I have a brain goblin.

At least, that’s what I call it. Others might use neurodivergent, neurodiverse, neuroatypical – a lot of neuro-something, basically – or the more specific category they fall into (ADHD, autism, etc.). 

Everyone has their own relationship with language, though – personally, culturally, socially – and for me, “brain goblin” sums up my experience pretty well.

Around 20% of the world’s population is neurodiverse. A CDC estimate places about 5.5 million adults in the US. 

That’s the total population of LA and Dallas combined – and that’s just the number of adults.

“Neurodiverse” covers a lot of territory, but it’s safe to assume that – with 1 in 8 people considered to be neurodiverse – some of them are your employees, even if you aren’t aware of it. In fact, they may not even be aware of it: Less than 50% are aware they could be considered neurodiverse. 

The aim of this post is to give you some actionable steps you can take to improve neurodiversity inclusion in your organization. 

Come to think of it, a lot of your employees would probably appreciate them, not just the ones caring for brain goblins. 

• Neurodiversity 101: The very basic basics
• Accessibility challenges for neurodiverse employees
• The importance of words for neurodiversity inclusion
• Building an inclusive work environment
• Neurodiversity inclusion: Understanding thought processes
• Fixations & obsessions: Mastering flexibility
• Executive dysfunction in neurodiverse employees
• Neurodiversity inclusion & the human factor

I’ll be honest: I dread all 30 days of June. 

This year, I found myself looking at the Process Street LinkedIn page, now sporting a rainbow logo, and contemplating how I felt about that.

Is it rainbow-washing? What else does Process Street do to support the queer community? Why can’t I answer that question?

I don’t think it’s rainbow-washing, but I should definitely be aware of what the company I work for is doing for the queer community.

I have complicated feelings about Pride. On one hand, I do believe in the immense importance it has. Pride creates a platform for big-picture political actions as well as the more personal experience of just not being in the minority for once. 

As more companies paint rainbows on their marketing materials from June 1 to June 30, it’s equally become more about commodification than community. 

I see you sweating as you glance at all your packed-up Pride material in the corner. You just wanted to show your support. What does rainbow-washing even mean? 

How do startups and small businesses show their allyship is genuine and not just part of a marketing campaign? 

There are no simple answers to any of this, but there’s only so much room in a blog post, so I’ll give you some actionable things you can do throughout the year to keep up your support long after Pride month is over.

• What is rainbow-washing?
• Allyship 101: Taking pride in Pride
• Back to the beginning
• Further resources

There’s a dark underbelly to process management that no one wants to talk about, but it’s time to speak out: 

There are bad process management systems out there. Not just bad – these are some really nasty characters who will destroy your carefully built business from the inside out. 

We have to keep this between you and me, though, because I’m not supposed to be saying any of it. Process management is a dangerous world, folks. You don’t even know. It seems all efficient and useful, increasing productivity and reducing errors – great stuff all around – but when was the last time you checked in on your innovation?

Been a while, right? Now you’re starting to put it together. 

Come here, quick. I’ll run through what I know:

• Process management: What it was meant to be
• The secret truths of process management systems
• BPM adoption: Fighting the good fight
• Rosemann’s 5 stages of process management adoption
• The Process Street process management playbook
• Source List

This never happened, okay? 

“[Human resources is] like what a malevolent AI would come up with if they were trying to sound like they […] don’t simply consider them food to be consumed at the end of the machine. It has the least humanity of any name I could come up with.”

– Jay Hanlon, People & Ops consultant

HR is dead.

For roughly two years I’ve been charged with writing expert content for our loyal “HR” readers. For roughly two years I’ve argued that “HR manager” is absolutely the wrong word. 

When this post came up on the roster, I begged our head of marketing to let me have it. Little did he know that he was about to play the part of Pandora. 

Make no mistake: HR, People Ops, what people think, and what those departments do are very dramatic debates with intense arguments from every side (and then some). Naturally, I intend to do a reverse somersault in pike position from 10 meters. 

(Apparently, that’s a difficult dive according to… diving people. )

While I’m certainly no diving expert, I am a bit of a maestro when it comes to rigorous research routines so you can bet I intend to make a splash:

• People Ops vs. HR: What’s the difference?
• People Operations: Rebranding or rethinking?
• Process Street poll: The public has spoken
• 3 key factors to shift from HR to People Operations

(Don’t worry – that’s the extent of my diving puns.) 

When I researched the unlimited PTO policy, I started thinking of a famous spy.

That’s because my eight-week paid time off was due to James Bond. 

I realized that while I sat in a Shanghai bakery. Ten years earlier, I’d bought a set of James Bond books in a bric-a-brac store. Before coming to China, I’d sold the books and made a considerable profit. 

I hadn’t intentionally taken an eight-week vacation, but I’ll explain that paradox at the end of the article. 

Whether eight weeks or one week, PTO (paid time off) is essential. It increases:

• Performance
• Productivity
• Well-being

Recently, unlimited PTO has exploded in popularity. This Process Street post will guide you through the drawbacks and benefits of this ever-popular policy. You can also use our new template on the subject with your free Process Street account.

Here are four key topics to help you understand and use an unlimited PTO policy:

• What is unlimited PTO?
• 3 Drawbacks of unlimited PTO
• 3 Benefits of unlimited PTO
• An unlimited PTO policy example

“Can prioritizing onboarding really help boost retention?” you may be asking yourself.

The short answer is yes, it really can.

For this episode of Process Street‘s Employee Onboarding Podcast, the team participated in an employee onboarding panel at the HR Transform conference in Las Vegas.

We had a great time hanging out with customers and discussing how important a role onboarding plays in retaining your talent long term.

The speakers were:

• Vinay Patankar – CEO and Co-founder of Process Street
• Danielle Monaghan – VP Global Talent at Uber (now Google)
• Greg Russell – Head of Talent at Snapdocs

Some key points discussed during the panel included:

• Preboarding = better retention
• Personalize onboarding as much as possible
• Transparency helps facilitate process improvement
• Good hiring & onboarding takes a village

You can listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Deezer, & all your favorite podcast platforms!

People are at the heart of any company. After all, what is a business without its employees? This is why it is so essential to build a company culture that values and supports the people who work there. To achieve this, a strong peer-to-peer recognition strategy is essential.

HR teams across a range of industries are starting to see the importance of employee recognition. It is just one of many vital HR processes that work to support any great team.

Let this Process Street article be your one-stop shop for all things related to peer recognition! We’ll cover what exactly we mean by peer-to-peer recognition, how it can benefit your company, and six best practices to include in your recognition strategy. 

• What is peer-to-peer recognition?
• What are the benefits of peer-to-peer recognition?
• 6 best practices to try now

Actively engaged employees. Disengaged. Unengaged. Actively Disengaged. Non-Engaged. 

The term “engagement” gets a lot of traction these days. 

You see posts everywhere with topics like “What is Employee Engagement and Why Is It Important? A Complete Guide” or “Employee Engagement: How to Get a Happy, Productive Team.” 

My favorite is “Employee Engagement & Motivation Policy: Why You Need One For Retention – Yesterday.”

The thing is, though, what do these terms actually mean – and how are they different from each other? 

How do you tell if an employee is really engaged or just a high-performer? What about an employee who has low output versus one who’s actively disengaged?

And what’s this “unengaged” thing about? 

Process Street has answers. This post will walk you through how to identify engagement, figure out the cause, and get your employees excited about their work again. 

• Know your employee (dis)engagements
• Digging out the root of unengagement
• 5 strategies to re-engage your employee
• A final tip before we go

Employees are 18 times more likely to feel committed to a company when they have a good onboarding experience. Yet, 93% of employers refuse to admit that onboarding experience affects employee retention at all.

What does that mean? 

Employers can’t accept that their onboarding plays a massive role in retaining top talent. In not accepting this, they aren’t investing enough in the onboarding process to see real benefits. 

Don’t want to fall into that staggering 93%? I’ve got you covered. 

In today’s Process Street article, I’m taking you through everything an HR manager needs to know to offer the best virtual onboarding experience: 

• An introduction to virtual employee onboarding 
• Why do HR managers need to be on top form when virtually onboarding new hires?
• Benefits of good virtual onboarding
• Best practices for onboarding in a virtual environment
• Get the most out of virtual onboarding with less effort

Let’s get crack-a-lackin’! 

You need a 30-60-90 day plan more than ever.

Hiring the right person can be insanely difficult. Not to mention that the hiring process itself can last up to 23.8 days. That means you’ve invested over three weeks before your new hire starts.

Whenever a new hire joins your company, do you wonder how long they’ll last? Well, 20% of new hires quit within their first 45 days. Moreover, they could be on another company’s poaching list. In a talent shortage, that’s all you need. Especially with all the recruitment emails you’ve been sending out. 

With many areas in human resources that can go wrong, how can you go right? And how are other employers getting it right? Specifically, companies such as:

• Dupont
• Lockheed Martin
• Microsoft

The best way to ape the success of these companies is by nurturing talent. That all starts with great onboarding and a retention strategy from day one. That’s where the 30-60-90 day plan can help you.

This Process Street post will guide you through using and understanding a 30-60-90 day plan. You can even use the template immediately with your free Process Street account!

Here’s your guide to using a 30-60-90 day plan to improve new employee experience:

• An introduction to the 30-60-90 day plan
• Using a 30-60-90 day plan
• Tips for HR managers using the 30-60-90 day plan
• The 30-60-90 day plan for new hires
• Performance review for a 30-60-90 day plan