Blog

Amy Haft, FEI Senior Account Manager

Telecommuting and other remote workplace benefits are trending upward, but employers and employees alike continue to struggle with the pros and cons of working away from the office.

FEI has several remote staff. One shares her experiences and suggestions with those organizations that are on the fence about remote workforces, the benefits of telecommuters and the potential impact on employee productivity, engagement and costs.

Raquelle Solon, FEI Business Solutions Engineer

September is National Honey Month, but what does that mean to organizations? Honey is sweet, flavorful and inviting—an idea that can be applied to how we communicate, develop relationships and build people up.

With The Mandt System®, FEI utilizes similar concepts. The foundation of the Mandt program is to build healthy relationships by treating people the way they want to be treated. Why not use a little “honey” in the process?

Jean Casanova, Director of Knowledge Management for the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities

As more and more employees reach retirement age, employers risk losing valuable knowledge. Fortunately, a number of knowledge transfer practices are emerging to mitigate such risks and keep expertise within the organization.

Marcia O’Boyle, FEI EAP Services Center Manager

Whether it’s a coastal hurricane or raging wildfire, you can never be too careful when planning for a potential disaster situation. But where do you begin?

We offer advice to guide your disaster planning efforts for National Preparedness Month.

Michael McCafferty, FEI Senior Account Manager

Being a “servant leader”—someone who empowers those they manage on behalf of an organization’s mission—is a noble ambition. It can also be extremely draining.

Understanding limitations, as well as how to recharge one’s energy, helps managers and supervisors remain healthy and resilient, enabling them to continue servant leadership unimpeded by stress, frustration and burnout.

FEI Crisis Management

Hurricane Harvey is causing massive flooding in and around Houston, Texas, with more rain on the way. FEI crisis management has supplied resources and additional guidance in order to protect you, your loved ones and business operations.

Jackie McGee, Work-Life Specialist

Elder care is an often overlooked and underappreciated aspect of employees’ lives, and its effects on work performance can be substantial. As parents or loved ones age, questions about care facilities, services and expenses begin cropping up and overwhelming caregivers.

EAPs regularly offer work-life services, which help guide employees through elder care options while assisting with the responsibilities of care.

James Pettigrew, FEI Program and Project Manager

A business continuity and disaster recovery plan is only as strong as the resources supporting it.

Understanding the degree to which decision-makers, operational processes and technical capabilities are primed for a crisis event can be the determining factor in how readily an organization responds and recovers during a critical incident.

Gary Skaleski, FEI EAP Counselor

As the saying goes, “Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.” Yet we’re all familiar with procrastination, and some of us struggle with it more than others.

Reframing concepts of time can potentially place you on a path to overcoming procrastination and achieving your goals in a comfortable, timely fashion. Is that quarterly report due in a month, or in 31 days? Which feels more immediate?

Ralph Metzner, FEI Director of Product Management

Think about the last time you missed a flight because of circumstances beyond your control. Did it stress you out? Make you angry? How did you react?

Stress can threaten the tools we need for civil communication. As stress builds, our ability to effectively communicate strains under the weight of reflexive brain functions and “fight or flight” responses. Understanding how stress affects our behaviors is the first step to handling challenging situations in calm, rational ways.

Julie Sharp, FEI Account Manager

Talking about suicide in the workplace is a delicate undertaking—but a potentially lifesaving one.

Suicidal ideation can present itself a number of different ways, and knowing how to respond in a sensitive yet effective way sometimes proves challenging. With the use of an employee assistance program, however, the guidance and resources needed to navigate discussions of suicide are readily available.

Vivian Marinelli, Psy.D., FEI Senior Director Crisis Management Services

Central to successfully weathering a crisis event is strong communication. With a focus on internal, on-site and external methods of communication, organizations can build a crisis response team that understands its function, maintain up-to-date information and cohesive messaging, and ensure external stakeholders are properly informed and made aware of ongoing response efforts.