The vast majority of HR managers say missing open enrollment has a big impact on employees’ wallets, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey.

How big of an impact?

• 34% of HR managers say missing open enrollment costs employees at least $500 a year in out-of-pocket expenses (for things like medical care and school tuition, which could’ve been covered by their employer)
• 20% say it costs employees more than $1,000, and
• 10% say it costs workers more than $2,500.

That’s distressing news when you consider that half of hiring managers say more than 10% of their workforce misses annual open enrollment deadlines.

In addition, 25% of workers admit they don’t pay attention to benefits changes, figuring their benefits will roll over — or because they feel the whole process is too confusing.

Employees don’t realize what they’re missing

Another big reason employees don’t participate: They don’t realize everything their employer is offering.

When asked which benefits employees aren’t taking advantage of, HR managers said:

• Wellness benefits (45%)
• Flexible healthcare spending (43%)
• Tuition Reimbursement (38)
• Banking programs (25%), and
• Discounts on personal entertainment (24%) and technology (22%).

Here are tips from the book “It’s Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been,” by BJ Gallagher:

Giving

• Provide examples of the problem behavior.  For instance, “You shouted at two customers yesterday.” That’s better than “You have a bad attitude with customers.”
• Solicit questions and comments.  Be wary of the employee who broods quietly. That’s often a sign of resentment, not acceptance.  Ask leading questions that draw the employee out and give you some clues to the employee’s thinking. Example: “Tell me what you disagree with and why.”
• Get a commitment to change.  And try to put that commitment in measurable terms. Example: “So, you agree that you’ll be on time every day for the next month.”
• Schedule follow-up. Make it clear that this isn’t a one-and-done deal — that you’ll be checking back to see that there’s been a change and all commitments have been met.

Receiving

• Ask for or acknowledge examples. If the boss says, “I hear you’ve missed a few deadlines lately,” either ask for specifics or acknowledge that, yes, you’re guilty as charged.
• Ask for a chance to do better. Outline what you’re going to do to improve and when you’d like the boss to revisit your performance.
• Say “thanks.” Look at it this way: Negative feedback is a sign that someone cares and is interested in your improvement. Yes, there do seem to be those times when the feedback seems pointless. Still, a thank you is in order.

According to one study cited in the Harvard Business Review, men tend to be equal opportunity bullies — targeting men and women about equally. Not so with women, who target other women in more than seven out of every 10 instances.

Some other findings:

• Instances of verbal abuse are more commonly committed by men (57%) than women (41%), but
• Women (54%) are more likely than men (41%) to engage in more subtle forms of bullying, such as sabotaging another’s work, and
• Women (50%) are more likely than men (45%) to abuse their authority over subordinates.

The study goes on to issue a warning to HR managers: Left unchecked, bullying becomes the norm as a business culture. That is, managers and subordinates begin to think of bullying as a standard way of doing business. And in such environments, productivity invariably goes down and turnover goes up.

Shine the spotlight on them

In general, the more frequently employers reward workers, the more those workers will aim to please.

The key is making sure rewards fit the size of employees’ accomplishments — and that the rewards vary.

Example: Don’t always give away the same $10 gift cards. Instead, hold a public recognition ceremony or send out a company-wide e-mail praising the employee. Be sure to focus on what the employee did that saved others time, boosted profits or otherwise helped the company.

Offer decision-making power

Another good way to show employees they’re appreciated and make them feel valuable: Encourage supervisors to allow employees to make small financial decisions.

Example: Let employees choose which new desk chairs everyone will get or which prizes will be given away at the next employee appreciation meeting.

Solicit employee ideas

Welcoming ideas from employees about new benefits is a great way to get them plugged into your programs.

Sure, a few suggestions are bound to leave you scratching your head. But if you can use just one, it’s worthwhile.

1. Arrive early

Arriving 10 minutes early for a presentation allows you to arrange the room to your liking.

The extra time also lets you check any equipment or displays you’ll need during the session — to make sure you’re not waylaid by technical glitches.

2. Put ‘em where you want ‘em

Seasoned speakers maximize the physical space of the room by arranging chairs theater-style. Why? It keeps the entire audience focused up front.

In meetings where attendees sit at tables, try to use circular tables instead of rectangular ones. Circular tables suggest greater equality among attendees and create a steadier flow of discussion.

Rectangular tables — that make people face each other head-on — can make attendees feel like they’re talking “at” their co-workers, instead of taking part in a discussion.

3. Make selective eye contact

If you’re uncomfortable making eye contact with everyone, pick one or two friendly faces in the audience and focus on those people.

4. Pass out materials before hand

Send out any materials attendees may need for the meeting a day or two before it starts, and tell them to read it before they arrive.

This ensures they’re focused on you at the meeting, not the paperwork in front of them.

The practice of “friending” on social-networking sites can be a legally dangerous one when it involves a supervisor and a subordinate. Plus, a lot of subordinates think it’s creepy.

The seemingly innocent practice of  sending friend requests to staff via Facebook, Twitter and other sites can trigger a slew of legal claims, including harassment, discrimination or wrongful termination, as well as touch off complaints of favoritism if the boss friends only a select person or persons.

That’s the warning from attorney Michael Schmidt on law.com.

Here’s the source of the problem: Social-networking sites typically are packed with personal information. So, what happens if a friending boss learns TMI — too much info — about a subordinate? That opens the door for an employee complaint that the boss made work decisions, such as promotions, based on the personal information.

The example given by Schmidt:

• Suppose an employee is a member of a gay-rights group.
• Then suppose the friending boss fires the employee because of performance issues.
• The employee then could argue that the boss used the personal information as a basis for the termination.

That’s just one example of many: religious affiliation, age,  political affiliation, health problems. All could serve as a basis for a lawsuit should the supervisor take an adverse action against the employee.

If that’s not enough, consider that in a survey by staffing firm Office Team, 47% of respondents said they don’t want to be friended by their bosses.

The message to supervisors: Don’t do it.

An employee’s age provides a useful guide for what forms of recognition are most appropriate.

Here are the generation-specific rewards each group is most likely to appreciate.

Generation Y (born 1981 or later)

The youngest employees tend to place the greatest emphasis on work-life balance.

Rewarding these employees with the ability to work from home — or an extra floating holiday — tends to get better results than formal rewards or prizes.

Generation X (1964-1980)

This group tends to be more informal than older employees.

Some Gen-Xers covet trendy or name-brand prizes — like an iTunes gift card.

Others prefer company golf outings or attending similar social events.

Baby Boomers (1946-1963)

Many Baby Boomers prefer rewards that show management appreciates their hard work.

For instance, theater tickets or restaurant gift cards are often popular rewards.

Alternatively, some Boomers prefer recognition ceremonies — especially when their families can be present.

Seniors (born before 1946)

The employees of the so-called Gold Watch Generation grew up in a business culture steeped in formality and focused on rewarding seniority.

As a result, formal rewards (e.g., wall plaques) that are presented publicly tend to resonate most with these employees.

Does your company have a unique way of rewarding or motivating employees? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

The more you think about the potential “disasters” that could strike your company — ranging from a broken water pipe to a terrorist attack — the more you realize a recovery plan is a good idea, especially since it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

A new book, “The Wall Street Journal Complete Small Business Guidebook,” lays out the three essentials every company should cover to be prepared for — and to recover from — a disaster:

Review insurance policies. Your company probably already has property insurance to cover the cost of replacing damaged or destroyed equipment or buildings. How about business-interruption insurance, which covers lost income in the event the business is forced to shut down temporarily?

Develop a contingency plan, including one in case disaster strikes a vendor. Come up with a list of backup vendors or suppliers. Consider alternative work sites so that you can keep operating if disaster strikes your company. Keep a list of 24-hour emergency numbers for all your employees, and develop a quick and efficient way of keeping employees informed.

Back up data. Make backup copies of all critical records, such as accounting and employee data, customer lists, production formulas and inventory. Keep that information in a separate location — the farther away, the better –  or subscribe to a online data backup service provider.

Take a look at the Small Business Administration disaster-recovery Web page, which offers more links and assistance in putting together a plan.

A recent survey found that “engagement levels” — consultant-speak for employee loyalty and motivation — have dropped 9% across all classes of workers. But there’s more: That loyalty and motivation level dropped almost 25% for top performers over the past year.

The stars are unhappy
Indeed, top performers appear to be the least-happy campers. Nearly 20% fewer of the best and brightest would recommend others take jobs with their employers. Twenty-six percent are less satisfied with advancement opportunities than they were last year, and they’re 14% less likely to stick with their current employer once the economic picture brightens.

Two more disturbing stats from the top-performers: 29% say they’re less confident this year that management will be able to grow the business. And 41% think pay and benefit changes instituted over the past 12 months have hurt work quality and customer service.

Overall, not a pretty picture. What can employers do? There’s probably no secret formula. Open communication, performance-based incentives and low-cost perks — flexible schedules, for instance — can certainly help.

And it also pays to remember that employees are a notoriously fickle lot. As the economy improves and everybody gets a few more bucks in their pockets, attitudes will likely improve.

For a look at the Executive Summary of the Watson Wyatt research on employee loyalty and motivation, go here.

Here’s his story:

To keep a lid on our workers compensation costs, we needed an effective light-duty program.

It’s not that we had a lot of injuries, but when we had one, the worker tended to stay out for what seemed like forever.

Problem with developing light duty: Where do you start? Whenever we asked managers to give us ideas for light-duty jobs, they’d usually come back with, “I dunno.”

So we tried a different approach with them, without even mentioning “light duty.”

What would you like?
Instead of asking them for suggestions about light duty, we asked: Give us a list of tasks that you’d like to see done in your department but never have the time or people to do.

When we phrased it that way, our managers deluged us with ideas. For instance, nearly everyone said cleaning up the workplace would be great but they had neither the time nor the people.

We took those ideas and categorized them into light-duty jobs that injured workers could do. The results: Since getting the managers involved and creating light-duty jobs two years ago, we’ve cut claim amounts by 75%, which has had a great effect on our premiums, too.

(Hal Beeler, Modesto, CA)