It’s always fun and exciting to go through the onboarding process of a new employee. Both you, as the employer, and the newest member of team are excited, things are fresh and new, and the future of working together is bright. Of course the hope is that those feelings will continue, it will remain a good fit for all and everyone will benefit from the partnership.

However, sometimes the honeymoon phase wears off and employees can become disengaged. Sure, part of that is natural and happens in all aspects of life. But as Jon Gordon refers to negative or disengaged employees as energy vampires, they can be detrimental to your team, clients, and goals as a company. This negativity can be toxic and needs to be addressed sooner than later.

So what can you do as a leader to prevent and recover from disengagement on your team? Here are a few tips we’ve compiled that may be helpful if you’re noticing the morale and engagement heading south.

First, defining and understanding disengagement is important. It can be cause by things such as lack of:

• Communication
• Recognition
• Trust
• Flexibility
• Teamwork
• Autonomy
• Support
  

Next, recognizing and identifying when an employee is disengaged can be done by:

• Poor performance
• Missed deadlines
• Lack of interest in development
• Isolation from coworkers
• Increased use of PTO

Then, it’s time to approach the employee:

• Address the issue head on, skip the small talk but be certain to listen well, ask questions and document conversations
• Discovering that individual’s motivation and what makes them tick Analyzing where engagement was lost and why
• Identifying adequate skills and a plan to work to their strengths, even if it’s a change in their role
• Come to a mutual agreement and commitment to action

The final step in this process is to work together towards a solution that will correct the problem by:

• Create a specific and realistic development plan that includes your investment in them
• Set goals and hold each other accountable
• Encourage participation with the team, while keeping the personal plan confidential
• Give consistent feedback
• Recognize improved behavior and performance
• Cheer them on to their potential and don’t give up!

With a (thankfully) booming construction industry these days and growth even happening outside of our home towns, travel and transportation is more of a focus than ever. Safety should always be the first concern but liability is a close second.

Some business owners may question what the right thing to do is when it comes to employees getting to and from job sites daily. Should they drive their own personal vehicle? Or should you provide a company vehicle? What do either of those scenarios look like from a coverage standpoint to be sure you and your company are protected? Here are a few tips that will hopefully help clarify these uncertainties.

Quite simply, it is not recommended that employees drive their own personal vehicles for work purposes. Work use is typically defined by going to or from a job, transporting tools or equipment, and/or other employees riding along as passengers. If an employee crashes their own car while working, their personal auto policy usually pays first, but many Florida drivers carry only the state minimums, and personal policies can exclude some business uses. Your business can be sued too. Without hired and non-owned auto coverage on your business policy, your company may have no protection for that claim.

If you decide to provide a company vehicle to an employee, there are a few steps you can take (in addition to adding them to your policy immediately) to avoid what we call “negligent entrustment.”

• On the written job application, ask applicants to list any driving violations or accidents from the past 5 years.
• Get permission to check driving records on a separate form, not in the job application. If you use a screening company or a third-party monitoring service to pull motor vehicle records (MVRs), federal law requires a standalone written disclosure and the driver’s signed authorization first. If the form says so, one authorization can cover checks during employment as well as at hire, so you can review records every year. If a driving record leads you to decide not to hire someone or to take away driving duties, there are also notice steps to follow before and after that decision. The FTC’s guide, Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know, walks through each step, and it’s worth having your employment attorney review your forms.
• Before allowing anyone to drive a vehicle for company purposes, have the individual provide proof of a valid driver’s license.
• If the individual has lived in other states during the previous 5 years, obtain drivers’ license information for those states.
• Require all drivers to report any violations they receive or accidents they are involved in as soon as possible. This includes incidents involving personal vehicles.
• Check all drivers’ MVRs at least once a year.

Other important factors include:
– Vehicle Condition and Maintenance
– Driver Training
– Policy of Restricting Personal Use of company vehicles (including those vehicles that go home with employees after work hours)

Evaluating the current status of your company’s fleet safety and risk management program is extremely important. And a step further, making the effort to improve those policies where needed on a regular basis will help limit your company’s exposure to a negligent entrustment judgment, as well as help control your future insurance costs.