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Hi ya party people,

Happy Friday, aka the best day of the week!

In case anybody needed a reminder…YESTERDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY! 🎉

I'm such a birthday person, like genuinely the type who will remind you it's my birthday month as soon as January ends.

So this weekend, I'll be fantasizing about warm weather and relaxing.

First up on this week’s Q&A: how do you create a *wow* employee experience for 47 remote workers across 15 states when you have literally zero budget for engagement platforms?

And what's the best day of the week to schedule a PIP meeting?

Let’s discuss!

And if it’s your time to submit a question, go ahead and do it!

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💡 PIP & engagement

✍🏾 What is the most successful thing you have done to significantly improve employee engagement across a fully remote team ?

Context: I am a People and Culture Dept of One, and I support a team of 47 folks in 15 different states. We provide surgical services staffing to healthcare facilities who cannot recruit their own providers. We're making life better for patients, facilities, and surgeons. My employees are smart, scrappy, and fast-movers. I want them to feel connected and supported in their remote roles. Bottom line, how do I provide a "wow" experience for employees with honestly no budget to buy rewards and recognition platforms? Any little successful tips and tricks would be MOST appreciated. Thanks in advance!

📣 Luke Willmam, Engagement & Culture @ St. Elizabeth:

First of all, I want to applaud you for fighting the good fight. Being a "People and Culture Dept of One" is the ultimate test of leadership - because you wear all the hats! You are the architect, the builder, and the maintenance crew all at once. Supporting 47 fast-movers across 15 states in the high-stakes world of surgical services is no small feat.

Crowd source yourself some help so you don't go it alone - whether that's in the form of ARGs, Fun Committee, Celebration Team, etc.! However, we have to address the elephant in the room - how an organization allocates its resources is the loudest signal of its true priorities. If there is no money/resources for recognition, the unspoken message to the team is that scrappiness is an expectation rather than something that is celebrated and that appreciation isn't really valued. To truly move the needle (and to keep your team energized), you must frame recognition not as a "nice-to-have" but as a mission-critical business driver.

And data on that is clear - recognition is the ultimate driver of performance and retention. Research indicates that 80% of employees would work harder if they felt better appreciated, and 92% are likely to repeat specific actions once they are recognized for them. This isn't just about morale. Employees who receive regular recognition are nearly six times more likely to stay at their jobs, and 37% report that appreciation from superiors is the single most effective way to improve their engagement. And taking that one step further - highly engaged associates are good for business. Gallup’s landmark meta-analysis - which studied in impact of highly engaged employees across 112,000 work units / 2.7 million employees - proved that these SOFT feelings lead to HARD results. The study found highly-engaged teams enjoy:

81% reduction in absenteeism
41% increase in quality
58% fewer patient safety incidents
18% less turnover for high-turnover organizations
10% increase in patient loyalty including patient experience scores & likelihood to recommend
42% more likely to evaluate their overall lives highly
19% more likely to volunteer their time
45% more likely to report high levels of adaptability in the presence of change
18% higher productivity
23% higher profitability

All that being said, it sounds like you are the lynchpin keeping the recognition mission together as you build that case and currently have $0.00 to spend... so here are some low-cost, high-impact solutions I have used:

STORYTELLING: Since your team makes life better for patients, surgeons, and facilities, bring the WHY to them. Take every opportunity to share stories of a patient-centered care and positive outcomes that resulted from your staffing being on point. When employees see the impact of their work, they feel connected to the mission itself.
VIRTUAL RECOGNITION CHANNEL - Use Microsoft TEAMs or whatever communication tool / messaging app you have to create a dedicated channel (#TheUplift, #SurgicalStars, #GoodNews) for peer-to-peer wins.
MEETING UPLIFTS: Start every single meeting - whether it’s a 1-on-1 or a team huddle - with a Recognition Uplift. Normalize spending time calling out behavior (not just results) that aligned with your mission.
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS: Each week one member of the team shares (professional and personal) to build connections.
CEO/EXEC THANK YOUS: In a remote world, a 30-second video message or a personal email from a top leader is often more valuable than a tangible gifts. Could you send your CEO a list of 3 names / small wins each week and ask them to send a quick message. It costs nothing but time and provides infinite social currency as you make your team feel seen and valued.

📣 Heather Stewart, Director of Learning & Development @ College of the Canyons:

One thing we did at my previous company that I think brought people together, was to spotlight them in a meeting. We created an easy PowerPoint template and gave people the opportunity to introduce their whole selves. Are they parents? Do they have pets? What do they like to do in their off time? What's on their bucket list? This humanized the people on the other end of the Teams call and created spaces for people to chat over shared passions. It was super fun to learn about one another. If someone didn't feel comfortable doing it, they didn't have to.

Other ways to connect are Slack/Teams channels based on interests - a Pet Channel, a "here's what I did this weekend" channel. Give people the opportunity to connect and once they feel connected they will reward and recognize one another. Hope this helps.

📣 Tammi Burnett, Director of People and Culture @ Rainforest Action Network:

I don't think there's a magic bullet for this, or even one thing I could point to over others. In my experience, it takes a lot of small and consistent touchpoints to keep engagement up, and I also firmly believe that engagement is cross-org function, NOT just HR's job. I would recommend you form a committee of volunteers, serve as committee facilitator, and give them a clear mandate about what they're there to do. More brains = more and better ideas.

Some of the things our committee has done in the past: pumpkin carving contest in the fall, virtual "game day" where folks play a virtual group game (we love Gartic phone, it's hilarious) for bragging rights, we've done "guess who" at an all staff meeting where we had people write in a fun fact ahead of time and then try to guess who it was, once per quarter at all staff meetings we do "connection time" at the start of the meeting where we put folks into small groups or duos and offer a prompt for them to check in or brainstorm (I also use this as a space to get feedback on whatever new HR thing I'm cooking up), that kind of thing.

We also do a Slack post on work anniversaries (with consent - some people don't like to be celebrated publicly) where we ask their manager to highlight them and one or two cool things they've done over the past year. All of this is free, it builds relationships, and it shows care.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

✍🏾 Which day of the week is most appropriate for a PIP meeting, and are there days HR teams should steer clear of?

Context: Small company, located in VA. HR team has a performance management philosophy in practice that focuses on being mindful of the employee experience. Seeking HR best-practice guidance that balances documentation, support access, and employee well-being.

📣 Ashley Riggs, Head of People Operations @ Proxima:

It really depends on your work situation but I tend to have these conversations towards the end of the week - preferably on a Thursday. We are remote on Mondays and Fridays so it gives folks the time to privately understand their next steps. I stay clear of Mondays so it doesn't dampen the week ahead.

📣 William Smith, People Operations @ ExecuSource:

I would avoid Mondays and Fridays:

Mondays - So that the employee has time to settle in for the week. Exception would be if the PIP is super urgent (and I agree with Denise that end of day is a good time for the meetings)

Fridays - so that the employee has time to implement changes immediately, ask follow up questions, etc - you don't want people stewing over the weekend.

I think Tuesdays would be the best day because that allows the employee to get prepared/momentum going for the week, but also gives them plenty of time to make prompt adjustments, ask for support, clarification, etc.

📣 Anonymous Safe Space Member:

The first thing to acknowledge is that there is never a good day to have a PIP meeting. Those meetings boil down to a conversation about how an employee is not doing their job or doing something wrong, so it's never a great meeting. The hope is that HR and management has been clear in their communication so the employee is not blindsided, but there is no guarantee.

I'm a big proponent of doing things sooner rather than later. Don't just sit on something because it's not the best time as that will just prolong the problem. However, there are some days that are worse. For example, assuming you operate Monday through Friday and no weekends, Fridays. You don't want to end the week on a negative note. Mondays would be the next worst day just because Mondays are debatably the worst workday of the week because it's the first day after the weekend.

Safe Space members can join this discussion here. Not a member yet? Apply to join here.

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