In these times of working leaner and meaner, we find ourselves trying to figure out how to do more with less. We need our employees to be heavily engaged in the work they are doing for us to ensure they are as productive as possible.

Take a minute to imagine all of the different generations working together in today’s society…with so much diversity…from Traditionalists (born before 1946) to Generation Z (1997 – today) to employees from different cultures, religions, and the like. This begs the question, how can these employees work together and be successful as a team and what do we need to do as employers, to ensure these individuals all feel respected and included in their work environment?

I am often asked about my thoughts on what kind of HR support a client needs, and what is best for a business “of my size”? And my answer is almost always the same…it depends.

You have an exciting work environment...people are running around like crazy, lots of energy and enthusiasm all over the place, and everyone is having a great time...except for one employee who doesn’t “get into that”. This employee is sitting at the desk, quietly doing his/her work. And you notice when you are in meetings, this employee rarely speaks up. Do you see them as a hindrance to your organization? Hopefully not!

As a consultant, I often go to organizations and provide advice and counsel to leaders at varying levels in the organization. For a good number of clients, that advice is at the management level and higher, and I don’t have regular communication with non-supervisory employees. So while visiting a client site a few days ago, I was in the break room getting something to drink, and happened to strike up a conversation with an [non-supervisory] employee about the political primary. We held a pretty robust conversation for a few minutes, and near the end, he looked at me and said, “Who ARE you”? It caught me off guard, and frankly I found it quite amusing. But in thinking back about the conversation, I realized that this is a question that people struggle with all of the time. So it got me thinking about human communication, and what we are REALLY saying when we communicate.

It’s that time of the year when most organizations begin thinking about their retirement plan responsibilities, whether it’s non-discrimination testing or preparing to file the Form 5500 with the IRS. This is usually a nerve-wracking time for employers, as there are often concerns about the outcome of the testing. Will we pass our tests? Will we be required to return hard-earned retirement monies to some of our employees? Will we have more serious issues?