that statistic is only expected to grow.
In valuing an employee’s whole self, you’re asking an employee to come with all of the ups and all of the downs of being human. Sometimes it’s necessary to step away from work and focus on mental health, and that is OK. Allow your employees to do so if and when needed, no questions asked. Create a policy, independent from vacation time, that outlines how an employee should request a mental health day and follow up with them when they return to check in.
Mental health days are one of many ways to support mental health in your workplace, and help your employees understand that they are valued even when they’re not at their best.
Practice open communication
Open and honest communication is the cornerstone of any good relationship, that includes the one we have with work. The opportunities to strengthen workplace communication are nearly endless.
Open communication creates trust. Employees who feel trusted at work will feel comfortable bringing their ideas and concerns to the table, and will likely share more about their personal lives. Trust is built both ways, so communicate clearly about your company’s mission and objectives to remove uncertainty in your employees’ work.
We’ve seen the benefits of open communication here at Kin— from employees speaking up about their concerns and blockers or ideas, to letting us know that they need to step away for a mental health day or that they were up all night with a sick dog. Employees feel valued knowing they can be honest about work and life.
Acknowledge life outside of work
A workplace that values whole employees inherently knows that an employee has a life outside of work with varying events, interests, and milestones. Recognizing this can be as simple as offering a flexible time-off policy that allows employees to be present for the things that are happening in life, or sending a personalized gift for an employee’s birthday or work anniversary.
Life outside of work isn’t always about celebrating, though. Events outside of work may have an impact on your employees— from a sick family member or death in the family, to mass-shootings, to racially-charged tragedies, to global pandemics, the list goes on… It’s imperative that as an employer we give our employees space to cope with life and recognize the impact that these events can have on an employee’s performance.
Some employees like to focus on work for stability during the busy or uncertain times outside of work, some need to dial back work in order to focus on life. Knowing your employees on a more personal level helps leadership identify what an employee needs when life happens. Openly communicating about it lets employees know that instead of struggling to focus on work, it’s perfectly OK to step away.
Valuing your employees as more than their productivity and salary is a step towards a company culture that employees want to be a part of. What’s more, your business can only thrive from your employees’ life experiences that you openly invite to the table. How does your company show employees they are valued?
By Melissa Benzo
Jun 22, 2021
According to a report by CareerBuilder and Silk Road, 29% of new hires think that their company fell short in preparing them for their role. In fact, “1 in 10 employees have left a company because of a poor onboarding experience.” For a small business, losing just one new hire is a costly endeavor. Ensuring you have good new hire onboarding process in place is critical to the long-term success and retention of your employees.
Having a reliable, repeatable process is one way to shore up your new hire onboarding. Once you’re armed with automation using Kin’s Onboarding Task checklist feature, you can plug in all of your onboarding tasks and ensure each new hire and team member completes them. A task can be assigned to the new hire, or any other staff member that needs to do something when a new hire starts.
Unsure which tasks to add to your checklist? Here’s an example that you can customize so your new hire (and the rest of your hiring team) can hit the ground running.
HR Department
- Add new hire to payroll
- Add new hire to benefits portal
- Set up new hire 401K
- Collect 2 forms of identification
- Ensure all new hire paperwork is completed
- Ask team members to send welcome email
- Send orientation schedule to new hire and anyone participating
- Set up team lunch for week 1
- Check Kin profile for completion
- Add new hire to time-off policies
- Review Employee Handbook with new hire
- Send technology needs (computer preferences, etc.) to IT
- Add new hire to calendar invitations for team meetings
- Set up new hire check-in for 3, 6, and 9 months
IT/System Admin
- Send computer equipment to new hire’s home
- Ensure equipment delivery
- Set up new hire email (first.last@business.com format)
- Send new hire email address to HR
- Add new hire to Slack, Harvest, and DoneDone
- Set up password account
- Set up VPN access
- Schedule meeting for new hire orientation to technology
Manager
- Schedule orientation meetings
- Email welcome to new hire
- Set up mentor meetings
- Conduct 30 day review
- Conduct 60 day review
- Conduct 90 day review
Employee
- Complete all new hire paperwork
- Send 2 forms of ID to HR Manager
- Sign in to email
- Accept meeting invitations in email
- Complete account setup for Slack, Harvest and DoneDone
- Send information for direct deposit to HR
- Complete Kin profile and biography section
A solid onboarding process is important for the retention of your employees and the success of your team as a whole. With a repeatable checklist and your team’s help, you can be sure your new hires will efficiently get started with your company and be on their way to meaningful contributions in no time.
By Melissa Benzo
Jun 17, 2021
In our “Where we work” series, we ask Kin team members to share their home office and experience with remote work.
I’m Grant Black, Director of Technology at Kin. I live and work remotely from the west coast of Florida, USA.
Grant with his wife and daughter on the beach.
My office space consists of three different places: I have a formal office where my desk, large monitor, arcade cabinet, and glass IKEA marker boards are. When I need a change of pace, I hang out in my kitchen breakfast bar area. It reminds me of being at a coffee shop and allows me to work while standing. My favorite spot is outside on our patio. I live in sunny Florida so I have a small window of time where the weather is tolerable. When it is, working outside is super relaxing.
Grant’s fav workspace and new co-worker, Buster. We don’t mind that he sleeps on the job.
What are some of your must-haves in your home office?
Music and a good set of headphones are must-haves in my office! I love zoning out while listening to my music. I also like having something to fidget with when I need to think through a complex challenge. I will often play guitar or take a walk to clear my mind when I need to sharpen my focus. I’m also rather old-school and still use a pad to jot down my ideas. I use a Rocketbook with erasable pens to save a tree or two.
I like plugging my MacBook into an external monitor. It’s nice to keep all of my task-oriented windows on a single screen while my IDE is the main focus of my second monitor. Good quality earbuds allow you to step away to make coffee while still carrying on a conversation.
Grant’s office set-up.
If you could change anything about your office, what would it be?
Wood floors are on my office space wish list. My chair is hard to scoot around with on the carpet. I would also like to use another camera so that I don’t have to turn my head towards the laptop.
What are some of your favorite items in your office?
I have a couple of lego sets displayed around my desk. One is a skyline of Chicago (where Kin was founded), and the other one is a VIP set I received a while back as a “free” gift when I purchased a Star Wars set. My most favorite would have to be the small drawings and notes my daughter leaves for me randomly. It always makes my heart melt when I discover a new one.
“Smile everyday” is some good advice!
Any work-from-home tips to share?
I like to have a physical space to start and end my days. I will close the door to my office when I leave for lunch and end my day. It serves as a way to shut off professional life from home life. I always dress like I’m going to an office too.
Take breaks! I need some time to let my brain recoup from work. It also helps to keep your stress down if you go outside or take a walk. I also take a lunch break around 1 p.m. daily. I get to either make a sandwich or leave to pick up something. I find that breaking up the day will help refocus during the later hours.
Think you can beat Grant’s high score?
What do you like best about where you live and work?
I’ve lived in Florida for most of my life. I moved to Chicago when I originally started working for Kin. When my wife and I decided to have kids, we wanted to be close to family so, I found my way back down to sunny Florida. It’s pretty amazing to work for a company that supports remote working. I like that I can take advantage of my climate. One of these days I’ll figure out how to work from the beach!
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Research, tips and ideas on workplace happiness.
By Lisa Arnold
Jun 10, 2021
Before COVID-19, only 5% of Americans were classified as remote workers. By May of 2020, that number was at 60%…and it’s not changing anytime soon.
Despite the American workforce shifting toward remote or flexible work policies faster than ever before, mid-level managers may have a difficult time convincing higher-ups of the benefits of making the switch. Remote work often still gets a bad reputation for lower productivity rates or creating an environment where it’s easy for employees to slack off.
Despite the general belief that remote working can have negative effects on an employee’s performance, recent research says differently. In a survey of 800 employers, 94% reported no changes in productivity when switching to remote work. In fact, some studies indicated an increase in productivity when working from home.
Remote work removes the social distractions of the workplace, eliminates long commutes, and adds flexibility to an employee’s overall workday. Workers can squeeze in at-home workouts, enjoy the company of family or pets on a lunch break, and generally work in the comfort of their own space- all things that can make the work experience overall more enjoyable.
Additionally, contrary to decades of corporate practice, the standard workplace is far from ideal. The average employee spends most of the eight hour day checking their email (an average of 74 times a day) or touching their smartphone (an average of 2,617 times a day). Employees are distracted and tuned to be hyper-responsive, which wears down on productivity over time. Giving employees the flexibility and comfort of a WFH schedule can reduce the frantic tempo that an office environment often creates. Taking frequent breaks and keeping the time you devote to tasks under 30 minutes is also better for productivity, and remote work is perfectly suited for this type of pacing.
Multiple Fortune 500 businesses are making the switch to remote or hybrid policies in 2021 and beyond. Zillow, Twitter, and Facebook are just three companies that recently announced shifting towards more flexible work models that incorporate remote work. At Zillow, 90% of their workforce will now have the option to work from home permanently, with onsite locations remaining open for collaborative use if needed.
If you’re looking to implement permanent WFH or hybrid policies in your workplace, here are some best practices to implement to keep employees productive.
Ensure your tech stack helps you collaborate
First, use technology to encourage collaboration, not to micromanage employees. Utilize software that tracks project progress, keep team members up-to-date on timelines, and create open lines of communication between team members and supervisors. Technology that tracks screen time, cursor movement, etc. can make an employee feel they aren’t trusted to do their job in the environment provided. When your team feels empowered to work without a manager looking over their shoulder, projects get done.
Spend time together face-to-face virtually
Second, meet face-to-face regularly with your employees (both in teams and through one-on-ones). No amount of emails, texts, or Slack messages can replace the benefit of live interactions. Carving out space to hammer out complex details or spend time collaborating is crucial to making employees feel seen and heard. In addition, it allows you to add context and clarity to projects or instructions, something that may be lacking in the quick email you sent over without too much thought.
Give the benefit of the doubt more often
Third, assume the positive about your employees. If you don’t receive a reply right away or someone is late to a video call, remember that the work-from-home environment presents its own unique set of challenges. That same employee may be cleaning up after a pet, tending to a sick child, or dealing with an unexpected WiFi issue. Creating a positive work environment that assumes the best about your employees and provides room for mistakes is not only key in establishing a healthy workplace culture- it’s a huge boost to productivity. Poor leaders who created a difficult remote work environment were the primary causes of lower productivity rates in a recent 2020 study.
One more thing that’s eliminated with working remotely? That storage cabinet filled with employee records. See how Kin HR can help you have great HR practices without the physical paper trail.
By Lisa Arnold
Jun 3, 2021
The consequences COVID-19 has had on the job market are still being felt, even more than a year later. Countless roles remain open across multiple industries and are proving difficult to fill. Employees may be suffering from a COVID-related disability, seeking fully remote work, or simply looking for a company that demonstrates a higher level of care for its employees. Regardless of the reasons, companies still need employees to fill roles, making it more critical than ever to differentiate your job from the rest of the job market.
Looking for ways to incentivize potential hires to commit to a role with your company? Read on for a few suggestions on how you can make your job stand out to the best talent available.
Flexible working options
The COVID-19 pandemic confirmed for employers what employees have known for years: flexible work schedules can be both a productive and enjoyable option for workplaces.
As hybrid work moves into the norm, more employees are beginning to expect some type of remote work option from their employers. Envoy found that nearly half of the employees they surveyed were likely to look for another job if their current employer didn’t not offer a hybrid workplace. Employees cite a variety of reasons, from lack of childcare to high maintenance pets, as reasons they might look for remote or hybrid job options.
Make it clear from the beginning of the hiring process that you can offer flexible working options- it could be a make-or-break detail for a potential employee!
If you’re still uncertain about hybrid or remote options, check out our blog post about why you should think twice before ditching remote work.
Generous PTO policy
A generous PTO policy is a particularly attractive incentive in today’s job market, particularly to younger workers or workers with families. The average American employee receives 11 days of paid time off each year and limited family leave. When putting together your package, think of ways you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
Consider offering unlimited sick days or extended maternity/paternity leave, year-to-year PTO carryover, or paid days off to volunteer. Microsoft offers a floating holidays option to allow employees to celebrate days that hold meaning for them, while American Express and Ericsson employees can even buy and sell their vacation time.
Once you assemble the best PTO package for your company, check out how Kin can help you manage your employees’ time off, whether it’s vacation days, sick days, or family leave.
Great pay + bonuses
It may feel painfully obvious, but pay is one of the key incentives for an employee to take a job. Compensation that reflects the role is key to attracting and retaining quality employees.
Hiring and referral bonuses also serve as a way to sign employees quickly or find fresh talent outside of your applicant pool. Some employers even offer student loan payments or tax incentives for signing, both of which are attractive options to the 40 and under crowd.
Finally, consider what employees are receiving beyond a paycheck. Is their benefits package comprehensive? Is their deductible reasonable? Do they have a discretionary wellness budget for therapy or gym memberships? Glassdoor noted that employees’ second most sought after quality in a job is a sense of security, including health benefits and a retirement fund. Companies that demonstrate care for their employees, even at a smaller scale, are more likely to see employees commit to long-term employment. Even a small company unable to provide a wide range of benefits or a 401(k) should strive to ensure their companies feel taken care of and valued as more than just workers.
Career development
According to GlassDoor, the number one incentive that potential hires look for from their employer is potential for growth. They want to know when they sign on with a company that they have potential to rise through the ranks.
Providing opportunities for job shadowing and networking, building formal programs that develop employees’ skills, and even having regular and honest conversations about your employees’ career goals and milestones are all attractive to a potential hire.
If you’re looking to be more involved with the career development process, Kin can help your employees track their performance, career milestones, and more with our performance management feature.
Looking to schedule a demo to see how Kin can help you keep your employees happy and on track to meet their performance goals? Reach out to us!